April 2011 Newsletter

Welcome to the maret 2012 issue of the english institute online.com newsletter.

Happy reading!

Clare

1. What's new on the site

Some things can be simple in a classroom, but much more difficult in the "real world". English conversations are one of these problem areas. What can you say when things go wrong? Check out our new page on Speaking English with other people for useful phrases and tips.

Do you agree or disagree with the idea of genetic modification? Genetically modified cows in China can produce human milk – see our new page in the Reading section for the details.

2. Vocabulary quiz – farm idioms

There are many idioms associated with animals and farm produce. Use the words in the list below to fill in the gaps in the idioms.

bull

butter

cows

egg

farm

goose

horse

milk

oats

wheat

Idioms

bet the ——–

get ——– bumps

put all your ——– in one basket

sort the ——– from the chaff

sow your wild ——–

take the ——– by the horns

to ——– around

to ——– someone up

to ——– something for all it's worth

until the ——– come home

Answers

bet the farm = put all your money into one venture: "It's not a good idea to bet the farm on a start-up."

get goosebumps = when your skin comes up in little bumps: "Watching that film gave me goosebumps. It was really scary."

put all your eggs in one basket = only have one plan: "Don't put all your eggs in one basket. What will you do if it goes wrong?"

sort the wheat from the chaff = separate the good from the bad: "The tests we give candidates really sort the wheat from the chaff."

sow your wild oats = have lots of girlfriends (or boyfriends) before you finally settle down: "He's going through a phase of sowing his wild oats."

take the bull by the horns = have the courage to tackle something directly: "It's not going to be easy, but you'll need to take the bull by the horns and deal with this problem before it gets too big."

to horse around = to joke and be silly: "Stop horsing around! We've got work to do."

to butter someone up = to flatter and compliment someone to put them in a good mood so that they'll agree to something you want: "She buttered up her mother so that she could go on the school trip."

to milksomething for all it's worth = to get the most out of a situation – even if it has to be forced: "They're milking their sob-story for all it's worth. People will get tired of it soon, though."

until the cows come home = do something forever, but with no effect: "You can tell him not to do that until the cows come home, but he'll never change."

That's all for this month – see you in April 2012!

By : tatank,