Vargas Sánchez José Luis

LEI, English VIII

Lexical Activities Unit 14.

I. Use the name of the following pictures to complete the idioms. Then, match the columns with
the appropriate meanings by writing the correct number in the parenthesis (1-10 – a-j)

a. Take sth by _______ - (___)

b. By word of _______ - (___)
c. Set ______ on - (___)
d. Have a _______ to _______ – (___)
e. to walk _______ in _______ - (___)
f. Stroll ___ in arm - (___)
g. ______ to _______ - (___)
h. To live from ______ to ________ - (___)
i. To fight ______ and ______ - (___)
j. To get it off your _______ – (___)
k. To be up to your _______– (___)
l. To make you ________ stand on end– (___)
m. Pull your _______– (___)
n. To be ________ and ________– (___)
o. Get your ________ round– (___)
p. Keep on your _______– (___)
q. To be all _______ and ________– (___)

1. to be awkward with your hands and keep making mistakes

2. to keep you in the best condition
3. to be able to understand something (usually negative)
4. be better than someone
5. play a joke on them by saying something that isn't true
6. shock or frighten
7. to be very busy or have more than manageable
8. to release something
9. to do everything against someone
10. to spend all your money only on basic things
11. they are very close to each other, one behind the other(elephants)
12. walk holding hands
13. two things closely connected
14. have an honest talk and share your feelings with each other
15. visit a place/ enter
16. in a spoken form
17. Be upset by something that someone does or says
II. Use the previous idioms to complete the following sentences. Make any necessary changes.

1. I'm all thumbs today. You know when you get nervous and you're all______________
2. “Why are you picking on me?" And the jokester replies: "to______________.”
3. He's tried to explain the rules of the game dozens of times but I just can't
________________them.
4. John stands ______________above Bob.
5. Don't believe him. He's just _________your ________.
6. The horrible scream made my ______________.
7. I'm ____________in work. I don’t have time even for myself.
8. Charlie was feeling bad about cheating on his wife, so he ____________and told her about
it. She divorced him soon after.
9. They vowed to fight the new legislation ____________.
10. My father earned very little and there were four of us kids so we lived from____________.
11. Traffic is ___________on the east-bound section of the M62.
12. The two lovers walked __________down the street.
13. Cookies and milk seem to go___________.
14. If you're not getting on well with someone, having a __________ can really help a lot.
15. The judge ordered him never to ___________in her house again.
16. I need it in writing. I don't trust things I hear about by ___________.
17. Mary listened to Bob's advice and _____________.
III. Use the following words to complete the sentences. Make any necessary change.

Live in clover unearth Live it up crave Live by your wits

Yank resolve loathe scrounge

live up to your expectations seethe Live down harangue Learn to live with

1. Finally the doctor told Marion that she was going to have to ___________her arthritis.
2. When you're in the kind of business I'm in, you have to ___________.
3. We didn’t _________off the social security.
4. She _________ the emergency cord.
5. With the huge income from the family estate, she ____________.
6. Does the city and your (new) job_________________?, or you expected something better?
7. You have to ________ about what to do. You cannot be hesitating all the time.
8. After an exhausting investigation, the mystery was __________.
9. I decided to __________for a while - at least until the money ran out.
10. Three million people saw the singer fall off the edge of the stage. He'll never___________.
11. They were rivals who truly _________each other.
12. The nation ___________ with suppressed revolutionary activity.
13. He delivered a long ___________about the evils of popular culture.
14. I was _________ french fries, so I pulled into the nearest fast-food restaurant.
 ANSWER KEY

I.

a. Take sth by heart - (___)17

b. By word of mouth - (___)16
c. Set foot on - (___)15
d. Have a heart to heart – (___)14
e. to walk hand in hand - (___)13
f. Stroll arm in arm - (___)12
g. Nose to tail - (___)11
h. To live from hand to mouth - (___)10
i. To fight tooth and nail - (___)9
j. To get it off your chest – (___)8
k. To be up to your ears– (___)7
l. To make you hair stand on end– (___)6
m. Pull your leg– (___)5
n. To be head and shoulders– (___)4
o. Get your head round– (___)3
p. Keep on your toes– (___)2
q. To be all finger and thumbs– (___)1

II.

1. finger and thumbs

2. Keep you on your toes
3. Get your my round
4. head and shoulders
5. Pulling your leg
6. hair stand on end
7. up to my ears
8. got off his chest
9. tooth and nail
10. hand to mouth
11. Nose to tail
12. Stroll arm in arm
13. hand in hand
14. heart to heart
15. Set foot on
16. word of mouth
17. Take it by heart
III.

1. Learn to live with

2. Live by your wits
3. scrounge
4. Yanked
5. Lives in clover
6. live up to your expectations
7. resolve
8. unearthed
9. Live it up
10. Live it down
11. loathed
12. seethed
13. harangue
14. craving