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RMIT University Library - Learning Lab

Word practice

 

Instructions

You can improve your use of academic words by doing this two-part activity.

Read each sentence and select the best word choice from each drop-down box.

 
 

Instructions

Choose the best word in [brackets] from each choice. Answers will be given at the end of each question.

1. To see how far people would obey orders, Milgram set up an experiment [thereby, whereby] participants were instructed to give electric shocks to others.

Answer: whereby

2. Finding participants for your research can be a major challenge, as people are often [inclined, reluctant] to give up their time without financial reward.

Answer: reluctant

3. In fact, workers who were motivated by [intrinsic, incompatible] factors such as pride in their performance were much less likely to engage in bullying.

Answer: intrinsic

4. Any changes to regulations governing mandatory listing of ingredients in food labelling will [areas, likewise] affect the cosmetics industry.

Answer: likewise

5. The government has imposed a flood [panel, levy], a one-off tax to help meet the cost of rebuilding infrastructure after the recent natural disasters.

Answer: levy

6. In response to the H1N1 pandemic, many organisations developed a strict [protocol, route] to be followed in the event of an outbreak of the illness.

Answer: protocol

7. The [coincidental, qualitative] research involved interviewing groups of residents from three aged-care facilities on their experiences of isolation.

Answer: qualitative

8. It is clear that, [whereby, not-with-standing] the recent efforts of the national broadcaster, there is still a lack of ethnic diversity on our TV screens.

Answer: not-with-standing

9. The [ongoing, undergoing] debate on the effects of this policy is masking the real issue; the policy is in fact illegal and must be challenged in the courts.

Answer: ongoing

10. Acceptance of these values is spreading, [wherebys, albeit] slowly, mainly through a social networking campaign which recently achieved 100,000 followers.

Answer: albeit