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Reading comprehension/Idiomatic
expressions
You can read about the language of William Shakespeare in
‘Focus on English’ on pages 8-10 of GO ENGLISH No 78.
Below are the modern-day versions of some of the phrases
that Shakespeare introduced into the English language.
Match the phrases on the left with their correct meanings
on the right. Some of the phrases are mentioned in the
article, while others are not.
1. a foregone conclusion
*
* a. in a difficult or messy situation
2. a heart of gold
*
*
3. a laughing stock
*
* c. spoil with overindulgence
4. all that glitters is not gold
*
* d. jealousy personified
5. bag and baggage
*
* e. a kind or compassionate nature
6. come full circle
*
* f. no matter what happens
7. come what may
*
* g. lacking courage
8. the world is one’s oyster
*
* h. no logical explanation or reason
9. eat someone out of house and
home
*
*
10. elbow room
*
* j. with all one’s belongings
11. faint-hearted
*
*
k. not everything that is shiny is
valuable
12. green-eyed monster
*
*
l. in one’s imagination or mental
view
13. kill with kindness
*
* m. in one’s innermost feelings
14. in a pickle
*
*
15. in one fell swoop
*
* o. make one’s feelings apparent
16. in one’s heart of hearts
*
*
17. in one’s mind’s eye
*
* q. very anxiously or excitedly
18. neither rhyme nor reason
*
*
b. consume a lot of someone else’s
food
i. a result that can be predicted
with certainty
n. adequate space to move or work
in
p. return to a past position or
situation
r. a person subjected to mockery
or ridicule
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19. with bated breath
*
* s. all at one time
20. wear one’s heart on one’s
sleeve
*
*
t. one can achieve anything they
want in life
L’espace numérique Go Digital est protégé par le droit d'auteur.
Toute reproduction des exercices est interdite. Les professeurs d'anglais sont autorisés à les imprimer pour
les utiliser pendant leurs propres cours exclusivement.