Solved Examples: Phrases and Idioms | English Language & Comprehension for SSC CGL PDF Download

Q1: Every time I show my brother one of my stories, he just picks holes in it without saying anything that he liked about it.
(a) To find some reason to quarrel
(b) To cut some part of an item
(c) To criticize someone
(d) To destroy something
Ans: (c)
To make an effort to find flaws or negative aspects in something through excessive analysis or criticism.

Q2: Someone unknown tipped off the police about the plan to rob the bank.
(a) Bribed
(b) Kill someone
(c) Given advance information
(d) Threatened
Ans: (c)
Tipped off means to give someone a warning or secret information about something.

Q3: They thought that I would simply give up if my complaint had to go to court, but they'll soon realize that they've caught a Tartar!
(a) To deal with a person who is more than one's match
(b) To catch a dangerous person
(c) To meet with disaster
(d) None of the above
Ans: (c)
to deal with someone or something that proves unexpectedly troublesome or powerful.

Q4: You don't need to be frightened of him — he's a man of straw.
(a) A very active person
(b) A worthy fellow
(c) A lonely person
(d) A man of no substance
Ans: (d)
a man whose character is weak and who lacks definite beliefs.

Q5: Jane was angry enough to quit without giving notice, leaving her boss in the lurch
(a) To put someone at ease
(b) To come to a compromise with someone
(c) To desert someone in his difficulties
(d) Constant source of annoyance to someone
Ans: (d)
Abandon or desert someone in difficult straits.

Q6: "He had set his face against the idea"
(a) To oppose with determination
(b) To criticize others
(c) To be very angry
(d) To victimize someone
Ans: (a)
strongly disapprove.

Q7: "The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” in which a young shepherd found it amusing to make villagers think a wolf is attacking his flock.
(a) To turn pale
(b) To keep off starvation
(c) To give a false alarm
(d) None of the above
Ans: (c)

Q8: The foreman hit the nail on the head when he said that the machine had malfunctioned because of a faulty spark plug.
(a) To teach someone a lesson
(b) To destroy one's reputation
(c) To forget about the past
(d) To do the right thing
Ans:  (d)
To hit the nail right on the head: to describe exactly what is causing a situation or problem.

Q9: You'd be Oliver's right-hand woman.
(a) An honest person
(b) The most efficient assistant
(c) A competent and hardworking person
(d) A foolish person
Ans: (b)
Someone's right-hand man or right-hand woman is their close assistant and the person they trust to help and support them in everything they do.

Q10: If I don't send a picture, he will smell a rat.
(a) To suspect foul dealings
(b) To see signs of a plague epidemic
(c) To get the bad smell of a dead rat
(d) To get something of bad quality
Ans: (a)
To suspect or realize that something is wrong in a particular situation.