Idioms and collocations

Ex. Fill in the gaps with one correct option each. 

1. I think everyone has a/an ___-day sometimes.

     A. off   B. out  C. away   D. outside   E. colour

2. The rain has ___ in and the weather is really depressing.

     A. caught   B. fixed   C. set   D. got   E. arrived

3. I have to go to bed. I’m not a night ___, you know.

     A. Mark   B. owl   C. vampire   D. bat   E. ghost

4. When Pete first went to the gym, he was as thin as a ___.

     A. stick insect   B. finger   C. piece of paper   D. spider   E. rake

5. You won’t get on with Pam if you bear a/an ___ against her.

     A. grudge   B. curse   C. spell   D. offence   E. misgiving

6. Are you sure the puppy is ___?

     A. house-trained   B. home-trained   C. potty-trained   D. house-exercised   E. home-taught

7. The police are searching ___ for the criminal.

     A. dawn and dusk   B. high and dry  C. left and right   D. to and fro   E. high and low

8. Many Poles consider the Palace of Culture and Science ___ and want it demolished.

     A. uglifying   B. an eyesore   C. all the rage   D. browned off   E. red tape

9. The Kardashians ___ a loud party last night.

     A. sprang   B. tore   C. set   D. threw   E. cast

10. I hope you’ll pass the exam with ___ colours.

     A. bright   B. light   C. shining   D. pretty   E. flying

11. I have no idea what the man means. It's all ___ to me.

     A. Welsh   B. Chinese   C. French   D. Latin   E. Greek 

12. It's utter nonsense. You're full of ___, you know.

     A. prunes   B. pears   C. apples   D. oranges   E. lemons

13. Johnny may be strong, but he's not smart. In fact he's as thick as ___.

     A. a mule   B. a grey donkey   C. a broken branch   D. two short planks   E. a boot

14. Two and two make four. It's as plain as ___.

     A. the moon in the sky  B. the sea   C. the nose on your face   D. a peacock   E. the world

15. Jane's getting married this Saturday. It's a ___ letter day for all of us.

     A. red   B. gold   C. silver   D. blue   E. white

KEY

1A, 2C, 3B, 4E, 5A, 6A, 7E, 8B, 9D, 10E, 11E, 12A, 13D, 14C, 15A

Pronunciation of British place names

To create this post I used howjsay.com and ipa.typeit.org. The default accent on my blog is British RP.

Ex. Spell the following words phonetically.

1. Reading, 2. the Thames, 3. Leicester, 4. Gloucester, 5. Worcester, 6. Powys, 7. Torquay, 8. Edinburgh, 9. Isles of Scilly, 10. Inverness


KEY
1. /'redɪŋ/, 2. /ðə 'temz/, 3. /'lestə/, 4. /'glɒstə/, 5. /ˈwʊstə/, 6. /'poʊɪs/, /'pɑʊɪs/, 7. /tɔː'kiː/, 8. /'edɪnbᵊrə/, 9. /ɑɪlz əv 'sɪli/, 10. /ɪnvəˈnes/

Emphasis: Cleft sentences and wh-fronting

This post is loosely based on the structures dealt with in Unit 14 of Michael Vince's Advanced Languge Practice (1994).

Ex. 1. Paraphrase the following sentences using the words provided so that the meaning remains as similar as possible. e.g. 0. Iwant the blue one!  It is the blue one that I want!

1. I don't know where Johnny found that rusty knife.
Where ........................................................................
2. We don't know why Pauline left her husband.
Why ...........................................................................
3. Kate was the person who drove me home.
It ................................................................................
4. In the end Kate drove me home.
What Kate .................................................................
5. A cup of coffee is all I need now.
What ........................................................................
All ...........................................................................
6. California was the place where Julia met her boyfriend.
It ..............................................................................
7. Whatever are you doing with my glasses?!
............... earth are ..................................................?!
8. On Monday we finally got back home.
It ..............................................................................
9. She works 10 hours a day and goes to the gym three times a week. I have no idea how she manages to do it all.
She works 10 hours a day and goes to the gym three times a week. How ...............................
10. No, Jack lives in Norway, not Sweden.
No, it ......................................................................
11. The reason why we stayed home was that it was raining.
It was ......................................................................

KEY
1. Where Johnny found that rusty knife I don't know.
2. Why (ever) Pauline left her husband we don't know.
3. It was Kate who/that drove me home.
4. What Kate did in the end was (to) drive me home.
5. What I need now is a cup of coffee. All (that) I need now is a cup of coffee.
6. It was in California that/where Julia met her boyfriend.
7. What on earth are you doing with my glasses?!
8. It was (on) Monday that/when we finally got back home.
9. How she manages to do it all I have no idea.
10. No, it is in Norway that/where Jack lives, not Sweden.
11. It was because it was raining that we stayed home. / It was the rain that made us stay home.