testing knowledge of lexical collocations
Moderators: Dimitris, maneki neko2, Lorikeet, Enrico Palazzo, superpeach, cecil2, Mr. Kalgukshi2
testing knowledge of lexical collocations
Hi everybody:
Recently, I've prepared three tests to examine my students' competence of lexical collocations. These tests also have to do with a research paper I am recently writing. Since I am not a native speaker, I am not totally sure that the collocation tests are completely accurate. So I thought about having your valuable opinions concerning my items. Would you please have a quick look and tell me whethet these items are accurate? Also, would you please give me your permission to cite your validation (as native speakers) in my finished thesis?
Thank you very much in advance.
_________________________________________________
1. They __________ an offer which I couldn’t refuse.
A. made
B. did
C. gave
D. presented
2. Don’t _________ this opportunity. It may never come again.
A. fail
B. miss
C. lose
D. drop
3. The administration signed and ________ all the envelopes and sent them to the students.
A. closed
B. stuck
C. sealed
D. fastened
4. I hated to ___________ the news to Adam that he was fired from his job.
A. tell
B. deliver
C. provide
D. break
5. When Dana crossed the street against the red light, she actually _______ the law.
A. broke
B. disobeyed
C. went against
D. resisted
6. George __________ the music club to learn to play the guitar.
A. connected
B. combined
C. accompanied
D. joined
7. Which journals does the library______________?
A. join in
B. pay out for
C. subscribe to
D. contribute to
8. I've _____ a table for us at a Vietnamese restaurant.
A. booked
B. reserved
C. ordered
D. arranged
9. She _________ her thirst with a long drink of water.
A. satisfied
B. reduced
C. decreased
D. quenched
10. His bravery should be an example to _________ to all of us.
A. follow
B. understand
C. realize
D. track
11. There's no need to _________ offence. I was only joking!
A. feel
B. take
C. think
D. consider
12. She stood outside in the rain for a long time. That's why she _________ a bad cold.
A. caught
B. acquired
C. held
D. managed
13. In the latest elections, our party has ________ control of the council.
A. kept
B. held
C. stayed
D. brought
14. He ___________ compliments to the “people’s freedom” party for the orderliness he noticed in their work.
A. gave
B. offered
C. paid
D. showed
15. The company ________ profit exceeding thirteen million dollars in nine months.
A. did
B. accomplished
C. gained
D. made
16. I constantly check out magazines to ____________ the latest fashion.
A. follow
B. keep up with
C. attend to
D. stay in touch with
17. Our car ____________ on the freeway.
A. broke down
B. went down
C. failed
D. fell down
18. He has ________ his beard off.
A. cut
B. removed
C. shaved
D. took
19. The boss has __________ a very high opinion about her.
A. created
B. made
C. constructed
D. formed
20. She is expected to ___________ her baby on the 2nd of September.
A. bring
B. birth
C. deliver
D. get
21. He asked them to ____________ a more professional approach.
A. adopt
B. issue
C. assume
D. simulate
22. Researchers rarely ____________ research with a finished model of the causal process they want to test.
A. accomplish
B. raise
C. conduct
D. perform
23. It took a long time for Joe to __________ the habit of staying up until two in the morning. He’d been doing it since he was in his teens.
A. leave
B. break
C. remove
D. abandon
24. You should __________ your step when you hike on that trail; it’s very steep and dangerous.
A. watch
B. see
C. notice
D. take care of
25. I bought a newspaper at the airport with my last Brazilian reals, so I told the seller to ________ the change.
A. keep
B. take
C. have
D. get
26. Somebody is knocking. Would you please ___________ the door?
A. look at
B. see
C. get at
D. answer
27. I want to ___________a cottage for my vacation.
A. hire
B. rent
C. dissolve
D. discard
28. They _____________ five points against the visiting team.
A. scored
B. attained
C. added
D. acquired
29. The company has _________ some organizational goals.
A. appointed
B. established
C. adjusted
D. set
30. It is very hard to ___________ smoking because nicotine is a very addictive drug.
A. desert
B. quit
C. deny
D. cancel
_______________________________________________
Are you going to __________ Allen's party next Saturday night?
A. appear
B. go away to
C. attend
D. haunt
He _________ orders that the work should be started immediately.
A. gave
B. provided
C. offered
D. made out
I think they want to get married and _____________ a family.
A. begin
B. start
C. build
D. create
They are trying to _____________ their minds up where to go for their honeymoon.
A. keep
B. turn
C. do
D. make
We ______________ no difficulty in finding the house.
A. did
B. had
C. made
D. created
She __________ a decision not to go on the trip.
A. did
B. made
C. caught
D. produced
She never ____________ her promise of calling and dropping for a visit every now and then.
A. damaged
B. broke
C. missed
D. failed
The country is ____________ preparations for war.
A. doing
B. taking
C. making
D. having
She did not ___________ any answer to any of my questions.
A. provide
B. supply
C. bring
D. make
His salary is too low to help ____________ for his household.
A. arrange
B. add
C. provide
D. support
He ___________ many interesting experiences while traveling in Africa.
A. gained
B. achieved
C. benefited
D. made
These kinds of comic books _________ a lot of money for publishing houses.
A. make
B. produce
C. bring
D. get
They ___________ the chance of getting tickets for tonight’s performance.
A. failed
B. missed
C. lost
D. dropped
______________________________________________
He _________ a car accident in his way home. He broke his leg and badly hurt his back.
A. had
B. made
C. caused
D. found
It is difficult to ____________ classical music.
A. write
B. make
C. formulate
D. create
His face suddenly frowned and he seemed to ____________ trouble with his breathing.
A. feel
B. suffer
C. sense
D. have
She wants to ___________ you a visit. She says the children miss you very much.
A. give
B. pay
C. go to
D. drop in
They _____________ lunch at a sidewalk cafe overlooking the intersection of two broad, busy streets.
A. ate
B. fed
C. took
D. had
Don’t be concerned about being late. I’ll ____________ your laundry so that you can leave early in the morning.
A. wash
B. clean
C. do
D. finish
- Opposition leaders are ___________ direct contacts with the government in Kabul.
A. taking
B. having
C. doing
D. reaching
They expected the meeting to ___________ a great impact on the future of the country.
A. make
B. create
C. cause
D. reflect
He always used to ___________ excellent grades at college.
A. bring
B. obtain
C. achieve
D. result
___________ my advice and stay away from him.
A. do
B. have
C. take
D. listen to
He ____________ his grave opinions about the new environmental protection act.
A. told
B. said
C. spoke
D. expressed
The idea that I will never see her again has always __________ fear inside me.
A. aroused
B. grew
C. produced
D. made
Fred has given no good reasons for wanting to ___________ his relationship with his girlfriend.
A. cut down
B. finish up
C. end up
D. break up
The official who ignored the warning ___________ a serious mistake.
A. made
B. did
C. committed
D. performed
She tried to ____________ suicide by swallowing a cyanide pill.
A. commit
B. execute
C. accomplish
D. achieve
Recently, I've prepared three tests to examine my students' competence of lexical collocations. These tests also have to do with a research paper I am recently writing. Since I am not a native speaker, I am not totally sure that the collocation tests are completely accurate. So I thought about having your valuable opinions concerning my items. Would you please have a quick look and tell me whethet these items are accurate? Also, would you please give me your permission to cite your validation (as native speakers) in my finished thesis?
Thank you very much in advance.
_________________________________________________
1. They __________ an offer which I couldn’t refuse.
A. made
B. did
C. gave
D. presented
2. Don’t _________ this opportunity. It may never come again.
A. fail
B. miss
C. lose
D. drop
3. The administration signed and ________ all the envelopes and sent them to the students.
A. closed
B. stuck
C. sealed
D. fastened
4. I hated to ___________ the news to Adam that he was fired from his job.
A. tell
B. deliver
C. provide
D. break
5. When Dana crossed the street against the red light, she actually _______ the law.
A. broke
B. disobeyed
C. went against
D. resisted
6. George __________ the music club to learn to play the guitar.
A. connected
B. combined
C. accompanied
D. joined
7. Which journals does the library______________?
A. join in
B. pay out for
C. subscribe to
D. contribute to
8. I've _____ a table for us at a Vietnamese restaurant.
A. booked
B. reserved
C. ordered
D. arranged
9. She _________ her thirst with a long drink of water.
A. satisfied
B. reduced
C. decreased
D. quenched
10. His bravery should be an example to _________ to all of us.
A. follow
B. understand
C. realize
D. track
11. There's no need to _________ offence. I was only joking!
A. feel
B. take
C. think
D. consider
12. She stood outside in the rain for a long time. That's why she _________ a bad cold.
A. caught
B. acquired
C. held
D. managed
13. In the latest elections, our party has ________ control of the council.
A. kept
B. held
C. stayed
D. brought
14. He ___________ compliments to the “people’s freedom” party for the orderliness he noticed in their work.
A. gave
B. offered
C. paid
D. showed
15. The company ________ profit exceeding thirteen million dollars in nine months.
A. did
B. accomplished
C. gained
D. made
16. I constantly check out magazines to ____________ the latest fashion.
A. follow
B. keep up with
C. attend to
D. stay in touch with
17. Our car ____________ on the freeway.
A. broke down
B. went down
C. failed
D. fell down
18. He has ________ his beard off.
A. cut
B. removed
C. shaved
D. took
19. The boss has __________ a very high opinion about her.
A. created
B. made
C. constructed
D. formed
20. She is expected to ___________ her baby on the 2nd of September.
A. bring
B. birth
C. deliver
D. get
21. He asked them to ____________ a more professional approach.
A. adopt
B. issue
C. assume
D. simulate
22. Researchers rarely ____________ research with a finished model of the causal process they want to test.
A. accomplish
B. raise
C. conduct
D. perform
23. It took a long time for Joe to __________ the habit of staying up until two in the morning. He’d been doing it since he was in his teens.
A. leave
B. break
C. remove
D. abandon
24. You should __________ your step when you hike on that trail; it’s very steep and dangerous.
A. watch
B. see
C. notice
D. take care of
25. I bought a newspaper at the airport with my last Brazilian reals, so I told the seller to ________ the change.
A. keep
B. take
C. have
D. get
26. Somebody is knocking. Would you please ___________ the door?
A. look at
B. see
C. get at
D. answer
27. I want to ___________a cottage for my vacation.
A. hire
B. rent
C. dissolve
D. discard
28. They _____________ five points against the visiting team.
A. scored
B. attained
C. added
D. acquired
29. The company has _________ some organizational goals.
A. appointed
B. established
C. adjusted
D. set
30. It is very hard to ___________ smoking because nicotine is a very addictive drug.
A. desert
B. quit
C. deny
D. cancel
_______________________________________________
Are you going to __________ Allen's party next Saturday night?
A. appear
B. go away to
C. attend
D. haunt
He _________ orders that the work should be started immediately.
A. gave
B. provided
C. offered
D. made out
I think they want to get married and _____________ a family.
A. begin
B. start
C. build
D. create
They are trying to _____________ their minds up where to go for their honeymoon.
A. keep
B. turn
C. do
D. make
We ______________ no difficulty in finding the house.
A. did
B. had
C. made
D. created
She __________ a decision not to go on the trip.
A. did
B. made
C. caught
D. produced
She never ____________ her promise of calling and dropping for a visit every now and then.
A. damaged
B. broke
C. missed
D. failed
The country is ____________ preparations for war.
A. doing
B. taking
C. making
D. having
She did not ___________ any answer to any of my questions.
A. provide
B. supply
C. bring
D. make
His salary is too low to help ____________ for his household.
A. arrange
B. add
C. provide
D. support
He ___________ many interesting experiences while traveling in Africa.
A. gained
B. achieved
C. benefited
D. made
These kinds of comic books _________ a lot of money for publishing houses.
A. make
B. produce
C. bring
D. get
They ___________ the chance of getting tickets for tonight’s performance.
A. failed
B. missed
C. lost
D. dropped
______________________________________________
He _________ a car accident in his way home. He broke his leg and badly hurt his back.
A. had
B. made
C. caused
D. found
It is difficult to ____________ classical music.
A. write
B. make
C. formulate
D. create
His face suddenly frowned and he seemed to ____________ trouble with his breathing.
A. feel
B. suffer
C. sense
D. have
She wants to ___________ you a visit. She says the children miss you very much.
A. give
B. pay
C. go to
D. drop in
They _____________ lunch at a sidewalk cafe overlooking the intersection of two broad, busy streets.
A. ate
B. fed
C. took
D. had
Don’t be concerned about being late. I’ll ____________ your laundry so that you can leave early in the morning.
A. wash
B. clean
C. do
D. finish
- Opposition leaders are ___________ direct contacts with the government in Kabul.
A. taking
B. having
C. doing
D. reaching
They expected the meeting to ___________ a great impact on the future of the country.
A. make
B. create
C. cause
D. reflect
He always used to ___________ excellent grades at college.
A. bring
B. obtain
C. achieve
D. result
___________ my advice and stay away from him.
A. do
B. have
C. take
D. listen to
He ____________ his grave opinions about the new environmental protection act.
A. told
B. said
C. spoke
D. expressed
The idea that I will never see her again has always __________ fear inside me.
A. aroused
B. grew
C. produced
D. made
Fred has given no good reasons for wanting to ___________ his relationship with his girlfriend.
A. cut down
B. finish up
C. end up
D. break up
The official who ignored the warning ___________ a serious mistake.
A. made
B. did
C. committed
D. performed
She tried to ____________ suicide by swallowing a cyanide pill.
A. commit
B. execute
C. accomplish
D. achieve
-
- Posts: 947
- Joined: Tue Sep 14, 2004 11:30 am
- Location: Spain
Tell you what, I'll try and do ten and let anybody else go on. The point about collocations is that there needs to be no particular reason why the "wrong" answers are wrong except that they don't collocate as well:
Q1 put "me" in all the answers.
Q2 change "fail" to something more grammatical and so more possible.
Q3 good
Q4 I don't think the "wrong" answers are wrong enough.
Q5 same problem with "disobeyed"
Q6 ok but the wrong answers are too wrong.
Q7 good
Q8 none of the wrong answers are wrong enough
Q9 same problem with A especially
Q 10 "for all of us"
My suggestion is that you measure the students' ability on a scale: ask them to rank the answers from best to worst putting 1 for the best, 2 for the second etc and give them some credit for choosing the best answer as their second choice.
Q1 put "me" in all the answers.
Q2 change "fail" to something more grammatical and so more possible.
Q3 good
Q4 I don't think the "wrong" answers are wrong enough.
Q5 same problem with "disobeyed"
Q6 ok but the wrong answers are too wrong.
Q7 good
Q8 none of the wrong answers are wrong enough
Q9 same problem with A especially
Q 10 "for all of us"
My suggestion is that you measure the students' ability on a scale: ask them to rank the answers from best to worst putting 1 for the best, 2 for the second etc and give them some credit for choosing the best answer as their second choice.
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- Location: Poland
- Contact:
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- Posts: 1195
- Joined: Thu Jan 16, 2003 6:33 pm
- Location: Aguanga, California (near San Diego)
Re: testing knowledge of lexical collocations
maymr27 wrote:Hi everybody:
Recently, I've prepared three tests to examine my students' competence of lexical collocations. These tests also have to do with a research paper I am recently writing. Since I am not a native speaker, I am not totally sure that the collocation tests are completely accurate. So I thought about having your valuable opinions concerning my items. Would you please have a quick look and tell me whethet these items are accurate? Also, would you please give me your permission to cite your validation (as native speakers) in my finished thesis?
Thank you very much in advance.
_________________________________________________
1. They __________ an offer which I couldn’t refuse.
A. made
B. did
C. gave
D. presented
2. Don’t _________ this opportunity. It may never come again.
A. fail
B. miss
C. lose
D. drop
3. The administration signed and ________ all the envelopes and sent them to the students.
A. closed
B. stuck
C. sealed
D. fastened
4. I hated to ___________ the news to Adam that he was fired from his job.
A. tell
B. deliver (collocates, but not quite as strong, I think, in this sentence)
C. provide
D. break
5. When Dana crossed the street against the red light, she actually _______ the law.
A. broke
B. disobeyed
C. went against
D. resisted
Do you see what Stephen is getting at?
Larry Latham
Hi again,
Thank you all for your valuable and insightful feedback. NowI see that some of the first ten items are problomatic. But what about the rest of the items? Are they ok? Please comment.
Dear Andrew Patterson: since these tests constitute a part of an unfinished research project, I am not totally sure (and comfortable) about publishing them on the internet yet. After the submission and discussion of my paper, I will be glad (and honored) to publish them in your website. Thank you.
May
Thank you all for your valuable and insightful feedback. NowI see that some of the first ten items are problomatic. But what about the rest of the items? Are they ok? Please comment.
Dear Andrew Patterson: since these tests constitute a part of an unfinished research project, I am not totally sure (and comfortable) about publishing them on the internet yet. After the submission and discussion of my paper, I will be glad (and honored) to publish them in your website. Thank you.
May
-
- Posts: 1195
- Joined: Thu Jan 16, 2003 6:33 pm
- Location: Aguanga, California (near San Diego)
May, you're really asking too much here. We've identified a problem in your work, and hopefully you can benefit from that. But asking us to edit your whole test seems like you want us to do your work for you. Not fair.maymr27 wrote:Hi again,
Thank you all for your valuable and insightful feedback. NowI see that some of the first ten items are problomatic. But what about the rest of the items? Are they ok? Please comment.
May
Larry Latham
-
- Posts: 947
- Joined: Tue Sep 14, 2004 11:30 am
- Location: Spain
I agree, it's a lot to ask.
One possible solution might be some kind "word association". Ask students what enters their mind when they hear "She tried to commit......" You should get a crime, suicide, adultery, fraud etc which would avoid the need to think up wrong answers. A second step might be to ask your students to rank the correct answers from most to least familiar to them.
One possible solution might be some kind "word association". Ask students what enters their mind when they hear "She tried to commit......" You should get a crime, suicide, adultery, fraud etc which would avoid the need to think up wrong answers. A second step might be to ask your students to rank the correct answers from most to least familiar to them.