What's the mystery word (2)?
(Answers)

    And the answer is... time

    1. The train doesn't leave for half an hour. Let's go window-shopping and kill some time.
    2. We'll discuss these points later if time allows.
    3. A: Do you like the Beatles?
      B: I don't know much about them. They were before my       time.
    4. She devotes most of her free time to gardening.
    5. I never seem to be able to find the time to write letters nowadays.
    6. The boss never listens to me. Trying to talk to him is a complete waste of time.
    7. Let's put the plates in the dish-washing machine and save some time.
    8. I couldn't finish the test. I ran out of time.
Comments
    With high-frequency words like time, it is important not just to know the meaning of the word, but to learn phrases in which time occurs. In other words, it is important to know the words which most often COLLOCATE with time. Let's have a look at these below:

    KILL TIME: This phrase is often used when we have to wait for something (e.g. waiting for a train, waiting for a friend to arrive). We don't want to just wait and do nothing, so maybe we go shopping or go for a walk to kill time.

    IF TIME ALLOWS: Means "if we have enough time." Other phrases with a similar meaning are: If time permits, time allowing, time permitting. We can also use allow and permit with weather: We're going to have a barbecue on Sunday, weather permitting.

    BEFORE MY TIME: Depending on the situation, this can mean before I was born, or before I started work or study at a particular place:
      A: I hear you studied English at X University. Did Professor Watkins teach you?
      B: No, he was before my time.

    DEVOTE (A LOT OF/MOST OF) HIS/HER TIME TO: This is used when we give a lot of time to a particular activity. It could be something like a hobby, voluntary work, religion, political activity: He devotes a lot of his time to campaigning against world hunger.

    FIND / SAVE / RUN OUT OF / WASTE TIME: These are quite well-known collocations with time. They can also be used with money and many commonly used resources: run out of money, waste electricity, save fuel.

    Of course, there are many other collocations we can use with time: take your time, have a good time, arrive in good time. Please look out for these as you are reading and listening to English and remember... THINK PHRASE, NOT JUST WORD!!
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