Complete the 12 sentences below. Choose the best answer for each one.
1If the audit confirms the error, the chief executive will have to ............... and tell investors before the rumours spread.
Wrong!
"bite the bullet" means to accept and do something difficult or unpleasant because it is necessary.
2The minister’s anecdote about office expenses was ..............., drawing attention away from the missing procurement records.
Wrong!
"a red herring" is a misleading distraction from the real issue.
3Rather than endorse either consortium, the mayor kept ............... until both bids were public.
Wrong!
"his powder dry" means he reserved his resources or opinion until the right moment.
4The inspector did not ............... in her report, describing the fire doors as ornamental and the evacuation plan as fiction.
Wrong!
"pull any punches" means to soften or hold back criticism, which the sentence says the inspector did not do.
5The research team remained on ............... while the court considered whether to halt the clinical trial.
Wrong!
"tenterhooks" means in a state of anxious suspense.
6Releasing the archived emails may open ..............., because they appear to document years of unlawful surveillance.
Wrong!
"a can of worms" is a complicated set of problems unleashed by an action.
7Within minutes of the first rehearsal, the pianist and the choreographer were ..............., anticipating each other’s changes without a word.
Wrong!
"on the same wavelength" means sharing the same understanding or way of thinking.
8Introducing three new sets of statistics at this stage might ............... and make the committee’s narrow legal distinction impossible to explain.
Wrong!
"muddy the waters" means make an issue more confused or less clear.
9After months of apocalyptic publicity, the product launch landed as ..............., consisting mainly of a minor software update.
Wrong!
"a damp squib" means something disappointingly anticlimactic after expectations had been raised.
10The committee’s polite request for another consultation period was really an attempt to kick ............... into after the election.
Wrong!
"the long grass" in this idiom means a place where an issue is deliberately delayed or buried.
11Charging the client for the hours spent correcting your own mistake really does take ...............
Wrong!
"take the biscuit" means be the most annoying, surprising, or outrageous example.
12The publisher is trying to ..............., demanding editorial independence while retaining a veto over every controversial paragraph.
Wrong!
"have its cake and eat it" means try to enjoy two incompatible advantages at once.
Answers
- If the audit confirms the error, the chief executive will have to bite the bullet and tell investors before the rumours spread.
- The minister’s anecdote about office expenses was a red herring, drawing attention away from the missing procurement records.
- Rather than endorse either consortium, the mayor kept his powder dry until both bids were public.
- The inspector did not pull any punches in her report, describing the fire doors as ornamental and the evacuation plan as fiction.
- The research team remained on tenterhooks while the court considered whether to halt the clinical trial.
- Releasing the archived emails may open a can of worms, because they appear to document years of unlawful surveillance.
- Within minutes of the first rehearsal, the pianist and the choreographer were on the same wavelength, anticipating each other’s changes without a word.
- Introducing three new sets of statistics at this stage might muddy the waters and make the committee’s narrow legal distinction impossible to explain.
- After months of apocalyptic publicity, the product launch landed as a damp squib, consisting mainly of a minor software update.
- The committee’s polite request for another consultation period was really an attempt to kick the long grass into after the election.
- Charging the client for the hours spent correcting your own mistake really does take the biscuit.
- The publisher is trying to have its cake and eat it, demanding editorial independence while retaining a veto over every controversial paragraph.
