IELTS Vocabulary: Academic Word List and Collocations 2

Question 1

The new legislation was designed to ______ corruption in public procurement, but critics argue it lacks enforcement mechanisms.

Accepted Answer

combat

Answer

'Combat corruption' is the established academic and policy collocation; 'fight' is less formal; 'battle' and 'defeat' are more informal or military in register.

Question 2

In academic writing, which word is the most appropriate synonym for 'use' in the sentence: 'Researchers ______ a range of qualitative methods'?

Accepted Answer

employ

Answer

'Employ' is the highest-register AWL synonym for 'use' when describing research methodology; 'apply' is also academic but less idiomatic with 'methods'; 'utilise' is considered inflated by many style guides.

Question 3

The data ______ that urban areas with higher green-space coverage report lower levels of stress-related illness.

Accepted Answer

suggests

Answer

'Suggests' is preferred over 'shows' when the evidence is inferential rather than conclusive; 'tells' and 'says' are informal and not used with 'data' as subject.

Question 4

The ______ of the study was to examine the long-term economic consequences of early childhood education investment.

Accepted Answer

aim

Answer

'Aim of the study' is the most standard academic phrasing for introducing research purpose in IELTS and academic writing contexts.

Question 5

The author makes a ______ distinction between correlation and causation, which is central to the validity of the argument.

Accepted Answer

crucial

Answer

'Crucial distinction' is the most common academic collocation; 'vital distinction' is less frequent; 'important' and 'necessary' are less idiomatic here.

IELTS Practice Test

IELTS Practice Test

IELTS Vocabulary: Academic Word List and Collocations 2