Advanced everyday english: Advanced vocabulary, phrasal verbs, idioms and expressions - Collins Steven 2011

Answers to exercises

Chapter One

I (a) scapegoat; (b) dogsbody; 2(a) go by; (b) hardship; 3(a) on record; (b) up and coming; (c) get a lot of stick; 4(a) had it in you; (b) rubbed him up the wrong way; 5(a) breaking even; (b) came through; 6(a) pencil you in; (b) backlog; (c) bogged down; 7(a) Off the record; (b) loopholes; (c) baffled; 8(a) outgoing; (b) understatement; (c) cocky; 9(a) in his element; (b) cliches; (c) touchy; 10(a) going around; (b) layout; I I (a) up in the air; (b) keep you posted; 12(a) at stake; (b) brush up.

Chapter Two

I (a) Deep down; (b) came to light; (c) complying with; 2(a) sulk; (b) wimp; 3(a) asking after; (b) have a lot on your plate; 4(a) gist; (b) nip it in the bud; (c) stumbling blocks; 5(a) By no stretch of the imagination; (b) miss out on; 6(a) wrote off; (b) final straw; (c) weighing everything up; 7(a) Once in a blue moon; (b) boils down; 8(a) down-to-earth; (b) keep a low profile; 9(a) drew out; (b) shrugged it off; 10(a) outnumbered; (b) miss the boat; (c) warranted; I I (a) drawing in; (b) lay on; 12(a) foregone conclusion; (b) over the top; (c) blow over; I 3(a) jumping on the bandwagon; (b) by any stretch of the imagination.

Chapter Three

I (a) butt in; (b) waffling on; 2(a) to make ends meet; (b) by and large; (c) stood him in good stead; 3(a) uneasy; (b) disruptive; (c) bring out the best; 4(a) bland; (b) tactful; 5(a) corner the market; (b) bear in mind; (c) outlook; 6(a) lull us into a false sense of security; (b) complacency; 7(a) play down; (b) enlightening; 8(a) sticks out like a sore thumb; (b) clutching at straws; 9(a) budge; (b) prudish; 10(a) Take my word for it; (b) streetwise; (c) laughing stock; 11 (a) turn-off; (b) put it past her; 12(a) touched on; (b) grow out of; 13(a) comes in phases; (b) stick it out.

Chapter Four

I (a) take the mickey out of; (b) pompous; 2(a) like chalk and cheese; (b) gets flustered; 3(a) inadvertently; (b) unrest; (c) comeuppance; 4(a) Amidst; (b) passed out; (c) distraught; 5(a) lost track; (b) playing me up; (c) handful; 6(a) dwell; (b) give him the benefit of the doubt; 7(a) go astray; (b) get my head round; 8(a) get to the bottom of; (b) skim the surface; (c) reap the rewards; 9(a) gobsmacked; (b) raking it in; 10(a) passe; (b) stilted; 11(a) get a real kick out of; (b) squeamish; 12(a) get it out of my system; (b) past it; (c) stranded.

Chapter Five

I (a) yobs; (b) get a buzz out of; (c) frenzied; 2(a) under no illusions; (b) bluffing your way through; 3(a) pledge; (b) dwindling; (c) down to; 4(a) shortlist; (b) fiasco; 5(a) cram; (b) doing my head in; 6(a) adept; (b) building; (c) pathetic; 7(a) perpetual; (b) pre-empt; 8(a) grovelling; (b) wallow: 9(a) backed down; (b) upsurge; 10(a) aftermath; (b) makeshift; (c) huddle together; I I (a) boisterous; (b) on cue: (c) off his rocker; 12(a) jaded; (b) phased in; (c) makes a mockery of.

Chapter Six

I (a) bitter pill to swallow; (b) take us through; 2(a) hype; (b) grounding; (c) dumbed-down; 3(a) undermine; (b) alienate him; (c) endowed with; 4(a) string me; (b) blatant; (c) not on; 5(a) unnerves; (b) disgruntled; 6 (a) slapdash; (b) strays; 7(a) emerged; (b) go for a song; (c) keep at bay; 8(a) branded; (b) comeback; (c) slim; 9(a) shift; (b) unveil; 10(a) pushover; (b) pester; (c) grate; 11 (a) skirmishes; (b) amend; 12(a) uproar; (b) died down.

Chapter Seven

I (a) curbed; (b) paralytic; (c) rub it in; 2(a) embarked on; (b) sceptical; 3(a) dark horse; (b) deprive you; (c) spoken for; 4(a) bolshy; (b) you’ve got another think coming; (c) thrives on; 5(a) make a song and dance about it; (b) sap; (c) flourishing; 6(a) envisage; (b) whingeing; 7(a) beggars belief; (b) scraping the barrel; (c) give her a taste of her own medicine; 8(a) dabbles; (b) rift; (c) banging his head against a brick wall; 9(a) make a beeline; (b) sucker for punishment; 10(a) turned over a new leaf; (b) go over his head; I I (a) head off; (b) turmoil; 12(a) cashed in on; (b) bowed to pressure.

Chapter Eight

I (a) lifted a finger; (b) In hindsight; 2(a) traits; (b) flaunt; 3(a) viable; (b) what makes them tick; 4(a) well-up; (b) out of my depth; 5(a) mingle; (b) leaves a lotto be desired; (c) peckish; 6(a) On paper; (b) plausible; 7(a) brought; (b) teething; (c) broody; 8(a) overwhelmed; (b) show me the ropes; 9(a) sponging; (b) grow; 10(a) gutted; (b) put everything behind you; 11 (a) holding out too much hope; (b) chuffed; 12(a) harassment; (b) bonding; 13(a) plight; (b) grim; (c)strapped for cash.

Chapter Nine

I (a) deemed; (b) gut reaction; 2(a) banter; (b) ad-libbing; 3(a) psyched myself up; (b) embroiled; 4(a) doomed; (b) consolation; 5(a) lingered; (b) apathetic; 6(a) Overall; (b) resent; (c) tar everyone with the same brush; 7(a) alleged; (b) untoward; (c) shattered; 8(a) blip; (b) blurred; 9(a) outburst; (b) bee in her bonnet; 10(a) hopeful; (b) stave off; 11 (a) put in a good word; (b) endearing; 12(a) prone; (b) browsing; 13(a) embellish; (b) a leg to stand on; 14(a) hampered; (b) flawed.