An lanh

Thứ Ba, 27 tháng 12, 2011

LESSON 23




to make do: to manage, to cope
This idiom is used when a person must accept a substitute that is not the most suitable.
o       Pearl doesn't have a clean blouse so she has to make do with the one she wore yesterday.
o       During difficult economic times, many people have to make do with less.

to give birth to: to bear a human being or animal
o         Jane's mother has just given birth to twin girls.
o         The zoo's Siberian tiger just gave birth to a baby cub.

close call: a situation involving a narrow escape from danger (also: close shave)
o       Bob, that car nearly hit us! What a close call.
o       We had a close call when a small fire in our kitchen almost spread to the rest of the house.

to get on one's nerves: to annoy or disturb (also: to bug)
o       Laura loves to talk to anyone. Sometimes her chatter really gets on my nerves.
o       Jack asked his neighbor to turn down the stereo because it was bugging him and he couldn't concentrate.

to put down: to suppress, to quell (S); to criticize unfairly (S)
o       The police arrived just in time to put down the disturbance before it got very serious.
o       Fred tries his best at playing tennis. You shouldn't put him down like that.

to go for: to be sold at a certain price; to seek or strive for
o       This dress probably goes for about $50, don't you think?
o       Peter was going for first place in the swim meet, but he wasn't able to do better than third place.

to go in for: to have as an interest, such as a sport or hobby (also: to go for, to be into, to get into)
o       Hal goes in for tennis while his wife goes for painting and sculpture.
o       What sports are you into? I don't have any time to get into sports.

to stay up: to remain awake, not to go to bed
o       I want to stay up tonight and watch a late movie on TV.
o       He stays up every night until after one o'clock, preparing his homework.

to stay in: to remain at home, not to go out
An idiom with the opposite meaning is to stay out.
o       On a rainy day, I like to stay in and read.
o       Young people are able to stay out late at night and get very little sleep.

to take over: to assume control or responsibility for (S); to do or perform again (S)
The meaning of the second definition is almost the same as do over in Lesson 11. also for the second definition, a noun or pronoun must divide the idiom.
o       That large investment company specializes in taking over smaller businesses that are in financial trouble.
o       Most students didn't do well on the important test, so the instructor let them take it over.
o       Little Mickey didn't have much chance to hit the baseball during practice, so the coach let him take his turn over.

to show up:  to appear, to arrive; to be found or located (also for the second definition: to turn up)
o       It really gets on my nerves that Ursula shows up late for every meeting.
o       Willie hopes that the watch he lost last Sunday shows up soon.
o       We've looked everywhere for that book, but it hasn't turned up yet.

to clean out: to empty, to tidy by removing (S); to steal, to rob (S); to buy or purchase all of something (S)
o       It's time for you to clean out your closet so that you can store more things in there.
o       A burglar entered my apartment while I was gone and cleaned me out. He took over $200 in cash and jewelry.
o       Thousands of shoppers cleaned out the store that had gone bankrupt and was selling all its remaining products at very reduced prices.

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