English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate » Unit 50: Commenting on problematic situations

Word List
  • annoyance
  • badly (affected)
  • break
  • bury the hatchet
  • can’t face the thought of
  • cards on the table
  • challenge
  • chaos
  • collapse
  • dead end
  • deprivation
  • deprive s.o. of sth
  • dilemma
  • disaster
  • disrupt
  • disruption
  • effect
  • (in a) fix
  • get your act together
  • get to the bottom of things
  • grasp
  • heart
  • heartbreak
  • intensely (annoying)
  • irritant
  • irritation
  • lack
  • light at the end of the tunnel
  • mildly (irritating)
  • muddle
  • point
  • pour oil on troubled waters
  • sit up
  • stir things up
  • sweep under the carpet
  • take a back seat
  • take notice
  • take the bull by the horns
  • tide
  • tight corner
  • turning point
Exercises

50.1 ‣ Choose the best word from A opposite to complete these sentences.

  1. Can you help Grandpa fill out that form? It's so long and complicated that he's getting in a bit of a .
  2. The manager told his staff that he didn't want to hear the word 'problems', but rather they should talk about _____.
  3. After the earthquake, city transport was in _____.
  4. I wonder if you could help me out -I'm in a bit of a tight _____.
  5. Should I take the job in New York or the one in Sydney? It's quite a _____.
  6. The floods are the worst natural _____ the country has experienced this century.

50.2 ‣ Match the sentence beginnings with the words on the right and add a preposition to complete the sentence.

  1. Ben decided he would immediately lay his cards
  2. The best thing to do is just to take the bull _____
  3. Fortunately we can now see the light at the end _____
  4. It'll take ages before we can get to the bottom _____
  5. It's asking for trouble to sweep things _____
  6. You can always rely on Naomi to pour oil _____
  7. At the moment my research seems to have come _____
  8. Claire has now reached a turning point _____
  1. a) troubled waters.
  2. b) her life.
  3. c) the table.
  4. d) a dead end.
  5. e) the horns.
  6. f) things.
  7. g) the tunnel.
  8. h) the carpet.

  1. Ben decided he would immediately lay his cards
  2. The best thing to do is just to take the bull _____
  3. Fortunately we can now see the light at the end _____
  4. It'll take ages before we can get to the bottom _____
  5. It's asking for trouble to sweep things _____
  6. You can always rely on Naomi to pour oil _____
  7. At the moment my research seems to have come _____
  8. Claire has now reached a turning point _____

50.3 ‣ Rewrite each sentence using the word in brackets.

  1. The snow caused serious disruption to trains in the region. (disrupted)
  2. I don't want to drive home in all this traffic. (face)
    _____
  3. Keira doesn't seem to have much confidence. (lacking)
    _____
  4. Unfortunately, the project doesn't seem to be getting anywhere at the moment. (dead)
    _____
  5. Sleep deprivation can cause health and other problems. (deprived)
    _____
  6. Paula was profoundly affected by her meeting with Angus. (effect)
    _____

50.4 ‣ Choose suitable idioms from C and D to fill the gaps.

  1. Selim's business has been going through hard times but he feels at last .
  2. No, please, don't say anything: you'll only _____.
  3. It's been a long, hard struggle, but I think finally we can _____.
  4. The police are trying their best to _____, but it's still a real mystery at the moment.
  5. You've been messing around achieving nothing for too long; it's time you _____!
  6. At last I've managed to get him to _____; he's paid no attention at all to us so far.
  7. I found it hard to understand thermodynamics at first but I'm beginning to _____ it now.
  8. I think I'll just _____ and let everyone else get on with sorting matters out.
  9. I wish you and John wouldn't argue so much. Can't you _____ once and for all?
Answer Key
A ‣ Types of problems and difficulties

There are many words for different types of difficulties. Chaos is a state of total confusion, where there is no order at all. A disaster is an event which causes great harm or damage. If you are facing a dilemma or are in a dilemma you are in a situation where you have to make a difficult decision between two things.

The earthquake was a dreadful disaster for the country. The transport system was in chaos for some time afterwards. The government were faced with a dilemma: start reconstruction work at once or wait until the likelihood of aftershocks had passed.

to be in a fix = be in a difficult situation

to be in a tight corner = be in a situation that is hard to get out of

to be in a muddle = be confused / mixed up

The word challenge puts a positive slant on a problem situation in that it focuses on the fact that it needs great mental or physical effort in order to be done successfully and therefore tests a person's ability.

B ‣ Specific difficulties

You can be badly affected1 by all sorts of things, from those that are mildly irritating2 to the intensely annoying3.

1 things can have a negative impact on you
2 slightly annoying
3 extremely annoying

Your plans may be disrupted. [prevented from continuing as intended]

Negotiations or a building may collapse. [fail because of a lack of support]

You can be deprived of something you value. [have something taken away from you]

Someone's heart can be broken. [made extremely sad]

Your life may lack something that you would like. [not have (enough of) something]

The nouns related to the words in this section are effect, irritant or irritation, annoyance, disruption, collapse, deprivation, heartbreak and lack.

C ‣ Idioms about dealing with problems and difficulties

to take a back seat [not to do anything; let others act instead] ≠ to take the bull by the horns [act positively to face and attack the problem]

to stir things up [do/say things that make the situation worse] ≠ to pour oil on troubled waters [do/say things that calm the situation down]

I can't face (the thought of) clearing up all this mess today. [don't want to deal with]

I didn't know what to do but I thought it would be best just to lay my cards on the table. [state exactly what my position is]

This has to be done by next week; we must get our act together before it's too late. [organise ourselves to respond; infml]

We need a proper investigation to get to the bottom of things. [find the true explanation]

It's quite difficult to get people to sit up and take notice. [make them pay attention]

I'm trying to get a grasp of what's happening; it's not easy. [find out / understand]

D ‣ Idioms relating to changes in problem situations

The tide has turned for us; better days are ahead.

We can see the light at the end of the tunnel at last. [see that a difficult situation may be ending soon]

I'm afraid we've just come to a dead end with our plans.

I think I've reached a turning point in my career.

The government and the unions have buried the hatchet for the time being. [made peace / stopped fighting each other]

All that trouble last year was just swept under the carpet in the end. [ignored / deliberately forgotten, without solving it]

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