Phrasal Verbs “make”

Make something up = to say or write something that isn’t true. e.g. He made up a story that his dog ate his homework.
Make up something = to form the whole of something. e.g. A large percentage of our body is made up of water.
Make up = to forgive someone and become friendly again. e.g. We made up after our huge argument.
Make-up = something you put on your face. e.g. She wears make-up to work every day.
Make up for something = to replace something that has been lost. e.g. We are making up for lost time by spending our weekends together.
Make it up to somebody = do something good for somebody. e.g. I’m taking her out to dinner to make up for my bad behavior.
Make away with something = to steal something. e.g. The bank robbers made away with $50.000.
Make for something = go in a particular direction. e.g. When the fire broke out, the staff made for the emergency exit.
Make of something/somebody = to express an opinion. e.g. What do you make of Craig?
Make out something/somebody = to have a hard time seeing/hearing something/somebody. e.g. I couldn’t make out what they were saying from where I was standing.
Make out something = to falsely claim something. e.g. They made out that they didn’t have any money but they moved into an expensive flat.
Make-over = when an expert changes someone's appearance. e.g. I didn’t recognize him after his make-over.

Street Food - China

Chinese cuisine

Idioms "do"

Do me a favour = Please do something for me e.g. Do me a favour. Buy some bread on your way home.
Did you ever! = expressing surprise, amazement etc. e.g. Well did you ever! Lady Gaga is having a concert here!
Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do! = Be good e.g. Bye Sarah. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!
Easy does it! = Do it slowly and carefully. e.g. Easy it does it! There are glasses in that box.
How are you doing? = How are you?
How do you do it? = How is that done? e.g. How do you do it? Five children and a full-time job!
I could do with… = I need. e.g. I could do with a holiday as I’ve been working so hard lately.
Sure do! = Yes please. e.g. Do you want some cake? Sure do!
That does it! = I can’t bear any more, I’m going to take action e.g. That does it! They have been partying non-stop. I’m calling the police.
Well done! = expressing praise and congratulations e.g. Well done! You got an A.
What do you do? = What’s your job?
You do that = Yes, do it e.g. Shall I ring Daniel? You do that.

The elderly exercising in China

Model Answer – IELTS (Task 1)

The graph below shows the number of complaints made about noise to Environmental Health authorities in the city of Newtown between 1980 and 1996.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The Environmental Health authorities in Newton received a number of complaints in relation to domestic, factory, traffic and road work noise over a sixteen year period.

To begin with, just over 600 complaints were received in 1980 relating to the noise from road works. Complaints from this category fell sharply to less than 100 in 1996. Protests over domestic/household noise were steady from 1980 to 1984 at approximately 500 and between 1986 and 1990 at 400. There was a dramatic upward trend over a 6 year period ending at 1200 complaints in 1996 which represents the highest figure. Factories accounted for 400 complaints in 1980 with the figure increasing by about 200 over the sixteen year period. Finally, the fewest complaints were made about traffic noise in 1980. 300 complaints were recorded during the first four years and 200 between 1986 and 1988. Following a rise in traffic noise complaints, the 1996 figure stood at 600.

Overall, the numbers of complaints received for domestic/household, factory and traffic noise were on the rise whilst noise from road works noted a drop. In 1996, domestic/household noise was complained about the most and road works the least.

Question taken from Official IELTS Practice Materials (2009) p.35

IELTS Reading - Synomyms

Advantage, benefit, upside, plus, pros
Disadvantage, downside, drawback, stumbling block, problem, handicap, cons
Aim, purpose, goal, objective
Consequence, outcome, effect
Difficulty, problem, obstacle
Difference, discrepancy
Risk, hazard
Analysis, explanation, interpretation
Characteristic, feature, trait
Shows, describes, details, explains, provides, sets out
Condemn, disapprove, censure, criticize
Think, believe, perceive, conceive