English Idioms in Use Advanced Keys

Jul 3, 2026

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A learning-support answer and usage guide for English idioms, organized by units. The material supplies meanings, example contexts, and interpretation notes, including common usage in informal, formal, taboo, literary, and old-fashioned settings. It also provides model explanations for comprehension and study tasks, such as identifying correct options in exercises, matching idioms to definitions, and understanding underlying imagery. A short reading example (“Sports Minister hopping mad”) illustrates idioms and their paraphrased meanings in narrative form.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages35

Reading Time1 h 28 min

AccessFree to download

Unit 1

Key idioms and exercise options

Unit 2

Idiom meanings and word matches

Unit 3

Usage notes by register and examples

Reference and corpus search results

“Sports Minister hopping mad” example

Unit 4

Comparison in literary vs idiom use

Idiom phrase patterns

Example sentences

Key Unit I I.1 In 2009,I set off(phrasal verb)on a long journey.As I left my house,my neighbourshouted,'Good luck!'(greetings and good wishes)I didn't know at that moment(prepositional phrase)that I would not see him again for three years.I boarded the plane(collocation)at Heathrow,and soon it took off(phrasal verb)for Malaysia.When wetouched down(phrasal verb)in Kuala Lumpur,I couldn't wait to get off(phrasal verb)the plane.I took a bus(collocation)to the city centre (compound)and spent the night(collocation)at a youth hostel (compound).The first person I met was someone I had beenat school (prepositional phrase)with vears ago.'It's a small world!’(saving or proverb)hesaid when he saw me. 1.2 My friend suggested that we ioin forces.There's safety in numbers,'he said.'Let's hit theroad together.'I was in two minds whether to go with him but finally decided to say yes.We travelled together for six months and had a whale of a time.We spent money like therewas no tomorrow,so I had to twist my dad's arm and persuade him to send me some moremoney so I could travel further. 1.3 1 c)a flash in the pan2 b)taken a shine to3 c)safe and sound4 b)put my foot in it5 b)as quiet as a mouse 1.4 1b 2 c 3 a 4 a Unit 2 # 2.1 1 False.Many idioms stay in frequent usage for a long time. 2 True. 3 True. 4 True. 5 False.Headline writers often play with idioms for humorous or dramatic effect,or tocatch the reader's eye. 6 False.They can be found in most types of speaking and writing(although they may bemore frequent in some types,such as popular journalism and informal conversation).7 True. 8 False.Idioms are used in academic writing,although these idioms are different fromtypical idioms used in speech or informal writing. # 2.2 1 shape 4 effect 2 licking 5 course 6 pricked 3 stone 2.3 1 go up in the world3 prick up your ears2 lick your wounds4 open the door to 2.4 1 a mountain-climbing organisation2 a boxing club3 be patient 4 the person's conscience5 a hi-fi company planere b)htd been b)henemore 0 Unit 3 3.1 1 It gives information-where necessary-about the usage of the idiom(e.g.whether it isused in a literary or an informal context),and it gives examples of the idiom in a typicalcontext. 2 There are over one billion words of international English (i.e.British,American andAustralian)taken from both spoken and written contexts. 3 It is informal. 3.21 very informal(Get off your backside means ‘stop being lazy'.) 2 formal(Know no bounds means 'be extreme'.) 3 taboo(The shit hits the fan means 'there is serious trouble'.) 4 informal (Know something inside out means'know thoroughly'.) 5 literary(Curl your lip means ‘to sneer;to show you feel no respect for someone orsomething'.) 6 old-fashioned(Kith and kin means 'relatives'.) 7 humorous(Know your place means‘accept your low position within society withouttrying to improve it'.) # 3.3 1 Henry will help you deal with these forms.He knows the system inside out. 2 There is a growing interest in genealogy,as people increasingly want to discover all theycan about their kith and kin. 3 Joey can be so lazy.I wish he'd get off his backside. 4 Don't worry.I'll behave properly when I meet your boss.I know my place! 5 If Greg finds out what you've done,the shit will hit the fan. 6 Don't you dare curl your lip at me,young lady! 7 The old woman's kindness to us all knows/knew no bounds. 3.4 At the time of writing,the first site does not have its own entry for this phrase,but itconnects you to a range of other online sites which do have information about it. The British National Corpus finds five examples of the idiom in its corpus. The search engine Google finds 482,000 sites using this idiom.Some of these sites aredirectly discussing the idiom,while many provide examples of it in a range of differentcontexts. # 3.5 SPORTS MINISTER HOPPING MAD John Hamilton has made a name for himself by running a tight ship at the M

FAQs

How does the guide explain where an idiom is used (register or context)?

It provides usage information, including whether an idiom is informal, formal, taboo, literary, or old-fashioned, and it gives examples in typical contexts.

What kind of exercise support does the document provide?

It supplies answer keys and matching guidance for idiom-based tasks, including selecting correct statements and pairing idioms with definitions or related words.

How are idioms interpreted in the included narrative example “Sports Minister hopping mad”?

The text gives the meanings of key idioms from the passage (e.g., hopping mad = very angry, feather one’s own nest = dishonestly use a position to get money for yourself) alongside the original sentences.

Jul 3, 2026

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