Idioms and Phrases Questions and Answers

Answer: A

Brought home means emphasised here.

To bring something home to someone is to make them realise it fully and clearly. By having each son try to break the bundle of sticks, the father drove home, or emphasised, the lesson that unity is strength.

Voiced, declared and suggested all mean simply stating or hinting the moral, which is weaker than making it fully understood.

For example: 'The accident brought home to him the importance of wearing a seat belt.'

Answer: B

A man of straw is a man of no substance.

The idiom describes a weak person with no real strength of character, influence or money, like a figure stuffed with straw. It can also mean someone set up as a front for others.

It does not mean a worthy fellow or a very active man, which are nearly the opposite, and it says nothing about selfishness.

For example: 'He is only a man of straw; the real owners of the company stay in the background.'

Answer: D

The idiom means to discuss private or embarrassing matters in public, especially when quarreling.

Just as dirty laundry is something one would rather keep out of sight, private family or organisational disputes should be settled privately. Washing them in public exposes them to outsiders, usually during a quarrel.

The other options capture only part of the sense: 'ugly work' and 'insulting someone' miss the private-matters element, and 'secret matters' misses the embarrassment and the quarrel.

Answer: B

To rise like a Phoenix means to rise with a new life.

The phoenix is the mythical bird that burns itself and is reborn from its own ashes. To rise like a phoenix is to recover or be renewed after defeat or destruction, as a city rebuilt after a disaster.

A Phoenician is a person from ancient Phoenicia, a play on the sound of the word. Royal gait and anger have nothing to do with the myth of rebirth.

Answer: A

As hard as nails means tough.

The idiom describes a person who is tough and unsentimental, who cannot easily be moved or made to give way, which is the sense the sentence adds with never moved by anything.

Emotionless overstates it, since the idiom is about toughness of character, not a total absence of feeling. Physically strong takes 'hard' literally, and hardworking confuses 'hard' with 'working hard'.

Answer: C

The idiom is A shot in the arm.

A shot in the arm means something that gives new energy, encouragement or a boost, like a stimulating injection. A new CEO who has turned the company around has been exactly that.

A bolt from the blue is a sudden, unexpected event, usually unwelcome. Passing the buck means shifting responsibility to someone else. A storm in a teacup is a great fuss about something trivial. None of them describes a revival.

Answer: D

To cut corners means doing something badly to save money (or time or effort).

The idiom comes from taking a shortcut across a corner instead of going the full way round. Someone who cuts corners skips steps or uses cheaper materials, so the result is of poorer quality: the builder cut corners and the roof leaked.

It does not mean being strict or picky, which are the opposite habits, and 'to do everything possible' is closer to leave no stone unturned.

Answer: D

To call it a day means to stop working on something.

The idiom means to decide to stop an activity for the time being, usually because enough has been done. In the sentence, the speakers stop work on the report and plan to continue tomorrow.

'Resume a work' is the opposite. Ignoring someone's command and announcing a great achievement have nothing to do with the idiom.

Answer: C

To bite your tongue means to avoid saying something harsh; words once spoken can never come back.

The idiom means to stop yourself from saying what you would like to say, usually because it would be hurtful or unwise. The option's second clause gives the reason for holding back.

It does not mean literal self-harm, though that is the trap of taking it literally. Making a desperate effort and being astonished are unrelated.

Answer: B

The idiom is In a fix.

'In a fix' is an idiom meaning in a difficult or awkward situation, a dilemma. Its meaning cannot be worked out from the words fix and in, which is what makes it idiomatic.

'In need' is ordinary literal usage meaning requiring something, here help. A similar use of the idiom: 'He was in a fix when he missed the last bus home', where nothing has literally been fixed. Since only one of the two phrases is an idiom, 'Both' and 'None of these' are wrong.