Phrasal Verb - Account for

Study the vocabulary list and complete the activities below.

• Account for (Meaning 1): To explain the reason for something or give a satisfactory explanation for why something happened.
  • The CEO has been asked to account for the missing funds in the annual budget.
  • Heavy traffic on the highway might account for why the delivery is so late today.
• Account for (Meaning 2): To form a particular amount or part of something (percentage/proportion).
  • Despite the high price, quality coffee accounts for over 40% of the café's total sales.
• Structure: account for + something (noun, noun phrase, or the fact that...)

ACTIVITIES

Activity 1: Gap Fill

Complete the sentences using the correct form of the phrasal verb account for.

1. Can you please the discrepancies found in your scientific report?

2. In this country, agriculture approximately 15% of the total GDP.

3. We are trying to the sudden drop in website engagement this week.

4. Social media advertisements the majority of our new customer leads.

5. He was unable to his whereabouts on the night the incident occurred.

Activity 2: Unscramble

Put the words in the correct order to form logical sentences.

1. must / for / every / you / account / cent / spent.

2. behavior / for / can / his / nothing / account / strange.

3. sales / for / online / majority / the / account / of / revenue.

4. you / how / the / do / for / account / delay?

5. for / accounted / small / a / exports / percentage / only / of / sales.

Activity 3: Reading Comprehension

Read the short dialogue below and choose the correct answer for each question.

Mrs. Davis: "Good morning, everyone. Looking at these charts, I see that younger users now account for 60% of our platform traffic. Can someone account for this sudden shift?"

Jane: "I believe our recent collaboration with those tech influencers accounts for the spike. We reached a demographic we hadn't targeted before."

Mrs. Davis: "That’s impressive! We must ensure our new features account for their specific needs as well."

1. What percentage of the platform's traffic is made up of younger users?
Select... A. 40% B. 60% C. 80%

2. According to Jane, what caused the sudden increase in that demographic?
Select... A. A recent collaboration with tech influencers. B. A change in the platform's layout. C. New features added by Mrs. Davis.

3. In the final sentence, what does Mrs. Davis mean when she says the features should "account for" their needs?
Select... A. The features should explain why the needs exist. B. The team needs to ignore those specific needs. C. The team needs to consider or include their needs.