Free Linguaskill Vocabulary: Business Collocations Questions and Answers — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The legal team's primary task this week is to ______ a new contract for the partnership, ensuring all terms are clearly defined.
- draw up (Correct answer)
- write on
- set out
- put down
Correct answer: draw up
The correct business collocation is 'to draw up a contract', which means to prepare and write a formal, official document. The other options are not the standard phrasal verbs used in this context.
Question 2: After months of difficult talks, the two companies decided to ______ negotiations because they could not agree on the valuation.
- cut out
- shut down
- break off (Correct answer)
- close out
Correct answer: break off
The correct collocation is 'to break off negotiations', which means to end talks suddenly and without an agreement. The other options imply a more final or different kind of closure that doesn't fit the context of negotiations.
Question 3: A key responsibility of a project manager is to effectively ______ resources to ensure the team has the necessary budget and personnel to succeed.
- distribute
- assign
- give
- allocate (Correct answer)
Correct answer: allocate
'To allocate resources' is the standard business collocation for assigning or distributing resources like money, staff, and time for a specific purpose. While the other words have similar meanings, 'allocate' is the most formal and appropriate term in a project management context.
Question 4: Which of the following verbs is the most common and appropriate collocation with 'market share' to signify an increase in a company's sales percentage within its industry?
- achieve
- gain (Correct answer)
- win
- take
Correct answer: gain
The most common business collocation is 'to gain market share', which means to increase the percentage of total sales a company has in a specific market. 'Win' and 'achieve' are plausible but less standard, while 'take' can sound overly aggressive or informal.
Question 5: In order to deal with falling employee morale, the CEO promised the management team would ______ the issue at the next all-hands meeting.
- speak
- handle
- address (Correct answer)
- solve
Correct answer: address
The correct collocation is 'to address an issue', which means to formally deal with or give attention to a problem. 'Handle' is similar but less formal. 'Solve' implies finding a complete solution, whereas 'address' means to begin dealing with it. 'Speak the issue' is grammatically incorrect.
Question 6: The entire team had to work overtime to ______ the deadline for the product launch, as it was critical to the quarterly sales targets.
- catch
- meet (Correct answer)
- reach
- complete
Correct answer: meet
The standard business collocation is 'to meet a deadline', which means to finish a task by the agreed-upon time. 'Reach' and 'catch' are not used with 'deadline', and while one 'completes' a task, they 'meet' the deadline for it.
The legal team's primary task this week is to ______ a new contract for the partnership, ensuring all terms are clearly defined.