10 exercises — how "at first glance" sets up an initial impression later revised by closer inspection, and how the two phrases work as a pair.
Quick reference
At first glance: introduces a surface-level impression, often later corrected
Fixed word order: "at" + "first" + "glance" — no article, never pluralized
Natural pair: often followed by "on closer inspection" to reveal the deeper truth
Needs a following contrast: works best with a clause that complicates the first impression
Register: neutral, common in both spoken code reviews and written postmortems
0 / 19 completed
1 / 19
A code review comment reads: "___ , this refactor looks like a pure rename, but it actually changes the return type of a public method." Which phrase best signals a first impression that turns out to be misleading?
At first glance introduces an initial impression, often one later revealed to be incomplete or wrong. "At the first glance only" awkwardly adds "the" and "only" to a fixed phrase. "In first sight" confuses this with "at first sight," used mainly for love/attraction, and misuses the preposition. "On the first look of it" is not natural, idiomatic English.
2 / 19
Which sentence uses "at first glance" correctly?
"At first glance, the two functions look identical, but one mutates its input and the other doesn't" correctly introduces a surface-level impression that a following clause complicates or corrects. It cannot introduce a bare future plan, an instruction, or a scheduled future event.
3 / 19
Fill the blank: "___ , the bug seemed to be in the frontend, but it turned out to be a stale cache on the CDN."
At first glance has a fixed word order: "at" + "first" + "glance." The other options scramble this into invalid, meaningless sequences.
4 / 19
Which pair correctly distinguishes "at first glance" from "on closer inspection"?
These phrases work as a natural pair: "At first glance, the two config files look the same. On closer inspection, one has a trailing whitespace character that breaks the parser." The first gives a quick surface read; the second reveals a deeper, more accurate finding.
5 / 19
A postmortem reads: "___ , the outage appeared to be caused by the new deploy, but the deploy had actually finished twenty minutes earlier." Which best completes the sentence?
At first glance is the correct, fixed form. The other options scramble the required word order into invalid phrases.
6 / 19
Which sentence contains an error in the use of "at first glance"?
"At first glance that we discussed at the offsite, the server rebooted overnight" incorrectly attaches a relative clause and applies the phrase to an event that has no accompanying "first impression vs. reality" contrast. "At first glance" needs a following clause that complicates or corrects the initial impression. The other three sentences use it correctly.
7 / 19
Choose the sentence where "at first glance" is best replaced by "on the surface" without changing the meaning.
"On the surface, the two dashboards show the same numbers, but one is cached and lagging by an hour" preserves the meaning exactly. The other options misuse the phrase as an urgency marker, an unrelated possessive-sounding construction, or a pairing with a specific future date.
8 / 19
A design doc states: "___ , this approach seems simpler than the alternative, but it doesn't handle concurrent writes correctly." Which best fits?
At first glance is the correct, standard form — no article before "first" and "glance" stays singular and uninflected. Option A wrongly pluralizes "glance." Option B wrongly adds "the." Option D wrongly uses a gerund form.
9 / 19
Which register note about "at first glance" is accurate?
"At first glance" is a neutral phrase equally at home in spoken code reviews ("At first glance this looks fine, but let me dig deeper") and written design docs. It always sets up a surface-level impression that a following clause then complicates, refines, or corrects.
10 / 19
Which sentence best demonstrates "at first glance" setting up a surface impression later corrected by deeper investigation?
"At first glance, the failing test looked flaky, but it turned out to be a genuine race condition triggered under load" is the textbook use: an initial surface read followed by the deeper, more accurate finding. The other options misuse the phrase as a command intensifier, insert it awkwardly mid-clause, or pair it incorrectly with a specific future date.
11 / 19
During a code review of the `OrderService`, Sarah noticed that the API endpoint `/orders/{orderId}` was returning a JSON object with a `status` field. At first glance, she thought this was standard for order tracking. However, after investigating further, it turned out that the `status` field had been introduced recently to indicate whether an order was still pending payment. The previous implementation simply returned the order details directly.
This question tests understanding of how initial impressions can be deceptive. The key is that Sarah's first impression (that the `status` field was standard) was incorrect because it wasn't documented or part of the original design. This highlights the importance of verifying assumptions and consulting documentation before drawing conclusions, especially in a code review context. Option A suggests the documentation confirmed her initial thought which isn't true; option D is too strong an assertion about the change being unnecessary.
12 / 19
During a code review of the `OrderService`, Sarah noticed that the API endpoint `/orders/{orderId}` was returning a JSON object with a `status` field. At first glance, she thought this was standard for order tracking. However, after investigating further, it turned out that the `status` field had been introduced recently to indicate whether an order was still pending payment. The previous implementation simply returned the order details directly.
This question tests understanding of how initial impressions can be deceptive. The key is that Sarah's first impression (that the `status` field was standard) was incorrect because it wasn't documented or part of the original design. This highlights the importance of verifying assumptions and consulting documentation before drawing conclusions, especially in a code review context. Option A suggests the documentation confirmed her initial thought which isn't true; option D is too strong an assertion about the change being unnecessary.
13 / 19
During a code review of the `OrderService`, Sarah noticed that the API endpoint `/orders/{orderId}` was returning a JSON object with a `status` field. At first glance, she thought this was standard for order tracking. However, after investigating further, it turned out that the `status` field had been introduced recently to indicate whether an order was still pending payment. The previous implementation simply returned the order details directly.
This question tests understanding of how initial impressions can be deceptive. The key is that Sarah's first impression (that the `status` field was standard) was incorrect because it wasn't documented or part of the original design. This highlights the importance of verifying assumptions and consulting documentation before drawing conclusions, especially in a code review context. Option A suggests the documentation confirmed her initial thought which isn't true; option D is too strong an assertion about the change being unnecessary.
14 / 19
During a code review of the `OrderService`, Sarah noticed that the API endpoint `/orders/{orderId}` was returning a JSON object with a `status` field. At first glance, she thought this was standard for order tracking. However, after investigating further, it turned out that the `status` field had been introduced recently to indicate whether an order was still pending payment. The previous implementation simply returned the order details directly.
This question tests understanding of how initial impressions can be deceptive. The key is that Sarah's first impression (that the `status` field was standard) was incorrect because it wasn't documented or part of the original design. This highlights the importance of verifying assumptions and consulting documentation before drawing conclusions, especially in a code review context. Option A suggests the documentation confirmed her initial thought which isn't true; option D is too strong an assertion about the change being unnecessary.
15 / 19
John: 'The initial response from the API shows a 500 error. At first glance, it looks like a server issue, but the logs indicate a misconfigured routing rule.' Which phrase best captures John's initial assessment and subsequent realization?
John's statement highlights the danger of jumping to conclusions based solely on initial observations. A 500 error is *often* caused by server issues, but it doesn't automatically mean that's the case; the logs reveal a different root cause. The phrase 'misleading' accurately reflects his initial impression being incorrect after further examination.
16 / 19
David: 'At first glance, this code looks overly complex, but I'm going to assume the developer was trying to be clever.' Which sentence demonstrates a similar initial impression followed by a potential misjudgment?
David's statement exemplifies 'at first glance' – forming an opinion without fully understanding. The key is that this initial impression leads him to *assume* a deliberate complexity, which could be entirely wrong. The other options represent more cautious and analytical approaches.
17 / 19
Maria: 'The database query was returning a lot of data, but , the results were filtered by an unused parameter.'
Maria's phrasing demonstrates 'at first glance' by describing her initial impression. The phrase 'Initially, it seemed like a performance bottleneck' aligns with this – she observed the data volume and formed an immediate judgment without deeper investigation. The other options represent more detailed explanations of potential problems.
18 / 19
Which statement best illustrates the difference between 'at first glance' and 'on closer inspection'?
'At first glance' describes an initial impression, often positive. 'On closer inspection' signifies a more detailed examination that *challenges* or corrects that initial assessment. Option 1 provides a clear example of this dynamic – the apparent elegance is undermined by the use of deprecated code.
19 / 19
Team Lead: 'The error message reads 'NullPointerException.' At first glance, it suggests a missing variable, but the stack trace reveals a race condition.' Which best describes Team Lead's initial impression and subsequent correction?
Team Lead's statement perfectly captures 'at first glance' – he initially interpreted 'NullPointerException' as a straightforward missing variable. However, the stack trace reveals that the *real* problem was a race condition, demonstrating how an initial impression can be misleading when further analysis is performed.
What will I practise in ""At First Glance" as an Initial-Impression Marker — IT English Grammar"?
Practice using "at first glance" to introduce a surface-level impression that a deeper investigation later complicates or corrects, in code reviews
How many exercises are in this module?
This module has 19 multiple-choice exercises, each with instant feedback and a full explanation of the correct answer.
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Every exercise is written by the CoderSlingo team, drawing on real workplace English used in IT roles, then reviewed for accuracy and clarity.