CAMBRIDGE
ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN USE ADVANCED
UNIT 30
Brick walls and glass ceilings
A
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Buildings
To build something/someone
up can be used metaphorically to mean to praise someone or something in a
way that will increase expectations of them: The press has built up the
young footballer so much that it must be extra pressure on him.
Note how cement is used to fix
bricks firmly in place and to make relationships more solid. It can be used
in this way both as a noun and a verb: Let’s have a drink together to
cement our partnership.
To come up against a brick wall is used metaphorically, meaning to meet a barrier: When I
tried to find out who had opened my letters, I came up against a brick
wall.
Ceiling can be used to suggest a limit to something: They put a ceiling
on the number of planned redundancies.
The glass ceiling is a phrase
used to refer to an invisible barrier that stops people, especially women,
from rising to top positions at work.
Roof is used in a number of common metaphors: The roof fell
in on my world on the day he died. [My world collapsed …]
Conversely, the floor can give
way metaphorically when you faint.
The informal phrase go through the
roof is used about prices, meaning to increase in a rapid, uncontrolled
fashion.
Hit the roof means get very angry: My mother will hit the roof when
she sees what we’ve done.
Window, both literally and metaphorically, means an opening.
A window of opportunity is a
chance to do something special: If you see a window of opportunity,
then take advantage of it.
If a quality or idea goes out (of)
the window, it means it departs: Once the boys started going around together,
common sense went out of the window.
As a very tall building, tower conveys
an idea of distance from ordinary people. If someone lives in an ivory tower,
he/she does not know about the unpleasant and ordinary things that happen in
life:
Academics are often criticised for
living in their ivory towers.
If a person is a tower of strength,
they are extremely strong (in an emotional rather than a physical sense): Our
friends were a tower of strength when our house burnt down. If a
person or thing towers above something or someone, they are either
outstandingly tall or outstanding in some other positive way: Lauren towers
above all her classmates, although she is actually one of the youngest
students.
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B
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Entrances
Gateway
is used metaphorically in the phrase be
a gateway to, meaning give an opportunity to get somewhere: A degree in law
is a gateway to a well-paid job.
Door
can also be used in a similar way to gateway
above, but it is also used in many other metaphorical phrases as well:
Failing his final exams closed/shut a lot of doors for
him. Knowing several languages opens doors when it comes to finding
work. The new year gives us the opportunity to close the door on the
past and make a fresh start. Doing something through/by the back
door suggests doing it unofficially: Jack came into the business by
the back door – the manager knew him from university. Doing something behind
closed doors suggests secrecy: Unfortunately, the decision was taken behind
closed doors and no one knows exactly why it was made.
Key
can be used as a noun to suggest the
importance of something: This research may provide/hold the
key to developing a cure for cancer. Knowing the right people is the
key to success in that country.
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EXERCISES
30.1
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Match
up the words to make metaphors. Explain what each metaphor means.
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30.2
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Complete
these sentences with the appropriate verb.
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30.3
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Rewrite
the underlined parts of these sentences using one of the expressions on the opposite
page.
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30.4
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Here
are some more metaphors based on aspects of buildings. Can you guess what the
underlined expressions mean and rewrite them?
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30.5
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Over
to you
Which
of the metaphors in this unit also work as metaphors when translated literally
into your own language? Look at exercise 30.4 as well as the opposite page.
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ANSWER KEY
30.1
1 c glass ceiling = invisible barrier
2 d ivory tower = life away from unpleasant realities 3 e brick wall = barrier 4 f back door = unofficial way in 5 b window of opportunity = time when there is the chance to do something 6 a tower of strength = very supportive person
30.2
1 gone
2 hold / provide 3 opens 4 come 5 hit 6 towers 7 shut / closed 8 fell
30.3
1 My brother is always a tower of
strength whenever I have a problem.
2 We’ll never know what the US and Russian Presidents said to each other behind closed doors. 3 The fee for this work will depend on the time it takes but there is / it has a ceiling of $20,000 / the ceiling is $20,000. 4 The cost of petrol has gone through the roof in the last six months. 5 Having children often cements a marriage. 6 Winning an Olympic medal can be the gateway to a career in the media. 7 The key decision we have to take now is where to locate our business. 8 The professor has spent all his life in an ivory tower and really finds it very difficult to cope in the real world. 9 Lena has built Max up so much – I hope I won’t be disappointed when I meet him.
30.4
Suggested answers:
1 He earns very little, barely enough to survive on. 2 The speaker’s request for questions was met with total silence. 3 Working on this project together should help to provide the starting point for a good relationship in the future. 4 Nathan’s prolonged illness led to the collapse of his business. 5 This government should put things right in its own immediate sphere of influence / close to home / here before criticising other countries. |
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