12 OPTIMISE YOUR VOCABULARY |
Easily-confused words
1 Choose the correct words.
1 Some people say you shouldn’t try to succeed /
achieve the impossible.
2 They made Max captain of the team because
he had earned / succeeded the respect of the
players.
3 The infamous / unknown criminal had his
photograph in all of the newspapers.
4 I’ve got a few works / jobs to do but I’ll be free
in about an hour.
5 If you make more effort / work, you can improve
your marks.
6 Louise missed / lost the match but she was
happy enough with the way she’d played.
Unit round-up
7 ‘We are going to lose / miss this bus.’ ‘Don’t
worry – there’ll be another one in ten minutes.’
8 When you fail / lose an exam at my school, you
have to retake it in the summer holidays.
Phrasal verbs
2 Complete the phrasal verbs with the
correct form of the words in the box.
cut | finish | log | rope | set
shave | spark | wipe
1 You know, if you        off your beard, you
would look younger.
2 We couldn’t get close to the painting because it
was        off.
3 The village often gets        off in bad
weather.
4 At the end of the party, they        off
fireworks outside.
5 My brother forgot to        off so I saw
what he had been doing on my laptop.
6 Does anybody mind if I        off the
orange juice?
7 I’m going to        the words off the board
to check how many you remember.
8 I don’t know what        off the argument
but they were very angry.
Idioms with keep and lose
3 Choose the correct option to complete
each sentence. Use the idioms in bold
to help you.
1 You should never lose your temper
a) because you might say something you’ll regret.
b) in case you can’t find it again.
2 Keep sight of your ambition and
a) people will always trust you.
b) do your best to achieve it.
Optimise B2 Optimise B2 Teacher’s Resource Centre © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2017.
This sheet may be photocopied and used within the class.
Standard B2
3 The teacher kept his word and, when we all did
well in the test,
a) he was pleased with us all.
b) he let us have a free hour.
4 I lost my nerve on stage and
a) I didn’t perform very well.
b) I couldn’t find it anywhere.
5 I lost track of time and
a) I ended up missing my train.
b) I finished first as expected.
6 You need to keep your head because
a) if you panic, you will make silly mistakes.
b) it’s impossible to stay calm.
4 Complete the text with the words in
the box.
achieve | earned | effort | fail | finish
head | job | sight | succeed | track
Don’t be an underachiever
Drew O’Sullivan looks at how to study effectively.
‘If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well’
Have you ever heard this saying? If you’re going to
have sleepless nights studying for something, at
least make it count so that all your
(1)        is worthwhile.
Be goal-focused
Keep (2)        of your goal at all times. Do
you want to pass a particular exam in a month?
Work hard, starting today. Spread the work out,
make a timetable, and stick to it. After that, you
can do what you want. Before that, you’ve got
a(n) (3)        to do.
All work and no play …
Of course studying all the time isn’t good – but
don’t go to the other extreme. If you’ve
(4)        a break, just make sure that you
don’t lose (5)        of time and spend
the whole day playing a game. If you find you’re
taking too many breaks, tell yourself you’ll
(6)        off a page (or a section or
paragraph) before you stop for a while.
Deal with disappointment
If you (7)        an exam, find out why
by asking your teacher or instructor. Keep your
(8)        , pick yourself up and prepare to
do it again avoiding the same mistakes.
Be positive
If you want to (9)        great things, you
can. You’ll never (10)        in anything if
you don’t try. It’s as simple as that!
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