Test 1

put/tighten the screws on

to use force or threats to make someone do what you want:

They _ him until he paid up.

→ buộc ai làm gì (xài vũ lực)

ample space

What I like about this amusement park is that there is _______ parking space right outside it.

A. copious B. ample C. expanded D. manifold

spearhead

to lead an organized activity or project:

• He's _ing a project to start rebuilding the hospital.

• The major political party is _ the campaign for tighter gun controls in the wake of last month’s shooting.

→ bắt đầu một hoạt động nào đó

procure

to get something, especially after an effort:

• She's managed somehow to _ his phone number.

• [ + two objects ] He'd _ us seats in the front row.

→ đạt được cái gì sau khó khăn

go beyond the point of no return

ở thời điểm đã quá muộn để quay đầu

Scientists warn that global warming will soon go beyond _______.

blot out

to stop yourself thinking about something unpleasant:

Perhaps there are some memories so bad that you have to _ them _.

→ dừng việc suy nghĩ đến những điều tồi tệ

stow away

1. to hide on a ship, aircraft, or other vehicle in order to escape from a place or to travel without paying

→ đi lậu vé

2. to put something in a safe place so that it can be used in the future:

   I think I'll _ the camping equipment _ in the loft until next summer.

→ giữ đó để khi nào xài lại

salt away

to save something, often money, secretly:

He _ a fortune over the years and no one ever knew!

→ tiết kiệm (thường là tiền) một cách bí mật

be in deadly earnest

completely serious:

• These fanatics are _ when they say they want to destroy all forms of government.

• The community should take the doctor’s advice into consideration since he’s in _ earnest about the epidemic

exculpate sb from sth

to remove blame from someone:

The pilot of the aircraft will surely be _ when all the facts are known.

→ giải oan cho ai

exonerate sb from/ of sth

to show or state that someone or something is not guilty of something:

• His fight to _ four black men of the rape of a seventeen year old white girl two years ago partially inspired the group to protest.

• The report _ the crew from all responsibility for the collision.

→ giải oan cho ai

ecstatic at/about sth

very happy, excited and enthusiastic; feeling or showing great enthusiasm

Sally was _ about her new job.

jubilant at/ over/about sth

feeling or expressing great happiness, especially because of a success:

• Lionel Messi was _ over his team’s victory against Brazil.

• Not everyone was jubilant about the decision.

derelict

buildings or places are not cared for and are in bad condition:

• Even in cities where land is scarce and expensive, substantial amounts of it are left _.

• That old building hasn’t been used for nearly four decades, hence it looks so _.

→ xuống cấp do lâu không dùng

decrepit, battered

in very bad condition because of being old, or not having been cared for, or having been used a lot:

• Most of the buildings were old and _.

• A _ old man sat on a park bench.

→ xuống cấp do sài nhiều quá

be/go back to the salt mines

Back to one's job or daily work, especially when it is very hard or unpleasant. (Workers in salt mines were often slaves and prisoners.) Sometimes used humorously.

• I'm not excited to _ on Monday.

• When the long holiday ends, we will go _.

→ quay trở lại làm việc

tick over/along

If a business, job, or system is _, it continues to work but makes little progress:

I'll be able to keep things _ in the office until you get back.

→ có tiến bộ nhưng không đáng kể

Còn forge ahead là tiến bộ vượt bậc, nhanh chóng.

namesake

Like his famous _______, young Washington had a brave, adventurous spirit. (NAME)

→ người/vật trùng tên

mellifluous

She has a softly ___________voice that would melt anyone listening to her singing. (FLUENT)

→ ngọt ngào

desirous

Hardly a day goes by without Tim being __________ of eating sweets. (DESIRE)

→ khao khát cái gì

clean-up

the act of making a place clean by removing dirt or pollution:

• The oil-covered birds were recovered during _ operations.

• The company estimates it spent $550,000 on _ efforts last week.

→ quá trình lau dọn, thu dọn

record-breaking

better, bigger, longer, etc. than anything else before:

Company profits are rising and it looks as though this is going to be a _ year.

= unprecedented (adj)

be displaced by sth

bị buộc phải rời khỏi nơi ở/ đi di tán

apparently

used to say you have read or been told something although you are not certain it is true:

• _ it's going to rain today.

• _ he's had enough of England and is going back to Australia.

→ hiển nhiên rõ ràng (adv của APPEAR)

31. path 32. settling 33. onwards 34. old 35. however 36. but 37. against 38. backdrop 39. which 40. least

THE CHANGING FACE OF WORKING LIFE

The accepted concept of a career 31._______ followed a similar pattern for decades. After completing their education, people would enter the adult world of work, 32.___________ down on to a job which they would likely remain from that point 33.____________. Not only would this occupation provide their income for their entire working life, it would also allow them a healthy pension when they retired and moved into 34.___________ age. Over the past twenty years, 35.________, the relationship between a wage earner and their chosen profession has changed enormously. Today, the idea of a ‘job-for-life’ has all 36._________ disappeared, to be replaced by an unforgiving world of unstable employment. Some observers even argue that current society to pit old 37._________ young in a constant battle to find work of some description, all against a 38.__________ of increasing debt and economic difficulties. At the same time, the government regularly releases figures that suggest the economy is prospering, evidencing this claim with the fact that the unemployment rate continues to fall annually. There are indeed more jobs available. However, a huge number of these are casual, temporary or short-term positions, all of 39.__________ are low-paid and create little in the way of tax income for the government. This has a number of debilitating longterm effects, not 40.___________ because this assurance of a growing economy is based more in myth than fact.

be aptly named

được đặt tên một cách hợp lí

• We spent a week at the _ Grand View Hotel.

• The last race of the day was won by the _ Evening Flyer.

were lifted when I caught sight

After years of separation from my girlfriend, I cheered up when I saw her. SIGHT

=> After years of separation from my girlfriend, my spirits ______ of her.

resentful of the way she looks down her nose at me

I resent the way that she clearly feels herself to be superior to me. NOSE => I am _____.