Weighing the Case for a Research Grant

Study the questions and tasks

Work through the material below, or start the interactive practice above to complete an attempt. Try the exercises before opening any answer or transcript sections, then use them to review your work.

Practice level

C1. Try this level if you can follow the instructions and understand most of the language; choose an earlier level if you need more support.

Question formats

Single choice, Multiple choice, Fill in the blank (text), Fill in the blank (dropdown), Cloze (text), Cloze (dropdown), Matching, Error correction, Sentence transformation, Sentence reordering

How to approach this practice

Read the complete context. Check both the meaning and the grammar, including word forms, collocations and links between sentences.

1. Question 1 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Choose the best completion. The reviewers acknowledged the project's promise but expressed … about the small sample.

   1. reserves
   2. residences
   3. reservations
   4. reservoirs
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   reservations

   Reservations are doubts or concerns; reserves does not carry that meaning here.

2. Question 2 · Multiple choice

   Choose all the correct answers.

   Choose TWO correct statements based on the information given. The grant will be awarded only if the ethics review is completed.

   1. The grant cannot be awarded without a completed ethics review.
   2. Completing the ethics review guarantees that the grant will be awarded.
   3. The grant will be awarded whether or not the ethics review is completed.
   4. Completing the ethics review is a requirement for receiving the grant.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   The grant cannot be awarded without a completed ethics review.; Completing the ethics review is a requirement for receiving the grant.

   Only if states a necessary condition, not a guarantee that the grant will follow.

3. Question 3 · Fill in the blank (text)

   Complete each blank with the missing word or phrase.

   Use an adverb from CONCLUDE. The available evidence does not ___ establish that the intervention caused the improvement.

   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   conclusively

   Conclusively means in a way that settles the issue; an adverb modifies establish.

4. Question 4 · Fill in the blank (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   The panel's decision rests ___ the quality of the revised methodology.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. at
   2. from
   3. by
   4. on
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   on

   Rest on means depend on or be based on.

5. Question 5 · Cloze (text)

   Complete each blank with the missing word or phrase.

   Form a word from each capitalised word. The team's 1___ (INTERPRET) was cautious. It acknowledged several 2___ (LIMIT) of the study and stated that a causal claim was not 3___ (JUSTIFY) by the evidence.

   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   interpretation

   Blank 2

   limitations

   Blank 3

   justified

   Interpretation and limitations are nouns; justified is a past participle in the passive phrase was not justified by the evidence.

6. Question 6 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   The application was praised 1___ its clarity, but the panel stopped short 2___ endorsing the proposed sample size. Funding remains conditional 3___ an acceptable revision.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. with
   2. at
   3. for
   4. to

   Choices for blank 2

   1. to
   2. of
   3. from
   4. at

   Choices for blank 3

   1. by
   2. on
   3. from
   4. of
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   for

   Blank 2

   of

   Blank 3

   on

   Use praised for, stop short of doing something and conditional on.

7. Question 7 · Matching

   Match each item to the correct choice.

   Match each beginning to its only suitable ending. Completing the reviewers' remarks.

   Answer choices

   • for unexpected equipment costs.
   • of differences between the two groups.
   • to publishing the full dataset.

   Items

   • The proposal takes insufficient account
   • The team has yet to commit
   • The budget leaves little room
   Check answers and explanations

   1. The proposal takes insufficient account

   of differences between the two groups.

   2. The team has yet to commit

   to publishing the full dataset.

   3. The budget leaves little room

   for unexpected equipment costs.

   Take account of, commit to and leave room for require different prepositions.

8. Question 8 · Error correction

   Rewrite the sentence, correcting the grammatical error.

   Correct the one language error. Write the complete corrected sentence. No sooner the grant decision was announced than the team began recruiting.

   Check answers and explanations

   Accepted answers

   No sooner was the grant decision announced than the team began recruiting. / No sooner had the grant decision been announced than the team began recruiting.

   Fronted no sooner triggers subject-auxiliary inversion. Was the grant decision announced and had the grant decision been announced both give a grammatical passive sequence before the team began recruiting.

9. Question 9 · Sentence transformation

   Rewrite or complete the second sentence as instructed, keeping the same meaning unless the task asks you to change it.

   Complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning as the first. Use the given word unchanged. The researchers did not claim that the improvement was caused by the programme. The researchers made ___ the improvement was caused by the programme.

   Check answers and explanations

   Accepted answers

   no claim that

   Made no claim that preserves the absence of a causal assertion.

10. Question 10 · Sentence reordering

    Arrange these parts into the correct sentence.

    Put the chunks in order to make one complete sentence. Keep the capitalised opening first and the punctuated ending last.

    Sentence parts

    • Only after the revised protocol had been approved
    • agree to release
    • did the panel
    • the first instalment of funding.
    Check answers and explanations

    Correct order

    Only after the revised protocol had been approved did the panel agree to release the first instalment of funding.

    Fronted only after requires inversion in the main clause: did the panel agree.

11. Question 11 · Single choice

    Choose one answer.

    Choose the best completion. The additional evidence lends … to the claim that the programme is worth investigating.

    1. permission
    2. credence
    3. admission
    4. attendance
    Check answers and explanations

    Answer

    credence

    Lend credence to means make a claim seem more believable.

12. Question 12 · Fill in the blank (text)

    Complete each blank with the missing word or phrase.

    Use the noun from FEASIBLE. The panel requested a study of the project's practical ___.

    Check answers and explanations

    Blank 1

    feasibility

    Feasibility is the noun meaning whether something can be done successfully.

13. Question 13 · Error correction

    Rewrite the sentence, correcting the grammatical error.

    Correct the one language error. Write the complete corrected sentence. The reviewers objected against the use of an untested measure.

    Check answers and explanations

    Accepted answers

    The reviewers objected to the use of an untested measure.

    Object is followed by to when introducing what someone opposes.

14. Question 14 · Sentence transformation

    Rewrite or complete the second sentence as instructed, keeping the same meaning unless the task asks you to change it.

    Complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning as the first. The results were promising, but they did not justify a nationwide rollout. Promising ___, the results did not justify a nationwide rollout.

    Check answers and explanations

    Accepted answers

    though they were / as they were

    Adjective-fronted though or as expresses concession without changing the limit on the conclusion.

What to review next

Explain why each answer fits the meaning and structure. Record useful phrases and write a new example using each pattern you found difficult.

A focused practice result shows how you did on these tasks. Use several activities across skills to decide what to study next; one practice score does not certify an overall CEFR level.