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

Key word: answer

1          Verb + answer (meaning reply)

Use the correct form of these verbs:

demand           give                  need

be                    receive             wait for

1. Did you ___________ an answer to your letter?
2. We sent a letter of complaint ages ago. Three months later we’re still ___________ an answer.
3. The managing director ___________ an answer. He was furious and wanted to know why things had gone so badly wrong.
4. The Prime Minister promised to ___________ a written answer to the MP’s detailed question.
5. We ___________ an answer immediately. If you can’t give us one, we can’t get on with the job.
6. I rang the bell several times, but there___________ no answer.

2          Common adjective collocations

Use the following adjectives in these sentences:

correct                  detailed

final                       honest

immediate           short

1. I don’t expect an___________ answer. Think it over and let me know by the end of the week.
2. Just give me a straight and ___________ answer, and stop trying to evade the question, will you?
3. Is that your___________ answer? If it is, I won’t trouble you much longer.
4. The ___________ answer to your question is NO!
5. They really were very helpful, taking lots of time to give us clear and ___________ answers to all our questions.
6. Very often some of these questions have more than one ___________ answer.

 3         Verb + answer (meaning solution)

Use the correct form of these verbs:

arrive at           come up with              guess

have                   know                              provide

1. If I ___________ the answer, I’d tell you!
2. Yes, we are aware of the problem, but unfortunately we do not ___________ the answer.
3. You’ll never ___________ the answer in a million years! Do you want a clue?
4. We’re in trouble if someone doesn’t ___________ the right answer soon.
5. The new accounting system will ___________ the answers you need in a matter of minutes.
6. We ___________ the correct answer by a process of elimination. We rejected the choices one by one until we only had one left.

4          More adjective collocations

Use the correct form of these verbs:

wrong              simple              long-term

definite            obvious            only

1. There is no ___________ answer to the problems facing the economy. It’s a very complex situation.
2. Food aid may provide temporary relief to the people of Eritrea, but it is not a ___________ answer to the problems facing the country.
3. I think you’ve put the___________ answer for number 3.  It should be 5.25, not 5.52.
4. We are unable to treat this condition with drugs. An operation may be the___________ answer.
5. I don’t see what the problem is. If we can’t hire a bus, the ___________answer is to cancel the trip.
6. It’s too early to give a___________ answer. We won’t be in a position to do so for a couple of days.

ANSWER KEY

Ex 1:

1. receive 2. waiting for 3. demanded 4. give 5. need 6. was

Ex 2:

1. immediate 2. honest 3. final 4. short 5. detailed 6. correct

Ex 3:

1. knew 2. have 3.guess 4. come up with 5. provide 6. arrived at

Ex 4:

1. simple 2. long-term  3. wrong  4. only 5. obvious 6. definite

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