CAE Use of English Part 2, Test 4 – Michael Jordan

Answers and explanations

9. Yet. When something is yet to be done, it means it has not been done. Even though ‘unlikely’ can work grammatically and even contextually, it introduces an idea that is not suggested by the text – technically, this record can be beaten.
10. At. To excel at something means to be extremely good (excellent) at it. The only possible difficulty here is not understanding what part of speech the word ‘excel’ is. ‘To excel in something’ is incorrect.
11. From. If you retire from something, you give up that activity for good, either because of your age or other factors. Note that ‘retire’ doesn’t need a preposition if there is no object, e.g. ‘he decided to retire without a reason’.
12. At. Trying your hand at something means attempting to do something to see if you like it or if you are any good at it.
13. Rather. We use the adverb ‘rather’ to introduce contrast – this time Jackson wasn’t a direct participant, but tried himself in a managerial role. Note that even though ‘rather’ is normally used to show preference (e.g. ‘I’d rather not do that’), here it serves a different purpose.
14. Until. Up to a particular point in time – in this case, his decision to retire in 2003. ‘With his eventual retirement in 2003’ fits grammatically, but it doesn’t show enough contrast with the previous part, which focuses on his return to playing the game.
15. Without. An unusual (for the English language) case of double negative here shows that MJ did have a fault. The context guides us here – a good example that you have to read on to get the meaning right.
16. To. If you are immune to something, it means you cannot be affected or hurt by it. Chiefly used to refer to something negative, e.g. ‘this animal is immune to most diseases that can affect humans’.