Phrasal Verbs Practice – 133

Different meanings of pick up
: a. if a situation picks up, it improves
.Her social life was picking up at last
.The economy is finally beginning to pick up again
.We’ve been through a bit of a bad patch, but things are picking up again now
: b. pick somebody up if a medicine or drink picks you up, it makes you feel better

pick something up
: if you pick up a road, you go onto it and start driving along it
.We take the A14 to Birmingham and then pick up theM5

pick something up
if you pick up a train, bus etc, you get onto it and travel on it

pick up speed/ steam
: to go faster
.The train was gradually picking up speed

pick somebody up
to become friendly with someone you have just met because you want to have sex with them
young women sitting around in bars waiting to be picked up
a. if you pick up where you stopped or were interrupted, you start again from that point
.We’ll meet again in the morning and we can pick up where we left off
b. pick something up if you pick up an idea that has been mentioned, you return to it and develop it further
.I’d like to pick up what you said earlier
.This same theme is picked up in his later works

pick something up to
: learn something by watching or listening to other people
.I picked up a few words of Greek when I was there last year
.Mary watched the other dancers to see if she could pick up any tips

pick something up
to notice something that is not easy to notice, such as a slight smell or a sign of something
.I picked up a faint smell of coffee
.The dogs picked up the scent and raced off
.We picked up their tracks again on the other side of the river

pick something up
: if a machine picks up a sound, movement, or signal, it is able to notice it or receive it
.The sensors pick up faint vibrations in the Earth
.I managed to pick up an American news broadcast

.Fill in the blanks with the appropriate phrasal verbs

.N1. I managed to ……………… an American news broadcast
.N2. We ……………… their tracks again on the other side of the river
.N3. I ……………… a few words of Greek when I was there last year
.N4. I’d like to ……………… what you said earlier
.N5. We’ll meet again in the morning and we can ……………… where we left off
.N6. The train was gradually ……………… speed
.N7. Her social life was ……………… at last

:Answers

N1. pick up
N2. picked up
N3. picked up
N4. pick up
N5. pick up
N6. picking up
N7. picking up