Common Idioms for Effort IELTS Reading

Idioms for IELTS are extremely important as it helps to ace the IELTS Reading section. In the IELTS reading test, candidates have to concentrate and read in between lines. The IELTS reading passages are mostly long and sometimes short, consisting of random topics like technology, business, science, and others. To prepare for IELTS reading topics you can include reading books, magazines, newspapers, and journals in your daily life. You can also go through IELTS Reading practice papers for further preparation.

Topic: Effort

Exercise 1

Complete the sentences with the words in the box.

1. Don’t try to cut___________ as you’ll only be making work for yourself later on.
2. He has fallen on his ___________ with this new job – he’ll earn a fortune.
3. Her boss told her she’d have to pull her ___________ up.
4. You are burning the ___________ at both ends if you only sleep for five hours a night.
5. As he never did things by ___________ , he was soon exhausted.
6. I do all the cleaning. She never lifts a ___________ to help.
7. I work my ___________ off for eleven months of the year. I deserve a month’s holiday.
8. My grandmother had to work her ___________ to the bone in the kitchen with no electrical appliances.

Answer 1: corners

Explanation: “Cut corners”-This phrase comes from cutting (off) the corner, which means ‘taking the shortest course by going across and not round a corner.

Answer 2: feet

Explanation: “fallen on his feet” here means to be in good condition or in a good situation after having a bad or difficult experience

Answer 3: socks

Explanation: “Pull her socks up”- here this means to try to improve one's performance or behavior because it has not been good enough recently

Answer 4: Candle

Explanation: “burning the candle” means at both endsexhaust someone’s energies or resources by leading a hectic life

Answer 5: Halves

Explanation: never did things by halves here means to do something half-heartedly or only partially.

Answer 6: Finger

Explanation: never lifts a finger means doing nothing to help someone.

Answer 7: Socks

Explanation: Here socks off means to work very hard

Answer 8: Finger

Explanation: This means the grandmother work extremely hard, especially for a long time

Exercise 2

Complete the sentences. Choose the best answers.

1. I ___________ to answer all their questions.

1. did my level best
2. worked my fingers to the bone
3. pulled my weight

Answer: a

Explanation: to try as hard as you can

2. The President is determined to ___________ for peace.

1. pull his socks up
2. make a meal
3. go the extra mile

Answer: c

Explanation: to make more effort than is expected of you

3. We cannot afford to carry members who are not ___________

1. doing things by halves
2. making a meal of it
3. pulling their weight

Answer: c

Explanation: to do the things that one should be doing as part of a group of people who are working together.

4. If you know what you really want, you should ___________ to get it.

1. pull your weight
2. go all out
3. pull your socks up

Answer: b

Explanation: to put all your energy or enthusiasm into what you are doing

5. She ___________ in order to send her children to school.

1. cut corners
2. worked her fingers to the bone
3. made a meal of it

Answer: b

Explanation: to work extremely hard, especially for a long time

6. When you’re ___________ trying to start a business, it will take every minute you have.

1. breaking your back
2. raising a finger
3. pulling your socks up

Answer: a

Explanation: to work extremely hard

Exercise 3

Re-order the phrases to make sentences. Add punctuation where necessary.

1. for another win / to go all out / after last week’s triumph / the team are ready

Answer: After last week’s triumph, the team are ready to go all out for another win. OR The team are ready to go all out for another win after last week’s triumph.

Explanation: to do something with as much effort as possible

2. who have to / there are millions of people / just to stay alive / work their fingers to the bone

Answer: There are millions of people who have to work their fingers to the bone just to stay alive.

Explanation: There are people who are working very hard to survive.

3. play our socks off if / we will / we want to beat them / have to

Answer: We will have to play our socks off if we want to beat them.

OR If we want to beat them we will have to play our socks off.

Explanation: to work very hard to achieve something

4. it’s better not / by cutting corners / things cheaply / to try to do

Answer: It’s better not to try to do things cheaply by cutting corners.

Explanation: The idiom cutting corners means doing something in the easiest or least expensive way

5. a bit of trouble / but it looks like he’ll / he had / land on his feet

Answer: He had a bit of trouble but it looks like he’ll land on his feet.

Explanation: This idiom: land on his feet means have good luck or success

6. a story like this / just love to / make a meal of / the newspapers

Answer: The newspapers just love to make a meal of a story like this.

Explanation: The idiom: make a meal of means to spend more time or energy doing something than is necessary

Exercise 4

Match idioms A-F with situations 1-6.

1. Jim is complaining about how hard it has been to keep his business going.
2. Sara’s boss is explaining to her that she shouldn’t try to get a job done by leaving out certain parts of the task.
3. Jill is complaining about her flat-mate, who is lazy and does no housework.
4. Edward is congratulating a friend who has just got a promotion and a new flat, in the same week.
5. A teacher is telling a student not to spend too long on a question that doesn’t demand more than a few sentences as an answer.
6. The coach is persuading his team to make an enormous effort to win the game.

Answer 1: C

Explanation: In this line, Jim is complaining about how he has been working very hard for the past two years.

Answer 2: E

Explanation: In this line, Sara’s boss is explaining to her about why it is not good trying to cut corners, meaning doing something perfunctorily so just to save time

Answer 3: F

Explanation: Here Jill is complaining about her flatmate because she doesn’t help in any household work.

Answer 4: B

Explanation: In this line, Edward is congratulating a friend as he is very lucky to get a promotion and a new flat at the same time.

Answer 5: A

Explanation: In this line, a teacher is advising his student not to spend too long on a question as it is unnecessary and will consume more time.

Answer 6: D

Explanation: In this line, The coach is persuading his team to make an enormous effort to win the game by putting in all their energy and efforts.

Exercise 5

Use sentences A-H to answer questions 1-7.

1. Who didn’t deliver his work on time?
2. Who worked hard to earn more than usual?
3. Who was really unhelpful?
4. Who doesn’t get enough sleep?
5. Who spent too much time and energy on his homework?
6. Who didn’t want to be late?
7. Who needs to work harder at school?

1. Ellana didn’t raise a finger when everyone else was tidying up.
2. George decided it wasn’t worth breaking his back to meet the deadline.
3. Kiri’s report said she must pull her socks up.
4. Jean worked his socks off to save up for a holiday.
5. Anton did his level best to arrive early.
6. Anna will always go the extra mile to make people feel welcome.
7. Kaz made a meal out of writing three sentences in English.
8. Helen has been burning the candle at both ends recently.

Answer 1: George

Explanation: in Option B, George decided it wasn’t worth breaking his back to meet the deadline.

Answer 2: Jean

Explanation: In option D, Jean worked his socks off to save up for a holiday.

Answer 3: Ellana

Explanation: In option A, Ellana didn’t raise a finger when everyone else was tidying up.

Answer 4: Helen

Explanation: In option H, Helen has been burning the candle at both ends recently.

Answer 5: Kaz

Explanation: In option G, Kaz made a meal out of writing three sentences in English.

Answer 6: Anton

Explanation: In option E, Anton did his level best to arrive early.

Answer 7: Kiri

Explanation: In Option E, Kiri’s report said she must pull her socks up.

Exercise 6

Correct the idioms in these sentences.

1. ‘ve been breaking my fingers to get this work done on time.

Answer: breaking my back

Explanation: The line explains that it is extremely difficult to get the work done.

2. She’s really lucky, she seems to have landed on her back again.

Answer: landed on her feet

Explanation: The line explains how lucky she is.

3. There’s no point in eating a meal of this issue.

Answer: making a meal

Explanation: The narrator here in this line says not to make an big issue and stretch a trivial matter.

4. If you aren’t prepared to go the extra corner, you won’t get the top grade.

Answer: go the extra mile

Explanation: The speaker here talks about going some extra mile meaning to put extra effort otherwise he wont be able to get good scores.

5. He’s so lazy. He doesn’t lift a bone.

Answer: lift a finger

Explanation: The speaker talks about someone who is lazy and doesnt even help others in their works.

6. I’m exhausted. I’ve been working my weight off at the office today.

Answer: working my socks off

Explanation: In the above line the speaker talks about how he had to work very hard to achieve a good position in his office that day.

7. If everyone pulls their fingers they’ll get a fair reward for what they do.

Answer: pulls their weight

Explanation: This line talks about if everyone does hard-working life then they all would be fairly successful in their respective careers.

8. Jimmy admitted that he never did anything by half.

Answer: never did anything by halves

Explanation: here in this particular line, Jimmy admits that he in his lifetime have done nothing without full concentration.