Strong Collocations 1
In the last few years, we have begun to recognize the importance of “word partnerships” – or strong collocations as we grammarians call them. These days you can even find collocation dictionaries. Here is an exercise showing a few common ones:
http://www.better-english.com/strongcollocation/collocations.htm
1 He spoke English with a ........ French accent.
average
careless
widespread
pronounced
chronic
2 His new novel has met with ........ acclaim.
careless
dreadful
great
pronounced
wholehearted
3 We need to make sure that there is enough ........ accommodation to house all the delegates.
careless
dreadful
yellow
luxury
wholehearted
4 He gave us a ........ account of all that you had achieved over there.
ready
yellow
careless
luxury
glowing
5 Could you please give me an ........ account?
itemised
dreadful
great
luxury
glowing
6 We need to crack down hard on the ........ abuse of drugs.
average
outright
widespread
frenetic
careless
7 He was able to predict what was going to happen with ........ accuracy.
itemised
uncanny
careless
luxury
glowing
8 They've made some highly ........ accusations about us.
itemised
uncanny
damaging
luxury
glowing
9 We need to find a new site with ........ access to the European motorway network.
ready
outright
widespread
pronounced
wholehearted
10 This will probably be the ........ achievement of her career.
itemised
uncanny
damaging
crowning
glowing
11 I did all the groundwork on this project but he only gave me a ........ acknowledgement in his report.
itemised
uncanny
damaging
crowning
grudging
12 I don't know him very well. He's just a ........ acquaintance.
casual
uncanny
damaging
crowning
grudging
13 We're fighting for the ........ abolition of the death penalty.
average
outright
decisive
frenetic
chronic
14 I'm afraid he was involved in a ........ accident.
ready
dreadful
widespread
pronounced
wholehearted
15 He invited me around to see his ........ acquisition, a new BMW.
casual
latest
damaging
crowning
grudging
16 We need to take some ........ action before it is too late.
casual
latest
decisive
crowning
grudging
17 He wasn't particularly good. He was of about ........ ability.
average
latest
decisive
frenetic
chronic
18 I don't think we can succeed without the ........ acceptance of the unions.
average
polite
careless
pronounced
wholehearted
19 There always a lot of ........ activity going on but nothing much seems to get done!
careless
latest
yellow
frenetic
grudging
20 I'm afraid her husband has got a ........ addiction to gambling.
careless
latest
decisive
frenetic
chronic
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