english collocations /
Feelings

I experienced a roller coaster of emotions when my son was born (many different emotions one after another). During my wife’s pregnancy, I was ridiculously excited about the prospect of becoming a dad. On the big day, I’d imagined that everything would go smoothly and we’d be blissfully happy – but there were complications during the delivery and my wife had to have emergency surgery while I waited in the reception area, worried sick (extremely worried).

As time went by, I got increasingly anxious (very impatient) because the doctors weren’t telling me anything. After two hours I was seething with anger (ready to explode with anger), and I and shouted at one of the nurses. Then the security guards came and escorted me out of the hospital.

My wife was visibly upset (it was obvious that she was disappointed) that I wasn’t by her side when she woke up from surgery. She didn’t say anything – she’s not really one to show her feelings (express emotional state); she prefers to bottle up her emotions (keep her emotions hidden inside her) – but I knew I had let her down and I was terribly sorry (very sorry) that I had lost my temper (lost control and showed anger).

The months that followed were tough. My wife became deeply depressed, and I too was an emotional wreck (a person who is very sad, confused, and upset) as I tried to juggle the demands of work and family life. But now things are starting to turn around – I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the all help we’ve gotten from our friends and neighbors.

I’m just immensely grateful (unusually appreciative) that my wife and son are healthy, and sometimes I’m overwhelmed with emotion (when emotion is so strong that it’s difficult to think or speak) as I reflect on how lucky we are. 

 

collocation Quiz 

Choose the correct word (A, B, C or D) to form the proper english collocation for each space

 

  1. At her son's wedding ceremony, she was so [overwhelmed / incapacitated / seething / capable ]... with emotions that she couldn't finish her speech. 
  2. I was [pleasantly / significantly / deeply / strongly ]... surprised by the excellent customer service - that company really cares about its customers.  
  3. I'm sorry I [lost / forgot / wrecked / set ]... my temper with you yesterday. It was a really stressful day at work. 
  4. Instead of confronting his issues, he [bottles / guards / rolls / shows ]... up his emotions and tries to pretend everything's OK.
  5. It's normal to go through a [roller coaster / ocean wave / helicopter / struggle ]... of emotions after the end of a long-term relationship. 
  6. My mother was worried [sick / bad / ill / unhappy ]... when it passed midnight and my brother still hadn't come home. 
  7. The boss was [visibly / sickly / pleasantly / strongly]... upset when the employees told him about the problems. 
  8. The fans were seething with [anger / disappointment / temper / patience ]... when the team lost the game in the last 5 minutes. 
  9. We're [terribly / badly / horribly / sickly ]... sorry, but we won't be able to go to your graduation. 

  10. We're [immensely / largely / blissfully / sincerely ]... grateful for all the help you've given us in this project. 

    [answer-table]