Phrasal Verbs Questions and Answers

Answer: A

Handed down means passed on.

Customs, traditions and heirlooms are handed down when one generation passes them on to the next: Customs are passed on from generation to generation.

Taken back is the reverse movement, and applied means put into use, which does not express transmission between generations. Since passed on fits, "None of these" is wrong.

The same idea is expressed by pass down; the related noun is a hand-me-down, something passed from an older to a younger person.

Answer: B

Hold on means continue.

To hold on is to keep going or persist in a difficult situation without giving up: If you continue courageously you will win.

Discontinue is the opposite, giving up. Fall and decrease do not mean persisting, and neither fits with courageously you will win.

Hold on also means "wait" (Hold on, I'm coming) and "grip tightly" (hold on to the rail), but with courageously you will win the sense is to persist.

Answer: C

Keep off means prevent.

To keep off something is to keep it away or stop it happening: Obey the rules of the road to prevent accidents.

Catch and occur say the opposite, that accidents happen. Since prevent fits exactly, "None of these" is wrong.

In other contexts keep off means to stay away from (Keep off the grass) or to avoid a subject. The idea in every use is keeping something at a distance.

Answer: D

Look after means take care of.

To look after someone is to take care of them, to see to their needs and safety: Parents take care of their children carefully.

The other phrasal verbs built on look mean different things: look for and search for mean to try to find something lost. Leave alone is almost the opposite of looking after.

The phrasal verb is common in the sense of caring for people, animals or property: She looks after her grandmother. Who will look after the house?

Answer: A

Passed away means died.

Pass away is a polite, gentle way of saying that someone has died, used out of respect: The king died last night.

Lived is the opposite. Fell down and woke up describe ordinary actions, not death.

Such softened expressions are called euphemisms; others for death are breathed his last and is no more.

Answer: A

Stand against means resist.

To stand against someone is to oppose or fight them: How long can the rebels resist the government?

Surrounded and resembled are in the past tense, so they do not even fit after can, and their meanings (encircled, looked like) are wrong too. Since resist fits, "None of the these" is wrong.

Related expressions are stand up to (resist bravely) and stand by (support), which is the opposite of standing against.

Answer: A

'Called upon' here means summoned.

To be called upon to do something is to be formally required or asked to do it by someone in authority. Being called upon to explain one's guilt means being summoned to give an account.

Invited suggests a friendly, optional request, which does not suit explaining guilt. Explained repeats a word already in the sentence and does not replace 'called upon'. Since 'summoned' fits, 'None of these' is wrong.

Answer: C

'Broke down' here means failed.

To break down in the middle of something is to stop because one can no longer carry on, through emotion or loss of control, much as a machine breaks down when it stops working. A speaker who broke down failed to go on with his speech.

Laughed, enjoyed and giggled describe amusement, the opposite of breaking down, which usually involves distress or collapse.

The phrase has other senses too, such as a machine that stops working ('the car broke down') or a discussion that collapses ('talks broke down'); the common idea is failure.

Answer: B

'Brought about' means caused.

To bring about something is to make it happen. 'His folly has brought about his ruin' means his foolishness caused his ruin.

Frustrated and disappointed describe feelings and would change the meaning. Confirmed means made certain, which would wrongly suggest the ruin already existed and was only proved.

The phrasal verb is often used for changes, good or bad: reforms that brought about progress, carelessness that brought about an accident.

Answer: D

'Look out for' here means searching.

To look out for someone is to watch for them or seek them: we must always be searching for (on the lookout for) friends. The paper prints the phrase as 'lookout for'.

Seeing is just perceiving with the eyes, without the sense of seeking. Waiting is passive, staying for someone to come, and thinking is a mental act, not a search.

The paper writes 'lookout' as one word, which is the noun (a person keeping watch, or the act of watching); the verb is written as two words, 'look out for'.