Page 172 - English Vocabulary In Use upper intermediet and advance

Exercises

Look at these mini-dialogues and decide which idiom from the opposite page you could use
to answer the questions.
1 A: I'll give you $85.
B: No, $100 or nothing.
A: Oh, come on. Look, $90, there.
B: No, I said $100 and I mean $100.
What's B doing?
2 A: I'm president of the squash club, I'm on the teacher-parent committee and I run
three youth clubs.
B: Really?
A: Yes, oh, and I'm on that working party at the Social Centre, and there's the Union ...
What sort of person could A be described as?
3 A: 'Lady in red, la-da-da-di-da ...'
'
B: I wish you'd stop singing that blasted song!
A: What? Oh, sorry ... 'Lady in red, la-la ...'
What's A's problem?
4 A: Oh, no! You know that box of wine glasses I bought from that guy in the street?
Half of them are cracked!
B: Well, you should have looked at them first. It's your stupid fault.
What has A done?

Rewrite these sentences using an idiom instead of the underlined bits.
1 Can I tell you about a problem I have? I just have to tell somebody. It's been bothering me
for a while now.
2 They charged us £100 for a tiny room without a bath. It was just robbery!
3 There'll just be time to have a quick meal before the show.
4 I must admit, Maria coped with the situation brilliantly.
5 I think I'll just go upstairs and have a sleep for a while, if nobody objects.
6 Well, I was very tired and fell asleep on the sofa at about two o'clock, and the party was
still in full swing.
Can you think of a situation where you might ...

1 have to get a bite to eat on the way?
2 have to pay over the odds for a hotel room?
3 find it hard to make any headway?
4 be willing to pay through the nose for tickets?

3.4 Which idioms do these drawings suggest?

Follow-up: Look up idioms under further parts of the body, for example, tongue, heels, toe,
back, and make a note of examples. 1

English Vocabulary in Use 167