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Paul Sparks
- Online English Lesson Plans, Lesson Material and Ideas for Oral English
Lessons, Hunan University of Science and Technology...
ORAL ENGLISH: Common Idioms Activity
1.
Below on the left are some common idioms. Choose the correct meaning from
the
list on the right.
1.
be par for the
course
a. find compromises
2. give the game
away
b. make people feel relaxed with each other
3. give and
take
c. do something in a way that will give good results
4. have it in for
somebody
d. choose what you want
5. know something inside
out
e. be determined to hurt or criticize somebody
6. break the
ice
f. spoil a secret surprise or joke
7. take your
pick
g. know everything about a subject
8. be on the right
track
h. happen as you would expect
2.
Fill gaps in these sentences with the idioms from exercise 1 (above).
1.
Which one can I have? ......................................
2. The train was half an hour late but I suppose that
............................................., isn't it?
3. They weren't very talkative at first, then someone told a joke and that
really ..............................
4. You have to ............................ in these situations. There's
always an element of compromise.
5. Peter's going to be there and there's going to be a band and you'll never
guess
Oh don't say anything else. You'll
...................................................................
6. You could ask Emma. She can recite most of the words in the film. She
.
7. We've got all the answers right so far so it looks as though we
...............................................
8. My boss ...................................... She's constantly
criticizing my work even when someone
else has praised it.
3.
Fill in the gaps in these sentences with the correct form of the verb in
brackets.
1.
She bends over backwards ............................... them and they're
not very grateful. (help)
2. I've half a mind ......................... her to clean it again. It's
still filthy. (tell)
3. A group of scientists report that they are on the brink of
........................... a cure for cancer.
(discover)
4. He's very disappointed. He had set his sights on
............................. a pilot. (become)
5. You'd be hard put ........................ a nicer house than the one
you're in now. (find)
6. I'd give my right arm .......................... a holiday at the moment.
(have)
7. We did some mountain-biking and I had a stab at
.......................... as well. (waterski)
8. The company was at pains ........................... that they had no
intention of cutting jobs. (stress)
4
The following idioms are missing prepositions. Can you guess which
preposition
goes where?
"on" / "out" / "
on" / "for" / " out" / "out
of" / "over" / "under"
1.
He didn't get any authority to take the action. He went .................
his boss's head.
2. Don't say a word to anyone, do you promise? Keep it .................
your hat.
3. Go easy ................. her. She doesn't understand. She's only a
child.
4. She won't tell me anything. It's like trying to get blood
................. a stone.
5. Go on spoil yourselves. Push the boat ................. for a change.
6. She's got a good ear ................. languages and she's pretty musical
as well.
7. That was quick. You're ................. the ball this morning.
8. I've had it ................. with him and we seem to have resolved most
of the problems.
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