Test yourself
1. One of the senior ministers said that he didn’t want to associate him with the Government’s taxation policy and that he …… the whole affair.
A. gave the cold shoulder to
B. washed his hands of
C. patted himself on the back for
D. showed a clean pair of heels to
E. shaved his chin of
2. When the teacher told the pupil that he was lazy, the pupil really took it to …… and began to improve rapidly.
A. heart
B. ear
C. Blood
D. mind
3. The manager said to the staff, our production is falling and if we don’t all work hard some of us are going to lose our jobs. You can believe me; this is …
A. straight from the shoulder
B. right off my head
C. full in the face
D. directly from the mouth
E. absolutely from the heart
4. Mary and Jane had been friends since childhood but they had the most bitter and long lasting argument about an unimportant incident. The whole thing was a mere …
A. whirlpool in the bathtub
B. breeze through the keyhole
C. quake in the piecrust
D. storm in the teacup
5. The man was a bore. People could not stand him because he was always …, telling everyone who he was and what he had done.
A. conducting his own orchestra
B. writing his own music
C. blowing his own trumpet
D. humming his own tune
E. beating his own drum