Exercise 1.

Try this fun quiz to check your understanding of English idioms.

1. a blessing in disguise
a) Losing that job was a blessing in disguise because it meant I
got a much better job
b) lost my house
c) was unemployed for years

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2. add insult to injury
a) After saying Beverly made too many mistakes, Bob added insult to injury by saying
they were small mistakes
b) she worked very slowly
c) her work was excellent

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3. clean as a whistle
a) The school thought their new teacher's record was as clean as a whistle because he hadn't told them about
his arrest for drunk driving
b) his dirty bathroom
c) his cheating at cards

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4. hang in there | hang on in there
a) My friends all called and told me to hang in there after I'd
left for my honeymoon
b) decided to go sky-diving
c) broken my leg in an accident

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5. leave well enough alone | let well enough alone
a) Some staff think we need new packaging for our products, and others think we should leave well enough alone and
change to new packaging
b) go back to older packaging
c) keep the same packaging

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6. playing with fire
a) People who have sex with many partners without using condoms are playing with fire because
they could get sick of having sex
b) they could get a disease such as AIDS
c) they aren't married

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7. quick on the trigger | quick on the draw
a) In business, it's often necessary to be quick on the draw, but sometimes it's better to
think carefully before doing something
b) do something faster than others
c) be slow to understand what's happening

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8. read between the lines
a) If you read between the lines, you will
know what the writer really thinks
b) be able to read a lot quicker
c) make up the story for yourself

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9. under wraps
a) The best way to keep something under wraps is to
put it into the refrigerator
b) stop thinking about it
c) let as few people as possible know about it

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10. You can say that again!
a) If someone says "You can say that again!", it means they
want you to repeat what you said
b) didn't understand what you said
c) agree with what you said

Spoiler: