Mini-Lesson 10.1

Spick and span – extremely clean, spotless

Stack up against – compare with

Stamp out – eliminate, wipe out

Stand for – 1) tolerate, put up with; 2) symbolize, represent

Stand out – be noticeable

Stay out – not come home

Stay out (or up) to all hours – come home (or go to bed) very late

Stay up – not go to bed

Stick with – not change, stay with

Stock up on – get a large supply of smth

Mini-Lesson 10.2

A stone’s throw from – not far away from, close to

Stop by – visit informally, go to see

Straighten up – clean up, make tidy

Stuck with – have smth one cannot get rid of

Take a break – stop working for a short time

Take a lot of nerve – require a lot of courage

Take a lot out of (smb) – be hard on smb, drain energy from smb

Take advantage of – utilize, make use of, exploit

Take after – resemble, look like (esp. an older relative)

Take apart – disassemble

Take it easy – relax, calm down

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. Vaccines have permitted doctors to virtually ___________ ____________ a number of diseases, including smallpox and polio.

2. “How late do you usually _______________ ______________?” “I’m normally in bed by eleven on weekdays.”

3. “How late do you usually ____________ ____________ on weekends?” “I sometimes don’t come home until two or three in the morning.”

4. “Do you _____________ _______________ your mother or father?” “I don’t think I look much like either one of them.”

5. Earl had no trouble ________________ ______________ the engine on the lawn mower, but then he couldn’t put it back together.

6. You look a little tired. Why don’t you ______________ _____________ ______________ and finish your homework later?

7. The teacher won’t _________ _________ cheating. When she caught one student cheating on the midterm exam, she gave him a zero on that test.

8. “I tried and tried to find a buyer for this old car.” “Looks like you’re ____________ _______________ it for now.”

9. “My brother is going to invest all his savings in a new business venture.” “That ___________ ___________ ___________ __________ ________. I’d be afraid to take a risk like that.”

10. “I give up. I can’t solve this chemistry problem.” “___________ ___________ it. Eventually, you’ll figure it out.”

11. We have to leave the apartment __________ _________ __________. The landlord said that if it wasn’t clean when we moved out, we’d lose part of our security deposit.

12. Don was wearing jeans and a T-shirt while all the other guests had on formal dinner wear. He really _____________ _____________.

13. “I’m nervous about my interview.” “_____________ ___________ ___________. You’ll make a better impression if you’re relaxed.”

14. The fifty stars on the American flag __________ _________ fifty states.

15. “Do you _______________ ______________ your apartment before guests ____________ _____________?” “A little bit. I don’t mind if it’s a little messy, but I don’t want it to look like a disaster area.”

16. “My new roommate is from Italy.” “You should __________ _____________ ___________ this opportunity to learn some Italian.”

17. “I just heard on the news that the Florida orange crop was damaged by the hurricane last week, and that orange juice prices are going to go way up.” “If we had a big freezer, we could ___________ _____________ ____________ frozen orange juice now and we wouldn’t have to pay those prices.”

18. “Do you live near Cecilia?” “Oh, sure. My apartment building is just _____________ _________ ___________ ___________ hers.”

19. “So you ran in that ten-kilometer race?” “Yes, but it ___________ __________ _________ _________ __________ me. I can hardly move.”

20. “Tim, you’ve eaten at both those restaurants - how does Chez Michelle ________ _________ __________ the Oak Room?” “Oh, they’re both good. I think the Oak Room has slightly better food, but the service is better at Chez Michelle.”