Individually, or in small groups, the students should read the sentences and make guesses of the probable meanings of the phrases in bold letters. Impress upon them that any guess - even a wrong one is better than nothing at all.

When this has gone on as long as you think best, stop the proceedings and compare answers as a whole group. Where guesses differ wildly from the actual meanings, this should serve as a timely warning as to the treacherous nature of English idioms.

Some basic definitions follow, but don't take my word for it. If you don't agree, stick to what you think.

1. able to do accurate / detailed work with few mistakes
2. take an interest in things that do not concern you
3. help somebody with a difficult or long task
4. start having a certain ambition / dream for the future
5. not be upset / complain in a bad situation
6. agree with somebody
7. struggling to remember or think of something
8. be a nusiance / be an annoyance
9. make a gesture to indicate not knowing an answer (and possibly not caring)
10. cause other people to be surprised / shocked
11. be successful after a major problem / set-back
12. put a lot of energy into a job

You have a choice of two different methods of getting this handout to your printer. It all depends on whether your computer has "Adobe Acrobat Reader" installed. If it has, then this would be the recommended method for printing out the worksheet. Try selecting the "PDF (Adobe Acrobat)" link below. If all goes well, a new application window should appear including a print button, which when selected will print out one copy.

If, on the other hand you do not have "Adobe Acrobat" select the "HTML (web page)" link below. (Also, this method is recommended for users of Netscape Navigator, which seems to have trouble interacting with the Acrobat program like this.) If all goes well, a new browser window will open, from which you can either click the "print button" on the toolbar or open the "File" menu, select "Print" and then adjust the "Print Dialog Box" to your own preferences.

The final link below is to enable you to print this "instruction page" if you want to. Click on the link, and when the page appears on a new screen you will be able to print it using the browser's "print button" or "file menu". After printing, close the window again so that you can continue to navigate around the site.

For teacher training courses, English courses in Bristol UK and free interactive exercises, visit The Language Project Website.