7 February 2025 · Shift 3

Homophones (flour/flower) The sentence is about the price of wheat, so the blank needs the thing that is made from wheat grain. Flour - the powder got by grinding wheat; 'wheat flour' is a settled compound, and its price is what rises in a market report. Flower - the blossom of a plant. It is a homophone of 'flour' (the two are pronounced exactly alike), which is why it tempts, but a flower is not made from wheat. Follower - a person who supports or comes after someone; floor - the lower surface of a room. Neither has any link with wheat. Hence 'flour' is the most appropriate answer, option (a).

Words in context Fit each of the three words where its neighbours demand it. (1) 'The modern office ___ featured ...' needs the head noun of the subject: office building. (2) 'sleek' describes shape or style, so it goes with designs - sleek designs. (3) 'windows' takes a size adjective: large windows. Option (a) gives 'sleek large' and then 'designs windows', and options (c) and (d) make 'the modern office large/designs' the subject - none of these is English. Hence (1) building; (2) designs; (3) large is the most appropriate answer, option (b).

Verb-noun collocation 'Take precautions' is the fixed verb + noun collocation meaning to act in advance so that harm does not happen. The sentence is about acting before the flu season, so this is exactly the sense wanted. Show means to display something to others, so 'show precautions' says nothing. See means to perceive with the eyes and hold means to grasp or to keep; neither verb pairs with 'precautions'. Hence 'take' is the most appropriate answer, option (a).

Synonyms Here 'generous' describes a donation, so it means given freely and in a large amount. Lavish - very large in amount and given without stint; it matches 'generous' in this sense exactly. Meagre - very small or barely enough. It also talks about quantity, which makes it tempting, but it is the opposite of 'generous'. Senseless - having no meaning or purpose. Sensible - showing good judgement; it resembles 'generous' in tone only, not in meaning. Hence 'Lavish' is the most appropriate answer, option (d).

Spelling 'Delicous' is the misspelt word; the correct spelling is 'delicious'. Adjectives of this family end in -cious and keep the i before -ous: delicious, precious, gracious, spacious. 'Guests', 'meal' and 'prepared' are all spelt correctly, so none of them can be the answer. Hence 'delicous' is the most appropriate answer, option (d).

Superlative of 'well' The faulty part is 'She knows the city most'; it should read 'She knows the city best'. 'Most' is the superlative of 'much/many' and measures quantity, so it cannot modify the verb 'knows'. The adverb that modifies 'know' is 'well', and its degrees are well - better - best; 'know a place best' is the fixed pattern. The other two parts are sound: 'so I am going' is a correct present continuous of a planned action, and 'to have a look around with her.' is a correct infinitive of purpose. Hence the part containing the error is option (a).

Spelling of -ly adverbs 'Delightfuly' is the misspelt word; the correct spelling is 'delightfully'. When -ly is added to an adjective ending in -ful, the l of -ful is kept, so two l's appear: delightful + ly = delightfully (compare careful - carefully, beautiful - beautifully). 'Discreetly', 'Dreamingly' and 'Destructively' are all formed correctly from discreet, dreaming and destructive. Hence 'Delightfuly' is the most appropriate answer, option (b).

No sooner ... than The task is to rectify the bracketed part, that is, to mend the one thing that is wrong in it and keep the rest. The only fault is the verb form: after the auxiliary 'did' the verb must stand in its base form (V1), so 'did we arrived' becomes 'did we arrive'. The correlative is fixed as 'No sooner ... than', and the sentence already supplies 'than we got busy', so the structure is complete once the verb is mended. 'No sooner had we arrived' is a different construction altogether - it swaps the auxiliary instead of correcting it, which is more than a rectification. 'No sooner arrived we' and 'No sooner we arrived' both fail the inversion rule: when 'No sooner' opens a clause, an auxiliary (did/had) must come before the subject. Hence 'No sooner did we arrive' is the most appropriate answer, option (c).

Linking adverbs The underlined word joins a cause - a big drop in sales - to its result, the lay-offs, so its substitute must also mean 'as a result of that'. Accordingly - in a way that follows from what has just been said; it carries that cause-to-result link exactly, and it can stand in the same position with the same punctuation. Naturally - in a way that is normal or unsurprising; it comments on how expected the event is, not on what caused it. Genuinely - sincerely, really. Superficially - only on the surface, without depth. Hence 'accordingly' is the most appropriate answer, option (b).

Anywhere vs everywhere The faulty part is 'the book everywhere'; it should read 'the book anywhere'. In a negative sentence the indefinite adverb of place is 'anywhere'; 'everywhere' belongs to affirmative sentences. The verb here is already negative - 'I cannot find' - so 'anywhere' is the only possible form: I cannot find the book anywhere in the house. The remaining parts are correct: 'I cannot find', 'in the house;' and 'it seems to have disappeared.' Hence the part containing the error is option (d).

Synonyms 'Enlightening' means giving a person greater knowledge or a clearer understanding of a subject. Illuminating - throwing light on something so that it becomes easier to understand; it replaces 'enlightening' without altering the sense of the sentence. Confusing - making something hard to follow. It tempts because the lecture is also called 'challenging', but 'challenging' says the lecture was demanding, not that it left the listener in the dark. Perplex - a verb meaning to puzzle someone; the slot needs an adjective, so it cannot fit even in form. Dull - uninteresting and boring, the opposite of what the sentence praises. Hence 'illuminating' is the most appropriate answer, option (b).

Antonyms 'Insightful' means showing a deep and accurate understanding of people or situations. Unperceptive - failing to notice or to understand things; this denies exactly the quality that 'insightful' asserts, so it is the true antonym. Terminal - forming the end of something, or (of an illness) fatal; it is an opposite of 'initial', not of 'insightful'. Jagged - rough and uneven with sharp projections; it describes a surface, not a mind. Elite - belonging to the most select or privileged group. It is the most tempting distractor because it sounds like the opposite of a compliment being withdrawn, but it grades social rank, not understanding. Hence 'Unperceptive' is the most appropriate answer, option (c).

Idiom 'Let the cat out of the bag' means to disclose a secret, usually by accident. E.g. She let the cat out of the bag about the surprise party while chatting with him. 'To keep a secret' is the exact reverse of the idiom, which is why it is the tempting choice - the idiom is about losing a secret, not guarding it. 'To punish a cat' and 'To release a pet cat' are literal readings of the words; the meaning of an idiom is never the sum of its parts. Hence 'To reveal a secret' is the most appropriate answer, option (c).

Synonyms 'Metamorphosis' means a complete change of form, character or condition - as when a caterpillar turns into a butterfly. Change - the process of becoming different; it carries the same core idea and is therefore the closest in meaning. Consistency - keeping to the same standard or pattern. Stagnation - a state of no movement, growth or development. Stability - the state of being firm and unchanging. All three wrong options deny change, so each is nearer an antonym than a synonym. Hence 'Change' is the most appropriate answer, option (d).

Subjunctive 'If I were' The main clause reads 'I would take', so the if-clause must be a second (unreal, present) conditional: If + subject + past subjunctive. In this pattern the past subjunctive of 'be' is 'were' for every subject, including I and he - 'If I were you' is fixed. 'Was' is the ordinary past of I, and that is what makes it tempting, but the indicative form is not used in this unreal condition. 'Had been' belongs to the third conditional and would need 'would have taken' in the main clause, while 'am' states a present fact and cannot support 'would take'. Hence 'were' is the most appropriate answer, option (a).

Present perfect with 'since' '... since settlers first put the prairies ... under the plow' fixes a starting point in the past whose effect still lasts, and that is the work of the present perfect: has/have been. The subject is 'Erosion of America's farmland', a singular uncountable noun, so the auxiliary must be 'has'. 'Have been' would need a plural subject; the plural nouns nearby (wind and water) sit inside a prepositional phrase and cannot govern the verb. 'Had been' needs a second, later past action to look back from, and the sentence offers none; 'was been' is not a possible verb form at all. Hence 'has been' is the most appropriate answer, option (d).

Prepositional phrase 'Put land under the plow' is the set phrase meaning to break it up and bring it into cultivation. That is exactly what the passage describes - settlers turning wild prairies and grasslands into farmland, which is why erosion began. 'Besides' means in addition to, and it is also often confused with 'beside' (by the side of); neither sense fits a plough. 'Above' and 'on top' place one thing higher than another in space, which reverses the picture: the plough works into the soil, not over it. Hence 'under' is the most appropriate answer, option (d).

Vocabulary in context The clause is passive - 'more than 282 million acres of farmland were ___ by erosion' - so the blank must name what erosion does to land. Erosion strips away the fertile topsoil, so the farmland was damaged; the figure of 282 million acres is quoted to show how much harm was done. 'Improved', 'developed' and 'purified' all name a benefit, so each of them would make erosion sound useful and contradict the whole paragraph. Hence 'damaged' is the most appropriate answer, option (b).

Contrast in a passage Read the whole sentence: 'After 40 years of conservation efforts, soil erosion has ___ due to new demands placed on the land by heavy crop production.' The opening phrase sets up a contrast with the conservation work, and the closing phrase supplies a cause that pushes erosion up, so the blank must record an increase. Accelerated - gone on at an ever faster rate; it fits both the contrast and the cause. 'Delayed', 'discouraged' and 'hindered' all mean slowed down or held back. Each is tempting because 40 years of conservation should have reduced erosion, but such a word would leave 'due to new demands ...' with nothing to explain. Hence 'accelerated' is the most appropriate answer, option (c).

Preposition after 'demand' 'Place a demand on something' is the fixed pattern: the noun 'demand' takes 'on' before the thing that has to bear it. Here the land bears the pressure of heavy crop production - 'new demands placed on the land'. 'By' would mark the agent who makes the demand, and that role is already filled by 'by heavy crop production' later in the line. 'Of' and 'in' never follow 'demands placed' in this sense. Hence 'on' is the most appropriate answer, option (a).