Take a look back
This lesson will look back on the previous four lessons. You will get a chance to remember and use idioms you have learned.
Recall the language you learned in previous lessons. What was your favourite idiom from each lesson? Have you had a chance to use it?
Your teacher will help you to remember idioms from each unit.
- Work
- Problems, difficulty or misfortune
- Ease
- Ability
Why idioms?
Idioms bring up a lot of pre-packaged imagery. They are emotive and they resonate with native speakers.
Don't over-use them, but on the other hand, a well-placed idiom will bring your language to life.
Introduction
You do not need to make the student produce each phase.
Rather, choose any two (or more) from each unit. You may consider the following.
- Which phrase do they remember?
- Which do you tend to use or hear?
- Or, just go with the two recommended for review.
Review only the most suitable phrases.
Method to review
Choose a few idioms from each lesson and read the definition:
Teacher: What's an idiom for when there is no limit to what can be gained or achieved?
Student: Oh! It's "Sky's the limit."
Teacher: Correct.
Unit 16: Work 1
- Recommended review:
- raise the bar—raise standards or expectations.
- Recommended review:
- call it a day—stop what you are doing.
- behind the scenes—happening privately without being known or seen by the public or other people.
- ramp up—increase.
- a change of pace—a variation in usual activities or pattern.
Unit 17: Problems, difficulty or misfortune 1
- Recommended review:
- bite off more than you can chew—take on more responsibility or work than you can handle.
- Recommended review:
- the last straw—the latest problem in a series of problems, which makes a situation impossible to accept.
- cross that bridge when you come to it—not worry about a possible future problem; if it happens, you can deal with it then
- a tough break—bad luck.
- it’s no use crying over spilt milk—there’s no point in feeling sorry about something that has already happened and you can't change.
Unit 18: Ease
- Recommended review:
- a piece of cake—very easy.
- Recommended review:
- no big deal—not important or serious.
- a walk in the park—very simple and easy.
- nothing to worry about—not difficult; not a problem.
- as easy as one-two-three—very easy.
- child’s play—very easy.
Unit 19: Ability
- Recommended review:
- think outside the box—think imaginatively using new ideas instead of traditional or expected ideas.
- Recommended review:
- push the envelope—try new things that have not been acceptable or tried before.
- be second nature—so familiar that it can be done easily without much thought.
- go far—be very successful.
- be up-and-coming—likely to achieve success soon or in the near future.
A. Real-world examples
For each short passage below, do the following:
- Read the passage and predict the idiom.
- Listen to the audio, identify the idiom and compare it to your prediction.
- Explain in your own words what it means.
Note: don't worry about grasping the full context; just focus on the idiom being used.
1. A CEO is giving a presentation on Thursday.
"All right, you made a mistake, ______. We're gonna learn from that..."
2. An actor wonders if the Q&A session is over.
"Anything else, or should we, um, ________ ?"
3. A reporter tells the an airline's trouble.
"the political crisis in Hong Kong was a major blow to Cathay Pacific. Now the impact of the Coronavirus may be _______."
4. A student talks about moving to the USA.
"I lived and worked in nine different countries in my life, so I thought coming here to the United States as a student would be ______."
5. A YouTube host presents a list of rich people who lost their fortune.
"Burton also owes the IRS more than $6 million. The classic lesson here is don't ___________."
6. A young inventor describes the process of creating medical device.
"I didn't have a whole lot of money, so I really had to ___________ for a lot of things."
7. Former U.S. president Barack Obama speaks at a Business Roundtable.
"But that's the status quo now. And if you want to correct those things, we've got to ___________."
8. The president and CEO of Harper Collins talks about the economics of publishing.
"...there's a lot of ideas like that, that we think we need to ___________, try things, and we're getting great results."
B. Discussion
Now, try using an idiom to answer the following questions.
- What's the most difficult part of your job?
- What's a bad thing that's happened in the last few months?
- What's something you consider very easy?
- What's something you are good at doing?