Directions: Determine the meaning of the bolded expression.  Choose the best answer.

Idiom: A common expression understood figuratively, as the literal definition makes no sense.

1. After going to the zoo, the mall, and the movies, Cassie was sick of bending over backwards to entertain her nieces.

a. Cassie was doing very little to entertain her nieces. 
b. Cassie was making small efforts to entertain her nieces. 
c. Cassie was trying very hard to entertain her nieces.
d. Cassie was not trying at all to entertain her nieces. 

2. Bobby would have been playing ball until the cows came home if it hadn’t been for Suzie dragging him home for dinner.

a. Bobby was just about to stop playing ball.
b. Bobby didn’t even want to play ball to begin with.
c. Bobby prefers nature to athletics.
d. Bobby would have continued playing ball for a long time.

3. Mr. Johnson was very particular about the arrangement of his classroom, so the thing he hated most was when his students caused a ruckus with their wild horseplay.  

a. Mr. Johnson hated when his students pretended to be animals. 
b. Mr. Johnson hated when his students played sports.
c. Mr. Johnson hated when his students wrestled around with each other.
d. Mr. Johnson hated when his students made animal noises.

4. Eric wanted to fix his cousin’s computer, but he was already having problems setting up his Aunt’s Wi-Fi network and he didn’t want to open a whole new can of worms.  

a. Eric was sick of spending his time helping his family.
b. Eric wanted to go fishing instead of working on computers.
c. Eric was having difficulties untangling the computer wires.
d. Eric was not ready to begin working on a complicated new problem.

5. Even though Candace already had a new job, she submitted her two week notice and conducted herself in a professional way at her old job because she didn’t want to burn bridges.  

a. Candace didn’t want to ruin her positive relationship with her old employer.
b. Candace wasn’t ready to start her new job.
c. Candace was really going to miss her old job.
d. Candace was waiting until her last day to rub it in everyone’s face that she was leaving.

6.  World renowned country western super group The Mountain Boys can sell out an arena at the drop of a hat.   
  
a. The Mountain Boys may be able to sell out an arena, but it will take a long time.
b. The Mountain Boys can sell out an arena very quickly.
c. The Mountain Boys are always willing to perform at charity events.
d. The Mountain Boys enforce a dress code at all of their shows.

7. Vivian expected Craig to sob uncontrollably when she broke up with him; however, Craig kept a stiff upper lip.   
      
a. Craig cried even more than Vivian had expected.
b. Craig cried about as much as Vivian had expected.
c. Craig cried a little less than Vivian had expected.
d. Craig did not cry.
8. Mrs. Robinson expects Cassie and my presentation to be good, but we have been working on it every night for the last week, so we are really going to knock her socks off.           

a. Cassie and the speaker are not prepared to give a good presentation.
b. Cassie and the speaker intend on hitting Mrs. Robinson rather than presenting.
c. Cassie and the speaker’s presentation will far exceed Mrs. Robinson’s expectations.
d. Cassie and the speaker’s presentation will meet Mrs. Robison’s expectations.

9. Over the summer Brian was really excited about being placed in the advanced math class, but after getting his syllabus on the first day and seeing the workload, he was ready to jump ship.           

a. Brian was even more excited about the math class than he was over the summer.
b. Brian wanted to start working on his math assignments right away.
c. Brian did not want to be in the advance math class anymore. 
d. Brian wanted to cause some trouble in the advanced math class.

10. Jose had a hard time comparing the iPhone to the Samsung phone because to him they were apples and oranges. 

a. Jose can hardly tell the difference between the two phones because they are so similar.
b. Jose believes that the phones are so different from one another that they cannot be compared.
c. Jose doesn’t know anything about phones so he may as well be thinking about fruits.
d. Jose is too hungry to think about phones at this time.

11. When Brian felt pretty good about getting the a pair of roller-skates for his birthday, until he saw his twin brother Ryan open up his GameBox X-9000, and then Brian felt like he got the short end of the stick.   
a. Brian felt like Ryan received a better gift than he.
b. Brian was quite pleased with his roller skates.
c. Brian wanted a long stick that he could use to support himself on hikes.
d. Brian feels bad for Ryan because Ryan wanted roller-skates.

12. After Ms. Smith caught Darnisha chewing gum for the third time, Ms. Smith scheduled a parent teacher conference with Darnisha’s mother.  When Darnisha’s mother came into Ms. Smith’s classroom, she was chewing gum.  Ms. Smith thought to herself, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” 

a. Ms. Smith thinks that Darnisha dresses like her mother.
b. Ms. Smith thinks that Darnisha acts a lot like her mother.
c. Ms. Smith is surprised to see that Darnisha’s mother came.
d. Ms. Smith thinks that Darnisha’s mother lives very close to the school.

13. Brad was accusing us of stealing his phone until he found it, and now he’s trying to sweep it under the rug.   

a. Brad thinks that his phone will be safer if he hides it under the rug.
b. Brad wants to do something to make up for his mistake.
c. Brad is trying to locate a signal for his phone so that he can use it.
d. Brad wants to pretend that the incident never happened.

14. Keisha got up a started yelling at Ronnie and threatening him but Ronnie didn’t even flinch because he knew that her bark was worse than her bite.     

a. Ronnie thinks that Keisha will get in trouble for yelling.
b. Ronnie thinks that Keisha has bad breath. 
c. Ronnie thinks that Keisha is loud but not dangerous.
d. Ronnie thinks that Keisha has a crush on him.

15. You might think that Billy Parker is the kid who has everything, but if you saw the list of chores his parents give him, I guarantee that you wouldn’t want to be in his shoes.

a. You wouldn’t want your shoes to get as dirty as Billy’s when he’s doing his chores.
b. If you have to do as many chores as Billy, you’ll want a pair of comfortable shoes.
c. Billy shoes are so uncomfortable that doing his chores is really unpleasant. 
d. Billy has so many chores to do that it is unpleasant to imagine doing them all.