Phrasal Verbs Practice Sheet 1

I.

Fill with appropriate phrasal verbs in the following

sentences
1. He got in the car, pulled ________ of the driveway, and drove away.
out
off
up

2. I can't believe you pulled that ________! (= managed to achieve this)

off
out
up

3. The other candidates have now pulled ________ of Johnson. = Johnson is now
behind the other candidates.
up
off
ahead

4. He drove the car to the gate. = He pulled ________ to the gate.

out
up
ahead

5. It was a close race until Peter pulled ________ from the other runners and won
by a whole minute.
up
off

away

6. I'm pulling ________ him. = I'm hoping he'll win/succeed/etc.

for
away
in

7. He's pulling ________ $80,000 a year. = He's making $80,000 a year.

in
for
up

8. The police officer pulled him ________ (= stopped him) because he was driving
without his lights off.
through
up
over

9. I'm sure she'll pull ________. = I'm sure she'll recover, be well again, etc.
over
off
through

10. He signed up for the event, but had to pull ________ (= cancel) because he
didn't have time to go.
out
off
back

11. She takes .. her grandmother. (after / off / in)

12. They assaulted the watchmen and took many precious paintings .
(down / away / back)

13. These shoes dont fit. I am going to take them .. to the store.
(back / away / off)

14. Dont take him .. an idiot. (for / in / off)

15. The dress was loose for me so I took it to the tailor and got it taken
(in / off / down)

16. Please take your shoes .. before entering the temple. (down / off /
away)

17. How are you going to meet the deadlines if you take . too many
projects? (on / in / over)

18. If you love Susie why dont you take her . on a date? (out / up /
off)

19. He took farming after retirement. (up / in / on)

20. We will take this issue . when we meet next week. (up / on /
over)
II.

Fill the following sentences with check-in, get on, get off, break down,
take off and turn back.
1. John and Davids flight home from Amsterdam was at nine in the morning.
The arrangement to meet with Johns friend Mark at half past six but Mark
arrived at the hotel almost half an hour late that however, was just the

beginning of their problems. On the way from the hotel to airport, their car
_______ in the middle of a busy intersection, causing traffic jam. The
David realised that he had left hi mobile phone in the hotel, but it was too
late for them to ____________when they arrived at the airport, they had
just enough time to __________ go through passport control and
security check and _______________ the plane. The _______ very
shortly after that and eight hours later, they landed in New York, but they
could not _________ the plane because there was a problem on the
runaway. They felt a jet lag and finally, forty-five minutes after landing,
they ___________.
2. Do you think it is possible to change fundamental parts of your
personality? Do you any personality traits that you would love to get
_________, but instead you just put ____________ ? Perhaps you are
painfully shy, or you have problems getting ____________ people.
Perhaps you are a control freak, taking __________ everything and
everyone that you are involved with. Perhaps you never finished things,
giving _______________ whenever you run __________ problems.
Everybody has at least one personality characteristic that is holding them
_________ either personally or professionally. Psychologists say it is
possible to make personality changes, but it can be very difficult. The first
thing they are quick to point _______ is that you must be very motivated
to bring _________ successful changes. For anxiety problems, some
doctors report recommend writing __________ their feelings in a
journal, taking walks as needed and especially learning to forgive
themselves. Whatever change you can make, permanent changes take
time, so remember to have patience and to keep _______ trying.
III.

Identify the meanings of the phrasal verbs in the following sentences

For his whole life, Nick has never been able to get up early. When he was in
elementary school, his mother would set the alarm clock for 6:00 AM, but it
would not wake him up. When Nick was in high school, his alarm clock would
go off, but he simply turned it off and went back to sleep. Every morning his
father would shout, Come on, Nick! Youre going to be late. The shouting did
not help, however. On a few days, Nick would show up two hours late! Nick
knew that his school would not put up with this situation much longer. His
parents were frustrated, but they could not give up.
One day Nicks mom came across a blog on the Internet where people were
sharing their stories about oversleeping and different solutions they had come
up with to solve their problems. After going over a few of these stories and
realizing there could be an underlying health issue, Nicks mother made up her
mind that the best advice was to look for a sleep specialist on the Internet.

After checking out several websites, Nicks mom found out about a specialist
for her sons condition. She called him up and left a message. The next day, the
doctor called her back to talk about Nicks situation. Now the family is
counting on him to help solve Nicks problem.