18 Match the idioms with their meanings.
| 1.
| bread and circuses
| sb feels very frightened or shocked;
| a.
|
| 2.
| in the can
| a person or thing whose name is known by everyone;
| b.
|
| 3.
| a shaggy dog story
| coll. finished, agreed, or decided upon; If a film is in the can, it is made.
| c.
|
| 4.
| a household name
| to finish your job, career, or your time of performing in public or playing a sport, by doing something very successful that everyone admires.
| d.
|
| 5.
| be rolling in the aisles
| be laughing a lot and not be able to stop while watching a film, a play, etc.
| e.
|
| 6.
| not be (exactly) a barrel of laughs.
| mass entertainment produced to amuse the population of a country, esp. to prevent them from causing trouble;
| f.
|
| 7.
| go out in a blaze of glory
| humorous. someone or something is not very funny or enjoyable.
| g.
|
| 8.
| sb's blood runs cold
| a very long joke with a pointless end;
| h.
|
19 Fill in the gaps in the sentences with the idioms from the exercise above.
1. I want to make sure I've got my grant _________ before I accept the place at college. 2. A joke is a good way to start a meeting – you don't want them to _________, but it creates a good atmosphere. 3. "What did you think of Huskins' wife?" "Well, she is _________, is she? 4. In a film like this, you just know the young pilot is going to lead a raid on the bridge, crash his plane, and _________. 5. The very first scene of "Saving Private Ryan" makes your _____________. 6. Research suggests that men prefer _________, while women prefer witty comments or anecdotes. 7. The wide spread of Hollywood films made a number of American actors and actresses _________ across the world.
