Fluency Boost: Opinions, Academic Discourse & Adverb+Adjective Collocations: correct answers

Complete the campus gossip's observation about a rather oblivious freshman. Choose the correct adverb to form a natural English expression.

While the rest of the class panicked about the surprise midterm, Kevin sat in the back row, _____ unaware of the impending academic doom.

The correct answer is blissfully unaware.

"Blissfully unaware" is a fixed collocation used to describe someone who has no idea about a negative situation, and is therefore happy because of their ignorance.

Help the exhausted grad student finish her thesis statement without sounding completely informal. Select the most natural academic collocation.

The professor's new theory on time travel is _____, sparking heated debates and minor shouting matches in the physics department.

The correct answer is highly controversial.

In academic discourse, the adverb "highly" strongly collocates with adjectives like "controversial," "probable," and "effective." We do not typically say "strongly" or "heavily" controversial.

Choose the best phrase to describe the cutthroat world of the university debate team.

Getting a spot on the national debate squad is _____; you have to out-argue fifty other brilliant students just to get an audition.

The correct answer is fiercely competitive.

The adverb "fiercely" is the standard collocation used with "competitive" to describe a situation where people try very hard to win or succeed.

Help the peer reviewer politely but firmly destroy their rival's academic paper by choosing the correct adverb-adjective pairing.

Although the author presents an interesting premise, the methodology used to collect the survey data is _____.

The correct answer is deeply flawed.

In academic and formal English, "deeply" is frequently paired with negative adjectives expressing fundamental problems or emotions, such as "flawed," "offensive," or "disturbing."

Complete the detective's rather sarcastic notes on a terribly hidden crime.

It was _____ that the "burglar" was just the owner's cat, given the tiny paw prints left on the broken vase.

The correct answer is painfully obvious.

"Painfully obvious" is a common collocation used when a fact or situation is so clear that it is almost embarrassing or annoying that it needs to be pointed out.

The correct answers are highly controversial, highly unlikely, and highly beneficial.

Highly is an adverb used to express a high degree, but it generally pairs with gradable adjectives related to probability, opinions, or quality (like controversial, unlikely, and beneficial).

We do not use "highly" with extreme or absolute adjectives. For those, we use different adverbs:

• Instead of "highly huge," we say absolutely huge.

• Instead of "highly impossible," we say completely impossible.

Select the most natural academic phrasing to start off a history essay introduction.

It is _____ among historians that the ancient library was not destroyed in a single fire, but rather suffered centuries of neglect.

The correct answer is widely believed.

"Widely believed" (along with "widely known" and "widely accepted") is the standard academic collocation to express that a large number of people hold a specific opinion or accept a fact.

The correct answers are heavily dependent, heavily reliant, and highly dependent.

In academic English, when discussing reliance or dependence, heavily and highly are the standard adverbs used to boost the adjectives dependent and reliant.

"True" and "empty" are ungradable/absolute adjectives. We would say something is absolutely true or completely empty, never heavily true or empty.

Choose the correct adverb to complete the art student's critique of a modern painting.

The artist’s late geometric period was _____ influenced by the architecture of the industrial cities she visited in her youth.

The correct answer is heavily.

"Heavily" is the natural adverb to use with "influenced" or "reliant" when describing a strong effect or impact. While words like "strictly" or "fiercely" are valid adverbs, they do not form a natural collocation with "influenced."

The correct answers are widely accepted, widely believed, and widely recognized.

Widely means "by a lot of people" or "in a lot of places," making it perfect for academic consensus (accepted, believed, recognized).

"Convinced" applies to people having a firm belief, but we don't say "it is widely convinced" (we say "many scientists are firmly convinced"). "Undeniable" is an absolute adjective that doesn't pair with "widely"; we would say it is absolutely undeniable.

The correct answers are strictly forbidden, strictly limited, and strictly regulated.

Strictly is used to emphasize that rules or boundaries must be obeyed. It pairs naturally with words like forbidden, limited, and regulated.

"Strictly optional" is an oxymoron (a contradiction in terms), and things cannot be "strictly destroyed" (they are usually completely destroyed).

The correct answers are deeply moving, deeply concerning, and deeply offensive.

The adverb deeply is strongly associated with profound feelings, serious opinions, or emotional states. Therefore, it pairs perfectly with moving, concerning, and offensive.

"Awake" is an absolute state; the correct collocation is wide awake. "Hilarious" is an extreme adjective; the correct collocation is absolutely hilarious.