Intermediate Quiz 15

1. They discussed the economic outlook for the _____ of the year.

remain

remains

remaining

remainder

 

Answer:

They discussed the economic outlook for the (remainder) of the year.

 

Remain is:

 

Remains is:

 

Remaining is:

 

Remainder is:

 

The remainder is a noun phrase that means the part that is left when the other people or things are gone, used, etc.

 

They discussed the economic outlook for the (remainder) of the year.

= They discussed the economic outlook for the rest of the year.

 

If a speaker says this sentence in September, for example, the remainder of the year refers to the period of October until December of that year.

 

2. The only ______ question is whether the plan will work.

remain

remains

remaining

remainder

 

Answer:

The only (remaining) question is whether the plan will work.

 

Question is a noun and can be described by an adjective.

Remaining is an adjective that means still needing to be done or dealt with.

 

The only (remaining) question is whether the plan will work.

= The only question that we still have to deal with is whether the plan will work.

 

3. They found the _____ of a man under the floor boards.

remain

remains

remaining

remainder

 

Answer:

They found the (remains) of a man under the floor boards.

 

Remains is noun that means the body of someone who has died.

 

They found the (remains) of a man under the floor boards.

= They found the body of a dead man under the floor boards.

 

4. Traffic congestion _____ a problem.

remain

remains

remaining

remainder

 

Answer:

Traffic congestion (remains) a problem.

 

The sentence lacks a verb.

Congestion (=the state of being crowded and full of traffic) is an uncountable noun.

We use uncountable nouns with singular verbs.

 

Traffic congestion (remains) a problem.

= Traffic congestion is still a problem.

= Traffic congestion continues to be a problem.

 

5. There were only fifteen minutes _____.

remain

remains

remaining

remainder

 

Answer:

There were only fifteen minutes (remaining).

 

If we want to express that a certain duration exists or existed, we use this pattern:

There are/were + duration + remaining.

There are ten minutes remaining.

There were twenty minutes remaning.

 

There were only fifteen minutes (remaining).

= Only fifteen minutes were available after the speaker said this.

 

The word remaining in this pattern is a verb in the -ing form.