Mini-Lesson 11.1

Take a short cut – take a more direct or faster route than usual

Take off – 1) remove (clothing, for example); 2) ascend (a plane, for example); 3) become popular quickly

Take over – assume control or responsibility

Take part (in) – participate in

Take the plunge – finally take action, do smth different

Take time off (from) – take a vacation or break from work or school

Take up – begin to study some topic or engage in some activity

Talk down to – speak to smb as if s/he were a child, patronize

Talk into – persuade, convince

Talk out of – dissuade, convince not to do smth

Talk over - discuss

Mini-Lesson 11.2

Tear oneself away from smth – stop doing smth interesting

Tear up – rip into small pieces

Tell apart – distinguish

Things are looking up – the situation is improving

Think over – consider

Throw away – discard, get rid of

Throw cold water on – discourage, force to cancel (a plan, for example)

Throw the book at smb – give smb the maximum punishment

Try on – test clothing before buying (for size, style, and so on)

Try out – test a product before buying

Try out (for) – audition for (a role in a play, for example), attempt to join (a team, for example)

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. You’d better _____________ _____________ these gloves before you buy them; they may not fit.

2. At first, I didn’t want to go to the party, but I’m glad Annette __________ me __________ it. It was fun.

3. The spy _______ _______ the document so that no one else could read it.

4. The twins look so much alike that almost on one can ___________ them ____________.

5. “I need more excitement in my life.” “Why don’t you give up stamp collecting and ____________ ___________ sky-diving instead?”

6. “Who made this final decision?” “All of the people who were the meeting ___________ ____________ __________ the decision-making process.”

7. Most air accidents take place when a plane is ______ ______ or landing.

8. You’ve got to __________ _________ ________ ________ those computer games and do your homework.

9. Dan was afraid the judge would _________ ________ _________ _____ him because he had been charged with the same offense several times.

10. _________ __________ your boots before you go into the house.

11. I wish I’d ___________ ________ this calculator before I bought it. It doesn’t seem to be working right.

12. Marvin was going to drop out of school, but his grandfather _________ him ___________ ___________ it.

13. I’m not sure if this is a suitable topic for a research paper. I need to _____________ it ____________ with my teacher before I start writing.

14. “I’m going to ____________ ___________ those old newspapers.” “Don’t just put them in the trash – recycle them instead.”

15. “Are you going on the class trip?” “I need to ___________ it ________ before I decide.”

16. “How did you get home so quickly?” “I __________ __________ ___________ _________ through the fields.”

17. “So, Louisa, you decided to ________ _________ __________ a part in the play?” “Yes, I’ve been interested in acting for quite a while, so I finally decided to __________ _________ __________.”

18. Akiko is going to ___________ some _______ ________ ________ teaching to finish writing her dissertation.