VC: T36

Under the threat of a strike, the management ... and agreed to reinstate annual pay increases for all employees

• ebbed away

• held off

• wore down

• caved in

Answer explanation

CAVE IN: finally do what sb wants after u've been strongly opposing them

EBB AWAY: to recede; to subside; to flow back

Those remarks were ... No wonder they provoked such an angry reactoin

• below the radar

• below the belt

• below the salt

• below par

Answer explanation

BELOW THE BELT: unkind or unfair

BELOW PAR: worse > usual, or below the expected standard

If so is BELOW THE SALT, they have a low social position

I may seem confident when i'm leading a training semiar, but I'm really shaking my ...

• suits

• trousers

• shoes

• shirts

Answer explanation

SHAKE IN ONE's SHOES:

be very nervous or afraid, often visibly so

It is difficult to get skips in this age group capable of keeping their ... up at this level of competition

• self

• frame

• edge

• end

Answer explanation

KEEP ONE's END UP: continue to deal w difficulties bravely & successfully

There is a big investigation ..., but I don't know when

• on the blink

• over the hill

• off the peg

• in the offing

Answer explanation

IN THE OFFING: going to happen soon

OVER THE HILL: used for describing so who is old & no longer useful or attractive

As I said before, the report will be released in the ... of time. I can't estimate when that will be

• fullness

• greatness

• correctness

• rightness

Answer explanation

if u say st wil happen IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME, u mean -> I will happen if u wait

What a bad day: I left my phone in the grocery store, my car broke down on the way home, and, to ... it all off, my groceries broke through the bag as I was walking to the front door

• total

• peak

• sum

• top

Answer explanation

TO TOP IT ALL OFF -> the final thing thing was even worse

I was ... when I heard that the MP for Burnham had been arrested for fraud

• heaved

• hurled

• leveled

• floored

Answer explanation

BE FLOORED: be completely surprised/shocked

Disagreements among party members have led to a major political ...

• scrap

• squabble

• tussle

• wrangle

Answer explanation

WRANGLE: an angry argument

SQUABBLE: an argument over st -> not important

TUSSLE: a difficult disagreement or violent argument (v + with)

SCRAP: a fight or argument, esp a quick, noisy one abt st not important

[c2/v] to not continue with a system or plan

Only after buying the cottage did we discover that it was ... with mice

• infected

• invaded

• infested

• inflicted

Answer explanation

BE INFESTED WITH: be overrun by/beset w st unpleasant & unwanted, usually a pest of some kind