advanced everyday english

Question 1

baffle (v) - to confuse, puzzle

Answer 1

• Computers really baffle me; I’m not cut out for the modern age at all.
• I was baffled by her behavior. What do you think came over her?

Question 2

keep sb posted (about/on sth) - keep sb up-to-date with the news/what is going on

Answer 2

All the amendments are clearly laid out in this document, but we’ll keep you posted on anything else which crops up.

Question 3

backlog - a large amount of work which has been building up over a period of time, a lot of people waiting to be dealt with or seen

Answer 3

I’ve got a backlog of paperwork to get through before I can turn my mind to these other issues.

Question 4

loophole - a gap or mistake in a particular law/rule which allows people to avoid having to obey it

Answer 4

a law designed to close any loopholes in tax

Question 5

cocky (adj) - too confident or sure that one knows everything <colloquial></colloquial>

Answer 5

He comes over as too cocky. I don’t think he’ll fit in with the other members of the staff.

Question 6

to bog down/to get bogged down - prevent a progress, to confuse people by giving them too much work or information, to get stuck/to be slowed down, often because of too much work

Answer 6

We’ve got to get our marking spot-on and not bog potential customers down with too much information.

Question 10

at stake - at risk, often money or one’s reputation

Answer 10

(lawyer to client): I’m sorry to be blunt, but it’s not worth putting my career at stake over such a borderline case.

Question 11

have a lot/enough on one’s plate - to have a lot of work to get through/problems to sort out)

Answer 11

I don’t think rubbing him up the wrong way is the right way of going about it. He’s got enough on his plate as it is.

Question 12

deep down - the true character or feelings that sb has rather than what he first appears to have

Answer 12

He might make out that he takes it all in his stride, but deep down he can’t cope with what’s going on.

Question 13

gist - the main point of what sb is saying, the general sense of a conversation/speech, etc.

Answer 13

I’m afraid I don’t quite follow your gist (= what you really mean).

Question 14

miss out on = miss the opportunity of doing sth enjoyable or beneficial

Answer 14

Don’t miss out on this one-off opportunity to get to grips with English Company Law.

Question 15

get to the bottom of sth - resolved a long-standing problem

Answer 15

Deep down, she still feels that the doctors haven’t got to the bottom of her illness.

Question 16

streetwise (adj) - having the knowledge and experience that is needed to deal with the difficulties and dangers of life in a big city

Answer 16

Survival in HCM city boils down to how streetwise you are.

Question 17

laughing stock - a person that everyone laughs at because they have done something stupid

Answer 17

If you go by what the experts are saying, the outlook for English tennis is not very promising. We have been the laughing stock of world tennis for far too long.

Question 18

corner the market (in sth) - to get control of the trade in a particular type of goods

Answer 18

PNJ has cornered the market in jewellry for decades.

Question 19

stand sb in good stead - to be useful or helpful to somebody when needed

Answer 19

Your languages will stand you in good stead when it comes to finding a job.

Question 20

tactful - careful what one says so as to avoid upsetting sb

Answer 20

I think he has an uninviting, cumbersome style of writing in his books, which I find unreadable… but it wouldn’t be very tactful of me to tell him.

Question 21

waffle (on) (about sth) - to talk or write using a lot of words but without saying anything interesting or important

Answer 21

The principal waffled on about exam results but no one was listening.

Question 21

to be lulled into a false sense of security - to be deceived into thinking or to take for granted that, due to recent success, everything is going to be fine, when it isn’t

Answer 21

His friendly manner lulled her into a false sense of security (= made her feel safe with him when she should not have).

Question 22

weigh up - balance/consider all aspects of a situation before coming to a decision

Answer 22

Having weighed everything up, we thought we’d be better off keeping a low profile.

Question 23

stumbling block (to (doing) sth) - sth that causes problems and prevetns you from achieving your aim

Answer 23

Money could prove a stumbling block to the project.

Question 24

by no/any stretch of the imagination - used to say strongly that something is not true, even if you try to imagine or believe it

Answer 24

By no stretch of the imagination could it be said that the result is a foregone conclusion. There’s a lot at stake everyone involved.

Question 25

jump/climb on the bandwagon - do or say the same thing as many others, without having thought about it for oneself or just because it is fashionable

Answer 25

I’m not going to jump on the bandwagon and slate the play like other critics. Once it got going, it was fun.

Question 26

down-to-earth - genuine, unpretentious, practical, realistic

Answer 26

Jane tends to go a bit over the top (= too much, excessive) with her designs; mind you, as a person she’s very down-to-earth

Question 27

keep a low profile - behave in a way that does not attract attention to oneself, to remain unnoticed

Answer 27

As I’m most likely to be made the scapegoat, I’m going to keep a low profile until everything is sorted out.

Question 28

go astray - to become lost; to be stolen; to go in the wrong direction or to have the wrong result

Answer 28

• Several letters went astray or were not delivered.
• The argument is so complex, a reader might easily go astray.

Question 29

dwell on/upon sth - to think or talk a lot about something, especially something it would be better to forget

Answer 29

So you made a mistake, but there’s no need to dwell on it.

Question 30

pompous (adj) = pretentious = showing that you think you are more important than other people, especially by using long and formal words

Answer 30

His speech sounded very pompous and self-congratulatory.

Question 31

get a kick out of sth - enjoy/get special pleasure out of doing sth <very often sth dangerous, unusual or sth most other people would not enjoy>

Answer 31

It baffles me sometimes as to how some people get a kick out of breaking the law; I’ve always gone by the book in whatever I do

Question 32

frenzy (of sth) - a state of great activity and strong emotion that is often violent or frightening and not under control

Answer 32

in a frenzy of activity/excitement/violence

Question 33

perpetual (adj) - never ending, generally negative

Answer 33

Trying to get my head around these statistics is proving to be a perpetual nightmare.

Question 33

skim the surface - deal with a matter only superficially

Answer 33

This report has barely skimmed the surface of the subject.

Question 34

reap the rewards - enjoy the benefits of sth

Answer 34

One loses track of time, I wrote the book ages ago, but have only just begun to reap the rewards. Many critics wrote my work off as being passe. Pompous idiots!

Question 35

get one’s head around sth - understand sth complicated/a difficult situation

Answer 35

She’s dead. I can’t get my head round it yet.

Question 35

unwittingly = inadvertently = without realising, unaware

Answer 35

I thought my wallet had gone astray, inadvertently, I had left in on the table.

Question 36

keep/lose track of - to have/not have information about what is happening or where somebody/something is

Answer 36

I lost all track of time (= forgot what time it was).

Question 37

relish = enjoy = to get great pleasure from something; to want very much to do or have something

Answer 37

• relish a challenge/chance/opportunity (to do sth)
• relish the idea/thought of sth
• don’t relish the prospect of doing sth

Question 38

makeshift (adj) = provisional = improvised - used temporarily for a particular purpose because the real thing is not available

Answer 38

They all took the mickey out of a makeshift treehouse I built in the garden for my son. I’m not an adept carpenter by any stretch of the imagination.

Question 39

huddle - to gather closely together, usually because of cold or fear

Answer 39

The only stumbling block remaining was what the troops would wo with the many refugees they had found huddled together under makeshift tents.

Question 40

take your cue from sb/sth - to copy what somebody else does as an example of how to behave or what to do

Answer 40

Investors are taking their cue from the big banks and selling dollars.

Question 41

cue (for sth) - an action or event that is a signal for somebody to do something

Answer 41

Jon’s arrival was a cue for more champagne.

Question 42

be under no illusions = have no illusions (about) - know and understand what is really happening instead of imagining how thigns could be, to be realistic

Answer 42

Let me make it clear: we’re acting under no illusions. We are quite aware that, by and large, our competitors have cornered the market.

Question 43

prone to = liable to

Answer 43

likely to suffer from sth or to do sth bad (prone to injury)

Question 44

plausible - (of an excuse or explanation) reasonable and likely to be true

Answer 44

sth sounds perfectly plausible
>< implausible

Question 44

viable = feasible - that can be done, that will be successful

Answer 44

a viable option/proposition/alternative
to be commercially/politically/financially/economically viable

Question 44

doom (v) - make sb/sth certain to fail, suffer, die…

Answer 44

be doom to (do) sth => doomed to failure, doomed from the start

Question 44

leave a lot/much/sth… to be desired

Answer 44

to be bad or unacceptable
Ex: The service in the restaurant left a lot to be desired.

Question 45

flawed (adj) - having a flaw; not perfect or correct

Answer 45

seriously/fundamentally/fatally flawed

Question 46

deem = consider - to have a particular opinion about sb/sth

Answer 46

=> deemed it + adj (not) + to V; deem (un)necessary; deem sb/sth to be sth; deem (that)

Question 47

gut reaction/feeling/instinct

Answer 47

based on feelings and emotions rather than thought and reason

Question 48

be tarred with the same brush (as sb)

Answer 48

Tarring all immigrants to this country with the same brush is ludicrous, and will only serve to alienate them further from the society in which they now live.

Question 49

teething problems/troubles - small problems that a company, product, system, etc. has at the beginning

Answer 49

Despite a few teething problems, the car has been a great success.

Question 50

plight (n) - a difficult and sad situation

Answer 50

be in a desperate plight
the plight of homeless people

Question 51

dabble in/with sth - to take part in a sport, an activity, etc. but not very seriously

Answer 51

She is a talented musician but is content to just dabble.