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English word games - advanced level


EFL / ESL - level  B2  - C1


Linguapress advanced EFL resources: word games and crosswords

 Sports idioms  - an interactive quiz 


sportEnglish is full of idioms taken from the world of sport. Here is an absurd (but not illogical) conversation between Max Profit, marketing manager of an expanding company, and Tim Idity, a young employee who has just joined the firm. The dialogue uses the 12 following sporting idioms.

An absolute knock-out!   –   first past the post     –    on your marks –  be first off the mark   –     kick off   –     one step ahead of the rest.   –  a leap in the dark   –  jumping the gun     –   hit the rest of them for six   –   diving in at the deep end   –    keep the wind in our sails –   have the ball at our feet

Put these idioms into the dialogue, so that it makes sense, and reads like a logical bit of conversation. Be grammatical, it will help you find the right solution. Several of the expressions above can only go in one place - in grammatical terms. This quiz is difficult, but not at all impossible, if you pay attention to grammar and proper sentence structures.
Technique : when you have decided where an expression can go, select it with our mouse and slide it into the dialogue below - or else just retype it in a box. To get going, slide the expression above Kick off, or retype it, into the first box.

Max: We'll the advertising campaign on June 1st!
Tim: That's early! Won't we be  by a few weeks, Sir ?
Max: Of course, but we must
Tim: But it'll be , won't it?
Max: Rubbish, young man! We'll  !
Tim: But won't we be  ?
Max: No, young man! We've just got to   , and stay  !
Tim: And be   !
Max: Of course! Our new model's going to !
Tim:    !
Max: That's the spirit, lad ! So  !


Which sports or activities do these idioms come from? And which from which? Here are some clues:  athletics, football,  boxing,  sailing,  horse-racing,   cricket......

Try to rewrite this dialogue in simple ordinary English, without using any idioms !


Answers

Max: We'll kick off the advertising campaign on June 1st!
Tim: That's early! Won't we be jumping the gun  by a few weeks, Sir ?
Max: Of course, but we must be first off the mark.
Tim: But it'll be a leap in the dark, won't it?
Max: Rubbish, young man! We'll have the ball at our feet !
Tim: But won't we be diving in at the deep end ?
Max: No, young man! We've just got to keep the wind in our sails, and stay one step ahead of the rest  !
Tim: And be first past the post  !
Max: Of course! Our new model's going to hit the rest of them for six !
Tim:  An absolute knockout  !
Max: That's the spirit, lad ! So on your marks !

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Word order in English
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Language and style 
Themed crosswords for EFL
The short story of English


Multi-copying of this resource is permitted for classroom use. In schools declaring the source of copied materials to a national copyright agency, Linguapress advanced level resources should be attributed to "Spectrum" as the source and "Linguapresss France" as the publisher.




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