Exercise – Unit 02: Tenses – Chapter 1: Grammar Practice – Starter TOEIC – Third Edition – Building TOEIC Test-taking Skills – Anne Taylor – Casey Malarcher

A. Choose the word or phrase that best completes the sentence.

1. We’ll start when he ——- ready.
(A) will
(B) will is
(C) will be
(D) is

Answer: (D) is
When we refer to a future event dependent on a condition, we use the present tense in the conditional clause (the part starting with “when”). So, we don’t use “will” here.
Use PRESENT SIMPLE in temporal or conditional adverbial clauses.

2. We ——- at a party two months ago.
(A) meet
(B) met
(C) have met
(D) meeting

Answer: (B) met
The time expression “two months ago” indicates that the event occurred in the past. Therefore, we need the simple past tense.

3. So far, there ——- no word from them.
(A) is
(B) was
(C) has
(D) has been

Answer: (D) has been
The phrase “so far” means “until now.” “So far” suggests an ongoing situation up to the present, so we use the present perfect tense to indicate that no word has been received yet.

4. When I called on her, Mary ——- her room.
(A) clean
(B) cleans
(C) cleaning
(D) was cleaning

Answer: (D) was cleaning
The sentence indicates what Mary was doing at a certain moment in the past. This sentence describes an action (cleaning) that was in progress at a specific time in the past (when I called). The past continuous tense is used here to show that Mary was in the middle of cleaning.

B. Choose the word or phrase that best completes the sentence.

From: The Principal
To: All teachers

I have recently received several (1) ——- from parents about teachers being late for class. As you know, school policy is for all teachers to be in their classroom five minutes before the (2) ——- of a lesson. This sets a good example for our students. We cannot expect our students to be punctual if we are late ourselves. All teachers must observe school policy.

(1) (A) complaints (B) complains (C) complain (D) complaining
(2) (A) end (B) start (C) finish (D) introduction

Answer:

(1) (A) complaints
The phrase “several ——-” suggests that we need a plural noun to match the modifying count adjective. Here, “complaints” is the correct plural form of “complaint,” which fits the meaning of the sentence as it refers to parents expressing concerns.

(2) (B) start
In this case, “start” is a noun meaning “beginning.” It is not used as a verb meaning “to begin.”
Since teachers are required to be in the classroom before a lesson begins, we need a word that indicates the beginning of the lesson. “Start” fits perfectly as it signifies the beginning time of the lesson.

C. Fill the blank with the appropriate word.

1. All things ——-, Professor Kim is the best instructor I’ve ever had.
(A) considered
(B) to consider
(C) considering
(D) considerable

Answer: (A) considered
Since the second clause shows the result of the verb in the first clause, that first clause verb must be in past tense.
The phrase “All things considered” is an idiomatic expression that means “taking everything into account.” Only (A) considered fits correctly in this expression.

2. I’m quite sure this business will ——-.
(A) paying
(B) pay for
(C) pay off
(D) paid

Answer: (C) pay off
“Pay off” means to yield profit or returns. The phrase “pay off” means to be successful or profitable in the future, which is the intended meaning here.

3. I’m sort of ——- with his flattery.
(A) disgust
(B) to disgust
(C) disgusting
(D) disgusted

Answer: (D) disgusted
The phrase “sort of” (= kind of) is an adverb meaning somewhat. In this sentence, “sort of” implies a feeling experienced by the speaker, so we need an adjective describing the speaker’s reaction to the flattery. (D) disgusted is correct because it describes how the speaker feels.

4. These pills will surely ——- your pain.
(A) ease
(B) easy
(C) easily
(D) easiness

Answer: (A) ease
Notice that there is no verb except an auxiliary verb will. Since “will” is an auxiliary, we need a basic verb in the blank to complete the action.
Here, we need a verb that means “reduce” or “relieve.” (A) ease is the correct verb for this purpose, meaning to make pain less severe.