Time How time passes Diana: The sales confe sales reports along”. Paul: I can’t believe that the conference is coming up* again already. This last year seems to have slipped away'! Diana: I know! There’s an awful lot to do leading up to® the conference, especially as i's going to be held in our branch this year. Paul: Oh well, at least it breaks things up® and makes life a bit more interesting, I suppose. Diana: It hasn’t been that bad a year, surely. There was all the excitement over the new marketing campaign. 7 Paul: Oh, that completely passed me by’. It didn’t really affect me in my department. Diana: OK, Paul. Time’s getting on* a bit now. I need to head home. Let's talk about what we need to do tomorrow. -e will be coming around' soon, We'd better start hurrying those ' (of a regular event) happening at its usual 5 preparing in the period before an event begins time © makes a period of time more interesting by 2 making someone do something more quickly, being different from what you are doing for making something happen more quickly the rest of the time 2 will be happening soon 2 went unnoticed (mainly British and Australian informal) it’s getting lace passed very quickly Spending time Right, 'm not going to spin this out'. I just have one thing to say. You only have two weeks now till the, exams start and you're going to have to pull your socks up’ if you want to pass. We're going to set apart’ the next fortnight just for revision. In other words, we're going to free up* some time by cancelling all non-exam lessons like sport. All school sports ‘matches will be held over’ until the exams are finished. We felt that would be better than trying to ft revision in® around ‘sport commitments, The sports staff agree that putting back” these matches won't cause any major problems. We mustn't set schedules back® too much or we won't be able to fit in all the matches before the end of term. So now, put everything else out of your minds and concentrate on your revision. No more frittering time away’ ~ get down to some serious work. | " make something continue for longer than delayed and arranged for a later dare necessary 6 do it between other activities 2 make an effort to improve, an idiom using a7 causing something to happen later than it phrasal verb (see Unit 8 for more) should happen use time for one purpose and no other ® make something happen more slowly, or purpose make something happen later than it should + make time or money available for a wasting time by using it for unimportant particular use by not using it another way things The following verbs can be used about money as well as time — free up and fritter away. 38 Engl Phrasol Verbs in Use Advanced71 17.2 17.3 17.4 175 Exercises Match the beginning of each sentence with its ending. 1 There was a lor of excitement a) getting on now. 2 My birthday seems to be b) hurrying peopl 3 The annual meeting will be ¢) leading up to the final match. 4 Td better go as it’s 4) coming up some time next month 5 It’s getting late — can you start €) coming around more quickly every year. Read these remarks by different people and then answer the questions below. Noreen: I'm 63 and I've never had an interesting job or done anything exciting Jack: I feel I'm wasting a lot of time on useless and unimportant things. Jenna: I'm trying to improve my performance. I know I’ve been lazy and inefficient. Terry: [feel the days are passing very quickly and we need to solve the problem now. Reeta: I’m cancelling my meetings next week so I can take time off to decorate my flat. 1 Who is trying to free up some time? Who feels that time is slipping away? Who feels life is passing them by? Who is trying to pull their socks up? Who feels they are frittering away their time? wbwn Complete this text with the correct particles. My staff often spin things (1) much longer than they need to so that they don't get asked to do any more work. As a result they sometimes set the schedules 2) by days or even weeks and then I have to hurry them (3) so that the work gets done on time. And not only do I have to keep an eye on the staff, [also have to find time to fit (4) consultations with management and the unions, and inevitably meetings have to be put (5) because of some unexpected emergency, or important tasks have to be held (6) tll the more immediate problems can be sorted out. I try to set (7) at least one hour every day for planning, but it’s not easy. I like to take a proper lunch break and get out of the office. | find that breaks the day (8) nicely. Correct the mistakes with the phrasal verbs in these sentences. 1 You'd get far more done if you didn’t fritter out so much time. 2 The children tried to spin their game off so they didn’t have to go to bed. 3 Jack might lose his job if he doesn’t pull his collar up. 4 We must discuss what we need to do leading up the opening of the new branch. 5 Let's try to make some time apart next month to discuss progress on the project. Rewrite each sentence, using phrasal verb from the box in an appropriate form. Make any other necessary changes. You may need to use a dictionary to help you. eke out drag out bring forward space out creep upon 1 We've had to reschedule the meeting for this Tuesday as Kerry will be away next week. 2. Ivor always makes any discussion last longer than necessary. 3 I think we should have longer intervals between our meetings. 4 [thought I had ages to prepare for my exams but they have arrived in no time at all, 5 [think we should try to make the printing paper last as long as possible. English Phrasal Verbs in Use Advanced 39f Cause and effect tenon ‘Many of the phrasal verbs in this unit are usually used in quite formal contexts. Using these phrasal verbs will help you to improve your style when writing formal correspondence, giving presentations and writing reports and essays. Look at these formal letters to the editor of a newspaper and note the phrasal verbs connected with cause and effect. ' make it seem likely that Dear Sir/Madam, \ something is true | Recentevents in Herean City point to! failure of central government | * thought £0 be caused by ‘o contol spending by local and regional authorities. This failure ) (used for problems and bad can be put down {o" a long-standing reluctance to tackle local ¢Pevienees) | corruption, which has resulted in a situation where certain powerful | local politicians fel free to at outside the law. This then contributes |, toa general atmosphere in which all poi } | Yours sincerely, G, Johnson (Ms), { een [7 sity informaty Jerome Power's explanation for the growth of crime in our eties ) or likely explanation for just does not add up’. He attributes recent rises in crime to a something decline in leisure facilities for young people and the economic / * is caused by recession. But the problem in fact stems from’ a longer-term | * Depend upom is more neglect of the cities, and dealing with the problem depends upon’ ) formal than depend om (see accepting this fact first and foremost. We have been talking about ( | Unit 14) rising crime rates for decades and after the last general election \ * if something comes out of the goverment set up an inquiry into inner-city crime but as yet) a process or an event, itis nothing seems to have come out of this enquiry. fone of the results ‘onable | since | 7 had a bad effect on the person who did it with the No one should be surprised that the recent education reforms have) "esult that they did nor rebounded on’ the government. The reforms were rooted in’ a) achieve what they were deep-seated elitism, which accounts for” the fact that inequality / Ying to achieve (upon is ‘has grown rather than diminished, as your report showed (13,2480 possible bur is used November). As aly the effects have impacted most on! ——)__‘ess and Tes frequently poorer families, where the new system has led to parents being { _, With this phrasal verb) tunable to afford a good education for their children. It all adds up based on, or caused by to!’ more misery in our schools and fewer opportunities for our ,, €XPIains the reason for aalia ( ' had a noticeable effect on rt le, especially in the inner cities. ; Ce x | (upon is also possible here) eee ‘Yours sincerely, |" results in D. Mentedd (Prof.) ‘Always make a note in your notebook if phrasal verb is formal or informal. 40 English Phrasal Vers in Use Advanced