English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate » Unit 47: What your body does

Word List
  • bite
  • blink
  • blush
  • breath
  • breathe
  • chew
  • cough
  • frown
  • grin
  • hold your breath
  • lick
  • out of breath
  • perspiration
  • perspire
  • rumble
  • shake
  • shiver
  • sigh
  • sneeze
  • snore
  • suck
  • swallow
  • sweat
  • take a deep breath
  • tremble
  • wink
  • yawn
Exercises

47.1 ‣ Which of the words on the opposite page do these pictures illustrate?

  2. _____
  3. _____
  4. _____
  5. _____

47.2 ‣ Complete the sentences with verbs from A opposite.

  1. I could see she was extremely cold because she was .
  2. I sensed that he was feeling sad because he _____.
  3. She couldn't sleep all night because her husband was _____.
  4. The fumes from all the cars and lorries were horrible and made me _____.
  5. I knew I had caught a cold because I started _____.
  6. The doctor examined my chest and asked me to take _____.
  7. Put your head underwater and see how many seconds you can _____.
  8. We started running fast and soon we were both _____.

47.3 ‣ The Trubble family are at a restaurant and things are not going well. Fill the gaps with verbs from B opposite.

MRS TRUBBLE: Where's our food? My stomach is 1 What slow service! Kevin, stop making that horrible noise with your drink! People are looking at us.
KEVIN: It's my straw. It's broken and I can't 2_____ through it properly.
MR TRUBBLE: Ouch! I just 3_____ an olive and I've broken my tooth on the stone! Look!
MRS TRUBBLE: Mm. So ... where's the stone?
MR TRUBBLE: Oh dear. I think I 4_____ it!

47.4 ‣ Find the word to match these definitions.

  1. Draw the eyebrows together to express displeasure or puzzlement.
  2. Crush food into smaller, softer pieces with the teeth so you can swallow it. _____
  3. Your body makes small, quick movements because you are laughing so much. _____
  4. Shut and open both eyes quickly. _____
  5. Deliberately shut and open one eye. _____
  6. Use your tongue to take in food (e.g. on an ice-cream cone). _____

47.5 ‣ Circle the correct word to complete the sentences.

  1. We worked hard in the hot sun. Soon we were _____.
    • trembling
    • perspiring
    • shivering
  2. He seemed very amused. He was _____.
    • trembling
    • blushing
    • grinning
  3. She _____ the stamp and stuck it on the envelope.
    • sucked
    • licked
    • bit
  4. I always find it difficult to _____ medicines.
    • swallow
    • suck
    • chew
  5. It was so funny! I was just _____ with laughter!
    • trembling
    • shaking
    • shivering
  6. The poor little animal was _____ with fear.
    • shivering
    • trembling
    • grinning
  7. It was so hot and humid. Soon my shirt was soaked with _____.
    • perspire
    • perspiration
    • perspitation
Answer Key
A ‣ Verbs connected with the mouth and breathing

yawn: Why are you yawning? Are you feeling sleepy?

sneeze: Dust often makes me sneeze.

snore: He snored in his chair with his mouth wide open.

cough: It was so smoky in the room that he couldn't stop coughing.

sigh: She sighed with relief when she heard the plane had landed safely.

be out of breath: I ran for the bus and now I'm out of breath!

take a deep breath: He took a deep breath and jumped into the water.

hold your breath: How long can you hold your breath underwater?

B ‣ Verbs connected with eating

chew: My granny used to say you should chew every mouthful ten times.

rumble: It's embarrassing if your stomach rumbles during an interview.

swallow: Take a drink of water to help you swallow the pills.

suck: In an aeroplane, if you suck a sweet, it can stop your ears popping.

lick: The cat licked the bowl clean.

bite: Don't bite that hard sweet - you'll damage your teeth.

C ‣ Verbs connected with the eyes and face


  1. wink

  2. grin

  3. frown

wink: He winked at me across the room to try to make me laugh.

frown: Why are you frowning? What's the problem?

grin: She was so delighted with the present that she grinned from ear to ear.

blink: She blinked several times to try and get the dust out of her eye.

blush: He blushed with embarrassment when she smiled at him.

D ‣ Verbs connected with the whole body


  1. sweat

  2. shiver

perspire/sweat /swet/: When it's hot, you sweat / perspire. (perspire is more formal)

shiver: Look at him! He's so cold that he's shivering!

tremble: My hands tremble when I've been drinking too much coffee.

shake: She laughed so much that her whole body shook.

Language help

All the verbs on this page (except shake and bite) are regular verbs; almost all the words have an identical noun form: to yawn → a yawn, to cough → a cough /kɒf/ etc. (except to breathe /briːð/ and to perspire; their nouns are breath /breθ/ and perspiration).

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