Executive PrepLab · V5 Practice · Axis 8

Idiom

Three layers, in order. Layer 1 isolates the decision with nothing else in the way. Layer 2 hides it inside a full item, the way the exam does. Layer 3 reads your errors back to you and says what to repeat.

Work them in sequence — the diagnosis at the end only means something if you have your Layer 2 results in front of you.

Layer 1

Isolated drills

Layer 1 · 20 drills

Twenty pairs. Choose the correct form. There is no rule to derive these from — that is what makes them idiom.

D1. The filter is capable particles under one micron.

D2. The contractor is responsible the delay.

D3. The licence prohibits users the dataset.

D4. The committee credited the student the discovery.

D5. Researchers attribute the decline overfishing.

D6. This alloy is different the earlier formulation.

D7. The findings are consistent the original hypothesis.

D8. The panel regards the result preliminary.

D9. The material is so dense light cannot escape it.

D10. The process is not only faster cheaper.

D11. Estimates range four to nine million.

D12. The figure lies between four nine million.

D13. The population is estimated three million.

D14. The instrument has the ability trace gases.

D15. The outcome depends the weather in June.

D16. All operators must comply the new standard.

D17. The test distinguishes one strain the other.

D18. Rail freight is preferable road haulage on this route.

D19. The statute forbids officials gifts.

D20. The campaign is targeted firms with fewer than fifty staff.

The full answers — subject, verb and why — are in Model answers below, as one block. Work the set as a run before you open it.

	Correct		Correct
D1	capable of removing	D11	range from … to
D2	responsible for	D12	between four and nine
D3	prohibits from copying	D13	estimated to be
D4	credited with	D14	the ability to detect
D5	attribute to	D15	depends on
D6	different from	D16	comply with
D7	consistent with	D17	distinguishes from
D8	regards as	D18	preferable to
D9	so dense that	D19	forbids to accept
D10	not only … but also	D20	targeted at

The pair worth isolating: D3 and D19. Prohibit takes from plus a gerund. Forbid takes to plus an infinitive. The two verbs mean the same thing and take opposite constructions, which is exactly the kind of thing this axis tests.

How to study these. Do not reread the table. When you get one wrong, write the correct form and your wrong form on one line, and keep those lines in a single list. The list of idioms you personally get wrong is far shorter than the list of idioms that exist, and it is the only one worth memorising.

Layer 2

Full items

Now the same decision, buried in a sentence with other things going on. Read the whole sentence, find where the options split, settle one axis at a time.

Item 1

The new filtration system is capable to remove particles smaller than one micron.

Capable of plus a gerund. There is no derivation; the construction is what it is. A, B, D and E are all plausible-looking and all wrong.

Item 2

The terms of the licence prohibit subscribers to redistribute the dataset in any form.

Prohibit … from plus a gerund. A uses the forbid construction, which is the trap: the two verbs are synonyms with opposite grammar. C, D and E invent constructions.

Item 3

The revised alloy behaves quite differently than the formulation used in the first generation of turbines.

Different from — and differently from follows the same pattern. A is the most common error in spoken English and therefore the most tempting option. B is British usage that the format does not accept. D adds a substitute the sentence does not need. E avoids the construction.

Item 4

The prize committee credited the doctoral student for the discovery of the enzyme’s second binding site.

Credit X with Y. The reverse form also exists — credit the discovery to the student — but the sentence puts the person first, which fixes with. A uses for, which is the near-miss most candidates choose.

Item 5

The core is so dense as light cannot escape from within its radius.

So … that. A uses as, which is the standard wrong answer here. C adds a redundant so. D is a contortion. E is grammatical but changes the aspect to something continuous, which the physical claim does not support.

Item 6

Estimates of the herd’s size range between eight to twelve thousand animals.

Range from … to, or between … and. A and E mix the two halves, which is the most common error with this pair. C is grammatical — between eight and twelve — but the sentence has range, and range between is not the idiom. D uses through, which is not the construction.

Two idioms colliding in one item is the shape this axis uses when it wants to be difficult: you have to know both to eliminate correctly.

Item 7

The reviewers regard the preliminary figures to be too provisional for publication.

Regard as. Nothing follows in this sentence but the adjective phrase, so plain as is correct. A uses to be, which is the standard error. C adds being, unnecessary when an adjective follows. E is a conditional construction the sentence does not call for.

Item 8

The authors attribute the decline in the fishery to three decades of unregulated trawling.

Correct as written. Attribute X to Y. B reverses it into the credit construction. C, D and E are not constructions this verb takes.

Item 9

The programme is not only cheaper to administer but also it reaches more households.

Not only … but also, and the two halves must be parallel. The first half is cheaper to administer — an adjective phrase following the verb is. The second must attach to the same verb. C gives but also reaches, matching. A inserts a new subject it, breaking the parallel. B moves also and keeps the subject problem. D and E abandon the correlative pair.

This item sits at the join of Axis 3 and Axis 8: the idiom is not only … but also, and the parallelism is what the idiom requires.

Item 10

All vessels operating in the zone must comply with the reporting standard adopted last year.

Correct as written. Comply with. All four alternatives are prepositions English uses elsewhere and not with this verb.

Answer as many as you like, then check — it scores what you have answered so far.

Layer 3

Diagnosis

Check your Layer 2 answers against this. The pattern of what you missed matters more than how many.

If you missed	It means	Repeat
1, 5, 7	Verb-plus-preposition pairs not fixed	D1, D8, D9
2	Prohibit and forbid still conflated	D3, D19
3	Different from not fixed	D6
4, 8	Direction of credit and attribute reversed	D4, D5
6	Range from…to and between…and mixed	D11, D12
9	Correlative pairs — this is Axis 3 as much as Axis 8	Block 1, Axis 3
8 or 10	You changed a correct sentence	—

The study method for this axis, restated because it is the only one that works: keep a single running list of the idioms you get wrong, in the form wrong → right. Reread that list, not a general one. After three or four practice sessions it will have ten or twelve lines and it will stop growing, which is the signal that this axis is done.