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

crowd

1          Verb + crowd

Use the correct form of these verbs:

attract                               avoid                     control

disappear into             disperse           mingle with

1. Soldiers fired rubber bullets in order to ______________ the crowd of protesters who were threatening to storm the embassy.
2. Every week Manchester United draw huge crowds. Their last match ______________ a record crowd of over 60,000.
3. One minute Lily was by our side. The next minute she was gone. We searched and searched, but she had just ______________ the crowd. She was nowhere to be seen.
4. I want to get into town early on Saturday to ______________ the crowds. Shall we meet at 9?
5. During the match, plain-clothes police ______________ the crowd to try to identify the main trouble-makers.
6. The police had brought horses and water cannon to ______________ the crowd, but they weren’t needed as everyone was very well-behaved.

2          Verb expressions

Underline the verbs that collocate with crowd in the sentences below.

1. A large crowd had gathered around the scene of the accident, making it difficult for the ambulance to get through.
2. When the army opened fire, the crowd of protesters scattered. People ran in all directions.
3. Soon after the announcement of the King’s death, a crowd began to collect outside the palace.
4. Ten minutes before full-time, the crowd had thinned and the stadium was half-empty.
5. The crowd started to lose interest in the speeches and began to drift away.
6. An excited crowd had congregated around the entrance to the cinema, hoping to catch a glimpse of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

Which verbs describe the appearance and which describe the disappearance of a crowd?

appear:      ________________________________________________________

disappear: ________________________________________________________

3          Adjective + crowd

Use the following adjectives in these sentences:

angry                               assembled                   cheering

panic-stricken             capacity                       well-behaved

1. The President was welcomed enthusiastically by ______________ crowds, chanting ‘Long live the President’.
2. The accused man was jostled and shoved by an ______________ crowd as he left the court. His victims had all been young children.
3. The bishop mounted the platform and began to speak to the______________ crowd. Many had been waiting for hours to hear him.
4. Police said that the crowd at yesterday’s match were very good-humoured and ______________ . This was in sharp contrast to the unruly crowd that had caused so much trouble at the previous match.
5. Ten people lost their lives in a fire in a night-club last night. They were trampled to death as the ______________ crowd tried to escape.
6. The Cup Final was watched by a full ______________ crowd. There wasn’t an empty seat in the stadium.

Go back and underline the complete expression in each sentence.

ANSWER KEY

Ex 1:

1. disperse 2. attracted 3. disappeared into
2. avoid 5. mingled with 6. control

Ex 2:

appear: gathered, collect, congregated

disappear: scattered, thinned, drift away

Ex 3:

1  cheering                   2. angry           3. assembled                4. well-behaved

5  panic-stricken          6. capacity

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