Cambridge C2 Use of English Vocabulary Practice with Answers

Cambridge C2 Proficiency Reading and Use of English currently contains seven parts and 53 questions. Its Use of English tasks require exact control of collocation, grammar, word families, and meaning—not merely rare vocabulary.

These 24 items are original. Finish a set before reading its key. The explanatory parent article, Cambridge C2 Part 1 collocations and shades of meaning, shows how to eliminate near-synonyms from full context.

Set 1: precision and collocation

1. The latest evidence appears to ______ the claim that the effect is permanent. A undermine B demolish C prevent D dissolve
2. The review was critical but stopped ______ of recommending the program's closure. A briefly B short C away D clear
3. The policy may have ______ consequences for groups not represented in the consultation. A far-reaching B faraway C prolonged D stretched
4. Her account ______ with the records in every material respect. A corresponds B associates C complies D resembles
5. The chair was careful not to ______ motives to anyone involved. A allocate B attribute C assign D attach
6. The apparent agreement ______ a deeper disagreement about implementation. A concealed B secluded C withheld D sheltered

Answers: 1 A: evidence can undermine a claim without fully disproving it. 2 B: stop short of is fixed. 3 A: far-reaching consequences have wide effects. 4 A: corresponds with means matches. 5 B: attribute motives to is the established pattern. 6 A: concealed means kept the disagreement from view; the alternatives do not fit this object and meaning.

Set 2: one-word cloze

Much (7) ______ been written about the supposed decline of public debate, yet the evidence is less conclusive than is often assumed. Not only (8) ______ participation vary across platforms, but definitions of participation also differ. Researchers would therefore do well to distinguish passive exposure (9) ______ active contribution. It is only by making that distinction (10) ______ apparently conflicting findings become interpretable. This is not to say that every method is equally sound, (11) ______ that comparison requires shared criteria. Such criteria are all the more important (12) ______ the data was collected in different periods.

Answers: 7 has, completing the present perfect passive has been written. 8 does, enabling inversion after not only. 9 from, in distinguish X from Y. 10 that, in the cleft-like structure it is only by...that. 11 but, correcting the possible inference. 12 when, identifying the circumstance that increases importance.

Set 3: word families

13. The conclusion rests on an ______ narrow interpretation of the evidence. JUSTIFY
14. What looked like inconsistency was actually a difference in ______. EMPHASIZE
15. The account is persuasive despite a few minor ______. PRECISE
16. The change was introduced so ______ that few people recognized its significance. INCREMENT
17. The committee questioned the practical ______ of the proposal. VIABLE
18. His refusal to acknowledge the limitation was increasingly ______. DEFEND

Answers: 13 unjustifiably, an adverb modifying narrow. 14 emphasis, a noun after in. 15 imprecisions, countable departures from precision. 16 incrementally, an adverb describing gradual stages. 17 viability, the required noun. 18 indefensible, meaning impossible to justify.

Set 4: preserve meaning and stance

Complete each sentence with three to eight words, including the key word unchanged.

19. It is possible that the apparent improvement was temporary. MAY
    The apparent improvement ______ temporary.

20. The report did not directly criticize the process, but that was clearly implied. SHORT
    The report ______ direct criticism of the process.

21. People only understood the scale of the change later. DID
    Only later ______ the scale of the change.

22. I do not intend to question her expertise. CAST
    I have no intention ______ her expertise.

23. The explanation is plausible, but the available data does not prove it. BORNE
    The explanation is plausible but ______ the available data.

24. The two proposals seem different, but their practical effects are almost identical. LITTLE
    There ______ the proposals in their practical effects.

Answers: 19 may have been preserves past possibility. 20 stopped short of preserves an implied but unstated criticism. 21 did people understand uses inversion after a restrictive fronted phrase. 22 of casting doubt on preserves the meaning and complementation. 23 is not borne out by means the evidence does not confirm it. 24 is little to distinguish between preserves near equivalence.

For every wrong answer, write the exact clue you missed: complement, fixed phrase, polarity, stance, or word class. Continue in the Cambridge C1/C2 vocabulary hub and use Lyra Practice's precision guides to retrieve the expression in fresh context.

Sources

• Cambridge C2 Proficiency exam format

Related

• C2 Part 1 collocations and shades of meaning
• C2 word-formation vocabulary families
• C2 transformations: meaning and collocation
• Cambridge C1/C2 vocabulary hub

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