English Question Bank
for Exam preparation

Q2. We drove to Paris, and after getting out of London it was plain sailing all the way because

1. there was hardly any traffic
2. it rained so much it was flooding
3. we had a strong westerly tailwind

Q3. This must be a special type of writing paper, for it gives ______ a very pleasant smell.

1. on
2. off
3. up

Q4. I don’t know why their marriage is breaking ______.

1. through
2. in
3. up

Q5. Your cough ______ get better if you don’t stop smoking.

1. will
2. would
3. won’t
4. didn’t

Q6. Bobby never keeps still. So, when his aunt saw him standing there and not moving at all, she knew something unusual was happening. She moved quietly towards him and also began to look where he seemed to be looking. Just then, in the tall grass near the fence, she saw a little bird that was too small to fly. It must have fallen out of its nest. ------------ The little bird _____.

1. hid behind the fence.
2. had been caught by Bobby.
3. tried to fly over the fence.
4. was too tired to return to its nest.
5. fascinated Bobby greatly.

Q7. I was knocked for ……… when Kate told me she had passed her driving test.

1. nine
2. eight
3. seven
4. six

Q8. We met at the cafeteria as she wanted. I’d rather we ______ here.

1. meet
2. would meet
3. met
4. had met

Q9. On the day of my first piano recital, I became more and more nervous. To help me calm down, my piano teacher told me to place several cabbages in the room where I practiced. I was so eager to get over my nerves that I was willing to try anything. For the next few hours, I played to an audience of cabbages. When the time of the recital finally arrived, I was still terribly nervous. My hands felt like ice. When I finally walked across the stage, I looked out into the dark audience. I could not see anyone! All those people out there could just as easily have been cabbages. As I sat down to play, my hands relaxed. Before I knew it, I had played all my pieces without a mistake. For the first time, the cabbage heads applauded. --------- On the day of the recital the music teacher _____.

1. advised the writer to put cabbages in the room where he practiced and play for them.
2. warned the writer not to look at the audience.
3. had no patience with the writer because he was nervous too.
4. felt nearly as nervous about the recital as the writer did.
5. couldn’t think of a way of helping the writer to stay calm.

Q10. Every summer many people, girls and women as well as boys and men, try to swim from England to France or from France to England. The distance at the nearest points is only about twenty miles, but because of the strong currents the distance that must be swum is usually twice as far. The first man to succeed in swimming across the Channel was Captain Webb, an Englishman. This was in August 1875. He landed in France 21 hours 45 minutes after entering the water at Dover. Since then there have been many successful swims and the time has been shortened. One French swimmer crossed in 11 hours and 5 minutes. ---------- 10. Swimming the Channel is not as easy as it might seem _____.

1. as the distance between the two counties is far too much.
2. and it always takes more or less 20 hours.
3. and only two people have managed to do it so far.
4. so few people even try to swim it.
5. for there are very strong currents.