(1) confidential information/documents
(2) Your medical records are strictly confidential (= completely secret) .
(3) He spoke in a confidential tone, his voice low.

(1) He's still living with his parents.
(2) her adoptive parents
(3) Sue and Ben have recently become parents.

(1) An army of ants marched across the path.
(2) an army of advisers/volunteers
(3) an army officer

(1) Her emotions see-sawed from anger to fear.
(2) Share prices see-sawed all day.
(3) Alongside him, Alonso agreement. The 2006 season looks set to be a see-saw ride for them.

(1) The novel has long descriptions and not much dialogue.
(2) dialogues for language learners
(3) The President told waiting reporters there had been a constructive dialogue.

(1) Just shut up, or else!
(2) He either forgot or else decided not to come.
(3) They can't be coming or else they'd have called.

(1) The race organizers are trying to attract sponsors.
(2) I'm collecting sponsors for next week's charity run.
(3) the sponsor of the new immigration bill

(1) The trucks waited at the warehouse to pick up their loads.
(2) The women came down the hill with their loads of firewood.
(3) These backpacks are designed to carry a heavy load .

(1) to deliver/give a lecture to first-year students
(2) to attend a series of lectures on Jane Austen
(3) a lecture room/hall

(1) a super meal
(2) We had a super time in Italy.
(3) She was super (= very kind) when I was having problems.

(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) Very few people can pronounce my name correctly.
(2) The ‘b ’ in lamb is not pronounced.
(3) to pronounce an opinion

(1) a meat substitute
(2) Paul's father only saw him as a substitute for his dead brother.
(3) a substitute family

(1) the earth's orbit around the sun
(2) a space station in orbit round the moon
(3) A new satellite has been put into orbit around the earth.

(1) to be crowned queen
(2) kings and queens
(3) the queen of Norway

(1) a forest of television aerials
(2) Thousands of hectares of forest are destroyed each year.
(3) a forest fire

(1) More and more travelers are looking for bed and breakfast accommodations in private homes.
(2) They were forced to reach an accommodation with the rebels.
(3) First-class accommodation is available on all flights.

(1) a railway carriage
(2) a horse-drawn carriage
(3) £16.95 including VAT and carriage

(1) the area where the market was anciently held (= in ancient times)
(2) an ancient oak tree
(3) ancient monuments

(1) The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality.
(2) Her parents made sacrifices so that she could have a good education.
(3) to make the final/supreme sacrifice (= to die for your country, to save a friend, etc.)

(1) There's a bathroom and a lavatory upstairs.
(2) The nearest public lavatory is at the station.
(3) ...the ladies' lavatory at the University of London.

(1) They planned to march on and liberate the city...
(2) They made a triumphal march into their liberated city.
(3) He asked how committed the leadership was to liberating its people from poverty.

(1) Wind gusts at 80 m.p.h. were clocked at Rapid City.
(2) The police clocked her doing over 100 miles an hour.
(3) a used car with 20 000 miles on the clock

(1) to insert/turn the key in the lock
(2) the car keys
(3) a bunch of keys

(1) a candidate for the degree of MPhil
(2) Our team is a prime candidate for relegation this year.
(3) Your father is an obvious candidate for a heart attack.

(1) The project is being allocated more resources.
(2) More resources are being allocated to the project.
(3) A large sum has been allocated for buying new books for the library.

(1) She's my sister.
(2) an older/younger sister
(3) (informal)a big/little/kid sister

(1) to negotiate a peace settlement
(2) The management and unions have reached a settlement over new working conditions.
(3) an out-of-court settlement (= money that is paid to sb or an agreement that is made to stop sb going to court)

(1) I've just had a tooth out at the dentist's.
(2) to brush/clean your teeth
(3) tooth decay

(1) Nothing, but nothing would make him change his mind.
(2) but that's not possible!
(3) ‘Here's the money I owe you. ’ ‘but that's not right─it was only £10. ’

(1) A ship's speed is measured in knots.
(2) a device that measures the level of radiation in the atmosphere
(3) He's gone to be measured for a new suit.

(1) Most of us do our food shopping in the supermarket...
(2) How do those prawns find their way from Norway to the supermarket shelf?
(3) The supermarket offers a rich supply of different commodities.

(1) Terrorist groups claimed responsibility for the shootings and bomb attacks.
(2) grouse shooting
(3) shooting began early this year.

(1) a rise/an increase/a drop/a fall in profits
(2) The company made a healthy profit on the deal.
(3) profit from exports rose 7.3%.

(1) the random killing of innocent people
(2) a random sample/selection (= in which each thing has an equal chance of being chosen)
(3) The information is processed in a random order.

(1) Your account of events does not correspond with hers.
(2) Your account and hers do not correspond.
(3) The written record of the conversation doesn't correspond to (= is different from) what was actually said.

(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) In the silence we could hear the clock ticking.
(2) While we waited the taxi's meter kept ticking away.
(3) a ticking bomb

(1) a 200-hectare farm
(2) a farm worker/labourer
(3) farm buildings/machinery