Common Errors in Usage Quiz 11

1. Tim, Tony, and Manu’s post-retirement ping pong games, (1) _____ they ruthlessly (2) _____ humiliate each other, are even more intense (3) _____ their games of “HORSE” (4) _____.

2. (1) _____ his retirement from the NBA, Tim had hardly ever played ping pong, and at first he was not (2) _____ the speed (3) _____ Tony and Manu played.

3. Timmy had such a (1) _____ appetite for victory that he refused to simply (2) _____ his skills to develop naturally.

4. One day as he was (1) _____ through the hills outside San Antonio and (2) _____ how he could improve his ping pong game, he came across a rarely used trail.

5. Tim followed the (1) _____ trail as it wound up the hill to a hidden monastery, (2) _____ he found a wizened hippie (3) _____ brandished an ancient Chinese ping pong paddle and challenged him to a duel.

6. “(1) _____ the better player? If you can defeat me, I will give you this ancient paddle, (2) _____ precious wood is from a rare tree that grows only in the mountains of Sichuan.”

7. After the hippie effortlessly defeated him, Tim began a (1) _____ training regimen that involved doing endless ping pong drills while blindfolded, washing the monastery’s fleet of luxury cars, and (2) _____ the hippie day and night like a servant.

8. As Tim was losing for the thousandth time, the hippie shouted, “Stop (1) _____ that you can’t beat me! You don’t need this paddle to win!” Inspired by the profound truth of his (2) _____ words, Tim finally defeated him and left the monastery with his new ancient Chinese ping pong paddle in his backpack.

9. On that random day in March (1) _____ Tim suddenly reappeared with a long beard and a perfectly sculpted ping pong body after a year-long absence, Tony and Manu were gobsmacked (2) _____ that they could no longer beat him. He had become the master.