Word Pairs

HOW TO PLAY:

  • Type the correct word in the boxes from the pairs of words [in brackets].
  • Click the button at the bottom to check your answers.
  • Press the "refresh" button on your browser to play again.

Words
Everyone is [familiar / familiarly] with the Nobel Prizes, which are awarded for physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace. These are given to [them / those] who have contributed "the greatest [beneficial / benefit] to humankind". However, fewer people are [aware / wary] of the Ig Nobel Prize. This is bestowed to "[honor / honorable] achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think". [Once / One] of this year's Ig Nobel awards has been given to scientists [what / who] experimented on the effects [on / in] rhinoceroses of hanging them upside down. The rhino study won the award [of / for] transportation research. Researchers from Cornell University were trying to ascertain the healthiest way [of / to] relocate the animals by helicopter.

The Ig Nobel prizes are organized [by / as] the science humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research. Wikipedia says: "The Ig Nobel Prize is a [soporific / satirical] prize awarded [annually / annual] since 1991 to celebrate ten unusual or [trivial / triviality] achievements in scientific research." It added: "The name of the award is a [bun / pun] on the Nobel Prize, which it parodies, and [on / in] the word ignoble (not noble)." Other recipients of this year's award studied the bacteria in chewing gum [stuck / stricken] to pavements, conducted tests [in / on] forms of cat communication, and carried out research on whether humans [evolved / revolved] beards to protect themselves from punches to the face. All award winners receive a [now-defunct / now-derelict] Zimbabwean $10 trillion note.

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