Business expressions Business English English

1. I thought this time things were going to be better.

Losing the contract was _________________ to
swallow.
a. bottom line
b. blue collar
c. a bitter pill
d. back to the drawing board.
e. blow-by-blow

2. We've lost the contract thanks to your incompetence.

You really _________________, didn't you?
a. back to the drawing board.
b. bottlenecks
c. bottom line
d. blue collar
e. blew it

3. I'd be better off stopping my legal job and doing jobs for cash. The
_________________ is the only way to make money these days.
a. blow-by-blow
b. back to the drawing board.
c. bottlenecks
d. black economy
e. bottom line

4. The product didn't work in the States. As they say there, it really
_________________.
a. back to the drawing board.
b. bottlenecks
c. bombed
d. blow-by-blow
e. bottom line

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Business expressions Business English English

5. However, the same product sold really well in England. As they say there,
it _________________.
a. back to the drawing board.
b. bottlenecks
c. bottom line
d. blue collar
e. went like a bomb

6. He used to work on the factory floor. Yes, he really started out as a

_________________worker.
a. blue collar
b. back to the drawing board.
c. bottlenecks
d. bottom line
e. blow-by-blow

7. There are many reasons why this should be a

success. However, the _________________ is that
it has been a big flop.
a. bottom line
b. back to the drawing board.
c. bottlenecks
d. blow-by-blow
e. a bitter pill

8. Production has been unable to keep pace with demand. We are doing our
best to eliminate the _________________.
a. blow-by-blow
b. back to the drawing board.
c. blew it
d. a bitter pill
e. bottlenecks

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Business expressions Business English English
9. We'll have to start again on this one -it's time to go _________________ .
a. blow-by-blow
b. blew it
c. black economy
d. bombed
e. back to the drawing board.

10. Don't leave out any details. I want a full _________________ account of
what happened in the meeting.
a. blow-by-blow
b. blew it
c. black economy
d. bombed
e. went like a bomb

11. At the start of the meeting everybody was very quiet and reserved but he
told a few jokes to_________________.
a. across the board
b. break the ice
c. broke the news
d. back to the drawing board
e. take on board

12. He's not very quick on the uptake. It takes him quite a while to
_________________ new ideas.
a. on to a good thing
b. take on board
c. bullish
d. breathing down
e. brief

13. We're going to have to reduce budgets in every single department. There
will be _________________ cuts.
a. back to the drawing board
b. brief
c. on to a good thing
d. brainstorm
e. across the board
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Business expressions Business English English
14. My boss never gives me any freedom. She's always
_________________ my neck.
a. broke the news
b. brief
c. breathing down
d. back to the drawing board
e. bullish

15. We need a name for our new brand. The best thing is to get a few people
together and try to _________________ a name.
a. brief
b. on to a good thing
c. broke the news
d. bullish
e. brainstorm

16. I'm very happy with our sales prospects for the next year. I'm feeling
really _________________ .
a. bullish
b. back to the drawing board
c. broke the news
d. on to a good thing
e. brief

17. We would have liked to have looked at that but that wasn't part of the
_________________ you sent us.
a. brief
b. on to a good thing
c. back to the drawing board
d. breathing down
e. broke the news

18. I've heard all about it. Sally _________________ to me.

a. brainstorm
b. on to a good thing
c. back to the drawing board
d. breathing down
e. broke the news
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Business expressions Business English English

19. I'm well aware that this is potentially a good new product and that we are
probably _________________ with it
a. on to a good thing
b. back to the drawing board
c. brainstorm
d. breathing down
e. across the board

20. I guess this market study shows that nobody wants to buy our product.
It's _________________ for us.
a. back to the drawing board
b. brainstorm
c. breathing down
d. across the board
e. take on board

21. I reckon we owe you about the same as you owe us. Why don't we just
_________________ ?
a. call his bluff
b. called it a day
c. calls the shots
d. chicken
e. call it quits

22. We've been working on this for fourteen hours now. Isn't it time we
_________________?
a. called it a day
b. call it quits
c. calls the shots
d. chicken
e. call his bluff

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Business expressions Business English English
23. Let's face it, he decides. He's the boss so he's the one that
_________________ .
a. called it a day
b. calls the shots
c. call it quits
d. chicken
e. call his bluff

24. He says he will go elsewhere if we don't lower our price but I don't think
he will. I think we should _________________.
a. call his bluff
b. call it quits
c. called it a day
d. calls the shots
e. chicken

25. I'm sure that there is a lot of corruption in that country. If we order an
internal audit we may be opening _________________ .
a. carry the can
b. chicken
c. can't win
d. chicken and egg
e. a can of worms

26. Someone is going to have to take responsibility for this disaster. Who is
going to _________________ .
a. can't win
b. carry the can
c. chicken
e. chicken and egg

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Business expressions Business English English

27. Whatever we do, we are going to come out badly. It's a

_________________ situation.
a. a can of worms
b. carry the can
c. chicken
d. can't win
e. chicken and egg

28. She always like to think things through very carefully. She likes to
_________________ .
a. chicken and egg
b. chicken
c. chew things over
d. call his bluff
e. call it quits

29. We need a loan to start the company and we need a company to get the
loan. It's a _________________ situation.
a. calls the shots
b. chew things over
c. chicken
d. call his bluff
e. chicken and egg

30. We wanted to expand into Asia but we were a bit frightened. We were
soon sorry for being so _________________ .
a. chicken and egg
b. chicken
c. calls the shots
d. chew things over
e. call it quits

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Business expressions Business English English
31. I imagine their company jet was very expensive indeed. It probably
_________________ .
a) cost the earth
b) clear the decks
c) cut it fine
d) cut-throat

32. Our Silicone Valley site is right at the _________________ of the new
technology.
a) cut our losses
b) cutting edge
c) cut it fine
d) cut-throat

33. There's lots of unfair competition in our sector

from _________________ outfits which don't respect
the law.
a) crocodile tears
b) crashed
c) cowboy
d) cough up

34. We did badly in the Japanese market so eventually

we decided to _________________ and stop.
a) cut our losses
b) cough up
c) clear the decks
d) cut-throat

35. We had to threaten them with legal action before they agreed to
_________________ the money they owed us.
a) crocodile tears
b) cough up
c) cut our losses
d) clear the decks

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Business expressions Business English English
36. We'll have to drop everything else. We'll have to _________________
and concentrate on this.
a) clear the decks
b) crashed
c) cut it fine
d) cut-throat

37. Competition is really fierce. In fact, it's _________________.

a) crocodile tears
b) crashed
c) cut it fine
d) cut-throat

38. Bids had to be in by 6.00 and we put ours in ten minutes before the
deadline. We really _________________.
a) crocodile tears
b) cut it fine
c) cut our losses
d) crashed

39. We can't access the computer files. The

system _________________ this morning
and we cannot fix it.
a) crocodile tears
b) cutting edge
c) cut our losses
d) crashed

40. He said he was sorry about letting me go but I'm sure they were only
_________________ he was shedding.
a) crocodile tears
b) cutting edge
c) cut our losses
d) cost the earth

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Business expressions Business English English
41. I’ve got to learn English fast. I need a real
_________________ to get me up to speed
quickly.
a) crash course
b) closing a deal
c) coining it in
d) chew this over

42. The genuine results for the year were

pretty bad but thanks to _________________ we made them look OK!
a) copped out
b) cog in the machine
c) keep a cool head
d) creative accounting

43. You did it too fast. You always make mistakes when you try
to_________________
a) cut corners
b) closing a deal
c) coining it in
d) chew this over

44. I'm sure a lot of our future income is going to come from the Internet
and other _________________ activities.
a) copped out
b) cyberspace
c) keep a cool head
d) chew this over

45. I'm not an important person in this company. I'm just a lowly
_________________.
a) keep a cool head
b) closing a deal
c) coining it in
d) cog in the machine

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Business expressions Business English English
46. Their products are really selling well. They must be _________________.
a) copped out
b) closing a deal
c) coining it in
d) chew this over

47. Stop getting so angry. You really need to _________________ and

control your temper.
a) closing a deal
b) chew this over
c) copped out
d) keep a cool head

48. I cannot decide straight away. I'll need to _________________ with my

colleagues .
a) cog in the machine
b) chew this over
c) copped out
d) closing a deal

49. He isn't a very good salesman. He has a lot of

problem when it comes to
_________________.
a) cog in the machine
b) copped out
c) cyberspace
d) closing a deal

50. She didn't even try to raise the matter at the meeting. She just
_________________ completely.
a) crash course
b) copped out
c) cut corners
d) creative accounting

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