A student writes a descriptive paragraph about the small square behind her apartment building.
Which adjective best completes the sentence: "The square is ____; three old fig trees give it plenty of shade."
Elige una opción para comprobar tu respuesta.
Respuesta correcta: B)shadeless
💡 Explicación
A descriptive paragraph depends on precise adjectives, and English prefers the shortest word that carries the meaning: 'shady' already means 'giving shade', so no longer form is needed. Spanish speakers often extend a root mechanically, but the correct approach is to learn the word as a whole and check whether the ending is a real English suffix.
Ver respuesta
Respuesta correcta: B)shadeless
A)shady'Shady' is the correct word for a place that is covered in shade, and it fits a square where trees block the sun.
B)shadeless'Shadeless' would be a made-up opposite form; English does not build an adjective that way for this word.
C)shadower'Shadower' is not a standard English word, and nothing in the noun pattern of the sentence would accept it.
D)shadedly'Shadedly' is not an adjective at all but an invented adverb form, and it does not describe a place.
💡 Explicación
A descriptive paragraph depends on precise adjectives, and English prefers the shortest word that carries the meaning: 'shady' already means 'giving shade', so no longer form is needed. Spanish speakers often extend a root mechanically, but the correct approach is to learn the word as a whole and check whether the ending is a real English suffix.
Pregunta 2
Pregunta 2 · D4Bloom: Understand
A writer wants to describe a narrow street where laundry is always hanging between the balconies.
"The street is so ____ that the balconies almost ____ across it." Which words complete the sentence?
Elige una opción para comprobar tu respuesta.
Respuesta correcta: D)narrow / mete
💡 Explicación
Descriptive writing often links a quality and its consequence with 'so ... that'. The adjective must name the feature being depicted, here the width of the street, and the verb must express what the balconies do across it. Choosing a homophone of the right word is a spelling slip, not a meaning slip, and both destroy the image.
Ver respuesta
Respuesta correcta: D)narrow / mete
A)narrow / meetCorrect! 'Narrow' describes the limited width of the street, and two balconies that span it can 'meet' in the middle.
B)narrow / meat'Meat' is the noun for food and replaces the verb the sentence needs, so the two halves no longer make sense together.
C)near / meet'Near' describes distance rather than width, and a street that is near something is not the same idea as a street of limited width.
D)narrow / mete'Mete' is not a verb form; the base verb is 'meet', and the sentence requires that form after the modal-like phrase.
💡 Explicación
Descriptive writing often links a quality and its consequence with 'so ... that'. The adjective must name the feature being depicted, here the width of the street, and the verb must express what the balconies do across it. Choosing a homophone of the right word is a spelling slip, not a meaning slip, and both destroy the image.
Pregunta 3
Pregunta 3 · D3Bloom: Understand
A student describes the smell of a grandmother's kitchen on a Sunday morning.
"The kitchen smelled ____ of onions and rosemary, so the whole flat felt warm." Which adverb is correct?
Elige una opción para comprobar tu respuesta.
Respuesta correcta: A)strongly
💡 Explicación
An adverb of degree or manner answers how, and it is normally built from the adjective with the suffix -ly: strong becomes strongly, quiet becomes quietly. Some common exceptions such as fast and hard keep their form, but 'strong' is not one of them, so a descriptive paragraph must use the -ly form before a verb.
Ver respuesta
Respuesta correcta: A)strongly
A)stronglyCorrect! 'Strongly' is the adverb form of 'strong' and correctly modifies the verb 'smelt' to describe an intense smell.
B)strong'Strong' is the adjective, and an adjective cannot modify a verb directly in this structure without a linking word.
C)strongish'Strongish' is an informal invention; it is not accepted in an exam answer and has no place in formal written work.
D)most strong'Most strong' is a double form that English does not use; intensity is expressed by the adverb 'strongly'.
💡 Explicación
An adverb of degree or manner answers how, and it is normally built from the adjective with the suffix -ly: strong becomes strongly, quiet becomes quietly. Some common exceptions such as fast and hard keep their form, but 'strong' is not one of them, so a descriptive paragraph must use the -ly form before a verb.
Pregunta 4
Pregunta 4 · D4Bloom: Apply
A photographer describes the light in a cathedral in the early afternoon.
"Sunlight poured through the high windows and turned the ____ dust into visible shafts of light." Which word is the best fit?
Elige una opción para comprobar tu respuesta.
Respuesta correcta: C)floated
💡 Explicación
English uses the -ing form of a verb as a participle that qualifies the following noun, as in 'floating dust' or 'a shining surface'. This lets a noun be described by an action rather than a plain adjective, which is one of the main ways a descriptive paragraph gains vividness. The past tense and the bare verb cannot fill that slot.
Ver respuesta
Respuesta correcta: C)floated
A)floatingCorrect! 'Floating' is the -ing form used as a participle before the noun 'dust', and it describes dust that drifts in the air.
B)floatingly'Floatingly' is not an English word; the adverb ending cannot be attached to this participle.
C)floated'Floated' is the past tense, which would make the sentence narrate a completed action instead of describing dust in the light.
D)float'Float' is the bare verb, and a bare verb cannot stand directly before a noun to describe it.
💡 Explicación
English uses the -ing form of a verb as a participle that qualifies the following noun, as in 'floating dust' or 'a shining surface'. This lets a noun be described by an action rather than a plain adjective, which is one of the main ways a descriptive paragraph gains vividness. The past tense and the bare verb cannot fill that slot.
Pregunta 5
Pregunta 5 · D4Bloom: Apply
A student describes a mountain village where the houses have dark stone roofs.
"Most of the houses in the village have ____ roofs, which makes the whole place look grey from a distance." Which word is correct?
Elige una opción para comprobar tu respuesta.
Respuesta correcta: A)greyish
💡 Explicación
Colour in descriptive writing comes in three intensities: the plain colour as in grey, a stronger form with a suffix as in greyish, and a darker form as in dark grey. The -ish suffix is the standard way to soften a colour, and it is a single word, which is why 'greyish' is the only option that works as an attribute noun.
Ver respuesta
Respuesta correcta: A)greyish
A)greyishCorrect! 'Greyish' is the adjective meaning slightly grey, and it describes roofs that are dark but not entirely grey.
B)grewish'Grewish' is a misspelling; the correct form is 'greyish', with the spelling 'grey' inside it.
C)graying'Graying' is a verb form meaning becoming grey, so it would describe an action and not the colour of the roofs.
D)greyed'Greyed' is also a verb form, and a verb cannot sit between the article and the noun in this position.
💡 Explicación
Colour in descriptive writing comes in three intensities: the plain colour as in grey, a stronger form with a suffix as in greyish, and a darker form as in dark grey. The -ish suffix is the standard way to soften a colour, and it is a single word, which is why 'greyish' is the only option that works as an attribute noun.
Pregunta 6
Pregunta 6 · D4Bloom: Apply
A writer describes an old olive grove where the trees are twisted and the soil is dry.
"The ____ trees have grown in dry soil for centuries, so their trunks are thick and pale." Which adjective is the most precise?
Elige una opción para comprobar tu respuesta.
Respuesta correcta: C)narrowed
💡 Explicación
A descriptive paragraph is stronger when a general adjective is replaced by a precise one. 'Old' and 'bent' only suggest age; 'gnarled' names exactly the twisted, knotted shape that a reader can picture. Precision in adjectives is what separates a description that decorates a text from one that actually shows a scene.
Ver respuesta
Respuesta correcta: C)narrowed
A)gnarledCorrect! 'Gnarled' is the precise adjective for a trunk that is twisted and knotted with age, which is exactly what an old olive grove shows.
B)garnished'Garnished' means decorated with a garnish, usually on food, and has no connection to tree trunks.
C)narrowed'Narrowed' means made narrower, which describes an action or a shape but not the twisted character of an aged tree.
D)gnarledness'Gnarledness' is a noun naming the quality, and a noun cannot be used to modify another noun directly.
💡 Explicación
A descriptive paragraph is stronger when a general adjective is replaced by a precise one. 'Old' and 'bent' only suggest age; 'gnarled' names exactly the twisted, knotted shape that a reader can picture. Precision in adjectives is what separates a description that decorates a text from one that actually shows a scene.
Pregunta 7
Pregunta 7 · D5Bloom: Apply
A student describes a bustling market where the sellers shout and the smell of fruit fills the lane.
Which sentence gives the most vivid and accurate picture of the market?
Elige una opción para comprobar tu respuesta.
Respuesta correcta: D)The market was busy, and the fruit was there.
💡 Explicación
Vivid description depends on selecting concrete detail over summary: a shout, the rattle of wheels and a smell fill a line where 'loud and fresh' cannot. The most effective descriptive paragraph mixes the senses and the actions, then lets the reader draw the conclusion instead of naming the general quality outright.
Ver respuesta
Respuesta correcta: D)The market was busy, and the fruit was there.
A)The market is loud and the fruit is fresh.'Loud and fresh' is accurate but abstract: it gives two general qualities and no image, so the reader must imagine everything.
B)The sellers shout, the wheels of the carts rattle, and the smell of ripe fruit fills the narrow lane.Correct! The three clauses name specific actions and sensations, and they build a picture the reader can see, hear and smell.
C)The market is full of fruit and it is very busy.'Full of fruit and very busy' repeats the same vague idea twice, so the description adds no information to the first sentence.
D)The market was busy, and the fruit was there.'The fruit was there' states only existence, and the simple past loses the sense of a market happening now.
💡 Explicación
Vivid description depends on selecting concrete detail over summary: a shout, the rattle of wheels and a smell fill a line where 'loud and fresh' cannot. The most effective descriptive paragraph mixes the senses and the actions, then lets the reader draw the conclusion instead of naming the general quality outright.
Pregunta 8
Pregunta 8 · D5Bloom: Apply
A student describes a seaside town that is completely rebuilt after a storm.
"Every building in the town is ____ glass, which makes the whole seafront look almost weightless." Which adjective is the best fit?
Elige una opción para comprobar tu respuesta.
Respuesta correcta: B)built from
💡 Explicación
Passive description of objects is built on a fixed set of frames: 'made of' for the substance an object consists of, 'made from' for the original material after transformation, and 'made with' for tools or added ingredients. Choosing the wrong frame changes what the sentence says about the object, so a descriptive paragraph must use the frame that matches the material.
Ver respuesta
Respuesta correcta: B)built from
A)made ofCorrect! 'Made of' is the passive construction that names the material a finished object is built from, and it fits a rebuilt seafront.
B)built from'Built from' refers to materials that shape a structure, such as wood or stone, not the transparent surface described here.
C)done in'Done in' is a colour expression such as 'done in blue', and it does not name a building material.
D)made with'Made with' names the tool or ingredient used, not the substance that makes up the object itself.
💡 Explicación
Passive description of objects is built on a fixed set of frames: 'made of' for the substance an object consists of, 'made from' for the original material after transformation, and 'made with' for tools or added ingredients. Choosing the wrong frame changes what the sentence says about the object, so a descriptive paragraph must use the frame that matches the material.
Pregunta 9
Pregunta 9 · D5Bloom: Apply
A student describes a person in a photograph who is about to leave a room.
"In the photograph the man ____ to the door, his hand already on the handle." Which verb form is correct?
Elige una opción para comprobar tu respuesta.
Respuesta correcta: C)is about leaving
💡 Explicación
The structure 'be about to' expresses an intention that has not yet happened and is followed by the infinitive, unlike 'be going to', which is also followed by the infinitive, and 'be doing', which takes the -ing form. Mixing these frames is one of the most frequent errors in written description of behaviour, so the pattern should be memorised as a unit.
Ver respuesta
Respuesta correcta: C)is about leaving
A)is about to leaveCorrect! 'Be about to' is followed by the bare infinitive with 'to', so 'is about to leave' is the only form that works.
B)are about to leaving'Are' does not agree with the third person subject 'the man', and 'about to' never takes an -ing form.
C)is about leaving'About leaving' would be correct after 'is', but the phrase here is 'is about to', which requires the infinitive.
D)about to leaves'About to leaves' has a third person ending added to an infinitive, which English does not allow in this structure.
💡 Explicación
The structure 'be about to' expresses an intention that has not yet happened and is followed by the infinitive, unlike 'be going to', which is also followed by the infinitive, and 'be doing', which takes the -ing form. Mixing these frames is one of the most frequent errors in written description of behaviour, so the pattern should be memorised as a unit.
Pregunta 10
Pregunta 10 · D6Bloom: Analyze
A student describes a garden where nothing grows under a large pine tree.
"Under the pine tree the soil is ____, so only moss manages to grow there." Which adjective is the most precise?
Elige una opción para comprobar tu respuesta.
Respuesta correcta: A)barren
💡 Explicación
Precision in a descriptive paragraph means choosing a single adjective that names the whole quality, rather than a noun that names the quality abstractly. English reserves the -ness ending for a noun, so the same root appears as 'barren' before a noun and as 'barrenness' when the quality itself is being discussed.
Ver respuesta
Respuesta correcta: A)barren
A)barrenCorrect! 'Barren' is the adjective for ground where nothing can grow, and it names the condition precisely in one word.
B)barrenness'Barrenness' is the noun naming that quality, and a noun cannot be used to modify 'soil' directly in English.
C)barrenly'Barrenly' is an adverb; it would have to modify a verb, and the sentence needs a word describing the soil.
D)unbarren'Unbarren' is an invented negative form, since the opposite of barren in this sense is fertile, and English does not build it that way.
💡 Explicación
Precision in a descriptive paragraph means choosing a single adjective that names the whole quality, rather than a noun that names the quality abstractly. English reserves the -ness ending for a noun, so the same root appears as 'barren' before a noun and as 'barrenness' when the quality itself is being discussed.
Pregunta 11
Pregunta 11 · D6Bloom: Analyze
A student describes a street in winter where the cold keeps everyone indoors.
"____ the cold, the street is almost empty after eight in the evening." Which phrase correctly completes the sentence?
Elige una opción para comprobar tu respuesta.
Respuesta correcta: D)Owing
💡 Explicación
English distinguishes a reason expressed with a noun from one expressed with a clause. 'Because of the cold' takes a noun phrase; 'because it is cold' takes a clause with a subject and a verb. 'Due to' and 'owing to' also require a noun phrase, but they cannot stand alone at the start of a sentence in this pattern.
Ver respuesta
Respuesta correcta: D)Owing
A)Because ofCorrect! 'Because of' is the preposition followed by a noun phrase, and 'the cold' is a noun phrase, so the frame is correct.
B)Because'Because' introduces a clause and needs a subject and a verb after it, which 'the cold' does not provide.
C)Due'Due' must be followed by 'to' and then a noun, so it needs 'due to the cold' and cannot start this sentence on its own.
D)Owing'Owing' can begin a sentence but requires 'to' before its noun, so 'owing the cold' is incomplete.
💡 Explicación
English distinguishes a reason expressed with a noun from one expressed with a clause. 'Because of the cold' takes a noun phrase; 'because it is cold' takes a clause with a subject and a verb. 'Due to' and 'owing to' also require a noun phrase, but they cannot stand alone at the start of a sentence in this pattern.
Pregunta 12
Pregunta 12 · D6Bloom: Analyze
A writer compares two versions of the same description of a bird on a wire.
"Version A says: 'The bird was sitting on the wire.' Version B says: 'A small brown bird hunched on the wire, its head tucked under its wing.'" Which version is the better description, and why?
Elige una opción para comprobar tu respuesta.
Respuesta correcta: B)Version A, because it is shorter and therefore clearer
💡 Explicación
The test for a descriptive paragraph is whether the reader can reconstruct the scene. Concrete nouns and precise verbs carry that burden, while a summary verb such as 'was sitting' leaves the work to the reader. Length is a side effect of detail, never the goal in itself.
Ver respuesta
Respuesta correcta: B)Version A, because it is shorter and therefore clearer
A)Version B, because it offers concrete detail the reader can pictureCorrect! Version B gives colour, posture and gesture, so the reader can see the bird instead of being told only that it was there.
B)Version A, because it is shorter and therefore clearer'Shorter is clearer' is not a principle of descriptive writing, and Version A actually leaves the reader with almost no information.
C)Version A, because 'was sitting' describes a continuing action'Was sitting' would describe a continuing action in a narrative, but the comparison is about descriptive power, not tense.
D)Version B, because it uses a longer sentence'A longer sentence' is not in itself better; what matters is the concrete detail, which the first option identifies.
💡 Explicación
The test for a descriptive paragraph is whether the reader can reconstruct the scene. Concrete nouns and precise verbs carry that burden, while a summary verb such as 'was sitting' leaves the work to the reader. Length is a side effect of detail, never the goal in itself.
Pregunta 13
Pregunta 13 · D7Bloom: Analyze
A student is told to describe a room and chooses a plain list of its contents.
"The room has a bed, a desk, a lamp, a chair and a shelf." Which revision turns this list into a description?
Elige una opción para comprobar tu respuesta.
Respuesta correcta: D)The room has furniture such as a bed and a desk among other items.
💡 Explicación
Description requires moving from the general name of a thing to its particular qualities. A reader who is told 'a desk' must imagine their own desk, whereas 'a scarred wooden desk' gives a desk with a history. Adding material, condition, size and position to each noun is the basic technique of a descriptive paragraph.
Ver respuesta
Respuesta correcta: D)The room has furniture such as a bed and a desk among other items.
A)The room has a narrow iron bed under the window, a scarred wooden desk, a brass lamp and a single shelf.Correct! The revision adds material, size, position and colour to each object, so the reader can picture the room.
B)The room contains a bed, a desk, a lamp, a chair and a shelf.'Contains a bed, a desk' restates the original list in slightly more formal words and adds no description at all.
C)The room is a room with things inside it that people use.'Things inside it that people use' is so general that it describes no particular room in the world.
D)The room has furniture such as a bed and a desk among other items.'Furniture such as' hides the objects behind a category, which is the opposite of what a descriptive paragraph should do.
💡 Explicación
Description requires moving from the general name of a thing to its particular qualities. A reader who is told 'a desk' must imagine their own desk, whereas 'a scarred wooden desk' gives a desk with a history. Adding material, condition, size and position to each noun is the basic technique of a descriptive paragraph.
Pregunta 14
Pregunta 14 · D7Bloom: Analyze
A writer is checking whether a description stays consistent with what is visible.
In a description of a snowy mountain village, which detail contradicts the setting?
Elige una opción para comprobar tu respuesta.
Respuesta correcta: C)A stone wall with frost along the top of it
💡 Explicación
A description must be internally coherent: every detail has to belong to the same scene, and one image that belongs to a different climate or season breaks the picture the writer is building. Checking each detail against the established setting is a standard step when a description feels confusing to the reader.
Ver respuesta
Respuesta correcta: C)A stone wall with frost along the top of it
A)A narrow lane where footprints lead up to a wooden door'Narrow lane', 'wooden door', 'stone wall', 'frost' and 'smoke' all fit a cold mountain village in winter, so they are consistent.
B)A bright beach with palm trees and a blue seaCorrect! A bright beach with palm trees contradicts snow and a mountain village, so this detail breaks the setting the text has established.
C)A stone wall with frost along the top of it'A stone wall with frost' reinforces the winter setting rather than contradicting it.
D)A chimney sending smoke into a grey morning sky'Smoke into a grey morning sky' suggests cold weather and supports the snowy setting.
💡 Explicación
A description must be internally coherent: every detail has to belong to the same scene, and one image that belongs to a different climate or season breaks the picture the writer is building. Checking each detail against the established setting is a standard step when a description feels confusing to the reader.
Pregunta 15
Pregunta 15 · D7Bloom: Analyze
A student must describe a building in a formal report rather than a personal account.
"The building is a fairly old kind of place and it has got a lot of floors inside it." Which revision is more accurate in a formal register?
Elige una opción para comprobar tu respuesta.
Respuesta correcta: B)The building is a pretty old place with lots of floors.
💡 Explicación
Register is part of a description's quality. Formal English replaces conversational words such as 'pretty', 'place' and 'lots of' with precise nouns such as 'structure' and 'considerable', and it avoids exaggeration that the evidence does not support. The same scene can therefore be described in very different registers without changing its facts.
Ver respuesta
Respuesta correcta: B)The building is a pretty old place with lots of floors.
A)The building is a historic structure of considerable height.Correct! 'Historic structure' and 'considerable height' are formal and precise, and they avoid the informal words of the original.
B)The building is a pretty old place with lots of floors.'Pretty old place' and 'lots of floors' are conversational, so they are wrong for a formal report.
C)The building is an ancient and incredibly tall house.'Incredibly' exaggerates without evidence, and calling a multi-storey building a house removes its institutional character.
D)The building is old and it is tall as well as wide.'As well as' introduces an addition the text never mentions, and the sentence abandons the formal register entirely.
💡 Explicación
Register is part of a description's quality. Formal English replaces conversational words such as 'pretty', 'place' and 'lots of' with precise nouns such as 'structure' and 'considerable', and it avoids exaggeration that the evidence does not support. The same scene can therefore be described in very different registers without changing its facts.
Pregunta 16
Pregunta 16 · D8Bloom: Evaluate
A writer reviews the first paragraph of a descriptive essay about a forest.
"The paragraph describes the forest in eleven sentences, none of which names a tree, a bird or a sound." Which assessment is most accurate?
Elige una opción para comprobar tu respuesta.
Respuesta correcta: A)The paragraph is not yet descriptive, because it summarises the setting without showing it
💡 Explicación
Description is identified by the presence of concrete particulars, not by the number of sentences. A paragraph that only names a setting tells the reader what the topic is, which is the job of the opening sentence, and then leaves the depiction to the imagination. The remedy is to replace general nouns with specific ones.
Ver respuesta
Respuesta correcta: A)The paragraph is not yet descriptive, because it summarises the setting without showing it
A)The paragraph is not yet descriptive, because it summarises the setting without showing itCorrect! Without concrete detail the reader receives only a label, so the paragraph announces a forest instead of depicting one.
B)The paragraph is a successful description, because length is enough'Length is enough' confuses quantity with quality; many sentences can say nothing concrete at all.
C)The paragraph is not descriptive, because description is impossible in eleven sentences'Impossible in eleven sentences' is not a real limitation, since a short description can be very vivid.
D)The paragraph is a successful description, because it avoids difficult details'Avoiding difficult details' is not a virtue in description, and it produces exactly the vagueness the paragraph has.
💡 Explicación
Description is identified by the presence of concrete particulars, not by the number of sentences. A paragraph that only names a setting tells the reader what the topic is, which is the job of the opening sentence, and then leaves the depiction to the imagination. The remedy is to replace general nouns with specific ones.
Pregunta 17
Pregunta 17 · D8Bloom: Evaluate
A student must describe a room to someone who will never see it.
Which set of details is most useful for helping the reader locate objects in an unknown room?
Elige una opción para comprobar tu respuesta.
Respuesta correcta: C)The useful pieces of the room
💡 Explicación
Spatial description depends on giving the reader coordinates: what the object is, where it stands, and what it sits next to or beneath. This is what makes a description usable rather than merely decorative, and it is why vague plurals such as 'things' and 'pieces' weaken a paragraph that is meant to be read as a guide.
Ver respuesta
Respuesta correcta: C)The useful pieces of the room
A)A chest of drawers under the window, with a reading lamp beside itCorrect! Naming the type, the position and an adjacent object lets the reader place each item in a mental map of the room.
B)Some furniture that is in the room'Some furniture that is in the room' names no item and no position, so nothing can be located.
C)The useful pieces of the room'The useful pieces of the room' judges the furniture and still identifies neither object nor place.
D)Things placed around the walls'Things placed around the walls' is a general description of a perimeter and gives no way to find anything.
💡 Explicación
Spatial description depends on giving the reader coordinates: what the object is, where it stands, and what it sits next to or beneath. This is what makes a description usable rather than merely decorative, and it is why vague plurals such as 'things' and 'pieces' weaken a paragraph that is meant to be read as a guide.
Pregunta 18
Pregunta 18 · D9Bloom: Evaluate
Two students write the same description of a hill town at dusk.
Version A: 'The town is pretty and nice at dusk.' Version B: 'At dusk the last light catches the terracotta roofs, and the church tower becomes a black shape against a violet sky.' Which sentence should the writer keep, and on what grounds?
Elige una opción para comprobar tu respuesta.
Respuesta correcta: D)Version B, because 'dusk' is a more precise word than 'night'
💡 Explicación
A description earns its place by making a scene reconstructable. 'Pretty and nice' are evaluations that could apply to almost anything the writer likes, whereas terracotta, light on roofs and a tower against a violet sky could only be this town at this hour. Specificity is what separates description from praise.
Ver respuesta
Respuesta correcta: D)Version B, because 'dusk' is a more precise word than 'night'
A)Version B, because it renders the scene with images a reader can reconstructCorrect! Colour, texture and silhouette give the reader a scene to reconstruct, which is the purpose of a descriptive paragraph.
B)Version A, because a short description is easier to read'Easier to read' would be a fair reason in a different context, but it does not make the sentence descriptive.
C)Version A, because 'pretty and nice' expresses a clear judgement'Pretty and nice' are general judgements that tell nothing about the place itself.
D)Version B, because 'dusk' is a more precise word than 'night''Dusk' is indeed precise, but the real strength of Version B lies in the concrete images, not in one time word.
💡 Explicación
A description earns its place by making a scene reconstructable. 'Pretty and nice' are evaluations that could apply to almost anything the writer likes, whereas terracotta, light on roofs and a tower against a violet sky could only be this town at this hour. Specificity is what separates description from praise.
Pregunta 19
Pregunta 19 · D10Bloom: Evaluate
A student is told to describe a city street in continuous present tense as if the reader is walking through it.
Which sentence maintains the continuous present consistently?
Elige una opción para comprobar tu respuesta.
Respuesta correcta: A)You turn the corner and the market opens up in front of you.
💡 Explicación
The continuous present describes an action unfolding now, and in a walk-through description it is realised with the present simple, not the progressive: 'you turn, you see, you hear'. Keeping the tense uniform across the whole passage is what makes the reader feel the movement as it happens.
Ver respuesta
Respuesta correcta: A)You turn the corner and the market opens up in front of you.
A)You turn the corner and the market opens up in front of you.Correct! Both clauses use the present simple, which is what the continuous present convention requires for a walk-through description.
B)You turn the corner and then the market opened in front of you.'Opened' shifts the second clause into the past, so the tense convention breaks in the middle of the sentence.
C)You are turning the corner and the market opens in front of you.'Are turning' is a progressive form, which the continuous present convention does not use here.
D)You turned the corner and the market opens up in front of you.'Turned' places the first action in the past while the second stays in the present, so the two halves do not match.
💡 Explicación
The continuous present describes an action unfolding now, and in a walk-through description it is realised with the present simple, not the progressive: 'you turn, you see, you hear'. Keeping the tense uniform across the whole passage is what makes the reader feel the movement as it happens.
Pregunta 20
Pregunta 20 · D10Bloom: Evaluate
A writer wants to check whether a descriptive paragraph still works after a student changes every 'grey' to 'greyish'.
"The sky was greyish, the walls were greyish, and the water looked greyish." What has happened to the effect?
Elige una opción para comprobar tu respuesta.
Respuesta correcta: B)The description has become more precise, because 'greyish' is the more literary word
💡 Explicación
Description depends on contrast: a light surface next to a dark one, a clean wall next to a stained one. A single adjective applied to every noun destroys exactly the differences that let the reader see the scene. Precision therefore means choosing the right word for each surface, not applying one gentle word everywhere.
Ver respuesta
Respuesta correcta: B)The description has become more precise, because 'greyish' is the more literary word
A)The distinctions have been flattened, so every surface now seems almost the sameCorrect! Replacing a precise term with a softened one everywhere removes the contrast between surfaces, so the scene loses its variety.
B)The description has become more precise, because 'greyish' is the more literary word'More literary' is not a reason; a weakened adjective is weaker regardless of register, and here it also destroys the contrasts.
C)Nothing has changed, because 'greyish' and 'grey' mean exactly the same thing'Exactly the same' is wrong because 'greyish' means only slightly grey, so it is a genuinely different word.
D)The passage has become longer, so it is now a better description'Longer' is not the goal of description, and a longer paragraph with fewer distinctions is a poorer one.
💡 Explicación
Description depends on contrast: a light surface next to a dark one, a clean wall next to a stained one. A single adjective applied to every noun destroys exactly the differences that let the reader see the scene. Precision therefore means choosing the right word for each surface, not applying one gentle word everywhere.
¿Listo para practicar?
Resuelve un simulacro de Inglés para Grado 11 con temporizador y seguimiento de tu progreso.