VOCABULARY QUIZ 5 • ANSWER KEY
Group A
Employment and career • Phrasal verbs • Colloquial
phrases • Collocations to describe work and money
Exercise 1
1 under: If someone is snowed under, they have too much
work to do.
2 on: If someone presses on, they continue doing
something.
3 on: If a company is taking on new people, it’s giving
employment to them.
4 up: If you stand up for yourself, you defend yourself
against criticism, attacks, etc.
5 around: If someone orders other people around, they
keep telling them what to do as if they have authority
over them.
Exercise 2
1 jump: If something jump-starts, for example, your career,
it starts it in a very active and successful way.
2 overtime: If you work overtime, you spend more time
than needed or expected doing your job.
3 cover: If a company covers, for instance, your travel
expenses, it pays for the time that you are travelling,
accommodation, meals, etc. because of your work.
4 permanent: If you have a permanent contract with a
company, it doesn’t have a termination date.
5 guts: If you have the guts to do something, you are
brave and determined enough to do it.
Exercise 3
1 menial: If someone does menial tasks, they do work that
is boring, dirty and usually of low social status.
2 tabs: If you keep tabs on someone or something, you
monitor someone’s activities or the development of a
situation.
3 indispensable: If someone or something is
indispensable, they are absolutely necessary and no one
can do without them.
4 placement: A short-term placement is the temporary
posting of someone in a workplace to enable them to
gain work experience.
5 commission: Commission is a payment to someone
that is directly related to the number of products they
manage to sell.
Exercise 4
1C make: If you make ends meet, you have just enough
money to buy the things that you need.
2A hit: If someone can hit the ground running, they are
successful from the very start of doing an activity.
3B making: If a company makes a profit, it earns money and
not only generates costs.
4A minimum: The minimum wage is the smallest amount of
money that the employer is legally allowed to pay their
worker.
5B chances: If something scuppers your chances, plans,
hopes, etc., it spoils them.
© Pearson 2017    FOCUS 5    PHOTOCOPIABLE
Group B
Employment and career • Phrasal verbs • Colloquial
phrases • Collocations to describe work and money
Exercise 1
1 up: If you make up for the lost time, you try to
compensate for its possible negative effects.
2 for: If you stand up for yourself, you defend yourself
against criticism, attacks, etc.
3 on: If someone presses on, they continue doing
something.
4 under: If someone is snowed under, they have too much
work to do.
5 away: If you slave away at something, you work very hard
at it.
Exercise 2
1 hands: Hands-on experience is the knowledge or skill
which come from doing something rather than just
reading about it or seeing it being done.
2 internship: If someone is doing an internship, they
are spending a period of time when they work for
a company or organisation to get experience of a
particular type of work.
3 entry: An entry-level job is the lowest level of a particular
job.
4 expenses: If a company covers, for instance, your travel
expenses, it pays for the time that you are travelling,
accommodation, meals, etc. because of your work.
5 overtime: If you work overtime, you spend more time
than needed or expected doing your job.
Exercise 3
1 scupper: If something scuppers your chances, plans,
hopes, etc., it spoils them.
2 commission: Commission is a payment to someone
that is directly related to the number of products they
manage to sell.
3 gain: If someone gains experience, they get knowledge
or skill from doing and seeing things being done.
4 ground: If someone can hit the ground running, they are
successful from the very start of doing an activity.
5 menial: If someone does menial tasks, they do work that
is boring, dirty and usually of low social status.
Exercise 4
1A have: If you have the guts to do something, you are
brave and determined enough to do it.
2B making: If a company makes a loss, it spends more
money than it earns.
3C keeping: If you keep tabs on someone or something,
you monitor someone’s activities or the development of
a situation.
4B land: If you land a job, you get the job you wanted.
5A incentives: An incentive is something that makes you
want to do something or to work harder, because you
know that you will benefit by doing this.