1. Peter
blames his problems on his parents
It looks
like he is barking up the wrong tree.
2. Helen
has exhausted herself by attempting to do too much
She has
been burning the candle at both ends recently.
3. I know
you probably can’t help me but I thought I’d ask just in case there’s a
possibility.
I know I can
only rely on the off chance.
4.Arthur
boasts of entering a golf tournament even though he has never played before.
He will
make a fool of himself. He doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell.
5.Nick suffers from knee injury – as many tennis players do.
That’s par
for the course, I must admit.
6. We may
as well stop trying to achieve victory on this issue – we are just wasting time
The colonel
compared it with flogging a dead horse.
7.Who needs
to work harder at school?
Ann’s
report said she must pull her socks up.
8.The
teacher wondered who hadn’t delivered the work on time.
It was
George who decided it wasn’t worth breaking his back to meet the deadline.
9.The coach
is persuading his team to make an enormous effort to win the game
We’re
playing well, but we need to go all out this time.
10.A
teacher is telling a student not to spend too long on a question that doesn’t
demand more than a few sentences as an answer.
Make the
essential points but don’t make a meal out of it
11.Edward
is congratulating a friend who has just got a promotion and a new flat, in the
same week.
You’ve
really landed on your feet this time
12.Jill is
complaining about her flat-mate, who is lazy and does no housework
She doesn’t
lift a finger.
13.Sara’s
boss is explaining to her that she shouldn’t try to get a job done by leaving
out certain parts of the task.
It’s no
good trying to cut corners.
14.Jim is
complaining about how hard it has been to keep his business going.
I’ve been
working my socks off for the past two years.