MAKING HEADWAY

Phrasal Verbs
and Idioms

Graham Workman

Oxford University Press

Making Headway
Upper-Intermediate

Phrasal Verbs
and Idioms
Graham Workman

Oxford University Press

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Contents
Foreword 4
Introduction 5

Introductory unit 7
Getting down to work 1 3
Looking round a flat 19
Healthy body, healthy mind 2 4
A place of your own 2 9
Getting away from it all 3 3
Family relationships 38
You are what you wear 4 3
A narrow escape 4 8
Getting on in life 5 3
A nightmare journey 59
What's in the news? 6 4
Across a crowded room 70

Tapescripts 76
Answer key 88
Foreword
Students of English realize very early on in their learning career that
prepositions present a problem. They collocate with nouns. adjectives.
past participles, and verbs, without rules or logic. Students simply have to
learn that interested is followed by in, and good is followed by at. and go
home has no preposition. Multi-word verbs, or phrasal verbs as they are
often referred to, present a very special problem. English can make verb
and particle (preposition or adverb) combinations easily and freely. The
word particle has been used throughout this book, in order to avoid
having to make the adverb/preposition distinction (to most students. the
word after the verb in a multi-word verb is always a preposition).
Multi-word verbs exist throughout the language. They express everyday
actions such as Turn on the light: they can also have a variety of
meanings such as Things worked out well. W e worked out the problem. She
worked out in the gym, I've never been able to work him out. and The find
price works out at f 10.

Given the complexity of the area. the surprise is that learners are very
keen to master it. They seem to sense that multi-word verbs are a vital
component of English, and spoken English in particular. There is also the
feeling that an understanding of common idioms will increase their
comprehension, though most students instinctively avoid trying to
produce them. The best time to address these areas is at
upper-intermediate and advanced levels, when students already have a
certain grammatical and lexical foundation.

This book goes a long way to helping students to unravel the complexity
of multi-word verbs, preposition and adverb collocations. and idiomatic
expressions. Students will find staged guidance in understanding the
systems, and are given a variety of exercise practice in recognition and
production. Phrasal Verbs and Idioms will find its place in self-access
centres, for learners to study on their own: and teachers will welcome the
texts, listenings, explanations, and exercises. which hare clear aims and
are highly accessible for thorough classroom exploitation.

John and Liz Soars

Series editors
 Introduction
Who this book is for This book is for students who are studying Headway Upper-Intermediate or
any other coursebook at a similar level. It can also be used by students
who are preparing for Cambridge FCE examinations.

How the book is The materials in each unit are organized around themes such as work,
organized health. holidays, accommodation, family relationships, etc. The units are
relatively free-standing and can therefore be used to supplement existing
coursebooks. The book is also designed to provide students with an idea
of how multi-word verbs work. so there is some advantage in working
through the units systematically. Some of the later units recycle
multi-word verbs used in earlier units.

The book contains over 200 multi-word verbs. They have been selected
according to the theme of each unit, as well as level of difficulty and
usefulness. Four main types of multi-word verb are introduced, and
various types of practice exercises are provided for consolidation work.

HOW to use the book To the teacher

1 Use the Introductory unit before any other units in the book. This should
take about 45-60 minutes of classroom time. All the remaining units
contain enough material for approximately 60-90 minutes of teaching.
2 The units follow a reasonably consistent pattern:
The Preparation section is designed as a brief lead in to the theme of the
unit, not lasting more than five minutes.
The Presentation is usually a listening or reading text, followed by an
exercise in which multi-word verbs are matched with their definitions.
The Drills provide controlled oral practice of the new multi-word verbs.
but they can also be used as prompts for later revision work, or written
controlled practice.
The Practice section gives students the opportunity to use the multi-word
verbs to talk about their own experiences and ideas. There are also
practice exercises for prepositions and idiomatic expressions.
How multi-word verbs work deals with the systems of multi-word verbs
and the meaning of some particles.
 INTRODUCTION

What's the answer? is designed to check that students have understood

the important differences between a few multi-word verbs. It can be used
as a game or revision activity.
The Jokes provide some light relief. They are related to the theme of the
unit and illustrate some humorous uses of multi-word verbs.
The Writing section provides further written consolidation of the
language covered in the unit.
3 It is important that students are given some activities for revising the
multi-word verbs they learn in the book. One simple rellsion activity is to
put students into pairs and tell student A to read the definitions of some
the multi-word verbs while student B says what the multi-word verb is.
Alternatively, some multi-word verbs can be put into a 'Find someone
who' activity as a warmer for the start of a lesson (e.g. 'Find someone
who sets off for school very early in the morning'). Students can be asked
to act out some of the dialogues on the tape, and their spoken or written
errors with multi-word verbs can be used in a Grammar Auction game.
To the student working independently
1 Read and listen to the presentation reading and listening texts. using the
cassette and the tapescripts. Then do the exercises which follow.
2 Test yourself by listening and responding to the drills on the cassette.
Alternatively, use the tapescript of the drills - you can cover up the
answer and see if you produce the right response.
3 Work through the written exercises in the book and check your answers
in the Answer key.
4 Find a friend to practise the spoken exercises with, or write out what you
would say.
5 Do the free writing activities and then find someone who can correct
them.
 Introductory unit
What are multi- Multi-word verbs are verbs that combine with one or two particles
word verbs? (a preposition and/or an adverb).
I'm looking for m y keys. Have you seen them?
(verb + preposition)
Look out! There's a car coming!
(verb + adverb)
A snob is someone who looks down on people of a lower social class.
(verb + adverb + preposition)
If the addition of the particle(s) changes the meaning of the verb, it is
usually called a phrasal verb because it has the meaning of a phrase.
However, there are so many different types of phrasal verbs that it is
easier to call all combinations of verb + particle(s) multi-word verbs.

Literal or non-literal Literal meaning

meaning? Look at the following example, where the verb and particle keep their
separate literal meaning.
He looked up and saw a plane.
Here the meaning of the verb and the particle have not changed.
He looked up = He looked + up (in the direction of the sky).
Non-literal meaning
Sometimes the addition of the particle(s) creates a multi-word verb that
has a different meaning.
He looked up all the new words in the dictionary.
In this sentence, look up = to h d information in a reference book.

1 The first three example sentences on this page all have multi-word verbs
with non-literal meanings. Look at them and decide what they mean.
to look for someone/something =
to look out -
to look down on someone -
 LOOKING ROUND A FLAT

Idiomatic expressions
3 What do the following expressions mean? When would you use them?
1 Home, sweet home.
2 An Englishman's home is his castle.
3 Make yourself at home.
4 It's home from home.
How would you express the same ideas in your own language?

- 4 Complete the following sentences with a suitable idiomatic expression.

a. Come in and have a seat. I want you to feel you can behave as if you
were in your house. So while I make a cup of tea.
b. They made me feel very welcome. It was like being in my own house.
It was .
..
c. He had enjoyed travelling round the world and seeing ditrerent places,
but at last he had returned. He walked towards his house and thought
' '
d. I can do what I want in my own house. You know what they say.

How multi-word verbs work

5 Replace the noun objects with pronoun objects (itlthem) in the following
sentences.
Shall I f i l l in this form? + Shall I f i l l it in?
a. I'd l i e to talk over my financial position.
b. Did you throw out those old newspapers?
c. They've decided to put off the wedding.
d. We're going to do up the kitchen.
e. I'd like more time to think over your offer.
f. I didn't take down his telephone number.
g. Did you hand in your homework?
h. Can you help me put up these pictures?

6 Now decide which words are stressed in the sentences with pronoun
objects. Practise saying them. What is the stress rule in these examples?

I T.2d ] 7 Now listen and check your answers.