2A Match words 1-8 with their synonyms in the box, translate and memorize them. Think of sentences with the words from the box:

1. to verify	a) to support
2. appreciably	b) sturdy
3. to soar	c) unfriendly
4. hostile	d) to check
5. comparatively	e) relatively
6. to underpin	f) shabby
7. scruffy	g) considerably
8. robust	h) to rocket

2B Match a word (phrase) from the box with one of the definitions below:

1. to strive to achieve	6. mouldy
2. irretrievably damaging	7. shortfall
3. sensitive to	8. scrutiny
4. potentially disastrous	9. drought
5. to abide by	10. backlog

1. to accept and act according to a law, an agreement, etc

2. a quantity of work that should have been done already, but has not yet been done

3. harming sth to an extent that it cannot be solved or made right

4. to try very hard to do sth

5. aware of and able to understand other people’s feelings

6. less of sth than you need or expect

7. careful and thorough examination

8. possibly very bad or harmful in the future

9. covered with the substance like fur that grows on old food

10. a long period of time when there is little or no rain

2C Fill in the gaps with the correct form of the words (phrases) from the box and translate these sentences into Russian:

backlog	appreciably	to abide by
offsetting	comparatively	to hold accountable
scrutiny	considerably (x2)	to soar
shortfall	irretrievably	to strive for
time off in lieu		to verify

1. You’ll have to ______________ the rules of the club.

2. Growth in China has strengthened _________________, which is having an impact on other economies in the region, including Australia.

3. As far as the _______________, that is unfortunately something that is going to take days to get rid of.

4. We encourage all members to ___________________ the highest standards.

5. Some of our old traditions are _________________ lost.

6. I realize that the tram bosses can't ___________________ for the ill behaviour of the fans, but I had left work an hour early to get back into town, so as to avoid the fans and not be crushed.

7. We now expect _______________ of about $1 million in the company’s profits because of the sudden rise in the cost of materials.

8. A nominal commitment to diversity does not necessarily guarantee an ________________ better outcome, as I came to see several years ago when I was approached by a newspaper publisher who was in the process of putting together his management team.

9. It seems that several NDA staff are not being paid for the hours they have worked - and are not being allowed ____________________ either.

10. Dean Harman, owner of Harman Wealth Management in The Woodlands, Texas, likes the idea of __________________ high energy prices with funds like Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration & Production.

11. While their mood improved, consumers 'outlook has dimmed ________________from the mid-70s levels earlier in the year, when the economic recovery was faster.

12. The unit is _________________ easy to install and cheap to operate.

13. Before the bank was willing to lend him money, it had to _____________ that he was the true owner of the house.

14. The cost of a business Website can _________________ into millions of dollars.

15. Goldman Sachs faces a regulatory probe in Britain and ________________ from the German government after the SEC sued the firm for fraud tied to collateralized debt obligations.