English Collocations in Use Intermediate Book with Answers How Words Work Together for Fluent and Natural English 2nd Edition

GOOD START
The Glasgow Arts Festival 
got off to a 
good start
this week, attracting more 
than 120,000 visitors during its fi rst three 
days.
CLOSE FINISH IN SPANISH RALLY
Pedro Macarro emerged the winner of today’s 
Spanish Grand Prix in a very 
close fi nish
. Macarro 
was just 0.5 seconds ahead of Finland’s Pekka 
Hirvonen.
NEW HEALTH CONTRACT BRINGS 
STRIKE TO AN END
 
The doctors' strike was fi nally 
brought to 
an end
yesterday when the union and 
management signed an agreement over 
pay and working hours. 
ROUX JUST WINS
Claude Roux won the championship 
yesterday in a 
nail-biting fi nish
.
NEW CONSTITUTION
Ministers met in Rome today to 
put 
the finishing touches
to a new 
constitution for the European 
Union. 

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107
Exercises
English Collocations in Use Intermediate
What are the opposites of the underlined phrases in these sentences?
1 We can make a late start tomorrow if you like.
2 The competition has got off to a disappointing start as far as the British are concerned.
3 Meeting Josh on the beach on the last day was a horrible end to my holiday!
4 The meeting came to an unsatisfactory close.
Correct the collocation errors in these sentences.
1 It was such a near finish that no one was quite sure who had won.
2 I’ve just got to put the ending touches to my painting and then you can see it.
3 I expect the meeting will go to an end at about 5.30.
4 Everyone is here, so I think we should do a start now.
5 We all hope that the negotiations will succeed in taking the strike to an end.
6 Email marked the start of the end for the fax machine.
7 Our journey finished – as it had begun – in Cairo.
8 Have you heard yet what the finish result of the talks was?