English Idioms

ФОРМА УЧАСТНИКА КОНКУРСА CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH TEACHER

1	Activity title:	English idioms
2	Skill(s):	Vocabulary and speaking skills
3	Level(s):	A2-B1
4	Exam part:	Use of English
5	Aim(s):	- to develop lexical and speaking skills - to broaden students' knowledge of English idioms
6	Materials needed:	worksheets
7	Preparation:	The students should repeat the list of idioms
8	Procedure: Step 1. The teacher gives each student the activity sheet. Step 2. Now the students read the tasks and fill in the necessary items.
9	Variation(s)	The number of exercises can be different. It depends on the language level of students.
10	Reflections	These exercises help students to remember the lexical meaning of the English idioms. If idioms are used in everyday conversation, the students are able to remember spelling and lexical meaning. After completing the exercises, discuss with the students which ones seemed to them the most difficult, in order to focus on practicing other idioms this way in the future.

Idioms are used in spoken language, in a wide variety of contexts and situations that range from friendly conversations to business meetings.

Exercise-1. Choose and underline the correct word in brackets to use the idiom:

1. Her younger daughter is the (plum, apple, pear) of her eye.
2. You should book your tickets well in advance, as they are selling like hot (pies, buns, cakes).
3. I don't really enjoy playing computer games. It's not my cupof (tea, coffee, juice).
4. You can't change anything now. Don't cry over spilt (oil, wine, milk).
5. Jake is in serious trouble now. He is really in hot (coke, beer, water).

Exercise-2. Complete the idioms with numerals. You shouldn't use some of them:

one, two, three, fours and fives, six, sixes and sevens, hundred, million, thousand

1. Both boys are to blame. It's …….. of one and a half a dozen of the other.
2. Everyone was at ………… after the announcement that the college had been vandalized.
3. It was the best opportunity for me to participate in the Olympic Games, definitely one in a ………… .
4. Ann is too indecisive. She is always in ……….. minds about buying new clothes.
5. They get ………… bites at the cherry instead of it all being packaged up as one.

Exercise-3. Match the idioms with their translation:

1. feel off colour	a) быть очень усталым
2. feel run down	b) чувствовать недомогание
3. be under the weather	c) быть абсолютно спокойным
4. as cool as a cucumber	d) выглядеть нездоровым
5. be sick and tired	e) быть изможденным

Exercise-4. Are there similar idioms in your language? Translate into Russian:

1. bring home the bacon	a)
2. money talks	b)
3. throw money down the drain	c)
4. wears the trousers	d)
5. jack-of-all-trades	e)

Exercise-5. Match the idioms with their meaning:

1. talk with a forked tongue	a) be paid no attention to
2. talk in riddles	b) have the same ideas, tastes and attitudes
3. talk to the wall	c) express one's opinions frankly and plainly
4. speak the same language as somebody	d) tell lies
5. speak one's mind	e) say things in a confusing way

Exercise-6. Match two parts of one idiom and complete the sentences below with these idioms about animals and insects. Mind the correct form of the verb.

1. bear	a) new tricks
2. drop	b) sheep
3. butterflies	c) like flies
4. dog	d) in his/her stomach
5. black	e) with a sore throat

1. My brother is the ……….. of the family. He is always in trouble.
2. Lots of people are off sick with the coronavirus in the country. They ……… .
3. My brother won't go back to the institute because he believes you can't teach an old ………… .
4. What's wrong with John? He is like a ……… .
5. Before the performance Helen was too nervous. Her knees were shaking so much and there were ……………. .

Exercise-7. Read the situations and use the idioms to have a conversation:

1.

A: You could drop these books off at the library while you're shopping in the town center.

B: Good idea! Then I can ………………………… (I can kill two birds with one stone.)

2.

A: Alex wasn't the nice man as he seemed to be.

B: That's true. He ………………………………… (He was a wolf in sheep's clothing.)

3.

A: Nataly has got a face like thunder today.

B: That's true. Perhaps she …………………………… (She has got up on the wrong side of the bed.)

4.

A: It has been raining since the early morning today.

B: Sure. The weather is so nasty. ………………………… (It's raining cats and dogs.)

5.

A: Your garden looks fantastic, Mary.

B: Thank you! People say ………………………………… (I have green fingers.)