Ying Wa College
S2 English Language 2025 – 2026
Supplementary Exercise 2
(OATA Unit 15 Vocabulary, Phrasal Verb and Collocation)
Name: ___________________ Class: _____ ( ) Date:____________________
Part A – Reading Comprehension
Comprehension, or extracting meaning from what you read, is the ultimate goal of reading. Experienced
readers take this for granted and may not appreciate the reading comprehension skills required. The process of
comprehension is both interactive and strategic. Rather than passively reading text, readers must analyze it,
internalize it and make it their own.
In this unit, we want to focus on one specific strategy: summarizing.
What is summarizing?
When you are reading a report (like Report on endangered species) and infographic (like Humans and
endangered species), you may be given a lot of information.
As a reader, it is important for us to reduce the text to the main points for more concise understanding.
Exercise I: Answer the following questions based on the passage.
1. According to paragraph 2, what is the Humans destroy their habits and illegally hunt them.
main cause of Siberian tigers’ threat?
2. According to paragraph 4, how do Humans create pollution, capture orcas for theme parks
humans threaten orcas? and overfish, which leads to shortage of food for orcas.
3. According to paragraph 6, what is the Direct cause: hunting for them and their eggs
direct and indirect cause of green sea Indirect cause: pollution and human encroachment
turtles’ extinction?
4. According to the infographic on p.93, Deforestation, urbanization, pollution, and overhunting.
what are some major human threats to
animals?
Reading Strategy for Summarizing
1. Identify the main idea.
2. Look for supporting details.
3. Determine what to include and exclude.
4. Paraphrase and condense.
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Part B Vocabulary
(i) Refer to Unit 15 P.96, 171 and 172 for ten vocabulary items.
(ii) Complete the first column of the following table with the five vocabulary items provided below.
Then, fill in other blanks.
examine (line 1) sought after (line 18) adapt (line 23)
weigh (line 26) encounter (line 29) capture (line 31)
maturity (line 50) concerted (line 50)
Vocabulary Part of Meaning Example Word family
Speech (selected items)
1. adapt v. to change something to suit different The good thing about children is adaptation (n.)
conditions or uses; or to become that they adapt very easily to new adaptable (adj.)
familiar with a new situation environments.
2. maturity n. The state of being completely grown These insects reach full maturity mature (adj.)
physically after a few weeks.
3. examine v. to look at or consider a person or Forensic scientists are examining examination (n.)
thing carefully and in detail in order the wreckage for clues about the
to discover something about them cause of the explosion.
4. weigh v. to have a heaviness of a stated She weighs between 55 and 60 weight; weighting
amount, or to measure the heaviness kilograms. (n.)
of an object
5. capture n. the act of catching Fortunately, this information led capture (v.)
somebody/something and keeping to the capture of the murderer, so
them in control people can feel safe again.
6. sought adj. wanted by many people and usually At the age of 17 she is already N/A
after of high quality or rare one of Hollywood's most sought-
after actresses.
7. encounter n. a meeting, especially one that I had an alarming encounter with encounter (v.)
happens by chance a wild tiger.
8. concerted adj. planned or done together for a The richer countries of the world concertedness (n.)
shared purpose should take concerted action to concertedly
help the poorer countries. (adverb)
Note: The above table only indicates the meaning of the items in the text. When you learn new words, you are
advised to look them up in your dictionary and check out other meanings and their usage.
Exercise I
Fill in the blanks with the vocabulary items in Part A. You may need to change the word form.
1. We live in a changing world and people must learn to adapt.
2. The average weight of a baby at birth is just over seven pounds.
3. You should pay heed to his advice, or you might end up suffering the mistakes he made in the past.
4. I thought it was paint at first, but on closer examination I realized it was dried blood.
5. ‘Benny, we’re not kids anymore. We should be mature enough to disagree on this issue but still
respect each other.’
6. They threatened to kill him unless he did as they asked.
7. The two soldiers somehow managed to avoid capture by the enemy.
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8. I hate that my job is starting to encroach on my family life. I’ve been working in the office even on
Sundays recently!
Part C Collocation
In the previous unit, you have learned some collocation related to adjectives (express; rich; strong). What are
some common collocations related to other adjectives?
1. big
Apart from describing something large in size, the word big is often used in collocations with a
happening or event.
a big accomplishment/ failure
a big improvement/ change/ difference/ increase
a big problem/ mistake/ challenge/ trouble/ issue
a big decision/ surprise
2. great
The word great is often used in collocations with feelings or qualities.
great fun/ joy/ happiness/ excitement/ pleasure
great power/ skill/ strength
great wisdom/ wealth/ pride
3. large
The word large is often used in collocations involving numbers and measurements.
a large amount/ number/ quantity/ scale/ proportion
a large size/ volume
a large collection/ population/ percentage
4. deep
The word deep is used for some strong feelings.
deep depression
deep devotion/ commitment
a deep thought/ understanding/ concern/ thinking/ insights
Exercise II
Complete the following sentences using the most appropriate adjectives for the collocations.
a. I have deep/ great respect for people who work and attend college full-time. It’s not easy; you need a
lot of dedication!
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b. Practicing listening to English every day has resulted in a big/great improvement in my
understanding.
c. A large number of our employees have post-graduate degrees.
d. She received a soccer scholarship due to her great skill on the field.
e. The orchestra made a number of big mistakes in the first performance.
f. Scientific study clearly requires deep/great commitment and passion to the subject of inquiry.
g. Children make up a large proportion of the world’s population.
h. The committee notes with deep/great concern that violence against women and children remains
prevalent in Yemen.
i. We can have a great Olympics, but if some steps aren’t taken, it can be a big failure.
j. It is a great pleasure to welcome you all here this evening.
k. With great power there must also come -- great responsibility!
Part D Phrasal Verb
1. hold on:
a) wait (especially on the phone)
b) hold something tightly, especially to stop yourself from falling or losing what you are holding
2. hold back:
a) prevent something or someone from moving forward
b) stop yourself from showing how you feel
3. keep off:
a) not go onto an area of land
b) keep something off: prevent something from touching or harming something or someone
4. keep in:
a) make somebody stay indoors (as punishment)
b) make somebody stay in hospital because they are too ill to go home
5. keep on:
a) continue despite difficulties
b) keep on and on: continue to talk in an annoying or boring way
Exercise III
Fill in the following blanks with the correct phrasal verb. Pay attention to the correct tense form you should
use. The phrasal verbs can be used more than once.
1. No matter how hard I pulled, the dog would not let go of the stick – it just held on and snarled.
2. They kept me in overnight for observation.
3. No car appeared so she kept on walking.
4. Struggling to hold back her tears, Josie watched him get into the plane.
5. There is a sign saying, ‘Keep off the grass.’
6. Jimmy was wearing a hood to keep off the rain.
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7. Police did their best to hold back hundreds of screaming fans.
8. ‘Can I speak to John please?’ ‘Yeah, hold on.’
9. The children had behaved so badly that the teacher kept them in at lunchtime.
10. I know what you think, so there’s no need to keep on and on about it.
