Problems & solutions

Question 1

Problems arise

Answer 1

to begin to occur or to exist; to come into being or to attention

Problems arise when people try to avoid responsibility.

Question 2

Problems crop up

Answer 2

to come or appear when not expected

New problems crop up every day

Question 3

Problems preset themselves

Answer 3

arise

Straightforward approach usually fails and unexpected problems present themselves.

Question 4

Problems recur

Answer 4

A recurring problem is one of the worst!

Question 5

Encounter / experience difficulties

Answer 5

• There was a general consensus that newly qualified nurses still encounter difficulties when transitioning into professional practice.*
• Many companies still experience difficulties when trying to move beyond the Pilot stage or PoC with #RPA.*

Question 6

to be in a quandary

Answer 6

a situation in which one has to choose between two or more equally unsatisfactory choices

I’m in a quandary about whether I should try to repair my stereo or buy a new one, even though I don’t have the money to do either

Question 7

to be in a dilemma

to be faced with a dilema

Answer 7

a situation in which one has to choose between two or more equally unsatisfactory choices

The company was in a dilemma over its future

Faced with a dilemma of whether to risk continuing to drive in the dangerous storm or to give up searching for the lost dog and hope he survived

Question 8

to be in dire straits

Answer 8

in a very bad or difficult situation

With its best player out of the game, the team found itself in dire straits.

Question 9

a bit stuck

Answer 9

if you are stuck in a place, you want to get away from it, but are unable to.

I was stuck at home with flu…

Question 10

in a jam

Answer 10

in trouble or in a difficult situation

• If you get in a jam, here’s my phone number so you can reach me.*
• I’m in a real jam - I lost my key and can’t get into my house.*

Question 11

in a fix

Answer 11

To be in a troublesome situation.

• Boy, I’m really in a fix - I accidentally made plans with two different men tonight!*
• We’re in a fix now because the hotel gave our room away!*

Question 12

in trouble

Answer 12

Subject to punishment for a particular offense or wrongdoing.

I’m in trouble with my parents for sneaking out last night.

In a problematic situation or in a state of hardship.

I’m in trouble, Dave. Is there any way you could lend me some money?

Question 13

run away from problems / ignore problems

Answer 13

ignore, postpone, pretedmn they don’t exist

• Sometimes, those things really are more important, but this doesn’t mean that we should run away from problems or postpone them*
• The reason why you ignore your problems is because it’s the easiest thing to do*

Question 14

bury/have your head in the sand

Answer 14

To refuse to think about unpleasant facts, although they will have an influence on your situation

You’ve got to face facts here - you can’t just bury your head in the sand.

Question 15

hope problems will go away

Answer 15

disappear

The Council should not bury its head in the sand and hope that this problem will go away.

Question 16

wash your hands of sth

Answer 16

If you wash your hands of something that you were previously responsible for, you intentionally stop being involved in it or connected with it in any way

She couldn’t wait to wash her hands of the whole project.

Question 17

pass the buck

Answer 17

shift the responsibility for something to someone else.

Elected political leaders cannot pass the buck for crisis decisions to any alternative source of authority.

Question 18

come back to a haunt

Answer 18

The past has come back to a haunt the Fire Department Deputy Chief

Question 19

confront the problem

Answer 19

stań twarzą w twarz z problemem

It is confronting political problems that the entire city will have to deal with soon, they said.

Question 20

tackle the problem

Answer 20

address the problem

• This would tackle the youth unemployment problem and provide more balanced use of apprenticeships across all sectors.*
• Bringing aviation into a carbon trading system is the only sane way to tackle the problem.*

Question 21

deal with a problem

Answer 21

To successfully deal with a problem or difficult

The council has failed to deal with the problem of homelessness in the city.

Question 22

sort the problem out on the spot

Answer 22

The good news is that most of the time we can sort the problem out on the spot

Question 23

take the bull by the horns

Answer 23

Deal decisively with a difficult or dangerous situation.
She decided to take the bull by the horns and organize things for herself

Question 24

sort it out once and for all

Answer 24

Just sign them all in as John Doe and we’ll sort it out later.

Question 25

the buck stops here

Answer 25

The responsibility for something cannot or should not be passed to someone else

When you are a minister, the buck stops with you

Question 26

shoulder the responsibility

Answer 26

To accept, to assume, to take the responsibility.

• Philip shoulders all the responsibility for decisions made in the sales department, good or bad he is responsible.*
• He is the man who should be shouldering the responsibility.*

Question 27

a pain in the neck

Answer 27

An annoying or tedious person or thing.

She’s a pain in the neck

Question 28

a real headache

Answer 28

If you say that something is a headache, you mean that it causes you difficulty or worry.

This is a real headache for us.

Question 29

reach an agreement

Answer 29

To achieve some accord, settlement, or compromise (with someone), especially after a period of debate, argument, negotiation, etc.

• The state prosecutors say they have reached an agreement with the CEO regarding his suspected involvement in racketeering.*
• The heads of state reached an agreement to implement a new trade deal between the six countries.*

Question 30

overcome obstacles

Answer 30

Overcoming obstacles means that you can work through a challenge in order to achieve a goal.

• Giving children self-confidence and the ability to overcome obstacles is obviously useful in their education.*
• We have managed to overcome huge obstacles.*

Question 31

struck a deal

Answer 31

to come to an agreement

The two sides finally struck a deal after weeks of negotiations.

Question 32

restore confidence

Answer 32

To bring back confidence, trust or belief in something

• How can we restore confidence in the banking system after so many people lost their savings?*
• If public confidence isn’t restored, the economy will continue to worsen.*

Question 33

to bury the hatchet

Answer 33

End a quarrel or conflict and become friendly.

After many quarrelling years, the two political parties finally decided to bury the hatchet.

Question 34

rise above something

Answer 34

if someone rises above a bad situation or bad influences, they do not let these things affect them because they are mentally strong or have strong moral principles

You expect a certain amount of criticism, but you have to rise above it.

Question 35

to get back to the wall

Answer 35

Also, back against the wall. In a hard-pressed situation; also, without any way of escape.

• In the closing few minutes, our team had its back to the wall but continued to fight gallantly*
• The bank has him with his back to the wall; he’ll have to pay up now.*

Question 36

to be in a tight corner

Question 37

iron out the details