Two Americans win Nobel economics prize for research on boom-and-bust cycles

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 “economists” in the article?

   1. People who study how money, businesses, and societies use resources.
   2. Officials who organize award ceremonies
   3. Workers who produce household equipment
   4. Researchers who examine only historical events
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   People who study how money, businesses, and societies use resources.

   Economists study how money, businesses, and societies use resources.

2. Question 2 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Which meaning best matches “research” in the article?

   1. A public announcement about an award
   2. Careful study carried out to discover or explain facts and ideas.
   3. A prediction about one company’s prices
   4. A government rule controlling household spending
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Careful study carried out to discover or explain facts and ideas.

   Research means careful study intended to discover or explain facts.

3. Question 3 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Which meaning best matches “households” in the article?

   1. Government departments managing inflation
   2. Companies that manufacture consumer products
   3. People living together who make shared decisions about money and daily life.
   4. Universities that award economics prizes
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   People living together who make shared decisions about money and daily life.

   Households are people living together who share daily economic decisions.

4. Question 4 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Which meaning best matches “purchasing” in the article?

   1. The activity of buying goods or services
   2. The process of predicting future income
   3. The practice of reducing business costs
   4. The study of central-bank communication
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   The activity of buying goods or services

   Purchasing refers to the activity of buying goods or services.

5. Question 5 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Which meaning best matches “worsen” in the article?

   1. To become or make something more difficult, serious, or harmful.
   2. To calculate the price of a product
   3. To recover from an economic decline
   4. To communicate a policy decision clearly
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   To become or make something more difficult, serious, or harmful.

   Worsen means to become or make a situation more serious.

6. Question 6 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Which meaning best matches “supply” in the article?

   1. The amount of a product or resource that is available.
   2. The total number of people without jobs
   3. The level of consumer confidence
   4. The cost of changing a company’s prices
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   The amount of a product or resource that is available.

   Supply means the amount of a product or resource available.

7. Question 7 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Which meaning best matches “policymakers” in the article?

   1. People who create plans and rules for a government or organization.
   2. People who purchase goods for businesses
   3. People who calculate household incomes
   4. People who announce academic prizes
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   People who create plans and rules for a government or organization.

   Policymakers create plans and rules for governments or organizations.

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.