(1) You should avoid mentioning his divorce.
(2) I had to swerve to avoid a cat.
(3) I've been avoiding getting down to work all day.

(1) a short and turbulent career in politics
(2) a turbulent part of the world
(3) The aircraft is designed to withstand turbulent conditions.

(1) Their friendship soon deepened into love.
(2) Warships were sent in as the crisis deepened.
(3) a deepening economic recession

(1) inorganic/organic chemistry
(2) the chemistry of copper
(3) The patient's blood chemistry was monitored regularly.

(1) I have been a faithful reader of your newspaper for many years.
(2) The president will keep the support of the party faithful .
(3) a faithful copy/account/description

(1) a small town set in a valley
(2) a wooded valley
(3) the valley floor

(1) He did not hold a firearm certificate...
(2) Applicants should normally hold a good Honours degree...
(3) I'd seen it before in people who held immense power.

(1) Red blood cells are roughly the shape of a disk.
(2) The program takes up 2.5 megabytes of disk space.
(3) This driver monitors disk accesses capturing performance data.

(1) He was greatly respected by his brother officers.
(2) We must support our weaker brethren.
(3) brother Luke

(1) a romantic candlelit dinner
(2) romantic stories/fiction/comedy
(3) I'm not interested in a romantic relationship.

(1) Our thanks are due to the whole team.
(2) Have they been paid the money that is due to them?
(3) The project had to be abandoned due to a lack of government funding.

(1) The child had just wakened.
(2) I was wakened by a knock at the door.
(3) The dream wakened a forgotten memory.

(1) a big department store
(2) a health food store
(3) a liquor store

(1) a French/chemistry, etc. course
(2) to take/do a course in art and design
(3) to go on a management training course

(1) Ministers should be more attentive to the needs of families.
(2) an attentive audience
(3) The hotel staff are friendly and attentive.

(1) There's still some wine in the bottle.
(2) Have some more vegetables.
(3) some people find this more difficult than others.

(1) He held the bird gently in the palm of his hand .
(2) sweaty palms
(3) to read sb's palm (= to say what you think will happen to sb by looking at the lines on their palm )

(1) a heavily loaded van
(2) The burden of guilt weighed heavily on his mind.
(3) He sighed heavily.

(1) He has decided to grow a beard and a moustache.
(2) a week's growth of beard
(3) a goat's beard

(1) ...a baby's first minutes of life...
(2) Amnesty International opposes the death penalty as a violation of the right to life.
(3) Is there life on Mars?...

(1) a mechanical device/toy/clock
(2) mechanical parts
(3) mechanical problems/defects

(1) I tried to warn him, but he wouldn't listen.
(2) If you're thinking of getting a dog, be warned ─they take a lot of time and money.
(3) He warned us against pickpockets.

(1) Olympic athletes
(2) She is a natural athlete.
(3) Daley Thompson was a great athlete.

(1) The sun shone brightly in a cloudless sky.
(2) The dark polished wood shone like glass.
(3) (figurative)Her eyes were shining with excitement.

(1) the sound of pigeons cooing
(2) We are thinking of placing an order for your Flying pigeon Brand bicycles.
(3) Cambridge had called; he had responded like a homing pigeon.

(1) Her youngest child is at nursery now.
(2) nursery education
(3) a nursery teacher

(1) I bet (that) we're too late.
(2) You can bet (that) the moment I sit down, the phone will ring.
(3) I'll bet you (that) he knows all about it.

(1) a zealous reformer
(2) She was a zealous worker for charitable bodies...
(3) He was a recent Catholic convert, and very zealous.

(1) an elementary English course
(2) a book for elementary students
(3) at an elementary level

(1) a fertile region
(2) The treatment has been tested on healthy fertile women under the age of 35.
(3) a fertile partnership

(1) the administration of public utilities
(2) an all-round utility player (= one who can play equally well in several different positions in a sport)
(3) Belief in the utility of higher education is shared by students nationwide...

(1) a slum area
(2) city/urban slums
(3) She was brought up in the slums of Leeds.

(1) the treaty of Rome
(2) a peace treaty
(3) to draw up/sign/ratify a treaty

(1) a digital camera
(2) digital terrestrial and digital satellite broadcasting
(3) a digital clock/watch

(1) The tanker began to spill its cargo of oil.
(2) a cargo ship
(3) The boat calls at the main port to load its regular cargo of bananas.

(1) to lie on your back/side/front
(2) The cat was lying fast asleep by the fire.
(3) Clothes were lying all over the floor.

(1) Which has spots, the leopard or the tiger?
(2) The male bird has a red spot on its beak.
(3) (British English)She was wearing a black skirt with white spots.

(1) road construction
(2) Work has begun on the construction of the new airport.
(3) Our new offices are still under construction (= being built) .

(1) The materials used have to be able to withstand high temperatures.
(2) They had withstood siege, hunger and deprivation.
(3) ...armoured vehicles designed to withstand chemical attack...

(1) The bad weather ruined our trip.
(2) That one mistake ruined his chances of getting the job.
(3) My new shoes got ruined in the mud.