ELSA Vocabulary & Language Usage 5

Question 1

Which sentence uses 'fewer' correctly?

Accepted Answer

There are fewer students in the class today.

Answer

'Fewer' is used with countable nouns (students), while 'less' is used with uncountable nouns (water, patience, time).

Question 2

What does the word 'mitigate' mean?

Accepted Answer

To make something less severe or harmful

Answer

'Mitigate' means to lessen the severity, seriousness, or painfulness of something.

Question 3

Which of the following is an example of personification?

Accepted Answer

The wind whispered through the trees.

Answer

Personification gives human qualities to non-human things; the wind 'whispering' attributes a human action to nature.

Question 4

Choose the word that means 'to officially take back or withdraw a statement':

Accepted Answer

Recant

Answer

'Recant' means to publicly withdraw or renounce a previously held belief or statement.

Question 5

What is the correct plural of 'criterion'?

Accepted Answer

Criteria

Answer

'Criterion' is from Greek, and its correct plural is 'criteria,' following the original Greek pluralization.

(ELSA) English Language Skills Assessment Practice Test