She ________ agreed to go with him to the football match although she had no interest in the game at all. (miễn cưỡng)
grudgingly
On the way to Cambridge yesterday, the road was blocked by a fallen tree, so we had to make a ________ (đi đường vòng)
detour
Tom’s normally very efficient but he’s been making a lot of mistakes ______ (gần đây)
of late
I know it’s difficult but you’ll just have to ________ and bear it. (chịu đựng, ngậm bồ hòn làm ngọt)
grin
I didn’t want to make a decision ________, so I said I’d like to think about it. (ngay lập tức)
there and then
We are not in a ________ hurry so let’s have another coffee. (vội)
tearing
She’s a bit down in the________ at the moment – her husband has just lost his job. (buồn chán, tuyệt vọng)
dumps
“How did you know that he was lying?” – “It was just a ________ feeling.” (cảm giác thoáng qua)
gut
The new company had been________ with one problem after another and looked as if it were about to go under. (đầy rẫy)
fraught
Mike decided that election to the local council would provide a ________ to a career in national politics. (khởi điểm)
springboard
As a poet, I think she ________ comparison with the greatest this century. (sánh với)
stands
We all have to follow the rules, and none of us is ________ the law. (trái luật)
above
When disaster ______, organisations such as Oxfam quickly provide help. (thiên tai xảy đến)
strikes
The number of people traveling by air has been growing _______. (rất nhanh)
by leaps and bounds
Drug-taking is a crime which society simply cannot _________. (bỏ qua, tha thứ, dung túng)
condone
I was scared ____________ when I looked down from the top of the cliff. (rất sợ)
stiff
The whereabouts of the exiled president remains a _________guarded secret. (bí mật được giữ kín)
closely
We should all_________when advertisers attempt to use unfair practices. (đáp trả)
make a stand
The company cannot accept_________for injuries resulting from improper use of rental equipment (trách nhiệm pháp lí)
liability
Jack never cheats or tricks anybody when he plays. He always goes by the_________ (làm đúng quy tắc)
book
Recent defeats have _________.his confidence in himself as a player (làm giảm sự tự tin)
undermined
People turned out in_________to watch the parade on the Independence Day. (nhiều, với số lượng lớn)
force
Not being able to find my phone number is a pretty_________excuse for not contacting me. (lí do không chính đáng)
feeble
We were under no _________ about how difficult it would be to achieve our aims. (không ảo tưởng)
illusions
The pollution problems in the town have been ___________ by mass tourism in the summer months. (làm trầm trọng thêm)
exacerbated
I'm in a bit of a _________ as to what to wear to the wedding. (on the horns of a dilemma)
quandary
The problem _________because neither side was prepared to compromise. (căng thẳng leo thang)
escalates
The Red Cross is ___________ an international aid organization. (thực chất)
intrinsically
I couldn't stop myself from _________ with boredom during the lecture. (thở dài ngao ngán)
sighing
My brother found it impossible to _________his anger and started shouting. (kiềm chế sự giận dữ, sự tăng động)
contain
Fitting together the thousands of fragments of the broken vase was a long and ___________ task. (nhọc nhằn)
painstaking
You’ll just have to _________ yourself to the fact that you can’t always have what you want. (come to terms with)
reconcile
The students had no money left and took out a loan to _________ him over until the end of term. (giúp ai vượt qua khó khăn)
tide
Money was short and people survived by _________and saving. (tiết kiệm)
scrimping
Jane was terribly nervous before the interview but she managed to pull herself ________ and act confidently. (giữ bình tĩnh, gắng gượng)
together
This is the _________timetable for the conference. It may change later (tạm thời)
provisional
She didn’t show even a _________of emotion when the court found her guilty. (cảm giác thoáng qua)
flicker
Few people can do creative work unless they are in the right _________ of mind. (đúng tâm trạng)
frame
It was decided that the cost of the project would be _________.and so it was abandoned. (pricey)
prohibitive
I didn't really feel like memorizing all these definitions. It was only the risk of getting another bad mark that made me _________myself. (nỗ lực)
exert
In times of _________, unemployment figures usually rise dramatically. (trong thời gian khó khăn)
austerity
The delight in treasure finding doesn’t always ________acquiring tremendous amounts of valuables. (xoay quanh)
hinge upon
Let’s _________ the place, it looks so gloomy and unpleasant. (bỏ)
abandon
She used the map to discover where she was in ________to her surroundings. (liên quan đến)
relation
He let it __________ that the Prime Minister was a close friend of his. (nói thêm)
drop
It was a fantastic film. I enjoyed it _________ (very much)
no end
When the children _________ their toys, I donated them to charity. (hết thích cgi khi lớn lên)
outgrew
I was in the ______ of despair before I heard the good news. (đáy tuyệt vọng)
depths
When are we going to get rid of all these empty cartons? They've been _________ up the office for weeks now. (làm bừa bộn)
cluttering
The luxurious office accentuated the manager's position ________. It enhanced his power and his sense of his own worth. And it made other people feel small. (phân cấp, tôn ti trật tự)
in the pecking order
The architect has designed a building of immaculate _____ in everything. Every detail is matched on each side. (sự cân xứng)
symmetry
The vegetation on the island was _________ (xum xuê)
exuberant
We had been looking for the nest for hours before we _________ lucky. (gặp may)
struck
We don’t have a secretary _________, but we do have a student who comes in to do a bit of filing. (đúng nghĩa)
as such
Despite ____________ appearances, he wasn't as crazy as people thought. (diện mạo bên ngoài)
outward
I really need some vacations now so that when I come back I can _________ in the operating theatre. (thịnh vượng, phát triển)
thrive
The first _________ of the ladder is important in your career. (nấc thang đầu tiên trong sự nghiệp)
rung
After hours and hours trying to solve the problem, I was at my _________ end. (không nghĩ ra được giải pháp)
wits’
Her punky hairstyle showed she was not one for following the _________. (theo trào lưu)
herd
There wasn't a _________ of truth in what he said. (1 tí sự thật)
grain
Ask David to give you a hand moving the furniture. He’s strong as ______.
a horse
He didn’t have a _________ of evidence to support his claims. (1 bằng chứng nào)
scrap
It’s the __________ of stupidity to go walking in the mountains in this weather. (đỉnh cao dốt nát)
height
I know you’re upset about breaking up with Tom, but there are plenty more ______. (còn nhiều sự lựa chọn)
fish in the sea
It must be true. I hear it straight from the _________’s mouth. (nghe trực tiếp, tin chính thống)
horse’s
It's normal for salaries to be paid monthly in______, meaning you'll need to work four weeks first. (nợ)
arrears
She is so ______-skinned that nothing offends her. (mặt dày)
thick
I’ve only met Stephen in a social context - he’s an unknown _________ where work’s concerned. (1 người lạ)
unknown
The competition he set up for young musicians is another _________ of his life-long support for the arts. (biểu hiện)
manifestation
Windows go __________ towards defining the character of a house. (rất hữu ích)
a long way
Even the most _________ drivers feel an urge to break the speed-limit occasionally. (chấp hành nghiêm chỉnh luật lệ)
law-abiding
I am not sure I can answer that. I have only thought about it in the _______ before. (nghĩ chung chung)
abstract
The opposition protests against the government now threaten to get out of _______ and the security forces are likely to make arrests around the country today. (ngoài tầm kiểm soát)
hand
I really don’t want to get involved in your problems. Why are you _______me into it? (kéo ai vào vấn đề gì)
dragging
Everybody was busy with the spring cleaning, except Stanley, who always refused to pull his ______ . (đảm đương phần việc của mình)
weight
At the time, Mexico was in the _____of its worst economic recession on record. (trải qua khó khăn)
grip
Harry was offered a scholarship to study in Japan and he _____ the opportunity with both hands. (nắm bắt lấy cơ hội)
grabbed
A full scholarship to Harvard and you are worried about leaving your job? You’d be a fool to _____ up a chance like that. (làm vuột mất cơ hội)
pass
He admitted taking a bribe and he doesn’t think he’s _______ his chances of getting re-elected? (bỏ lỡ cơ hội)
blown
The matter has been left in _______ until the legal ramifications have been explored. (trong sự trì hoãn)
abeyance
It was an extremely hostile article which cast _______ on the conduct of the entire cabinet. (criticize)
aspersions
Simon's business has been on the _______ for some time and I understand he's going into liquidation. (có nguy cơ đổ vỡ)
rocks
We've made some great improvements over the past three months, but we're still not out of the _______ . (thoát khỏi nguy hiểm)
woods
If you had never seen a telly ad, you would be all at ______ with popular culture. (baffled, bối rối
sea
I'd been living in this country for a few years, but it wasn't until I had kids that I felt like I had really put down ______ here. (lập nghiệp)
roots
The party was already ______ by the time we arrived. Everyone was singing and dancing. (sôi nổi)
in full swing
The entire staff was thrown off ______ when the news of the takeover was announced. (mất bình tĩnh, bối rối)
balance
I know you have a good voice and have ambitions to be an opera singer but do not give up your day ______ yet. (đừng mơ tưởng xa xôi)
job
We at Buyrite throw down the ______ to competitors to match us for price, quality and service. (thách đấu)
gauntlet
Sometimes, we don't appreciate the ______ pleasures of life such as a beautiful sky, a cup of coffee with a friend or seeing a good film at the cinema. (niềm vui bình dị)
simple
Various ecological issues have come to the ______ since the discovery of the hole in the earth's ozone layer. (trở nên quan trọng)
fore
The full horror of the war only hit ______ when we started seeing the television pictures of it. (hiểu được hoàn toàn)
home
The most important parts of your job may seem difficult now but they will become second ______ to you within a couple of weeks. (trở nên gần gũi, quen thuộc)
nature
I'm about to start my long-planned swimming regime. But I've got really terrible cellulite, which makes me feel rather ______ . (ngượng ngùng, xấu hổ, tự trọng)
self-conscious
The inconsiderate driver was ______ for parking his vehicle in the wrong place. (bị giam)
confined
From football to fashion, from TV to stage, we name the ______ stars whose careers are likely to rocket in the future. (triển vọng, promising)
up and coming
Obama expressed regret as a US drone strike has______ killed innocent hostages. (vô tình)
inadvertently
How do you calculate the distance to the horizon? As a _____, it’s 7 miles + 1 mile per 100 ft above sea level. (dựa vào kinh nghiệm)
rule of thumb
Just because we’ve had a good year, this does not mean that we cannot do better: we must not ______ (ngủ quên trên chiến thắng)
rest on our laurels
The headmaster at my last school was was a stern disciplinarian and made sure we ______ the line. (tuân thủ quy định)
toed