42 Celebrities and heroes

A Contents of a celebrity magazine

Page CONTENTS

23 AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH PAOLA SIMONE. Paola lets us in on the

secrets of her fairytale wedding and the lavish lifestyle1 she now leads.

27 JOEY WINTER HOSPITAL SHOCK. Sources close to Joey tell us their concerns
about the singer’s recent operation.

30 ACTRESS PHILADELPHIA MARRIOTT reveals the truth about her prenuptial

agreement2 with footballer Tyrone Finton.

34 A ROYAL ROMANCE. Melissa, the new girlfriend of Prince Henrik of Glosvatt is

ready to sell her story to the highest bidder3. Who will buy it?

41 COURT SCANDAL. Tennis ace Bach Handar in the second of two in-depth
interviews. Handar reveals some of the secrets about match fixing that kept
him in the full glare of publicity for much of last year.

1 3
  rich and extravagant way of life  person who is prepared to pay most in
2
 legal agreement made before marriage dealing with the an auction
distribution of money and property in the event of a divorce

B Speech at an awards ceremony

We are here today to celebrate the achievements of Monty Sharpe, a
remarkable film director. Monty’s first full-length feature film, Lincoln’s
Boyhood, about the life of Abraham Lincoln, was highly praised by the critics
and received nominations for a number of prestigious awards.
Monty’s film-making goes back a long way. He made several short films at
university which received rave reviews in the student press. After university
he soon realised his ambition of working in cinema when he got his first job
at Sheepton Studios.
Monty soon began directing and enjoyed a meteoric rise1 to fame. Critics
have heaped praise on all his work, highlighting his unique approach to
film. It is my great honour today to be presenting this award to him. The
Director’s Star is the highest accolade2 which can be offered to anyone
in his profession. We offer Monty this award not only because of his own
achievements but also because his work has had a significant impact3 on all
of our leading young directors and will do so for many years to come. Let me
share with you some of the glowing tributes4 which we have received from
other directors …
1 3
rapid rise­­ NOT strong impact
2 4
top symbol of praise and approval (journalistic) extremely positive comments

Common mistakes
Be careful with the word success. We say The song enjoyed or had great success all over the
world, NOT made great success. You can, however, make a success of something. For example:
She made a success of her new job and was promoted after a short time.

88 English Collocations in Use Advanced

 Exercises

42.1 Look at A. Are these sentences true or false?

1 ‘Sources close to the Prime Minister’ means ‘members of the Prime Minister’s family’.
2 A lavish lifestyle is one that occasionally breaks the law.
3 The highest bidder is the most important person asking for something.
4 A fairytale wedding is likely to cost a lot of money.
5 If someone lets you in on a secret, they tell you something not generally known.
6 A prenuptial agreement is an agreement made just after a couple marry.
7 The ‘full glare of publicity’ is a metaphor based on the idea of a bright light shining on someone
or something.
8 An exclusive interview suggests that the interview does not include much information about the
interviewee’s private life.
42.2 Complete each sentence using a word from the opposite page.
1 Shelly Winter enjoyed a meteoric to fame in Hollywood in the 1990s.
2 Carlos never realised his of becoming a top footballer and played for
his local team for 20 years.
3 The critics have praise on De Suta’s latest film and it has been
nominated for an Oscar.
4 In 2016, his latest novel received a for an award but it did not win
the prize.
5 The film was praised by some critics but it received some negative
reviews too.
6 Imelda Fry gave an interview to Celeb magazine but she didn’t
many secrets.
7 The film great success on both sides of the Atlantic.
8 He a success of his career in music and travelled the world.
42.3 Match each question with its answer.
1 What kind of lifestyle did they have? a ) An exclusive one.
2 What kind of interview did you get? b) The highest.
3 What kind of impact did he have?   c) A fairytale one.
4 What are we here to celebrate? d) Glowing ones.
5 What does she want to sell? e ) A prenuptial one.
6 What have you got to present?     f  ) A very significant one.
7 What sort of agreement did they sign? g  ) Her achievements.
8 What sort of accolade did she get? h) An award.
9 What kind of wedding did they have?     i    ) Her story.
10 What kinds of tributes were paid to him?      j   ) A lavish one.
42.4 Which collocations from this unit are the opposites of these expressions?
1 a superficial interview
2 a gradual rise to fame
3 a minor impact
4 a simple lifestyle

Over to you
Read an article from a current issue of a celebrity magazine. You will find one at
www.hellomagazine.com. How many collocations from this unit can you find?
Highlight any interesting new collocations that you find in it.

English Collocations in Use Advanced 89

 Unit 41
41.1 newborn baby  spoilt brat  child prodigy  juvenile delinquent  disaffected youth
(Other possible collocations are: spoilt baby, spoilt child, delinquent youth.)

41.2 1 child prodigy 

2 newborn babies 
3 juvenile delinquent 
4 spoilt brat
5 disaffected youth

41.3 1 It is all too easy to take your close friends and your family for granted.
2 Liz’s got four children and she’s just bought herself a sports car. Do you think she’s going through
some kind of midlife crisis?
3 My sister had a baby boy last month.
4 You’ll spoil your daughter if you keep on pandering to her every whim.
5 My parents are vegetarians, so I respect their wishes and don’t eat meat in their house.
6 Sorry, I must be having a senior moment. I just can’t remember your name!
7 Jacqui insists she has seen the error of her ways.
8 Don’t worry about your daughter leaving home. She won’t come to any harm.
9 Make sure you don’t let the child out of your sight.

41.4 1 Leaving home means going to live in another place, and leaving the house is what you do when
you go out of your front door every day.
2 A hazy memory is vague, not clear or distinct, and a distinct memory is very clear.
3 A grumpy old man is one who is bad-tempered and complains a lot, and a dear old man is one
who is kind and good-natured.
4 An occasional twinge is a pain that happens from time to time, and a sudden twinge is a pain that
happens unexpectedly.
5 Something becomes a habit but a person develops a habit.
6 If you fall into a pattern, that pattern gradually develops, whereas if you fit into a pattern, the
pattern has already been established by someone else and you adapt to it.

41.5 The collocations that are impossible (or at least very unlikely) are:
1 go 3 talk 5 perfect 7 an increase
2 firm 4 problem 6 wake up 8 sensitive

Unit 42
42.1 1 False. It could include members of his/her family, but it also includes his/her immediate
colleagues and/or friends.
2 False. A lavish lifestyle is one that is very extravagant and luxurious, but it is not necessarily
one that occasionally breaks the law.
3 False. The highest bidder is the person who is prepared to pay most for something.
4 True
5 True
6 False. A prenuptial agreement is made before a couple marry.
7 True
8 False. It suggests that the interviewee spoke only to one journalist or newspaper.

42.2 1 rise 5   highly

2 ambition (could also be dream) 6   reveal
3 heaped 7   enjoyed/had
4 nomination 8   made

42.3 1 j  2 a  3 f  4 g  5 i  6 h  7 e  8 b  9 c  10 d

English Collocations in Use Advanced 149

 42.4 1 an in-depth interview
2 a meteoric rise to fame
3 a significant impact
4 a lavish lifestyle

Unit 43
43.1 1 a slippery customer 5 take the flak
2 mindless violence 6 poison the atmosphere
3 shirk one’s responsibilities 7 hold in contempt
4 pick a fight 8 a disruptive influence
43.2 1 bone idle 4 totally out of order / a downright disgrace
2 poisoning the atmosphere 5 minor niggles
3 trust Glyn an inch 6 a nasty piece of work

43.3 1 betray 3 have 5 rests 7 cloud 9 stoop

2 hold 4 pick 6 belittle 8 play 10 have

43.4 1 mindless 3 disruptive 5 achievement(s)

2 glaring 4 disgrace 6 nagging

Unit 44
44.1 1 keen interest
2 honing; skills
3 meet; challenge
4 paramount importance
5 pursue; interest
6 accumulate; experience

44.2 1 Paul has an encyclopaedic knowledge of African history.

2 Karen has very good interpersonal skills / has excellent people skills.
3 Eric accumulated considerable experience of farming / on farms when he was in Canada.
4 Hannah has an excellent teaching qualification but she lacks classroom experience. / lacks
experience in the classroom.
5 I trust Dr Robinson implicitly.
6 This job will offer you the perfect opportunity to hone your computer/computing skills.
7 I have every confidence in your ability to / that you will be able to complete the course.
8 It was Karan’s financial acumen that led to his promotion.

44.3 I am happy to act as a referee for James McBride, who has applied for a teaching post at your
language school. I have every confidence in Mr McBride’s abilities as a teacher. He spent last summer
working at the school where I am principal and he was a highly valued member of our staff. He was
very successful in establishing/developing a good relationship with both students and staff. He is
highly educated / has a good level of education with a particularly extensive/comprehensive
knowledge of English literature. He combines good teaching qualifications with considerable
experience of teaching students at all levels of English. He also has advanced/good computer skills,
which should certainly prove useful in a technologically advanced school such as yours.
44.4 1 revealed 4   provide
2 wholeheartedly 5   perform
3 meet 6   highly

150 English Collocations in Use Advanced