Conversation Questions and Activities to Aid in the Learning of English
Arranged according to tense, topic, and levels of difficulty
By Prof. Mark McDowell, M.A. Mark’s ESL World ~ http://www.marksesl.com
144
"I'm sorry I'm late. There was an accident on the freeway and traffic held me
up."
hold up (3. separable): rob; threaten someone with harm unless he/she gives
her/his money or other valuable things.
"Sarah is very upset. When she was walking home last night, two men held
her up and took her purse and jewelry."
iron out (separable): mutually reach an agreement; mutually resolve difficulties
"Yes, I know we disagree on lots of things, Susan, but we can iron them out."
J
jack up (1. separable): raise / life by using a jack.
"We'll have to jack the back of the car up before we can change the tire."
jack up (2. separable): raise (used for prices).
"The car dealer bought my old Ford for $750 and jacked the price up to
$1,500 when they sold it."
jump all over (inseparable):
severely scold someone; berate someone.
"Arthur is really upset. His boss jumped all over him because he's been late
for work three times this week."
K
keep on (1. inseparable--followed by an -ing verb): continue
"I'm not ready to stop yet. I think I'll keep on working for a while."
keep on (someone) (2. inseparable): continue to remind someone to do
something until he/she does it (even if this irritates her/him).
"Bill's very forgetful. You'll have to keep on him or he'll never
do all the things
you want him to do."
kick out (separable): expel; force someone to leave because of his/her poor
performance or unacceptable behavior.
"Jim's club kicked him out because he didn't pay his dues or come to
meetings."
knock out (separable): make unconscious.
"The boxing match ended when one boxer knocked the other one out."