Top
of the Bill
I went to a top of the Bill
restaurant last night. =very good
He has a career in IT. =professional
job
The car careered off the road. =drove
wildly, losing control
His commitment to his students earned
him many honors. =devotion, dedication
He resigned after 30 years =left on his
own free will
He slunk away from the party. =to
slink/ sneak away
She’s wearing a slinky dress. =very
close fitting, tight, sexy
Their team suffered a total wipeout
losing by 26-6. =defeat
The surfer had a wipeout. =fell off
his board
The livestock got caught in the
flood. =farm animal
She got new stock in her shop.
=supplies
He took stock of the situation.
=thought about what to do
Some students think studying English involves
a lot of adversity. =hardship, trouble
He got an adverse report. =bad
Ultimately,
she began to understand English. =finally, at last
He made the ultimate decision to
move to NZ. =final
His wife gave him an ultimatum.
=final demand
Trust is the foundation of any marriage.
=base
Learning English is crucial if you
live in an English-speaking country. =important
Cyclone Gita caused much turmoil in
central NZ. =chaos, disruption, problems
His mind is in turmoil. =confused,
mixed-up (emotional stuff)
crisis= a critical/ important point
The auditors checked the bank’s books.
=financial records
His business suffered a $100,000 deficit.
=loss
profit/loss
surplus/deficit
red ink/black ink
His company is awash in red ink. =losing
money fast
fiscal year =year the government hands out
money, 1 April-31 Mar
calendar year = 1 Jan-31 Dec
His chagrin at failing the exam was
very deep. =disappointment
He served a 3 year stint as Prime
Minister. =period of time
He finds it difficult to grasp the
English language. =understand
The young child grasped its mum’s
hand. =hold tight
She championed her daughter’s career
as a violinist. =supported strongly
self-reliance =don’t need help
She’s a very self-reliant young
lady.
He was attuned to the needs of the
company. =well aware of/ know a lot of/ have a good understanding
His life was blighted by the loss of
his job. =made bad, made miserable
Blighty= U.K.
He was a naïve country boy.
=innocent, unworldly, hasn’t learned what the other people do
He has a wealth of information on
life in NZ. =very much
Some men use alcohol as a panacea
for sadness. =cure-all
He has retained his Korean passport.
=kept
His accession to be the throne was
quick. =reaching
He’s on the throne. =toilet (slang)
The transition from life in Korea to
life in NZ was difficult. =change
He’s partially blind. =partly
He alluded to the fact that the
student was lazy. =hinted, implied
The team won because its cohesion was
superb. =working as one/ together
He gave a coherent speech. =clear,
easy to understand (incoherent=doesn’t make sense)
a score=20
4 scores=80
a gross =144 (=12 dozen)
The movie was gross. =nasty,
unpleasant
front-runner= leading the rest
work the crowd= gain popularity
English can be formidable language
to learn. =difficult, hard
opponent= against
proponent= for
He’s a proponent of gay marriage.
=supports
caucus= all the members of particular
political party