Collocations Common

Respuesta correcta: A) sit an exam

• A) sit an examCorrect. 'Sit an exam' is the standard British and Peruvian collocation with the verb sit.
• B) take an exam over againWrong. 'Take an exam over again' misuses take, since the collocation is with sit.
• C) make an examWrong. 'Make an exam' would mean to compose an exam paper, which is a different activity.
• D) do an examWrong. 'Do an exam' is informal and regional, and it is not the collocation expected in this register.

Respuesta correcta: B) make good progress

• A) do good progressWrong. 'Do progress' is not an English collocation in any variety.
• B) make good progressCorrect. 'Make progress' is the fixed collocation, and progress is uncountable so no article is used.
• C) give good progressWrong. 'Give progress' would suggest distributing progress, which is not the intended sense.
• D) take good progressWrong. 'Take progress' is not a standard expression in English.

Respuesta correcta: C) set up a business

• A) make up a businessWrong. 'Make up' means to invent, which is the opposite of creating something real.
• B) do up a businessWrong. 'Do up' means to repair or to tidy, which is unrelated to establishing a business.
• C) set up a businessCorrect. 'Set up' is the standard collocation for establishing a company or a system.
• D) put up a businessWrong. 'Put up' means to display or to erect, which does not mean to establish a company.

Respuesta correcta: D) make a decision

• A) reach a decisionWrong. 'Reach a decision' is valid in English, so the sense is accurate even though make is the more common partner here.
• B) take a decision overWrong. 'Take a decision over' misuses take and adds an inappropriate preposition.
• C) do a decisionWrong. 'Do a decision' is not an English collocation.
• D) make a decisionCorrect. Both make a decision and reach a decision are standard, and this sentence uses make with the noun directly.

Respuesta correcta: A) have a serious impact on

• A) have a serious impact onCorrect. 'Impact on' is the fixed prepositional partnership; something has an impact on something else.
• B) have a serious impact atWrong. 'Impact at' is not a valid prepositional choice with impact.
• C) make a serious impact onWrong. 'Make an impact on' is possible but 'make' is not the dominant verb with this noun in this pattern.
• D) have a serious impact ofWrong. 'Impact of' reverses the direction of the relationship and is not the collocation used after the verb have.

Respuesta correcta: B) take a risk

• A) make a riskWrong. 'Make a risk' would mean to create a danger rather than to accept one.
• B) take a riskCorrect. 'Take a risk' is the fixed collocation, and it parallels take a decision and take responsibility.
• C) give a riskWrong. 'Give a risk' would suggest handing over a danger, which is not the meaning.
• D) do a riskWrong. 'Do a risk' is not an English collocation.

Respuesta correcta: C) with

• A) onWrong. 'Act on responsibility' would mean to act on the basis of it, which changes the meaning.
• B) byWrong. 'Act by responsibility' treats responsibility as a method, which is not the intended sense.
• C) withCorrect. 'Act with responsibility' is the correct collocation, using the preposition with.
• D) ofWrong. 'Act of responsibility' is not a prepositional phrase that completes the verb act.

Respuesta correcta: D) A collocation is a conventional combination of words that native speakers use together more readily than the alternatives.

• A) A collocation is a phrase that can be translated word for word without any loss of meaning.Wrong. Collocations are precisely the combinations that resist word-for-word translation.
• B) A collocation is a phrase in which the order of the words is fixed by the presence of a phrasal verb.Wrong. Collocations include noun phrases and adjective plus noun pairings that contain no phrasal verb.
• C) A collocation is any combination of words that is grammatically correct in a sentence.Wrong. Grammatical correctness is necessary but not sufficient; many grammatical combinations are not collocations.
• D) A collocation is a conventional combination of words that native speakers use together more readily than the alternatives.Correct. This captures the frequency-and-conventionality basis of collocation, which is the standard definition.

Respuesta correcta: A) The result is grammatical in the target language but may sound unnatural because the conventional partnership is different.

• A) The result is grammatical in the target language but may sound unnatural because the conventional partnership is different.Correct. This identifies register and naturalness as the risk, rather than correctness or factual accuracy.
• B) The result changes the factual content of the original, which is the main risk.Wrong. A collocation choice affects style rather than the factual content of the message.
• C) The result will always be correct, since collocations are universal across languages.Wrong. Collocations differ between languages, so they are not universal and transfer is not always correct.
• D) The result will always be ungrammatical, since collocations cannot be transferred between languages.Wrong. Word-for-word transfer is often grammatical, so 'always ungrammatical' is too strong.

Respuesta correcta: B) find a solution to the problem

• A) find a solution of the problemWrong. 'Solution of' is used with a different sense, referring to a substance dissolved, not to a problem being solved.
• B) find a solution to the problemCorrect. 'Solution to' is the correct preposition, as in the standard phrase a solution to the problem.
• C) find a solution the problem of.Wrong. 'The problem of' reverses the expected order and misuses 'of' as an adjective.
• D) find a solution for the problem is clear.Wrong. The clause cannot be completed with 'is clear' because the object has already been placed.

Respuesta correcta: C) offer someone help

• A) make someone helpWrong. 'Make someone help' would force the person to help, which is a different meaning.
• B) offer to someone helpWrong. 'Offer to someone' misplaces the preposition, which would only be used in the alternative structure 'offer something to someone'.
• C) offer someone helpCorrect. 'Offer someone something' is a double-object structure in which the indirect object comes before the direct one.
• D) do someone helpWrong. 'Do someone help' is not an English collocation.

Respuesta correcta: D) cause serious damage to the building

• A) cause serious damage the building of.Wrong. 'Damage the building of' misuses 'of' as if it were an adjective.
• B) cause serious damage for the building.Wrong. 'Damage for' would suggest damage intended for the building, which is not the sense.
• C) cause serious damage of the buildingWrong. 'Damage of' would suggest damage belonging to the building, which reverses the direction.
• D) cause serious damage to the buildingCorrect. 'Cause damage to' is the standard collocation, with 'to' marking the thing that suffers the damage.

Respuesta correcta: A) improve the situation significantly

• A) improve the situation significantlyCorrect. 'Improve' takes the noun as a direct object, and the adverb correctly follows the object phrase.
• B) improve the significantly situation.Wrong. 'The significantly situation' misplaces the adverb between the determiner and the noun.
• C) improve for the situation significantly.Wrong. 'Improve for' would suggest improving something on behalf of the situation.
• D) improve of the situation significantly.Wrong. 'Improve of' adds a preposition where the verb takes a direct object.

Respuesta correcta: B) make an agreement with the supplier

• A) make an agreement of the supplierWrong. 'Agreement of' would suggest an agreement belonging to the supplier rather than one concluded with them.
• B) make an agreement with the supplierCorrect. 'Make an agreement with' is the standard collocation, with 'with' marking the other party.
• C) make an agreement the supplier of.Wrong. 'The supplier of' misuses 'of' to link a noun to a noun in the place of the correct preposition.
• D) make an agreement for the supplier.Wrong. 'Agreement for' suggests an agreement made on behalf of someone.

Respuesta correcta: C) a heavy shower of rain

• A) a strong shower of rainWrong. 'A strong shower' exists but is much less conventional than heavy shower for rainfall.
• B) a heavy shower from rainWrong. 'From' would mark an origin, which is not the relationship in this phrase.
• C) a heavy shower of rainCorrect. 'A heavy shower of rain' is the conventional combination, and the adjective heavy pairs naturally with shower.
• D) a heavy shower with rain is likely.Wrong. The clause cannot be completed with 'is likely' because the object noun is already present.

Respuesta correcta: D) She was taken aback by the news.

• A) She was taken off by the news.Wrong. 'Taken off' means removed, for instance from a plane, which is unrelated to a reaction to news.
• B) She was taken down by the news.Wrong. 'Taken down' usually means dismantled or removed, and cannot be followed by 'by' in this sense.
• C) She was taken over by the news.Wrong. 'Taken over' would mean overwhelmed or replaced, neither of which matches being surprised.
• D) She was taken aback by the news.Correct. 'Taken aback' is the fixed expression for being shocked, and it is a passive collocation.

Respuesta correcta: A) The verb deeply collocates with regret and the noun regret takes the object apology in this frame, so the whole phrase is conventional.

• A) The verb deeply collocates with regret and the noun regret takes the object apology in this frame, so the whole phrase is conventional.Correct. This identifies both fixed elements, the adverb with the verb and the noun with its object, which is the lexical constraint.
• B) The phrase is conventional because the speaker feels regret, not because of any lexical constraint.Wrong. The conventionality of a collocation is a property of the words, not of the speaker's emotional state.
• C) Regret takes an apology because apologies are the only thing one can regret in English.Wrong. The claim is far too strong; regret takes many objects, including a decision or a step too far.
• D) Deeply is an intensifier and can be moved freely to any position in the phrase without changing the sense.Wrong. Intensifiers in collocations are frequently tied to particular verbs and cannot always be repositioned freely.

Respuesta correcta: B) make a profit last year

• A) do a profit last yearWrong. 'Do a profit' is not an English collocation in any variety.
• B) make a profit last yearCorrect. 'Make a profit' is the standard collocation, parallel to make a loss and make a decision.
• C) give a profit last year.Wrong. 'Give a profit' would suggest handing over a profit, which is not the meaning here.
• D) take a profit last yearWrong. 'Take a profit' is used in finance to mean a realised gain, but 'make' is the ordinary partner in general business English.

Respuesta correcta: C) The company made a big decision and took a risk in order to boost sales.

• A) The company took a big decision and made a risk in order to enhance sales.Wrong. 'Took a decision' is possible but less dominant than 'made a decision', and 'made a risk' is unidiomatic.
• B) The company did a big decision and made a risk in order to increase sales.Wrong. 'Did a decision' and 'made a risk' are both unidiomatic, so the sentence fails on two counts.
• C) The company made a big decision and took a risk in order to boost sales.Correct. 'Make a decision', 'take a risk' and 'boost sales' are all the dominant collocations in this context.
• D) The company made a big decision and made a risk in order to boost sales.Wrong. 'Made a risk' is unidiomatic, even though the other three phrases in the sentence are conventional.

Respuesta correcta: D) It suddenly dawns on me that I am late.

• A) It suddenly hits on me that I am late.Wrong. 'Hits on' is not a standard expression in this sense and sounds like an accidental contact.
• B) It suddenly strikes on me that I am late.Wrong. 'Strikes on' is not a valid combination; to strike is used without a preposition.
• C) It suddenly occurs to me that I am late.Wrong. 'Occurs to' is also correct, so this version would be acceptable but the question asks for the dominant form.
• D) It suddenly dawns on me that I am late.Correct. 'It dawns on someone that' is the standard collocation for a sudden realisation, and 'occur to' is a valid alternative.