Unit 1

Words in Context
1. word of mouth
= a means by which a story can be spread from person to
person
2. crop up
= to appear suddenly and unexpectedly
3. largely irrelevant
= generally not important
4. traced back
= followed to find the origins
5. climate of fear
= an atmosphere in which people are generally afraid
6. classic example
= an excellent instance
7. wide range
= including many different topics or subjects
8. single case
= one case
Exercise:
Read the letter to a newspaper and complete it with the expressions above.
Dear Sir,
The latest 'sightings' of the Manchester beast are another (1) classic example
of British newspapers not having enough real news to fill their pages. Well, that's
not completely true, there are a (2)...............of important issues that you should
be discussing, you just choose to go with one about an imaginary animal hiding
in the shadows of the UK's second city. The story, which originally spread by
(3).............., was quickly picked up by the national media. Now you can hardly
walk around our city without walking into journalist.
Everyone knows that these mystery monster stories are nothing new. Every year
or two, another one (4).............., creating a (5)...................among local
communities, and causing residents to lock their doors and go to bed. It is a sad
state of affairs when fear among people can be
(6)...............to bad or lazy journalism.
But the Manchester beast is different. It's the first one in this age of mobile
phone photography and this has led to hundreds of photos being sent in by
amateur photographers. Few of them actually look like a monster. And nor has
there been one (7)................of anyone being attacked by the beast. But details
like these are (8).................when you're trying to sell newspaper.
Yours faithfully

P Goodall

Expressions with story

1. to cut a long story short
= to tell the main facts without the details
2. a sob story
= a story someone tells you to make you feel sorry
for them
3. end of story
= all that needs to be said about something
4. the same old story
= something unwanted that frequently happens to
you
5. a likely story
= something that's very hard to believe
6. the story of my life
= something negative that has happened many
times before
7. his or her side of the story = the events as he or she describe them (often
contradicting
another version)
8. make up a story
= to invent an excuse

Exercise
Complete the dialogues using the expressions above.
1. Teacher : So you say your dog ate your homework. That's a likely story.
Student
: I know but it's true. Honestly.
2. Mother : So you gave her the money to buy it.
Father
: ................................about being the only one at the party with
an old dress. I couldn't say no.
3. Father
: So Fred says it was your idea to have a party while we were away.
............................................
Lucy
: Sure. It was all Fred's idea.
4. Dawn
: Please, Dad. Please let me borrow the car tonight
Father
: I've told you ten times already, no! ...................................Now leave
me alone.
5. Woman : So you've left your wallet at home again. ................................... Man
: I know. I'll pay next time. I promise.
6. Jackie
: Did Kylie tell you that she sat next to Orlando Bloom on the train?
Britney : You didn't believe her, did you? ................................................

Adverbs
1. dramatically
2. astonishingly
3. overwhelmingly

= in an exciting or impressive manner

= in a way that is very surprising
= in a way that is very great or very strong

4. finally
= after a long time, especially when there has been some
difficulty or delay
5. miraculously
= in a way that is completely unexpected and very lucky
6. luckily
= by good luck
7. incredibly
= in a way that is very difficult to believe
8. tragically
= making you very sad, usually because somebody has died or
suffered a lot

Exercises
a. Make adjective from these adverbs.
1. dramatically
dramatic
2. astonishingly
.......................
3. overwhelmingly ........................
4. finally
.........................
5. miraculously
.........................
6. luckily
.........................
7. incredibly
.........................
8. tragically
..........................
b. Underline the best words or phrases to complete the sentences.
1. My friend did very badly in his exams last year. Incredibly/tragically, this year
he got more than 90% in every single one of them.
2. I read the other day that the president had died overwhelmingly/ in unexplained
circumstances. 3. The world population has increased dramatically/ in a
spectacular turn of events over the last 100 years.
4. The other team were winning 2-0 with only a few minutes left in the match.
Astonishingly/ in a mysterious way we scored three goals in five minutes.
5. We had a terrible journey to Scotland: our car broke down, then we ran out of
petrol. Mysteriously/finally, we arrived in Edinburgh, exhausted and frustrated.
6. At first I thought I'd lost all the data on my laptop, but miraculously/luckily I'd
managed to save everything to a memory stick.

Unit 2
Words in context
1.
2.
3.
4.

rapid
instant
analyse
theories

=
=
=
=

quick
immediate
studies in detail
ideas which explain an opinion

5. audition
=
show their ability
orchestra, etc.
6. revealed
=
7. withdraw
=
8. capitalise
=
9. correlation =

a short performance that an actor, musician, etc. gives to

and suitability for a play, position in an
shown
took away
make the most of
relation

Exercise
Complete the sentences with a form of the words above.
1. Studies have revealed that snap judgments can often be good judgments.
2. At first he didn't understand a word of Spanish, but he improved ................and
now he speaks it well.
3. We need someone to give us a full..............of what went wrong last week.
4. It happened so fast! Johnson got the ball and in an..................., he put it in the
net.
5. I had an..................for a part in the film, but I didn't get it.

Making decisions
1. dither
2. mull over

= to take too much time in making a decision

= to think something through carefully

3. make your mind up

= hesitate and change your mind
4. jump to the wrong conclusion
= to come to an incorrect understanding of
something quickly
without thought or
evidence.
5. weigh up the pros and cons = to consider the advantages and disadvantages
6. snap decision
= to make a decision quickly, often on instinct 7.
split-second decision
= a decision made instantaneously

Exercise
Complete the sentences with the phrases above.
1. I thought she would never buy those shoes. She dithered so long over them!
2. Don't..............about her! You can't judge people by their appearance.
3. Don't expect him to let you know immediately. He always.............things............
4. Let me know when you.................and we'll take it from there.
5. If you're buying a new camera, then check out this magazine. It'll help you
make...............

6. sometimes it's better to make............than to spend too long thinking over

things.

Vocabulary bank
1. compromise
= an agreement in an argument, arrived at by people reducing
their demands or
changing their opinion in order to
agree
2. crunch
= a difficult situation which forces you to make a decision or do
something
3. determined
= to control or influence something directly , or to decide what
will happen
4. dilemma
= a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between
two different things you could do
5. indecisive

= not able to make decisions quickly and confidently.

6. two minds
= uncertain which decision to take
7. wavering = to be unable to decide what to choose, or to keep choosing one way
and then the other
8. verdict = a decision or opinion made after judging the facts, especially at the
end of a trial

Exercise
1.
2.
3.
4.

Well, I wanted it high and they wanted it low, so we reached a compromise!

I don't know whether to get a job or go to college, I'm really in.......about it.
Jeff never makes quick decisions, he is the most...............person I know.
I read three reviews about this film, and the overall...................is that it's
useless!
5. I can only afford one CD, and I'm................between these two.
6. I should tell her the truth, but If I tell her, she'll be furious with me. So, can you
see my...................?

Formal phrases (in complaining letter)

1. express my annoyance
2. discovered
3. dismayed
4. have no objection
5. would like to point out

= tell you I'm cross

= found out
= upset
= don't mind
= want to say

6. it is my opinion

= I think

7. wish

= want

8. am not prepared to

= don't want to

UNIT 3
Money
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

open an account
purchase
earn a living
take out a loan
cash card
money
6. interest rate
borrow
7. currency
8. economy (n)
9. economic (adj)
10.economic (n)
11.economical (adj)

= start keeping your money with a bank

= something that you buy
= make money
= borrow money from a bank or money lender
= piece of plastic that you use to access your
= the percentage of extra money you pay back if you
=
=
=
=

the money that a country use

the system of business and money in a country
relating to business and money
the study of business and money
= not needing or using a lot of money

Word building

Exercise
Underline the correct words to complete the sentences.
1. Li Hongchen spent two years buying virtual/virtually money and weapons in the
online game.
2. Last february Li Jongchen found his possess/possessions had been stolen by a
hacker who had gained access/accessible through the game's server.
3. The creativity/creators of the game responded with the argumentative/
argument that the items had no real-world value/valuable and were really only
piles of data

Suffixes
Suffixes are letters or words that can be added to the end of a root word to change
one part of speech into another.
-ible
sensible
horrible
.........
..........

Making adjectives
-able
-ive
comfortable
sensitive
acceptable
creative
..........
............
...........
...........

-al
political
economical
.............
..............

We can also use suffixes to change the meaning of a root word.

employer - someone who employs
employee - someone who is employed
employable - someone who is able to be employed

Word in context
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

get smaller
= shrink
walk around slowly in a relaxed way = wander about
a little strange
= curious
corridor
= passage
difficult to hold onto
= slippery
wanted very much
= longed
became happier
= brightened up
risked doing something that might be dangerous

= ventured

UNIT 4
Success and Failure
1. fall through
= come to nothing, fail
2.
= succeed in dealing with
overcome/overcame
3. pull it off/pulled it = succeed in doing something difficult
off
4. blow it/blew it
= destroy something completely
5. mess up/messed up = to spoil something or do it badly
6. fulfill/fulfilled = to achieve what was hoped for expected
do or
7. make it/made it
= become successful
8. go wrong/went
= make a mistake
wrong
9. to stick at it
= to continue to try, not to give up
10.to get there in the end = to succeed
11.to come to nothing
= to fail

12.to flop
= to be unsuccessful
13.in vain
= unsuccessful
14.to come through
= to manage to get to the end of a difficult or dangerous
situation
15.against the odds = to do or achieve something despite a lot of problems and
although
success was not likely
16.to triumph
= to have great success or great victory

Exercise
Underline the correct words
1. Pete was such a talented young man, but he's not been able to fulfill/overcome
his potential.
2. Sadly, our captain has been unable to pull off/overcome his injury problems and
will have to retire.
3. Look. We can't mess this up/fulfill this. We've got to focus on what we want to do
and we've got to do it right.
4. It's going to be a really tough match. But we can pull it off/blow it if we work
hard and believe in ourselves.
5. Rafa Nadal went/made it to the top in tennis when he was very young.
6. We were leading 2-0 with ten minutes to go, but we blew/messed it at the end of
the match and let in three goals in five minutes.

Expression
next to each other = side by side
fighting each other = locked in heated bottle
being watched by everyone = under the microscope to die for a curse =
sacrifice their lives

Word in context
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

continuous
= non-stop
without anxiety
= coolly
rare
= few and far between
strongly and in an angry way
= bitterly
completed
= sealed
missed
= put the ball over the bar
trying to see how good (they were) = sizing up
scored
= smashed in

UNIT 5

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Phrasal verbs

care about = feel concern or interest

figure out = discover the cause of a problem
end up = eventually come to a specified place or situation
go for = decide on, choose; attempt to gain
fit in = be socially compatible with other members of a group

Advertising
1. hoarding = a large board in a public place, used to display advertisement
2. jingle = a short slogan, verse, or tune designed to easily remembered,
especially as used in advertising
3. slogan = a short and striking or memorable phrase used in advertising
4. logos = a printed design or symbol that a company or an organization uses as its
special sign
5. sandwich board = a pair of advertising boards connected by straps by which
they are
hung over a person's shoulders
6. to market = to make things available in a way which encourages people to buy
more of them
7. marketing = the business of encouraging people to buy a product or service
8. an advertising campaign = a series or programme of advertisements by a
company
9. propaganda = information that is broadcast or published with the intention of
influencing people's opinions (usually negative)
10.junk mail = mail or emails advertising products or services, sent to people
although they have not asked for it
11.a promotion = activities to advertise something
12.hard sell = an aggressive way of trying to sell something to someone
13.soft sell = gentle way of trying to sell something to someone
14.cold selling = telephoning or visiting a possible customer to try to sell them
something without being asked to do so

Expression
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

WDYT
LOL
ITA
IMHO
MEH

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what do you think

laugh out loud
I totally agree
in my humble opinion
whatever! I don't care about this