Advanced register and style. 45 questions on gender-neutral language, precise stylistic choices, formal hedging, and register-sensitive grammar in academic prose.
What this test covers
- Gender-Neutral and Inclusive Language
- Precise Formal Hedging and Stance Language
- Stylistic Grammar Choices in Academic Writing
Answer the 45 questions below. Each answer is checked straight away, with an explanation. Press Submit at the end to get your score and save it to your dashboard. Answers are not kept if you leave before submitting.
All 45 questions with answers
Pick an answer for each question to see if you are right, with the explanation. Submit when you are done; you can submit before answering them all.
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Q1Each applicant must sign ___ own form before the deadline.
Answer: C. their
Singular 'their' serves as an epicene (gender-neutral) pronoun to refer to the singular indefinite antecedent 'each applicant'. This usage is standard in modern academic and professional registers to avoid gender bias without the clunkiness of 'his or her'. 'Its' is incorrect as it refers to inanimate objects.
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Q2___ needs to approve the agenda before the meeting begins.
Answer: D. The chair
'The chair' is a metonymic title—where the name of the position represents the person—preferred in formal professional contexts over gendered terms. Modern style guides advocate for the removal of gender-specific suffixes like '-man' (as in 'chairman' or 'headman') to ensure inclusive institutional language.
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Q3Every nurse should update ___ own records at the end of the shift.
Answer: D. their
Using 'their' as a singular gender-neutral pronoun avoids the gendered stereotype that nurses are female (precluding 'her'). This usage maintains a neutral register while remaining grammatically consistent with the distributive quantifier 'every'. 'Its' is inappropriate for referring to people.
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Q4Identify the error in the following sentence:
Answer: D. If a doctor is busy, he should ask a colleague for help.
The use of 'he' as a generic pronoun to represent all genders is considered exclusionary and outdated in professional academic writing. Modern standards require the use of singular 'they', pluralization of the subject, or restructuring the sentence to achieve gender neutrality.
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Q5The average ___ wants a better life for their family.
Answer: C. person
'Person' provides a semantically neutral and inclusive subject. Terms like 'man' or 'mankind' represent the 'masculine-as-universal' bias, which is deprecated in high-register contemporary English. 'Men' is a plural noun and does not agree with the singular verb 'wants'.
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Q6When a student enters the lab, ___ must wear safety goggles.
Answer: A. they
Singular 'they' acts as the appropriate referring back to a word mentioned earlier (a word referring back to another) for the indefinite singular antecedent 'a student'. Distractors like 'he' or 'she' impose a specific gender, and 'students' would result in a number disagreement with the earlier singular verb 'enters'.
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Q7___ often risk their lives to protect the community.
Answer: A. Firefighters
'Firefighters' is the established occupational term that ensures gender inclusivity. 'Firemen' is gender-exclusive, while 'fire people' and 'firemen and firewomen' are stylistically non-standard or overly wordy for a professional register.
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Q8If a pilot loses ___ way, ___ should contact air traffic control.
Answer: A. their/they
The pronoun set 'their/they' provides a cohesive, gender-neutral reference to the singular antecedent 'a pilot'. Using 'his' or 'her' is exclusionary in this general context, and 'its/it' is grammatically incorrect as it is only applied to inanimate objects or non-human animals.
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Q9The ___ for the department will address the press conference.
Answer: C. spokesperson
'Spokesperson' is the preferred neutral job title in official registers, effectively replacing the gendered 'spokesman'. 'Voice' is too metaphorical for a formal job title, and 'speaking man' is not a recognized professional term.
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Q10Every manager has his own style. -> Select the best inclusive rewrite:
Answer: C. Managers have their own styles.
Pluralizing the entire construction ('Managers... styles') is a highly effective stylistic strategy. It bypasses the need for singular gender-neutral pronouns entirely while maintaining logical number agreement between the plural subject and the plural objects (styles).
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Q11The history of ___ is full of wars and technological advancements.
Answer: B. humankind
'Humankind' is the inclusive collective noun required in formal academic discourse. It replaces 'mankind' or 'man', which are now viewed as androcentric (male-centered) and inappropriate for universal reference.
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Q12Each salesperson must submit ___ own report by Friday.
Answer: A. their
Singular 'their' is the most concise and modern gender-neutral pronoun for the distributive antecedent 'each salesperson'. While 'his/her' is technically correct, it is often avoided in sophisticated prose to ensure better stylistic flow and readability.
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Q13If an author wants to succeed, he must write well. -> Best rewrite:
Answer: C. Authors who want to succeed must write well.
Restructuring the sentence into the plural ('Authors...') is the most elegant way to achieve neutrality in academic prose. This avoids the disruptive punctuation of 'he/she' and the outdated generic 'he', maintaining a formal, authoritative tone.
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Q14The ___ informed the passengers about the safety procedures.
Answer: C. flight attendant
'Flight attendant' is the standard, gender-neutral occupational term. 'Stewardess' and 'steward' are gender-specific markers that are generally avoided in modern professional registers to promote workplace inclusivity.
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Q15A doctor should listen to ___ own patients carefully.
Answer: B. their
Singular 'their' is the preferred epicene (gender-neutral) pronoun in modern professional style guides. While 'his or her' is grammatically valid, it can become pedantic and repetitive in extended academic writing compared to the seamless use of singular 'they/their'.
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Q16The findings ___ that the drug is effective in treating the disease.
Answer: B. suggest
'Suggest' is the paradigmatic verb for reporting research findings in scientific registers. It provides necessary epistemic hedging—language that acknowledges results are indicative rather than absolute—whereas 'prove' is typically avoided because it suggests a level of finality rarely found in empirical science.
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Q17The data ___ a link between pollution and respiratory health.
Answer: B. suggest
In academic discourse, 'suggest' is a cautious epistemic marker used when evidence is indicative but not yet definitive. Verbs like 'confirm' or 'prove' imply a level of certainty that may overstate the causal strength of the data, potentially leading to inaccurate claims.
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Q18Identify the error in the following sentence:
Answer: D. Water may possibly freeze at temperatures below 0°C.
'May possibly' is a pleonasm (a redundant expression), as both the modal 'may' and the adverb 'possibly' express the same idea of likelihood. In concise academic writing, such double hedging is a stylistic error; one should use 'may freeze' or 'possibly freezes' alone.
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Q19According to the latest forecasts, the economy ___ grow next year.
Answer: D. is expected to
'Is expected to' is the standard formal construction for projections. It functions as a hedge by attributing the prediction to analytical models or consensus rather than asserting it as an absolute fact (as 'will' does). 'Could' and 'might' are slightly more informal or tentative.
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Q20The research ___ that the policy failed to achieve its objectives.
Answer: C. demonstrates
'Demonstrates' is a strong, factive verb—a verb that implies the truth of the following statement—used when evidence is considered robust. It is appropriate when the writer intends to convey high certainty based on conclusive data, rather than using tentative hedges like 'might suggest'.
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Q21The proposed theory is ___ flawed in its current state.
Answer: C. arguably
'Arguably' is a sophisticated academic qualifier used to signal that a claim, while supported by the author, is a matter of scholarly debate. This hedge protects the writer from being overly dogmatic while still making a strong, defensible assertion.
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Q22The witness statement ___ to be unreliable upon further inspection.
Answer: B. appears
'Appears' functions as an evidential hedge—a word that signals the basis of a claim rather than its absolute truth. It focuses on the outward observation of unreliability without making an absolute claim, which is a common choice in legal and academic reporting.
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Q23It ___ that the project is significantly over budget.
Answer: B. is evident
'Is evident' is used when reporting quantifiable, objective facts. Using weaker hedges like 'might appear' or 'could possibly be' would be rhetorically inappropriate for a situation where budget data provides clear, undeniable evidence of an overrun.
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Q24The findings are ___ consistent with previous studies on the topic.
Answer: D. broadly
'Broadly' is a precise qualifier that acknowledges a general alignment with previous research while allowing for minor variations. 'Conceivably' and 'seemingly' suggest a lack of evidential support or a degree of doubt that would be inappropriate when describing actual data consistency.
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Q25The author ___ that the market is currently undergoing a shift.
Answer: B. contends
'Contends' is a formal reporting verb used to present an author's argument. It allows the writer to attribute a viewpoint without necessarily endorsing it as fact, unlike factive verbs like 'proves' or 'demonstrates', which suggest the author's claim is objectively true.
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Q26The current data ___ support the hypothesis.
Answer: C. appear to
'Appear to' is a standard epistemic hedge—language used to show that a statement is a matter of interpretation. This maintains the necessary tentative tone required in research to avoid overgeneralization or claiming absolute certainty where data is still evolving.
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Q27The conclusion reached by the committee is ___ correct.
Answer: D. demonstrably
'Demonstrably' is a formal adverb indicating that the correctness of the conclusion can be proven through evidence or logic. It is more rigorous than 'certainly' or 'clearly', which are often viewed as mere rhetorical emphasis rather than evidence-based assertions.
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Q28The decline in sales ___ linked to the new tax policy.
Answer: A. is arguably
'Is arguably' is used to propose a causal link in contexts where multiple variables are at play. It signals that the connection is a logical interpretation rather than an absolute certainty, which is appropriate for complex economic or social analyses.
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Q29The survey ___ that customers are dissatisfied with the service.
Answer: A. indicates
'Indicates' is a neutral, non-factive reporting verb suitable for presenting direct survey data. It is more direct than 'could possibly show' but remains more measured than a definitive 'proves', which would overstate the finality of a single survey.
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Q30The report ___ that the merger will fail without intervention.
Answer: D. warns
'Warns' is a semantically precise verb that conveys the pragmatic force—the intended purpose—of a negative prediction. It is more stylistically effective than neutral verbs like 'suggests' when the content involves a potential hazard, failure, or risk.
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Q31The implementation of the utilisation of these resources is recommended. -> Fix the zombie noun:
Answer: C. Using these resources is recommended.
Using the gerund 'Using' replaces a sequence of 'zombie nouns' (nominalizations—nouns created from verbs—like 'implementation' and 'utilisation'). This results in clearer prose by focusing on the action rather than abstract noun chains.
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Q32There was a deterioration in the performance of the system. -> Select the most direct and stylistically effective rewrite:
Answer: B. System performance deteriorated.
Shifting from a nominalized phrase ('a deterioration') to a direct verb ('deteriorated') creates a more concise sentence. High-level style favors 'verbal' prose (focused on verbs) over 'nominal' prose (focused on nouns) to improve readability and flow.
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Q33The funding was cut and the project failed. -> Select the most formal causal construction:
Answer: C. Due to the reduction in funding, the project failed.
A prepositional phrase like 'Due to the reduction in funding' provides a sophisticated, integrated causal structure. This is generally preferred in formal academic reports over coordinating conjunctions like 'so' or the simpler 'because'.
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Q34We analysed the samples. -> Use passive for objectivity:
Answer: B. The samples were analysed.
The agentless passive ('The samples were analysed') is a hallmark of objective scientific register. It de-emphasizes the researchers (the 'we') and focuses the reader's attention on the object of study and the procedure itself, which is standard in formal reports.
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Q35Identify the error in the following passage:
Answer: C. The study was conducted over six months. The participants were satisfied. It was a really cool experiment.
The phrase 'really cool' is a colloquialism—an informal expression suited for casual speech—that violates the formal register of an academic report. Words like 'significant' or 'robust' are the expected lexical choices for describing research quality in professional writing.
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Q36The committee made a decision to reject the proposal. -> Select the most direct and stylistically effective rewrite:
Answer: C. The committee decided to reject the proposal.
Replacing the light-verb construction—using a general verb like 'make' or 'do' with a noun—with the precise verb 'decided' reduces wordiness. Formal writing should avoid periphrastic (wordy) expressions when a single, strong verb is available.
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Q37The company experienced a growth in profits. -> Select the most direct and stylistically effective rewrite:
Answer: D. The company's profits grew.
Turning the nominalisation 'growth' back into its verbal form 'grew' makes the sentence more direct. Avoiding weak, general-purpose verbs like 'experienced' in favor of specific action verbs is a key principle of professional and academic writing.
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Q38The manager's expectation was that the team would succeed. -> Select the most direct and stylistically effective rewrite:
Answer: D. The manager expected the team to succeed.
The verb-based 'expected' is more direct than the noun-based 'expectation'. High-register style aims to place the action in the verb rather than the noun to clarify the agent-action-object relationship and reduce wordiness.
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Q39Someone leaked the report. -> Use passive for unknown agent:
Answer: D. The report was leaked.
The passive voice ('was leaked') is the appropriate choice when the agent is unknown, irrelevant, or when the writer wishes to focus entirely on the affected object (the report) rather than the person who performed the action.
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Q40The weather was bad, so we cancelled the event. -> Select the most formal rewrite:
Answer: B. Due to bad weather, we cancelled the event.
Fronting the causal 'Due to' phrase creates a formal, cohesive sentence structure suitable for official reporting. It provides a more integrated logical flow than the connecting word (like 'and', 'but', or 'so') 'so', which can feel overly simple or conversational.
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Q41The provision of assistance to the poor is a priority. -> Select the most direct and stylistically effective rewrite:
Answer: A. Assisting the poor is a priority.
The gerund 'Assisting' is more dynamic and direct than the heavy nominalized phrase 'The provision of assistance'. Modern formal style often favors gerunds over complex, multi-word noun phrases to improve the 'energy' and clarity of the sentence.
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Q42The data were collected by the researchers. -> Select the most appropriate active voice rewrite:
Answer: A. The researchers collected the data.
While the passive is common in science, the active voice ('The researchers collected') is often preferred for clarity when the agents are known. It avoids the relative wordiness and 'indirectness' of the passive 'were collected by'.
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Q43The presentation of the results took place. -> Select the most direct and stylistically effective rewrite:
Answer: B. The results were presented.
A passive construction ('were presented') is more concise and formal than the combination of a nominalisation ('presentation') and a general-purpose verb ('took place'). It eliminates the 'zombie noun' and focuses directly on the results.
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Q44There is a requirement for the staff to arrive on time. -> Select the most direct and stylistically effective rewrite:
Answer: D. Staff must arrive on time.
Using the deontic modal 'must'—a modal verb expressing obligation—is more direct and forceful than the existential 'There is a requirement'. In administrative writing, direct modals are often preferred to nominalized requirements for clarity and impact.
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Q45The development of a new strategy is necessary. -> Select the most direct and stylistically effective rewrite:
Answer: A. We must develop a new strategy.
The active modal 'must develop' clearly identifies the necessity and implies an agent. It is more persuasive and direct than the abstract noun-based construction 'The development... is necessary', which obscures the action behind a nominalisation.
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