C1 Advanced Relative & Nominal Clauses – Test 2 IELTS, TOEFL & YDS Grammar Practice EnglishTestCenter
Sharpen your C1 grammar skills with Advanced Relative & Nominal Clauses Test 2. This 15-question practice test is ideal for IELTS, TOEFL, and YDS candidates, featuring in-depth explanations and exam-focused structures.
At C1 level, candidates are expected to manipulate complex relative and nominal clauses with accuracy and stylistic awareness. This includes reduced relative clauses, preposition-fronting, possessive relatives, nominal relative clauses functioning as subjects or objects, embedded questions, and contrastive nominal structures.
In IELTS, TOEFL, and YDS, such constructions are essential for demonstrating advanced syntactic range and precision in both reading and writing tasks.
Instructions: Choose the best answer for each question.
RESULTS
#1. The proposal, ______ details were revised several times, was finally approved.
#2. The argument rests on assumptions about human behavior, many of ______ remain unproven.
#3. ______ the study fails to address is the long-term impact of the policy.
#4. The committee debated ______ the new regulations should be enforced immediately.
#5. The experiment, results of ______ were inconclusive, will be repeated.
#6. She could not recall ______ she had left her notes.
#7. The theory challenges the assumptions ______ underpinned earlier research.
#8. ______ he failed to consider was the ethical dimension of the study.
#9. The policy is one of the measures ______ have been proposed to reduce emissions.
#10. It is uncertain ______ the findings can be generalized beyond this sample.
#11. The lecturer presented a model ______ complexity surprised the audience.
#12. The issue is not ______ the data are accurate, but how they should be interpreted.
#13. The report outlines the conditions under ______ the agreement may be terminated.
#14. ______ the witnesses described conflicted with the physical evidence.
#15. The journal published several articles, one of ______ received widespread attention.
Detailed Explanations (All Answers Explained Together)
Below are extremely detailed explanations for all correct answers. Each explanation focuses on clause type, grammatical function, and advanced C1-level usage. Only the correct answer word is referenced.
1. whose
This sentence requires a possessive relative pronoun because the noun “details” belongs to “the proposal.” At advanced level, learners must recognize that “whose” is used for possession with both people and things, especially in non-defining relative clauses.
2. which
The phrase “many of which” is a formal and advanced structure used in non-defining relative clauses. The relative pronoun refers to “assumptions,” which are things, not people. “That” cannot be used after a preposition in this structure.
3. What
“What the study fails to address” is a nominal relative clause functioning as the subject of the sentence. “What” replaces “the thing that,” forming a complete subject. This structure is typical of advanced academic English.
4. whether
After verbs like “debated,” which imply uncertainty or alternatives, “whether” introduces a nominal clause correctly. This conjunction is more formal and precise than “if” in academic contexts.
5. which
“Results of which” is a preposition + relative pronoun construction used in non-defining clauses. Only “which” can follow the preposition “of” in this formal structure.
6. where
This sentence requires an embedded question introduced by “where.” The clause functions as the object of “recall.” At C1 level, learners must avoid unnecessary inversion and use the correct wh-word for place.
7. that
In defining relative clauses referring to things, “that” is often preferred, especially when the clause is essential to the meaning. The clause “that underpinned earlier research” specifies which assumptions are meant.
8. What
This is another nominal relative clause functioning as the subject of the sentence. “What” introduces the content of what was not considered, combining antecedent and relative pronoun in one word.
9. that
In structures like “one of the + plural noun,” the defining relative clause usually takes “that” in formal exam usage. The clause specifies which measures are referred to.
10. whether
After the adjective “uncertain,” the appropriate conjunction introducing a nominal clause is “whether.” This form is standard in formal academic writing and avoids ambiguity.
11. whose
The sentence expresses possession between “model” and “complexity.” “Whose” correctly introduces a possessive relative clause referring to a thing. This is an advanced and often tested structure.
12. whether
In correlative constructions such as “not whether… but how…,” parallelism is required. “Whether” introduces the first nominal clause and matches the structure of the second.
13. which
The phrase “under which” is a fixed preposition + relative pronoun structure used in formal English. “That” cannot be used after a preposition. This construction is common in legal and academic texts.
14. What
“What the witnesses described” is a nominal relative clause functioning as the subject. It contrasts with “the physical evidence.” This structure demonstrates advanced control of clause embedding.
15. which
“One of which” is a non-defining relative clause structure referring back to “articles.” Only “which” is grammatically acceptable after the preposition “of.”
