Practice English Vocabulary B1 Exercises – Inventions and discoveries

A. Match the pictures with the words in the box.

B. Complete using the words in the box.

1   It’s not a/an ………………… watch. It’s got hands.

2   If you play this stereo on ………………… volume, you’ll go deaf!

3   It’s not a/an ………………… experiment. In fact, it’s really simple.

4   Are leather chairs more comfortable than ………………… ones?

5   There aren’t any windows in the lab, so all the light is ………………… .

6   Was it a/an ………………… decision, or had you thought about it for a long time?

7   The lights are ………………… – they come on when you enter the room, and go off when you leave.

8   Each person’s fingerprints are ………………… No two people have the same fingerprints.

9   The ………………… number of patients necessary to test the new drug is 50. Any less than that and the scientists won’t know if it works properly or not.

10   I can’t remember the ………………… year it was discovered, but it was around 1976.

C. Circle the correct word.

1   Do you know who invented / discovered the planet Mars?

2   The number of people dying of malaria has run / decreased enormously over the last 100 years.

3   You need at least three people to operate / estimate this machine safely.

4   Modern technology / equipment makes all our lives easier.

5   We’ve done a lot of research / experiment into why people are scared of spiders.

6   I’m using a computer research / program that translates from English into Greek.

7   This drug seems to have no effect / lack on humans at all.

8   The experiment just involves / operates answering a few questions.

9   Could you program / estimate how many times a week you eat cheese?

10   Do you think anyone will ever invent / discover a time machine?

11   Professor Reinhart decreases / runs the computer lab with her three assistants.

12   There’s a lack / an effect of phones in this office. We need some more!

D. Choose the correct answer.

1   I ……………… across this book about the moon in the library. It’s really interesting!

      A   went         B   found

      C   came         D   looked

2   Jenny pulled ……………… the handle so we can’t open the cupboard now.

      A   off             B   away

      C   in                D   over

3   I’d like to find ……………… more about being a computer programmer.

      A   across       B   up

      C   off             D   out

4   Our car has broken ……………… again.

      A   off             B   down

      C   out             D   in

5   Dean was late for physics so he ……………… up a story about being attacked by a cat!

      A   took          B   wrote

      C   created     D   made

6   ……………… the TV off. This show is boring.

      A   Put            B   Set

      C   Turn           D   Make

7   I’m going to throw these old shoes ……………… I never wear them anymore.

      A   off             B   away

      C   down         D   back

8   I turned ……………… the tap but no water came out.

      A   over          B   up

      C   round        D   on

E. Complete using the words in the box.

1   These toilets have been out of ………………….. for a week now. When are they going

to fix them?

2   In my ………………….., humans will never live on other planets.

3   Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin by ………………….. . He didn’t expect to find it at all.

4   I wonder what new technology will be invented in the ………………….. .

5   Helen couldn’t get the experiment to work for ages, but in the ………………….. it was fine.

6   It’s so nice to have my own computer at ………………….. .

F. Use the word given in capitals at the end of each line to form a word that fits in the gap in the same line.

Mr Thomas

Mr Thomas was a teacher at our school. He’d trained as a (1) ………………….. (HISTORY) and usually taught history. He definitely wasn’t a (2) ………………….. (SCIENCE), but for some strange reason he taught us (3) ………………….. (CHEMIST) for a term. His lessons were always (4) ………………….. (FASCINATE), but that was mainly because his experiments always went wrong! If he was supposed to use (5) ………………….. (BOIL) water for an experiment, Mr Thomas would use cold water by mistake. Once, he was measuring the (6) ………………….. (LONG) of some pieces of sodium. I can’t remember exactly why he needed this (7) ………………….. (MEASURE), but I think he wanted all the pieces to react (8) ………………….. (IDENTICAL). As he picked up the ruler, his arm knocked over a jug of water and the sodium caught fire. He almost burnt the lab down and they had to call the fire brigade. I think after that Mr Thomas came to the (9) ………………….. (CONCLUDE) that he should stick to history! I learnt a lot from him, though. Whenever there was a question in a science (10) ………………….. (EXAMINE) about what happens when sodium reacts with water, I always got the answer right!

G. Match to make sentences.

A   in us having to call the fire brigade.

B   to that piece of equipment over there.

C   about how to do this experiment.

D   between H₂O and H₂SO₄?

E   with water?

F   of old camping equipment.

H. Write one word in each gap.

1   This program is very different ………………… the one you’re using at the moment.

2   Let’s begin the lesson ………………… a short test on the names of the different parts of an insect.

3   Disconnect your PC ………………… the power supply before you take the case off.

4   There are a number ………………… different ways of doing this experiment.

5   How many types ………………… building can you think of?

6   What were your reasons ………………… choosing to do biology at university?