Phrasal Verbs Questions and Answers

Answer: A

The right word is up: 'decided to take up music for higher studies'.

The phrasal verb take up means to begin studying or pursuing a subject or activity, which fits a student switching from medicine to music.

'Take of', 'take upon' and 'take in' do not mean to begin a subject; take in means to absorb or to deceive, and take upon oneself means to accept a responsibility.

For example: 'After retiring, he took up gardening.'

Answer: A

The intended answer is dispose off, printed in the paper for the phrasal verb dispose of: I am going to dispose of my furniture.

To dispose of something is to get rid of it, whether by selling it, giving it away or throwing it out, so it can replace sell in this sentence. The correct preposition is of; dispose off is a common slip, but it is plainly the phrase the option means.

Carry out means to perform or complete a task (carry out orders), and carry on means to continue. Neither has anything to do with selling, so 'none of the above' is wrong too.

Answer: B

The answer is hit upon: She hit upon the perfect title for her new novel.

To hit upon (or hit on) an idea, a plan or a name is to find or think of it, often suddenly or by chance. It is the natural replacement for found when the thing found is an idea such as a title.

Break upon means to appear or become known suddenly (the truth broke upon him) and cannot take an object. Turned up means appeared or arrived, so she turned up the title does not mean she found it. Since hit upon fits, 'none of these' is wrong.

Answer: A

The answer is keeps back: My friend keeps back nothing from me.

To keep back information is to withhold it or refuse to reveal it, which is what conceal means. A friend who keeps nothing back tells you everything.

The others do not mean conceal. Do away with means to abolish or get rid of something. Give in means to surrender or yield. Welcome means to greet or receive gladly, which is nearly the opposite of hiding something.

Answer: B

The answer is look upon: We look upon her as our mother.

To look upon (or look on) someone as something is to regard or consider them in that way. The phrase takes the same as construction as regard, so it replaces it exactly.

Bear away means to carry off or to win (bore away the prize). Make over means to transfer ownership of property to someone, and put by means to save money for later. None of them expresses an attitude towards a person.

Answer: C

The answer is up: I have given up eating meat.

The phrasal verb give up means to stop doing something or to abandon a habit, and it is followed by a gerund: give up smoking, give up eating meat.

The others mean something else. Give off is to send out a smell, heat or light; give out is to distribute, or to run out (the engine gave out); give away is to hand over free or to reveal a secret.

Answer: C

The answer is down: He was offered a new job but he turned it down.

The phrasal verb turn down means to refuse or reject an offer, a request or a proposal, which is exactly what the contrast 'offered ... but' calls for.

Turn up means to arrive or appear, or to increase the volume; turn out means to prove to be, or to produce; turn away means to refuse entry to a person or to look away. None of them means to reject an offer.

Answer: A

The answer is up: Normally he stays up until 11:00 p.m. these days.

To stay up means to remain awake and not go to bed, which is exactly what a bedtime of 11:00 p.m. describes. The phrasal verb is the standard way to say it: stay up late, stay up all night.

Stays on and stays in do not take a time limit in this sense: stay in means to remain at home and stay on means to remain in a place or post. Stays out (option B) is also an English phrase, meaning to remain away from home, so a reader could defend it; the official key gives up because the sentence is about the hour he goes to bed, and that is the reading kept here.