English Vocabulary Exercises for B2 – It drives me crazy!

1. Match the adjectives below with the sentences.

amused      ashamed      content      envious      furious      stunned

1) ‘I’d prefer not to talk about it. I’m still in a state of shock.’

______________

2) ‘That was really funny! I couldn’t stop laughing!’

______________

3) ‘I’ve never been treated like this before! I shall be speaking to the manager!’

______________

4) ‘Anybody could have done it. She was just lucky!’

______________

5) ‘We were very pleased with our presentation.’

______________

6) ‘How could I have forgotten her name? I feel so embarrassed about it!’

______________

Show answers

1) stunned   2) amused   3) furious   4) envious

5) content   6) ashamed

2. Replace the underlined adjectives with the adjectives below.

disappointed      indecisive      miserable      thrilled      upbeat

We were 1 really excited ______________ when the storm started, but the longer it went on, the more anxious we became. We felt 2 very unsure ______________ and didn’t know what to do. Should we stay under the trees or run for home?

Jack was quite 3 positive ______________ about the news that we were going to have a new trainer, but the rest of us were 4 really sad ________ But when we were told that the new trainer was inexperienced, even Jack felt 5 let down ______________ !

Show answers

1) thrilled   2) indecisive   3 upbeat   4) miserable

5) disappointed

3. Choose the correct adjectives to complete the sentences.

1) We felt upbeat / humiliated after losing the match against our biggest rivals 10-0!

2) mum says she feels frustrated / anxious in her job because she can’t achieve what she wants.

3) I was irritated / thrilled by Sara’s constant questions about private life.

4) There was a positive, furious / upbeat feeling after the head teacher’s speech.

5) A is envious / disillusioned of new coat and she wishes that she had bought it first!

6) Harry has bad memories of his childhood and he is very hysterical / bitter about it.

Show answers

1) humiliated   2) frustrated   3) irritated   4) upbeat

5) envious   6) bitter

4. Match the adjectives with the definitions.

bitter      disappointed      disillusioned      exasperated

hysterical      stressed

1) Feeling irritated and angry about a situation that you can’t do anything about. ____________

2) Unhappy because something or someone wasn’t as good as you expected. ____________

3) Feeling extremely worried and nervous about something, especially something you are expected to do. ____________

4) Unable to control your feelings because of extreme fear or excitement. ____________

5) Feeling unhappy because you discover the truth about someone or something. ____________

6) Feeling or showing anger, hurt or resentment because of bad experiences or treatment. ____________

Show answers

1) exasperated   2) disappointed   3) stressed

4) hysterical   5) disillusioned   6) bitter

5. Match 1-9 with a-i to form idioms.

1) lose

2) blow

3) be on

4) be green

5) be down

6) be in

7) be over

8) be tearing

9) something gets


a your top

b two minds about something

c on your nerves

d your hair out

e face

f edge

g with envy

h in the dumps

i the moon

Show answers

1) e   2) a   3) f   4) g   5) h   6) b   7) i   8) d   9) c

6. Listen to four dialogues. Complete the sentences with an idiom from exercise 5.

1) Jack says he ____________ about going to Sam’s party.

2) Ann says she ____________ about her exam results.

3) The boy says that Meg’s complaining ____________

4) Ewan ____________ about not getting the summer job.

Show answers

1) is in two minds   2) is over the moon

3) gets on his nerves   4) is down in the dumps

Transcript

See exercise 7.

7. Listen again and choose the correct answers (a-c).

1) If Jack doesn’t go to Sam’s party, Jack will ____ .


a blow his top

b tear his hair out

c lose face

2) When Kate hears about Ann’s result, she will ____ .


a be on edge

b be over the moon

c be green with envy

3) The girl thinks that Meg ____ . over unimportant things.


a tears her hair out

b is over the moon

c blows her top

4) The boy says that Ewan was ____ . about the interview he was going to.


a losing face

b on edge

c tearing his hair out

Show answers

1) a   2) c   3) a   4) b

Transcript

1)

a Hi, Jack. Are you going to Sam’s party at the weekend?

b I really don’t know at the moment. I’ve been invited, but I’m not sure if I’ll go.


a I don’t think he’ll be very happy if you don’t go. In fact, he’ll probably be furious!

2)

a Hi, Ann! How are you feeling about your results?

b I’m so happy! I never expected to do that well!


a Kate will be really jealous! She thought she was going to be top of the class and you’ve come first in everything!

3)

a Meg’s being a bit irritating today, isn’t she?

b Today? She’s always complaining about things! It really annoys me!


a I know what you mean. When I hear her worrying about such unimportant things, I want to shout at her!

4)

a Ewan seems very sad this morning.

b Yes, he had an interview for a summer job yesterday and he didn’t get it. I’m not that surprised because he was really nervous about it and didn’t relax until it was over.

Extra exercises

1. Complete the sentences with the words below.

alarmed      bitter      content      disillusioned      envious

humiliated      stressed      stunned

1) Beth is completely ____________ with the course she’s doing. It’s nothing like she expected it to be.

2) sister’s a bit ____________ about her wedding at the moment. She can’t sleep at night.

3) I felt utterly ____________ when I fell down the stairs. The whole class saw me and laughed!

4) I’m rather ____________ of your new smartphone. I’d love to have one like that!

5) We were very ____________ when little brother disappeared. He was missing for over an hour.

6) dad feels very ____________ about losing his job. He thinks it was really unfair.

7) We were quite ____________ to sit and wait. We weren’t in any hurry.

8) Everybody was ____________ by the tragic news.

Show answers

1) disillusioned   2) stressed   3) humiliated   4) envious

5) alarmed   6) bitter   7) content   8 stunned

2. Complete the second sentence with an idiom containing the word in brackets.

1) I’m thrilled about winning the race. (moon)

 I’m ____________ ____________

2) mum is exasperated with older brother. (hair)

 She’s _________________________

3) Tom isn’t sure if he should go to university. (minds)

  He’s ____________ ____________ about it.

4) Our first exam is today, so we’re a bit anxious. (edge)

 We’re all ____________

5) Waiting in queues makes me feel irritated. (nerves)

  It _________________________

6) Mia didn’t get the job, so she’s miserable. (dumps)

     She’s _________________________

Show answers

1) over the moon   2) tearing her hair out

3) in two minds   4) on edge   5) gets on nerves

6) down in the dumps