(1) There is a quart of milk left in the pail.
(2) The maid plunged the cloth into the pail and cleaned the floor.
(3) There was a pail of water on the ground.

(1) The project is still causing him a lot of problems.
(2) The poor harvest caused prices to rise sharply.
(3) deaths caused by dangerous driving

(1) acts of terrorism
(2) an act of kindness
(3) Ken was in the act of paying his bill when Neil came up behind him.

(1) Are you doing anything over the weekend ?
(2) Have a good weekend!
(3) It happened on the weekend of 24 and 25 April.

(1) plain-clothes detectives from the vice squad
(2) The film ended most satisfactorily: vice punished and virtue rewarded.
(3) Greed is a terrible vice.

(1) the cliff edge/top
(2) the chalk cliffs of southern England
(3) a castle perched high on the cliffs above the river

(1) both women were French.
(2) both the women were French.
(3) both of the women were French.

(1) seventy people were killed.
(2) It's a long way to go for two people in their seventies.
(3) In the late Seventies, things had to be new, modern, revolutionary.

(1) a male bird
(2) All the attackers were male, aged between 25 and 30.
(3) a male nurse/model/colleague

(1) sandwiches on a plate
(2) a pile of dirty plates
(3) dinner plates

(1) The guard is/are being inspected today.
(2) the changing of the guard (= when one group replaces another)
(3) the captain of the guard

(1) to offer interest-free credit (= allow sb to pay later, without any extra charge)
(2) We bought the dishwasher on credit .
(3) to get/refuse credit

(1) to play the drums
(2) a regular drum beat
(3) a 50 gallon drum

(1) She uttered a cry of despair.
(2) A deep sense of despair overwhelmed him.
(3) He gave up the struggle in despair .

(1) a thermometer reading
(2) Use a rectal thermometer for infants.
(3) The thermometer recorded a temperature of 28 degrees.

(1) The old house is full of atmosphere (= it's very interesting) .
(2) pollution of the atmosphere
(3) Saturn's atmosphere

(1) It was only a partial solution to the problem.
(2) a partial eclipse of the sun
(3) I'm not partial to mushrooms.

(1) The campsite provided only basic facilities.
(2) My knowledge of French is pretty basic.
(3) basic human rights

(1) to travel by sea
(2) a cottage by the sea
(3) The waste was dumped in the sea .

(1) Go on, ask her; she can hardly refuse.
(2) He flatly refused to discuss the matter.
(3) She refused to accept that there was a problem.

(1) ‘You're very quiet today. ’ ‘pardon? ’ ‘I said you're very quiet today. ’
(2) to ask/grant/receive a pardon
(3) a royal/presidential pardon

(1) They are in direct contact with the hijackers.
(2) His death was a direct result of your action.
(3) We are looking for somebody with direct experience of this type of work.

(1) an annual salary of $40 000
(2) a 9% salary increase
(3) She's on a salary of £24 000.

(1) an automatic pistol
(2) a starting pistol (= used to signal the start of a race)
(3) He drew his pistol and aimed at the enemy soldier.

(1) one of the great successes of British cinema
(2) the local cinema
(3) I used to go to the cinema every week.

(1) Looking at the crowds out shopping, you could be forgiven for thinking that everyone has plenty of money.
(2) The government has agreed to forgive a large part of the debt.
(3) forgive my interrupting but I really don't agree with that.

(1) incorrect information/spelling
(2) His version of what happened is incorrect.
(3) an incorrectly addressed letter

(1) ...Ushant, five miles out to the north-west.
(2) Labour took its pre-election campaign to the North-West.
(3) ...the extreme north-west of South America.

(1) a pack of wolves
(2) I was back in the changing room wolfing tea and sandwiches.
(3) A lot of the lads took small jobs to help keep the wolf from the door.

(1) Take the first turning on the right.
(2) I think we must have taken a wrong turning somewhere.
(3) Take the next turning on the right.

(1) ...badly cut blue suits.
(2) I could see long canoes cutting through the waves.
(3) He decided to cut across the Heath, through Greenwich Park.

(1) newly independent republics
(2) the republic of Ireland
(3) In 1918, Austria became a republic.

(1) Have you any comment to make about the cause of the disaster?
(2) She made helpful comments on my work.
(3) The director was not available for comment.

(1) a packet of chocolate biscuits
(2) a selection of cheese biscuits
(3) You've done some stupid things before, but this really takes the biscuit!

(1) a bike's inner tube
(2) the cardboard tube from the centre of a toilet roll
(3) a tube of toothpaste

(1) Can you telephone me at your convenience to arrange a meeting?
(2) We have provided seats for the convenience of our customers.
(3) For (the sake of) convenience , the two groups have been treated as one in this report.

(1) to win at cards/chess, etc.
(2) Which team won?
(3) France won by six goals to two against Denmark.

(1) There's trouble looming on the horizon.
(2) The company needs new horizons now.
(3) She wanted to travel to broaden her horizons .

(1) she went directly to Simon's apartment and knocked on the door.
(2) He'd phoned Laura to see if she was better.
(3) she reached into the wardrobe and extracted another tracksuit.

(1) a simple solution
(2) The answer is really quite simple.
(3) This machine is very simple to use.