Page 154 - English Vocabulary In Use upper intermediet and advance

Exercises

Complete the idioms in these sentences with one of the key words given, as in the example. If
you are not sure, try looking up the key word in a good dictionary.
clanger shot ocean plate block handle pie
1 All the promises these politicians make! It's just pie. in the sky. (big promises that will
never materialise)
2 The small amount of money donated is just a drop in the ..................................
compared with the vast sum we need. (tiny contribution compared with what is needed)
3 You really dropped a ................................. when you criticised the Americans last night;
that man opposite you was from New York! (said something inappropriatelembarrassing)
4 I can't do that job as well; I've got enough on my ................................. as it is. (have
more than enough work)
5 When I told her she just flew off the ................................. and shouted at me. (lost her
temper)
6 His father was a gambler too. He's a real chip off the old .................................. (just
like one's parentslgrandparents)
7 I wasn't really sure; I guessed it; it was just a ................................. in the %ark. (a wild
guess)

Use a good general dictionary or a dictionary of idioms to see if it can help you decide which
version of these sentences is in the normal grammatical form for the idiom concerned, as in
the example. Check the meaning too, if you are not sure.
Example: You bark / are barkln up the wrong tree if you think I did it. (see B opposite)
1 Holland is springing 1 springs to mind as the best place to go for a cycling holiday; it's
very flat.
2 That remark is flying / flies in the face of everything you've ever said before on the
subject.
3 He was innocent after all. It just goes 1 is just going to show that you shouldn't believe
what you read in the papers.
4 You sit / 're sitting pretty! Look at you, an easy job, a fantastic salary, a free car!
5 His attitude is leaving / leaves a lot to be desired. I do wish he would try to improve a
little.

4.3 How would you organise this selection of idioms into different groups? Use some of the
ways suggested on the opposite page, plus any other ways you can think of.
be in a fix child's play rough and ready be up to it hold your tongue
be out of sorts hold your horses a fool's errand odds and ends
stay mum give or take

Without using a dictionary, try to guess the meaning of these idioms from the context.
I It's midnight. Time to hit the sack.
2 This is just kid's stuff. I want something challenging!
3 He was down and out for two years, but then he got a job and found a home for himself.

English Vocabulary in Use 149