1. When did Jeremy Renner start working?
2. What job did he do as a teenager?
3. What job did he do when he moved to LA?
4. How long did he do this job?
5. Why was he good at this job?
6. How often does he do this job nowadays?
7. Who did his sister’s makeup for her big day?

source: Jeremy Renner Had A Career As A Makeup Artist, The Jonathan Ross Show, Youtube

keys/megoldások:

1. at the age of 10
2. he worked as a paper boy
3. he worked as a beauty makeup artist
4. for 8 years
5. He was good at witnessing and understanding another human being.
He could ask a few of the right questions to understand his clients.
6. He does it every once in a while. (sometimes, but not regularly)
7. Jeremy Renner

There are several colourful idioms connected with having too much work to do. If you are up to your eyes/eyeballs/neck/ears in work, there is a very large amount of it to do. We can also say that we are rushed off our feet – this phrase is usually for when the work involves standing up or moving around, for example working in a shop or café. In UK English, an informal way of saying that a job or situation (for example, running a family) is busy is to say that it’s all go.

If you say you have your hands full with something, you mean that it takes up all your time and you can’t do anything else. You could also say that you have a lot on your plate. If you say you are chasing your tail orrunning (a)round in circles, you mean that you are very busy but not managing to achieve much. If people are trying hard to do something but they are in a panic and not being effective, they are running (a)round like headless chickens. Note that US English speakers usually say around while UK English speakers say either around or round.

If someone is working very hard at the moment, we can say that they have their nose to the grindstone or that they have their head down. These two phrases are often used for students who are trying to do well, especially when they are preparing for exams.

A general adjective for someone who works very hard is hard-working. A more formal word is industrious. If we describe someone as conscientious, we mean that they put a lot of effort into doing their work as well as they can. If someone is willing to go the extra mile, they do more than is necessary in order to do something as well as they possibly can. If it takes hard physical effort to do something (for example cleaning something) we say that it needs elbow grease, and if you want to say that you made an extreme amount of effort, you could say you sweated blood to achieve it.

I hope all this talk of effort, exertion and slog (informal) doesn’t make you feel tired – we all need to try to have a good work-life balance, so don’t bust a gut (work too hard)!

source: blog by Liz Walter In Vocabulary, A Blog from Cambridge Dictionary

Próbáld kiegészíteni a következő mondatokat a szövegben használt kifejezésekkel. A kifejezésekből pár szó meg is jelenik a mondatokban, segítségként.

1. Would you go the …… …… to get promoted?
 

2. My workmate? He is …..- working and …………….. , I mean he puts a lot of effort into doing his work.
 

3. To work as a cleaning lady, you need ……….. ……..
 

4. I can’t understand why you haven’t been promoted. You’ve …… …… to achieve it.
 

5. What are the others doing now? They have their ….. to the ………….., Boss.
 

6. Why are you so upset? Although I’m running ……… in ………, I can’t complete anything.
 

7. Will you come with me to have lunch? No, I have my …. full with correcting tests.
 

8. Poor Tom, he is always ………….off his ……………..in this cool café as a waiter.
 

Key/Megoldás: 1. extra mile, 2. hard, conscientious; 3. elbow grease; 4. sweated blood; 5.nose, grindstone; 6. a/round, circles; 7. hands; 8. rushed, feet 

Microsoft’s ‘Get It Done’ campaign stresses how easy technology has made it to work from anywhere, but many question if doing so is a good idea. Featured in it are statistics that show the percentages of people who keep plugging away regardless of where they are or what they’re doing. Those numbers were gathered by Microsoft with the help of Harris Interactive, Inc. Researchers found that among those polled 55% said they need the ability to get work done regardless of where they are. For 19 percent of them that includes in the bathroom. Nearly half said they’ve remotely participated in meetings while on vacation. Over a quarter reported that they’d performed work-related tasks while out for happy hour. Though the ad campaign certainly shows the flexibility technology provides, it’s also raised questions about whether taking advantage of it is a good idea. Among the concerns expressed is that individuals are increasingly packing more work into their day at the expense of their work performance and their health.

Can you find the words or expressions in the text that have the same or similar meaning?

1. one fourth of something

2. from a distance

3. worry

4. to take part

5. to make use of

6. to collect

7. to keep working hard

8. to interview in a survey

9. the ability to change easily

10. not depending on something

Key:

1. quarter

2. remotely

3. concern

4. to participate

5. to take advantage of

6. to gather

7. to plug away

8. to poll

9. flexibility

10. regardless of something

2. Compassionate ….. is a short time spent away from work for personal reasons.
A: holiday
B: leave
C: go
D: off
E: out

3. A ….. union is an organisation for workers with particular skills to represent them to the employees.
A: work
B: skill
C: craft
D: specific
E: special

4. A ….. dispute is a disagreement between trade unions about what types of work should be done by the members of each of them.
A: demagogue
B: defiance
C: delivery
D: demarcation
E: democratic

5. The law of ….. returns refers to a situation in which a smaller result is achieved for an increasing amount of effort.
A: finishing
B: lowering
C: smallering
D: fading
E: diminishing

6. Direct ….. is the use of strikes or violence as a way of trying to get what you want from an employer, instead of talking.
A: activity
B: strike
C: action
D: picketing
E: force

7. The division of ….. is a way of organising work done by different groups of people.
A: work
B: labour
C: job
D: skill
E: toil

8. A ….. year is a year between leaving school and starting university which is usually spent travelling or working.
A: gap
B: leap
C: hole
D: abyss
E: pause

9. In a ….. strike most people in a country refuse to work, until they are given something that they are demanding.
A: total
B: general
C: national
D: selective
E: wholesome

10. A glass ….. is a point beyond which you cannot improve your position at work.
A: floor
B: ceiling
C: entry
D: wall
E: barrier

11. Someone who is …..-picked has been carefully chosen for a special job or purpose.
A: glove
B: soft
C: search
D: fine
E: hand

12. In-….. training takes place during your time at work.
A: job
B: work
C: service
D: office
E: floor

13. The labour ….. is all the people who work for a particular company.
A: skilled
B: army
C: market
D: force
E: staff

14. A ….. manager is one of the managers who are responsible for production.
A: floor
B: risk
C: produce
D: line
E: machine

15. A golden ….. is an amount of money paid to senior managers when they leave the company.
A: handshake
B: card
C: smile
D: bow
E: good-bye

16. Staff ….. is the amount of employees joining and leaving the company within a period of time.
A: leftover
B: turnover
C: return
D: profit
E: exchange

17. Your ….. record is all your achievements or failures in the past.
A: field
B: job
C: track
D: success
E: boss

18. Blue ….. workers are workers on the factory floor.
A: colour
B: cellar
C: cell
D: collar
E: crawl

19. A tied ….. is a house owned by your employer that you can live in for as long as you are employed.
A: cottage
B: house
C: flat
D: apartment
E: cave

20. Sick ….. is money given by an employer to someone who cannot work because of illness.
A: payments
B: pay
C: fee
D: wage
E: salary

Megoldások
1.A 2.B 3.C 4.D 5.E
6.C 7.B 8.A 9.B 10.B
11.E 12.C 13.D 14.D 15.A
16.B 17.C 18.D 19.A 20.B

2. The ….. stops here.
A: deer
B: money
C: dollar
D: horse
E: buck

3. Business before ……
A: holiday
B: free time
C: entertainment
D: going out
E: pleasure

4. The devil finds work for idle ……
A: hands
B: minds
C: brains
D: legs
E: hearts

5. Why keep a dog and ….. yourself?
A: bite
B: bark
C: run
D: pay
E: fetch

6. If you can’t stand/take the heat, get out of the ……
A: heat
B: room
C: kitchen
D: fire
E: living room

7. You pays/pay your ….. and takes/take your choice.
A: friend
B: business
C: invoices
D: money
E: bill

8. Practice makes ……
A: genius
B: good
C: perfect
D: wise
E: clever

9. Never put ….. until tomorrow what you can do today.
A: off
B: down
C: in
D: on
E: out

10. Time and ….. wait for no one.
A: money
B: tide
C: ebb
D: girlfriend
E: bus

11. Give us the ….. and we’ll finish the job.
A: rules
B: tools
C: means
D: equipment
E: things

12. Nothing ventured, nothing ……
A: won
B: profited
C: gained
D: advanced
E: increased

13. Make ….. while the sun shines.
A: hay
B: bed
C: straw
D: play
E: fire

14. Many ….. make light work.
A: feet
B: hands
C: eyes
D: brains
E: friends

15. All work and no ….. makes Jack a dull boy.
A: game
B: quiz
C: play
D: rest
E: study

16. There’s no peace for the ……
A: shrewd
B: devil
C: bad
D: wicked
E: evil

17. Where there’s a ….. there’s a way.
A: will
B: mind
C: want
D: need
E: wish

18. A woman’s work is never ……
A: OK
B: done
C: ready
D: seen
E: made

19. If a thing ….., it’s worth doing well.
A: is worth doing
B: you are doing
C: is done
D: can be done
E: is yours

20. If it ain’t/isn’t ….., don’t fix it.
A: broken
B: broked
C: braked
D: broke
E: break

Megoldások
1.A 2.E 3.E 4.A 5.B
6.C 7.D 8.C 9.A 10.B
11.B 12.C 13.A 14.B 15.C
16.D 17.A 18.B 19.A 20.D