SKILL 17: LISTEN FOR IDIOMS

There are questions that contain idioms whose meaning is hard to predict (like a piece of cake, which means it’s easy.) We can’t predict that just by knowing the meanings of piece and cake. For example:

(Man) I have to take Advanced Biology next semester.

(Woman) Don’t worry about it. It’s a piece of cake.

(Question) What does the woman mean?

In your test book, you read:

(A) The man should eat a piece of cake.

(B) The man should worry about the course.

(C) The man shouldn’t take part in the course.

(D) The course is easy.

As long as we know that a piece of cake means it’s easy, we know that the correct answer is (D). Even if we didn’t know this idiom, we could guess that (A) is incorrect because it has nothing to do with a biology class. It’s obviously a trick answer.

Look at this example:

On the recording, you hear:

(man) Tom is full-time student and is holding down a full-time job.

(woman) He’s really burning the candle at both ends.

(narrator) What does the woman say about Tom?

In your test book, you read:

(A) He’s lighting a candle.

(B) He’s holding the candle at the top and the bottom.

(C) He’s doing too much.

(D) He’s working as a firefighter.

This idiom is an expression that is used in a situation when someone is trying to do more than he or she really can do; after all, a candle usually only burns at one end, so a candle that burns at two ends is doing too much. Therefore, the best answer to the question above is answer (C).

If you want to practice more about this skill watch the following Video: CLIC HERE FOR WATCHING