Fine Distinctions in Qualified Arguments

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

C2. 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

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 or reply. The conclusion is defensible only … the assumptions can be independently justified.

   1. even when not
   2. notwithstanding whether
   3. irrespective of whether
   4. insofar as
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   insofar as

   Only insofar as restricts the extent of defensibility to justified assumptions.

2. Question 2 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Choose the best completion or reply. The review is a necessary condition, but … a sufficient one.

   1. necessarily not
   2. under no circumstances
   3. inevitably
   4. not necessarily
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   not necessarily

   Not necessarily denies guaranteed sufficiency without asserting that sufficiency is impossible.

3. Question 3 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Choose the best completion or reply. The evidence leaves the claim …, neither established nor refuted.

   1. substantiated
   2. unresolved
   3. discredited
   4. resolved
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   unresolved

   Unresolved preserves both limits: no proof and no refutation.

4. Question 4 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   The reviewer accepts the measurements as accurate but disputes the conclusion drawn from them. Her objection is to the inference, … the accuracy of the measurements.

   1. rather than
   2. as well as
   3. in addition to
   4. on account of
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   rather than

   Rather than excludes the alternative focus specified in the contrast.

5. Question 5 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Choose the best completion or reply. The conclusion goes beyond … the study was designed to establish.

   1. how
   2. which
   3. that
   4. what
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   what

   What introduces a fused relative meaning the thing that.

6. Question 6 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Choose the best completion or reply. The findings are … with the theory; they do not uniquely confirm it.

   1. conclusive
   2. compatible
   3. synonymous
   4. identical
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   compatible

   Compatibility means the theory fits, without excluding rivals.

7. Question 7 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Choose the best completion or reply. The rule admits of exceptions; it is … universal.

   1. strictly not
   2. necessarily
   3. invariably
   4. not strictly
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   not strictly

   Not strictly universal allows exceptions without denying the rule generally applies.

8. Question 8 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Choose the best completion or reply. The criticism has force only … the claim is read as an absolute guarantee.

   1. if
   2. regardless of whether
   3. despite
   4. even if not
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   if

   Only if makes the absolute reading a necessary condition for this criticism.

9. Question 9 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   The author accepts a minor criticism while retaining her central position. She concedes the point without … the broader argument.

   1. relinquishing
   2. substantiating
   3. restating
   4. formulating
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   relinquishing

   Relinquish means give up; conceding a point need not abandon the whole argument.

10. Question 10 · Single choice

    Choose one answer.

    Choose the best completion or reply. The pattern is prima facie evidence, … proof beyond reasonable doubt.

    1. therefore
    2. not
    3. necessarily
    4. indeed
    Check answers and explanations

    Answer

    not

    Not preserves the difference between initial evidence and a high standard of proof.

11. Question 11 · Single choice

    Choose one answer.

    Choose the best completion or reply. The claim is tenable … a narrower interpretation than the headline suggests.

    1. at
    2. to
    3. on
    4. for
    Check answers and explanations

    Answer

    on

    On an interpretation means under that reading of the claim.

12. Question 12 · Single choice

    Choose one answer.

    Choose the best completion or reply. The conclusion remains provisional, … to revision in light of new data.

    1. immune
    2. open
    3. opposed
    4. closed
    Check answers and explanations

    Answer

    open

    Open to revision marks willingness or possibility of change.

13. Question 13 · Single choice

    Choose one answer.

    Choose the best completion or reply. The argument's validity does not … the truth of every premise.

    1. guarantee
    2. guaranteed
    3. guarantees
    4. guaranteeing
    Check answers and explanations

    Answer

    guarantee

    Logical validity alone does not ensure true premises; a base verb follows does not.

14. Question 14 · Single choice

    Choose one answer.

    Choose the best completion or reply. The study establishes a possibility, … its frequency in practice.

    1. as well as proving
    2. and therefore
    3. not
    4. hence
    Check answers and explanations

    Answer

    not

    A possibility claim does not by itself establish how often it occurs.

15. Question 15 · Single choice

    Choose one answer.

    Choose the best completion or reply. The exception is narrow enough … the general rule intact.

    1. leaving
    2. leave
    3. to leave
    4. left
    Check answers and explanations

    Answer

    to leave

    Enough takes a to-infinitive; leave intact means preserve unaffected.

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.