1. a snag

2. a heyday

3. A blackout

2) When we say …, we want to say “a device employed to cheat, deceive, or trick, especially a mechanism for the secret and dishonest control of gambling apparatus”:

a) a gimmick

b) a loophole

c) a catcall

3) When they say …, they mean “a difficulty or problem – often hidden or unexpected”:

a) a windfall

b) a perk

c) a snag

4) “Bronx cheer, boo, derision, gibe, hiss, hoot, jeer,raspberry, shout, whistle” are synonyms for:

a) a brainwave

b) a catcall

c) a catnap

5) When they say …, they mean “a small mistake in a law that makes it possible to avoid doing something that the law is supposed to make you do”:

a) a loophole

b) an eyesore

c) a gimmick

6)“A top ten, chart-buster, favorite, hot item, hot seller, mover, number one, record-breaker, success, winner” are synonyms for:

a) a best-seller

b) a catcall

c) a windfall

7) When they say …, they mean “a short sleep in a chair (not in bed):

a) a blackout

b) a catnap

c) a snag

8)“Acme, culmination, height, high point, high spot, peak, pinnacle, prime time, salad days, time, zenith” are synonyms for:

a) a heyday

b) a windfall

c) an eye-opener

9) When they say …, they mean “a sudden clever thought or idea”:

a) a bottleneck

b) a perk

c) a brainwave

10) “Advantage, benediction, blessing, boon, good, manna, stroke of luck” are synonyms for:

a) a perk

b) a windfall

c) a best-seller

11) When they say …, they mean “something very unpleasant to look at”:

a) an eyesore

b) an eye-opener

c) a gimmick

12)“Advantage, bonus, dividend, extra, fringe benefit, gratuity, gravy, lagniappe, largess, perquisite, plus, tip” are synonyms for:

a) a perk

b) a heyday

c) a loophole

13) When they say …, they mean “a situation or event from which you learn something surprising or something that you didn’t know before”:

a) a windfall

b) an eye-opener

c) an eye-sore

14) When they say …, they mean “a place where the road narrows so that a traffic jam is quickly formed”:

a) a snag

b) a bottleneck

c) a blackout

II. Rephrase following text using new idiom.

It was (1) the most successful period of our organization. Nowadays every white-collar worker has (2) some extra advantages on top of his regular salary. The main reason of this success was (3) a sudden clever idea of our boss. I suppose that if he decides to write a book about our job, it will be (4) a very successful book! (5) People will learn a lot of surprising from this book, I’m sure.

Keys:

1. a heyday

2. a perk

3. a brainwave

4. a beat-seller

5. this book will be an eye-opener

1. When someone always gels up early, we call such person…:

1. an early bird

2. a guinea pig

3. a scapegoat

2. When they sat …, they mean someone who spoils the pleasure of other people:

1. a troublemaker

2. a skinflint

3. a killjoy

3. A worker who does an office job can be called:

1. a blue-collar worker

2. a white-collar worker

3. a pink-collar worker

4. “Paul Pry, busybody, gossip, inquisitive person, meddler, snoop, snooper, yenta” are synonyms for:

1. a rolling stone

2. a jailbird

3. a nosy parker

5. “Scrooge, hoarder, miser, moneygrubber, penny-pincher, pinch fist, pinchpenny, tightwad” are synonyms for:

1. a skinflint

2. a night owl

3. a jailbird

6. “Johnny-on-the-spot, early comer, early riser, first arrival, first comer, first on the scene” are synonyms for:

1. a scapegoat

2. an early bird

3. a troublemaker

Keys:

1 – a

2 – c

3 – b

4 – c

5 – a

6 - b

IV

Idiom	Translation	Original
A stone’s throw	Рукой подать
A stag party	Мальчишник
A busman’s holiday	Отдых, проведённый за обычной работой
A status symbol	Показатель положения в обществе
A dead-end job	Бесперспективная работа
(do) the donkey work	Ишачить
The shortlist	Окончательный список
(use) Elbow grease	Отдраивать
A traffic jam	Пробка	Jam is very sticky, so we usually say get stuck in a traffic jam.
(pay) chicken feed	Очень мало платить
A nest egg	Деньги на черный день, заначка	The allusion is to putting a real or china egg into a hen's nest to encourage her to lay. The connection between this and the 'savings' meaning isn't exactly clear. It may be that the idea was that the egg that was put into the nest could be later retrieved, after the hen had laid.
The last straw	Последняя капля
Teething problems	Трудности на первых порах	If a baby is teething, its first teeth are growing and it is often uncomfortable or unwell.
Child’s play	Очень легко, проще пареной репы
Hush money	Взятка за молчание	Hush is a slang word we use when we want someone to be silent.

1. Choose the right answer:

1. The Vicar of Surle, a tiny hamlet by the sea, was to be seen every evening in the public house… from his vicarage:

a) a stone's throw 

b) the last straw

c) a traffic jam

2. She claimed that the minister had offered her … to keep their child a secret:

a) a stag party

b) a nest egg

c) hush money

3. It’s an antonym for “a hen party”:

a) a stag party

b) a dead-end job

c) the last straw

4. Using computers nowadays is … compared to how difficult they were to use twenty years ago.

a) child's play

b) chicken feed

c) elbow grease

5. When they say …, they mean “a holiday where you do something similar to your usual work instead of having a rest from it”:

a) the donkey work

b) a stag party

c) a busman’s holiday

6. There were the usual … at the start of the project, but that's to be expected.

a) status symbols

b) teething problems

c) hush money

7. Among young people, this brand of designer clothing is the ultimate … :

a) status symbol

b) nest egg

c) the shortlist

8. She's always been rude to me, but it was … when she started insulting my mother

a) the last straw

b) a nest egg

c) a stag party

9. When they say … , they mean “a job in which there is no chance of being raised to a better, more important job”:

a) donkey work

b) dead-end job

c) a busman’s holiday

10.“Backup, cache, emergency funds, funds, investment, life savings, mad money, means,money in the bank, piggy bank, provisions, rainyday fund, reserve, reserve fund, reserves,resources, savings, ” are synonyms for:

a) a nest-egg

b) the last straw

c) hush money

11. Why should I do … all the while you sit around doing nothing?

a) donkey work

b) elbow grease

c) dead-end job

12. They're losing $200 000 on this deal, but that's chickenfeed for a company with yearly profits of $25 million.

a) the last straw

b) a nest-egg

c) chicken feed

13. The polish needs a certain amount of … to apply.

a) hush money

b) elbow grease

c) donkey work

14. She's on … for a teaching post.

a) a stag party

b) the status symbol

c) the shortlist

15.“Blockage, bottleneck, congestion, gridlock, jam, logjam, roadblock, rush hour, traffic congestion” are synonyms for:

a) a nest egg

b) a stag party

c) a traffic jam