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Subject / Trainer Contact Center Services / D. Arevalo Date:

I. Common Phrasal Verbs and Meaning

Meaning Write letter of the

correct Phrasal Verbs
to call off
from the box
to use up
1) to return a phone call
to hand in
2) to cancel to pass out
3) to arrive and register at a hotel or airport to cut back on
4) to leave a hotel to cut in
5) to submit (a report, a paper, etc) to pass up
6) to distribute the same thing to a group of people to shop around
7) to give the same thing to many people to look into
8) to decline (usually something good) to call back
9) to consume less to think over
10) to interrupt to hand out
11) to be excited about something in the future to look over
12) to investigate to run into
13) to check; examine to look forward to
14) to meet someone unexpectedly to set up
15) to arrange; organize to check in
16) to compare prices to check out
17) to organize or resolve a problem to sort out
18) to consider to turn down
19) to decrease the volume or strength of something or reject an offer
20) to finish the supply

II. Phrasal Verb Collocations

Collocations are word combinations that sound natural to a native speaker. In the exercise below, find a phrasal verb that collocates with the
nouns in bold letter. For each number, the correct answer will be a phrasal verb that collocates with all the sentences in the series.
Word options for Collocations Select from the group of words from
the Box
1. I'm _______ patience. If they don't make me a better offer soon, I'm leaving.
We were _______ gas, so we pulled over and filled the tank.
Tim is _______ time. If he doesn't hurry up, he's not going to meet the deadline. get along with
Hint: The answer is a three-word phrasal verb. give up
turn down
2. I slept through my alarm and had to _______ an excuse about why I was late for work.
make up
How do you _______ lies like that off the top of your head?
I took Friday afternoon off. I'm going to _______ the time by working late on Monday afternoon.
cut back on
come down with
3. Don't _______ hope yet. We can still win this game. get off
I'm trying to ________ smoking, but it's been really difficult to do cold turkey. hand in
put on
4. Steve _______ some weight when he injured his knee. He was on crutches and not exercising back out of
much. Let me just _______ my shoes and a jacket, and I'll run out to the car. take out
run out of
5. They are late on their mortgage and the bank might repossess their house. If they don't get into
_______ the money soon, they're in trouble. Let's try to _______ some new ideas for our new ad
hang up
campaign. Hint: The answer is a three-word phrasal verb.
come up
6. I ______ the bus and walked to my house. come up with
Text me when you _______ the plane. When I get your text, I'll start driving to the airport to pick
you up. Shirley _______ the train and looked for her friends.

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 7. I think I'm _______ a cold. My nose is all runny.
Harold _______ the flu last month. He missed four days of work and almost had to go to the
hospital. Hint: The answer is a three-word phrasal verb.

8. Can you believe he _______ the agreement at the last minute? That's not like him at all.
We have a deal. We both signed the papers. You can't _______ the deal now.
John ________ his driveway and put the car in drive.
Hint: The answer is a three-word phrasal verb.

9. As the receptionist, it's important that you ________ your coworkers and be friendly.
Kevin doesn't _________ his parents, but his sister is very close with both her mom and her dad.
Hint: The answer is a three-word phrasal verb.

10. How did I _______ this mess? I didn't even want to get involved.
I _______ trouble a few times when I was in high school. I was a bit of a rebel.

11. One of our top software developers ________ his resignation today. We need to find
someone to replace her ASAP. In college, I ________ a few assignments late. It hurt my GPA.

12. Our staff would like a cappuccino machine in the break room, but we're trying to ________
costs right now and it's not going to happen. I'm trying to get into shape right now. I'm ________
carbs and alcohol. Hint: There are two possible answers here. Both possible answers are three-
word phrasal verbs

13. This is an issue that has ________ many times at our meetings.
I was trying to avoid talking about it, but the subject ________ at dinner.

14. ________ the phone and let's go to lunch.

You can _______ your coat on the coat rack over there.

15. The Caldwells _______ a second mortgage so they could pay for their son's education.
Have you thought about ________ a loan form the bank?

16. How could you _______ that offer? The job was perfect for you and the salary was great.
I was worried they would ________ my request, but they empathized with my situation and said
yes.

III. Business Collocations Exercise 1

Directions: Fill in the blanks with a word that forms collocations with all the words in the row. The words listed collocate AFTER the correct
answer.

Word options for Collocations Select from the group of words from the Box
product
1) recognition, awareness, image, identity, name
insurance
2) plan, lunch, trip, partner, investment, acumen
market
3) exchange, market, index, options tax
4) conditions, leader, share, sector, trends money
5) increase, controls, war, tag, range stock
6) payer, law, measures, reform, cuts, credit, exemption price
7) laundering, market, problems business
8) coverage, premium, claim, broker, agent brand
9) base, retention, satisfaction, attrition, relations, service, support customer
10) placement, line, range, design, development

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IV. Business Collocations Exercise 2

Directions: Fill in the blanks with a word that forms collocations with all the words in the row. The words listed collocate BEFORE the correct
answer.
Word options for Collocations Select from the group of words from the Box
1) daily, weekly, demanding, grueling, hectic
2) prohibitive, escalating, rising, overall, estimated, additional cost
3) ballpark, preliminary, rough, conservative material
4) multinational, large, global, transnational schedule
growth
5) emerging, digital, information, modern, state-of-the-art
network
6) clear, unfair, competitive, strategic, tax, comparative
estimate
7) private, public, banking, agricultural, financial, service right
8) natural, human, adequate, scarce, renewable advantage
9) raw, recyclable, promotional, educational, instructional future
10) inalienable, basic, fundamental, equal, human office
corporation
11) foreign, sound, poor, risky, speculative, long-term resource
12) exponential, explosive, steady, long-term, economic, population relationship
13) near, distant, immediate, foreseeable sector
property
14) private, public, personal, intellectual
investment
15) paperless, open-plan, central, head, branch, regional, subsidiary agreement
16) enduring, lasting, long-term, business, professional, love-hate technology
17) informal, formal, written, tacit, trade
18) extensive, vast, communications, social, television

V. Business Collocations Exercise 3

Directions: The word in bold collocates with all the terms except for one. Write the term that the word in bold does NOT collocate with.
Word options for Collocations Write the word that does NOT collocate
1) job: search for, look for, apply for, land, take, discard, hold down
2) meeting: arrange, organize, schedule, make, have, cancel, call off, chair
3) agreement: disobey, negotiate, reach, break, go back on, violate
4) bonus: give, award, provide, pay, receive, earn
5) change: bring about, make, do, cause
6) consensus: reach, do, achieve, arrive at
7) complaint: file, make, have, receive, respond to, give
8) payment: make, suspend, perform, receive, stop, defer
9) asset: accumulate, acquire, get, sell, transfer
10) appointment: have, make, keep, place, cancel, break
11) request: propose, make, submit, turn down, reject, respond to, comply with
12) risk: take, face, run, minimize, reduce, avoid, knock down, outweigh
13) attention: put, direct, give, pay, turn
14) deal: agree to, arrange, close, draft, negotiate, reach, sign, seal
15) problem: pose, present, have, cause, set off, create, face, run into
16) solution: look for, maneuver, work towards, agree on, come up with, propose,
suggest
17) market: break into, penetrate, pass into, corner, flood, enter
18) controversy: cause, fuel, stir up, avoid, induce
19) loan: apply for, ask for, request, take out, gain, pay off, repay, secure
20) investment: make, do, encourage, stimulate, protect, attract
21) offer: make, withdraw, accept, decline, assert, refuse, turn down
22) conclusion: draw, jump to, arrive at, come to, do, reach
23) product: launch, develop, sell, market, cultivate, promote
24) responsibility: dispense, take, shoulder, share, delegate
25) contract: have, haggle, draw up, write, negotiate, sign
26) report: prepare, draw up, compile, submit, give, construct
27) customer: deal with, drop, serve, attract, entice, lose
28) service: offer, dispense, provide, improve, expand
29) law: enforce, uphold, comply with, obey, fulfill, violate, break
30) policy: implement, strike, adopt, have

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VI. Most Common Business Idioms

Meaning Select from the box below the correct Idiom it pertains to
1) at risk.
2) to start something over again, and go back to the planning stage of
something.
3) an agreement or decision that is made without the public knowing about
it.
4) a very inexact estimate.
5) to decide to stop working for the day.
6) used to describe something that is very intense, aggressive and merciless.
7) a strategy or plan.
8) to start something (a work project, for example).
9) to tell someone that he or she did a good job.
10) to do more than what people expect of you.
11) means that it is something undefined that is not easily categorized.
12) you do not have any control over a situation
13) means that it has been completely started and that it is progressing or
moving as fast as it ever will.
14) something that has a very low probability of happening.
15) If a decision is really obvious or really easy to make
16) Two or more people are in agreement about something.
17) to be competitive in a cruel way and without showing mercy. Playing
hardball means doing anything possible to win.
18) to take shortcuts and find an easier or cheaper way to do something.
19) to cause problems or disrupt a peaceful situation.
20) If there is no limit to the possibilities of something
21) conversation about unimportant topics that do not offend people (the
weather, for example).
22) a term used to describe a situation where success is achieved without
difficulties.
23) modern and technologically advanced.
24) to have high goals and big plans for the future.
25) to make contact with someone.
26) someone who works in an office (customer service, management, sales,
etc.)
27) someone who works with his or her hands (manufacturing, construction,
maintenance, etc.)
28) a situation where everyone involved gains something.
29) people hear about it by informal conversation with friends, family
members, acquaintances, etc.
30) to think of creative solutions instead of common ones. involves thinking
of unconventional ideas.

Commonly use Idioms in the Workplace

white collar sky's the limit in full swing

touch base small talk cut-throat
win-win situation game plan long shot
word of mouth state of the art smooth sailing (or clear sailing)
blue collar think big ballpark figure
play hardball on the same page page back to the drawing board
rock the boat get the ball rolling backroom deal
think outside the box give someone a pat on the back cut corners
at stake go the extra mile call it a day
no brainer gray area hands are tied