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Top 30 Useful Idioms & Exercises 2015

TOP 30 USEFUL IDIOMS AND
EXERCISES
Page: Ôn thi tiếng Anh vào lớp 10 chuyên
Compiled by: Miss Vu Thi Hong Ha
Student | Hanoi National University of Education
Teacher & Administrator | Page: Ôn thi tiếng Anh vào lớp 10 trường chuyên

Contents
PART ONE: MULTIPLE CHOICE EXERCISE ABOUT IDIOMS. ............................................................................ 2
PART TWO: ANSWER KEYS. ........................................................................................................................... 7
PART THREE: IMPORTANT NOTES. ................................................................................................................ 7

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Student | Hanoi National University of Education
Teacher & Administrator | Page: Ôn thi tiếng Anh vào lớp 10 trường chuyên
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Top 30 Useful Idioms & Exercises 2015
PART ONE: MULTIPLE CHOICE EXERCISE ABOUT IDIOMS.
Choose the correct words or phrases for the blanks.

1. The teacher asked us to talk about the _____ of industrial development.
A. ups and downs

B. pros and cons

C. odds and ends

D. a piece of cake

2. Police found nothing special in the house of the criminal as he had taken all the
important documents with him, leaving just _____
A. ups and downs

B. pros and cons

C. odds and ends

D. a piece of cake

3. Don’t worry about the problems you have in your business. You know there are
always _____ in business.
A. ups and downs

B. pros and cons

C. odds and ends

D. a piece of cake

4. If you think that doing this maths problem is _____, just try this.
A. ups and downs

B. pros and cons

C. odds and ends

D. a piece of cake

5. All these promises these politicians make are just _____ in the sky.
A. use

B. ocean

C. music

D. rags

E. shoulder

F. pie

6. The small amount of money donated is just a drop in the _____ compared to the large
sum of money needed.
A. use

B. ocean

C. music

D. rags

E. shoulder

F. pie

7. I had to face the ______ all by myself although I was not the only responsible for the

problem.
A. use

B. ocean

C. music

D. rags

E. shoulder

F. pie

8. They had had a dispute yesterday. That's why she gave him the cold _____.
A. use

B. ocean

C. music

D. rags

E. shoulder

F. pie

9. He has been successful in his life. He went from _____ to riches.
A. use

B. ocean

C. music

2 Compiled by: Miss Vu Thi Hong Ha

D. rags

E. shoulder

Student | Hanoi National University of Education
Teacher & Administrator | Page: Ôn thi tiếng Anh vào lớp 10 trường chuyên
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F. pie


Top 30 Useful Idioms & Exercises 2015
10. He spends his time drinking and watching TV. He's no _____ to man and beast.
A. use

B. ocean

C. music

D. rags

E. shoulder

F. pie

11. Losing that job was a blessing in disguise because it meant I _____
A. got a much better job

B. lost my house

C. was unemployed for years

12. After saying Beverly made too many mistakes, Bob added insult to injury by saying
_____
A. they were small mistakes
B. she worked very slowly
C. her work was excellent
13. The school thought their new teacher's record was as clean as a whistle because he
hadn't told them about _____
A. his arrest for drunk driving
B. his dirty bathroom
C. his cheating at cards
14. My friends all called and told me to hang in there after I'd _____
A. left for my honeymoon
B. decided to go sky-diving
C. broken my leg in an accident
15. Some staff think we need new packaging for our products, and others think we
should leave well enough alone and _____
A. change to new packaging
B. go back to older packaging
C. keep the same packaging
16. People who keep loaded guns in the house are playing with fire because the guns
_____

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Student | Hanoi National University of Education
Teacher & Administrator | Page: Ôn thi tiếng Anh vào lớp 10 trường chuyên
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Top 30 Useful Idioms & Exercises 2015
A. might be too heavy
B. could go off accidentally and kill someone
C. would go rusty
17. In business, it's often necessary to be quick on the draw, but sometimes it's better to
_____
A. think carefully before doing something
B. do something faster than others
C. be slow to understand what's happening
18. If you read between the lines, you will
A. know what the writer really thinks
B. be able to read a lot quicker
C. make up the story for yourself
19. The best way to keep something under wraps is to
A. put it into the refrigerator
B. stop thinking about it
C. let as few people as possible know about it
20. If someone says "You can say that again!", it means they
A. want you to repeat what you said
B. didn't understand what you said
C. agree with what you said
21. For which job would a jack of all trades be best suited?
A. a dealer in a casino

B. a caretaker in a school

C. a teller in a bank

22. We started an online business, but after a while it was back to the drawing board
because

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Student | Hanoi National University of Education
Teacher & Administrator | Page: Ôn thi tiếng Anh vào lớp 10 trường chuyên
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Top 30 Useful Idioms & Exercises 2015
A. we couldn't make a profit
B. we made a lot of money
C. we wanted to improve our drawing
23. A journalist is digging up dirt on a politician in order to
A. help the politician's campaign
B. damage the politician's image
C. increase the politician's popularity
24. We were having dinner in a restaurant last night when this guy at the next table flew
off the handle because
A. the food was so delicious
B. the waiter was so handsome
C. the waiter brought the wrong thing
25. You can see that Mike's got a soft spot for dogs. Whenever he sees one, he
A. kicks it

B. pats it on the head

C. keeps away from it

26. Henry said he'd leave no stone unturned in his search for a woman to marry. He will
A. look for women under stones
B. try everything to find a wife
C. marry any woman who accepts him
27. When I heard the poem, some of the lines rang a bell and
A. some of them beat a drum
B. sounded very beautiful
C. I thought I'd heard it somewhere before
28. Monique has decided to take the plunge and
A. keep her job for a while

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Student | Hanoi National University of Education
Teacher & Administrator | Page: Ôn thi tiếng Anh vào lớp 10 trường chuyên
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Top 30 Useful Idioms & Exercises 2015
B. start up her own business
C. put all her money in the bank
29. We'll have to leave the list of guests we're inviting to our wedding up in the air until
we know
A. how many we can invite
B. what the weather will be like
C. if any are of them are afraid of heights.

30. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I heard that
A. we were having sandwiches for lunch
B. the electricity bill had arrived
C. I had won a million dollars in the lottery

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Student | Hanoi National University of Education
Teacher & Administrator | Page: Ôn thi tiếng Anh vào lớp 10 trường chuyên
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Top 30 Useful Idioms & Exercises 2015
PART TWO: ANSWER KEYS.
1. B
2. C
3. A
4. D
5. F
6. B
7. C
8. E
9. D
10. A
11. A
12. B
13. A
14. C
15. C

16. B
17. B
18. A
19. C
20. C
21. B
22. A
23. B
24. C
25. B
26. B
27. C
28. B
29. A
30. C

PART THREE: IMPORTANT NOTES.
1. the pros and cons: the advantages and disadvantages of something, especially
something that you are considering doing
2. odds and ends: various things of different types, usually small and not important,
or of little value
3. ups and downs: If someone or something experiences ups and downs, a
mixture of good and bad things happens to him, her, or it
4. a piece of cake: something that is easy to do
5. pie in the sky: something that you hope will happen but is very unlikely to happen
6. a drop in the ocean = a drop in the bucket: a very small amount compared to the
amount needed
7. face the music: to accept criticism or punishment for something you have done

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Student | Hanoi National University of Education
Teacher & Administrator | Page: Ôn thi tiếng Anh vào lớp 10 trường chuyên
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Top 30 Useful Idioms & Exercises 2015
8. give somebody the cold shoulder = cold-shoulder (verb): to deliberately
ignore someone in an unfriendly way
9. go from rags to riches: used to describe what happens to a person who was
poorbut becomes rich
10. have no use to man or beast = be useless
11. a blessing in disguise: something that seems bad or unlucky at first, but results in
something good happening later
12. add insult to injury = add fuel to the fire = add fuel to the flames: to make an
argument or badsituation worse
13. clean as a whistle: extremely clean
14. hang in there = hang on in there: said as a way of telling someone to not give up,
despitedifficulties
15. leave well enough alone = let well enough alone: to allow something to stay as it
is because doing more might make things worse
16. play with fire: to act in a way that is very dangerous and to take risks
17. quick on the trigger = quick on the draw = be faster than others
18. read between the lines: to try to understand someone's real feelings or
intentionsfrom what they say or write
19. be under wraps: secret
20. You can say that again!: used to show that you completely agree with what
someone has said
21. a jack of all trades: someone who can do many different jobs
 a jack of all trades, master of none.

22. back to the drawing board: back to the beginning of a process to start it again,
because it is not working

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Student | Hanoi National University of Education
Teacher & Administrator | Page: Ôn thi tiếng Anh vào lớp 10 trường chuyên
Email: -


Top 30 Useful Idioms & Exercises 2015
23. dig up dirt: to look for and find unpleasant or embarrassing information about
someone
24. fly off the handle: to react in a very angry way to something that someone says
or does
25. have a soft spot for: to feel that you like someone or something very much
26. leave no stone unturned: to do everything you can to achieve a good result,
especially when looking for something
27. ring a bell: to sound familiar
28. take the plunge: to make a decision to do something, especially after
thinkingabout it for a long time
29. up in the air: If a matter is up in the air, it is uncertain, often because other
matters have to be decided first
30. You could have knocked me over/down with a feather: said when you are
extremely surprised

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Student | Hanoi National University of Education
Teacher & Administrator | Page: Ôn thi tiếng Anh vào lớp 10 trường chuyên

Email: -