Page 166 - English Vocabulary In Use upper intermediet and advance

Exercises

When looking up idioms (or any type of words) in your dictionary, it is often a good idea to
look at what is just before and just after the information you are looking for. In this way you
can pick up some related words and/or expressions which you can record together.
For example, if you look up take the bull by the horns in a dictionary, you will probably
also find these idioms:
(to be/act) like a bull in a china shop [be very clumsy]
(to talk) a load of bull [talk nonsense]
Look up these idioms using the words underlined as your key word and see what other
idioms or useful phrases you can find around them in the dictionary.
1 let the cat out of the bag 3 to our oil on troubled waters
2 be in a fix 4 to stir things up

Choose a suitable idiom from the opposite page to fill the gaps.
1 I think 1'11 just .................................................. and let everyone else get on with
sorting matters out.
2 No, please, don't say anything; you'll only ...................................................
3 It's been a long, hard struggle, but I think at last we can see ..........................................
4 The police are trying their best to get to .................................................. , but it's a real
mystery at the moment.
5 I'm sorry, I'm in ................................................. .; could you explain that again?
6 At last I've managed to get him to sit .................................................. ; he's done
nothing at all for us so far.
7 I find it difficult to get a ................... ... ....................... this global warming business,
don't you?
8 I think we should take the bull .................................................. and sort it out. I don't
think it should be just swept ...................................................

Here are some more idioms connected with situations. From the context, can you paraphrase
-.
their meaning, as in the example?
1 It's not working; we'll have to go back to square one. go back to the beginning again
2 The teachers want one thing, the students want the exact opposite. I'm sure we can find a
happy medium.
3 We were on tenterhooks all night waiting for news from the hospital. They finally rang us
at 6.30 a.m.
4 Poverty and crime in this part of town.
5 You've been in a lot of trouble lately; you'd better toe the line from now on.

What questions could be asked to get these answers?
1 Well, we've buried the hatchet for the moment, but I'm sure it's pgt for good.
2 Yes, it's been a real turning-point in my career.
3 Yes, I think it would go a long way. You know how sensitive he is, and how he
appreciates little gestures.

English Vocabulary in Use 161