Unit 3+4 - Oxford Word skills

The abandoned carton at the corner of the house is ______. It should be thrown away soon.

• a short cut

• a real eyesore

• off-putting

• a fancy dress

She was clearly upset and seemed to ______ at his comment about her cooking.

• take offence

• hold up

• catch fire

• reach the point

After hours of negotiation, both parties finally managed to ______.

• shake up

• hold someone up

• reach an agreement

• break down

The teacher ______ that late assignments would not be accepted.

• held responsible

• made it clear

• went up in flames

• caught fire

We had ______ last night that caused flooding in several areas.

• gale-force winds

• extensive damage

• torrential rain

• main concern

The firefighter managed to ______ before the flames spread further.

• go up in flames

• put out the fire

• break down

• light a fire

The new manager introduced a major ______ to improve company efficiency.

• tailback

• break-up

• shake-up

• setback

After losing his job, he had a major ______ in his career.

• turn out

• setback

• write-off

• tailback

I had ______ getting to the conference due to train delays.

• strong criticism

• great honour

• considerable difficulty

• narrow escape

She was so nervous that she became completely ______ during the interview.

• off-putting

• tongue-tied

• panic-stricken

• built-up