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AP English Language and Composition Unit 8C: Idiomatic Expressions and Phrasal Usage — practice questions

Explore 81 free Unit 8C: Idiomatic Expressions and Phrasal Usage questions in AP English Language and Composition English Language. Open each question or exercise to read its content, reference answers and available explanation.

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Unit 8C: Idiomatic Expressions and Phrasal Usage questions and exercises with answers

Showing questions 1–30 of 81.

Choose the word that is closest in meaning to **BRIEF**.Read the answer and worked solution →Choose the word that is closest in meaning to **EMBEZZLE**.Read the answer and worked solution →Choose the word that is closest in meaning to **VENT**.Read the answer and worked solution →Best fits: 'The two theories are ___; both cannot be true at once.'Read the answer and worked solution →Choose the antonym of 'EXPLICIT':Read the answer and worked solution →Choose the word closest in meaning to 'SUBSEQUENT':Read the answer and worked solution →Select the word that best completes the sentence: 'The new policy will ___ economic growth.' (formal register)Read the answer and worked solution →Choose the word closest in meaning to 'OBTAIN':Read the answer and worked solution →Select the best word: 'The researchers will ___ the findings next week.' (formal)Read the answer and worked solution →Which word best fits: 'The data were ___ to draw a firm conclusion.' (insufficient quantity)Read the answer and worked solution →Choose the best synonym for 'ESTABLISH':Read the answer and worked solution →Choose the best synonym for 'COMPONENT':Read the answer and worked solution →Choose the word closest in meaning to 'SIGNIFICANT':Read the answer and worked solution →Closest in meaning to 'DEMONSTRATE':Read the answer and worked solution →Choose the antonym of 'CONSTRAINT':Read the answer and worked solution →In a formal CAT passage, the writer is described as 'eloquent'. The connotation here is:Read the answer and worked solution →The prefix 'mal-' in words like 'malfunction' and 'malice' typically conveys:Read the answer and worked solution →The idiom 'to take the bull by the horns' means:Read the answer and worked solution →Choose the correct word: 'The principal _____ behind the school's new policy is fairness.'Read the answer and worked solution →The word 'circumlocution' is best understood by breaking it into:Read the answer and worked solution →Match each CAT-style word to its closest synonym.Read the answer and worked solution →Pop only the synonyms of LETHARGIC.Read the answer and worked solution →Match each idiom to its meaning.Read the answer and worked solution →Type the antonym (one word).Read the answer and worked solution →Match each GRE high-frequency word to its definition.Read the answer and worked solution →Match each Latin / Greek root to its meaning.Read the answer and worked solution →Pop only synonyms of EPHEMERAL.Read the answer and worked solution →Pop only synonyms of LOQUACIOUS.Read the answer and worked solution →Sort each word as having a Positive or Negative connotation.Read the answer and worked solution →Match each prefix to its meaning.Read the answer and worked solution →

Worked practice questions

Choose the word that is closest in meaning to **BRIEF**.

  1. Limited
  2. Small
  3. Little
  4. Short
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Correct answer: D. Short

Brief = short in duration or length. 'Limited', 'small' and 'little' all describe quantity/size rather than duration — they don't capture the temporal sense that 'brief' carries.

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Choose the word that is closest in meaning to **EMBEZZLE**.

  1. Misappropriate
  2. Balance
  3. Remunerate
  4. Clear
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Correct answer: A. Misappropriate

To embezzle is to fraudulently take funds entrusted to one's care — i.e. to *misappropriate*. 'Remunerate' (to pay for services) and 'clear' (to settle accounts) are tempting because they're financial terms, but they describe legitimate transactions, not theft.

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Choose the word that is closest in meaning to **VENT**.

  1. Opening
  2. Stodge
  3. End
  4. Past tense of 'go'
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Correct answer: A. Opening

As a noun, 'vent' refers to an opening that allows passage of air or fluid (e.g. a heating vent). **Option D plays on the look of 'vent' as if it were 'went' — a deliberate misdirection used in many vocab tests.**

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More English Language topics

Unit 2: Reasoning and Structure of ArgumentUnit 6: Syntax and Sentence StructureUnit 7E: Parts of Speech and Grammatical ConventionsUnit 7A: Sentence Boundaries and Structural ImprovementUnit 7B: Verb Tense Consistency and Agreement RulesUnit 7C: Modifiers, Clauses and Sentence TransformationUnit 7D: Determiners, Articles and Prepositional UsageUnit 1B: Evidence and Argument Structure in Nonfiction