Complete the collocation by choosing a suitable word to fill in the blank.
The workers ______ a break every 45 minutes, which is of great concern to the management.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
Correct Answer
take
Explanation
The sentence requires a verb that forms a natural, native-sounding word partnership (collocation) with the noun "break."
While "have a break" is a valid English collocation, the specific context of this sentence indicates a systematic interruption or an action initiated by the workers that goes against the preferences of the management ("which is of great concern to the management"). In professional and academic testing contexts, "take a break" is the preferred collocation used to describe actively stepping away from work or duty at intervals. The plural subject "The workers" matches perfectly with the base form verb "take" to maintain correct subject-verb agreement.
Key Points
Core Definition A collocation is a predictable combination of words that naturally and frequently occur together in a language.
Grammatical Role Choosing the appropriate active verb to fit a specific idiomatic noun phrase while satisfying regular subject-verb agreement rules.