Phrasal verbs Unit 2

Question 1

Brush up (on)

Answer 1

Practise and improve your skills or knowledge of something
•I need to brush up on my Spanish before my trip to Madrid

Question 2

Come (a)round (to)

Answer 2

change your opinion or decision because someone has persuaded you to agree with them
• She didn’t like the idea at first, but she eventually came around to my way of thinking

Question 3

Face up to

Answer 3

accept something and try to deal with it
•You need to face up to your responsibilities instead of avoiding them

Question 4

Hit upon

Answer 4

Suddenly have an idea; discover something by chance
•while brainstorming, she suddenly hit upon a fantastic marketing strategy

Question 5

Mull over

Answer 5

Think carefully about something over a period of time
•I need some time to mull over your proposal before making a decision

Question 6

Puzzle out

Answer 6

Solve a confusing or complicated problem by thinking carefully about that

Question 7

Read up (on/about)

Answer 7

Get information on a particular subject by reading a lot about it
•Before training, I always read up on the country‘s culture

Question 8

Swot up (on)

Answer 8

Study something very hard, especially for an examination
•she swotted up on history before the final exam

Question 9

Take in

Answer 9

Understand and remember something that you hear or read; accept something as real or true; trick someone into believing something that is not true
• I couldn’t take in all the information from the lecture

Question 10

Think through

Answer 10

Consider the facts about something in an organized and thorough way
•before making a big decision, you should think it through carefully

Question 11

Think up

Answer 11

Invent or imagine something, especially an excuse
•he thought up an excuse for being late to class