Idioms and Phrases Questions and Answers

Answer: B

The word that can replace 'clouds' is 'sunshine'. The proverb is 'Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you'. The picture is of a person who turns to the light so that the shadows are cast behind. Facing clouds would not make shadows fall behind.

'Sky' and 'ground' do not give the same sense of turning to the light, and 'No substitution required' is wrong because the sentence with 'clouds' does not make sense as a proverb: clouds do not cast shadows behind the person who faces them. The second option is the answer.

Answer: C

The idiom means very expensive.

'An arm and a leg' means a very high price. Studying in the UK cost a great deal.

'Very convenient', 'very affordable' and 'very difficult' are not the meaning of the idiom.

The idiom comes from the idea of paying so much that you lose parts of your body. It is used for something that costs far more than expected. The sentence says it cost this much to study in the UK, so the meaning is very expensive.

Answer: C

The idiom is By hook or by crook.

It means by any means, fair or foul. 'At sixes and sevens' means in confusion, 'again and again' means repeatedly and 'by fits and starts' means in irregular bursts.

So only 'by hook or by crook' matches 'by any means'.

The phrase 'by hook or by crook' means in whatever way is necessary, whether honest or not. The highlighted words 'by any means' have the same sense. 'At sixes and sevens' means in disorder and 'by fits and starts' means not continuously.

Answer: C

The idiom is Kith and kin.

'Kith and kin' means friends and relatives. 'Ivory tower' means a place cut off from real life, 'ins and outs' means the details and 'neck and crop' means completely or roughly.

So only kith and kin means relatives and friends.

'Kith and kin' means friends and relatives, which is exactly the highlighted phrase 'friends and relatives' in the sentence. 'Ins and outs' means the details of something, 'ivory tower' means a place of withdrawal, and 'neck and crop' means completely.

Answer: C

'Up a creek without a paddle' means to be in an unlucky or bad situation with no means of getting out of it, just as a person in a boat on a creek with no paddle is stuck. It does not mean taking revenge, wishing for something good, or working hard to achieve success, so only the third option is correct. The idiom pictures a person on a creek who has lost the paddle, so there is no way to steer or return.

Answer: C

'Nipped the rebellion in the bud' means that the rebellion was stopped at an early stage, before it could grow, which is what arresting all the group leaders did. To fight back, to punish the opponents and to create a commotion are not what the proverb means, so only 'to halt something at an early stage' is correct. The phrase 'in the bud' pictures stopping a plant before it flowers, and so means stopping a trouble before it develops.

Answer: A

The closest meaning of cope with is put up with.

To cope with something is to deal with or endure a difficulty, here the difficult, seamer-friendly pitches in Australia. Put up with means to tolerate or endure something unpleasant, which is the same sense.

Put in with is not a standard phrase with a relevant meaning. Put down to means to attribute something to a cause (“he put his failure down to bad luck”). Put up against means to set someone in competition with another, not to endure a condition.

Answer: C

The idiom is fish out of water.

A fish out of water is a person who is uncomfortable because he is in surroundings he is not used to. A boy from the town would feel out of place in a sleepy village, which is exactly that situation.

The other phrases are not English idioms. They are made up by blending real expressions such as 'black sheep' and 'birds of a feather flock together', and none of them carries the meaning of being out of one's element.

Answer: D

'To fly off the handle' means to lose one's temper.

The idiom describes someone who suddenly becomes very angry, often over something small: 'He flies off the handle whenever anyone questions his decisions.' It is thought to come from the head of an axe flying off a loose handle, sudden and out of control.

It does not mean being indifferent, which is the opposite of an angry outburst, or dislocating something. 'To take of' (as printed) is not a meaning at all; even read as 'take off', it means to leave the ground or to become successful, not to get angry.

Answer: B

The idiom is spill the beans.

Spill the beans means to reveal a secret, usually by accident or too early. The sentence describes exactly that: she did not mean to, but she revealed the details of a surprise party.

The other idioms mean different things. Break the ice means to ease the awkwardness when people first meet, hit the road means to set off on a journey, and cut corners means to do something cheaply or carelessly to save time or money. None of them is about revealing information.