Cover of the textbook Speakout Advanced - Students' Book

The key answer of exercise 8

The key to exercise solutions in chapter 1.2 - What are you like? for the textbook Speakout Advanced - Students' Book with authors Antonia Clare and J. J. Wilson from Pearson Education

Question

  1. Work out the meanings of the idioms in bold.
  2. Work in pairs. Which of the idioms in Exercise 8A would you use in the following situations?

Answer

a)

  1. yes-man → someone who always agrees with and obeys his / her employer, leader, wife, etc.
  2. whizzkid → a young person who is very skilled or successful at something
  3. busybody → someone who is too interested in other people's private activities
  4. chatterbox → someone (especially a child) who talks too much
  5. pain in the neck → someone who or something which is very annoying
  6. dark horse → someone who doesn't tell others very much about himself/herself, but has surprising qualities or abilities
  7. old hand → someone who has a lot of experience at something
  8. set in his / her ways → someone who is unlikely to change his / her habits or opinions
  9. black sheep → someone who is regarded by other members of his / her family group as not fitting in or an embarrassment
  10. life and soul of the party → someone who enjoys social occasions and is fun to be with

b)

  1. He is very set in his ways.
  2. He's an old hand.
  3. He's / She's a chatterbox.
  4. She's a dark horse.
  5. It's a pain in the neck.
  6. He's a whizzkid.
  7. He's a busybody.
  8. She's the life and soul of the party.