Rewrite Ultimate

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The managing director suggested not appointing any new staff (FREEZE)

The managing director suggested a freeze on the appoiment of the new staff

They hate each other intensely (SWORN)

They are sworn enemies

There's no need to be so upset about the result. (SHED)

There is no need to shed any tears over the result

I'd be grateful if you could have a look at these figures. (CAST)

I'd be grateful if you could cast an eye over these figures.

I was pleasantly surprised at the result of the meeting (CAME)

The result of the meeting came as a pleasant suprise to me

The arrival time of the plane has been changed to 3:30 (RE-SCHEDULE)

The plane has been re-scheduled to arrive at 3:30

Without his personal assistant John wouldn't know what to do next. (RELIES)

John relies on his personal assistant in order to know what to do next.

I don't mind which program we watch, " I said. (matter)
I said that ____ me which program we watch

it didn’t matter to

I prefer playing football rather than watching it. (opposed)
I prefer _____ watching it

playing football as opposed to

Their chance of success depends on their hard training (PLAYERS)

→ Only if the ____ chance of success

players train hard can they have/stand the

He insisted on a full apology.

⇒ Nothing but

a full apology would satisfy him

Under no circumstances should you phone the police.

→ the last thing

you should do is to phone the police.

They believe that the room was badly decorated

→ The room

is believed to have been badly decorated

I didn't stop worrying about the wild animals until we were safe inside camp

→ It was only when we reached the

safety that I stopped worrying about the wild animals

You may be disqualified if you don’t obey the regulations

→ Failure

to obey the regulations may lead to disqualification

Nora described the trip to us in detail (DETAILED)

→ Nora ______ the trip

gave us a detailed description of

On Monday last week I met one of my friends by chance at the stadiums (CAME)

→ On the Monday last week I _______ of mine at the stadiums

came across a friend

Kevin hates tennis, so don't try to persuade him to play.

(WORTH)

It is ……….. because he hates it.

not worth trying to persuade Kevin to play tennis

I resent the way that she clearly feels herself to be superior to me. (NOSE).

→ I resent the way that ________

she looks down her nose at me.

I thought I might run out of cash, so I took my cheque-book with me. (CASE).

→ I took my cheque-book with me ________________

in case I ran out of cash.

I think we ought to permit him to do whatever he chooses. (HAND)

→ I think we _______________

should give him a free hand.

Hung would like to write an essay on the life of President Ho Chi Minh

→ An essay _______________________________

on the life of President Ho Chi Minh would like to be written by Hung

I want to express my thanks for everything you have done for me.

→ I'd like to say how _____________________

thankful I am for everything you have done for me

The doctor's advice was to just wait and see what happened and the baby would be fine.

(NATURE)

→ The doctor said that we should

wait and let nature take its course

She decided to have five bowls of rice because she was hungry. (MUNCHIES)

→

Having munchies, she decided to have five bowls of rice.

Nobody expected her lose, but she did. (AGAINST)

→ ___________________________

She lost, against everyone’s expectation

She was so attractive that every boy in the class ran after her

→ Such ________________in the class ran after her

was her attractiveness that every boy

We must think about ways of improving the transport system. (TO)

-> We must ________ improving the transport system

give thoughts to ways of

His irresponsiblity is endangering his career as a doctor (JEOPARDY)

→ His irresponsible attitude ____________

is putting his career as a doctor in jeopardy

I will give you the permission to do that project (LIGHT)

→ I will _______________ do that project.

give you the green light to

He will do anything to help you (SHIRT)

→ He would ______________

give you the shirt off his back

I called her yesterday but she didn’t answer

→ I ___________________ but she didn’t answer (LINE)

→ I ___________________ but she didn’t answer (RING)

dropped her a line

gave her a ring

It seems that Jack is going to win the competition (AS)

→ It __________ that Jack is going to win the competition

looks as if/though

It wasn’t a bit surprised to hear that Karen had changed her job.

→ It came ________________

It came as no surprise to me that Karen had changed her job.

Some people say that Tsiolkovsky invented the space rocket. (CREDITED)

Tsiolkovsky is credited with the invention of the space rocket

I daren’t turn on the TV because the baby might wake up. (FEAR)

I daren't turn on the TV for fear of waking up the baby.

Some people will do anything to lose weight (LENGTHS)

Some people will go any lengths to lose weight.

Several members of the committee said they were worried abot the chairman’s proposals. (CONCERN)

Several members of the committee expressed concern about the chairman's proposal

The river Volta overflowed last year. (BURST)

The river Volta burst its banks last yea

He doesn’t appreciate his wife. (granted)

He takes his wife for granted

The number of people out of work has been going down little by little. (GRADUAL)

There has been a gradual decrease in the number of people out of work

Julie is very different from her sister (CRY)

→ Julie ____________________

is a far cry from her sister

The company give this project much importance because it can affect its development (OUT OF)

→ The company _______________________ its development

make a big thing out of this project because it can affect

This affair does not concern you.

→ This affair is no ______________

concern/business of yours.

Although Jimmy was the stronger of the two, his attacker soon overpowered him.

→ Despite his _____________

his superior strength, Jimmy was soon overpowered by his attacker

What a surprise to see you here!

→ Fancy ____________

Fancy seeing you here.

William decided that an actor’s life was not for him. (CUT)

William decided that he was not cut out to be an actor.

The President arranged for me to use his chauffeur-driven car whenever I liked. (DISPOSAL)

The President put his chauffeur-driven car at my disposal.

My cat has lost its appetite. (off)

My cat has gone off its food.

His behavior was rather a shock to me (aback)

 I was taken aback by his behavior

The bank robbers escaped in a stolen car. (getaway)

The bank robbers made their getaway in a stolen car.

You’re under no obligation to accept their offer.

→ You can please _______________

yourself about whether you accept their offer or not.

The only thing that kept us out of prison was the way he spoke the local dialect.

→ But for his command ____________________

of the local dialect, we would have been jailed

The Pacific Ocean is on average deeper than the Atlantic.

→ The average ___________________

depth of the Pacific Ocean is greater than that of the Atlantic.

Our play today is very successful (RIDING)

Our play today is riding high

Thu’s behavior towards her father is unacceptable (PALE)

→ Thu’s behavior ___________________

towards her father is beyond the pale

Linda has known your brother for a long time (WAY)

→ Linda ___________________

and your brother have gone back a long way

I think Joji is her favourite (SOFT)

→ I think ______________________

she has a soft spot for Joji

She has been working late into the night and waking up early every morning (CANDLE)

She has burnt the candle at both ends

The employers like him because he can work non-stop without a complaint (ROUND)

→ The employers ___________________a complaint

like him because he can work round the clock without

In the summer, there are thousands more tourists than the locals.
→ In the summer, the locals are vastly _____________

outnumbered by the tourists

More people are infected with HIV this year than they were 5 years ago.
→ Not __________________

as many people were infected with HIV 5 years ago as they are now

Jane and Peter had misunderstandings (CROSS)

Jane and Peter were at cross purposes

As an antidote to their disappointment, he bought them ice-cream (OFFSET)

To offset their their disappointment, he bought them ice-cream

People don’t want to buy cars with large engines any more. (CALL)

There isn’t much call for cars with large engines.

Twenty years ago this region produced twice as much coal as it does now. (HALVED)

The coal production in this region has halved in the last 20 years.

The prime Minister is unlikely to call an early general election (LIKELIHOOD)

→ ______________ an early general election.

There is little likelihood of the PM calling

The project received the unanimous approval of the committee. (FAVOUR)

The whole committee was in favour of the project.

His reactions are quite unpredictable (KNOWS)

One never knows how he will react.

There are several categories of people who do not have to pay the new tax. (EXEMPT)

There are several categories of people who are exempt from paying the new tax

I am amazed by the mistakes he makes.

→ What _____________

What amazes me is the mistakes he makes.

“That’s a lovely new dress, Jean” said her mother.

→ Jean’s mother complimented _______________

Jean on her lovely new dress.

Customs officials are stopping more travellers than usual this week.

→ An increased ______________

number of travellers is being stopped by customs officials this week.

Most people can understand him when he speaks English

→ He can make

himself understood when he speaks English

He unwillingly asked her for help (TURNED)

He unwillingly turned to her for help

Unfortunately, all his effort were unsucessful

→ Unfortunately, all his effort came

to nothing

They've been having discussions on the issue for over two weeks (PROGRESS)

→ DIscussions _____ for over two weeks

on the issue have been in progress

The high number of internet addicts depends on the increasingly tempting applications (MORE)

The more tempting applications are, the higher the number of internet addicts is

What he told me made me very curious to hear the rest of the story (APPETITE).

→ What he told me ________ the story.

whetted my appetite to hear the rest of

Money is of little value on a desert island (COUNTS)

Money counts for little on a desert island

He made me do the whole task

→ He made _______________

it my duty for me to do the whole task

I was just about to leave the office when the phone started ringing (point)

→ I was ___________________________ when the phone started ringing

on the point of leaving

I write to Alice almost everyday

→ Hardly _______________

does a day pass without my writting to Alice

The teachers agreed to introduce the new methods. (agreement)

→ ____________ introduce new methods.

There was agreement among the teachers to

“If Brian doesn’t train harder, I won’t select him for the team” said the manager.

→ The manager threatened __________

not to select Brian if he didn’t train harder

You’ll certainly meet lots of people in your new job.

→ You are _________________

bound to meet lots of people in your new job.

There aren’t many other books which explain this problem so well.

→ In few other books ____________

would one see this problem so well explained

If interst rates are cut, the economic situation may improve. (REDUCTION)

A reduction in interest rates may improve the economic situation.

The architect’s new design was heavily criticized. (CRITICISM)

There was a heavy criticism of the architect’s new design.

Very little money was raised by the charity appeal. (RESPONSE)

There was very little response to the charity appeal.

Ours is the only company allowed to import these chemicals. (MONOPOLY)

Our company has got monopoly of the importation of these chemicals.

The coach’s tactics were directly responsible for the team’s defeat. (CONSEQUENCE)

The team’s defeat was the direct consequence of the coach’s tactics.

We have no idea where he is. (WHEREABOUTS)

His whereabouts is unknown to us.

The policeman acted quickly and averted an accident. (PROMPT)

The prompt action of the policeman averted an accident.

This new record is certain to sell a lot of copies. (DOUBT)

There is no doubt that this new record will sell a lot of copies.

The Yeti has rarely been seen at this attitude

→ There have _________

rarely been any sights of the Yeti at this attitude

It is not certain that Jones will get a job

→ It is open

to question whether Jones will get the job

She is suffering too much pressure at work, which causes her collapse

→ Were

Alan not to be suffering too much pressure at work, she would not collapse

Mr. Watson managed to repair the garage roof only because his neighbour helped him. (WITHOUT)

Without his neighbor’s help, Mr. Waston would not have managed to repair the garage roof.

The inspector showed us four potential health hazards (DREW)

The inspector drew our attention to four potential health hazards