1、Lecture Three IdiomsIn-class exercisesTake these exercises as a quiz to check your knowledge of idioms“Do English idioms drive you round the bend, send you potty or make you go bananas? Maybe you find them as clear as mud, and they leave you thinking that you are as thick as two short planks because
2、 you cant get your head around them? Well, help is at hand - try this book and you could end up thinking that you are Jack the Lad and on top of it all. -Cambridge University Press put together 7000 of the most common idioms in English.” - How do you know about Johns illness?- Oh, I heard it on the
3、grapevine. “Do you think Mary will quit her job now that shes pregnant?” “Yeah, when pigs fly! She had to bite the bullet and give in to her bosss unreasonable demands When Carols son got an F on his report card, she hit the ceiling! Idioms with Animals Idioms with colours Idioms to work like a hors
4、e - To eat a great deal. To work very hard hold your horses - Stop, wait a dead horse matter - No longer of concern a dark horse. - A person or thing that is much better than is thought lock the stable door after the horse has bolted - Take action too late a horse of another color - Quite a differen
5、t matter put the cart before the horse - To do things in the wrong order Wild horse cant keep me away - Nothing could keep me away to ride a high horse - act in an arrogant way a big fish a big fish in a small pond like shooting fish in a barrel there are other fish in the sea throw someone to the l
6、ion at a snails pace parrot fashion cry wolf kill the goose that lays the golden eggTranslate the following Animal Idioms1. 爱屋及乌_ love me, love my dog 2. 摸老虎屁股 _ twist the lions tail 3. 过牛马一般的生活 _ lead a dogs life4. 骑虎难下 _ hold a wolf by the ears5. 牛饮 _ drink like a fish 6. 费九牛二虎之力 _ kill oneslfe ov
7、er such a small matter7. 吹牛 _ talk horse 8. 狼吞虎咽 _make a lions meal of 9. 对牛弹琴_ cast/throw pearls before swine10. 蜻蜓点水 _ scratch the surface11. 呆若木鸡 _ dumbstruck to the ground12. 替罪羊_ scapegoat13、落汤鸡_ like a drowned rat14、害群之马_ black sheep15、鼠目寸光_ not see beyond ones nose16、驴唇不对马嘴_ out in the left f
8、ield17、胆小如鼠_ chicken-hearted 18、鹤立鸡群_ triton among the minnows19、混水摸鱼_ fish in the troubled water20、一丘之貉_ birds of the same feather Idioms with colours1. It takes weeks to go through all the red tape involved in getting permission.A. important occasionsB. necessary documentsC. complicated official r
9、ules and regulations, esp. when these are considered unnecessary.2. Hes the blue-eyed boy and has been promoted several times in the past two years.A. a very handsome and capable personB. a person treated with special favour by somebodyC. a person who often irritates others.3. Hes still green and bo
10、und to make mistakes, but I think hell bear watching.A. childishB. too weak to depend on himselfC. lacking experience, not mature enough.4. She was tickled pink when she heard that she was the only person who was offered such a chance.A. extremely pleasedB. extremely offendedC. extremely upset5. Im
11、afraid we shouldnt go on chatting like this. The new manager could arrive out of blue.A. unexpectedly; without warningB. with an angry expressionC. to give somebody a lesson.6. Our boss is rather stern and sometimes looks a bit haughty, but he isnt really as black as hes painted.A. as dark-skinned a
12、s he is describedB. as dangerous as he looksC. as bad as he is said to be7. Hes browned off with his job and decided to enter a university to study for his second degree.A. unequal toB. bored; fed upC. desperate for.8. No doubt that your father has green fingers. What a lovely garden!A. has a skill
13、in keeping grass green foreverB. works very hardC. has a skill in growing plants9. Im afraid something bad may happen. We need to prepare for the worst.A. Ive seen the red light.B. Ive seen the green light.C. Ive seen the yellow light.10. The government has finally given permission to start the proj
14、ect that has been discussed for several years.A. given the red light toB. given the green light toC. given the yellow light to11. We seldom see you, but you are off the next minute.A. see you only once in a blue moon.B. see you only once in a silver moon.C. see you only once in a grey moon.12. She h
15、as been in very good health after she made a habit of jogging every morning.A. in the brownB. in the redC. in the pink13. Mr. Johnson is the chief editor in this press who is responsible for crossing out or altering the offensive parts of a book before it is shown to the public.A. holds the red penc
16、il.B. holds the blue pencil.C. holds the black pencil.14. This is a rich district where many wealthy people live in their luxurious houses.A. a brown-stone districtB. a red-stone districtC. a white-stone district15. What a relief when I found that I still have money in my bank account! But I cant sp
17、end money like this any longer.A. Im in the red.B. Im in the black.C. Im in the blue.16. He was discovered in the act of cheating by looking up his textbooks in the examination.A. caught red-handed.B. caught white-handed.C. caught black-handed.17. What a fabulous car! - Im very jealous.A. red with e
18、nvy.B. blue with envy.C. green with envy.18.That was only a harmless lie. I didnt want to hurt her. I know if she knew the truth, she would do something silly.A. a green lieB. a white lieC. a grey lie19 As a man with plenty of guts, he is the person who is expected to bring success to his company wh
19、ich is on the verge of bankrupt.A. the white hope.B. the red hope.C. the green hope. 20. The new rules for police procedure cleared up a lot of ambiguous areas which had been difficult to deal with.A. black areasB. grey areasC. blue areas Idioms 干的事叫人惊叹 do a Dutch 逃走/自杀 Dutch courage 酒后之勇 go Dutch 各
20、人自付钱 ones old Dutch 妻, 老婆 A Dutch uncle 爱教训别人的人 Idioms vs. Sports 1. John didnt want to contribute to the charity, but we kept on persuading him and finally he gave us ten dollars.twisted his arm (To persuade somebody by using all the psychological leverage )2. The project has been blocked and made
21、no further progress. All the members are anxious to find out the exact reason. behind the eight ball (Being blocked from making any further progress toward the goal of winning ) 3.He is honest and frank in his talk, and hence he offended a lot of people.a straight shooter ( Honest and frank in ones
22、talk )4.She is indeed a successful career woman. As she always does things decisively and with flair, no man would look down upon her. Slams dunk (To do something decisively and with flair 天赋 )5.The last point he made in his argument was decisive and most members of the committee finally voted for h
23、is new proposal. a knockout punch (A point made in an argument which is decisive and unanswerable)6.From the theoretical point of view, the new project seems a bit impossible, but if we speak from practical experience and start now, we may get it accomplish in the end.shoot with real bullets (To speak from practical experience and actually accomplish something rather than speaking theoretically)
