U4 - Ready for CAE unit 4 (Vocabulary Gap Fills)

twiddle your thumbs

To sit around not doing anything "Don't just sit there and t_______ your thumbs! Do something!"

strive

make a great effort "There's no point in trying to s_______ for perfection all the time. 'Good enough' is still 'good'.

find your feet

"When you move to a new place, it's normal for it to take a bit of time to f______ y____ f_____ and settle down."

written all over your face

"You can try to lie, but you're not very good at it. The truth is always w_______ a___ o______ your f____"

bubbly

(adj) always cheerful, friendly and enthusiastic "She's such a lovely, b__________ person."

uptight

(adj) nervous / angry "Relax! Don't get so u_____________."

trivial

(adj) not important or serious; not worth considering "It may sound like a t______________ detail, but it's actually very important."

slack

(adj) not putting enough care, attention or energy into something and so not doing it well enough He's been very ____________ in his work lately.

petty

(adj) small and unimportant/minor or caring too much about small and unimportant matters, especially when this is unkind to other people "Don't be so p_________! It doesn't matter." "I don't appreciate p_______ office gossip. I don't care what you saw them doing - it's none of your business."

steep learning curve

(expression) for a situation in which you have to learn quickly "It's a s______ l__________ c________, teaching young children. You have to learn quickly."

give cold shoulder / to give smb the cold shoulder

(expression/ idiom) "I hate it when you see someone you know and you try to be nice to them but they just g____ you the c______ s_______

to keep your ear to the ground

(expression/ idiom) to pay attention to what is happening

qualms

(n) a feeling of doubt or worry about whether what you are doing is right "I haven't got any _______ with taking a day off. I have been working very hard, so I deserve it."

appraisal

(n) a judgement of the value, performance or nature of somebody/something "He had read many detailed critical __________ of her work."

dress code

(n) rules about what clothes people should wear at work "The company has a strict d_______ c______—all male employees are expected to wear suits."

interrogation

(n) when somebody is asked a lot of questions over a long period of time, especially in an aggressive way "He confessed after four days under ___________ by the police."

against

"Aaah! I don't have time to do all these things! Time really is ______ me today!"

bear a grudge

"He never forgives anyone for anything. He's so bitter. It's just like him to b_______ a g_________."

hand in

"I have decided to resign. I'm going to ______ _____ my notice today."

in

"I hope to get everything done ____ the time available."

put his nose out of joint

"I wouldn't say that to him - if you do, you're sure to p____ his n____ o__ o_ j_____. It'd be more sensible to avoid offending him, wouldn't it?"

pick his brains

"I'd love to meet Einstein and talk to him. It would be great to p____ his b______ and learn more about how he came up with all of his ideas."

off

"I'm going to take next Monday _____ work, as I'm going away on holiday. My boss will cover my class."

get off on the wrong foot

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you when we met the other day. I think we managed to g___ o____ o_ t____ w_____ f____. Can we start over?"

goes over my head

"If people give me complex long explanations about how new technology works, I can't usually understand them - it just g____ o_____ my h_____"

crease

"If you iron your shirt in a hurry, you won't do a good job and it's bound to have at least one c_______ on it."

make time for

"It's important to m_____ time _____ yourself. If you just work non-stop, you'll wear yourself out."

aside

"It's important to set ______ time for the things you want to do."

for

"Sorry, I can't talk now, I'm pressed ____ time."

get out of hand

go out of control "I don't know what happened. I had things under control, but they quickly managed to g__ o____ o_ h______."

give someone a hand

to help someone. "This is heavy. Could you g______ me a ________, please?"

fit the bill

to meet the criteria "We are looking for someone who is friendly, helpful and is good with people. I think this candidate will _____ _____ _______ ."

turn a blind eye

to pretend not to notice something that is against the rules. "The prison guard saw them fighting, but he didn't stop them. He just decided to t______ a b______ e___

apprentice

(n/adj) a young person who works for an employer for a fixed period of time in order to learn the particular skills needed in their job "I am working as an __________ chef. I don't get paid much, but it's a good way to learn about what it's really like working in a kitchen"

lean back

(phr v) "Don't _____________ ________ in your chair," the teacher said, "you might fall over backwards and have an accident"

cover up

(phrasal verb) to hide/ conceal "If you've made a mistake, be honest about it - don't try to c_______ it _____."

up

I'm going to work really hard to try and free ___ some time later to spend with my family.

credit

To take the ________ = to claim you are responsible for something good "Don't claim the _________ if you didn't do all the hard work!"

behind your back

criticising someone without them knowing it "I hate people talking about me b______ m_ b_____."

to point the finger at smb

to accuse someone of something "Don't p_______ t____ f______ a_ me! It's not my fault!"

a long way

to come _ l______ w____ = to improve a lot. "She's come __ l______ w____ over the past few years. She's improved so much."