The key to exercise solutions in chapter 7B - A masterpiece? for the textbook English File Advanced - Student's Book with authors Christina Latham-Koenig, Clive Oxenden, Jerry Lambert and Kate Chomacki from Oxford University Press
Question
Complete the bold idioms with a colour from the list.
With a partner, say what you think the idioms mean.
Answer
out of the blue = suddenly, unexpectedly
the black market = an illegal form of trade in which foreign money, or goods that are difficult to obtain, are bought and sold
red tape = bureaucracy; official rules that seem more complicated than necessary and prevent things from being done quickly
a white lie = a harmless or small lie, especially one that you tell to avoid hurting sb
(see everything in) black and white = way that makes people or things seem completely bad or good, or completely right or wrong
a white elephant = a thing that is useless and no longer needed, although it may have cost a lot of money
a grey area = an area of a subject or situation that is not clear or does not fit into a particular group and is therefore difficult to define or deal with
a red herring = an unimportant fact, idea, event, etc. that takes people's attention away from the important ones