Raymond Murphy essential grammar in use

By B. Sh. Azar 
1. Two-thirds of the food … fresh. 
A) is B) are
2. Alex, as well as his two older brothers, 
… a good full-time job. 
A) has B) have 
3. Making pies and cakes … Mrs. Reed’s 
speciality. 
A) is B) are 
4. The elderly in my country … cared for 
by their children and grandchildren. 
A) is B) are 
5. My cousin, along with my aunt and 
uncle, … in my grandpa’s hardware store. 
A) works B) work 
6. Cattle … considered sacred in India. 
A) is B) are 
7. Ten minutes … more than enough time 
to complete this exercise. 
A) is B) are 
8. There … an incorrect statement in that 
newspaper article. 
A) is B) are 
9. Every man, woman, and child … 
protected under the law. 
A) is B) are 
10. Some of the cities I would like to visit 
… Rome and Venice. 
A) is B) are 

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11. The number of students in this room 
right now … twenty. 
A) is B) are 
12. The weather in the southern states 
… very hot during the summer. 
A) gets B) get 
13. Almost every professor and student 
at the university … of the choice of Dr. 
Brown as the new president. 
A) approve B) approves 
14. Lettuce … good for you. 
A) is B) are 
15. … having the responsibility for 
taking care of pets good for young 
children? 
A) Is B) Are 
16. Half of the money … yours. 
A) is B) are 
17. Why … there a shortage of available 
apartments for rent in this city at 
present? 
A) is B) are 
18. How many wars do you suppose 
there … in the history of the world since 
the dawn of civilization? 
A) has been B) have been 
19. The United Nations … headquarters 
in New York City. 
A) have their B) has its 
20. The Philippines … of more than 
7,000 islands. 
A) consist B) consists 
21. Five times five … twenty-five. 
A) is B) are 
22. Eight hours of sleep … enough. 
A) is B) are 
23. Diabetes … an illness. 
A) is B) are 
24. The rich … richer. 
A) get B) gets 
25. The statistics in that report on oil 
production .. incorrect. 
A) is B) are 
26. Portuguese … somewhat similar to 
Spanish. 
A) is B) are 
27. Listening to very loud music at rock 
concerts … caused hearing loss in some 
teenagers. 
A) have B) has 
28. About two-thirds of the Vietnamese 
… in agriculture. 
A) work B) works 
29. More men than women … left-handed. 
A) is B) are 
30. Seventy-five percent of the people in 
New York City … in upstairs apartments, 
not on the ground floor. 
A) live B) lives 
31. Unless there … a profound and 
extensive reform of government policies in 
the near future, the economic conditions 
in that country will continue to 
deteriorate. 
A) is B) are 
32. While I was in Paris, some of the best 
food I found … not at the well-known 
eating places, but in small out-of-way 
cafes. 
A) was B) were 
33. Some of the movie about the gangsters 
… surprisingly funny. 
A) was B) were 
34. What … the population of Canada? 
A) is B) are 
35. The insurance rates on our car … high 
because we live in a city. 
A) is B) are 
36. A car with poor brakes and no brake 
lights … dangerous. 
A) is B) are 
Chapter 7 
Nouns 
1. Quite a few diplomats are assigned to 
our city. Almost all of the … children 
attend a special school. 
A) diplomat B) diplomats
C) diplomats’ D) diplomat’s 
2. I opened the curtains to let in …. 
A) lights B) a light 
C) a few light D) some light 
3. Psychologists have developed many 
different kinds of tests. A ‘personality test’ 
is used to evaluate an … personal 
characteristics, such as friendliness or 
trustworthiness. 
A) individual B) individuals
C) individual’s D) individuals’ 
4. In the United States, baseball is called 
the national pastime. To play it, you need 
… and a bat. 
A) a baseball B) baseball 
C) baseball’s D) the baseball 

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129 
5. … sense of smell is keen. Its ability to 
smell prey over a mile away is important 
to its survival in the vast expanses of 
snow and ice where it lives. 
A) A polar bear B) A polar bear’s 
C) Polar bears D) Polar bears’ 
6. Many mythological stories tell of … 
encounters with giants or dangerous 
animals. In one story, the … encounter 
with a dragon saves a village from 
destruction. 
A) hero’s/heroes’ B) hero/hero’s 
C) heroes/heroes’ D) heroes’/hero’s 
7. The plane was late. We had … wait. 
A) two-hours B) a two-hours 
C) two hour’s D) a two-hour 
8. I put some banana peels, empty juice 
cartoons, and broken bottles in the 
waste can. The can is full of … 
A) thunder B) traffic 
C) garbage D) hardware 
9. … computer will play an increasingly 
large role in all of our lives. 
A) A B) The C) - D) Some 
10. … are the smallest living thing. 
A) Bacterium B) Bacteria 
C) A bacterium D) The Bacteria 
11. There are three … entrants in the 
photo contest. 
A) thousand B) thousands 
C) thousands’ D) thousand’s 
12. … of people in the world are starving. 
A) Million B) A millions 
C) Millions D) Million’s 
13. This is … purse. 
A) woman’s B) a woman 
C) a women D) a woman’s 
14. They sell shoes at that store. It’s … 
store. 
A) a shoes’ B) a shoe 
C) shoe’s D) shoes 
15. There are many problems in … 
world. 
A) today B) today’s 
C) todays D) todays’ 
16. At a formal dinner, there are usually 
two forks on the table. The smaller fork 
is for salad. It’s … fork. 
A) salad B) a salad’s 
C) salads’ D) a salad 
17. We saw beautiful mountains, fields, 
and lakes on our trip. In other words, we 
saw … 
A) beautiful scenery
B) a beautiful scenery 
C) the beautiful scenery
D) beautiful sceneries 
18. ‘Arm’ and ‘’dog’ are … words.
A) a three-letter B) three-letter 
C) a three letters D) three-letters 
19. I used … to press my wrinkled shirt. 
A) iron B) an iron 
C) a pair of iron D) some iron 
20. Ann likes to wear … 
A) jewellery B) a jewellery 
C) some jewelleries D) a pair of jewellery 
21. Abdullah gave me some good …. Nadia 
also gave me some good …. 
A) advice/suggestion
B) advices/suggestions 
C) advice/suggestions
D) advices/suggestion 
22. Thank you for … 
A) banana B) a banana 
C) the banana D) bananas 
23. … is an area of land between two 
mountains. 
A) A valley B) The valley
C) The valleys D) Valley 
24. There was … earthquake in California. 
A) a B) the C) - D) an 
25. - Did you think … reason Mike gave 
for being late was believable? 
- Not really. 
A) a B) the C) - D) some 
26. When you look at … sandy shore, it 
might seem practically empty of … 
animals. 
A) a/- B) the/- C) the/the D) -/- 
27. Do you ever gaze into … space and 
wonder if … other life forms exist in … 
universe? 
A) -/-/the B) -/-/- C) -/the/an
D) a/an/- 
28. Most mirrors are made from … glass to 
which … thin layer of silver or aluminium 
has been applied. 
A) a/a B) the/a C) -/a D) -/- 
29. Dolphins that are free in … nature live 
around 40 years. 
A) a B) the C) - D) an 
30. How … has your country made in 
improving the quality of medical care 
available to the average citizen? 
A) much progress B) many progress 
C) much progresses D) many progresses 
31. Many people are multilingual, but … 
people speak more than ten languages. 

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130 
A) not much B) very a few 
C) many D) very few 
32. I don’t watch TV very much because 
there are … television programs that I 
enjoy. 
A) hardly any B) a few 
C) very little D) many 
33. Sam hasn’t met any … students in 
the other class. 
A) of B) of the C) the D) a 
34. I usually get a lot … mail. 
A) of B) of a C) a D) – 
35. All birds have wings, but not all … 
birds can fly. 
A) of the B) - C) of D) the 
36. It’s important for young people to 
have goals in their lives. My mother 
always told me that any dream is worth 
pursuing if I know in my heart it is what 
I want to do. Few … people have made 
great accomplishments in life without 
first having a dream – a personal, inner 
vision of what is possible. 
A) of B) of the C) the D) –