1. Hand in hand
2. Same boat
3. Multi-task
4. Cut corners
5. Between a rock and a hard place
I suppose some people buy the New York Times to read about technology or international news. Others enjoy reading about science or health, sports or politics. Then there is the group that turns first to the editorials or the classifieds, the fashion section, real estate pages or even the job market listings. Still others enjoy the crosswords and the daily bridge tips. But my main reason to read the New York Times is the business section, several pages of up-to-date articles about the latest news from the business world. In doing so, I have come to notice the word choices in the business articles and how these _____________ (together; along with) with the goal of my company TalktoCanada. We help with online teaching of English to a myriad of students all over the world. I’ve finally narrowed the top 33 business idioms down that I continually see in the New York Times. I realize that if you study and learn these idioms, you are well on your way to understanding business English. In starting TalktoCanada about 7 years ago, I am reminded daily of the rewards and challenges of owning a large and growing business. Maybe you are ________________ (in the same situation) as I am and you also own a business or you are thinking of starting one. Maybe you work in a business or deal with businesses on a daily basis in the course of your workday. Well, I’ve learned to multi-task (do many things at once) along the way as there is seldom enough time to get everything done. One thing I promise myself is that I will not ________________ (do something the cheapest or easiest way) or sacrifice quality in what is provided to our students. Even at times when I’ve been ________________ (a dilemma; two possibilities that are not good), I will always put our students and staff first.
6. Start-up
7. Blow you away
8. Ahead of the game
9. Go for broke
10. Game plan
11. Go down swinging
12. A long shot
Some of the ________________ (new businesses aimed at new markets) that are surfacing around the world will just ________________ (affect intensely; overwhelm). The products and services seem way ________________ (successful). Many of these entrepreneurs decided to ________________ (wagering everything) after developing a strong game plan (the strategy of reaching an objective). When faced with opposition, they were determined ________________ (keep trying until the end) even when others said it was ________________ (something that will probably not succeed but is worth trying).
13. Trade-off
14. Fall through the cracks
15. Burn out (rate)
16. Miss the boat
17. Land on your feet
You see, I think ________________ (to lose something in return of gaining something) of owning your own business is that you have more control of your business. Sure there are a lot of things, many almost overwhelming at times that might ________________ (to be forgotten; to fail) and the ________________ (physical or mental exhaustion) is quite high. But, if you’re like me, you don’t want to ________________ (miss an opportunity) so you’ll do everything in your power to ________________ (to do well; to succeed).
18. Take the bull by the horns
19. On the same page
20. See eye to eye
21. Think out of the box
22. Give and take
23. Meeting someone halfway
24. Cut to the chase
25. Shot (shoot) from the hip
26. Bent over backwards
27. Water over the bridge
28. Win-win situation
I’ve learned to be adaptable. There are times when I need to take the _______________ (to confront a problem head on) and just do it. There are times when I must move more slowly and make sure everyone else is _______________ (have the same understanding or knowledge) and that we all _______________ (to be in agreement) as we move together. There are other times when the same practices are important to continue and then there are times to _______________ (to think differently from a new perspective) for new innovation. I have learned the gentle art of _______________ (free flowing of ideas and conversation; making a deal by trading) and the importance of _______________ (compromise). You might have similar stories of how you had to _______________ (to focus on what’s important) or how you _______________ (impromptu, spontaneous, spur of the moment reaction or decision) or _______________ (try hard to please; go out of the way) in your workings with others. And, when there are disagreements, you may have put these aside and considered them _______________ (something that has happened and can’t be changed) so you could have _______________ (a situation in which everyone participating come out on top; everyone wins or gets what they want).
29. Ball rolling
30. On the right track
31. Screw up
32. In the loop
33. Ahead of the curve
Well, it’s great that you have decided to study English. Communication is one of the keys to success in business. It helps to get the ______________ (a situation in which everyone participating came out on top; everyone won or got what they wanted) and to keep you ______________ (to continue on the right path or process) so there’s less chance of ______________ (not doing well; a mistake). When everyone is ______________ (understands what’s happening), the business has more of a chance to be ______________ (doing better than expected).
B. ENGLISH PHRASAL VERBS
With more details coming out and the story showing no signs of dying down, Tim Bowen looks at phrasal verbs in the news – in particular, the News of the World phone-hacking scandal.
In recent weeks, one story has dominated the British media – the newspaper phone-hacking story.
Read the story below and identify the phrasal verbs used by the author of this article and ascertain their corresponding meaning. Not an easy task but I am sure you can do it!
Allegedly, private investigators, paid for their services by journalists at a leading Sunday newspaper, hacked into the mobile phones of politicians, celebrities and victims of crime. Having gained access to the voicemail of their victims, the hackers spied on them by listening in their private conversations.
As more and more details leaked out, some journalists have complained that they were constantly leaned on by editors to come up with exclusive stories for the paper and this, in turn, forced them to resort to illegal methods to come by such stories.
As the scandal grew, the debate about the freedom of the press and personal privacy started to hot up. It soon became clear that the newspaper in question had also attempted to cover up certain evidence of wrongdoing. In order to fend off further criticism, the management of the newspaper decided to close it down and lay off its 200 employees.
The furor over the behaviour of certain individuals shows no sign of dying down and, as ever more lurid details come out on an almost daily basis, no-one can say with any certainty what the investigation into the affair is going to turn up next.
Choose a phrasal verb to replace the explanation in brackets.
|
| 1. When Caroline goes to work, the babysitter (takes care of) _________ ____ the children. a) looks at b) looks up c) looks for d) looks after |
| 2. The babysitter (has a good relationship) _________ ____ well with the children. a) gets out b) gets on c) gets up d) gets in |
3. Peter promises he will ( stop) _________ ____ smoking soon. a) give in b) give over c) give up d) give out |
4. They (continue) _________ ____ talking when the teacher arrives. a) carry on b) get on c) break out d) remain on |
5. The fire fighters came and (extinguish) _________ ____ the fire. a) put off b) let away c) put out d) let out |
6. I'll call the shop to (discover) _________ ____ the price. a) find out b) bring out c) turn up d) call up |
7. You never forget the place where you (spend childhood) _________ ____ . a) bring up b) raise up c) grow up d) rise up |
8. If your car (ceases to function) _________ ____ , you should call a garage. a) stops off b) breaks down c) turns off d) breaks out |
9. It's difficult for a plane to (leave the ground) _________ ____ when there is snow on the ground. a) take off b) start up c) lift off d) rise up |
10. You must (return) _________ ____ the books that I lend you. a) hand in b) take back c) give back d) pay for |
Read the following story and identify the phrasal verbs used by the author. There are 26 uses of phrasal verbs in this text. Can you find them?
Adventures Growing Up
I was brought up in a small town in the countryside. Growing up in the countryside offered lots of advantages for young people. The only problem was that we often got into trouble as we made up stories that we acted out around town. I can remember one adventure in particular: One day as we were coming back from school, we came up with the brilliant idea to make out that we were pirates looking for treasure. My best friend Tom said that he made out an enemy ship in the distance. We all ran for cover and picked up a number of rocks to use for ammunition against the ship as we got ready to put together our plan of action. We were ready to set off on our attack, we slowly went along the path until we were face to face with our enemy - the postman's truck! The postman was dropping off a package at Mrs. Brown's house, so we got into his truck. At that point, we really didn't have any idea about what we were going to do next. The radio was playing so we turned down the volume to discuss what we would do next. Jack was all for switching on the motor and getting away with the stolen mail! Of course, we were just children, but the idea of actually making off with a truck was too much for us to believe. We all broke out in nervous laughter at the thought of us driving down the road in this stolen Postal Truck. Luckily for us, the postman came running towards us shouting, "What are you kids up to?!". Of course, we all got out of that truck as quickly as we could and took off down the road.
Phrasal Verbs Matching
Match the phrasal verbs in the first column to the best available answer in the second column.
_____ blow up 1) choose
_____ throw away 2) omit
_____ look like 3) resemble
_____ leave out 4) postpone
_____ pass away 5) recollect
_____ pick out 6) cancel
_____ work out 7) recover
_____ make up 8) die
_____ pick on 9) find
_____ get over 10) create
_____ put off 11) explode
_____ call off 12) continue
_____ hold on 13) happen
_____ come across 14) wait
_____ look back on 15) discard
_____ carry on 16) admire
_____ take place 17) exercise
_____ look up to 18) bully
1. TO GET + direct object = to obtain, to receive, to buy:
a. To obtain
b. To receive
c. To buy
4. TO GET + preposition / adverb is used in many phrasal verbs. Here are some of the most common ones:
D. Find and Replace
Find all of the uses of the verb get in the paragraph below and replace them with a different verb/phrase.
I get a lot of emails every day, and some of them are junk mail. I am tired of getting junk mail, aren’t you? I get bothered by spam, and there is so much of it nowadays that one can get a headache from it! I want to get some software that will catch the junk emails before they get to my inbox. Otherwise, I spend too much time going through them in the morning to see which ones are real emails. I just don’t get why people send such junk mail. What do they hope to get by doing so?
E. exercises
12. Sorry, it's noisy here. I didn't get what you said.
Do you want a more extensive list of phrasal verbs? Check out Cambridge's Phrasal Verb book here
E. Bizarre news of the day
We all know that we are humanizing our pets at an accelarated rate these last few years and most of us are somewhat guilty of this new phenomenon. However, some people go to the extreme. Watch the following video and answer the questions below about Bella Mia and her/its "adoptive parents"
C. The different uses of the verb GET
1. TO GET + direct object = to obtain, to receive, to buy:
a. To obtain
- She got her driving license last week.
- They got permission to live in Switzerland.
b. To receive
- I got a letter from my friend in Nigeria.
- He gets $1,000 a year from his father.
c. To buy
- She got a new coat from Zappaloni in Rome.
- We got a new television for the sitting room.
We got to London around 6 p.m.
- What time will we get there?
- We got to the party at midnight
- When did you get back from New York?
It's getting hotter.
- By the time they reached the house they were getting hungry.
- I'm getting tired of all this nonsense.
- My mother's getting old and needs looking after.
- It gets dark very early in the winter.
- Don't touch the stove until is gets cool.
4. TO GET + preposition / adverb is used in many phrasal verbs. Here are some of the most common ones:
Phrasal Verb
|
Meaning
|
get at
|
try to express
|
get away with
|
escape punishment for a crime or bad action
|
get by
|
manage (financially)
|
get down
|
descend; depress
|
get off
|
leave a form of transport
(train, bus, bicycle, plane) |
get on
|
enter/sit on a form of transport
(train, bus, bicycle, plane); have a relationship with someone; manage |
get out of
|
avoid doing something, especially a duty
|
get over
|
recover (from an illness, a surprise)
|
get through
|
use or finish the supply of something
|
get up
|
leave your bed
|
Examples
- He got on his bicycle and rode down the street.
- He gets up at 6.00 a.m. every morning.
- She got out of the washing-up every day, even when it was her turn.
- We got off the train just before the bomb exploded.
- We've got through all the sugar - can you buy some more?
- I typically get off at the Albert Premier tram stop
- It was very hard for me to get over the pain caused by the death of my father
D. Find and Replace
Find all of the uses of the verb get in the paragraph below and replace them with a different verb/phrase.
I get a lot of emails every day, and some of them are junk mail. I am tired of getting junk mail, aren’t you? I get bothered by spam, and there is so much of it nowadays that one can get a headache from it! I want to get some software that will catch the junk emails before they get to my inbox. Otherwise, I spend too much time going through them in the morning to see which ones are real emails. I just don’t get why people send such junk mail. What do they hope to get by doing so?
E. exercises
1. I get about $2000 a month from my job.
2. He got angry when he heard about the news.
3. I don't get how the machine works.
4. Did you get the e-mail I sent you this morning?
5. My manager got me to do the report, even though I didn't want to.
6. At what time will you get to New York?
7. It wasn't easy, but I finally got her to sign the contract.
8. I got 75% in my maths exam.
9. I would like to get her a watch for her birthday.
10. Somebody is calling. Can you get the phone?
11. I get the bus to work every morning.
13. They got the new service contract.
Do you want a more extensive list of phrasal verbs? Check out Cambridge's Phrasal Verb book here
E. Bizarre news of the day
We all know that we are humanizing our pets at an accelarated rate these last few years and most of us are somewhat guilty of this new phenomenon. However, some people go to the extreme. Watch the following video and answer the questions below about Bella Mia and her/its "adoptive parents"
- What are the financial decisions made by the couple on behalf of Bella Mia?
- Do they consider the dog a pet?
- Who gave them the dog and for what reason?
- What did the lady said that she felt when she first saw Bella Mia?
- How much did the lady spent on the dog last year?
- What are some of the things that the dog "owns" in the house?
- Why does the lady says that she is ok spoiling Bella Mia? What's the main reason she says that the dog deserves all she gets.
- What are 3 things that shocked you the most about the things being done by this couple for their dog?
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