Cambridge C2 Proficiency (CPE) — All Questions
4 questions
Which sentence is correct?
- a.The whole event turned out to be a damp squid.
- b.The whole event turned out to be a damp squib.✓
- c.The whole event turned out to be a dump squib.
- d.The whole event turned out to be a damp squick.
The idiom is 'a damp squib' (a firework that fails to go off, hence an anticlimax). 'Damp squid' is a widespread but incorrect corruption of it.
Which sentence is correct?
- a.It is imperative that the report is submitted by Friday.
- b.It is imperative that the report will be submitted by Friday.
- c.It is imperative that the report submits by Friday.
- d.It is imperative that the report be submitted by Friday.✓
After 'It is imperative that', formal English uses the mandative subjunctive 'be submitted'. The indicative 'is submitted' is a common but less accurate alternative at this register.
Which sentence is correct?
- a.Reviewing the data, I noticed several anomalies.✓
- b.Reviewing the data, several anomalies were noticed.
- c.Reviewing the data, there were several anomalies.
- d.Reviewing the data, the anomalies became noticeable to me.
The introductory participle 'Reviewing the data' must attach to the person doing the reviewing. Only 'I noticed' supplies that subject; the others leave the participle dangling.
Which sentence is correct?
- a.Hardly I had sat down when the phone rang.
- b.Hardly had I sat down than the phone rang.
- c.Hardly had I sat down when the phone rang.✓
- d.Hardly I had sat down than the phone rang.
'Hardly' fronted requires inversion ('had I sat down') and is completed by 'when', not 'than': 'Hardly had I sat down when...'. Both the inversion and the correlative must be right.