This sample is a ready-made handout that can be used to teach a few idioms.

It
contains 2 idioms from 9 thematic groups followed by a variety of exercises.

The original book by PeterStepichev (teacherstepichev@narod.ru) offers 54

idioms (6 idioms in 9 thematic groups) supported with examples from 20 different
books by British and American writers and full-scale exercises which are 5 times
bigger. It also offers such new unusual ideas as Idioms Gambling method and idioms
Naval Battle method to work with idioms and ready-to-use cards to cut and play at
the lesson.

Dictionary
ANIMALS
a bull in a china shop /a clumsy, awkward person/

You have strength, he could hear her saying, but it is untutored strength.
Like a bull in a china shop, he suggested, and won a smile. (Martin Eden by Jack
London)

as busy as a beaver /very busy/

The old man was as busy as a beaver. (The Tree of Justice by Rudyard Kipling)

BODY

at one's fingertips /within one's grasp, near/

He has the whole technique at his fingertips. (The Big Four by Agatha Christie)

keep ones head /keep calm, especially in a difficult or dangerous situation/

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you
(If by Rudyard Kipling)

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COLOUR

out of the blue /without any warning, by surprise (like coming out of a blue sky)/

Imagine that! Right out of the blue, when she was feeling so happy. (Mrs Bixby and
the Colonels Coat by Roald Dahl)

black and white

/either good or bad, either one way or the other way but not in between/

Let me put it down in black and white, in words simple and unmistakable. (The
Eternity of Forms by Jack London)

SPORT

get the ball rolling /begin/

I might be able to get the ball rolling a little in time for the next director's meeting.
(Roadwork by Stephen King)

in the long run /over or after a long period of time; finally/

I go in for having the best of a thing, even if it does cost a little more - it's the best
economy, in the long run. (The Gilded Age by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley
Warner)

NUMBERS

forty winks /a nap, a short sleep (usually during the day)/

Gard closed his eyes, dozing himself. () Five minutes, that's all. Forty winks. No
harm, no foul. (Tommyknockers by Stephen King)

at sixes and sevens /in a state of total confusion/

Her quick mind and changing moods bewildered him, while her
outlook on life was so different from what he conceived a woman's outlook should
be, that he was more often than not at sixes and sevens with her. (Adventure by
Jack London)

FOOD

as cool as a cucumber /calm, not nervous or anxious/

Oh boy, you would have made a great murderer cool as a cucumber. (Pet
Sematary by Stephen King)

2
eat ones words

/take back something that one has said, to admit that something is not true/

It was sweet and laughable to hear Alan eat his words up in the fear of
some fresh quarrel. (Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson)

CLOTHES

laugh up ones sleeve /be secretly or inwardly amused/

And he felt, always, that they were laughing at him up their sleeves, or pitying him,
or tolerating him. (The House of Pride by Jack London)

bet ones boots /be certain/

You can bet your boots no one's going to make a song and dance about him. (Up at
the Villa by William Somerset Maugham).

MONEY

at all costs /at any expense of time/effort/money/

Get away from this place at all costs! (The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur
Conan Doyle)

cost a pretty penny /cost a lot of money/

It cost a pretty penny; but there are occasions when a little expense is justifiable.
(Dubliners by James Joyce)

EDUCATION

cut class /not to go to classes/

I didnt cut any classes. You werent allowed to cut any. There were a couple of them
I didnt attend once in a while, like that Oral Expression I told you about, but I didnt
cut any. (The Catcher in the Rye by Jerome David Salinger)

teach somebody a lesson

/do something to someone in order to punish them for their bad behavior/

You taught me a lesson, hard indeed at first, but most advantageous. (Pride and
Prejudice by Jane Austin)

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 EXERCIS ES
I) Match an idiom and its definition.
a. very busy
1. as cool as a cucumber
2. as busy as a beaver b. take back something that one has said

3. eat ones words c. calm, not nervous or anxious

4. in (someones) shoes d. not to go to classes

5. cut class e. in another person's place or position

II) Complete the idioms.

1. as busy as
2. as innocent as
3. give a big
4. live from hand to
5. black and
6. get the green
7. red-carpet
8. get the ball
9. cast the first
10. forty

III) Fill in the blanks.

Group 1:
reading between the lines, bear fruit, at sixes and sevens, at all costs, make money
1. There was us in Europe all .. with our silly flags and
our silly newspapers raggin' us up against each other and keepin' us apart... (The
War in the Air by Herbert George Wells)
2. Not that the money mattered much; it was the bad publicity that was to be avoided
... (Bad Medicine by Robert Sheckley)

4
3. I shall die, but it shall live, yield fresh seed, .. I know
not of. Generations yet unborn shall read it and remember me. (Paul Kelver by
Jerome K. Jerome)
4. .. I should imagine that your engagement to this girl is
making you rather unhappy, and I see you have lost all the feeling of romance that
you had before the war. (This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
5. And we must be what is called prudent and ..; not only
because it is pleasant to have money, but because that also is a part of respectability,
and we cannot hope to be received in society without decent possessions. (Lay
Morals by Robert Louis Stevenson)

IV) Render the sentences from English into your language.

1. Now hold your horses, Lal says, just as cool as a cucumber. (It by Stephen
King).
2. I was in two minds whether to run away; but anger got the upper hand, and I began
instead to rain kicks and buffets on the door, and to shout out aloud for Mr. Balfour.
(Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson).
3. But hunger and wretchedness rise superior to fears in the long run. (Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain).

V) Make questions for the following sentences.

1. Bill will get this prize at all costs.
2. Many people in Africa live from hand to mouth.
3. He always has his mobile telephone at his fingerprints.

VI) Agree or Disagree.

1. White lie is harmless.
2. A mobile telephone should always be at your fingertips.
3. Students should never cut classes.

5
VII) Answer the questions.
1. When are students as busy as beavers?
2. What things do you always keep at your fingertips?
3. Why do you need English in the long run?

VIII) Make situations with the following idioms.

a bull in a china shop, the black sheep of the family, arm in arm, local colour

XIX) Make dialogues with the following idioms.

as innocent as a lamb, back the wrong horse, out of the blue

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sample. It offers you 54 idioms in authentic contexts and lot of activities,
including games with idioms (Idioms Gambling method and idioms Naval
Battle method).