English Vocabulary in Use: Advanced Book with Answers and Enhanced eBook Vocabulary Reference and Practice 3rd Edition

That’s the last thing I wanted to hear! 
[in response to news that fulfils your worst fears]
This is like a bad dream! 
[when one bad thing after another happens in quick succession]
It’s a real nightmare / my worst nightmare. 
[used very generally, e.g. about traffic jams, computers 
going wrong]
What a pain! 
[used very generally, in response to any situation that causes you difficulty]
Confusing situations or situations you don’t understand
Her sudden question 
threw me completely. 
[I didn’t know how to respond]
The meeting was 
a complete shambles. 
[a totally disorganised and chaotic event]
It’s a mystery to me how people know about my private life. 
[it’s something I cannot understand]
I’m sorry, we must have 
got our wires crossed. I thought the meeting was at 11, not 10.30. 
[there 
must have been a miscommunication/misunderstanding]
I’m not with you. / You’ve lost me there. 
[what you have said has confused me]
Happiness and sadness
expression
meaning
to be on top of the world / on cloud nine / over the moon
to be extremely happy
to be in (your) element / to be made for
to be ideally suited for
to be fed up to the back teeth 
to be extremely unhappy, disappointed
to be down in the dumps / down in the mouth
to be depressed
A
B
C
D

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Exercises
195
English Vocabulary in Use Advanced
Rewrite the underlined words using an idiom based on the word in brackets.
1 The system is now working as planned, so we should be able to get some useful data soon. (run)
2 Things are becoming very positive now that we’ve increased our online sales. (look)
3 The whole project was 100% successful. (dream)
4 After a problematic start, things are beginning to work well now. (fall)
5 The school open day ran very smoothly without difficulties or problems. (clock)