Customs and traditions practice questions.

Choose the best word: 'Every region has its own local ______ that make its festivals unique.'

• customs
• costumes
• customers
• columns

Answer: customs

'Customs' are traditional practices; the distractors are common confusions ('costumes' = clothing, 'customers' = buyers).

Which sentence correctly uses the present simple to describe a repeated custom?

• Every New Year, my family are eating twelve grapes for luck.
• Every New Year, my family eat twelve grapes for luck.
• Every New Year, my family has eaten twelve grapes for luck.
• Every New Year, my family will eat twelve grapes for luck.

Answer: Every New Year, my family eat twelve grapes for luck.

Habitual, repeated customs take the present simple; 'eat' correctly expresses this recurring tradition.

Choose the correct word: 'The recipe has been ______ in our family for over a hundred years.'

• handed down
• handed in
• handed out
• handed over

Answer: handed down

'Handed down' means passed from older to younger generations; the other phrasal verbs have unrelated meanings.

Select the correct relative pronoun: 'Diwali is a festival ______ celebrates the victory of light over darkness.'

• who
• which
• whose
• where

Answer: which

'Which' is the relative pronoun for things (a festival); 'who' is for people and 'where' for places.

She described a custom her family no longer keeps: 'We always light candles on this day.' Which reported-speech sentence is correct?

• She said they always light candles on that day.
• She said they always lit candles on that day.
• She said they always will light candles on that day.
• She said they are always lighting candles on that day.

Answer: She said they always lit candles on that day.

The present simple 'light' shifts back to the past simple 'lit' in reported speech, and 'this' becomes 'that'.

Choose the best word: 'The carnival is a deeply ______ tradition in this town, loved by everyone.'

• rooted
• planted
• grounded
• seated

Answer: rooted

'Deeply rooted' is the fixed collocation meaning firmly established over a long time, ideal for describing traditions.