AND COUNTING

and counting used to say that a number is constantly increasing:

           So far we’ve had over 4,000 calls, and counting.

Fill-in-the-gap activity_PARENTS FOR RENT

NO RAINCHECKS

rain check (also raincheck) noun

1. a ticket given for later use when a sporting fixture or other outdoor event is interrupted or postponed by rain.

2. a coupon issued to a customer by a shop, guaranteeing that a sale item which is out of stock may be purchased by that customer at a later date at the same reduced price.

take a rain check  informal To refuse an offer or invitation but with the hope or promise that it can be postponed to a later date or time.

I'm sorry, Mimi, I'm just too exhausted to go out tonight. Could I take a rain check?

Fill-in-the-gap activity_1_CRICKET BREAD

Fill-in-the-gap activity_2_GAY PEOPLE AT RUSSIAN WORLD CUP

Student's book p. 16 ANSWER KEY

Student's book pp 153 ANSWER KEY

IT DRIVES ME SPARE

to drive sb spare  
If someone or something drives you spare, it is extremely annoying.

EXCELLENT TAPAS SCENE

scene a particular area of activity and all the people or things connected with it; a specified area of activity or interest

We live a pretty low-key life - the party scene does not interest us.

He is an important figure on the political scene.

I’m not into the club scene

She's the most exciting British singer to emerge on the pop scene for a decade.

RUNNING AMOK

to run amok to behave in a frenzied, out-of-control, or unrestrained manner; to behave in a violent and uncontrolled way.

YOU NAME IT, I'LL CLAIM IT

you name it used after a list for saying that most other things of the same type are also possible or available; everything a person can think of. 

      The camp offers horse riding, tennis, water sports, you name it.

         There are lots of topics available now. Cooking, politics, entertainment, news, religion - you name it.

  

     

CLUBBING ISN'T REALLY MY THING

one's (kind of) thing  informal   something one likes or likes to do 

A HINT OF

One of the meanings of the noun  hint  is  "a very small amount of something".
Other examples:
    There's just a hint of brandy in the sauce.

    I detected a hint of doubt in his voice.

photocopy from 11th October 2017

MIGHT AS WELL...

might as well  is a very interesting and useful expression.

We can use might as well (also may as well) for suggesting something, often when there is nothing better to do. We can use them to say what we think is the easiest or most logical course of action when we cannot see a better alternative or because there is no good reason not to do it.

They are both fairly informal. Might as well is more common than may as well:

You might as well get a taxi from the station. It’ll be quicker than me coming in to get you.

There’s nothing to do here, so you might as well go home

Since I have to wait, I might as well sit down and relax. 

Sometimes it implies an unenthusiastic agreement with someone else's proposition, or a less-than-wholehearted proposition of one's own: you will do it although you do not have a strong desire to do it and may even feel slightly unwilling to do it.

Bill: Should we try to get there for the first showing of the film?

Jane: Might as well. Nothing else to do.

I can also mean that something should be done or accepted because it cannot be avoided:

He's never going to go away, you know, so we might as well get used to it.

It is also used to indicate that a situation is the same as if the hypothetical thing stated were true:

The couple might as well have been strangers.

We might just as well be in prison for all the quality our lives have at present.

We can say it to that something else could have been done with the same result

The meeting was a complete waste of time. I might just as well have stayed at home.

 Adapted from: https://www.collinsdictionary.com

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com

https://www.merriam-webster.com/

http://dictionary.cambridge.org

http://www.ldoceonline.com

https://www.collinsdictionary.com

A FLAIR FOR WRITING

a flair for sth a special or instinctive aptitude or ability for doing something well.

She had a flair for languages

photocopies from 23rd May

Listening test_C1_Asturias_September 2016

          audio 1      audio 2 

mistakes from pieces of writing

               answer key

LEGEND HAS IT THAT...

Photocopies from 18th May 2017
C1_listening test_Certificación_Asturias June 2015
        audio task 1                  audio task 2

IT SLEEPS SIX

The verb sleep can be used as a transitive verb with the meaning tohave enough beds for a particular number of people:

The apartment sleeps six

C1_listening comprehension test_Asturias_June 2016
      audio task 1          audio task 2
          answer key & transcript

photocopies from 9th May
photocopies from 11th May
photocopies from 16th May

Link to a great blog_conditional sentences

Extra material to revise ellipsis and substitution

BY FIVEFOLD

"We could potentially increase that production by fivefold by the year 2015."

 

photocopies from 4th May

Listening activity_TASK 3

audio

THE CHANCES ARE THAT....

(the) chances are    it is likely:

Chances are (that) they'll be late anyway.

photocopies from 2nd May
audio TASK 2
answer key & transcript TASK 2

NEXT TO NOTHING

next to nothing  very little

    It costs next to nothing to go to an afternoon movie.

    Phil earns next to nothing.

    My parents know next to nothing about the men I date.

    I learned next to nothing at school - the teachers were awful.

Photocopies from 27th April 

AT THE ELEVENTH HOUR

at the eleventh hour  (at) the last moment or almost too late; the latest possible time before it is too late; right before the deadline. 

We only received the signatures at the eleventh hour.

An eleventh-hour decision by the union to call off the strike

Still making changes at the eleventh hour

photocopies from 25th April
audio 

TO DRAIN THE SWAMP

drain the swamp

"Drain the swamp" originally means to get rid of the malaria-carrying mosquitoes by draining the swamp. Figuratively, "drain the swamp" means "to exterminate something that is harmful" or anything that most of the people hate such as corruption or government waste. This term is especially attractive for politicians during campaign.

photocopies from 11th April

mistakes taken from students' writings

answer key

ANYWAY, TO CUT A LONG STORY SHORT...

to cut a long story short (or make a long story short) used for saying that you will tell the end or the main point of a story without giving all the details so as to end a narration quickly.

   To cut a long story short, we both spent the night in jail.

photocopies from 6th April
audio for listening activity 
answer key
link to write your comment 

NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!

photocopies from 4th April

audio

answer key 

I CAN'T STAND IT WHEN...

photocopies from 28th March 
audio for listening activity

TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES

to fend for oneself to take care of and provide for yourself, without depending on anyone else, without help.

Now that the children are old enough to fend for themselves, we can go away on holiday on our own. 

photocopies from 21st March 
photocopies from 23rd March 

wombat audio
wombat video 1 (listening activity 23rd March)
wombat video 2 (lively baby wombat) 
wombat video 3 (reverse pouch)
wombat video 4 (wombat poo continued) 

IT SUDDENLY DAWNED ON HER...

to dawn on somebody if a fact dawns on you, you understand it after a period of not understanding it; if something dawns on you, you realize it for the first time; to become known or obvious to someone, often suddenly:

It finally dawned on him that she’d been joking.

It was several months before the truth finally dawned on me.

Little by little it dawned on Archie that his wife was not coming back.

photocopies from 14th March
photocopies from 16th March

SMALL FRY

small fry  noun

   1. Small children.

   2. Young or small fish.

   3. People or things regarded as unimportant:

They may be key players in their own company, but they're small fry in the industry itself.

adjective   

1. minor, unimportant a small–fry politician

   2  of, relating to, or intended for children; childish

Photocopies from 9th March 

THE LOOMING CRISIS

to loom

to appear as a large, often frightening or unclear shape or object; to appear as a vague form, especially one that is large or threatening; (of an event regarded as threatening) to seem about to happen:

Dark storm clouds loomed on the horizon.

Vehicles loomed out of the darknes

There is a crisis looming

looming adjective (of something unwanted or unpleasant) about to happen soon and causing worry; imminent:

The looming crisis

Photocopies from 2nd March 
Photocopies from 7th March 

NEST EGG

nest egg noun

1. a natural or artificial egg left in a nest especially to induce a hen to continue to lay there
2. an amount of money that has been saved or kept for a special purpose; a fund of money accumulated as a reserve; an amount of money that is saved over a usually long period of time to pay for something in the future :

They built up a nest egg for their son's college education.

The allusion is to The connection between putting a real or china egg into a hen's nest to encourage her to lay. and the 'savings' meaning isn't exactly clear. It may be that the idea was that the egg that was put into the nest could be later retrieved, after the hen had laid.

Sources:

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/255100.html

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/es/diccionario/ingles/nest-egg

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nest%20egg

Photocopies from 21st February

KICK THE BUCKET

to kick the bucket  informal to die

photocopies from 16th February

audio for TASK 1 (see photocopies from 26th January) 

audio for TASK 2