Practical Activities with Phrasal Verbs for B2/C1 students – EPISODE 6

PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES WITH PHRASAL VERBS FOR B2/C1 STUDENTS – EPISODE 5 *Includes Listening Input! As you know Phrasal Verbs play a major role in language learning. This time we are going to focus on the following 10 Phrasal Verbs: HOLD BACK – BUTT IN – LOOK OUT – ACT ON – SHOW UP – FALL APART – ROOT FOR – PASS OUT – HANG UP ON – TEAM UP WITH

I – Meaning/Explanation of the Phrasal Verbs + Example Sentences

Hold back: a) control; stop, esp. tears, anger, etc.
Ex.: “Some of the romantic scenes had me crying. I just couldn´t hold back my tears.”, Sally told Heather.
b) prevent the progress or development
Ex.: “Jason´s school performance used to be much better than it is now. Maybe the friends he´s been hanging around with recently are holding him back.”, Molly told Jane.
c) keep something secret; not reveal information
Ex.: The investigators suspect that one of the witnesses is holding back information.
Butt in: a) break into a conversation; interrupt
Ex.: “Christopher has this annoying habit of butting in on people´s conversations.”, Tommy told Rita.
b) interfere
Ex.: “I know you´re just trying to help, but this is personal. I´d rather you didn´t butt in.”, Sheila told Wagner.

Look out: be careful; watch out
Ex.: “Look out, there´s a speed bump up ahead.”, said Miles to a friend who was driving.

Act on:take action according to the information, suggestions or advice that has been given you
Ex.: “We´d better act on the instructions that have been passed on to us if we want to avoid any problems.”, said Charlie to a coworker.
Show up: arrive; appear
Ex.: “Barry showed up an hour late for the appointment. We all thought he wasn´t coming anymore.”, Tarry told Will.

Fall apart: break into pieces; deteriorate
Ex.: “That old sofa is falling apart. I really need to get a new one.”, Roger told Bill.

Root for: support or encourage someone or a team
Ex.: We all rooted for our college basketball team.

Pass out: become unconscious; faint
Ex.: “It was a very hot day. Some people on the parade have been reported to have passed out from the heat.”, said David to a friend.

Hang up on: hang up the phone before a conversation is finished
Ex.: “I often hang up on people who try to sell me things over the phone. You know, I tell them I´m not interested, but they won´t stop talking so I have no choice but to hang up on them.”, Clive told Liza.
Team up with: form a team or partnership with
Ex.: “You might have a better chance of success if you team up with someone with previous experience in this kind of business.”, Jason´s uncle advised him.

II – Exercise 1: Fill in the short dialogues below with phrasal verbs

Mini-dialogue 1

Gary: Have you seen Ryan recently?
Fred:Uh, yeah, as a matter of fact I talked to him yesterday.
Gary: Did you? Is he all right?
Fred:Uh, I think he´s okay, but he told me his marriage is ________________.
Gary: Seriously? Gee, I hope he can work things out with Rachel. I think they make a great couple.
Fred:Me too, pal! Me too.

Mini-dialogue 2

Rick: How was the party last night?
Dennis: It was a helluva bash, man! Too bad you didn´t show up. You missed out on some great booze.
Rick: I know, I´ll try to make it next time. So, don´t tell me Bill got plastered again!?
Dennis: Oh yeah, he _____________ from all the beer that he drank.
Rick:Wow, seems like he always does that!
Dennis: Yeah, like I said, it was a great party, we really did have a blast!

Mini-dialogue 3

George: Are you still seeing Stella?
Ronald: Uh, kind of.
George: Kind of? What´s that supposed to mean?
Ronald: We broke up and then we made up, but it seems we have broken up again.
George: Really?
Ronald: Yeah, Stella can get pretty mad for no reason sometimes. Can you believe she ______________ me last night?
George: Did she?

Mini-dialogue 4

Amy: So, did you talk to Jake last night?
Brian: No, he didn´t _____________ at all.
Amy: Didn´t he?
Brian: No, I waited till about 10 pm and then I left.
Amy: Didn´t you try to call him?
Brian: No, I have a new cell phone and I don´t have his number on my agenda.
Amy: I see, gee, it´s not like Jake to do something like that. I´ll try to find out what happened.

Mini-dialogue 5

Tyler: Hey, Debra! How´s it going?
Debra: Pretty good. How about yourself?
Tyler: I´m doing great, thank you! I haven´t seen your brother in a long time. Is he okay?
Debra: Yeah, he´s fine. Actually he´s just started a new business.
Tyler: Really? What´s he doing now?
Debra: He _________________ some friends from college and they´ve just opened their first burger joint.
Tyler: A hamburger joint? Sounds interesting! I personally think that any business in the food industry is bound to be successful. People always need to eat, right?

III – Exercise 2: Click the link below to listen to the phrasal verb sentences and write them

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IV – KEY TO EXERCISES

Exercise 1: Fill in the short dialogues below with phrasal verbs

Mini-dialogue 1: falling apart
Mini-dialogue 2: passed out
Mini-dialogue 3: hung up on
Mini-dialogue 4: show up
Mini-dialogue 5: teamed up with

Exercise 2: Listen to the phrasal verb sentences and write them

1.“Hang in there pal! We´re rooting for you.”, Mike told Roger.
2.Travis and Joe are good friends. They always look out for each other.
3. Josh couldn´t hold back his anger, so he started shouting at them like I´d never seen him do it before.
4. “I wish Fred would stop butting in on my conversations. It can be a pain in the neck sometimes!”, Bart told Ron.
5.“We´ll be doing okay as long as we act on our lawyer´s sound advice.”, William told his partner.

Source: FALE TUDO EM INGLÊS AVANÇADO – Author: José Roberto A. Igreja / Disal Editora