I.
noun
1 level of quality
ADJECTIVE
▪ high
▪ low , poor
▪ certain , minimum
▪
Players have to be of a certain ~ to compete in the tournament.
▪ acceptable , adequate , decent , proper , reasonable
▪
We must ensure proper ~s of care for the elderly.
▪
a decent ~ of living
▪ improved , rising
▪ new
▪
He set a new ~ of excellence in detective fiction.
▪ current , modern
▪
The houses need to be brought up to modern ~s.
▪ historical
▪ clear
▪ objective
▪
Judged by any objective ~s, the campaign was a disaster.
▪ accepted ( esp. BrE ), official , required ( esp. BrE )
▪ conventional ( esp. AmE ), usual
▪ common , consistent , uniform , universal
▪
They will adopt common ~s for dealing with asylum applications.
▪ exacting , rigorous , strict , stringent
▪ gold ( figurative )
▪
Charles Schulz's ‘Peanuts’ is the gold ~ for comic strips.
▪
The newspaper has to offer a gold ~ for journalistic integrity.
▪ professional
▪
The work has been done to a professional ~.
▪ federal , international , national , state ( AmE )
▪ quality
▪
We have to try and achieve the quality ~s set by the project.
▪ qualifying
▪
The Olympic qualifying ~ has been set at 64.50 m.
▪ living
▪
The region enjoys the highest living ~s in Asia.
▪ accounting , journalistic , labour/labor ( esp. AmE ), legal , safety , security , trading ( BrE ), etc.
▪ academic , educational , environmental , health , performance , technical , etc.
▪ industry
▪
The product has become an industry ~.
▪ emission , emissions
▪
The bill established new emissions ~s for cars sold in the state.
VERB + STANDARD
▪ have
▪
The agency has very high ~s.
▪ boast , enjoy
▪ define , develop , establish , set
▪ achieve , be up to , live up to , meet , reach
▪
The factory is struggling to meet national environmental ~s.
▪
She has reached an acceptable ~ of English.
▪ bring sth up to
▪ fall short of
▪
The hotel service fell short of the usual ~.
▪ apply , enforce , provide
▪
It's impossible to apply the same academic ~s across the country.
▪ judge sb/sth by
▪ improve ( esp. BrE ), raise
▪ lower
▪ maintain , sustain
PREPOSITION
▪ above (the) ~ , below (the) ~
▪
Your work is below ~.
▪ according to a/the ~ , by … ~s
▪
By today's ~s, he isn't a particularly fast runner.
▪ to a … ~
▪
The building work had not been completed to a satisfactory ~.
▪ up to ~
▪
We need to bring our computer system up to ~.
▪ ~ in
▪
~s in safety
PHRASES
▪ by any ~
▪
She's a great violinist by any ~.
▪ by the ~s of the day
▪
The army was massive by the ~s of the day.
▪ a drop in the ~ , a fall in the ~
▪
There has been a drop in the ~ of health care.
▪ an increase in the ~ , a rise in the ~
▪
There has been an increase in the ~ of service provided.
▪ a ~ of living
▪
the fall in their ~ of living
2 ( usually standards ) acceptable level of conduct
ADJECTIVE
▪ declining , falling
▪
My grandparents are always complaining about falling moral ~s.
▪ double
▪
the double ~ frequently encountered in 19th-century attitudes to sex
▪ ethical , moral
VERB + STANDARD
▪ prescribe
▪ keep up , maintain
▪ improve , raise
STANDARD + VERB
▪ drop , fall
PHRASES
▪ ~s of behaviour/behavior , ~s of conduct
▪ ~ of care
II.
adj.
VERBS
▪ be , be fitted as ( esp. BrE ), come as
▪
Anti-lock brakes come as ~.
▪ become
ADVERB
▪ almost
▪
The stations were built to a simple, almost ~ design.
▪ fairly , pretty , relatively
▪
a fairly ~ method of assessing employees
Standard is used with these nouns: ↑ abbreviation , ↑ charge , ↑ component , ↑ contract , ↑ convention , ↑ cover , ↑ curriculum , ↑ curve , ↑ definition , ↑ dictionary , ↑ dosage , ↑ dose , ↑ equipment , ↑ error , ↑ excuse , ↑ fare , ↑ fashion , ↑ feature , ↑ fee , ↑ fitting , ↑ format , ↑ formula , ↑ gauge , ↑ keyboard , ↑ lamp , ↑ letter , ↑ manner , ↑ measure , ↑ measurement , ↑ menu , ↑ method , ↑ model , ↑ offering , ↑ outlet , ↑ practice , ↑ precaution , ↑ procedure , ↑ pronunciation , ↑ rate , ↑ reference , ↑ repertoire , ↑ reply , ↑ report , ↑ return , ↑ score , ↑ service , ↑ set , ↑ setting , ↑ size , ↑ socket , ↑ specification , ↑ system , ↑ technique , ↑ terminology , ↑ test , ↑ text , ↑ textbook , ↑ tool , ↑ treatment , ↑ type , ↑ uniform , ↑ unit , ↑ variety , ↑ version , ↑ wage , ↑ width