Here is a practice exercise in which you can read the first ten lines of a narrative text and then answer some questions on it:

Mr Merriweather was dozing by the fireside. His newspaper slipped from his grasp, his head fell forward and he started to wander by the banks of a fast-flowing river. Then a coal slipped, the fire crackled and he woke up with a start.

He reached down to retrieve his newspaper and then remembered something that he wanted to ask his wife. But Mrs Merriweather was not there.

He listened for a while. The cottage seemed very quiet. The he called out "Molly!" several times but received no reply. He shuffled out into the hall and saw that Molly's rainwear was missing from its accustomed hook. And her Wellingtons which always stood with the umbrellas in the umbrella stand had also gone. Whatever would have possessed her to go out on a night such as this?

1. Which statement tells you that Mr Merriweather was dreaming?

A: he was dozing by the fireside
B: his newspaper slipped from his grasp
C: his head fell forward
D: he started to wander by banks of a river
E: a coal slipped

2. Mr Merriweather felt sure that his wife had left the house because:

A: the cottage seemed very quiet when he woke up
B: the door to the hall was open
C: her raincoat was not on its peg
D: her umbrella had disappeared
E: she had taken all her possessions

3. The word accustomed in line 8 could most accurately be replaced by:

A: acquainted
B: usual
C: protruding
D: established
E: adapted

4. The two short sentences in line 6 are effective because they convey Mr Merriweather's sense of:

A: haste
B: alarm
C: concentration
D: sleepiness
E: loneliness

5. What sort of weather is suggested by the passage?

A: a wet, stormy and windy night
B: a cold frosty night
C: a mild and breezy night
D: a windy but dry night
E: a snowy night

1. For each of the following sentences, substitute the appropriate phrasal verb given in brackets for the underlined word or phrase. For example:
      I will request a bus schedule. (ask for, stand for)
      I will ask for a bus schedule.

      Don't worry. They won't make fun of you. (call on, laugh at)
      Don't worry. They won't laugh at you.

1. She resembles her mother. (looks after, takes after)
2. We perused the report. (sided with, waded through)
3. I will adhere to what I said before. (burst into, stick to)
4. We will demand a review of the situation. (call for, guard against)
5. His parents disapprove of his participating in so many extracurricular activities. (bank on, frown on)
6. Without hesitating, she started her speech. (launched into, hinged on)
7. I am depending on your support. (counting on, picking on)
8. He will take care of everything. (look after, settle for)
9. What do these initials represent? (provide for, stand for)
10. All of our plans depend on the availability of transportation. (hinge on, touch on)

2. Rewrite the following sentences, changing the object of the preposition to a pronoun. For example:
      He lived on a small allowance.
      He lived on it.

      I sided with my brother.
      I sided with him.

1. We are counting on our friends.
2. Will you stick to the agreement?
3. She takes after her grandmother.
4. No one has tampered with the letters.
5. Yesterday I ran into your uncle.
6. They saw through the plot.
7. He cut across the vacant lot.
8. I confided in my niece.

3. For each of the following sentences, place the adverb of manner given in brackets between the verb and the preposition. For example:
      He deals in rare stamps. (exclusively)
      He deals exclusively in rare stamps.

      The introduction touches on the main points. (briefly)
      The introduction touches briefly on the main points.

1. He dealt with every objection to his plan. (confidently)
2. She sided with her friend. (unhesitatingly)
3. We cut across the lawn. (quickly)
4. Since we were very hungry, we settled for bread and potatoes. (uncomplainingly)
5. I leafed through the material. (rapidly)
6. They watched over the children. (patiently)
7. You cannot survive on tea and biscuits. (solely)
8. We entered into the discussion. (eagerly)

4. For each of the following sentences, substitute the appropriate phrasal verb given in brackets for the underlined word or phrase. For example:
      He will leave tomorrow morning. (level off, set off)
      He will set off tomorrow morning.

      The storm will soon pass. (blow over, boil over)
      The storm will soon blow over.

1. I hope she arrives soon. (stays up, shows up)
2. He usually sleeps after lunch. (buckles down, nods off)
3. We saw the plane land. (settle down, touch down)
4. I told her to beware. (pass out, watch out)
5. Someone should intervene before the situation gets worse. (pull in, step in)
6. They waited until the train left. (logged off, pulled out)
7. Don't let them escape. (get away, wear off)
8. We were worried when she fainted. (moved out, passed out)
9. The barometric pressure has stopped rising. (leveled off, settled in)
10. I hope you will all help. (give in, pitch in)

5. For each of the following sentences, substitute the appropriate phrasal verb given in brackets for the underlined word or phrase. For example:
      He refused to support what I had said. (back up, hold back)
      He refused to back up what I had said.

      The game was canceled because of the rain. (called off, phased out)
      The game was called off because of the rain.

1. He raised a difficult question. (brought up, filled up)
2. She is good at assessing people. (buttering up, sizing up)
3. We should de-emphasize the dangers of the situation. (hand down, play down)
4. I am returning the raincoat I borrowed. (backing up, giving back)
5. The wine had been diluted. (played down, watered down)
6. I want to organize my photographs. (sort out, try out)
7. We discussed the situation. (shouted down, talked over)
8. May I test your bicycle? (point out, try out)
9. You can collect the tickets at the box office. (fill up, pick up)
10. I erased the notes in the margins of the book. (bailed out, rubbed out)
ii. Do you think they invented the whole story? (hung up, made up)
12. She summarized what we had learned so far. (sounded out, summed up)

6. The following sentences contain transitive phrasal verbs which consist of verbs followed by adverbs. Rewrite each sentence, changing the object of the verb to a pronoun, and placing the pronoun object in the correct position in the sentence. For example:
      I picked up the clothes.
      I picked them up.

1. We ironed out the difficulties.
2. She called up her sister.
3. We sent back the material.
4. He sent out the invitations.
5. I gave away the bicycle.
6. She brought along her younger brother.
7. We wrote down the answer.
8. She let in the cats.
9. He turned over the stone.
10. We emptied out the baskets.

7. For each of the following sentences, determine whether the underlined object indicates where the action took place, or what was acted upon, and fill in the blank with where or what, as appropriate. Then rewrite the sentence, changing the object to a pronoun, and placing the pronoun object in the correct position in the sentence.
If the object indicates where, place the pronoun object after the preposition; however, if the object indicates what, place the pronoun object before the adverb. For example:
      I looked up the staircase. _____
      I looked up the staircase. where
      I looked up it.

      I looked up the word. ____
      I looked up the word. what
      I looked it up.

1. I turned off the light. ________
2. She walked into the room. _________
3. He climbed up the ladder. _________
4. They sent in the report. _________
5. Children should not play on the road. _________
6. We set off the fireworks. _________
7. Please put on some music. _________
8. We turned off the main road. _________
9. I cut up the cake. _________
10. The plane flew over the lake. _________
11. She lives down the street. _________
12. Please pass on the information. _________
13. He put down the box. _________
14. They work in this building. _________
15. The ball rolled down the hill. ________
16. We handed over the document. _________
17. He walked off the stage. _________
18. She turned down the offer. _________
19. They sat on the floor. ________
20. I wound up the clock. _________

8. Following the instructions for the previous exercise, fill in each blank with where or what. Then rewrite each sentence to include the adverb of manner given in brackets. If the object indicates where, place the adverb of manner between the verb and the preposition; however, if the object indicates what, place the adverb of manner before the verb. For example:
      I walked across the bridge. _____ (quickly)
      I walked across the bridge. where
      I walked quickly across the bridge.

      We tidied up the papers. ____ (hurriedly)
      We tidied up the papers. what
      We hurriedly tidied up the papers.

1. The car slipped off the road. _________ (suddenly)
2. We lifted up the buckets. ________ (wearily)
3. The cable cars moved up the hill. ________ (slowly)
4. She let down the dress. _________ (carefully)
5. The book had been placed on the table. _________ (neatly)
6. He was leaning against the wall. ________ (idly)
7. She filed away the new material. ________ (methodically)
8. We shut off the power. _________ (hastily)
9. They closed up the cottage. _________ (sadly)
10. The swallows flew over our house. _________ (swiftly)

9. Paying attention to whether the last word in the clause is a preposition or an adverb, for each of the following sentences, underline the word which would usually be stressed in spoken English. For example:
      Why did you go out?
      Why did you go out?

      This is what you asked for.
      This is what you asked for.

1. What time did you get up?
2. What are you looking at?
3. The following idea has been put forward.
4. Which group did you come with?
5. What are they searching for?
6. Is he moving away?
7. What kind of music do you like to listen to?
8. When did you get back?
9. How did he find out?
10. When you look at this picture, what are you reminded of?
11. Which diving board did she jump from?
12. Why did you jump back?

10. For each of the following sentences, paying attention to whether the word following the verb is usually used as a preposition or as an adverb in a phrasal verb, change the object to a pronoun object and place it in the correct position in the sentence. For example:
      How did you deal with the situation?
      How did you deal with it?

      We put away the books.
      We put them away.

1. Let us look into the possibility.
2. Who brought up the question?
3. Remember to rub out the mistakes.
4. Perhaps we can reason with your uncle.
5. They had to turn away twenty people.
6. We have scaled down our operation.
7. She looked after the baby girl.
8. Remember to stick to the plan.
9. Did you give back the dictionary?
10. How did you dispose of their objections?
11. We confided in her sister.
12. Have you figured out the answer?

11. For each of the following sentences, paying attention to whether the phrasal verb consists of a verb followed by a preposition or a verb followed by an adverb, change the object to a pronoun, and place it in the correct position in the sentence. For example:
      Squirrels can survive on nuts.
      Squirrels can survive on them.

      Did you try on the new shoes?
      Did you try them on?

1. I know I can count on my friends.
2. They put off the rehearsal.
3. I stumbled across an interesting story.
4. He is good at putting across his ideas.
5. We watched over the children.
6. She hung around the museum.
7. I would like to hand on the responsibility.
8. She leafed through the exercises.
9. I came across a city map.
10. Would you like to think over the proposal?
11. Are you going to trade in your old machine?
12. All our plans hinge on the weather.

12. For each of the following sentences, substitute the appropriate phrasal verb given in brackets for the underlined word or phrase. For example:
      Don't try to avoid it. (walk away with, wriggle out of)
      Don't try to wriggle out of it.

1. What does that amount to? (add up to, lead up to)
2. He is trying to compensate for the time he lost. (look out for, make up for)
3. I want to continue my studies. (carry on with, get in on)
4. We want to focus on new developments. (fall back on, zero in on)
5. Do you think you can overtake the others? (catch up with, look down on)
6. We want to abolish the waiting period. (come down to, do away with)
7. The tenants had to tolerate noisy conditions. (get away with, put up with)
8. I developed spots after walking through a patch of poison ivy. (brushed up on, came out in)
9. He admires his older brother. (looks up to, sticks up for)
10. You should reduce the number of cigarettes you smoke per day. (cut back on, zero in on)
11. The problem urgently requires a solution. (adds up to, cries out for)
12. She always defends her friends. (holds out for, sticks up for)

ENG: Notice: The on-line teacher replies to everyone. Recopy your exercises, your essays etc. to correct and send them. You will receive an answer as soon as possible.

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