Idioms for ielt speaking master ielts vocabulary

IdiomsforIELTSSpeaking:

MasterIELTSVocabularytoGetaHigherBandScore


www.eslspeaking.org

JackieBolen

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Copyright©2021byJackieBolen

Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,distributed,
ortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,includingphotocopying,recording
orotherelectronicormechanicalmeanswithoutthepriorwrittenpermissionof
thepublisher,exceptinthecaseofbriefquotationsincriticalreviewsandcertain
othernon-commercialusespermittedbycopyrightlaw.Forpermissionrequests,
writetothepublisher/authoratthefollowingaddress:JackieBolen:



TableofContents

Introduction........................................................................8
AbouttheAuthor:JackieBolen........................................................9
AnIntroductiontotheIELTSSpeakingTest............................................10
HowistheIELTSSpeakingTestGraded?..............................................11
TipsforGettingaHigherScoreonIELTSSpeaking.......................................12
HowDifficultisittoScoreBand9?...................................................14

Abeeinmybonnet.................................................................15
AddinsulttoInjury.................................................................15
Adimeadozen....................................................................15
Ahardnuttocrack(Atoughnuttocrack)...............................................16
Aheadofthepack..................................................................16
Alotonmyplate...................................................................16
Anappleadaykeepsthedoctoraway..................................................17
Apieceofcake....................................................................17
AsfarasIcantell..................................................................17
Asfitasafiddle...................................................................18
Astormisbrewing.................................................................18
Atoughpilltoswallow(Abitterpilltoswallow).........................................19


Attheeleventhhour................................................................19
Bangforthebuck..................................................................19
Barkingupthewrongtree............................................................20
Beataroundthebush................................................................20
Beatmetothepunch................................................................20
Behindthescenes..................................................................21
Bendoverbackwards...............................................................21
Betterlatethannever...............................................................21
Bitethebullet.....................................................................22
Blessingindisguise.................................................................22
Blowoffsomesteam................................................................23
Bornwithasilverspooninhismouth..................................................23
Breakthebank....................................................................23
Breakoutinacoldsweat............................................................24
Bringalottothetable...............................................................24
Bringhomethebacon...............................................................24

Burningthemidnightoil.............................................................25
Burnthecandleatbothends..........................................................25
Burymyheadinthesand............................................................26
Busyasabeaver(Busyasabee)......................................................26
Butterfliesinmystomach............................................................26


Butteringmeup....................................................................27
Bythebook.......................................................................27
Bytheskinofhisteeth..............................................................27
Callitaday.......................................................................28
Calmbeforethestorm...............................................................28
Can'tmakeheadsortailsofit.........................................................28
Can'tputmyfingeronit.............................................................29
Cashinyourchips..................................................................29
Caughtbetweenarockandahardplace.................................................29
Caughtmeoffguard................................................................30
Compareapplestooranges...........................................................30
Coolasacucumber.................................................................31
Cornerthemarket..................................................................31
Costsanarmandaleg..............................................................31
Countingherchickensbeforetheyhatch................................................32
Crackthewhip....................................................................32
Crunchthenumbers................................................................32
Cuttothechase....................................................................33
Don'tseeeyetoeye.................................................................33
Downonmyluck..................................................................34
Fallthroughthecracks..............................................................34

Feelingthepinch...................................................................34
Feelingundertheweather............................................................35
Footthebill.......................................................................35
Fromragstoriches.................................................................35
Getdowntobusiness...............................................................36
Getintodeepwater.................................................................36
Getintouchwith...................................................................36
Getmyfootinthedoor..............................................................37
Gettingoninyears.................................................................37
Getuptospeed....................................................................37
Giveheraring.....................................................................38
Givehimthecoldshoulder...........................................................38
Givethemarunfortheirmoney.......................................................38
Goforbroke......................................................................39
Goodheadonyourshoulders.........................................................39
Gooutonalimb...................................................................39
Gotheextramile...................................................................40
Gotatasteofhisownmedicine.......................................................40
Gotuponthewrongsideofthebed....................................................41
Gotstartedoffonthewrongfoot......................................................41
Gotwindof.......................................................................41


Gowiththeflow...................................................................42
Hitthebooks......................................................................42
Hitthegroundrunning..............................................................42
Hitthenailonthehead..............................................................43
Holdthepursestrings...............................................................43
I'llhavetoseeittobelieveit..........................................................44
Initforthelonghaul................................................................44

Inthedoghouse...................................................................44
Inthedriver'sseat..................................................................45
Inthesameboat...................................................................45
It'salongshot.....................................................................45
It'snotrocketscience...............................................................46
It'stimetofacethemusic............................................................46
Ittakestwototango................................................................47
I'vegotmyworkcutoutforme.......................................................47
Jumpingonthebandwagon...........................................................47
Keepmeintheloop................................................................48
Keepmeonmytoes................................................................48
Keepthisunderwraps...............................................................49
Keepyoureyeontheprize...........................................................49
Keepyourheadabovewater..........................................................49


Kickbackandrelax.................................................................50
Landonyourfeet..................................................................50
Learntheropes....................................................................50
Letoffthehook....................................................................51
Likeridingabike..................................................................51
Liketwopeasinapod..............................................................52
Livinghandtomouth...............................................................52
Lookslikeamillionbucks...........................................................52
Makeabreakforit.................................................................53
Makingamountainoutofamolehill...................................................53
Makeendsmeet...................................................................53
Makesomebank(Makebank)........................................................54
Missedtheboat....................................................................54
Moneyburningaholeinyourpocket...................................................54

Moneytoburn.....................................................................55
Myhandsaretied..................................................................55
Needleinahaystack................................................................55
Nipthisinthebud..................................................................56
Nopain,nogain...................................................................56
Notgoingtofly....................................................................57
Notmycupoftea..................................................................57


Notseeingtheforestforthetrees......................................................57
Notsetinstone....................................................................58
Offhisrocker.....................................................................58
Offthetopofmyhead..............................................................58
Onceinabluemoon................................................................59
Outoftheloop....................................................................59
Outofmydepth...................................................................59
Payingthroughthenose.............................................................60
Pickuptheslack...................................................................60
Playingcatchup...................................................................60
Pulltheplug......................................................................61
Pullthewoolovermyeyes...........................................................61
Putallyoureggsinonebasket........................................................62
Putmybestfootforward.............................................................62
Putyourmoneywhereyourmouthis...................................................62
Putthecartbeforethehorse..........................................................63
Quitcoldturkey...................................................................63
Raceagainsttheclock...............................................................63
Rallythetroops....................................................................64
Readbetweenthelines..............................................................64
Rocktheboat.....................................................................64

Ruleofthumb.....................................................................65
Runningaroundincircles............................................................65
Sameold,sameold.................................................................65
Sellinglikehotcakes................................................................66
Shakethingsup....................................................................66
Shoptillshedrops..................................................................66
Sickasadog......................................................................67
Smokeandmirrors.................................................................67
Spicethingsup....................................................................67
Spillthebeans.....................................................................68
Stabbedsomeoneintheback.........................................................68
Stealingmythunder................................................................68
Stepuptotheplate.................................................................69
Strappedforcash...................................................................69
Takeabreather....................................................................69
Takentothecleaners................................................................70
Takethebullbythehorns............................................................70
Theball'sinyourcourt..............................................................70
Thebestofbothworlds..............................................................71
Thebottomline....................................................................71
Theelephantintheroom............................................................71


Thelaststraw.....................................................................72
Thestrawthatbrokethecamel'sback..................................................72
Thewritingisonthewall............................................................73
Thinkingoutsidethebox.............................................................73
Throwinthetowel.................................................................74

Tipoftheiceberg..................................................................74
Toomuchtimeonyourhands.........................................................74
Treadingwater....................................................................75
Twistmyarm.....................................................................75
Underthetable....................................................................75
Underthewrongimpression..........................................................76
Upintheair.......................................................................76
Vanishedintothinair...............................................................76
Walkingatightrope.................................................................77
Watchmyweight..................................................................77
Waterunderthebridge..............................................................77
Whenpigsfly.....................................................................78
Weatherthestorm..................................................................78
Whenitrains,itpours...............................................................78
Withinourreach...................................................................78
Workingmyfingerstothebone.......................................................79


Workmywayup...................................................................79
Workyourselftodeath..............................................................79
Worseforwear....................................................................80
Youcan'tjudgeabookbyitscover....................................................80
BeforeYouGo....................................................................81


Introduction

Welcometothisbookdesignedtohelpyouexpandyourknowledgeofidioms,
expressionsandphrasesinAmericanEnglish.Mygoalistohelpyouexpand
yourvocabularyandtobeabletospeakandwritemorefluently.

Let'sfaceit,idiomscanbedifficulttomaster,evenforthebeststudents.Inthis
book,you'llfindhundredsofEnglishidiomsandphrasesthatareusedin
boardrooms,overameal,andwithfriendsandfamilyaroundtheworld.

Thebestwaytolearnnewvocabularyisincontext.That'swhyeachidiom
comeswithsomeexamplesentences.You'llalsofindasimpleexplanationin
plainEnglishforeachoneaswellastheoriginoftheidiomifit'sknown.

Togetthemostbangforyourbuck,besuretodothefollowing:

–Reviewfrequently.

–Useeachidiomorphraseinreallifeassoonaspossible.

–Don'tbenervousaboutmakingmistakes.That'showyou'llgetbetterat
English!


–Considerstudyingwithafriendtohelpeachotherstaymotivated.

GoodluckandIwishyouwellonyourjourneytobecomingmoreproficient
withidiomsinAmericanEnglish.


AbouttheAuthor:JackieBolen

ItaughtEnglishinSouthKoreafor10yearstoeverylevelandtypeofstudent.
I'vetaughteveryagefromkindergartenkidstoadults.Mostofmytimehas
centeredaroundteachingattwouniversities:fiveyearsatascienceand

engineeringschoolinCheonan,andfouryearsatamajoruniversityinBusan
whereItaughtupper-levelclassesforstudentsmajoringinEnglish.Inmyspare
time,youcanusuallyfindmeoutsidesurfing,biking,hiking,orsnowshoeing.I
nowliveinVancouver,Canada.

Incaseyouwerewonderingwhatmyacademicqualificationsare,Iholda
MasterofArtsinPsychology.DuringmytimeinKorea,Icompletedboththe
CambridgeCELTAandDELTAcertificationprograms.Withthecombinationof
almosttenyearsteachingESL/EFLlearnersofallagesandlevels,andthemore
formalteachingqualificationsI'veobtained,Ihaveasolidfoundationonwhich
toofferadvicetoEnglishlearners.

Itrulyhopethatyoufindthisbookuseful.Iwouldloveitifyousentmean
emailwithanyquestionsorfeedbackthatyoumighthave.

JackieBolen(www.jackiebolen.com)

Twitter:@bolen_jackie

Email:


Youmightalsobeinterestedinthisbook:AdvancedEnglishConversation
Dialogues(byJackieBolen).Youcaneasilyfinditwhereveryouliketobuy
booksIthashundredsofhelpfulEnglishphrasesandexpressionsthatcanbe
usedinawidevarietyofsituations.LearntospeakmorefluentlyinAmerican
English.


AnIntroductiontotheIELTSSpeakingTest

TheIELTSspeakingtestisthesame,whetheryouchoosethegeneralor
academicversionofthetest.It'sface-to-facewitharealperson,asopposedto
someotherEnglishproficiencytestswhereyouspeakintoavoicerecorder.
However,eachIELTSspeakingtestisrecordedtoensurequalitycontrol.

Thetesttakes11-14minutesandconsistsof3parts:

Part1:Thefirstsetconsistsofgeneralquestionsaboutwhereyouwork,
studyorlive.Therewillbetwootherquestionsetsafterthatonpersonal
topicssuchasclothing,holidays,food,etc.Ittakes4-5minutesandwill
consistofapproximately12questionsintotal.
Part2:Speakingfor1-2minutesaboutatopicthatwillbegiventoyou.You
willhave1minuteofpreparationtime.Theremaybeoneshortfollow-up
question.
Part3:A4-5minutediscussionthatgoesintogreaterdepthaboutthetopic
frompart2.Theexaminerhasfreedomtoaskfollow-upquestionsbasedon
youranswers.Thediscussionwillbeaboutgeneralideasandnotpersonal
ones(likeinpart1).Thinkofthissectionasmoreofa2-waydialoguewith
theexaminer.

Thespeakingandlisteningportionsofthetestarethesame,whetheryouchoose
thegeneraloracademicversionofit.It'sthereadingandwritingportionsthat
aredifferent.Besuretocheckcloselywhichtestisrequiredforwhatever
purposeyou'retakingthetestfor.Thegeneraltestisusuallyrequiredfor
immigrationpurposeswhiletheacademiconeismostoftenrequiredforcollege
entrance.


HowistheIELTSSpeakingTestGraded?

Youwillbegradedonfourthings:

Fluencyandcoherence:Howquicklyyouspeak,withoutpausesor
repeatingyourself.Isthepreviousthoughtconnectedtothenextoneand
howdoyoufinishoffwhatyou'resaying?
Lexicalresources(vocabulary):Toscoreattheband7level,orabove,you'll
needtobeabletospeakaboutallthetopicsonthetestwithprecision,as
wellasusethingslikecollocations(wordsthatoccurtogethermoreoften
thanbyrandomchance),idioms,slang,andphrasalverbs.Thisbookwill
focusonhelpingyouwiththis!
Grammaticalrangeandaccuracy:Toscoreatthehighestlevels,you'llneed
tobeabletoformavarietyofsimpleandcomplexsentencesaccurately.The
keysaretouseavarietyofsentencetypesandtomakefewerrors.
Pronunciation:You'llneedtobeabletobeunderstoodveryeasily,without
anyeffortonthepartoftheexaminer.Plus,you'llhavetoputemphasizeon
thecorrectwordswithinasentenceandalsowithinalongerspeakingturn.


TipsforGettingaHigherScoreonIELTSSpeaking

FormostproficientEnglishspeakers,gettingaband7or8ontheIELTS
speakingtestisaveryachievablegoal.Hereareafewtipsforgettingthere!

•Oneofthekeysisstrikingabalancebetweengivingenoughdetailinyour
answerstodeveloptopicsfullyandnottalkingtoomuch.Theexaminerhasa
prescribedsetofquestionsthattheyneedtogetthroughwithinastricttime
limit.Pausewhenyou'redonewithyourthought.Theexaminerwillaskanother
question.

•Don'tfeeltheneedtokeeptalking,andtalking,andtalking,andtalking.This
isnothowthistestworksandyouwillnotgetahigherscorejustbecauseyou
areabletotalkendlessly.Thiscanhurtyouifyoubegintorepeatyourself.

•Don'trepeatyourselfbutdoconnectthethingsyousayinanorganizedway
withtheuseofdiscoursemarkers:asIpreviouslymentioned,firstly,afterthat,
finally,etc.

•Beingabletoparaphraseandsummarizethingsisquiteimportantforthetest.
Aimforabalancebetweengivingsomedetailsandalsogivingasummaryor
overviewofthings.

•DoNOTattempttomemorizeanythingforthistest.Youwillgetpenalized
veryheavilyforthisanditisawasteoftime.Therearesomanyquestionseach
yearthatevenifyouweretofindoutsomeofthem,it'simpossibletomemorize
thatmanyanswers.


•Useidioms,phrasalverbs,slang(appropriate!),collocations,etc.Notusing
idiomaticlanguagewillmakeitdifficulttoscoreaboveaBand6.

•Aimtouseprecisewordstodescribesomething,insteadofwordslike“thing,
stuff,likethat.”Thisshowsthatyoudon'thavealargevocabulary,orcan't
accessitwhenneeded.Avoidfillerwordsthatdon'thaveanymeaning.

•It'seasytorepeatwordsasakindoffiller(theauthorofthisbooksays,“like”
waytoomuch!)whenspeaking.However,thisshouldbeavoided.Lookon
GoogleforsomesampleIELTSspeakingtestquestionsandthenrecordyourself
answeringthemtoseeiftherearewordsthatyouusetoooften.Likeisthemost
commononeofthesekindsofwordsbuttherearelotsmore.

•Useamixofcomplexandsimplesentences.Evenifyouusesimplesentences
perfectly,itwillmakeitdifficulttoscoreaboveaBand5.

•Finishoffyourthoughtsinanappropriateway.Endingmostsentenceswith:
likethat,that'swhy,that'sit,orsomethingsimilarwillmakeitdifficulttoscore
aboveaband6.

•Showyourpersonality.Emphasizekeythingsinwhatyou'resayinganddon't
bescaredtoshowyouropinionaboutsomething.Theexaminerisonlygrading
youonyourEnglishability,notonyouropinionsaboutatopic.

•Usinghumourortellinga(short!)funnystoryaboutsomethingisgreat.It'sa
nicewaytoshowthatyouknowEnglishquitewellifyou'reabletodothis.


•Forpart3,don'tgetpersonal.Thissectionisdesignedtotestyourabilityto
talkaboutgeneralideasandthoughtswhichismoredifficulttodothantalking
aboutpersonalthings.Thisisthesectionwherecandidatescansetthemselves
apartandhaveachancetousehigher-levelvocabularyandgrammatical
constructions.


HowDifficultisittoScoreBand9?

It'squitedifficult(thoughnotimpossible)fornon-nativeEnglishspeakersto
achieveaband9ontheIELTSspeakingtest.Therearepeoplewhohavebeen
learningEnglishasasecondlanguage(mostEuropeansforexample)sincethey
wereayoungchildandtheyalsohaveafirstlanguagethatissimilartoEnglish.
Forthesepeople,itmaybeachievable.

Or,therearesomepeoplewhomovedtoanEnglishspeakingcountrywhenthey
wereyoungwhomaybeabletogetthisscore.Or,thosewhodidalargepartof
theireducationinEnglish.

However,beinganativeEnglishspeakerdoesn'tautomaticallymeanthatyou'll
beabletogeta9.It'snotthateasytodo!Todothat,you'llalsoneedtodothe
following:

–Developtopicsfullyandatlength.

–Connectthoughts,withoutrepetition.

–Onlyhavepausesthatarerelatedtoforminganopinionaboutsomething,for
exampleandnotsearchingforaword(nopausesinthemiddleofsentences).

–Usealargerangeofverypreciselanguage,includingthingslikeidioms.


–Speakfluently,essentiallywithoutgrammaticalerrors.

–Beunderstoodeasily,withoutanyeffortonthepartoftheexaminer.

–Avoidtheuseoffillerwords(thisiswhatevennativespeakersmaystruggle
with).

Thegoodnewsisthatthereisalmostnoreasonwhysomeonewouldneedtoget
a9onthistest.Foreducational,immigration,employmentorotherpurposes,I
don'tknowofanyofthemthatwouldrequiregettinga9!So,don'tworryabout
it.Scoringa7or8onthespeakingtestisafarmoreachievablegoalandshould

beacceptableinalmostallcases.


Abeeinmybonnet

Meaning:Acertain,specificissuethatisannoyingsomeone.

Origin:Firstseeninthe1500s.CamefromtheScottishidiom,“Aheadfull
ofbees.”It'sevidenthowannoyingabeebuzzingaroundinyourhat
(bonnet)wouldbe.

ExampleIELTSquestion:Describeatimewhentwoofyourfriendsor
familymembershadaconflict.

Possibleanswer:Well,mysisterandmydadarealwaysfighting.Mysister
ismessyandmydadhasabeeinhisbonnetaboutthehousealwaysbeing
organized.Itleadstoalotofconflictbetweenthem.