16 Time

A

B How time passes

Diana The sales conference will be coming around1 soon. We’d better start hurrying those sales reports along2 .

Paul I can’t believe that the conference is coming up3 again already. This last year seems to have slipped away4!

Diana I know! There’s an awful lot to do leading up to5 the conference, especially as it’s going to be held in our branch this year.

Paul Oh well, at least it breaks things up6 and makes life a bit more interesting, I suppose.

Diana It hasn’t been that bad a year, surely. There was all the excitement over the new marketing campaign.

Paul Oh, that completely passed me by7. It didn’t really affect me in my department.

Diana OK, Paul. Time’s getting on8 a bit now. I need to head home. Let’s talk about what we need to do tomorrow.

1 (of a regular event) happening at its usual time 6 makes a period of time more interesting by 2 making someone do something more quickly, being different from what you are doing for making something happen more quickly the rest of the time 3 will be happening soon 7 went unnoticed 4 passed very quickly 8 (mainly British and Australian informal) it’s 5 preparing in the period before an event begins getting late

Spending time

Right, I’m not going to spin this out1. I just have one thing to say. You only have two weeks now till the exams start and you’re going to have to pull your socks up2 if you want to pass. We’re going to set aside3 the next fortnight just for revision. In other words, we’re going to free up4 some time by cancelling all non-exam lessons like sport. All school sports matches will be held over5 until the exams are finished. We felt that would be better than trying to fit revision in6 around sport commitments. The sports staff agree that putting back7 these matches won’t cause any major problems, but we mustn’t set schedules back8 by more than two weeks or we won’t be able to fit in all the matches before the end of term. So now, put everything else out of your minds and concentrate on your revision. No more frittering time away9 – get down to some serious work.

1 make something continue for longer than necessary 2 make an effort to improve, an idiom using a phrasal verb (see Unit 8 for more) 3 use time for one purpose and no other purpose 4 make time or money available for a particular use by not using it another way 5 delayed and arranged for a later date 6 do it between other activities 7 causing something to happen later than it should happen 8 make something happen more slowly, or make something happen later than it should 9 wasting time by using it for unimportant things

Tip

The following verbs can be used about money as well as time – free up and fritter away.

16.1

16.2

16.3

16.4

16.5

dictionary.cambridge.org Match the beginning of each sentence with its ending.

1 There was a lot of excitement a) getting on now. 2 My birthday seems to be b) hurrying people along?

3 The annual meeting will be c) leading up to the final match.

4 I’d better go as it’s

d) coming up some time next month. 5 It’s getting late – can you start e) coming around more quickly every year.

Read these remarks by diff erent people and then answer the questions below.

Mary I’m 63 and I’ve never had an interesting job or done anything exciting.

Jack I feel I’m wasting a lot of time on useless and unimportant things.

Leah I’m trying to improve my performance. I know I’ve been lazy and ineff icient.

Jude I feel the days are passing very quickly and we need to solve the problem now.

Adriana I’m cancelling my meetings next week so I can take time off to decorate my flat.

1 Who is trying to free up some time? 2 Who feels that time is slipping away? 3 Who feels life is passing them by? 4 Who is trying to pull their socks up? 5 Who feels they are frittering away their time?

Complete this text with the correct particles.

My staff oft en spin things (1) much longer than they need to so that they don’t get asked to do any more work. As a result they sometimes set the schedules (2) by days or even weeks, and then I have to hurry them (3) so that the work gets done on time. And not only do I have to keep an eye on the staff , I also have to find time to fit (4) consultations with management and the unions, and inevitably meetings have to be put (5) because of some unexpected emergency, or important tasks have to be held (6) till the more immediate problems can be sorted out. I try to set (7) at least one hour every day for planning, but it’s not easy. I like to take a proper lunch break and get out of the off ice. I find that breaks the day (8) nicely.

Correct the mistakes with the phrasal verbs in these sentences.

1 You’d get far more done if you didn’t fritter out so much time. 2 The children tried to spin their game off so they didn’t have to go to bed. 3 Cameron might lose his job if he doesn’t pull his collar up. 4 We must discuss what we need to do leading up the opening of the new branch. 5 Let’s try to make some time apart next month to discuss progress on the project.

Rewrite each sentence using a phrasal verb from the box in an appropriate form. Make any other necessary changes. You may need to use a dictionary to help you.

eke out drag out bring forward space out creep up on

1 We’ve had to reschedule the meeting for this Tuesday as Austin will be away next week. 2 Francesca always makes any discussion last longer than necessary. 3 I think we should have longer intervals between our meetings. 4 I thought I had ages to prepare for my exams, but they have arrived in no time at all. 5 I think we should try to make the printing paper last as long as possible.