Using Collocation to Boost Your IELTS Score – Key Word: Action

Key word: Action

1          Verb + action

Use the correct form of these verbs:

condone          demand                    explain

put into            swing into              take

1. Shopkeepers in the town centre are ______________ tougher action against the vandals who continue to damage their shops at night.
2. She will have to ______________ her actions – and defend them before the disciplinary committee – if she is to get her job back.
3. We’ve had enough talk! We need to __________ these ideas ______________ action as soon as we can.
4. Air traffic controllers are threatening to ______________ industrial action if their pay demands aren’t met.
5. The emergency services are always on standby and ready to ______________ action at a moment’s notice.
6. There’s no way that the college can ______________ the actions of these students. Throwing eggs at the Queen is not an appropriate way to protest.

2          Common adjective collocations

Use the following adjectives in these sentences:

disciplinary                           drastic

evasive                                     joint

prompt                                    whatever

1. If the manager hadn’t acted so quickly, the whole factory would have been destroyed. It was his ______________ action that prevented the fire from spreading.
2. The army has been given full powers to take ______________ action is necessary to restore order to the streets of the capital.
3. The company cannot continue to lose money at this rate. The situation calls for ______________ action.
4. ______________ action will be taken against any member of staff who is found using the internet for personal matters.
5. Britain and the US agreed on ______________ action to combat the threat of world-wide terrorism.
6. The pilot of a commercial jet had to take ______________ action yesterday to avoid a mid-air collision with a small military plane.

Go back and underline all the adjective + action collocations in this exercise.

 3         Expressions with prepositions

Using these prepositions with prepositions below:

plan of                         course of                     need for

implications of            result of                  responsible for

1. We realise that the situation is critical and we fully appreciate the _______ immediate action.
2. When the settlers cut down all the trees, they failed to consider the wider _______ their actions, so the area became a desert.
3. People who are mentally ill cannot be held _______ their actions.
4. How are you going to deal with this situation? What’s your _______ action?
5. The surgeon was to blame. My father’s death was the direct _______ his actions.
6. They’re planning to build a dam across the river. However, experts disagree whether this is the best _______ action to take.

ANSWER KEY

Exercise 1:

1. demanding    2. explain    3. put …… into           4. take     5. swing into   6. condone

Exercise 2:

1. prompt     2. whatever    3. drastic    4. Disciplinary    5. joint    6. evasive

Exercise 3:

1. need for    2. implications of     3. responsible for   4. plan of   5. result of   6. course of

Also check :

• IELTS Vocabulary
• Best IELTS Vocabulary books
• Grammar for IELTS
• IELTS Listening words
• Sports Vocabulary IELTS
• English Pronunciation in use Intermediate pdf
• Work Vocabulary IELTS
• Advanced Vocabulary for IELTS