1) “We showed the president 20 ideas for new products, but she didn’t like any of them – so we had to go back to the drawing board.” a) ask other people for advice b) start again from the beginning c) reuse a good idea from the past 2) “Our sales estimates were way off the mark. We’d projected sales of $15M, but the actual numbers were closer to $9M.” a) too optimistic b) higher than average c) very wrong/inaccurate 3) “The text for the article is almost perfect. I just want to tweak one or two sentences.” a) remove b) make small adjustments c) make longer 4) “I need to submit a weekly report on this project, so please keep me in the loop.” a) informed / updated b) working hard c) in the office 5) “Three people from my department are on vacation, so I’ve got a lot on my plate at the moment.” a) I have a lot of responsibilities b) I wish I was on vacation, too c) I have nothing to do 6) “The rule of thumb is to reinvest no more than 30%, but it’s OK if you go over that number occasionally.” a) minimum amount b) strict limit c) general practice 7) “Bob said I missed the deadline, but I want to set the record straight – I submitted my work on time, but he didn’t check his e-mail.” a) correct a mistake and say the truth b) express a different opinion c) get permission 8) “We have until December to prepare these documents, so let’s put them on the back burner for now. We have other, more urgent projects.” a) send them back to their origin b) give them low priority c) finish them quickly 9) “That program never produced any significant results, so the director finally decided to pull the plug.” a) get personally involved b) improve the technology c) stop, discontinue 10) “Yesterday’s meeting lasted four hours… but in a nutshell, we decided to close our office in India and open a branch in China.” a) in an argument b) in the end c) in summary 11) “Laura didn’t go to the meeting. Could you send her a summary of the discussion to bring her up to speed?” a) help her work faster b) give her the most recent information c) find out what her perspective is 12) “Don’t make any changes without talking to Peter. He’s the one calling the shots on this project.” a) communicating with the supervisor b) making the important decisions c) working very hard 13) “I’m working late today because I want to tie up some loose ends before the weekend.” a) finish things completely b) make decisions c) secure sensitive information 14) “No progress has been made because the managers are at loggerheads over the best way to continue the project.” a) ignoring the problem b) in conflict c) working too slowly 15) “Please do your research carefully; we need to cover all the bases to make sure we don’t violate any laws.” a) deal with every aspect of a situation b) have lots of documentation c) hide facts from an investigation 16) “The decrease in manufacturing means there are fewer jobs available for blue-collar workers.” a) does manual labor b) wears a suit c) works on a contract basis 17) “When a flaw was discovered in the building plans, the project supervisor tried to pass the buck to the engineers.” a) pass responsibility to someone else b) to pay someone to fix something c) to work closely with someone 18) “The company is having financial problems. It’s a safe bet that some of the staff will be let go – that’s what always happens.” a) it’s a smart idea b) it’s certain to happen c) it will reduce costs 19) “Although our customers occasionally buy clothing, jewelry is the real cash cow.” a) something expensive b) a regularly repeating expense c) a very profitable product or service 20) “I’m really under the gun right now – I have five projects due in three days.” a) in danger of losing your job b) out of favor with the boss c) under a lot of pressure 21) “How much did our expenses increase last month? No need to look it up, just give me a ballpark figure.” a) an estimate b) an exact number c) a prediction 22) “I wasn’t happy with the work of that subcontractor. He has the tendency to cut corners.” a) do something in a cheaper or easier way (but with less quality) b) eliminate all your competitors c) fail to appear for appointments 23) “I have 15 publications to review by the end of the day. I have my work cut out for me!” a) I have a large/difficult task to do b) I have no one to help me c) I have to work longer than normal hours 24) “Remember that this is a ten-year strategic development plan, so you can’t expect to see results right off the bat.” a) in practice b) immediately c) in the future 25) “Our sales reps must be willing to go the extra mile and do whatever it takes to make the customer happy.” a) offer an additional bonus b) do more than expected/required c) travel a long distance 26) “We’re going to start celebrating staff birthdays to help boost morale at the office.” a) increase positive feelings b) unite the community c) improve productivity 27) “The CEO came under fire for his statement that profits are more important than people.” a) was criticized b) lost his job c) started an argument 28) “Our products for adults aren’t doing so well, but our kids’ products are selling like hotcakes.” a) becoming popular in restaurants b) selling at a high price c) selling fast and in large numbers 29) “Don’t expect anyone to help you if you fall behind in your work. You need to pull your own weight.” a) compete to be the best b) do your own part / responsibility c) report directly to the boss 30) “Our big sale backfired – we got a lot of customers that week, but most of them never came back.” a) damaged the reputation of the company b) had financial disadvantages c) had unexpected negative results 31) “The new boss runs a tight ship. She yelled at me when I was two minutes late to a meeting.” a) is in a rush all the time b) gets angry over little things c) manages with lots of discipline 32) “The software isn’t ready yet; the programming team still needs to work out a few kinks.” a) finalize the packaging b) contact some potential partners c) solve some small problems 33) “Do you have a few minutes to talk? I’d like to get the ball rolling on this new marketing project.” a) finalize plans b) get advice c) start a process 34) “Although e-books are gaining traction, print books still represent 80% of total sales.” a) starting to be successful b) becoming cheaper and cheaper c) easily available 35) “The retail sector is struggling, but Zara is bucking the trend with its third consecutive profitable year.” a) becoming a market leader b) going against the tendency c) profiting from innovation 36) “We’ve already built five training centers, and seven more are in the pipeline.” a) being proposed b) expected to be completed c) requested by employees 37) "I’m glad we’ve been able to finalize the packaging. Let’s call it a day, and we’ll discuss pricing tomorrow." a) telephone some co-workers b) decide to end the day’s work c) choose a name for something 38) "The social media campaign had no impact whatsoever. It was two months of effort down the drain." a) in the past b) very stressful c) wasted or lost 39) "We should release a small product to test the waters before developing an entire line." a) get people excited b) make some money c) try something to see if it will succeed 40) "There’s not much room for creativity in my work because the manager likes everything to be done by the book." a) following the rules exactly b) in written format c) with a lot of research 41) "You’re suggesting that we cancel the conference? That’ll never fly – it’s the CEO’s favorite event of the year." a) it won’t be simple b) it won’t be profitable c) it won’t work / be accepted 42) "The price was the biggest obstacle to the sale – once we offered a discount, the rest of the negotiation was smooth sailing." a) a team effort b) easy and quick progress c) something creative 43) "We’re promoting four different products at the same time. It doesn’t seem like everyone on the marketing team is on the same page." a) talking to each other b) thinking in a similar way c) visiting the same websites 44) "I’m applying for a director-level position, but it’s a long shot since I don’t have as much experience as they want." a) a long time in the future b) hard to understand c) unlikely to succeed 45) "The proposed dates for the summer sale are June 20-30, but it’s not set in stone." a) not a good idea b) not confirmed/definite c) not sure to succeed 46) "All my co-workers get along so well; I don’t want to rock the boat by making a complaint." a) cause trouble b) call attention to myself c) offend someone 47) "Everyone else on my team has been slacking off, so that means more work for me." a) away from the office b) being lazy c) delaying projects 48) "These photos are too dark and out of focus. They don’t do justice to the quality of the product." a) slightly decrease b) don’t like c) don’t represent fairly

Business Idioms 2

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