Joy English · Level B2 · Phrasal verbsjoy-english.com
Phrasal verbs for work and study
Name:Date:
Learn phrasal verbs that are common at work and university, such as carry out, fall behind, come up with and take on.
Choose the phrasal verb
Choose the best answer.
- If you keep ___ your revision, you'll run out of time before the exam.
- What does come up with mean?
- The researchers ___ a series of experiments over six months.
- Please ___ your reports by Friday so that I can mark them at the weekend.
- I was ill for a week and ___ with my coursework.
- Choose the correct sentence.
- The IT department is ___ why the system keeps crashing.
- She decided to ___ an extra project because she wanted more experience.
Complete with a phrasal verb
Type the phrasal verb in the correct form. Use each one once. Use: catch up, come up with, drop out, figure out, go over, set up, take on.
- Halfway through the first year, Kwame decided to ___ of the course and look for a job.
- It took me ages to ___ the answer to the last puzzle, but I finally got it.
- The day before the exam, the teacher ___ all the key topics with the class one more time.
- I missed Monday's lecture, so I need to ___ on the notes this evening.
- Last week our team ___ a brilliant idea for the science fair: a solar-powered fan.
- Ravi has ___ a meeting with his tutor for Thursday at three.
- Don't ___ more work than you can manage, or you'll be exhausted by the end of term.
Answer key
Choose the phrasal verb
- b) putting offPut off means delay doing something until later.
- c) think of an idea or planCome up with means think of an idea, plan or solution.
- a) carried outCarry out means do or complete a task, test or piece of research.
- b) hand inHand in means give your work to the teacher or person in charge.
- c) fell behindFall behind means fail to keep up with the work you planned to do.
- b) I finished the essay and handed it in.With a pronoun object, a separable phrasal verb must be split: hand it in.
- a) looking intoLook into means investigate a problem.
- c) take onTake on means accept a new task or responsibility.
Complete with a phrasal verb
- drop outDrop out of a course means leave it before finishing.
- figure out / work out / findFigure out means find the answer or understand something after thinking.
- went over / reviewedGo over means review something carefully. The sentence is in the past, so we use went over.
- catch upCatch up on something means do the work you missed earlier.
- came up with / thought of / hadCome up with means think of an idea. Last week needs the past form came up with.
- set up / arranged / organised / organized / bookedSet up means arrange something such as a meeting. The past participle is also set up.
- take on / acceptTake on means accept a new task or responsibility.