Glimmer grain fragment dot shred crumb

Blade trace speck

(a) She was very house-proud. There wasn't a ______ of dirt in her kitchen.

(b) They were so hungry they ate the whole loaf of bread without letting a single

______ fall to the ground.

(c) The desert stretched for miles. Nothing green. Not a single ______ of grass.

(d) We watched the ship as it sailed away until it was just a ______ on the horizon.

(e) His views are dangerous and extreme, and yet there is a ______ of truth in what

he says.

(f) The accusations against him are completely groundless. There isn't a ______ of

evidence to support them.

(g) Archaeologists are examining a ______ of a vase which they think is over

5,000 years old.

(h) There now seems to be a ______ of hope that the strike will be averted.

(i) The famine is so bad in that area that the people haven't seen a single______ of

rice for weeks.

(j) One day in June 1987, he suddenly disappeared without ______ and no one has

seen him since.

(k) The police found a tiny ______ of lipstick on the wineglass.

b)

Hint clue breath flake drop puff

Dash item scrap

(a) “Whisky?” - “Well, just a ______, please.”

(b) Don’t ask me about the economic situation. I haven’t a______.

(c) I’m just going out for a ______ of fresh air.

(d) I watched a rain-______trickling slowly down the window.

(e) I’d like my coffee almost black please. Just a very small ___ of milk.

(f) “What a lovely smell. What is it?” – “Some spices and I think some seafood and also just a ______ of lemon.”

(g) I wrote the phone-number down on a ______ of paper I tore from an envelope.

2.14. a) Study these words and expressions connected with clothes (1-9) and shops (1-6) used metaphorically and match them with their definitions on the right. Think of their Russian equivalents.

Clothes metaphors:

1) off the cuff (a) (usually of a woman) be the

dominant partner in a marriage

2) to be hand in glove with someone (b) involving mystery and secrecy

3) cloak-and-dagger (c) simple and plain

4) to have/ take the shirt off smb’s back (d) spending as little as possible

5) (to do smth.) on a shoestring (e) have a close working relationship

with someone

6) without frills (f) restrict smb’s freedom

7) to put someone in s strait-jacket (g) without having prepared anything

8) to wear the trousers (h) to deprive smb. of his/her last

possession

9) shop around

Shop metaphors:

1) to set up shop a) to discuss smb’s work

2) all over the shop b) to begin doing something

3) to shop around c) to stop doing something, working

4) to shut up shop d) to compare prices, quality of goods at

several shops before buying anything

5) to talk shop e) a meeting where things are discussed but

no action is ever taken

6) a talking-shop f) spread out everywhere

b) Explain the meaning of the following idioms and use them in your sentences.

hem in, burst at seams, cloak in, feather in one’s cap

c) Many idioms are based on colours. Put each of the following phrases in its correct place in the sentences below.

a)

Out of the blue in black and white green with envy

In the red a black sheep to have green fingers

Once in a blue moon red tape to catch someone red-handed

(a) The offer of a job sounded very good on the phone, but I shan’t believe it till I

have it______.

(b) I must remind you that this is a non-smoking office. I suspect that some of you

have been smoking. If I happen______, I’m afraid it will mean dismissal.

(c) To import firearms into Britain you’ll have to fill in a lot of forms. There’s a lot

of______.

(d) If you want to be a successful gardener, of course you’ve got______.

(e) The rest of the family were respectable, honest people, but he was always in

trouble. I'm afraid he was______.

(f) When I saw him in a new sports car, I was______.

(g) Tourists often go to the Louvre, but most Parisians only go______.

(h) The firm is______. It owes a lot of money.

(i) I had lost touch with Jack, and then one night he arrived at my flat right______.

What a surprise!

b)

Red-carpet treatment to see red rose-coloured spectacles

A red herring a white-collar job a green belt

Blue-eyed boy a white lie

(a) Naturally the President’s wife received ______ on her visit.

(b) He said he didn’t want to have ______ and sit in an office all day.

(c) All round the city there is ______ of open country where building is restricted.

(d) She loves animals and tends ______ when she sees one being badly treated.

(e) He told _____ to avoid hurting his wife’s feelings.

(f) Everyone thinks he’ll be Director of the firm one day. He’s the ________.

(g) Be realistic. You can’t go though life looking at the world through _______.

(h) In class pupils sometimes introduce _____ to distract the teacher from his

subject.

2.15. Put each of the following words or phrases in its correct place in the passage below. Do people in Russia use their personal finance similarly? Be ready to give a short presentation in class on the way people use their personal finance in Russia.