These exercises are based on the core principle of the course: fluency in English comes from mastering fixed collocations, not just individual words. Practice recognising and using combinations like ‘highly recommended’ or ‘make progress’ in context.
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Exercice 1 — Choose the Correct Collocation
Choose the option that correctly completes each sentence with a natural English collocation.
- The new restaurant downtown is ___ by food critics and locals alike.
- After months of hard work, the students finally started to ___ in their writing skills.
- The CEO decided to ___ a decision about the merger until further data was available.
- Her presentation ___ a lasting impression on everyone in the boardroom.
Correction
- The new restaurant downtown is highly recommended by food critics and locals alike.
- After months of hard work, the students finally started to make progress in their writing skills.
- The CEO decided to delay making a decision about the merger until further data was available.
- Her presentation made a lasting impression on everyone in the boardroom.
Exercice 2 — Match the Collocation Pairs
Match each verb on the left with the correct noun on the right to form a natural English collocation, then write the full sentence provided.
- Match the verb 'reach' with the correct noun to complete the sentence: 'After three hours of negotiation, both parties managed to ___ an agreement.'
- Match the verb 'pay' with the correct noun to complete the sentence: 'You should always ___ close attention when a native speaker uses idiomatic language.'
- Match the verb 'raise' with the correct noun to complete the sentence: 'The journalist was the first to ___ serious concerns about the safety of the new policy.'
- Match the verb 'take' with the correct noun to complete the sentence: 'The government needs to ___ immediate action to address the housing crisis.'
Correction
- After three hours of negotiation, both parties managed to reach an agreement.
- You should always pay close attention when a native speaker uses idiomatic language.
- The journalist was the first to raise serious concerns about the safety of the new policy.
- The government needs to take immediate action to address the housing crisis.
Exercice 3 — Complete the Collocations
Fill in each blank with the correct word to form a fixed English collocation. Write the complete sentence in your answer.
- The documentary on climate change is ___ recommended for anyone interested in environmental issues.
- Despite the setbacks, the research team continued to make steady ___ towards finding a cure.
- Learning fixed word combinations is ___ important if you want to sound natural in English.
- She has a ___ knowledge of English collocations, which makes her writing feel truly fluent and natural.
Correction
- The documentary on climate change is highly recommended for anyone interested in environmental issues.
- Despite the setbacks, the research team continued to make steady progress towards finding a cure.
- Learning fixed word combinations is crucially important if you want to sound natural in English.
- She has a deep knowledge of English collocations, which makes her writing feel truly fluent and natural.
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