VERB PATTERN LAB
Which sentence is correct? Explain why.
A. They decided investing more money in the project.
B. They decided to invest more money in the project.
Answer: B. They decided to invest more money in the project.
Why: decide + to-infinitive.
Which noun naturally collocates with pursue in Unit 4?
Answer: pursue an ambition.
Follow-up: What ambition is genuinely worth pursuing?
Which version better emphasises duration?
“Jaime worked on the project for nine years.”
or
“Jaime had been working on the project for nine years.”
Answer: Jaime had been working on the project for nine years.
Why: It foregrounds duration up to another point in the past.
What expression means “experience a difficult period in your life”?
Answer: go through a rough patch
Explain the difference in one sentence: sharing economy vs circular economy.
Answer: Sharing economy: access to goods/services rather than necessarily owning them.
Circular economy: reducing waste by keeping products/resources in use through reuse, repair and recycling.
Rephrase without substantially changing the meaning:
“Scientists continued trying to find a solution despite repeated failures.”
Use KEEP.
Answer: Scientists kept trying to find a solution despite repeated failures.
Why: keep + gerund.
Replace the unnatural phrase “make funding for a research project” with the collocation used in the unit.
Answer: raise funding for a research project.
Correct the sentence:
“I’ve been knowing her for ten years.”
Answer: I’ve known her for ten years.
Why: know is normally stative and is not usually used in the continuous.
What adjective describes someone who is good at finding clever, practical solutions to problems?
Answer: resourceful
Which phrase mainly introduces an example?
A. Generally speaking,
B. To take one example,
C. One might expect that...
Answer: B. To take one example.
Why: A generalises; C speculates.
Correct the sentence and explain the grammar:
“The company risks to lose its investors if the project fails.”
Answer: The company risks losing its investors if the project fails.
Why: risk + gerund, not risk + to-infinitive.
Match the ideas
curiosity / science / project - satisfy / serve / back.
Answer: satisfy your curiosity; serve science; back a project.
Explain the difference:
“I’ve written three reports today.”
vs
“I’ve been writing reports all day.”
Answer: Present perfect simple foregrounds completed result/quantity (“three reports”); present perfect continuous foregrounds activity/duration (“all day”).
What is the difference between compassionate and selfless?
Answer: Compassionate = showing sympathy and concern for people who suffer.
Selfless = putting other people’s interests or needs before your own.
Why: A person can be compassionate without necessarily acting selflessly.
Turn this into appropriate survey-reporting language:
“73% of respondents prefer renting expensive equipment rather than buying it.”
Start with: The results seem to suggest...
Possible: The results seem to suggest that a clear majority of respondents would rather rent expensive equipment than purchase it outright.
Complete the idea naturally using a passive gerund:
“Deep-sea divers sometimes risk __________ if their oxygen supply fails.”
Answer: Possible answers: risk being deprived of oxygen / being trapped underwater / being seriously injured.
Why: The target pattern is risk + being + past participle.
One adjective is paired with an unnatural adverb. Find it and improve it:
“The proposal was infinitely realistic, but the projected costs were significantly cheaper than before.”
Answer: Replace “infinitely realistic” with a natural intensifier such as startlingly / highly / surprisingly realistic. “Significantly cheaper” is natural.
Why: The task checks adverb–adjective collocational range rather than only grammar.
Create one sentence with the past perfect continuous explaining why someone was exhausted when they arrived at a charity event.
Possible: She was exhausted because she’d been working all day.
Who would probably be better suited to running a community emergency project?
Person A is highly conscientious but rather aloof.
Person B is extremely compassionate and resourceful but somewhat disorganised.
Choose and justify.
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A survey shows:
• 68% use second-hand platforms
• 24% regularly repair broken products
• only 9% rent clothes
Give a two-sentence spoken summary using one generalising phrase and one contrasting or speculative phrase.
Possible: Generally speaking, respondents appear quite willing to extend the life of products, particularly through second-hand platforms. One might speculate that, however, renting clothes still feels considerably less acceptable to consumers.
Explain the difference in grammatical structure:
“SpaceX aims to reduce the cost of space travel.”
“The project involves building an underwater research station.”
Why can’t we simply swap the infinitive and gerund?
Answer: aim + to-infinitive; involve + gerund.
Why: Different lexical verbs select different complements. The choice is part of the verb pattern rather than a free stylistic choice.
Make this comment sound more sophisticated by replacing very twice:
“The idea is very unrealistic and the estimated price is very wrong.”
Answer: wildly/ludicrously unrealistic; wildly/gravely inaccurate.
Choose the better form and justify it:
“By the time the organisation finally received enough money, they raised / had raised / had been raising funds for nearly two years.”
Answer: Best: had been raising.
Why: It stresses an activity continuing over a period up to a past reference point.
Describe the ideal community leader using three adjectives from Unit 4, but include one potential weakness.
Possible: compassionate, conscientious and resourceful, with a weakness such as being overly conscientious and reluctant to delegate.
Convince the class that the circular economy will become mainstream. You have 30 seconds and must naturally use three of these:
profit-driven • finite resources • customer loyalty • zero-waste • investment opportunities • consumer behaviour
Possible: As finite resources become increasingly expensive, even highly profit-driven companies may have to reconsider their business models. At the same time, changing consumer behaviour could create major investment opportunities for businesses that genuinely move towards zero-waste production.