Using Collocations for Natural English - Elizabeth Walter, Kate Woodford 2010
Collocations for work
Review Units 13-16
These exercises use collocations from units 13-16 and will help you see how many you have remembered. After each exercise, add up your score to see how well you have done.
1 Complete the sentences.
1 Al is dark with a moustache and a big bushy ... .
2 This area of ancient ... contains the oldest trees in the country.
3 Have you noticed Simon has a bald ... on the top of his head?
4 They fell in ... and were married within the space of four months.
5 She looked like a model in a shampoo advert with her perfect glossy ... .
6 The town centre is very old and full of cobbled ... .
7 He's about forty with blond hair and a receding ... .
8 The Taylors were always a very close-knit ... .
9 They met in January and were married in April - it was a real whirlwind ... .
10 We were introduced to each other by a mutual ... .
2 Underline the correct word to complete the collocations.
1 She had a burning/fiery/blazing ambition to succeed.
2 He has a real mind/eye/brain for detail which makes him very good at his job.
3 My dad is quite thickly/heavily/weightily built.
4 She's related to me by marriage so she's not a blood/flesh/bone relative.
5 I've always envied her gorgeous round/heavy/full lips.
6 She has very near-set/close-set/next-set eyes.
7 My parents split up when I was six. They had a really messy/untidy/confused divorce.
8 She's a therapist and does a lot of work with children from defective/ dysfunctional/malfunctional families.
9 She was very overweight with a double/twin/dual chin.
10 I'd had enough of the spilling/overflowing/flooding bins and the graffiti.
3 Match the collocations 1-10 to the definitions a-j.
1 bloodshot eyes a love that starts as soon as you see someone
2 even features b eyes, nose and mouth that are regular in shape
3 quickie divorce c feeling very strong love for someone
4 love at first sight d someone you used to know in the past
5 distant relative e eyes in which the part that is normally white is red
6 casual acquaintance f a very fast legal end to a marriage
7 sallow complexion g a relation who is not closely related
8 square jaw h someone that you know but not very well
9 old acquaintance i pale yellow skin that looks unhealthy
10 madly in love j a strong, wide jaw
4 Match the two halves of these sentences.
1 Romance blossomed over the months a shy and retiring.
2 He had horrible greasy hair b that needed washing.
3 She had puffy eyes c shoulder-length hair.
4 She has dark, d as if she'd been crying.
5 Most holiday romances e end as soon as the holiday is over.
6 She's supremely confident f and eventually they married.
7 It was just immediate family g of her abilities.
8 She's great at public speaking as she h has a real way with words.
9 These exercises will give you I a lovely flat stomach.
10 I couldn't imagine him as an actor -he seemed so j at the funeral.
5 Correct the word in italics to make a collocation with the word in bold in each sentence.
1 The region is noted for its breathtaking scenes.
2 My cousin in America has a very different route of life from me.
3 The countryside there is gorgeous - I love its flowing hills.
4 Dominic has a very wide square of friends.
5 We live deep in the chest of the countryside.
6 We're in the countryside but we're within simple reach of the city.
7 I like Tim but I imagine he has a fairly ruthless band when it comes to business.
8 There are so many nearby amenities in the area - the swimming pool and sports centre and so on.
9 Lara speaks her head so you're never in any doubt as to her opinion.
10 They live in a very pleasant residential region of the city.
6 Complete the sentences with collocations from the box. Use the correct form of the verbs.
recycling facilities • off-road parking • winding lane • easily bored • picturesque village • outgoing personality • green spaces • friendly neighbourhood • good company • broad shoulders
1 I'm always trying to think of activities to occupy the kids in the holidays - they're very ... .
2 It's a very pretty part of the country with so many ... that you can visit.
3 Are there any ... where I can take my bottles and cans?
4 I think you'll have fun together - she's really ... .
5 I found driving along the ... in the countryside rather stressful.
6 There was no ... so we had to leave the car on the roadside.
7 Are there any ... nearby where I can go for a jog?
8 I can imagine her doing well in sales -she has a very ... .
9 It's a very ... - we know everyone in the street and everyone gets along.
10 He looks very strong with his ... .
17 Collocations for work
All in a day's work
The collocations in this unit focus on ways to talk about work. People often like to talk about their work and learning these collocations will help you to do this.
1 Circle the correct word to complete the collocation in each sentence.
1 You need to know someone very well and be very confident of their abilities before you ... into business with them.
a start
b fall
c go
2 She earns a lot of money but she ... very long hours.
a performs
b works
c completes
3 His company has an annual ... of over £20 million.
a rollover
b turnabout
c turnover
4 Last year he left drama school, hoping to ... his career as an actor.
a throw
b jump
c launch
5 So many small companies have ... in the recession.
a gone under
b gone down
c gone off
6 She's just ... a business, selling handmade jewellery.
a made up
b set up
c set off
7 We've got so much work on we've had to ... more staff.
a take on
b take up
c take in
8 He recently took three months off work with ... stress.
a work-connected
b work-related
c work-caused
9 If the business ..., we'll be looking for more staff.
a takes off
b takes up
c takes over
10 He's done a lot of ... labour, working on building sites and so on.
a handy
b manual
c hand
Study tip
pay particular attention to collocations with phrasal verbs and try to remember them by using your own examples as it is easy to confuse them.
2 Complete the text with collocations from Exercise 1. Make sure you use the correct form of the verbs. Then listen to the recording to check your answers.
Presenter: And this week on Real Lives, we hear Kevin's story about how he survived the recession.
Kevin: Eight years ago, 1... into business with my brother, selling sportswear. We gave it everything, we really did. We worked 2... hours - sometimes twelve or more a day - and we didn't take any holidays. Everything went really well and within three years we had an 3... turnover of three million pounds. The company expanded and we took on more 4... and so it went on. Then, all of a sudden, the recession came. People gradually stopped buying our product, and before we could do anything about it, our company had 5... . It was a pretty depressing time, I can tell you. Basically, I didn't know what to do with myself.
To occupy my time, I started gardening, working on my neighbour's garden. I did the digging and planting but I also designed it and it looked pretty good. Then I started reading up on garden design and a year later, took a course in it. So in 2009, I launched a 6... as a garden designer. It's been two years since I set up the 7... and I haven't regretted it for one minute. It's just me, so there's no one else to worry about and there's very little in the way of work-related 8... perfect. And after all those years in an office, I actually really like it that the job involves manual 9... The 10... has really taken off and I'm happiernow than I've ever been.
3 Match the sentence halves.
1 She went into business with an ex-colleague of hers,
2 It was an incredibly popular film - it really
3 She took several months off
4 I assume they're growing the business as they've
5 Like many university graduates,
6 If the banks continue to refuse to lend money,
7 Eventually, I'd like to leave this company and
8 Nurses work long hours - sometimes as many as
9 Their annual turnover is somewhere
10 Within two years, the business
a launched his career as an actor.
b small companies like these will go under.
c set up my own business selling underwear.
d twelve hours a day.
e in the region of £40 million.
f had taken off and she had a staff of 200.
g selling stationery.
h recently taken on so many staff.
i he has no experience of manual labour.
j suffering from work-related stress.
4 Rewrite the sentences using the collocations you have learned above.
1 I've been feeling very anxious and depressed recently as a result of my work.
I have been suffering from work-related stress recently.
2 I work ten or eleven hours a day.
I work ... .
3 That's the amount of business that our company does every yean
That's our ... .
4 The collection was a successful start to her work as a fashion designer.
... as a fashion designer.
5 His company failed last year.
His ... last year.
6 Why don't you start your own business?
Why don't you ...?
7 The company is expanding so we're employing more people.
The company is expanding so ... .
8 My father spent his life doing work with his hands.
My father spent his life ... .
9 After years of struggle, her business has suddenly started to be successful.
After years of struggle, ... .
10 Last year I started working with my sister in a company that we created together.
Last year l went ... .
Study tip
Using the correct collocation often means you can sum up an idea in fewer words.
Classroom extra
Ask each student to pick three collocations to make questions, for example, Would you like to set up your own business?, What's the best way to avoid work- related stress? Students then move around the class. asking each other the questions they have written.
A successful career
The collocations in these exercises are used to talk about people's careers, and how successful or unsuccessful they are. They include such things as the importance of your job, the hours that you work and whether or not you enjoy it.
5 Read the webpage and replace the underlined phrases with collocations from the box. Then listen to the recording to check your answers.
high-powered job • realise your ambitions • job satisfaction • dead-end job • steady job • pursue a career • demanding work • relevant experience • brilliant career • heavy workload
LifeSkills Careers Advice
Read what our clients have to say about us ...
Ben, youth worker
My story is proof that it's never too late to change! I left school at the age of sixteen and had a series of 1 jobs that do not help you to got better jobs, filling shelves in supermarkets, cleaning offices and so on. My poor parents were always desperate for me to get a 2 reliable job but I just never settled to anything. By the time I decided that I needed to do something with my life, I thought I'd missed my chance -but the people at LifeSkills helped me to find out how to get the qualifications I needed and suggested ways for me to get 3 knowledge gained from doing a similar job. I can't thank them enough, as I now have a job I love!
Nick, stockbroker
Most of the men in my family have been factory workers, but LifeSkills helped me to realise that I could aim higher. It is largely because of their encouragement that I now have a 4 very important and powerful job in a City bank, selling stocks and shares. It's 5 work that needs a lot of effort and skill - I work long hours and have to cope with a lot of stress. For me it's worth it though, and I have real 6 pleasure in my work. For the first time in my life, I can afford pretty much anything I want to. I always dreamed of having a nice apartment and a good car, and, aged just thirty-six, I've 7 achieved what I very much wanted to.
Alex, doctor
For me, the most important thing was to feel that I had a job that would be useful to society. I was also interested in travelling. LifeSkills helped me decide that the best thing for me would be to 8 follow a particular profession in medicine. I'm now an eye specialist, and although I'm based at a London hospital, I spend at least three months every year in Africa or Asia. My mother is very proud of what she calls my 9 very successful job, but secretly I think she's disappointed that I've never married or had children. It's partly because of the 10 huge amount of work I have to do - I don't have time for romance! I don't really mind, though - my work is my life.
6 Rewrite the sentences so that they mean the opposite, using the collocations you have learned.
1 In his work, Charles failed to do what he wanted and tried to do.
In his work, Charles realised his ambition.
2 The work gave Claudia no pleasure or feelings of achievement.
3 He doesn't have a job that he can rely on to earn him a regular income.
4 It's a job with great chances of success in the future.
5 He does unimportant low-paid work.
6 Daniel decided not to continue his job as a lawyer.
7 It's easy work that requires no skill and little effort.
8 She doesn't have much to do in her new job.
9 He doesn't have any of the skills and knowledge gained from doing a similar job.
10 Maria had not been especially successful in her work.
7 Complete the sentences using the collocations you have learned above. Then complete the crossword
Across
4 His wife has a nigh-powered job in a legal firm and earns loads of money.
9 She had ... all her work ambitions and still she didn't feel satisfied.
10 You don't want to be stuck in a ... job for the rest of you life!
Down
1 She had a ... career as an academic.
2 Like most people in the medical profession, she has a very heavy ... .
3 There's a lot of ... satisfaction in teaching children and seeing the progress that they make.
5 Teaching can be very satisfying but it's very ... work.
6 I'd never get the job -I have no ... experience.
7 He had his wild years but now he has a girlfriend and a ... job.
8 She wants to ... a career in nursing.
Classroom extra
In pairs, students choose three words from the collocations in this unit and make mini crosswords like the one in Exercise 7. They then write their own gap-fill clues and swap them with another pair.