Mini-Lesson 3.1

Day in and day out – constantly, for a long time

Die down – become less severe, quiet down

Do over – do again, repeat

Do without – not have

Down the drain – wasted, done for no reason (work, for example)

Dream up – invent, think of, come up with

Drop (someone) a line – send someone a letter

Drop in (on) – visit informally

Drop off – 1) leave something (a package, for example); 2) take (someone) home, let someone out of a car

Drop out (of) – stop attending (classes, for example)

Easy as pie – very simple, a piece of cake

Eyes bigger than one’s stomach – said of someone who takes more food than s/he can eat

Mini-Lesson 3.2

Fall behind (smb, smth/ with smth) – not move as quickly as, lag behind

Fall through – fail to happen

A far cry from – not similar to, not as good as

Fed up (with) – not able to tolerate, disgusted with, annoyed by

Feel free – do smth if one wants

Feel like – be inclined to, want to

Feel like a million (dollars) – feel very good

Feel up to – feel able to do smth, ready to

Few and far between – uncommon and infrequent

Figure out – understand, solve

Exercise: Fill in the blanks in the sentences or dialogues with idioms from the list above. There will be one word per blank. It may be necessary to change the verb forms in order for the sentences to be grammatically correct.

1. It took me hours to _________ _________ how to record programs on my VCR.

2. If you could ___________ ___________ the laundry on the way to work, I’ll pick it up on Monday.

3. “What a wonderful masquerade party!” “People certainly __________ _________ some interesting costumes, didn’t they?”

4. “Do you __________ __________ going out tonight?” “No, I’d rather stay home and read.”

5. “Why have you __________ _________ in your French class?” “I was sick and I missed a few classes. But I’m studying hard to catch up.”

6. “Why do we need to get gas now? We have quite a bit left.” “This highway goes through some very empty country, and gas stations are ___________ __________ __________ __________.”

7. Howard’s teacher wasn’t satisfied with the work he had done, so she asked him to _________ it _________.

8. I’m ___________ __________ ___________ my roommate’s lack of responsibility. He never pays his bills or his share of the rent on time.

9. “Isn’t your class picnic today?” “No, our plans for the picnic _________ ______________.”

10. “The food at this new restaurant isn’t bad.” “It’s all right, but it’s _______ ____________ _____________ __________ the food at Mario’s. Now that is a great restaurant!”

11. Ben had to __________ __________ __________ the university because of financial problems.

12. After blowing furiously all day, the wind finally _________ _________.

13. Do you telephone friends before you visit, or just _________ _______ ________ them?

14. “I’m tired of the same old routine.” “I know how you feel. I get tired of doing the same things __________ _________ ________ __________ ______________ too.”

15. “Ralph really loaded up his tray with food.” “He’ll never eat it all. Ralph’s _________ are ___________ __________ his ______________.

16. “I need to use a computer for a few hours.” “____________ _________ to use my laptop computer. I don’t need it this morning.”

17. “I’ve missed James since he moved to Seattle.” “You should _________ him ___________ _________ and let him know how you’re doing. I’m sure he’d love to get a letter from you.”