New Year’s Resolutions (Idioms)

Ex 1: Read the example sentences below, and try to guess the meaning of the phrases.

kick the habit out with the old, in with the new
I want to kick the habit of biting my nails Hannah: I met my current boyfriend very soon
this year. / She has a problem with alcohol. She after I broke up with my last one.
really needs to kick the habit. Jerome: Ah, out with the old, in with the new!

hit the ground running go cold turkey

Sue should hit the ground running now while she
has lots of free time to focus on her goals. / We
need to hit the ground running if we’re going to
beat the competition.
get the ball rolling
Jane is looking for an investor to get the ball rolling
on her new business idea. / Welcome to the
meeting guys. Let’s get the ball rolling with some
introductions.
a fresh start
Mick is moving to Canada for a fresh start. He is
sick and tired of the lack of quality of life and
badly-paid jobs here.
I’ve tried lots of ways to give up smoking, using
nicotine replacement therapy, but I think I just
need to go cold turkey.
turn over a new leaf
My wife and I have been arguing a lot recently. We
need to turn over a new leaf and start
communicating better.
start from scratch/zero
Susan accidentally deleted her essay on her laptop
and now she has to start from scratch again. / Oh
no! The pastry is ruined. We’ll have to start from
zero all over again.

Ex 2: Match the phrases above to the correct definition below.

1. ___________________ = stop taking sth you’re addicted to completely, without replacement medication.
2. ___________________ = start from the beginning without any advantage or previous work done.
3. ___________________ = a new beginning.
4. ___________________ = stop doing something you repeatedly do, like a bad habit.
5. ___________________ = replace something old with something new.
6. ___________________ = change the way you behave for the better.
7. ___________________ = get started on something successfully straight away.
8. ___________________ = start something happening.

Ex 3: Let’s practise!
Work with your partner and write three or four mini dialogues using some of the expressions you have
learnt. See the example below:
A: We really should kick the habit of smoking this year.
B: Yeah, I agree. We need to go cold turkey and reduce our alcohol
consumption too. Will we just have one last one now?

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 Teacher’s Notes
Lesson: New Year’s Resolutions (Idioms) Level: B2 – C1 Time: 40 mins

Preparation:
- Print/display the handout.

Teaching Method:
Step 1:
- Put students into pairs and display/give them exercise 1 (hide exercise 2 or ask students to cover this
part of the page).
- The students must read the example sentences and try to guess the meaning of each phrase from the
contexts.
- Gather feedback from the classes but do not correct answers at this stage.
Step 2:
- Move on to exercise 2, and ask the students to work individually, matching the definitions with the
correct phrases from exercise 1.
- Go through the answers together as a class.
Step 3:
- Students work with a partner or in a small group and write three or four mini dialogues using some of
the expressions they have learnt.
- Go through the example as a class.
- Monitor, giving correction where required.
- Students read their mini dialogues aloud for the class.

Exercise 2:
1. go cold turkey
2. start from scratch/zero
3. a fresh start Try our other New Year’s themed
4. kick the habit lessons for more practice!
5. out with the old, in with the new
6. turn over a new leaf
7. hit the ground running
8. get the ball rolling

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