Language Use: Recycling Scheme Gap-Fill
A student is completing a language-use gap-fill about a school recycling scheme. The text reads: ‘Last term, our school ___ (1) a recycling scheme. At first, only a few students took ___ (2) in it. The student council decided to ___ (3) awareness by putting posters near the bins. By May, the amount of paper waste had fallen by 18 percent, which ___ (4) the whole school. The scheme was so successful that the head teacher ___ (5) a decision to continue it.’ The options are: (1) set up / set off / set out; (2) part / place / role; (3) raise / rise / arise; (4) effected / affected / afforded; (5) made / did / took. The student chooses ‘set off’, ‘place’, ‘rise’, ‘effected’ and ‘did’ because they sound more formal. The teacher asks the student to correct the choices and explain the collocations and word forms.
1. Correct gaps 1, 2 and 3, and explain each choice.
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(1) set up: it means establish or start a scheme; 'set off' means begin a journey or cause an alarm, and 'set out' means begin with an aim or arrange. (2) part: the fixed collocation is 'take part in'. 'Take place' means happen and does not take 'in' in this sense; 'take a role' is possible but not with 'in it' in this pattern. (3) raise: 'raise awareness' is the collocation meaning increase awareness. 'Rise' is intransitive and cannot take 'awareness' as an object; 'arise' means occur or come up.
2. Explain why 'affected' is better than 'effected' in gap 4.
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'Affected' is the verb meaning influenced or had an effect on; the fall in paper waste influenced the whole school. 'Effected' is a formal verb meaning brought about or caused, as in 'effect a change'. The sentence needs the influence meaning, so 'affected' is correct. 'Afforded' is unrelated and does not fit the meaning.
3. Choose the best option for gap 5 and explain the collocation and register.
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The best option is 'made': 'make a decision' is the standard collocation. 'Do a decision' is not English; 'take a decision' is possible in some varieties and formal contexts, but 'made' is the safest neutral choice and fits the school report tone. The student's 'did' is wrong because 'do' does not collocate with 'decision'. Register alone cannot justify a wrong collocation.