Objective Proficiency p 128. Vocabulary

Ex 1

• Glass-blowing: the art or activity of blowing hot glass into shapes using a special tube. 
• Glass-blower: someone whose job is to blow liquid glass into shapes in order to make containers and other objects.

Ex 2
Questions

• Run-of-the-mill: ordinary, with no special or interesting features. E.g. a run-of-the-mill job.
• High-flier: (also high-flyer)a person who has the desire and the ability to be very successful in their job or their studies. E.g. academic high-flyers.
• Undue: /ˌʌnˈdjuː/ more than you think is reasonable or necessary. Excessive. E.g. They are taking undue advantage of the situation. The work should be carried out without undue delay. We did not want to put any undue pressure on them. Repayments can be made over a long period, without putting undue strain on your finances.

Transcript 

• Go by something: to be guided by something; to form an opinion from something. E.g. That's a good rule to go by. If past experience is anything to go by, they'll be late.
• A golden handshake: a large sum of money that is given to somebody when they leave their job, or to persuade them to leave their job.
• Cut your teeth on something: to do something that gives you your first experience of a particular type of work. E.g. She cut her teeth on local radio.
• Sideways: E.g. He has been moved sideways (= moved to another job at the same level as before, not higher or lower).
• Rung: one of the bars that forms a step in a ladder. E.g. He put his foot on the bottom rung to keep the ladder steady. (Figurative) to get a foot on the bottom rung of the career ladder. She was a few rungs above him on the social ladder. 
• Stale: 1. (of food, especially bread and cake) no longer fresh and therefore unpleasant to eat. 2. (of air, smoke, etc.) no longer fresh; smelling unpleasant. E.g. stale cigarette smoke. Stale sweat. 3. something that is stale has been said or done too many times before and is no longer interesting or exciting. E.g. stale jokes. Their marriage had gone stale. 4. a person who is stale has done the same thing for too long and so is unable to do it well or produce any new ideas. E.g. After ten years in the job, she felt stale and needed a change. The cast is changed regularly to stop the actors from getting stale.
• Stick stuck stuck: (usually used in negative sentences and questions) to accept a difficult or unpleasant situation or person. Stand. E.g. I don't know how you stick that job. They're always arguing—I can't stick it any longer. The problem is, my mother can't stick my boyfriend. John can't stick living with his parents.
• Report to somebody: (not used in the progressive tenses) (business) if you report to a particular manager in an organization that you work for, they are officially responsible for your work and tell you what to do. 
• Be riddled with something: to be full of something, especially something bad or unpleasant. E.g. His body was riddled with cancer. Her typing was slow and riddled with mistakes. The woods are riddled with rabbit holes. 
• (A case of) dog eat dog: a situation in business, politics, etc. where there is a lot of competition and people are willing to harm each other in order to succeed. E.g. I'm afraid in this line of work it's a case of dog eat dog. We're operating in a dog-eat-dog world.
• Driving force: E.g. Ron is the driving force (= the person who has the most influence) behind the project.
• Guardian: /ˈɡɑːdiən/a person who protects something. E.g. Farmers should be guardians of the countryside. The police are guardians of law and order. 
• Whiff: / wɪf /1 whiff (of something) a smell, especially one that you only smell for a short time. E.g. a whiff of cigar smoke. He caught a whiff of perfume as he leaned towards her. 2 whiff (of something) a slight sign or feeling of something. E.g. a whiff of danger.
• Snap sth/so up: to buy or obtain something quickly because it is cheap or you want it very much. E.g. All the best bargains were snapped up within hours. (Figurative) She's been snapped up by Hollywood to star in two major movies.
• Track record: all the past achievements, successes or failures of a person or an organization. Sp. historial E.g. He has a proven track record in marketing.  
• Walk out (on somebody): (informal) to suddenly leave somebody that you are having a relationship with and that you have a responsibility for. E.g. How could she walk out on her kids?
• Mindset: a set of attitudes or fixed ideas that somebody has and that are often difficult to change. Mentality. E.g. a conservative mindset. The mindset of the computer generation.  
• Foster something: to encourage something to develop. Promote. E.g. The club's aim is to foster better relations within the community.
• Yield something: to produce or provide something, for example a profit, result or crop. E.g. Higher-rate deposit accounts yield good returns. The research has yielded useful information. Trees that no longer yield fruit. 
• The jury is (still) out on something: used when you are saying that something is still not certain. E.g. The jury is still out on whether wine can be good for you.
• Flow (of something/somebody): the steady and continuous movement of something/somebody in one direction. E.g. She tried to stop the flow of blood from the wound. An endless flow of refugees into the country. To improve traffic flow (= make it move faster). A steady flow of traffic through the city. The flow of an electric current.
• Quantum leap: a sudden, great and important change, improvement or development. Sp. salto espectacular. E.g. This discovery marks a quantum leap forward in the fight against cancer.
• Tangible: /ˈtændʒəbl/ that can be clearly seen to exist. E.g. tangible benefits/improvements/results, etc. We cannot accept his findings without tangible evidence. Tangible assets (= a company's buildings, machinery, etc.)
• Lean: (of organizations, etc.) strong and efficient because the number of employees has been reduced. E.g. The changes made the company leaner and more competitive. 
• Fix: a solution to a problem, especially an easy or temporary one. E.g. There is no quick fix for the steel industry. 
• The nub (of something): the central or essential point of a situation, problem, etc. E.g. The nub of the matter is that business is declining. She's too selfish to help. That's the nub. 
• Perpetrator: /ˈpɜːpətreɪtə(r)/ a person who commits a crime or does something that is wrong or evil. E.g. the perpetrators of the crime. We will do everything in our power to bring the perpetrators to justice. 
• Take somebody to task (for/over something): to criticize somebody strongly for something they have done. E.g. The local newspaper has been taking the city council to task over its transport policy.
• Keep/get your head down: to avoid attracting attention to yourself. E.g. If I were you, I'd keep your head down for a couple of weeks.
• Ruthless: hard and cruel; determined to get what you want and not caring if you hurt other people. E.g. a ruthless dictator. The way she behaved towards him was utterly ruthless. He has a ruthless determination to succeed. We'll have to be ruthless if we want to make this company more efficient.