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Manh Nguyen Posted 12 years ago
Vocabulary

drop off/drop away?

Question 28: Sales of the Chinese toys dropped ______ sharply when the TV news reported that high levels of toxic lead had been found in painted toys.
A. out B. down C. away D. off
Even after look up in dictionaries, I'm still confused between C and D.
Please help!
Thanks in advance.
  

Top answer

'Dropped down' would be my answer. I hope this helps. com

— MariaILPC

  • 'Dropped down' would be my answer.
  • I hope this helps.
  • com
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6 Answers
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'Dropped down' would be my answer. I hope this helps.
Maria :-)
www.ilpcenter.com
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Oh at first I chose "down", too. But as I see in the oxford dictionary, 'drop off' means 'become less/fewer', and 'drop away' means 'become weaker/less'. Do you mean we can't use 'become less' for sales?
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This phrase would be used in reference to a graph. So dropped away is incorrect. Dropped off is correct and probably more suited to sales subjects. Though I would probably just say 'Sales of the Chinese toys dropped sharply' if I were speaking. lol Dropped down is also correct but Dropped off is better for the subject of sales.

Good luck
Maria
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There's this example in the Oxford Dictionary:
She could feel the tension drop away.
Then it's not only used for graphs. In which cases will we use it?
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ILPCenterSo dropped away is incorrect.
Dropped away is not incorrect. I'd use dropped off.

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/drop-off_2
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Thank you, I guess I should have been more specific. I meant it was the incorrect answer from the A,B,C,D options of answers. And not that the use of dropped away was wrong within the English language.

Many thanks
Maria
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