Sentence completion exercise

In each of the following questions there are two blank spaces. Each question is followed by four pairs of words. Find out which of these pairs can be used to fill in the blanks.

1. The fear of punishment often acts as a ………………….. and ……………….. people from committing crimes.

a) deterrent, prevents
b) deterrent, encourages
c) deterrent, annuls
d) incentive, encourages

2. The witness gave a/an ……………….. account of the crime which was totally ……………………….

a) dependable, reliable
b) false, appreciable
c) exaggerated, unpardonable
d) fictitious, unreliable

3. ………………… and ………………… citizens will only aggravate the problems of the country.

a) independent, practical
b) dedicated, patriotic
c) careful, scrupulous
d) selfish, irresponsible
4. The …………………. with which he wields the paint brush is really ……………………..

a) ease, remarkable
b) practice, good
c) majesty, royal
d) efficiency, good

5. If you kindly bear …………………. me for some time, I will …………………….. the whole issue.

a) with, clarify
b) out, understand
c) at, solve
d) for, know

Answers

1. The fear of punishment often acts as a deterrent and prevents people from committing crimes.

2. The witness gave a fictitious account of the crime which was totally unreliable.

3. Selfish and irresponsible citizens will only aggravate the problems of the country.

4. The ease with which he wields the paint brush is really remarkable.

5. If you kindly bear with me for some time, I will clarify the whole issue.