Vocabulary: Synonyms and Collocations Flashcards

The city council proposed a new plan to __________ the problem of traffic congestion in the downtown area.

Answer: alleviate

The correct answer is 'alleviate', which means to make a problem less severe. The other options are incorrect: 'aggravate' means to make a problem worse, 'accelerate' means to speed up, and 'ascend' means to go up.

Which of the following words is the best synonym for 'intricate'?

Answer: Complex

'Intricate' means having many interrelated parts or details, making it complicated to understand. 'Complex' is the closest synonym. 'Simple', 'plain', and 'obvious' are antonyms.

In order to get to the airport on time, we had to leave early to avoid the __________ traffic.

Answer: heavy

The standard collocation for a large volume of traffic is 'heavy traffic'. While the other adjectives can describe quantity, they are not idiomatically used with 'traffic' in this context.

It is important that you do not __________ a promise you have made to a client; it reflects poorly on the company's reputation.

Answer: break

The correct collocation is 'to break a promise', which means to fail to do what you said you would do. The other verbs, while related to physical damage, are not used with 'promise' in this idiomatic way.

The detective listened to the suspect's story, which seemed __________ enough, but he decided to check the alibi anyway.

Answer: plausible

'Plausible' means reasonable or believable. The context suggests the story could be true, even if the detective is still suspicious. The other options are antonyms and would mean the story was not believable.

After weeks of discussion, the management team was finally able to __________ a decision on the new marketing strategy.

Answer: make

The correct collocation is 'make a decision'. This is a very common fixed expression in English. While 'do', 'form', or 'get' might seem logical, they are not the standard verbs used in this phrase.