English Word Skills Exercises for B1 – Phrasal verbs (1)

1. Complete the sentences with the correct form of the phrasal verbs below.

get up to      go in for      go through with      live up to

put up with      run out of      sign up for

1   We ………………………… money two days after we arrived!

2   He’s so annoying. How do you ………………………… him?

3   Personally, I don’t ………………………… dangerous sports.

4   She wasn’t brave enough to ………………………… the plan.

5   At the hotel reception, you can ………………………… some really interesting excursions.

6   What did you ………………………… on holiday?

7   Part 2 of the trilogy could never ………………………… Part 1.

2. Complete the plot summary of the film Big with the correct form of the phrasal verbs below.

catch up with      fit in with      get away with      get on with

get up      go back      make up      walk out on

Big

At a travelling carnival, twelve-year-old Josh Baskin is embarrassed when he is too small for one of the rides. He puts a coin in a fortune-telling machine, which tells him to make a wish – so Josh wishes he was big. When he 1……………………… the next morning, he notices that his wish has come true: he is an adult, although still a child inside. His mother thinks he is a burglar, so he has to leave home. He tries to 2……………………… to the carnival, but it has left town.

On his own, Josh needs money, so he finds a job at a toy company. He doesn’t really have the skills he needs for work, but he 3……………………… it because he loves toys. In fact, he does well at work, but he finds it difficult to 4……………………… the other adults there. The only person he really 5……………………… is a female colleague called Susan Lawrence.

One day, Josh’s friend Billy tells him that the carnival is back in town. Josh 6……………………… Susan in the middle of an important meeting at work. When she 7……………………… him, he is at the fortune-telling machine. Finally, she realises that he did not 8……………………… the story about being a child. The two say goodbye before Josh puts another coin in the machine and becomes a child again.

3. Complete the sentences with one or two prepositions below.

away      back      for      for      in      in      on      to      up      up      up

1   Look ……………………… his address on the internet.

2   It was so dark inside the cave that he was afraid to go ………………………

3   I’ve always looked ……………………… my grandmother; she’s a brave and intelligent person.

4   He’s very reliable; he never goes ……………………… a promise.

5   I like sport, but I don’t really go ……………………… martial arts.

6   The beach was fantastic. It made ……………………… the hotel, which wasn’t great.

7   The police saw the burglar, but he still managed to get ………………………

4. Rewrite the sentences replacing the underlined object with a pronoun (him, her, it, them, etc.).

1   She likes my friends and tries to get on with my friends.

     She likes my friends and tries to ………………………………………………………

2   I don’t know where the restaurant is. Let’s look up the location on the internet.

     I don’t know where the restaurant is. Let’s ………………………………………………………

3   They’d planned the robbery carefully, but didn’t go through with the plan.

      They’d planned the robbery carefully, but ………………………………………………………

4   We haven’t eaten here before; we just came across the restaurant while we were walking around town.

      We haven’t eaten here before; we just came across ………………………………………………………

5   He’s always so rude. I don’t think I can put up with his rudeness much longer.

     He’s always so rude. I don’t think I can put up with ………………………………………………………

6   I knew the answer, but I didn’t have time to write down the answer.

     I knew the answer, but I didn’t have time ………………………………………………………

7   The flight was terrible, but the holiday made up for the journey.

      The flight was terrible, but the holiday ………………………………………………………

Extra exercises

1. Replace the underlined words with the correct form of the phrasal verbs below.

1   Connor didn’t fulfil his parents’ expectations and failed to get a place at university.

     ……………………………………………

2   After her father abandoned his job, the family moved house.

     ……………………………………………

3   That child doesn’t behave like the rest of the class because he prefers to play on his own.

     ……………………………………………

4   When Amy agreed to do a job as a waitress, she didn’t think it would be such hard work.

     ……………………………………………

5   My brother is always making ambitious plans, but he never completes them.

     ……………………………………………

6   He’ll never succeed in reaching the other runners because he’s much slower than they are.

     ……………………………………………

7   I couldn’t tolerate the heat any longer, so I went out and bought a fan.

     ……………………………………………

8   She couldn’t finish the exam because she had used all of the time.

     ……………………………………………

9   My little brother and I don’t have a good relationship with each other.

     ……………………………………………

2. Complete the sentences with the correct form of the correct verb in brackets. Include a pronoun where necessary.

1   The room was full, so he needed to take a deep breath before he …………………………….. . (go in / go in for)

2   The teacher didn’t notice that we hadn’t done the homework. We …………………………….. . (get away / get away with)

3   The starter wasn’t very tasty, but the main course …………………………….. . It was delicious! (make up / make up for)

4   I didn’t answer the phone because I …………………………….. yet. (get up / get up to)

5   If you don’t understand a word, …………………………….. in the dictionary. (look up / look up to)

6   If you make a promise, you shouldn’t …………………………….. . (go back / go back on)