Grammar Questions
Choose the correct choice A, B, C, or D as the correct answer.
1. By the time the external auditors finally arrived, the finance team ______ on the revised figures for nearly twelve straight hours, so several members were visibly exhausted.
2. By the end of next summer, Professor Hale ______ in that department for twenty-five years, which is why the university plans to hold a formal ceremony in his honour.
3. ______ before the deadline, the board would not now be facing questions about why the funding decision was delayed.
4. Even if the proposal were slightly more expensive, I still think it ______ preferable to the cheaper option, given the long-term maintenance costs.
5. ______ the early warning signs, the management team would not now be under such intense pressure from shareholders and regulators.
6. ______ the minister concluded her remarks than several journalists began asking whether the policy had already been quietly revised.
7. Rarely ______ such direct criticism from their own advisory panel, which is why the response from the board was so unusually defensive.
8. ______ the last section of the manuscript, the editor sent it back with only a few minor stylistic suggestions rather than a full set of revisions.
9. ______ to comment publicly on an internal dispute, the director chose her words unusually carefully and avoided making any statement that sounded definitive.
10. ______ about the possible legal consequences well in advance, the company could hardly claim that the final outcome came as a complete surprise.
11. If the committee had been given the full background information at the start, it almost certainly ______ the revised proposal instead of rejecting it outright.
12. The crisis might not have escalated so quickly if the technical team ______ one apparently minor detail in the original safety report.
13. Please contact the department immediately ______ any additional documentation or clarification be required before the application can proceed.
14. Very ______ attention was paid to the practical consequences of the proposal, which is why the final version appeared elegant in theory but unworkable in practice.
15. After years in a fast-paced corporate environment, she is now fully ______ with conflict professionally, even when the disagreement becomes unexpectedly personal.
16. You ______ the original files with you; the conference organizer had already emailed digital copies to every participant the night before.
17. Judging from the tone of her reply, the earlier message ______, because she is reacting to something much harsher than what we actually wrote.
18. I would rather you ______ the revised figures during the public meeting until we have had time to verify them properly.
19. ______ that the board began to appreciate how serious the staffing problem had become, even though employees had been warning them for months.
20. The lawyer was careful not to say directly ______ the company intended to settle the matter quietly or continue fighting it in court.
21. ______ the support of several senior researchers, the project would almost certainly have been abandoned during its earliest stage.
22. The junior staff objected to the decision, and ______ a number of department heads once the full implications became clear.
23. You may cite the report in your article, ______ every quotation is reproduced accurately and in its proper context.
24. Only after several external reviewers had raised the same concern ______ that the initial conclusions were too confident.
25. ______ of the policy change before the contracts were signed, several clients might have negotiated very different terms.
26. Much of the confusion surrounding the announcement ______ if the company had issued a clearer statement instead of several vague updates.
27. Not until the contract was reviewed carefully by external counsel ______ how many ambiguities had been left unresolved in the original draft.
28. Only once the regulators had issued a formal warning ______ that the matter could no longer be handled informally.
29. By the time the investigation concluded, the agreement ______ months earlier if both parties had been more willing to compromise from the beginning.
30. ______ the guidance of one particularly experienced mentor, many of the younger researchers would probably have abandoned the project after the first setback.
