A Real Lemon

The used car I bought for three hundred dollars was a lemon. My friends said I was nuts to believe the baloney the seller gave. The seller said that the car was like new, with only ten thousand miles on it. She called it reliable transportation at a very low price. She said she was really selling it for peanuts.

Starting the engine of the car was a piece of cake. I just turned the key – no problem. However, soon I was in a pickle: the brakes didn’t work! The owner of the Cadillac I hit went bananas when he saw the damage to the front of his car. He started shouting at me and wouldn’t stop. Now I have to pay him two thousand dollars to repair his car. But my friend Nina was a peach. She took my car to the garbage dump so that I didn’t have to see it again.

Questions:

1. Can something that is a lemon work well? Have you ever bought such a lemon?

2. Is something that is a piece of cake easy to do or hard to do? Name some things that are a piece of cake for you to do?

3. When someone goes bananas, what happens to the person?

c) Match the sentences (1-11) with the idioms (a-k).

1. The baby is the apple of her grandfather’s eye.

2. His speech about the importance of helping the poor is baloney. He wouldn’t even give his best friend a dime.

3. Our basketball team really creamed its opponent. Our team won by a score of 120 to 60.

4. On our return home, we found the front door open, and we suspected that something fishy was going on.

5. She went bananas when she heard she had won first prize in the talent contest.

6. Bill was in a pickle. After filling his car with gas, he couldn’t find the money to pay.

7. The new tape player I bought was a lemon, and I’m going to take it back to the store to exchange for a new one.

8. Tony must be nuts to pay a hundred dollars for a shirt.

9. When I was sick last week, Susan visited me and bought groceries for me. She’s a peach.

10. Rose buys used clothes at second hand stores, and she gets nice-looking clothes for peanuts.

11. The math test was a piece of cake for Erik. He is very good at doing math problems.

a. ___ in trouble

b. ___ something that is very easy to do

c. ___ something that doesn’t work, usually an electrical appliance or mechanical item

d. ___ to totally beat someone in a game

e. ___ something that one loves and cherishes

f. ___ a very small amount of money

g. ___ nonsense

h. ___ suspicious, not right or honest

i. ___ to go crazy

j. ___ very crazy

k.___ very sweet, kind (of a person)

d) Explain the meaning of the words and expression in bold and make up your sentences to illustrate their use.

1. I have a sweet tooth and can never say ‘no’ to cakes and biscuits.

2. I won’t have dessert, thanks. You’re lucky being so slim; but I’m afraid I have to count the calories. I have to be a bit calorie-conscious these days.

3. I like to eat the meal with something savoury, like cheese.

4. Ben’s a bit of fussy eater.

5. No, thanks, I won’t have wine. I’m teetotal.

6. Before I book the restaurant, do you have any particular dietary requirements? (quite a formal language)

7. I won’t have any more wine, thanks. I don’t want to overdo it.

1.10. Put each of the following colloquial words or phrases in its correct place in the sentences below. Discuss their meanings in class. Translate the sentences into Russian.

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