If someone ‘beats you up’, they hit and kick you and hurt you a lot.
* The muggers beat him up badly.
* I was beaten up so badly that I was off work for a month.
If you ‘bottle up’ a feeling or emotion, you suppress them and don’t express them.
* If you bottle up your feelings, you will make yourself ill.
* I was angry but I bottled up my feelings during the meeting.
If you ‘call someone up’, you phone them.
* I tried to call you up earlier but there was no answer.
* Call me up when you get a chance.
If something ‘crops up’, it happens unexpectedly.
* Something has cropped up. I am going to have to work late.
* If a problem crops up when I am away, give me a call on my cell phone.
If you ‘freshen up’, you wash and make yourself more presentable.
* I need a minute to freshen up before we meet them.
* When they arrive, they will probably need a few moments to freshen up after the journey.
If your eyes ‘light up’, they become excited.
* Her eyes lit up when she saw the dress.
* His eyes lit up when he saw her wearing the dress.
If you ‘own up’, you confess to something.
* Nobody has owned up to starting the fire.
* He owned up to being a big fan of Britney.
If you ‘polish something up’, you improve it.
* The basic report is fine but you need to polish it up a bit.
* I must polish up my Japanese before we go to Tokyo.
If you ‘speed up’, you go faster.
* We need to speed up production. It is taking too long.
* Can you speed up a bit? I am going to miss my train.
If you ‘tighten up’ something, you make it more secure.
* We need to tighten up security in the light of these threats.
* We need to tighten up our quality control system. There have been too many mistakes.
Exercises:
http://business-english.com/upphrasals4/exercise1.swf
http://business-english.com/upphrasals4/exercise2.swf
http://business-english.com/upphrasals4/exercise3.swf
http://business-english.com/upphrasals4/exercise4.swf
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