Higher borrowing costs make homes, cars and education harder for many households to afford

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

B2. 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

Use the surrounding sentence to identify the meaning and word form needed. Check which words naturally go together.

1. Question 1 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Which meaning best matches “pressure” as used in the article?

   1. A difficult condition that strongly affects someone
   2. A method for measuring air inside a vehicle
   3. A public celebration in a neighborhood
   4. A decision to move to another city
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   A difficult condition that strongly affects someone

   Here, pressure means a difficult condition affecting households.

2. Question 2 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Which meaning best matches “neighborhood” as used in the article?

   1. An area of a town or city where people live
   2. A loan offered by a national bank
   3. A building used by the Federal Reserve
   4. A route between two distant cities
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   An area of a town or city where people live

   The word describes a local residential area.

3. Question 3 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Which meaning best matches “opportunities” as used in the article?

   1. Chances to do or achieve something
   2. Costs charged for borrowing money
   3. Rules governing suburban development
   4. Buildings located beside a lake
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Chances to do or achieve something

   The word refers to chances for walking or other activities.

4. Question 4 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Which meaning best matches “suburb” as used in the article?

   1. An area outside a city where many people live
   2. A market that trades government bonds
   3. A small vehicle used for commuting
   4. A neighborhood located directly inside downtown
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   An area outside a city where many people live

   A suburb is a residential area outside a city.

5. Question 5 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Which meaning best matches “borrowing” as used in the article?

   1. The act of taking money and agreeing to repay it later
   2. The act of selling a home without a mortgage
   3. The process of walking between nearby shops
   4. The practice of reducing household spending permanently
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   The act of taking money and agreeing to repay it later

   Borrowing involves receiving money and repaying it later.

6. Question 6 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Which meaning best matches “influence” as used in the article?

   1. To affect the way something develops or happens
   2. To calculate the value of a residential property
   3. To prevent consumers from using public transportation
   4. To build a new downtown near a lake
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   To affect the way something develops or happens

   Here, influence means affect how borrowing costs develop.

7. Question 7 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Which meaning best matches “signaled” as used in the article?

   1. Showed or indicated that something was likely to happen
   2. Officially canceled a planned interest-rate increase
   3. Moved a family into a different neighborhood
   4. Measured the height of bond yields
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Showed or indicated that something was likely to happen

   The word means indicated that another increase might occur.

What to review next

Keep a short list of unfamiliar words with their meanings and example sentences. Practise recalling them later, then use them in a sentence of your own.

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.

Before you practise: a worked example

Read the whole sentence before choosing a word. Check both its meaning and the words it naturally combines with.

Please make an appointment before visiting the clinic.

Make an appointment is a natural word combination. Knowing a dictionary meaning alone may not tell you which verb fits.

This teaching example is separate from the scored questions. After your test, compare any mistakes with the explanation and revisit the topic before trying again.