Parliamentary Candidate English Grammar Exercises

Question. There was absolutely no ....... that Henry Orpington liked politics. He talked politics all the time.
(a) belief
(b) concern
(c) query
(d) doubt
Answer. D

Question. All the members of his family were pleased therefore when Henry was ....... as the prospective parliamentary candidate for the constituency in which they were living.
(a) adapted
(b) added
(c) adopted
(d) addicted
Answer. C

Question. One year later the date of the general election was ....... by the Prime Minister.
(a) announced
(b) denounced
(c) presented
(d) delivered
Answer. A

Question. ....... the election campaign Henry's wife and his two teenage daughters worked night and day for him
(a) for
(b) throughout
(c) by
(d) from
Answer. B

Question. and he finally ....... a seat in the House of Commons by a very large majority.
(a) chose
(b) bought
(c) derived
(d) won
Answer. D

Question. Every day of the campaign was a .......
(a) trial
(b) experiment
(c) challenge
(d) achievement
Answer. C

Question. but there was one day in particular that Henry would never ........
(a) remember
(b) forget
(c) discover
(d) avoid
Answer. B

Question. That was the day he thought he was going to be blown ....... by a bomb.
(a) out
(b) over
(c) off
(d) up
Answer. D

Question. On a Friday morning at the beginning of the campaign, the phone ....... in the Orpingtons' house at 6.30 in the morning.
(a) ringed
(b) rung
(c) rang
(d) wrung
Answer. C

Question. Henry got out of bed and ran down the stairs. He ....... who could possibly be ringing at that early hour in the morning.
(a) wondered
(b) asked
(c) considered
(d) believed
Answer. A

Question. Henry: Hello.
Man's voice: Is that Mr. Henry Orpington, the parliamentary candidate?
Henry: Yes, ........
(a) talking
(b) dictating
(c) speaking
(d) deciding
Answer. C

Question. Man's voice: Oh, good morning. I want to warn you about a bomb...
Henry: A bomb? Where? Hello! We've been ....... off. Operator! Operator! Operator!
(a) cut
(b) severed
(c) removed
(d) drained
Answer. A

Question. It was no good. The line had gone ........ As calmly as he could Henry went upstairs to tell his wife the alarming news.
(a) quiet
(b) dormant
(c) dead
(d) still
Answer. C

Question. They decided to get dressed at once and take the two girls to their aunt's house. Henry ....... the police but asked them to keep the news from the press.
(a) instructed
(b) directed
(c) said
(d) informed
Answer. D

Question. At half past eight Henry was in conference with his election agent, Andrew Higgins, at party headquarters.
Andrew: If you want my opinion, I suggest you cancel all your engagements for today and wait until the police get to the ....... of the matter.
(a) base
(b) end
(c) bottom
(d) hind
Answer. C

Question. Henry: Certainly not! I'm not going to let ....... be scared by some stupid crank.
(a) himself
(b) itself
(c) myself
(d) themselves
Answer. C

Question. Andrew: What did the man sound like? Did you recognize his voice?
Henry: No, I was half asleep.
His voice wasn't familiar but he sounded quite pleasant. He didn't seem to be ....... me.
(a) punishing
(b) threatening
(c) hitting
(d) striking
Answer. B

Question. Andrew: That makes the whole business even more sinister. Look here, Henry, one day won't make all that much difference. I'll tell people that you've ....... your voice or something.
(a) lost
(b) missed
(c) disturbed
(d) forgotten
Answer. A

Question. Henry: No, I'm going to carry on as usual. Think of the advantage it would give my ....... if I were out of the campaign even for one day.
(a) outsiders
(b) opposites
(c) opponents
(d) onlookers
Answer. C

Question. Andrew: If you say so. But I'd like to make it ....... that I'm dead against it.
(a) absolute
(b) clear
(c) defined
(d) extreme
Answer. B

Question. Henry Orpington's first ....... that day was an open-air meeting on a large housing estate at ten o'clock.
(a) entrance
(b) engagement
(c) incitement
(d) endeavour
Answer. B

Question. As most of the men were ....... at work, his audience consisted mainly of women and young children.
(a) off
(b) over
(c) under
(d) out
Answer. D

Question. Andrew Higgins kept a close watch on the platform from which Henry was making his speech, while several plainclothes policemen ....... inconspicuously with the crowd.
(a) meddled
(b) moulded
(c) mingled
(d) melded
Answer. C

Question. There was very little reaction to Henry's speech, except from one or two people at the back who kept on asking what Henry's party intended to do about the ....... price of fruit and vegetables.
(a) rising
(b) raising
(c) risen
(d) raised
Answer. A

Question. After the speech he shook hands with some of the women. One of them lifted up a baby for him to kiss, but the ....... of Henry's beard must have frightened it because it began to scream its head off.
(a) seeing
(b) sighting
(c) sight
(d) scene
Answer. C

Question. At eleven o'clock he ....... a brief visit to a public house on the estate. Henry couldn't offer to buy anyone a drink because he knew very well that his opponents would consider that to be dishonest. So he let one of his supporters buy him a drink instead.
(a) bought
(b) paid
(c) sought
(d) did
Answer. B

Question. At lunch time he went to his sister's house to see his wife and daughters. They had spent the morning addressing envelopes for the leaflets he was sending out. His sister, Vera, thoroughly ....... of his involvement in politics.
(a) disliked
(b) discouraged
(c) disappointed
(d) disapproved
Answer. D

Question. Vera: Now I hope you can see the danger of getting mixed up in politics. You and the family will probably ....... get blown up by a bomb.
Henry: Don't exaggerate, Vera. I'm sure it's just a joke.
(a) each
(b) every
(c) all
(d) entirely
Answer. C

Question. There was a large crowd in the field when Henry arrived at eight o'clock for what was perhaps the biggest meeting of the ....... campaign. After a hard day's work, hundreds of farmers and farm labourers had come to the field to hear what Henry had to say.
(a) utter
(b) whole
(c) absolute
(d) lasting
Answer. B

Question. Henry: Ladies and gentlemen, I appreciate the anxiety you must all feel about support for your farms. I too have been a farmer and I know the difficulties you are experiencing, and so...
Voice from the crowd: ... and so you've decided to become an M.P. and get rich!
Henry: No, my friend. I want to give the farmers a ....... in the House of Commons.
(a) sound
(b) speech
(c) noise
(d) voice
Answer. D

Question. The crowd remained good-natured for the first part of his speech and Henry was feeling pleased with himself. And then, ....... half a dozen tractors roared onto the field.
(a) automatically
(b) particularly
(c) suddenly
(d) especially
Answer. C

Question. 'Do you like tomatoes?' shouted one of the tractor drivers. Henry ....... for a moment and then replied: 'Yes, I like them very much.'
(a) delayed
(b) stumbled
(c) stated
(d) hesitated
Answer. D

Question. 'Well, we can't sell them at a profit,' said the tractor driver, 'because the imported ones are too cheap. So instead of letting them go to ......., you can have them!'
(a) loss
(b) disaster
(c) waste
(d) rubbish
Answer. C

Question. It was then that Henry ....... that the tractors were loaded with boxes of tomatoes, which the farmers started to throw at him. Unfortunately for Henry, two of them hit him full in the face.
(a) noticed
(b) decided
(c) believed
(d) remarked
Answer. A

Question. He realized that he had to say something quickly to ....... the crowd over to his side. 'Thank you for your generous gift, but I really prefer them in sandwiches. And now let's get on with the meeting.'
(a) acquire
(b) win
(c) gain
(d) control
Answer. B

Question. The crowd started to ....... and Henry managed to finish his speech without further interruptions. In the meantime the police had made a thorough search of Henry's house and assured him that there were no hidden bombs. He went back to his sister's house to collect his family.
(a) cry
(b) call
(c) weep
(d) cheer
Answer. D

Question. Vera: I've got some supper ready. I'm sure you must be ........
(a) fasting
(b) eating
(c) starving
(d) munching
Answer. C

Question. Henry: You shouldn't have bothered. We can all go back home now. The police have ....... the house thoroughly and found nothing at all.
Vera: Well, at least stay and eat the nice salad I've made.
Henry: All right, Vera. Just so long as there are no tomatoes in it!
(a) searched
(b) found
(c) looked
(d) hunted
Answer. A

Question. After supper, Henry and his family went home. Later that evening the phone rang.
Man's voice: Oh, Mr. Orpington. I've been trying to reach you all day. This is Paul Harris. I called you this morning but I was cut off.
It was a bad line or something.
Henry: Well, what about the bomb?
Harris: The bomb? What on ....... do you mean?
Henry: That's what I'd like to know. You said, I want to warn you about a bomb.
(a) land
(b) ground
(c) mud
(d) earth
Answer. D

Question. Harris: Oh, dear! I'm afraid there's been a misunderstanding. I didn't have time to finish my sentence. You see, I ....... some farmers
planning to break up your meeting.
Henry: I don't see what all this has got to do with a bomb.
Harris: Well, if we hadn't been cut off I was going to warn you about a bombardment of tomatoes!
(a) listened
(b) overheard
(c) attended
(d) understood
Answer. B