Skill 17: LISTEN FOR IDIOMS (LISTENING)

TOEFL COMPLETE COURSE

(LISTENING)

Skill 17: LISTEN FOR IDIOMS.

Idioms appear in some questions in the short dialogues. Idioms are special expressions in a language that all speakers of the language know; these special expressions describe one situation in life but are applied to many different areas of life. Idiom questions can be difficult for students because they seem to be describing one situation when they are really describing a different situation.

Example

On the recording, you hear:

man	Tom is a full-time student and is holding down a full-time job.
woman	He’s really burning the candle on both ends.
narrator	What does the woman say about Tom?

In your test book or on the computer screen, you read:

A.     He’s lighting a candle.

B.      He’s holding the candle at the top and bottom.

C.     He’s doing too much.

D.     He’s working as a firefighter.

In this question, the idiom burning the candle at both ends has nothing to do with candles and nothing to do with burning or fires, so answers (A), (B), and (D) are not correct. Instead, this idiom is an expression that is used in a situation when someone is trying to do more than he or she really can do; after all, a candle usually only burns at one end, so a candle that burns at two ends is doing too much. Therefore, the best answer to the question above is answer (C).

TOEFL EXERCISE 17: In this exercise, Listen carefully to each short dialogue and question on the recording, and then choose the best answer to the question. You should particularly careful of idioms.

1	A.        The man’s never late. B.         It’s good that the man was fifteen minutes late. C.        It’s never good to be late for class. D.        It’s good that the man went to class, on time or not.	6	A.        She’ll do it immediately. B.         It is not possible to do it. C.        The man should have told her sooner. D.        She would have done it if the man had asked.
2	A.        The woman’s work is all in her head. B.         The woman has to do two experiments rather than one. C.        It’s good idea to work together. D.        The biology experiment concerns two-headed animals.	7	A.       Abbie used a feather in his art project. B.        He was knocked down. C.       He was really surprised. D.       Abbie’s father knocked on the door.
3	A.        She has no time to work now. B.         She doesn’t want to work on the report either. C.        It’s best to get it over with now. D.        There’s no time to present the report now.	8	A.       They are taking a boat trip together. B.        The six chapters are all about the boat. C.       Everyone has to do the same thing. D.       The man will read while he’s on the boat.
4	A.        She’s very lucky to get the last book. B.         She’s sorry she can’t get the book today. C.        She always has good luck with books. D.        She just wanted to look at the book.	9	A.       She is taller than the others. B.        She put her science project on top of the others. C.       She has a really good head on her shoulders. D.       She’s the best of them all.
5	A.        The man doesn’t like eating in restaurants. B.         She doesn’t really like that restaurant. C.        Each of them has his own restaurant. D.        Everyone had different tastes.	10	A.       The man needs to improve his penmanship. B.        The man doesn’t really need to apply for the scholarship. C.       The man needs to fill out the application with dots and crosses. D.       The man needs to pay attention to every detail.

ANSWER KEY

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
D	C	C	B	D	A	C	C	D	D

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