When Two Explanations Compete

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

Cloze (dropdown)

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 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: A greenhouse study found faster growth after both the lighting schedule and the watering routine had changed at the same time. Two explanations fit the result. The evidence is therefore 1___ between them, though it may 2___ a third account. The observation could distinguish the new arrangement from an unchanged control, while failing to identify which of the two altered features produced the difference.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. dispositive
   2. decisive
   3. conclusive
   4. non-discriminating

   Choices for blank 2

   1. exclusion
   2. exclusive
   3. excluded
   4. exclude
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   non-discriminating

   Blank 2

   exclude

   Non-discriminating means unable to distinguish these alternatives; may takes base-form exclude.

2. Question 2 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: Each explanation fitted the observations, and either could be described in terms that sounded persuasive before an additional test was carried out. An account's plausibility should not be 1___ with its truth. Several mutually incompatible accounts can each be 2___. The researchers needed to distinguish the coherence of an account from evidence that selected it over an equally coherent rival.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. confirmed
   2. conflated
   3. conferred
   4. conformed

   Choices for blank 2

   1. proven
   2. plausible
   3. incontestable
   4. certain
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   conflated

   Blank 2

   plausible

   Conflate means wrongly treat as identical; plausible is weaker than established truth.

3. Question 3 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: One account used a single familiar process, whereas the other required several additional assumptions about how the changes interacted. The preferred explanation is more 1___, requiring fewer additional assumptions. That advantage is relevant, but not 2___. Simplicity counted in its favour without supplying the missing observation that would make the comparison conclusive.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. profligate
   2. protracted
   3. expansive
   4. parsimonious

   Choices for blank 2

   1. meaningless
   2. nonexistent
   3. decisive
   4. irrelevant
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   parsimonious

   Blank 2

   decisive

   Parsimonious means economical in assumptions; not decisive preserves evidential restraint.

4. Question 4 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: A later trial produced a pattern that one model had predicted and another had difficulty accommodating. The anomaly bears 1___ one account while casting doubt 2___ another. Neither relation should be overstated as a final proof. The researchers treated the contrast as informative while checking whether a different untested assumption might still explain the anomaly.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. with
   2. down
   3. out
   4. up

   Choices for blank 2

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

   Blank 1

   out

   Blank 2

   on

   Bear out supports; cast doubt on weakens.

5. Question 5 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: An increase in growth could arise through different processes, so observing the increase did not uniquely identify the process responsible. A finding can be 1___ of more than one mechanism. It need not be 2___ to the mechanism the researchers favour. A useful interpretation had to distinguish a result that a model could explain from a result that only that model could explain.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. indicative
   2. definitive
   3. conclusive
   4. dispositive

   Choices for blank 2

   1. unique
   2. amenable
   3. relevant
   4. compatible
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   indicative

   Blank 2

   unique

   Indicative suggests; unique to would confine the finding to one mechanism.

6. Question 6 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: The less favoured account was inconvenient because it suggested another set of measurements rather than an immediate answer. The alternative cannot be dismissed out of 1___. It must be assessed on its own 2___. Convenience was not a sufficient reason to reject an explanation that remained compatible with what had actually been observed.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. reach
   2. hand
   3. order
   4. turn

   Choices for blank 2

   1. meriting
   2. meritless
   3. meritorious
   4. merits
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   hand

   Blank 2

   merits

   Out of hand means without consideration; on its merits means by its intrinsic strengths.

7. Question 7 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: Under ordinary conditions, both models predicted much the same outcome; their differences appeared in a small set of unusual circumstances. The two models differ in their predictions only at the 1___. Testing those cases could make the comparison more 2___. Choosing those circumstances for the next trial could provide more information than repeating the familiar observation with a much larger sample.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. cores
   2. foundations
   3. centres
   4. margins

   Choices for blank 2

   1. discriminating
   2. equivocal
   3. indiscriminate
   4. interchangeable
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   margins

   Blank 2

   discriminating

   At the margins identifies edge cases; discriminating tests distinguish alternatives.

8. Question 8 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: The report ended by identifying the evidence that would discriminate between the remaining accounts instead of declaring the preferred explanation established. The conclusion should remain 1___ until evidence capable of separating the accounts is available. Mere repetition of compatible findings may add little 2___. Accumulating observations that both models already predicted could increase confidence in the shared pattern without resolving the particular disagreement between them.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. provisional
   2. unqualified
   3. irrevocable
   4. categorical

   Choices for blank 2

   1. leverage
   2. levered
   3. leveraged
   4. leveraging
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   provisional

   Blank 2

   leverage

   Provisional marks openness to change; leverage is the noun for additional analytical advantage.

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.