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Lesson 120 / Achievement & opportunities
5 phrases · 12 minutes · Look, listen and try.
Add a success, take a good opportunity and stand in for a teammate.
Match words to pictures →Play What is She/He doing? →
A randomly assigned, fixed male or female synthetic voice for each phrase or sentence · Slow playback at 0.7× preserves pitch.
The team notched up another win.
The team notched up another win.
She has notched up three successful projects this year.
She has notched up three successful projects this year.
Informal, often used for wins, records or accumulated achievements. No physical notch needs to be carved.
Cambridge Dictionary · notch up
The team lived up to the coach’s expectations.
The team lived up to the coach’s expectations.
The workshop lived up to its good reputation.
The workshop lived up to its good reputation.
Keep “up to” before an expectation or a reputation. Here “live” is the verb /lɪv/, not the adjective /laɪv/.
Cambridge Dictionary · live up to
He snapped up a sports bag at a good price.
He snapped up a sports bag at a good price.
The tickets were snapped up within minutes.
The tickets were snapped up within minutes.
Emphasises acting quickly on an attractive purchase or opportunity. The -ing form is “snapping”; no biting is involved.
He held out for the blue jersey he wanted.
He held out for the blue jersey he wanted.
They held out for a better offer.
They held out for a better offer.
Keep both “out for”. You decline what is offered while waiting for something different or better, rather than simply waiting at random.
He stood in for the absent goalkeeper.
He stood in for the absent goalkeeper.
Could you stand in for me at practice?
Could you stand in for me at practice?
Put the person being replaced after “for”. The past form is “stood”; this is more than physically standing in a place.
The examples were written for this course. Usage was checked against Matt Errey’s book, pages 90, 80, 119, 64, 121. A2–B1 is the course’s intended level.
One step forward every day
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Sentences using suggestions are counted as needing more practice. Review schedule based on each phrase's meaning.
OBSERVE · UNDERSTAND · MATCH
Drag a wire from the dot beside a phrase to the dot beside its matching picture. You can also tap a phrase, then a picture. Drag again to change a pair before checking.
Read the picture descriptions for more context. Similar expressions are accepted when they fit the particular scene.
Nam notches up another win for the team, adding a new victory mark.
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Nam’s team lives up to expectations by passing the ball as planned.
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Nam snaps up a sports bag offered at a good price.
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Nam holds out for the blue jersey he wants instead of accepting the red one offered.
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Nam stands in for an absent goalkeeper during practice.
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Choose a phrase to begin.
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Read the conversation and find the expressions you have learned.
The team has notched up another win.
The team has notched up another win.
They really lived up to the coach’s expectations today.
They really lived up to the coach’s expectations today.
The substitute stood in well for the injured player.
The substitute stood in well for the injured player.
“Notch up” adds an achievement or score; “live up to” meets expectations. An additional win does not by itself show that every expectation was met.
Try answering before revealing the suggested answer. This practice is not scored.
The answers below are models. Other answers can also work if they preserve the facts, meaning and structure requested in the task.
A club adds another tournament win. Supporters had expected a strong performance, and a substitute filled a missing player’s role.
Describe the extra achievement.
The club has notched up another tournament win.
Adding another win to the club’s record is “has notched up another tournament win”.
Complete: The result lived up ___ the supporters’ expectations.
to
“Lived up to the supporters’ expectations” means met their expected standard; keep both “up to”.
Write a message about the substitute’s role.
Our substitute stood in for the absent player during the final.
“Stood in for” identifies the substitute taking the absent player’s role, rather than standing beside that player.
The usage comparisons are checked against the Cambridge Dictionary entries linked beside the compared expressions. The additional conversations and exercises are written for this course.
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