Q1.
Choose the appropriate adjectives from the box given below to match with the words 1–8 that follow. (Box: nagging, vague, delighted, narrow, sluggish, hushed, inexplicable, sheepish) 1. ________ path 2. ________ worry 3. ________ plan 4. ________ look 5. ________ reason 6. ________ traffic 7. ________ voices 8. ________ expression
Answer
Each adjective goes with the noun whose meaning it already carries inside it:
| No. | Adjective | Phrase | Why it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | narrow | narrow path | ‘Narrow' is about width — only a path, road or escape can be narrow. |
| 2. | nagging | nagging worry | A nagging thing keeps returning and will not be shaken off — exactly what a worry does. |
| 3. | vague | vague plan | ‘Vague' means unclear in outline; a plan that is not worked out is vague. |
| 4. | delighted | delighted look | Only a feeling word can describe a look, and ‘delighted' is the pleasure one. |
| 5. | inexplicable | inexplicable reason | ‘In- + explic- + -able' = cannot be explained; reasons are what get explained. |
| 6. | sluggish | sluggish traffic | ‘Sluggish' means moving slowly, like a slug — the natural word for crawling traffic. |
| 7. | hushed | hushed voices | ‘Hushed' means quietened deliberately; it belongs with voices, tones, silence. |
| 8. | sheepish | sheepish expression | ‘Sheepish' means embarrassed at having been caught out — it shows on the face. |
What you are really practising: collocation — the habit English has of pairing certain words. All eight adjectives roughly mean ‘a quality', but you cannot say a hushed path or a sluggish worry. Learning adjectives with the nouns they normally keep company with is faster than learning them alone.