Phrasal Verbs and Idioms Flashcards

Choose the phrasal verb that best completes the sentence: "The company's share price has ___ since the scandal broke, but analysts doubt the recovery will last."

Answer: picked up

"Pick up" can mean 'improve' or 'recover', and it is often used for prices, sales and economic conditions. The phrase "the recovery" later in the sentence confirms this meaning. "Pick off" means to target or shoot individuals one at a time. "Pick on" means to bully or single someone out unfairly. "Pick out" means to choose or identify something.

Which idiom best completes the sentence? "After months of evasive answers, the minister finally ___ and admitted that the policy had failed."

Answer: came clean

"Come clean" means to finally tell the truth or confess something you have been hiding. That fits the contrast between "evasive answers" and "admitted". "Cut corners" means doing something cheaply or carelessly. "Call it a day" means to stop working on something. "Break the ice" means easing tension at the start of a social situation.

Which sentence uses phrasal verbs correctly, including the position of the object pronoun?

Answer: I came across it while I was clearing out the attic.

"Come across" (meaning to find by chance) is inseparable, so the pronoun goes after the particle: "came across it". "Clearing out the attic" is also correct. "Turn down" and "put off" are separable, and with a pronoun object the pronoun must go between the verb and the particle: "turned it down" and "putting it off". "Look into" is inseparable, so it must be "look into it", not "look it into".

Choose the correct three-part phrasal verb: "I can no longer ___ his constant lateness, so I've decided to raise it with HR."

Answer: put up with

"Put up with" means to tolerate something unpleasant. "Can no longer" together with the decision to complain shows that the speaker has run out of patience. "Keep up with" means to stay at the same pace or level. "Catch up with" means to reach someone who is ahead, or to meet up again. "Come up with" means to think of an idea or plan.

A critic describes a new novel as "a bit of a curate's egg." What does the critic mean?

Answer: It is good in some parts and poor in others.

"A curate's egg" is a British idiom for something with both good and bad parts. It comes from a Punch cartoon in which a nervous curate, served a bad egg by his bishop, insists that "parts of it are excellent." The church connection makes "preachy" a tempting choice, but the idiom is about mixed quality, not tone.

In "I could barely make out the road sign through the fog," "make out" means to see or understand with difficulty. In which sentence does "make out" have the SAME meaning?

Answer: Can you make out what she's saying on this recording?

In the example, "make out" means to perceive something with difficulty, by seeing or hearing. Only option C uses this meaning: understanding unclear speech on a recording. In A, "make out" means 'get on' or 'fare' (informal, mainly American). In B, it means to claim or pretend something that may be false. In D, it means to write a cheque to a named payee.