EXERCISE 48d, Review — Complete the sentences with these nouns from previous sections. To check their meanings, review the section number given after each one.

1. Heather kind of liked Ann's brother until she saw him smoking. To her that's a big ________.

2. The Senate voted against a ___________ in spending for AIDS research.

3. Lydia doesn't want anyone to take pictures of her without her ___________ on.

4. Bill thinks that Nicole's short skirt is a ___________.

5. The soldiers were ordered to prepare for a ___________.

6. I hate cooking, so we eat ___________ food almost every night.

7. I've gone to every office in City Hall about my problem, but no will help me. They just give me the ___________.

8. The company's high ___________ rate is one reason why it lost money last year.

9. Can you believe the frames for these glasses cost $300? What a ___________.

10. One thief broke into the store while the other stayed outside as a ___________.

11. The ________ for the parade would have been a lot bigger if it hadn't been raining,

12. George had a ___________ with his brother and hasn't spoken with him for fifteen years.

EXERCISE 48e, Review — Complete the sentences with these phrasal verbs from previous sections. Be sure the phrasal verbs are in the correct tense. To check their meanings, review the section number given after each one.

1. Your work isn't very good. You ought to ________ more effort ________ it.

2. I was so mad at my boss that I almost quit my job. Fortunately, my wife ________ me ________ ________it.

3. Did you see Mike's house? He said he was going to put a few Christmas tree lights on the roof, but there must be 5,000. I guess he got ________ ________.

4. Don't let that crooked contractor ________ you ________ ________ any money for unnecessary home repairs.

5. France was a member of NATO until it ________ ________ in 1966.

6. Don't quit now, we're almost finished. You've just got to ________ it ________ for a little while longer.

7. What a surprise! I ________ ________ Bob at the train station yesterday. I hadn't seen him in years.

8. The police acted on a tip that the suspect would be at the bus station on Saturday morning, but he didn't ________ ________.

9. If you're not careful that crook will ________ you ________ selling him your land for a lot less than it's worth.

10. Mike used to speak Arabic pretty well, but he ought to ________________ before he goes to Egypt.

11. How could I have been ________ ________ doing something stupid?

12. The apartment has been cleaned and painted. You can ________ right ________ any time you want.

13. ________ it ________. I want to see what's on the other side.

14. Living with Sam is driving me crazy — I have to ________ ________.

15. After you make a wish you can ________ ________ the candles.

16. Living in a house with seven dogs is really ________ my cat ________.

49. FOCUS ON: combinations of get, right, back, and to

The focus of this section is an expanded definition of the two-word phrasal verb get to and the three-word phrasal verbget back to. The purpose is to try to make some sense out of a seemingly limitless number of idiomatic combinations of get, to, and various particles and adverbs, in particular right and back, and to demon­strate that many phrasal verbs comprised of get and a particle are actually varia­tions ofget to that can be modified with right andlor back.

Remember that back is sometimes part of a phrasal verb and sometimes an adverb used to modify a phrasal verb (review Section 26), although we will see that there is often no difference in meaning between the phrasal verbget back (to), dis­cussed in Section 42, and the phrasal verbget to modified by back(get back to).

The numbers in the chart correspond with the meanings in the definitions.

Get to

1. Although the phrasal verbget to is defined here as meaning arrive, it can be understood as the basis for some of the phrasal verbs that were discussed in Section 42:

Billgot to Peoria. (Bill arrived in Peoria.)

Billgot back to Peoria. (Bill returned to Peoria.)

Billgot up to Peoria. (Bill arrived in Peoria from the south.)

Bill got down to Peoria. (Bill arrived in Peoria from the north.)

Billgot over to Peoria. (Bill arrived in Peoria from the east or west.)

Bill got out to Peoria. (Bill arrived in Peoria from the east or from a larger city.)

We see thatget back (to),get up (to),get down (to),get over (to), andget out (to)

are variationsof get to but with additional information. These verbs

can be modified with right, meaning immediately, quickly, or directly (see Section 10):

Billgot rightback to Peoria. (Bill returned to Peoria quickly.)

Get to work has two meanings, similar but not the same.Get to work can refer to an arrival at a place where someone works:

Anngot to work. (Ann arrived at the place where she works.)

Butget to work (see meaning 3) can also mean start working, without any reference to a change of location:

Joegot to work. (Joe started working.)

Joegot backto work. (Joe started working again.)

Joe got right to work. (Joe started working immediately.)

Joegot right backto work. (Joe started working again immediately.)

The difference in these two meanings is illustrated by the following sentence:

l got to work at 9:00, but I didn'tget to work until 10:00, which can paraphrased as I arrived at my office at 9:00, but I didn't start working until 10:00.

2. Although the phrasal verbget to is defined here as meaning reach a certain level, number, or amount, it can be understood as the basis for some of the phrasal verbs discussed in Section 42:

Jane got to 120 pounds.

Jane got back to 120 pounds. (Jane weighs 120 pounds again.)

Jane got up to 120 pounds. (Jane used to weigh less that 120 pounds.)

Jane got down to 120 pounds. Jane used to weigh more that 120 pounds.)

We see thatget back (to),get up (to), andget down (to) are variations ofget to but with additional information.

Get up (to) andget down (to) can be modified by back:

Janegot backup to 120 pounds. (Jane used to weigh 120 pounds, lost weight, and then gained it back.)

Janegot backdown to 120 pounds. (Jane used to weigh 120 pounds, gained weight, and then lost it.)

3. If you start to do something, youget to it:

l'll try toget to my homework after dinner.

If you start to do something, stop doing it, and then later start to do it again, you get backto it:

l'll try toget backto my homework after dinner.

If you start to do something, stop doing it, and then later quickly start to do it again, youget right backto it:

l'll try toget right backto my homework after dinner.

Remember that when both right and back are used, right always comes first:

I'll try toget back rightto my homework after dinner.

Get back to

1. Get back to is a three-word verb meaning talk to someone again later. Get back to does not vary in form — neither back nor to is optional.

1. clog... up p.v. When people or thingsclog up a drain or something else that liquids must flow through, they put something in it that prevents water or other liq­uids from going through it or that prevents it from working properly.

Don't pour that bacon grease in the sink — you'llclog the drainup.

Dr. Smith said my arteries were soclogged up by plaque deposits that it was a miracle I was still alive.

clogged up part.adj. When a drain or something else that liquids must flow throughisclogged up, something is in it that prevents water or other liquids from going through it or that prevents it from working properly.

The mechanic told me that the engine valves in my car wereclogged up.

Get ahead

get ahead & gets ahead getting ahead got ahead gottenlgot ahead

1. get ahead p.v. When youget ahead, you become more successful and make progress in your job or your life.

With your pessimistic attitude, you'll neverget ahead.

Getting ahead is pretty easy when your father owns the company.

Get back to

get back to & gets back to getting back to got back to gottenlgot back to

1. get back to p.v. When youget back to people, you talk to them later, usually because you do not have time to talk to them at the time or because you will have information for them later that you do not have now.

l don't have time to talk now; I'm really busy. Can Iget back to you ?

That real estate agent still hasn'tgotten back to me to let me know if our offer was accepted.

1. get on p.v. When you move your body toward something and stand, sit, or lie on it, you get on it.

The nurse asked me to take off my shirt andget on the examination table.

If youget on that chair you can reach the top shelf.

2. get on p.v. When you mount an animal, bicycle, motorcycle, and so on, you get on it.

Getting on a camel isn't as easy asgetting on a horse.

The childrengot backon their bikes and went home.

3. get on p.v. When you enter a bus, train, airplane, ship, and so on, youget on it.

The bus stopped so that I couldget on.

Only people who are going on the cruise canget on the ship.

4. get... on p.v. When youget an item of clothingon, you put it on your body.

Get your coat on. It's cold outside.

These gloves are too small. I can'tget themon.

5. get on (with) p.v. When you continue doing something, youget on, get on withwhat you were doing, orget on with it.

It's getting late. If we're going to finish this work today we'd betterget on with it.

I didn't say you could stop!Get on with your work.

Get to

get to & gets to getting to got to gottenlgot to

1. get... to p.v. When youget to a place, you arrive there. When youget peopleto a place, you help them to go there or take them there. When youget to work,you arrive at the place where you work.

Sarah left her house at 8:30 andgot to the beach at 9:15.

When Iget to Tokyo, I'll call to let you know I arrived safely.

Frank got fired because he keptgetting to work late.

I went to the restaurant across the street for lunch, and I didn'tget backto work until 2:30.

2. get to p.v. When things or peopleget to a certain level, number, or amount, they reach it.

lr sure was hot yesterday. It must havegotten to 100 degrees.

When I run, I always try toget to five miles before I quit.

3. get to p.v. When youget to something that you want or need to do, you find the time to do it. When youget to work, you start working.

l didn't have time to do the ironing last night. I'll try toget to it tonight.

Karen finallygot backto her school project yesterday. She hadn't worked on it for weeks.

You've wasted the entire morning. When are you going toget to work?

My boss told me to get off the phone andget backto work.

4. get to p.v. [informal] When youget to doing something, you begin todo it gradually.

Dadgot to thinking that maybe we ought to move to Los Angeles and try to find work there.

After seeing all those strange lights in the sky, Igot to wondering if maybe UFOs really exist after all.

5. get to p.v. When youget to do something, you are allowed to do it or are able to do it.

Timmy was excited because hegot to ride a pony.

I hope Iget to shake the President's hand after his speech.

6. get to p.v. When somethinggets to you, it bothers or annoys you, either psychologically or physically.

Jim's constant complaining is really starting toget to his wife.

Let's sit down and rest — this heat isgetting to me.

1. hang on (to) p.v. When youhang on orhang on to something, you hold it tightly so that you will not fall or be hurt.Hold on is similar tohang on.

l fell off the horse because I wasn'thanging on tightly enough.

If she'dhung on to my hand, she wouldn't have fallen off the cliff.

2. hang on p.v. [informal] When youhang on, you wait for a short time.Hold on is the same ashang on.

Hang on for a minute — I'll be right back.

Judy's coming to the phone now — can youhang on?

Start off

start off & starts off starting off started off started off

1. start off (withlby) p.v. When an activity or eventstarts off, it begins. When you start an activity or eventoff with something, you begin with it. When youstart an activity or eventoff by doing something, you begin by doing it.

The singerstarted the concertoff with a song from her latest CD.

Many speakers like tostart off a speech by telling a joke.

2. start off p.v. When people or thingsstart off a certain way, they are this way at the beginning of a process that changes them.Start out is similar tostart off.

The daystarted off nice, but it got cold and cloudy.

I thought the movie was good, but itstarted off kind of boring.

1. throw... away p.v. When youthrow somethingaway, you dispose of it by

putting it in the wastebasket, trash, and so on.Throw out is the same asthrow away.

If you're finished with these papers,throw themaway.

Nancy's outside looking in the trash for her wedding ring; it was accidentallythrown away.

2. throw... away p.v. When youthrow away something important or valuable, you foolishly do something that causes you to lose it.

This is your last chance to save your marriage, so don'tthrow itaway.

When I got mad and quit my job, Ithrew away a chance to become vice-president of the company.

Date: 2016-04-22; view: 689