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University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom
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Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/elt
© Cambridge University Press 2017
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 1994
Fourth Edition 2017
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ISBN 978-131663174-4 Edition with answers and ebook
ISBN 978-131663175-1 Edition with answers
ISBN 978-131663177-5 ebook
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thereafter.

Contents
Thanks
Enhanced ebook
Introduction
Effective vocabulary learning
1 Learning vocabulary
2 Organising a vocabulary notebook
3 Using your dictionary
4 Guessing and explaining meaning
Topics
5 Countries, nationalities and
languages

6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

The weather
Describing people: appearance
Describing people: personality
Idioms describing people
Relationships
At home
Everyday ; minor problems
Global problems
Education
Higher education
Work
Business
Sport
Art and literature
Theatre and cinema
Music
Food
Physical geography
Environmental problems
Towns
The natural world
Clothes
Health and medicine
Medicine and technology
Health and lifestyle

31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41

Travel
Holidays
Science and technology
Computers
Communications and the Internet
Social media
The press and the media
Politics and public institutions
Crime
Money
Describing objects

Feelings and actions
42 Belief and opinion
43 Pleasant and unpleasant feelings
44 Like, dislike and desire
45 Speaking
46 The six senses
47 What your body does
48 Praising and criticising
49 Emotions and moods
50 Commenting on problematic
situations

Basic concepts
51 Number, quantity, degree and
intensity

52
53
54
55

Numbers and shapes

56
57
58
59

Sound and light

60

Success, failure and difficulty

Time
Distances and dimensions
Obligation, need, possibility and
probability
Possession and giving
Movement and speed
Texture, brightness, weight
and density

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

3

Connecting and linking words
61 Time: connecting words and
expressions

62
63

Condition
Cause, reason, purpose and
result

64
65
66
67

Concession and contrast

68
69

Linking words in writing

Addition
Referring words
Discourse markers in spoken
English
Talking and communicating

Word formation
70 Suffixes
71 Prefixes
72 Roots
73 Abstract nouns
74 Compound adjectives
75 Compound nouns 1: noun + noun
76 Compound nouns 2:
verb + preposition

77
78
79

Binomials
Abbreviations and acronyms
Multi-word expressions

Words and pronunciation
80 Words commonly mispronounced
81 Onomatopoeic words
82 Homophones and homographs

4

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

Counting people and things
83 Uncountable nouns
84 Words that only occur in the plural
85 Countable and uncountable nouns
with different meanings

86

Making uncountable nouns
countable

87
88

Collective nouns
Containers and contents

Phrasal verbs and verb-based
expressions
89 Expressions with do and make
90 Expressions with bring and take
91 Expressions with get
92 Expressions with set and put
93 Expressions with come and go
94 Expressions with other common
verbs

Varieties and styles
95 Formal and informal words 1
96 Formal and informal words 2
97 Similes
98 Proverbs
99 The language of signs and notices
100 Headline English
101 US English
Answer key
Phonemic symbols
Index
Acknowledgements

Thanks
Sabina Ostrowska wrote two new units for the Fourth Edition: Unit 15, Higher Education, and Unit 36,
Social Media. The publishers would like to thank Sabina for her contribution to this new edition.

Enhanced ebook
You can buy this book with or without an ebook. The ebook has the same vocabulary explanations
as the book.

Using the ebook
You can use your ebook on an iPad, Android tablet, PC or Mac.
You can listen to the text on the left-hand page to help you with your listening and pronunciation.
Using the ebook, you can:
Listen to
examples

Make
notes

Highlight
text

Bookmark
pages

How to get your ebook
Follow the instructions in the inside front cover of this book.
English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

5

Introduction
To the student
This book has been written to help you learn new vocabulary. You already know a large number
of English words, but to express yourself more fully and in a more sophisticated way at the upperintermediate level, you will ideally need about 4,000 words, so increasing your vocabulary is very
important for your general progress in English. In this book, there are over 2,500 new words and
phrases for you to learn. You will find them on the left-hand page of each unit. Every new word or
phrase is used in a sentence, or in a conversation, or is in a table, or has a picture with it, or has
some explanation of what it means. On the right-hand page there are exercises and other activities
to help you practise using the words and to help you to remember them. The book has been written
so that you can use it yourself, without a teacher. You can do the units in any order you like, but we
believe it is a good idea if you do Units 1 to 4 first, as they will help you to work with the rest of the
book in the best possible way.
The Answer key at the end of the book is for you to check your answers to the exercises after you do
them. The Answer key sometimes has more than one answer. This is because often there is not just
one correct way of saying something. Where you are asked to talk about yourself, in the Over to you
exercises, we do not generally provide answers, since this is your opportunity to work completely
independently and in a very personal way, so everyone’s answers will be very different.
The Index at the end of the book has all the important words and phrases from the left-hand
pages. The Index also tells you how to pronounce words. There is a table of phonemic symbols to
help you understand the pronunciation on page 258.
You should also have a dictionary with you when you use the book. You can use a paper
dictionary or an electronic one, or you can go to Cambridge Dictionaries Online at
http://dictionary.cambridge.org. Access to a dictionary is useful because sometimes you may
want to check the meaning of something, or find a word in your own language to help you
remember the English word. Sometimes, you will also need a dictionary for the exercises; we
tell you when this is so.
To learn a lot of vocabulary, you have to do two things:
1 Study each unit of the book carefully and do all the exercises. Check your answers in the Answer
key. Repeat the units after a month, and then again after three months, and see how much you
have learnt and how much you have forgotten.
2 Develop ways of your own to study and learn new words and phrases which are not in this
book. For example, every time you see or hear an interesting phrase, write it in a notebook, and
write who said it or wrote it, and in what situation, as well as what it means. Making notes of
the situations words are used in will help you to remember them and to use them at the right
moment.
We hope you like this book. When you have finished it, you can go to the next book in the series,
English Vocabulary in Use Advanced. Along with this book, you can also use the more specialised
titles: English Idioms in Use, English Phrasal Verbs in Use and English Collocations in Use, all of
which are available at intermediate and advanced levels.
Find out more at http://www.cambridge.org/elt

6

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

To the teacher
This book can be used in class or as a self-study book. It is intended to take learners from a
lower-intermediate level of vocabulary to an upper-intermediate level. The vocabulary has been
chosen for its usefulness in everyday situations, and we consulted the Cambridge International
Corpus (now known as the Cambridge English Corpus), a written and spoken corpus of presentday English, including a huge learner corpus, to help us decide on the words and phrases to be
included for students at B2 (CEFR) level. The new vocabulary (on average 25–30 items per unit) is
presented with illustrations and explanations on the left-hand page, and there are exercises and
activities on the right-hand page. There is an Answer key and an Index with pronunciation for the
target vocabulary. The Answer key at the end of the book is for students to check their answers to
the exercises after they do them.
The book focuses not just on single words, but on useful phrases and collocations, and the
vocabulary is illustrated in natural contexts. The book is organised around everyday topics, but
also has units devoted to basic concepts such as time, number and movement, linking words,
word formation, multi-word expressions, pronunciation and varieties and style, as well as a set
of initial units concerned with ways of learning vocabulary. Typical errors are indicated where
appropriate, based on information from the Cambridge Learner Corpus, and the most typical
meanings and uses are focused on for each item. The units in the book can be used in any
order you like, but we would advise doing the initial units (Units 1 to 4) first, as these lay the
foundations for the rest of the book.
The right-hand pages offer a variety of different types of activities, with some traditional ones
such as gap-filling, but also more open-ended ones and personalised activities which enable
learners to talk about their own lives. Although the activities and exercises are designed for selfstudy, they can easily be adapted for pairwork, groupwork or whole-class activities in the usual
way. The Answer key sometimes gives alternative answers to the exercises. This is because often
there is not just one correct way of saying something. Where students are asked to talk about
themselves, in the Over to you exercises, we do not generally provide answers, since these
exercises give learners the opportunity to work completely independently and in a very personal
way, so everyone’s answers will be very different.
When the learners have worked through a group of units, it is a good idea to repeat some of
the work (for example, the exercises) and to expand on the meaning and use of key words and
phrases by extra discussion in class, and find other examples of the key items in other texts and
situations. This can be done at intervals of one to three months after first working on a unit. This
is important, since it is usually the case that learners need five to seven exposures to a word or
phrase before they can really begin to know it, and no single book can do enough to ensure that
words are always learnt first time.
When your students have finished all the units in this book, they will be ready to move on to the
higher-level books in this series: English Vocabulary in Use Advanced, and the advanced levels of
English Idioms in Use, English Phrasal Verbs in Use and English Collocations in Use, by the same
authors as this book.
Find more resources for teachers at http://www.cambridge.org/elt
We hope you enjoy using the book.

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

7

Study
unit

1

Learning vocabulary

A

What do you need to learn?

B

What does knowing a new word mean?

Did you know that there are over half a million words in English but that the average native speaker
only uses about 5,000 in everyday speech? You already know many of those 5,000 words. This book
will help you to learn many of those that you do not yet know and it will help you to use them
appropriately and accurately.

It is not enough just to know the meaning of a word. You also need to know:
– which words it is usually used with;
– its grammatical characteristics;
– how it is pronounced;
– whether it is formal, informal or neutral.

So when you learn a word you should make sure that you:
• Learn new words in phrases not in isolation.
• Notice how words commonly go together. These are called collocations and include:

adjectives + nouns, e.g. rich vocabulary, classical music, common sense;
verbs + nouns, e.g. to express an opinion, to take sides;
nouns in phrases, e.g. in touch with, a train set, a sense of humour;
words + prepositions, e.g. at a loss for words, in particular.
• Notice special grammatical characteristics of new words. For example, note irregular verbs,
e.g. undertake, undertook, undertaken; uncountable nouns,
e.g. luggage; or nouns that are only used in the plural, e.g. scissors.
• Notice any special pronunciation problems with new words.
• Check if the word is particularly formal or informal in character, in other words if it has a
particular register.

C

How can you help yourself to memorise words?
Research suggests that some students
find it easier to learn words if they
(a) learn them in groups and (b) make use
of pictures, as shown here.
You can group words in any way you like –
topic, grammatical feature, word root, and
so on. The unit titles in this book might give
you some ideas.

D

How can you help yourself learn more words?
This book will help you to learn vocabulary in a systematic way. However, you can also help yourself
to learn more words and expressions by reading and listening to as much English as possible. Here
are some ideas about things you can read or listen to:
YouTube
academic
or
websites
audio books
professional
magazines
TV
reference material
recipes
poetry
blogs

8

literature

radio, e.g.
BBC World
Service

films

newspapers
songs

fiction
tweets

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

(dictionaries,
encyclopedias)

podcasts

sports reports

conversations
with native
speakers

1

Exercises
1.1

Here are some aspects of grammar to be aware of when learning new vocabulary.
Give two examples of words that reflect this aspect of grammar.
1
2
3
4

1.2

scissors

a noun only used in the plural
an uncountable noun
an irregular verb
a noun with an irregular plural

What aspect of pronunciation should you notice about the following words?
3 chemistry
4 answer
5 a record / to record

1 subtle the b is silent

(not pronounced)

2 catastrophe

1.3

Study
unit

6 photograph / photographer /
photographic

Read the text. Use words from the box to complete each ‘collocations fork’.
English has a remarkable range of words. Thanks to periods of contact with foreign languages and
its readiness to coin new words out of old elements, English has a particularly large vocabulary.
For example, as well as kingly (from Anglo- Saxon) we find royal (from French) and regal (from Latin).
There are many such sets of words, which make it possible to express subtle shades of meaning.

1.4

coincidence
range

difference
shade

1 a remarkable

range
likeness 2
coincidence

3 a royal

a phrase
new words

4 a subtle

4 to alight (from a bus)
5 to feel gutted
6 a felon

7 to bug someone
8 to zone out

king, queen, prince, princess royalty - duke
sunshade, shady, shadow, shade, to shadow, shadowy
articulate, communicate, convey, express, put across
noun, verb, adjective, adverb
subtle, comb, lamb, crumb, debt, plumber

Draw a picture to help you remember each of the following vocabulary items.
1 circle

1.7

to coin

palace
welcome

A student learnt each of these sets of words as a group. What is the unifying factor for
each group? Can you add one more word to each group?
1
2
3
4
5

1.6

likeness
a term

Write i by the words that are informal and f by those that are formal.
1 guys i
2 a minor
3 Awesome!

1.5

family
suggestion

2 to coin new words

3 screwdriver

4 to drip

Over to you
Look at the suggestions in D. Can you think of any other ideas to add to the list? Think about the ways
of learning vocabulary that you use now, and think about ways you could use more in the future.

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

9

Study
unit

2
A

Organising a vocabulary notebook
Organising words by meaning
Try dividing your notebook into different broad sections, with sections for words for feelings, words
to describe places, words for movement, words for thinking, etc.
Charts and tables of various kinds can help you organise your vocabulary. Here is an example for
words connected with music:

Instruments
guitar
cello
piano
B

Types of music

Verbs

Related words

classical (not classic)
folk (not folkloric)
world

play
strum (a guitar)
perform

practice (n) practise (vb)

Building networks of meaning
A network diagram is useful. It can grow in whatever direction you want it to.
sign up
unfriend
someone

tweet

virus

THE WEB
surfing
pop-up

homepage

password

security

social networks

link

C

track
release (an album)

upload
(verbs)

download
post

email
forward

identity theft

junk mail

spam

Collocations and fixed phrases
It is important to know how a word combines with other words (its collocations).
Always record the common collocations of a word as you meet them, e.g.
win (prize, award, medal)
earn (money, a high salary)
gain (time, an advantage)
Where a word is often used in a fixed phrase, always record the whole phrase, e.g.
in a hurry out of touch to and fro now and again

D

Synonyms and antonyms

E

Organising by word class

F

Stress

When you find a synonym (same meaning) or an antonym (opposite meaning) of a word you already
have in your book, enter it next to that word with a few notes, e.g.
urban ≠ rural stop = cease (cease is very formal)

Make a note of the word class of a new word (whether it is a noun, verb, adjective, etc.). Record words
from the same word family together, e.g.
produce (verb or noun)
product (noun) productive (adjective)

Record where the stress falls on a multi-syllable word, especially if the stress changes between word
classes, e.g. produce (verb)
produce (noun) productive (adjective)

Language help
Note any typical errors you make or which your teacher has mentioned.

10

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

2

Exercises
2.1

Study
unit

Organise the words into the topics below. Use a dictionary if necessary.
tabloid stress hang out with sb exhaustion podcast overwork
upload a video burnt out blogosphere journalist snowed under with work
casual acquaintance blog be close to sb count on sb be under pressure
topic

words

working too much / too hard

stress

friendship
media

2.2

Here is a list of words a learner of English made in a vocabulary notebook in class.
Organise them in a more efficient way, using the chart.
rush oversleep latecomer
out of breath heavy sleeper
exhausted
nouns

verbs

alarm clock set a clock deep sleep fast asleep
in a hurry breathless nightmare dash yawn

adjectives

collocations

fixed phrases

latecomer

2.3

Change the sentences using a synonym (S) or antonym (A) of the words in bold using
words from the box.
glad

spicy

deprive sb of sth

shot

dissatisfied

chilly

1 I was pleased glad
to hear you’d passed your exam. (S)
2 I got some excellent photos
of the Grand Canyon on my trip to the US. (S)
3 She was happy
with the conditions they offered her in the new job. (A)
4 The prisoners were supplied with
food and medical care. (A)
5 I don’t like mild
curries. (A)
6 It’s a cold
day today. (S)

2.4

Fill in the missing word forms. Then mark the word stress for each item.
noun

verb

adjective

person

perfection

perfect

perfect

perfectionist

information

inform

politics
economics

*

* Give two adjectives.

2.5

Over to you
Think about your own learning style and which ways of organising vocabulary would work best
for you.

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

11

Study
unit

3
A

Using your dictionary
What a good dictionary tells you: the basics
A good learners’ dictionary ( in book form or online) can tell you about:
• Pronunciation: this may mean learning some symbols which are different from the letters of

the English alphabet.

T

th in thick

ð

th in then

ʧ

ch in church

S

sh in she

ʤ

j in jam

ʒ

s in pleasure

ŋ

ng in ring

æ

a in bad

ɒ

o in top

O:

or in form

ʊ

u in put

@

a in about

ʌ

u in up

ɜː

ir in bird

• Word stress: often shown by a mark before the syllable to be stressed or by underlining or

bold type, e.g. /əd'venʧə/, /westən/, complicated.
• Usage: how a word is used and any special grammatical pattern that goes with it, e.g.
suggest + clause (not an infinitive) – I suggest you ring her right away.
(NOT I suggest you to ring her right away.)

B

Additional information
• Synonyms (words of similar meaning) and antonyms (opposites), e.g. mislay and misplace
(synonyms), friend ≠ enemy/foe (antonyms).
• Collocations (how words go together), e.g. the adjective firm is often used in these
•

•

•

•

collocations: firm commitment, firm grip, firm believer.
Whether a verb is transitive or intransitive: catch is transitive and must have an object,
e.g. He caught the ball and threw it back to me; laugh is intransitive and does not need an
object, e.g. She laughed when I told her the news.
Whether a word is used for people and/or things. In this entry for the adjective hurtful in
the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary online,
hurtful /ˈhɜːtfəl/ adjective
we can see that hurtful can be used about what
someone says or about someone:
causing emotional pain:
That was a very hurtful remark!
Word class (often as abbreviations n noun, adj
How can you be so hurtful?
adjective, etc.), and whether a noun is countable or
uncountable.
Information about how words are related to one another through meaning. The Cambridge
Advanced Learner’s Dictionary online allows you to see a visual display of the networks of
meaning for a word, as in this display for the adjective fascinating. The Visual Thesaurus
shows related adjectives.
enchanting
enthralling

captivating

entrancing
The adjectives are grouped
according to meaning. This
can be very useful when you
are writing. If you want to
vary your use of adjectives,
you can look up the related
adjectives to see which one(s)
most closely express(es) the
meaning you need.

12

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

bewitching

fascinating
absorbing
engrossing

riveting
gripping

3

Exercises
3.1

Pronunciation. What English words are these?
1 /edjʊˈkeɪʃən/
2 /ˈpɑːspɔːt/

3.2

education

3 /ˈliːnɪŋ/
4 /ˈlɪbəti/

5 /rəˈvɪʒən/
6 /ˈbrʌðə/

Underline the stressed syllable of these words. Check your answers in your dictionary.
1 unique
2 elegant

3.3

Study
unit

3 urgently
4 eyebrow

5 record ( verb)
6 thermometer

7 extract ( noun)
8 lifestyle

Look at the grammar patterns which the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary gives
for these words and then correct the sentences that follow.
1

supply /səˈplaɪ/ ▸ verb [T] to provide something that is wanted or needed, often in large
quantities and over a long period of time: Electrical power is supplied by underground cables. Ο
Three people have been arrested for supplying arms to the terrorists. Ο The company has supplied
the royal family (= provided them with something they need) for years. Ο At the beginning of term,
students are supplied with a list of books that they are expected to read.

Brazil supplies coffee to many countries.

Brazil supplies coffee at many countries.
The officer supplied each soldier a map.
2

deny /dɪˈnaɪ/ verb [T] NOT TRUE 1 to say that something is not true: He will not confirm or deny
the allegations. Ο [+ that] Neil denies that he broke the window, but I’m sure he did. Ο [+ -ing verb]
Neil denies breaking the window.

The Minister denied to have received any money from the oil company. (two answers)

3.4

Put a tick (✓) if these adjectives can be used about a person, or a thing (which could be
an event, an object, a fact, an idea, etc.) or both. Use your dictionary if necessary.
person
sad

3.5

✓

person

thing

damp

lucky

awkward

content

compulsory

A typical dictionary abbreviation for a noun is (n) and for an adjective (adj). What do you
think these abbreviations mean?
(adv) adverb
(prep)
verb [T]

3.6

thing

(pron)
UK
noun [U]

(conj)
noun [C]
verb [I or T]

Over to you
Go to Cambridge Dictionaries Online at http://dictionary.cambridge.org, select the Cambridge
Advanced Learner’s Dictionary and look up the adjective damp. Click on the Visual Thesaurus. How
many of the words do you know? Choose four words you don’t know and look them up. Record
them in your notebook.

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

13

Study
unit

4
A

Guessing and explaining meaning
Working out meaning from context
There are a number of clues you can use to help you understand the meaning of an unfamiliar word.
The context in which the word is used
• Visual clues: for example, a picture in a book or film footage in a TV news broadcast.
• Your own background knowledge about a situation: for example, if you already know that

there has just been an earthquake in a big
city, then you will find it easy to understand
the word ‘earthquake’ when you hear a
news broadcast about it.
• The words around the unfamiliar word:
for example, ‘Tara picked one tall yellow
gladiolus to put in her new vase.’ Even if
you have never seen or heard the word
‘gladiolus’, it is clear from the context that
it is a type of flower.
• Grammatical clues: for example, it is
clear that ‘superstitious’ must be an
adjective in the sentence ‘Alejandro is very
superstitious and would never walk under
a ladder’, or that ‘gingerly’ is an adverb
in ‘Mike came gingerly down the stairs,
trying to avoid all the broken glass.’

Similarity to other words you already know in English
A large number of words in English are made up of combinations of other words. You may never have
seen the word ‘headscarf’, for example, but it is easy to work out that it is a scarf worn on the head.
Units 74–76 will help you improve your skills in understanding how English uses everyday words to
build up new concepts.
Structure
A prefix or suffix may give you a clue: for example, Units 70–72 focus on different aspects of word
formation in English and should help you use those clues to make sense of unfamiliar words.
Similarity to a word you know in your own (or some other) language
If your first language is of Latin or of Germanic origin, you will come across many words in English
that resemble words in your own language. However, English has taken many words from many
other languages too. So make use of any other languages you know.
But remember that some words are false friends – they sound as if they mean the same
but in fact they have a different meaning. For example, gift in English means a present but in German
Gift means poison.

B

14

Explaining unknown words
The following expressions are useful when you are trying to explain what a word or expression
means:
It’s probably something (a bit) like (a chair) …
It’s got to be something you use for (painting pictures / cleaning the kitchen floor) …
It’s a kind of (bird / musical instrument / building) …
I think it must / could mean …

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

4

Exercises
4.1

Study
unit

Look at the following text. Before you read it,
see if you know what the underlined words mean.

A tortoise is a shelled reptile famed for its
slowness and longevity. The Giant Tortoise of the
Galapagos may attain over 1.5 metres in length
and have a lifespan of more than 150 years.
Smaller tortoises from Southern Europe and North
Africa make popular pets. They need to be tended
carefully in cool climates and must have a warm
place in which they can hibernate.
Which of the underlined words can you guess from the context or using any other clues?
First make a guess and then check your guesses in the Answer key.

4.2

Use the context to work out what the underlined words mean. Explain them using one or
other of the expressions in B on the opposite page.
1 Above the trees at the edge of the meadow, a buzzard hangs for a moment on the wind before
soaring towards the hills. I think a buzzard must be a kind of bird.
2 According to some sources, the water vole is one of the most rapidly declining creatures in Britain
and a new survey is now being carried out to determine how serious the threat of extinction really is.
3 Using a large chisel and a hammer, Jack managed to knock down the old garden wall.
4 Kate carried in a delicious chicken and noodle soup in a large tureen and we enjoyed several bowls
each.
5 We often used to walk up to the cliff top where we would clamber over the farmer’s gate and go right
to the edge where the view was better.
6 Some people get really ratty when they haven’t had enough sleep.

4.3

Use your knowledge of other basic English words to help you work out the meanings
of the underlined words and expressions. Rewrite them using simpler words or
explanations for the underlined words and phrases.
1
2
3
4
5
6

4.4

It says on the can that this drink is sugar-free. this drink doesn't contain sugar
I find Caitlin a very warm-hearted person.
I’ve been up to my eyes in work ever since I got back from holiday.
We walked down a tree-lined street towards the station.
The little boys were fascinated by the cement-mixer.
More and more shops now have their own special store cards and offer you a discount if you use
one of them.

Use your knowledge of prefixes and suffixes to suggest what these phrases mean.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

to redirect a letter to send it to a different address
uncontrollable anger
pre-dinner drinks
bi-monthly report
my ex-boss
anti-tourist feelings
to disconnect the telephone
undelivered letters

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

15

5

Countries, nationalities and languages

A

Using ‘the’

B

Adjectives referring to people, countries and languages

C

Nationalities

D

World regions

Most names of countries are used without ‘the’, but some countries and other names have ‘the’
before them, e.g. the United States / the US(A), the United Kingdom / the UK, the Netherlands,
the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates / the UAE, the European Union / the EU, the
Commonwealth.

With -ish: British Irish Flemish Polish Danish Turkish Spanish
With -(i) an: Canadian Brazilian Latvian Korean Russian Australian
With -ese: Japanese Chinese Vietnamese Portuguese Maltese Taiwanese
With -i: Israeli Iraqi Kuwaiti Pakistani Yemeni Bangladeshi
With -ic: Icelandic Arabic Slavonic
Some adjectives are worth learning separately, e.g. Swiss, Thai, Greek, Dutch, Cypriot.
Some nationalities and cultural identities have nouns for referring to people, e.g. a Finn, a Swede, a
Turk, a Spaniard, a Dane, a Briton, an Arab, a Pole. For most nationalities we can use the adjective as
a noun, e.g. a German, an Italian, a Belgian, a Catalan, a Greek, an African,
a European. Some need woman/ man/ person added to them (you can’t say ‘a Dutch’), so if in doubt,
use them, e.g. a Dutch man, a French woman, an Irish person, an Icelandic man.

The Arctic
Scandinavia
Asia

North America

Central
America

Europe
The Mediterranean
North Africa

The Caribbean

The Middle
East

The Atlantic
South America

The Far East
East Asia The Pacic

The Indian Ocean

Southern Africa

Australia

The Antarctic
Antarctica

E

Regional groups and ethnic groups
People belong to ethnic groups and regional groups such as African-Caribbean, Asian, Latin
American, North African, Scandinavian, Southern African, European, Arabic. These can be used
as countable nouns or as adjectives.
Many Europeans enjoy travelling to the Far East to experience Asian cultures.
Arabic culture extends across a vast region of North Africa and the Middle East.
People speak dialects as well as languages. Everyone has a native language or first language
(sometimes called mother tongue); many have second and third languages. Some people are
expert in more than one language and are bilingual or multilingual. People who only know one
language are monolingual.

16

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

Exercises
5.1

Write the related adjectives in the correct columns.
Ireland
Turkey

Iceland Thailand
Latvia Israel Switzerland
Arabia Brazil the Netherlands Korea Denmark

-(i) an

-ic

-ish

Latvian

5.2

Pakistan

-ese

(other)

Irish

Match the countries with their world regions.
1
2
3
4
5
6

5.3

-i

China

Sweden
Cambodia
Nicaragua
Tunisia
Saudi Arabia
Botswana

c

a
b
c
d
e
f

the Middle East
Southern Africa
Scandinavia
East Asia
Central America
North Africa

Correct the mistakes in these newspaper headlines.
1

New James Bond
to be played by a
Swedish!

2

BRITAIN’S HAVE HIGHEST
TAX RATE IN EUROPE

3

MALTISH PRIME MINISTER
VISITS WASHINGTON

Swede
4

5.4

Police arrest Danish
on smuggling charge

5

Iraqian delegation
meets Pakistanian
President

Famous names. Can you name a famous …
1 Argentinian sportsman or woman? Lionel Messi
2 Spanish actor?
3 South African political leader?
4 Australian singer?

5.5

5 Italian opera singer?
6 Irish rock-music band?
7 American golfer?

Over to you
Complete the sentences so that they are true for you.
1 I am

. (nationality)

2 My first language is
3 I speak

.
(number) language(s) fluently, so I am

.

4 My ethnic/ regional group is

.

5 I have visited these countries:

.

6 I would like to travel to

.

7 One language I would like to learn is

.

8 I’ve never been to these two countries:

and
English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

.
17

6
A

The weather
Cold weather
In Northern Europe, daytime1 temperatures are often
quite mild, even in late2 autumn. The days are often
misty3, foggy and damp4. Soon, winter arrives, with frost5,
icy roads and severe6 weather, including heavy snow.
As people expect the weather to be bad, they try and
keep warm so they don’t freeze! Freezing weather may
continue in the far north until May or even June, when the
ground starts to thaw /θɔː/7 and the ice melts8 again.
1

2
3
during the day
towards the end of a period of time
with clouds of small drops of water in the air,
4
making it difficult to see things in the distance
slightly wet, and not pleasant or comfortable
5
6
thin, white layer of ice on surfaces when the weather is very cold
extremely bad 7 change from hard,
8 change from solid to liquid under heat
frozen state to softer state

B

Warm/ hot weather
In a tropical1 climate, the weather is often stifling2, muggy3 and
humid4. In other hot climates, there may be boiling5 hot days, and
heatwaves6 may be common.
1

C

very hot, as in countries near the Equator 2 hot, uncomfortable, you can hardly
breathe 3 very warm and a little damp 4 hot and damp, makes you sweat a
lot 5 extremely hot 6 very hot, dry periods

Wet weather

shower

heavy
rain

pour
down

torrential
rain

flood

This wet weather scale gets stronger from left to right.
shower (noun) → heavy rain → pour down (verb) / downpour (noun) → torrential rain → flood
(noun and verb)
This rain won’t last long; it’s only a shower. [short period of rain]
There was quite heavy rain during the night. / It rained heavily during the night.
It was absolutely pouring down yesterday. / There was a real downpour.
In Malaysia there is usually torrential rain most days, and the roads sometimes get flooded. /
There are sometimes floods on the roads.
The sky’s a bit overcast; I think it’s going to rain. [very cloudy]
We had a drought /draʊt/ last summer. It didn’t rain for six weeks.

D

Wind
There was a gentle breeze on the beach, just enough to cool us.
There was a very strong/high wind and my umbrella blew away.
There was a gale that day, so we didn’t go sailing. [very high wind]
People stayed indoors because there was a hurricane on the way.
[extremely high, dangerous wind]

Common mistakes
The noun weather is uncountable. We say: We had bad weather that day. (NOT We had a bad weather.)
18

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

Exercises
6.1

Answer the questions about the words in A opposite.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

6.2

damp

What types of weather do these pictures suggest?

1

6.3

Which adjective could you use to describe something that is wet, but not very wet?
Which adjective would you use before ‘summer’ to refer to the end part of it?
Which verb means the temperature has gone up and there is no longer frost or ice?
Which word can be used to describe something that happens in the day?
What happens to ice cream on a very hot day?
If you see a thin, white covering on everything on a cold day, what is it?
If you can’t see things in the distance, what is the weather probably like?
Which two adjectives could you use to describe a wind that blows very hard?
Which adjective can you use to describe very bad weather?

hurricane

2

3

4

Rewrite the words in bold using words from B opposite.
I think it would be interesting to live in a hot tropical
climate. However, I don’t like
weather that is hot and damp and makes you sweat
. I even dislike the days
that are slightly warm and damp
which we get in the UK. Some people love
extremely
hot days, and I don’t mind very hot, dry periods
occasionally, but when it’s hot and uncomfortable and you can hardly breathe
it’s just impossible. Maybe I should stay at home and forget about moving to a hot climate!

6.4

What kinds of weather do you think caused the following to happen? Write a sentence
which could go before each of these. Use words from the opposite page.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

6.5

,

The weather was stifling .

We had to use the air-conditioning every afternoon.
The sweat was pouring out of us.
It just cooled us nicely on the hot beach.
Cars were sliding everywhere out of control.
The postman had to use a boat to get around.
You couldn’t really see the trees in the distance.
The earth became rock hard and a lot of plants died.
It blew the newspaper right out of my hands.
My hair and clothes got soaking wet.
It looked as if it would rain at any minute.

Over to you
This chart shows anyone who wants to visit the West of Ireland what weather they can expect at
different times of the year. Make a similar chart for your country or home region.
Dec–Mar

April–June

coldest months; usually generally cool, often
wet; heavy rain; snow on wet and windy but
high ground
getting warmer

July–Aug

Sept–Nov

warmest months;
sunny, with showers;
cool sea breezes

often mild, becoming
cold; damp, misty and
foggy, often overcast

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

19

7
A

Describing people: appearance
Hair, face, skin and complexion /kəmˈplekʃən/

She’s got straight hair She’s got long, wavy hair She’s got curly hair
and she’s thin-faced/ and she’s round-faced/
and is black.
she’s got a thin face.
she’s got a round face.

He’s got a crew-cut.
He’s white.

He’s bald /bɔːld/ and
has freckles.

He used to have black
hair but now it’s gone
grey, almost white.

He’s got a beard and
moustache /mʊsˈtɑːʃ/
and has a chubby face.

He’s got receding
hair and a few
wrinkles /ˈrɪŋkəlz/.

What sort of person would you find attractive? Blonde, fair, dark or ginger-haired / red-haired?
She has such beautiful auburn hair. /ˈɔːbən/ [red-brown]
Fair and dark can be used for hair, complexion or skin. Some people like getting a tan in summer
[exposing their skin to the sun so that it goes darker], although the risks of getting sunburnt are well
known.

B

Height and build
Fat may sound impolite. Instead we can say that someone is rather plump or stout, or a bit
overweight. If someone is broad and solid, we can say they are stocky. A person with good muscles
can be well-built or muscular. [generally said about men] Someone who is very fat can be described
as obese /əʊˈbiːs/, especially when talking in a medical context.
Someone who is thin can be described as slim [positive] or skinny [negative]. If someone has a nice
figure, they have an attractive shape. [generally said about women]

C

General appearance
She’s a very smart and elegant woman, always well-dressed; her husband is quite the opposite,
very scruffy and untidy-looking / messy-looking.
Chloe looked stunning in her red dress. [very attractive]
He’s very good-looking, but his friend’s rather unattractive. [opp attractive]
Her eyes are her best feature. [the most attractive
part of her face]

Do you think beautiful women are always
attracted to handsome men? I don’t. I think
personality matters most.
First impressions are always important.
[your first reaction to someone]

20

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

Language help
The suffix -ish is useful for describing people
(see Unit 70). She’s tallish. He has brownish
hair. He must be thirtyish / in his thirties.

Exercises
7.1

Choose a word from the opposite page to complete these sentences.
1 I wish I could get a tan
like yours but my skin just goes red in the sun.
2 My cousin used to have a lovely
but she’s put on weight in all the wrong places since
she stopped taking much exercise.
3 Thomas’s eyes are his best
– they’re so large and sparkly and such a deep brown.
4 Jess is in her thirties but she still has the same lovely fresh
as her young daughter has.
5 Staff at the bank were told to dress smartly for work so they would always create a
good
on customers.
6 I’d call her
rather than ginger-haired – her hair’s dark brown with just a tinge of red in it.
7 George says that the
round his eyes just show that he has smiled a lot in his life.
8 Even in jeans Alina manages to look
.
9 Carla looks beautiful in old clothes and without any make-up but when she’s dressed up for an
evening out she’s absolutely
.

7.2

Answer these remarks with the opposite description.
1 A: I thought you said he was the short, chubby one.
B: No, no, no, not at all, he’s the tall, thin-faced one.
2 A: Was that his brother, the one with wavy hair?
B: No, completely the opposite, his brother’s
3 A: She’s always quite well-dressed, so I’ve heard.
B: What! Who told you that? Every time I see her, she’s
4 A: So Charlene’s that rather plump, fair-haired woman, is she?
B: No, you’re looking at the wrong one. Charlene’s
5 A: So, tell us about the new boss; good-looking?
B: No, I’m afraid not; rather
6 A: I don’t know why, but I expected the tour guide to be fiftyish or rather plump.
B: No, apparently she’s only

7.3

WANTED! MISSING! Complete the gaps in these police posters with your own ideas.

WANTED

WANTED FOR
ARMED ROBBERY

MISSING

Ian Prowse
White, height 6ft,
............................. -faced,
................................. hair,
................................. skin

Sandra King
White, height 5ft 4,
.............................. hair,
............................. build,
............................ -faced

Jasmin Kaur, Age 7,
Asian, height 4ft,
thin-..............................
....................................... ,
................................. hair

FOR MURDER

7.4

WANTED
DEAD OR ALIVE

Jack ‘Dagger’ Flagstone
White, height 6ft,
............................. , with
................ and ............... ;
............................... build.

Over to you
Write a description of each of these people, giving information about their hair and face, their
height and build and general appearance:
1 you yourself
2 your best friend
3 a neighbour
4 your ideal of a handsome man / a beautiful woman
English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

21

8
A

B

Describing people: personality
Intellectual ability
lots of ability

intelligent
bright
clever
sharp
shrewd
able
gifted
talented
brainy (informal)

lacking ability

stupid
foolish
simple
silly
brainless
daft
dumb
dim
thick
(the last five are predominantly informal words, and they can all be
offensive)

clever, in a negative way, using
brains to trick or deceive

cunning

crafty

sly

Attitudes towards life
Amal is pessimistic while Nia is optimistic – he always expects the worst to happen while she looks
on the bright side.
It is strange that one of the twins is so extroverted while the other is so introverted – Ben loves
being the focus of attention while Jake prefers to be alone with his thoughts.
I feel very tense (or wound up / stressed out**) after a very busy day at work but, after a hot bath,
I’ll soon feel relaxed.
Eva is very sensible – she’d never do anything stupid. In other words, she’s very practical and
down-to-earth.
Roberto is very sensitive – he gets very upset (or worked-up, more informal), if he feels people are
criticising him.

C

Attitude towards other people
Enjoying others’ company:

sociable

gregarious*

Disagreeing with others: quarrelsome argumentative
Taking pleasure in others’ pain: cruel sadistic
easy-going even-tempered
Relaxed in attitude to self and others:

laid-back**

Not polite to others: impolite rude ill-mannered discourteous*
Telling the truth to others:
honest trustworthy reliable sincere
jealous envious
Unhappy if others have what you do not have yourself:

D

One person’s meat is another person’s poison
Some characteristics can be either positive or negative depending on your point of view. The words
in the right-hand column mean roughly the same as the words in the left-hand column except that
they have negative rather than positive connotations.
positive associations
determined
thrifty economical
self-assured confident
unconventional original
frank direct open
broad-minded
enquiring*
generous
innocent
ambitious
assertive

negative associations
obstinate stubborn pig-headed
stingy mean tight-fisted miserly*
self-important arrogant full of yourself**
eccentric odd peculiar weird**
blunt abrupt brusque curt
unprincipled permissive
inquisitive nosy**
extravagant
naive
pushy**
aggressive bossy**

* These words are much more common in written than in spoken English.
** These words are much more common in spoken than in written English.
22

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

Exercises
8.1

Match the words on the left with their opposites on the right.
1 clever
2 extroverted
3 rude

a introverted
b tight-fisted
c courteous

f

4 cruel
5 generous
6 unsociable

8.2

Do you think that the speaker likes or dislikes the people in these sentences? Reword each
sentence to give the opposite impression (negative rather than positive or vice versa).
1
2
3
4

8.3

d gregarious
e kind-hearted
f dim

5
6
7
8

Carmen’s very thrifty. Likes - Carmen's very stingy.
Molly’s usually frank.
Grace is quite broad-minded.
Sam can be aggressive.

Nico’s quite bossy.
I find Marcus self-important.
Don’t you think James is nosy?
Freya is very original.

Pair the words that have similar meanings.

brainless - silly
brainless
brusque
crafty
cunning

8.4

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

8.6

gifted
honest
impolite
miserly

rude
sensible
silly
talented

tense
tight-fisted
trustworthy
wound up

Magazines often publish questionnaires which are supposed to analyse aspects of your
personality. Look at the words below and match them to the corresponding question.
pessimistic
extravagant

8.5

curt
direct
down-to-earth
frank

argumentative
assertive

sensitive
inquisitive

sociable
reliable

If you arrange to meet at 7 pm, do you arrive at 7 pm? reliable
When you have a problem, do you think the worst will happen?
Do you find it easy to tell your boss if you feel he or she has treated you badly?
Do you always look out of the window if you hear a car draw up?
Do you often buy your friends presents for no particular reason?
Do you frequently disagree with what other people say?
Do you lie awake at night if someone has said something unkind to you?
Do you prefer to be in the company of other people?

What questions like those in 8.4 could you ask to find out if a person is the following?
1 thrifty Do you use up leftover food?
2 blunt
4 intelligent

6 original

3 sensible

7 obstinate

5 even-tempered

8 stressed out

Over to you
Choose two people who are important in your life. Describe them using adjectives in this unit
and give reasons why you chose each adjective.
EXAMPLE My brother is sociable because he loves being with other people.
English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

23

9
A

Idioms describing people
Positive and negative qualities
positive
She has a heart of gold. [very kind, generous]
He’s as good as gold. [helpful, well-behaved; used
generally for children]

negative
She’s as hard as nails. [no sympathy for others]
He’s a nasty piece of work. [unpleasant]

Note also:
Her heart’s in the right place. [is a good and kind person even though they do not always seem so]
He’s such an awkward customer. [difficult person to deal with]
She’s a pain in the neck. Nobody likes her. [nuisance, difficult]
He gets on everyone’s nerves. [irritates everybody]

B

Idioms based on ‘head’
You can learn idioms by associating them with a key word or words. Two of the idioms in A, for
example, are based on gold and two on heart. Here is a set of idioms describing people based on the
word head.

to have

your head screwed on [be sensible, informal]
a head for heights [not suffer from vertigo]
a head like a sieve [bad memory]
a good head for figures [be good at maths]
your head in the clouds [unaware of reality]

to be head and shoulders above someone [much better than]
to bury your head in the sand [refuse to think about a difficult situation in the hope you won’t have to
deal with it]

to keep your head [stay calm in a difficult situation]

C

How people relate to the social norm
She’s a bit of an odd-ball. [peculiar, strange]
He’s really over the top. [very exaggerated in behaviour]
He’s (gone) round the bend, if you ask me. [absolutely crazy/mad]
My politics are very middle- of- the- road. [very normal; no radical ideas; neither left- nor right-wing]

D

Who’s who in the class? Idioms for people in the classroom
Sam’s teacher’s pet. [teacher’s favourite] Laura’s top of the class.
Harry is a real know-all. [thinks he knows everything]
Ali’s a bit of a big-head. [has a high opinion of him/herself] Anna’s a lazy-bones.
The last three idioms are used of people outside the classroom situation too.

24

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

Exercises
9.1

Try to complete these idioms from memory if possible.
1
2
3
4
5
6

9.2

What do we call …
1
2
3
4
5

9.3

She does a lot of voluntary work; she has a heart … of gold.
Don’t expect any sympathy from the boss; she’s as hard …
I’m sure Ahmed will help you; he’s as good …
Although Florian sometimes seems a bit bad-tempered his heart is …
I don’t think you’ll like him; he’s a nasty …
I try to avoid having much to do with Liam. He’s rather an …

an irritating person who knows everything? a know-all
the person who is the teacher’s favourite?
someone who thinks they are the best and says so?
the one who gets the best marks?
a person who is very lazy?

Complete the sentences using an idiom from B.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

I’d better write it in my notebook. I have … a head like a sieve.
Ask Martha to check those sums. She has …
Don’t ask me to go up that tower. I’m afraid I don’t …
She’s very sensible and knows what she’s doing. She …
He’s quite out of touch with reality. He really …
The problem won’t go away so there’s no point …
Max is top of the class, …
Even when others around him are panicking Raul always …

9.4

Which part of the body might a difficult person (a) get on (b) be a pain in?

9.5

Which of the idioms opposite do you think these pictures represent?

1

9.6

an odd-ball

2

3

everyone else.

4

Over to you
Choose five idioms from this unit that you could use to describe people that you know.

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

25

10
A

Relationships
Types of relationship
ANITA:
LUCY:
ANITA:
LUCY:
ANITA:
LUCY:
ANITA:
LUCY:

Are you and Holly best friends?
She’s a good friend – she’s not my best friend.
But she’s more than just a casual acquaintance1, right?
Oh, yes. We were housemates2 at university.
Really? So how did you first meet her?
I met her through my ex3, Kallum. She wasn’t in a steady4 relationship with anyone at the
time, and she was looking for someone to share a room.
Uh- huh. Is that Kallum who’s now Olivia’s partner5?
Yeah, that’s the one. They’re not just partners, they’re married and they’re colleagues too.
They’re saving to buy a house now, so Kallum’s living with his parents-in-law6 at the moment.

1 a person you have met but you don’t know well

2

mate [friend; infml] is used in compound nouns to
describe a person you share something with, e.g. classmate, roommate, workmate, flatmate, housemate.
Workmate is common in non-professional or informal contexts; colleague is common among professional
3
people, and sounds more formal.
ex-can be used without (informally) or with another word: ex-girlfriend,
4
5
ex-husband, etc.
fixed and not changing suddenly
partner is used for someone you live with but are not
6
married to, or for a business relationship where you share the ownership or running of a company
his wife’s
parents (his mother-in-law and father-in-law)

B

Internet relationships

MyBook

Home Profile Friends Inbox

If you join a social network, you can acquire friends (people you share personal information with)
and build up your list of contacts. You can invite people to become your friends, and you can
choose to accept new friends who invite you. You can interact with your friends by exchanging
messages or posting comments on their page. You can also share photos and tag your friends
(name them in photos that you post). If you want to fi nish a relationship, you can unfriend/
defriend that person.

C

Liking and not liking someone
core verb
like
respect
attract be attracted to

positive (stronger)
love adore idolise
look up to admire
fancy (infml)

negative
loathe /ləʊð/
dislike can’t stand
look down on despise
leave someone cold

She doesn’t just like Ben, she idolises him. I can’t stand him.
I really fancy Charlotte, but her friend just leaves me cold / doesn’t do anything for me.

D

Phrases and idioms for relationships and dating
Lily and I get on well (with each other). [have a good relationship]
Jack and Amelia don’t see eye to eye. [often argue/disagree]
I’ve fallen out with my parents again. [had arguments]
Carl is having an affair with his boss. [a sexual relationship, usually secret]
Let’s try and make it up. [be friends again after a row/quarrel]
He’s dating a Spanish girl. They’ve been seeing each other for a couple of months. [meeting and
spending time together]
They met at a party and got together soon after. [started a romantic relationship]

Common mistakes
We say: People make friends. (NOT get friends or find friends)
It’s often difficult to make new friends when you move to another city. (NOT It’s often difficult to get friends ...)

26

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

Exercises
10.1

Use words with the suffix -mate to rewrite these sentences.
1
2
3
4
5

10.2

This is Jack. He and I share a flat. This is Jack. He and I are flatmates.
Mike was the person I shared a room with at university.
We were in the same class together in 2006, weren’t we?
She’s not really a friend; she’s just someone I work with.
Abbie is always arguing with the people she shares a house with.

How many sentences can you write about the relationships between the people in the
pictures, using words from the opposite page?
EXAMPLE Jon and Erica are colleagues.
1

10.3

2

3

Complete the text messages with the correct form of words from B opposite.
Have you checked your social media this morning? Sam has
photo and 2
it with everyone!
My grandma has just3
4
or not.

1

you in a really funny

me to be her friend online! Don’t know if I should

I’m going to 5

10.4

4

Emma if she keeps posting nasty

6

about me online.

What do you think the relationships between the people below would be? Use the verbs,
phrases and idioms opposite.
1 a teenage music fan: (a) parents He/ She might like/ dislike his/ her parents. (b) pop star (c) strict
teacher (d) mate
2 a personal assistant: (a) another personal assistant (b) the boss (c) a very attractive workmate
3 a 45-year-old: (a) teenagers (b) ex-husband/wife who was cruel

10.5

Correct the mistakes in these sentences. There may be more than one mistake.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

10.6

see

Rosie and Matt don’t get on eye to eye.
I fell up with my parents last night. It wasn’t my fault.
We had a quarrel but now we’ve made it well.
Do you think Josh and Nuala are making an affair? I do.
I see very well with all my colleagues at work.
Jo’s attractive, but her mate just makes me cold completely.
Maria seems to find it difficult to get friends among her classmates.
I met my boyfriend at a party and we became together soon after.

Over to you
Complete the sentences so they are true for you.
is a good friend of mine.
Someone I look up to is
Someone I once fancied was

is just a casual acquaintance.
. A famous person I loathe is
. Someone I adore is
English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

.
.
27

11
A

At home
Types of houses/places people live in

detached house
not joined to any
other house

terraced house
joined to several
houses to form a row

bungalow
a house with only one
storey (no upstairs)

semi-detached house
semi-(infml): joined
to one other house

self-contained flat: does not share facilities with any other
cottage: a small house in the country or in a village
studio flat: a small apartment for one or two people, usually with one large room for sleeping and
living in, a bathroom and sometimes a separate kitchen
villa: a large house with big gardens or a rented house in a holiday resort / tourist area

B

Places in the home
You probably already know the names of most rooms and locations in a typical home.
Here are some less common ones and what they are for.
master/main bedroom: the largest, most important bedroom
utility room: usually just for the washing machine, freezer, etc.
shed: small building separated from the house usually for storing garden tools
attic/loft: space in the roof of a house used for storing things; it can also be converted into an extra
living space with stairs leading up to it (attic/loft conversion)
cellar: room below ground level, no windows, used for storing things
basement: room below ground level, with windows, for living/working
studio: a room in which a painter or photographer works
landing: flat area at the top of a staircase
hall/hallway: open area as you come into a house
porch: covered area before an entrance door
terrace or patio: paved area between house and garden for sitting and eating, etc.
drive: a short road leading from the street to the house or garage; you can drive/park on it

C

Everyday objects in the home

remote (control)

corkscrew

chopping
board

(coat) hanger

dustpan and brush
28

phone charger

grater

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

ironing board
/ˈaɪənɪŋ bɔːd/

table mat

toilet roll

peeler

socket

Common mistakes
You do housework, do the ironing,
do the hoovering, do the washing-up.
(NOT make housework)

Exercises
11.1

Where in a typical house would you look for the following things?
1
2
3
4

11.2

garden tools
a toilet roll
table mats
a hanger

in the shed

5
6
7
8

the remote
an ironing board
a socket
a porch

9 a grater
10 old empty
boxes

Label the places in the house.
1

2

3

11.3

5

4

Fill the gaps with a suitable word.
The old house had a big cellar
underneath it, where the family used to keep wine.
I’ll prepare the potatoes and then you can do the cooking. Where’s the
?
Put a
under the coffee pot in case you mark that table. It’s an antique.
Let’s open this bottle. Do you know where the
is?
We keep our skis up in the
. They’re out of the way up there.
You’ll find the garden chairs in the
at the bottom of the garden. Bring them
up and we’ll have a drink on the
and watch the sunset.
7 The light switch for the stairs is on the
just by your bedroom door.
8 Grandma’s moved to a
now she can’t manage the stairs any more at her age.
9 Leave your car in the
, just in front of the garage. It’ll be safe there.
1
2
3
4
5
6

11.4

Answer these questions about everyday objects.
1
2
3
4
5
6

11.5

How can you make very small pieces of cheese to sprinkle on a dish? Use a grater
Whatmightyoufetchifsomeonedroppedacupanditbrokeintosmallpiecesonthefloor?
What do you need if your phone battery is flat?
How can you switch off the TV without leaving your chair?
How can you cut vegetables without marking the kitchen work surface?
What might you offer a visitor if they want to take off their jacket?

.

Over to you
Answer these questions about yourself.
1 Is your house detached? What sort is it if not?
2 Would you like to live in a studio flat? Why (not)?
3 Which of these household jobs do you most enjoy and which do you least enjoy – doing
the washing-up / the washing / the ironing / the gardening / the hoovering / the dusting /
the cooking?
English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

29

12
A

Everyday minor problems
Things that go wrong in houses and flats

This pipe’s leaking.
He kicked the football too hard and it smashed a window.
This pot is cracked.
The batteries in this torch have run out / are dead. I’ll have to get some more.
I’m sorry, your cup’s chipped. Let me get you another one.
The lights aren’t working – there’s been a power cut.
The door handle’s come off / fallen off.
The washing machine broke down the other day.
I’m sorry, the biscuits were at the bottom of my bag and they got crushed by the potatoes!
My computer keeps crashing today!

B

Everyday minor injuries

She twisted her ankle coming down the stairs. I bumped/banged my head against the cupboard
door and got a bruise. [/bruːz/ dark area on your skin where you have hurt yourself]
Kelly tripped and fell down and grazed her knee this morning. [if you trip you almost fall down because
you hit your foot against something; if you graze something, it becomes red with broken skin, but no blood]

C

Other everyday minor problems
I’ve mislaid my memory stick. Have you seen it anywhere? [put it somewhere and can’t find it]
She spilt some coffee on the carpet. I hope it doesn’t leave a stain. [permanent mark]
The sink is blocked. [the water will not run away]
I’m afraid I’ve dented your car. I’m really sorry. I’ll pay for the repairs. [bent the metal a little bit by
hitting something]

My mouse has stopped working; it could be a software problem.
I’ve locked myself out. Can I use your phone to ring my wife?
The car won’t start. I hope it’s nothing serious. Perhaps the battery’s flat.
The kitchen clock’s slow/fast/stopped. What time d’you make it?

Language help
Words often belong to more than one word class. In this unit, the following words can be used as
verbs or as countable nouns:
flood

crack

chip

bump

bang

bruise

graze

dent

stain

lock

Always make a special note of any word that belongs to more than one word class.
30

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

Exercises
12.1

What do you think happened to make these people do/ say what they did?
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

12.2

We had to send for a plumber. Maybe a pipe was leaking.
I had to call out a local mechanic.
Our neighbours let us use their washing machine.
Don’t worry, the handle often does that – I’ll fix it back on.
Luckily, that was all it was; the skin was broken a bit, but there was no blood.
What type of batteries does it take? I’ll get some for you.
I don’t know where you’ve put them. Try the bedside table.
I left it in the oven too long. It’s all black on the top now!
I lost all my work – I know I should have saved it more often!

Odd one out. Which of the three words is the odd one out in each case?
1 spill, flood, chip chip - the other two involve liquids
2 stain, graze, bruise
4 leak, smash, chip
3 run out, bump, flat
5 leak, dent, flood

12.3

Here is a matrix with the names of things and things that can go wrong with them.
Put a tick (✓) for things that typically go together.
car

vase

elbow

banged
ruined
cracked
broken down
dented
stopped
blocked

clock

printer

sink

a meal

✓

Write five sentences using combinations of words where you wrote a tick.
EXAMPLE This clock has stopped - perhaps it needs new batteries.

12.4

Complete these sentences using words and phrases from the opposite page.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

12.5

We had to use candles because there was a power cut.
I didn’t look where I was going as I walked through the low doorway and
The wind blew the door shut and I realised I’d
I would ring her but I’m afraid I’ve
I can’t take a photo, my camera’s
I tried to run over the rocks but I
I accidentally sat on my bag of crisps and they

Over to you
What would you do if …
1 you mislaid your credit card?

4 your mobile phone stopped working?

2 you noticed your guest’s glass was chipped?

5 you bruised your forehead?

3 one of your coat buttons came off?

6 your watch was slow?

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

31

13
A

Global problems
Disasters/tragedies

earthquake
flood
[theearthmoves/trembles] [too much rain]

drought /draUt/
[no rain]

volcano /vɒlˈkeɪnəʊ/
[hot liquid rock and gases
pour from a mountain]

famine /'f{mIn/ [no food] landslide [rocks and earth moving suddenly down a slope]
epidemic [disease affecting large numbers of people] explosion (e.g. a bomb)
major accident / incident (e.g. a plane crash)
hurricane / tornado /tO:'neId@U/
Language help
typhoon / tropical storm [violent wind / storm]
Injure /'IndZ@/ is used about people.
war / civil war [civil war is war between people
of the same country]

Damage /'d{mIdZ/ is used about things.

Disasters not caused by human beings can
be called natural disasters.

200 people were injured. Many buildings were damaged.

Verbs connected with these words
A volcano has erupted in Indonesia. Hundreds are feared dead. The flu epidemic spread rapidly
throughout the country. Millions are starving as a result of the famine. A big earthquake shook
the city at noon today. The area is suffering its worst drought for many years. Civil war has
broken out in the north of the country. A tornado swept through the islands yesterday.

B

Words for people involved in disasters/ tragedies
The explosion resulted in 300 casualties. /'k{Zju@lti:z/ [dead and injured people]
The real victims of civil war are children left without parents. [those who suffer the results]
There were only three survivors /s@'vaIv@z/. All the other passengers were reported dead. [people
who live through a disaster]

Thousands of refugees /refjU'dZi:z/ have crossed the border looking for food and shelter.
[people who have escaped from their own country because of a war or other disaster]
Millions of migrants enter the country each year, looking for a better life. [people who travel from one
country to another, often in order to find work]

During the battle, the dead and wounded /'wu:ndId/ were flown out in helicopters.
[wounded: injured in a battle / by a weapon]

C

Diseases/ epidemics
Here are some headlines from newspapers all connected with diseases and epidemics. Explanations
are given.
/'reIbi:z/ disease
can be caused
by bite from a
dog, fox, etc.,
very serious

Rabies out of
control in many
parts of Asia

/m@'le@rI@/ usually
caught because of
mosquito bites

32

laria
a
m
New ested
t
drug

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

New AIDS unit
to be opened
this month
Cholera and typhoid
injections not needed
says Tourism Minister

acquired immune
deficiency syndrome;
often caused by sexual
contact or contact with
contaminated blood

/ˈkɒlərə/ /ˈtaɪfɔɪd/
diseases causing
sickness, diarrhoea,
etc., caused often
by infected food
and water

Exercises
13.1

What type of disaster from the list in A opposite are these sentences about? Why?
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

13.2

The lava flow destroyed three villages. Volcano - lava is the hot liquid rock from the mountain
The aft ershock struck at 3.35 pm local time.
People had boarded up shops and houses during the day before, and stayed indoors.
Gunfire could be heard all over the town.
Witnesses said they saw a fireball fall out of the sky.
People had to stay on the upper floors and sometimes on the roofs of their homes.
The earth is cracked and vegetation has dried up.
They quite often happen in this area of the mountains and it can take some time for the roads to be
cleared, especially if trees have been brought down too.

Complete the missing items in this word-class table, using a dictionary if necessary.
Where the space is shaded, you do not need to write anything.
verb

noun: thing or idea

explode

explosion

noun: person
survivor

injure
starve
erupt

13.3

In these headlines, say whether the situation seems to be getting worse or better, or
whether a disaster has happened or has been avoided/prevented.
1

3

Poison gas cloud
spreads

5 All survive plane’s
emergency landing

OIL SLICK
RECEDES

getting worse
2 POLICE DEFUSE
TERRORIST BOMB

13.4

Experts warn of
cholera time bomb

6

Flood warnings
not heeded in time

Fill the gaps with a suitable word from B opposite. Try to work from memory.
1
2
3
4
5
6

13.5

4

Another 50 people died today, all victims
of the famine.
Over 5 million
have fled the war and are seeking shelter in neighbouring countries.
It was the worst road accident the country has ever seen, with over 120
.
A: Were there any
when the ship sank? B: I’m afraid not.
The
and
were left lying on the battlefield; it was a disgrace.
The number of economic
entering the country each year has increased sharply.

Which diseases are these? Try to do this from memory.
1
2
3
4

One that can be caused by a mosquito bite. malaria
One you can get by drinking infected water.
One you can get from an animal bite.
One caused by a virus which destroys the body’s immune system.

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

33

14

Education

A

Stages in a person’s education (UK system)

The youngest children start their education in a crèche /kreʃ/, where they
mostly play but also do some early learning activities. After that, they may
go to a nursery school. Between the ages of five and 11, children attend
primary school, where they learn the basics of reading, writing, arithmetic,
etc. For most children, secondary education begins when they enter a
comprehensive school or a more traditional grammar school (to which
they gain admission by sitting an exam). The famous UK public schools are

in fact private, fee-paying schools. Between the ages of 11 and 18, young
people take a wide range of subjects in arts, sciences and technical areas.
In the UK, pupils can leave school at the age of 16, although many young
people choose to remain in full-time education until the age of 18. (In
England it is compulsory for young people to continue with some form
of education or training until they are 18 [they must do it], even if they also
have a job.) From 16 to 18 young people may study at secondary school or
at a sixth-form college, aft er which they may go on to higher education.

B

Exams and qualifications
You take/do/sit an exam or resit1 an exam. At schools and
sixth-form colleges in the UK, students have to take formal
end-of-year exams. At 18, a lot of students sit their university
entrance exams, commonly referred to as ‘A levels’. Students
are usually given marks (e.g. 75%) or grades (e.g. A, B+, C).
If you pass and do well, you get a high grade. If you fail, you
don’t get the minimum grade. If you skip classes2, you’ll
probably do badly in the exam.
1
2

C

take it again if you did badly first time
miss deliberately; infml

Technology
With an LMS or a VLE1, students can work online and do
more distance2 learning or blended3 learning. Teachers
can monitor4 students’ activities and progress5; students
can choose courses and/or modules6, submit7 work, write
blogs, access wikis and leave voice messages.

Common mistakes
We say: pass an exam, e.g. I passed
all my exams and graduated in 2010.
(NOT I succeeded at/in all my exams.)

1

Learning Management System or Virtual Learning Environment: computer system that controls all aspects of
2
3
teaching and learning
without attending classes, e.g. from home
using a mix of classroom and online
4
5
6
learning
check regularly
note: progress is uncountable
individual elements or parts of a course
7 send/ give their work to the teacher

D

Talking about education: common questions
What’s the school-leaving age? It’s 18 in a lot of countries.
At what age does compulsory education begin? [which you must do, by law]

34

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

Exercises
14.1

Fill the gaps in this life story of a British woman.

primary school at the age of five. The year before that she
Amy first went to her local 1
attended a 2
, but her parents didn’t send her to a 3
when she was very
small. When Amy was ready to go on to secondary school, she passed a special exam and so gained
4
to her local 5
school. Her friends didn’t do that exam. Like most
6
children, they went to a
school. Only a few children from very rich families go to
7
famous
schools and Amy only knew one girl from her class at primary school who
did. At the age of 16, Amy went on to 8
, where she is currently
9
studying English, History and Maths. Her ambition is to go on to
and become a teacher.
14.2

Rewrite the words in bold in this conversation using words from B opposite.
ALMUT:
JOE:
ALMUT:
JOE:
ALMUT:

14.3

Correct the mistakes in these sentences.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

14.4

sixth-form college

In the UK, students between 16 and 18 can go to a nursery school.
The school-ending age is 18 in many countries.
I’m glad you succeeded at your exam.
She has to sit on a Biology exam next week.
Is school compulsive till 18 in your country?
Do we have to admit our work to the teacher by Friday?
I’ve made a lot of progresses in my English recently.
Thanks to the LMS, teachers can mentor their students’ activities.

What do we call …?
1
2
3
4

14.5

I’ve got one more exam tomorrow. I hope I get the minimum grade pass
.
I’m worried.
Really? What makes you think you won’t get a high grade?
Well, I’ve missed a couple of classes this term.
Hm. If you get below the minimum grade, are you allowed to take the exam again?
Yes, but I don’t want to. Next year I want to go to university, not sit my university entrance
exams again!

learning that mixes classes and online work? blended learning
schools which require students to take an exam to gain admission?
private schools where parents pay fees?
learning you can do at home, without going to class?

Over to you
Make a chart in English for the education system in your country. Is it the same as the UK or are
there differences? Compare with someone else if possible.

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

35

15
A

Higher education
University studies
Students who attend university in the UK start with undergraduate studies, which are usually the
studies towards a bachelor’s degree [a first degree at university]. They follow a programme of different
modules [parts of the university course]. They usually have to complete a certain number of credits each
year. For example, if the students need 180 credits, they might take two modules of
60 credits each, and their dissertation [long piece of writing] might be worth another 60 credits. When
they have graduated [completed their bachelor’s degree], students become graduates.
If they want to continue their university education, students can begin postgraduate studies. The
first stage of this would be a master’s degree, and aft er that they can do a PhD (doctor of philosophy)
[the highest university degree]. Postgraduate studies require students to specialise in a particular field,

and they often do research. They usually have to write another dissertation (for a master’s degree)
or a thesis (for a PhD).

B

People, places, and types of classes

A university campus

A lecture theatre

If you visit a university campus, you’ll see a
lecture theatre (or a lecture hall). During lectures,
students listen to a lecturer and take notes. Some
modules have seminars where smaller groups
discuss the subject in detail. The academic staff
[people who teach] might also include tutors, who
teach students individually or in small groups, in
sessions called tutorials. Many students live on
campus in halls of residence (or halls).

C

Language help
An undergraduate (student) or undergrad is
a student studying for their bachelor’s degree.
A postgraduate (student) or postgrad is a
student studying for their master’s or a PhD.
Notice that postgraduate and undergraduate
can be used as nouns or adjectives.

Student services

Admissions1
To apply for one of our
postgraduate programmes, check
the entry requirements2 on the
programme page. Then click here
to submit your application.

Funding3
Tuition fees4 should be
paid at the beginning of
the academic year. To apply
for a student loan5
or a scholarship6 click here.

1 a university department that deals with new
applications and new students
2 qualifications that are needed to enter a
programme
3 money that students can receive
4 money that students have to pay for their course
36

A tutorial

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

Student Union
Visit our student union7
page to find out more
about student societies
and clubs.

5 money that a student borrows to pay for their course
6 money that is given to a student to pay for a course
(usually for students who are doing well at school)
7 an organization that deals with student issues and
student life on campus, and a place where students
can meet

Exercises
15.1

What do we call …?
1
2
3
4
5
6

15.2

A first degree at college or university bachelor’s degree
The lower level of postgraduate degree
The highest university degree
A person who is studying for their first degree
A person who has completed their first degree
A person who is studying for a master’s or PhD

Choose the correct option to complete each sentence.
1
2
3
4
5

This undergraduate credit / programme / field lasts four years.
To complete the year students need 180 lectures / credits / modules. 60 of these are for the thesis.
After three years, you will research / credit / graduate with a bachelor’s degree.
My master’s field / credit / dissertation on modern English literature was 120 pages long.
Dr Lewis has been doing research / thesis / field into dolphin behaviour and has made a very
important discovery.
6 Lucy is an expert in the field / programme / research of ancient history and has just completed
her PhD on Greek art.

15.3

Fill the gaps with words from B opposite.
1 A campus
is a place where the university buildings are located.
2 Student accommodation is called
.
3 Academic staff, such as professors, tutors and
, have offices at
the university.
4
are meetings (one-to-one or in small groups) with a tutor.
5 Students listen to talks in a
.
6 Some
are attended by two hundred students.

15.4

Correct the mistakes in these sentences.

finance

1 There are two types of student unions: student loans and scholarships.
2 You must pay your entry requirements by 17th September.
3 A great way of meeting new people on campus is to join some of the student scholarships and clubs.
4 The admissions office helps current students with their problems and life on campus.
5 Before you submit your application, read the student loan thoroughly.

15.5

Over to you
Is the system of university studies similar in your country?
Make a list of similarities and differences.

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

37

16
A

Work
Jobs in a workplace
director [member of the board of a company] executive /Ig'zekjUtIv/ [important person who
makes big decisions] administrator [person who runs the office day-to-day] skilled worker
[trained to do specific tasks, e.g. building a computer] unskilled worker [doing a job that needs no
training] receptionist [visitors must check in with them] public relations officer [gives information
about the company to the media] union representative [looks after the staff’s interests] researcher
[investigates and develops new products] supervisor [makes sure workers are doing their job properly]

Common mistakes
The best way of getting to work (NOT job) depends on where you live.
Wish me luck in my new job (NOT work).
Job refers to a particular role or position. Jack’s got a new job as a researcher.
Work refers to activities that you do. Jack’s work is very demanding.

B

Trades and professions
civil servant
[person who works for
a government department
putting policies into action]

scientist
physiotherapist
/fIzi@U'Ter@pIst/
[person who treats
muscle injury by
rubbing and moving
injured areas]

judge

designer

[person who takes
decisions in legal cases]

PROFESSIONS

lecturer
[university teacher]

[jobs that require
considerable training
and/or qualifications]

ambassador
[chief diplomat or person
representing his/ her
government abroad]

economist
[expert in financial
matters]

banker
carpenter

designer

[person skilled
at making things
with wood]

firefighter

TRADES

childminder
[person looking after others’
children in her own home while
their parents are at work]

C

[skilled manual jobs
requiring on-the-job
and other training]

plumber
[person who works
with the supply and
connection of water pipes]

Collocations of words connected with work
It’s not easy to get/find work round these parts. I’ve been offered work / a job in Paris.
What d’you do for a living? I’m in publishing/banking, etc.
It’s hard to make a living as a freelance writer. [earn enough money to live comfortably]
She’s not prepared to take on that job. [suggests ‘having personal responsibility’]
hours of work

to do shiftwork or to work shifts [nights one week, days the next week]
to be on flexi-time [flexible working hours]

not working

to go/be on strike [industrial dispute]

to work nine-to-five [regular day work]

to get the sack [thrown out of your job]

to be fired (more formal than ‘get the sack’; often used in direct speech: ‘You’re fired!’)
to be made redundant [thrown out, no longer needed]
to be laid off (more informal
to be on / take maternity (woman) or paternity (man) leave
than ‘made redundant’)
[before/after the birth of a baby]
to be on / take sick leave [illness]
to take early
retirement [retire at 55]
other useful
expressions
38

to be a workaholic [love work too much]
to apply for a job [fill in forms, etc.]

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

to be promoted [get a higher position]

Exercises
16.1

Which of the job titles in A opposite would best describe the following?
1 The person who represents the workers’ interests in disputes with the management in a factory.

union representative

2 A person who has a high position in a company and whose job it is to make important
decisions.
3 An important person in a company who sits on the board.
4 A worker whose job requires no special training, for example, an office cleaner.
5 A person generally in charge of the day-to-day organisation of a company/department.
6 A person whose job it is to keep an eye on the day-to-day work of other workers.

16.2

Choose job or work to complete these sentences.
1
2
3
4
5

16.3

Using the expressions in C opposite, say what you think has happened / is happening.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

16.4

I’ll pay for the plumbing work
when it’s finished.
I’d like to apply for a
in your office.
You should delegate more
to your personal assistant.
Let’s stop for a coffee on our way home from
.
A
in a museum wouldn’t be as tiring as one in a restaurant.
I’m not working now; the baby’s due in three weeks. She’s on maternity leave.
He’s enjoying life on a pension, although he’s only 58.
One week it’s six-to-two, the next it’s nights.
They’ve made her General Manager as from next month!
I was late so often, I lost my job.
I get in at nine o’clock and go home at five.
Your trouble is you are obsessed with work!

Which jobs do these people have? Would you call the following a trade, a profession or an
unskilled job?

1

physiotherapist -profession

4

16.5

3

5

6

Fill in the collocations.
I’d love to 1 get/ have
I have to earn a 2
I’ve been 4
5
it

16.6

2

a job in journalism, but it’s not easy without qualifications. Since
somehow, I’ll have to get 3
wherever I can find it.
some part-time work editing a new book, but I’m not sure I want to
.

Over to you
Think of five people you know who work for a living. Can you name their jobs in English? If you
can’t, look them up in a good bilingual dictionary.
English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

39

17
A

Business
Starting a business
Ryan Archer had an idea for a business. He had a computer but it was never just right
for all his personal needs, so he went to his bank manager and put forward1 a business
plan2 to sell custom- built3 computers on the Internet. He launched4 his business a year
later, offering an individual service making desktop and laptop computers, and two years
later rolled out5 an expanded6 range, including tablets and other hand- held devices.
His firm7 now manufactures8 around 200 machines a year and delivers to 26 countries
around the world.
Ryan said, ‘It’s all about personal service and customer care9. This was our priority10
from the start. We didn’t really do any proper market research 11 and we weren’t
sure if such machines would sell, especially during a recession12. But I felt there were
enough potential13 customers to make it worth the risk14. I was right. Soon, designers,
scientists, academics and other professional people were requesting personalised
machines and our order books15 were full.’ Going forward16, Archer plans to expand
the business further, and a new range of machines will launch next year.
1

2
3
offered for people to consider
a plan of how the business will operate
specially made for a particular
4
5
person or thing
started, perhaps with a special event to mark the beginning
make a new product
6
7
8
available for the first time
made bigger
company
produces goods in large numbers, usually in
9
10
a factory
looking aft er the customer’s needs
something very important which must be dealt with
11
12
first
(uncountable) finding out beforehand what people want or need
period of low economic activity
13
14
and bad conditions for business
possible when the conditions are right
possibility of something bad
15
16
happening
the list of orders waiting to be completed
going into the future

Language help
In business English, some verbs which usually need an object can often be used without an object
or with the real object acting as the subject.

B

with object

real object as subject

We sold 200 instruments last year.
They are launching a new range.
They are rolling out a new range.

We didn’t know if the instruments would sell.
The new range launches next year.
The new range will roll out next year.

Common business English phrases and collocations
The CEO1 of a big corporation2 gave us these tips for
success in business:
Do business in the markets you know best before
trying to enter new ones.
It may be difficult to access new markets3. Build
contacts; that’s the secret.
You may not make a profit immediately. Be patient.
You will probably face stiff competition4, so
make sure your product is the best.
Get regular feedback 5 from your employees and
customers. They know best.

1

Chief Executive Officer 2 a large
company or group of companies
that is controlled together as a single
organisation 3 reach and do business
with new groups of customers or parts
of the world where something might
4
be sold
(uncountable) other
companies trying hard to be more
successful than you 5 (uncountable)
information/opinions about what people
think of a product or service

Common mistakes
Business can be countable or uncountable.
We hope to do more business in Asia next year. (uncountable = the activity. NOT We hope to do more
businesses...)
New businesses are launched on the Internet every day. (countable = enterprises/companies)
40

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

Exercises
17.1

Fill the gaps in the questions with words from A opposite, then complete the answers.
1 What did Ryan Archer put forward
to his bank manager? He presented a
.
2 What is special about the computers his
makes? They are
.
3 When did he
his business? A
.
4 What did he
out two years later? An
of computers.
5 How many computers does his firm
now? About
a
.
6 What was Ryan Archer’s
from the start? Personal service and
.
7 Why didn’t he do any
research? He felt there were enough
customers.
8 Why was he not sure if the machines would
? There was a
at the time.
9 Was it all worth the
? Yes. His firm’s
were soon full.
10
forward, what are his plans? He’s planning a new range of computers, which will
next year.
If possible, practise asking and answering the questions with someone else.

17.2

Rewrite the words in bold using words and phrases from A and B opposite.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

17.3

Correct the mistakes in these sentences.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

17.4

The new service will be available for the first time over the whole country next year. roll out
The business didn’t make money in its first year.
There are a lot of possible customers for this product.
Their list of orders waiting to be completed was full last month.
It is sometimes difficult to get into new markets if you don’t have contacts.
We should pay attention to the opinions and reactions our clients post on our website.
Customer care is a most important issue for our company.
We need to make our business bigger in Latin America.
It’s important to create relationships with local people before you enter a new country.

CEO

She’s the COE of a huge corporation.
The new range of products will launch itself next month. We hope it will be sold!
The firm specialises in customer-built laptops for business travellers.
Bringing forward, we expect to increase our sales in Japan and China.
It’s important to get a feedback from our clients.
We’re facing competitions from American firms.
We hope to do more businesses in North Africa in the future.

Match the words on the left with the words on the right to make typical collocations.
Then write a sentence using each one.
customer

order

market

custom

stiff

built

competition

research

care

books

EXAMPLE Customer care should be a priority in any kind of business.

17.5

Over to you
If you could start a business, what would it be? What would you need to do to make it a success?
Write a paragraph outlining your ideas. Use words and phrases from this unit.

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

41

18
A

Sport
Some sports whose names you may not know

hang-gliding

snowboarding

B

(ten-pin) bowling

scuba diving

fencing

showjumping

snooker/pool/
billiards /ˈbɪljədz/

windsurfing

motor racing

archery

Equipment – what you hold in your hand
golf – club
squash/tennis/badminton – racket
darts – dart
archery – bow
cricket / table tennis / baseball – bat
ice hockey / field hockey – stick
snooker/pool/billiards – cue
canoeing – paddle
rowing – oar
fishing – rod/line

C

Athletics

discus (throw)

javelin /ˈjævlɪn/

high jump

long jump

gymnastics

pole vault

She’s a great sprinter. [fast over short distances]
He’s a great long-distance runner. (e.g. 5,000 metres) He’s doing a marathon next month.

D

Competition in sport
She set a new Olympic record last year.
He holds the record for the 100 metres breaststroke.
England qualified for the World Cup but got knocked out in the third round. [achieved the necessary
standard but lost at the third stage and were then excluded from the competition]
Our team made it to / reached the semi-final but then we were beaten. [won every stage of
the competition except the last but one, and so did not enter the final match/event]
Most sports are very competitive these days. [involve a strong desire to win and be better
than other people]
She felt proud as she held the trophy in her hands. [cup or other object that shows she has won]
Players who disagree with the referee set a bad example to the spectators and to their fans. [people
who are present at a sporting event to watch it]

E

People who do particular sports
-er can be used for many sports, e.g. footballer, swimmer, etc. Player is often necessary, e.g. tennis
player, squash player. Some names must be learnt separately, e.g. canoeist, mountaineer, jockey,
archer (NOT archerer), gymnast.

Common mistakes
In British English, the noun sport is used in the plural when it describes another noun (e.g.
equipment, facilities, club). The shop sells sports equipment. (NOT sport equipment) However, you
will hear the singular sport used before another noun in American English.
42

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

Exercises
18.1

Which of the sports opposite are these people probably talking about?
1 The ball doesn’t roll in a straight line on the ground. You have to aim away from the centre of the pins.

(ten-pin) bowling

2
3
4
5
6
7
8

18.2

Provided it’s not too windy at the top of the hill, there’s no problem.
It is incredibly noisy, fast and dangerous, but it’s really exciting to watch.
The horse has to get over a series of jumps without knocking the posts off.
It’s all a matter of balance. But sometimes you can’t help falling in the water.
You need a good eye and concentration, especially to hit the centre of the board.
The different ball colours are worth different numbers of points.
It’s a fantastic feeling when the snow flies up into the air around you.

Name a piece of equipment necessary to do these sports apart from the item given.
1 golf: ball, club
2 archery: arrow,
3 tennis: ball,

18.3

2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

long-distance runner. She won a medal last year for the 1,500 metres. She’s won a lot of

in the last five years and has them all in a glass cabinet at her house.
Were many new records
at the last Olympics?
He’s doing a
next week - running 42 kilometres! That’s 26 miles!
Who
the world record for the 1,000 metres these days? Is it a Russian?
His national team failed to
for the World Cup so he’s supporting Brazil instead.
Last year, our team
the final for the first time in 10 years but we lost. (two
answers)
My team got
in the second
of the competition. We were very
disappointed it happened at such an early stage.
All Olympic sports are highly
; everyone has one ambition - to win gold.
Thousands of
protested loudly at the decision of the
to give their team
captain a red card.
The world’s best
can run 100 metres in less than 10 seconds.

Correct the mistakes in these sentences. There may be more than one mistake.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

18.5

7 canoeing: canoe,
8 snooker: balls,
9 rowing: boat,

Fill the gaps with suitable words.
1 She’s a

18.4

4 field hockey: ball,
5 baseball: ball,
6 darts: dartboard,

gymnast

She was a champion gymnastic when she was a teenager.
Are you a good tenniser? We’re trying to get a local team together.
My brother is an expert canoist. He’s won medals.
My father is a good golfist. He’s also an expert mountainer.
Is there a shop near here that sells sport equipment? I need a fishing rode.
I’d love to be a good archerer, but my eyesight isn’t very good.
Are you a sprinter or a long-distant runner?
My favourite Olympic sports are fence and the height jump.

Which sport …?
1 covers a long distance in one jump? long jump
2 throws a heavy disc a long way?
3 throws a pole with a sharp point?

18.6

Over to you
Make a list of (a) sports you have done and (b) sports you would like to do. Then list the
equipment you needed / would need for each one. Write sentences about what you liked or
disliked about sports you have tried, using vocabulary from this unit.
English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

43

19
A

Art and literature
Art and the arts
novels
short stories
drama

biographies
LITERATURE
poetry

theatre

dance

PERFORMING
ARTS

cinema
ballet
opera, concerts: classical/rock/
FINE ART(S)
country and western

sculpture
painting

architecture

ceramics /sɪˈræmɪks/ (making pots,
bowls, etc.)

The arts (plural) covers everything in the diagram above. Art (singular, uncountable) usually means fine
art, but can also refer to technique and creativity.
Have you read the arts page in the paper today? [that part of the newspaper that deals with all the things
in the diagram]
She’s a great art lover. [loves painting and sculpture]
Shakespeare was skilled in
the art of poetry. [creative ability]
Ask Sara to help you decorate your room - she’s very artistic.
[shows skill and imagination in creating things]
A work of art (plural = works of art) is an object made by a skilled artist - typically a painting, drawing
or statue.
The phrase arts and crafts is used to refer to the skills of making objects such as decorations,
jewellery and furniture by hand.

B

Types of art and artists
This is a sculptor – he’s creating a statue – his type of art is
called sculpture.
This is a potter – she’s throwing a pot – her type of art is
called pottery.
Henry is an architect – he’s designing a building – his type of art
is called architecture.
An abstract painting involves shapes and colours rather than
images of real people or things. A portrait is a painting of
a person. A landscape is a painting of a scene in the countryside. A still life is a painting of a set of
objects that do not move, usually fruit or flowers. An original painting is one produced by the painter
him/herself rather than a copy or reproduction.

C

Literature
Lisa O’Donnell is one of the country’s most popular novelists1. She has written a series2 of
romantic novels all with a historical setting3. These have all been bestsellers4 although the
critics5 complain that her plots6 are predictable and her characters7 are not very realistic. Her
cousin, Lucy Smith, is a more literary8 writer and her books tend to get better reviews9 although
they do not sell so well. Both writers have a novel which will be ready for publication10 later this
year; they will also be available to download as ebooks11. We have received advance copies of
both novels and it is interesting to compare the opening passage12 from Smith’s latest book with
an extract13 from the first chapter of O’Donnell’s.
1 people who write long stories about imaginary people and events (remember a novel is typically at

2 set of books featuring the same characters
least 150 pages long; anything shorter is a short story)
3 background for a story or film
4 very popular books that sell in large numbers
5 people whose job it is
6 stories
7 people in a book or film
to give their opinion of something, typically books, films or music
8 serious rather than popular
9 what the critics write
10 making something available in a printed form
11 electronic book
12 short piece of text
13 part of a book chosen to be used in an article or for discussion

44

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

Exercises
19.1

Which branch of the arts do you think these people are talking about?
1 He’s created some beautiful vases but
I’m not so keen on his other pieces.

2 It doesn’t have to rhyme to be good.

pottery

3 Oils to me don’t have the
delicacy of watercolours.

19.2

portrait

2

3

4

Choose the correct option to complete each sentence.
1
2
3
4
5

19.4

5 The first chapter was boring but
it got better later.

What type of painting is each of these?

1

19.3

4 Her design for the new
city hall won an award.

A sculpture / sculptor is someone who makes statues.
The Dutch artist Rembrandt was a master of art / the art of portrait painting.
On Saturdays there’s a market in the city square where they sell all sorts of art / arts and craft / crafts.
Which would you rather be good at - art / the art or music / the music?
I saw some interesting abstract works of art / work of arts at the City Gallery.

Find the missing words to complete the crossword.
Across

1

2 The
have generally been very
positive about Kelly’s latest novel.
3 Do you like this picture? It’s only a
. I could never afford an original.
5 The author began his talk by reading a short
from his latest book.
6 I usually prefer to read books with a modern
rather than ones about some
unfamiliar period.
8 I’ve loved all the books in this detective
. I hope they’ll publish another
one soon.
9 Max is, of course, hoping that his first novel will
become a
.
10 Have you read any
of the novel
we’ve got to read for our English class?

2

3

C

R

I

T

I

C

S

4

5

6
7
8

9

10

Down
1 Maria’s first novel is due for
this summer.
2 You know from the first page that the two main
in the novel are going to fall in love with
each other.
4 The novel has a very interesting
with some unexpected twists in it.
7 Leo’s short story is going to be published in the country’s leading
magazine.
English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

45

20
A

Theatre and cinema
At the theatre

We went to see a new production of Hamlet last night. The sets1
were incredibly realistic and the costumes2 were wonderful. It
was a good cast3 and I thought the direction4 was excellent. Toby
Cartwright gave a marvellous performance5. .It got rave reviews6
in the papers today.
1 scenery, buildings, furniture on the stage or in a studio

2 clothes the

3 all the actors in the performance
4 the way
actors wear on stage
5+6 note these typical
the director had organised the performance
6 got very enthusiastic comments
collocations

Dance usually refers to modern artistic dance forms; ballet /ˈbæleɪ/
usually has a more traditional feel, unless we say modern ballet.
A comedian is a person who entertains people by telling jokes. They
may have a show of their own or they may feature in a show with
lots of different entertainers. [people whose job it is to entertain others]
The people who watch a show are the audience. Viewer is only used about someone watching a
TV programme.

Language help
When we refer to a performing art in general, we can leave out the definite article, e.g. Are you
interested in (the) cinema/ballet