News quiz 2014

VOCABULARY REVIEW AND PRACTICE ADVANCED

Scroll down for the INTERMEDIATE level
ANSWERS
A. Match the verbs in the left column with the noun phrases in the right to
make collocations from the news quiz. The first one has been done for you.
1.

went

to the polls

2.

sustained

an injury

3.

captured

the attention

4.

seized

control

5.

accomplish

its mission

6.

paid

tribute

7.

spared

no expense

8.

tied

the knot

9.

raised

money

10. tasted

victory

11. raised

(someones) eyebrows

12. ruffled

(someones) feathers

NB. You can point out that the collocations here appear in the same order
as they appeared in the news quiz. Students can go back and check the
answers themselves
B. Some of the verbs above can also go with the following nouns. Which ones?
paid
sustained
tasted
accomplished

last respects / attention / a compliment

extensive damage / huge financial losses
success / defeat / freedom
a goal / a task / nothing

Developed by Leo Selivan

http://leoxicon.blogspot.com

C. Match the verbs in the first column with the adjectives in the second and
the nouns in the third. The first one has been done for you.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

suffered
took
was sentenced
sparked
won
sporting
imposed
clocked up
earned him
inflicted

two major
his own
to five years
worldwide
most gold
a full
economic
more than 4 million
wide
a humiliating

incidents
life
in jail
outrage
medals
beard
sanctions
Youtube views
acclaim
defeat

NB. Again, you can ask students here to relate these to the news stories
mentioned in the quiz or come up with their own examples

D. Each of the sentences below is missing two chunks. Try to complete them
from memory before going back to the news quiz to check. The first letter
of each missing word has been given.
1. George Clooney was considered Hollywoods most eligible bachelor
until he finally decided to tie the knot last year.
2. At the last World Cup held last year in Brazil, the host nation
suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Germany.
3. Rosetta space probe accomplished its mission last November when it
touched down on a comet, a celestial body made of ice and rock.
4. It was a catastrophic year for Malaysia Airlines, which suffered two
major incidents within a matter of months.
5. ISIS, which stands for the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq sparked
worldwide outrage last year for their summary executions of soldiers
and civilians.
6. Russia spared no expense on the 2014 Winter Olympics, which will
go down in history as the costliest Olympic Games ever.

Developed by Leo Selivan

http://leoxicon.blogspot.com

E. Insert the words in bold into the forks below. Make sure that each
word in bold goes with ALL three words in the fork.
growing 5

state-of-the art 2

charitable 3 deadly 1

1.

weapon
virus
attack

3.

contribution
organisation
cause

5.

number
concern
tension

7.

process
discussion
trial

violent 6
quirky 4

brutal 8
lengthy 7

2.

technology
equipment
aircraft

4.

sense of humour
comedy
personality

6.

crime
death
protests /riots

8.

murder
regime
honesty

Developed by Leo Selivan

http://leoxicon.blogspot.com

News quiz 2014

LANGUAGE REVIEW AND PRACTICE - INTERMEDIATE
A. Match the verbs in the left column with the noun phrases in the right to
make collocations from the news quiz. The first one has been done for you.
1.

went

to the polls

2.

declare

independence

3.

made

headlines

4.

was rushed

to hospital

5.

become

a sensation

6.

went

on trial

7.

was sentenced

to five years in jail

8.

commit

a crime

9.

made

history

10. reached

its destination

Now do the same with collocations 11-20

11. caused

outrage

12. paid

last respects

13. committed

suicide

14. were taken

hostage

15. go down

in history

16. won

a gold medal

17. tied

the knot

18. raise

awareness

19. tasted

victory

20. raised

eyebrows

Try to remember in what context the above collocations were used.

Developed by Leo Selivan

http://leoxicon.blogspot.com

B. Without looking at the previous page, write a verb that goes with all the
nouns in each line.
go/went

on trial / to the polls / to prison / viral

win/won

a gold medal / the song contest / the award

raise

awareness / money / (someones) eyebrows

commit

suicide / a crime

make/made

headlines / history / an effort / a speech

take/took

control / somebody hostage / responsibility

C. Rewrite the following sentences using the Passive so that the meaning is
the same.
Oscar Pistorius got a five-year jail sentence.
= Oscar Pistorius was sentenced to five years in jail.
Brazil lost 7-1 in the semi-final of the World Cup.
= Brazil was defeated 7-1 in the semi-final of the World Cup.
Robin Williams won an Oscar for his role in Good Will Hunting.
= Robin Williams was awarded an Oscar for his role in Good Will Hunting.
A gunman took a group of people hostage in a Lindt caf in Sydney.
= A group of people were taken hostage in a Lindt caf in Sydney.
Look back at the news quiz to check your answers.

Developed by Leo Selivan

http://leoxicon.blogspot.com

C. Complete the gaps in the sentences below. The first letter of the missing
word is given.
1 A severe outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus started in Guinea.
2 A video of a cat saving a four-year-old from a dog attack went viral.
3 Veteran actor Robin Williams was not only a comic genius
4 he was also famous for his memorable dramatic roles.
5 George Clooney, Hollywoods long-time bachelor finally tied the knot
6 in a private ceremony in Venice.
Now try to complete sentences 7-12 without the first letter given.
7 Formula 1 star Michael Schumacher was rushed to hospital in a
critical condition after a skiing accident.
8 There was a growing tension between Russia and the West in 2014
after Russia took control of Crimea, a part of Ukraine with
9 historical ties to Russia.
10 Killings of innocent civilians at the hands of ISIS caused outrage
around the world.
11 The aim of the Ice Bucket Challenge was to raise money for fighting
Lou Gehrigs disease, a rare disease which causes your nerve cells to
die.
12 Malaysia Airlines lost two airplanes under most mysterious
circumstances.
Look back at the quiz to check.

Developed by Leo Selivan

http://leoxicon.blogspot.com

News quiz 2014

VOCABULARY EXPANSION
Look at some of the phrases from the previous exercises. Can you think of
other words that can go in these phrases instead of the underlined words?
Some possibilities include:
1 people were taken hostage
held
2 his memorable roles
performance
3 in a private ceremony
intimate / special / small
4 There was a growing tension
concern
5 with historical ties to
close / strong
6 was rushed to hospital
taken / admitted
7 in a critical condition
serious / stable
8 killings of innocent civilians
people
9 under most mysterious circumstances
unusual / difficult
10 first tasted victory
fame / success (when using Netspeak click on more a few times to
get more suggestions)

Read more about Netspeak on my blog:

http://leoxicon.blogspot.com/2012/05/lexical-priming.html

Developed by Leo Selivan

http://leoxicon.blogspot.com