Fill in the Blanks • Topic 1 of 4

Vocabulary Blanks

Here the blank needs the word that best fits the meaning and tone. Read for positive/negative signals and for collocations (words that naturally go together).

Lean on collocations

Some words simply pair together in English. Knowing the natural partner makes the answer obvious.

CollocationNot
make a decisiondo a decision
do homeworkmake homework
pay attentiongive attention
take a risk / a breathmake a risk
heavy rainstrong rain
strong coffee / teaheavy coffee
Read the signal words. "The drought caused a severe ___ of water" — "drought" signals scarcity, so the answer is shortage. Match the tone (positive/negative) the sentence sets up.

✅ Solved examples

1. The drought caused a severe ___ of water. (shortage/excess)
Shortage (drought → less water).
2. She is very ___ and helps everyone. (selfish/generous)
Generous (positive context).
3. We faced ___ rain during the trip. (heavy/strong)
Heavy (collocation: heavy rain).
4. His ___ behaviour annoyed everyone. (rude/polite)
Rude (negative signal "annoyed").

✏️ Practice — try these, take hints as needed

1. The medicine gave him quick ___. (relief/grief)
Positive after medicine.
—
—
relief
2. He made a ___ decision after thinking. (wise/foolish)
"after thinking".
—
—
wise
3. They live in ___ poverty. (abject/great)
Collocation.
—
—
abject
4. The teacher ___ the students for cheating. (praised/scolded)
Negative cause.
—
—
scolded
5. She has a ___ memory and forgets nothing. (sharp/weak)
"forgets nothing".
—
—
sharp

📝 Topic test — 8 questions

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