Раздел 3: Комплекс упражнений на лексическую сочетаемость

Идиомы, клише

Упражнение 1. Изучите следующие идиомы, переведите примеры на русский язык. Постройте высказывание с каждой идиомой на русском и английском языке:

1. ОТ «А» ДО «Я»

• from A to Z

• all the way

• inside out

• (to have / to study / to mention) everything from soup to nuts

• (to have / to take / to order) everything but the kitchen sink

….The history of the issue is served up there, as they say, from A to Z.

When the revolution broke out there in 1979, their party leader supported it all the way.

2. CКАЗАЛ «А», СКАЖИ И «Б»

• You've dotted the i's, so you have to cross the t's then.

So far as you have dotted the i's, you'd better pluck up your courage and cross the t's now.

3. ПОЛАГАТЬСЯ НА АВОСЬ

• to rely on off-chance

• to leave sth to chance

The law of economics is just. But are we managing the economy intelligently or do we prefer to leave things to chance – is the time coming to draw a line.

4. НЕ ПО АДРЕСУ= mistakenly, to the wrong person

• to bark up the wrong tree

• to lay sth at the wrong door

• to come to the wrong shop

The town deputies visited the region where the unauthorized building of dwellings had already begun. But the claimants were barking up the wrong tree. The land that had been occupied did not belong to the Town Council.

5. В ПОЛНОМ АЖУРЕ=to be absolutely fine, under control

• to be OK

• tip top

• up to the mark

• be perfectly all right

At the court hearing all of them said again and again that it had always been a good pioneer camp where everything had always been tip top.

All is perfectly all right with the salaries of the Ministry officers, which never undergo changes even in case of breaches of contract obligations.

6. ОТКРЫТЬ АМЕРИКУ

• to reinvent the wheel

• to rediscover America

НЕ ОТКРЫВАТЬ АМЕРИКИ

• not to give any show away

I'm not giving away any show when I say.....

7. НА БЛЮДЕЧКЕ С ГОЛУБОЙ КАЕМОЧКОЙ= по мановению волшебной палочки

• to hand sth to sb on a silver platter

• to give/ to hand/ to offer sth on a plate

8. БЕРЕЖЕНОГО БОГ БЕРЕЖЕТ

• Better safe than sorry

• An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

9. ОТ БОГА= божьей милостью

• Он талантлив от Бога- He has God-given talent.

• He was born to be a pianist.

• He was cut out to be a researcher.

10. У КОГО ЧТО БОЛИТ, ТОТ О ТОМ И ГОВОРИТ

• What the heart thinks, the tongue speaks.

• Every heart has its own ache.

11. ЗА ЧТО БОРОЛИСЬ, НА ТО И НАПОРОЛИСЬ.

• As you make your bed, so you must lie in it.

12. ПОСТАВИТЬ ВОПРОС РЕБРОМ

 to put a question starkly

 to ask a straight forward question

 to ask sb point-blank

It is wiser to restrain perhaps even justified ambitions, observe tolerance without asking “straight-forward questions”.

The question has been put starkly: either the missing financial means are reimbursed or the investment foundation shall lose its license.

13. СТРЕЛЯНЫЙ ВОРОБЕЙ= СТАРОГО ВОРОБЬЯ НА МЯКИНЕ НЕ ПРОВЕДЕШЬ

 a wily bird

 an old bird is not caught with chaff

Recently he offered us for publication a packet of short stories under the general title Notes of an old bird. Here is the first story.

Yes, I am angry at myself. How could I, an old bird as I am, be so foolish to have lost the bet?

14. БЕЛАЯ ВОРОНА=he who has peculiar and prominent (good or bad qualities)

 Be a rare bird

 be a regular long hair

 be the odd man out

 to be a square peg in a round hole

 to stand out in the crowd

 to be like a sore thumb

 be like a rose among the thorns

Those who stick to interesting jobs have become square pegs in a round hole. Money runs the show nowadays.

I didn't want to look like a regular long hair among others. Everybody does such things.

15. Выйти сухим из воды

• to go scot-free

• to beat the rap

• to get away (by) with it

• to get off completely

He is the sort of person who balked at such things and managed to get by scot-free.

Their former colleague who had to sign all the financial papers and, thus, had to bear the same liability they did, got off completely.

They'll never get away with it.

16. Воды в рот набрать (проглотить язык)

• He became more silent than the grave.

• He merely held his peace.

• He couldn't utter a word.

He flatly refused to give an interview to our reporters. Other entrepreneurs seemed to be even more silent than the grave. It's really interesting, why?

Three bullets hit a businessman near the bath-house. We failed to get detailed information. The bath-house employees didn't utter a word as if silenced by someone.

17. Немало воды утекло с тех пор

• much has happened since then

• much water has flowed / run under/ below the bridge since then

I’m 90 years old. So much water has run under the bridge. There were waters, revolutions. I remember all of that pretty well.

18. Тише воды, ниже травы

• be like a lamb

• be meek and mild

• be as quiet as a mouse (in cheese)

• to hide a lamp under a bushel

• to kiss the rod

The authorities demand that the gypsy tents be removed to some other territory. Meanwhile the gypsies behave in this area like lambs, avoiding any conflict with the residents.

I'd rather give all of you my advice: you'd better be as quiet as a mouse in the cheese today. Today is the day of rather unhealthy fantasies and uncontrolled imagination.

19. Чистой воды

• be of the first order

• be of the first water

This is folk music of the first water, without any stylization and ornamentation.

What did the coup-makers pin their hopes on? On off-chance. It was an adventure of the first water.

Упражнение 2: Переведите на слух следующие предложения, содержащие идиомы:

1. It's so typical of us to rely on off-chance.

2. As we took up English we faced a problem: lack of time. It’s exactly as the proverb goes: “The woman's job was easy dancing a jig, until she made it busy by buying a pig”.

3. The holidays are over. It's time we stopped frittering away our time and got down to work.

4. Will Putin win the election? Will he be president? That remains to be seen.

5. When Minister of Finance Mr. Kudrin quit, a lot of people thought: It's easier for the horse to start when the woman gets off the cart.

6. At the end of the year we summed up the results and it turned out our salary had increased 2,5 times.

7. The communists now rule the roost.

8. At the court hearings they said over and over again: this school had always been good where everything had been tip top.

9. I'm not giving any show away when I say that you can take a horse to the water but you cannot make him drink.

10.We are opening a new company office one of these days. In the way of equipment we've ordered everything but the kitchen sink.

Упражнение 3: А) Изучите английские варианты соответствий предложенных русских устойчивых выражений. Б) Переведите предложения с этими выражениями на русский язык:

Идиома	Варианты соответствия
Бросить вызов кому-либо	To give a challenge to sb/ to throw down the gauntlet / to shout defiance at sb
Быть на высоте	To be up to par/ up to the mark/ to rise to the occasion/ to hold all the cards (be NOT up to standard)
Быть на голову выше	Be much better (more experienced/intelligent) than someone else Be head and shoulders above sb
Если гора не идет к Магомету, то Магомет идет к горе.	If the mountain won’t go to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain.
Переходит всякие границы	Sth is outrageous. Be beyond the pale (comparison)
Дверь остается открытой	Sb’s door is open to sth. There are no holds barred.
Петь дифирамбы	To sing sb’s praises/ to extol sb to the skies
Доверяй, но проверяй!	Trust but check up. Verification before ratification.
Расти как на дрожжах	To shoot up/ to grow by leaps and bounds
Плясать по чью-то дудку	To dance to sb’s tune/ whistle/ piping
Собраться с духом	To find one’s bearings/ To luck up spirit/ to pluck up one’s courage /to brace one’s heart (energies)
Залатать дыры	Patch up sth/ to paper over the cracks/ to bridge up a gap/ to rearrange deckchairs on the Titanic
Задеть за живое	To touch sb on the raw/ to touch sb home/ to cut (touch/ hurt/ sting) sb to the quick/
Резать по живому	To tear sth/sb apart
Принести в жертву	To sacrifice sth to sth, to make a sacrifice
Предать забвению	To consign sth to oblivion
В этом вся и загвоздка	There’s the rub/ that’s where the shoe pinches/ that’s how it goes. That’s what lies at the bottom of it all.
Железный занавес	The iron curtain
Поставить заслон	To put a dead stop to sth / to cut short/ cut out sth
Воздать по заслугам	To get what was coming to them. It served sb right.

 

Б) 1. Their monopoly power permitted them to gain a possibility of having no competitors. Should anyone try to throw down the gauntlet, he would end up paying a dear price.

   2. The parliament rose to the occasion making a right decision.

   3. A 13-year-old Muscovite, Alexander Kovrin, won first prize at the Mozart International competition of young soloists held for the sixth time at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. He was generally recognized to have been head and shoulders above his six competitors from different European.

   4. Natural rubber is not produced in our country. But if the mountain won’t go to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain. The factory has decided to set up a joint venture enterprise with Vietnam in order to make better use of natural latex.

   5. What happened in Krasnodar yesterday is beyond the pale. Two armed robbers held up the jewelry shop in broad daylight.

   6. There are no holds barred for dialogues and negotiations anywhere that there are ways leading to healthier international situation.

   7. It goes without saying, that nobody sang praises of the draft law under discussion. Yet, a number of speakers said that the fine tuning of the draft was a noticeable step towards true pension reform.

8. Up to 50 % of skilled laborers receiving low wages had left big factories for the countryside. As a result, the number and qualification of the working class went down, but the number of office workers started growing by leaps and bounds.

9. The Soccer Club is given a chance to brace up its energies and stand up for itself in the European Cup Championship.

10. There are forces that are ready to sacrifice the interests of our country to clawing, by hook or by crook, their way towards the reins of power.

11. Russians will never let anyone put “the iron curtain” around their nation again. Russia is active in taking steps to join the world commonwealth. It is learning the science of civilized relations. It is building an open peaceful state.

12. The swindler sold future contracts for delivery of 70-billion-roubles worth of crude oil to several Moscow companies and disappeared without a trace. The rogue will be caught and get what is coming to him, of course.

Упражнение 4: Запомните следующие распространенные клише на английском языке и их аналоги на русском:

Клише на английском языке

Аналогичные клише на русском языке

all things considered it is all to the good ample opportunity сast-iron will to appear on the scene apple of discord tied to someone's apron strings armed to the teeth to be in the same boat with the beaten track behind the scenes between two fires wolfish appetite beyond a shadow of doubt bitter irony to bless one's lucky star bone of contention a burning question to call a spade a spade to put (or set) the cart before the horse to cast in one's lot with to cast pearls before swine castles in Spain (castles in the air) to chill (or freeze) to the marrow to cut a long story short to cut one's coat according to one's cloth to draw a veil over to eat a humble pie to explore every avenue to face the music to fall on deaf ears far-reaching effects a forlorn hope frightened out of one's wits grave concern guiding principle happy solution to have a finger in the pie the heart of the matter in a nutshell an irreparable loss

учитывая все вышесказанное все к лучшему неограниченные возможности железная воля появиться на сцене яблоко раздора быть под каблуком у кого-л. вооруженный до зубов быть в одной упряжке проторенная дорожка за кулисами меж двух огней волчий аппетит вне малейшего сомнения горькая ирония благодарить (свою судьбу) предмет спора животрепещущий, вопрос называть вещи своими именами поставить всё с ног на голову связать свою судьбу метать бисер перед свиньями воздушные замки продрогнуть до (мозга) костей короче говоря мерить на свой аршин обойти молчанием молча проглотить обиду изучить все возможности не пасовать перед трудностями оставаться глухим к чему-л. далеко идущие последствия гиблое дело напуганный до смерти серьезная озабоченность руководящий принцип удачное решение быть замешанным в каком-л. деле суть вопроса кратко, в двух словах невосполнимая утрата

Упражнения с паронимами

Упражнение 1: Составьте словосочетания, соединив паронимы с подходящими по смыслу словами из скобок. В тех случаях, когда паронимы могут сочетаться с одними и теми же словами (например: главная роль и заглавная роль), укажите, чем различаются такие словосочетания. Переведите получившиеся словосочетания на английский язык:

1. дипломатичный - дипломатический (ответ, поступок, работник, корпус, речь, выступление, протокол, неприкосновенность);

2. эффективность - эффектность (освещения, оформления, речи, движений, двигателя, метода, способа, внедрения новой техники, капиталовложений, производительности труда);

3. основать - обосновать (теорию, вывод, решение, доказательство, претензию); усвоить - освоить (целинные земли, хорошие манеры, привычку, моду, машину, новую технику, профессию, лекцию, теорию).

 

Упражнение 2: Выясните разницу между следующими паронимами, подберите соответствия на русском языке:

Artistic – artful, beneficial – beneficent, confident – confidant, continuous – continual, childish – childlike, dependent – dependant, effective – efficient, enviable – envious, elemental – elementary, graceful – gracious, honorary – honorable, human – humane, industrious – industrial, judicial – judicious, memorable – memorial, momentous – momentary, negligent – negligible, pitiable – pitiful, popular – populous, sensible – sensitive, temporal – temporary, willing – willful.

Упражнение 3. Вместо точек вставьте один из паронимов; мотивируйте свой выбор, переведите предложения на английский язык:

А) 1. Паровоз, натруженно дыша, протащился по платформе, состав... (встать - стать). 2. Перед собранием... (встать - стать) принципиальный вопрос. 3. Испытания новой машины... (проводиться - производиться) уже третью неделю. 4. По окончании производственной практики преподаватель должен дать на каждого студента заключение о характере и качестве... (проведенный - произведенный) работы и... (предоставленный - представленный) отчета. 5. В работах художников и скульпторов... (отражаться - отображаться) труд, быт и отдых забайкальцев. 7. Впечатлений от поездки много, но главное - это исключительно... (дружеский - дружественный) отношение к нам французского народа. 8. Конькобежцы США... (опробовать - апробировать) костюм из нового синтетического материала. 9. Эти модели после (апробирование - апробация) переданы в серийное производство. 10. Мне кажется, что я припоминаю... (лицо - личность) этого человека. 11. На мебель были... (одеты - надеты) чехлы.

 

Б) 2. Молодой актер играет... (главную - заглавную) роль в спектакле «Волки и овцы» А.Н. Островского. 3. Напрягая последние... (силы - усилия), мы достигли вершины горы. 4. На выставке представлен большой выбор красивой и... (практичной - практической) обуви. 5. Группа школьников... (пришла - зашла) в музей на лекцию. 6. Мы все... завтра (придем - выйдем) на стадион, чтобы посмотреть игру своей любимой команды. 7. В порту судно... (стало - встало) на якорь. 8. Перед подвигом защитников отечества мы... (преклоняем - склоняем) голову. 9. Он внимательно слушал лекцию, делая... (пометы - заметки) в блокноте. 10. Мы так давно не виделись, что вначале я его не... (узнал - признал). 11. Он осторожно... (занести - нанести) на карту полученные координаты и продолжил курс. 12. (Эффективное - эффектное) управление тепловым потоком имеет огромное значение. 13. Черные цвета вперемешку с бурыми и белыми полосками делают оперение селезня очень (эффективным - эффектным). 14. Все ее странные поступки продиктованы непомерным самомнением и... (гордостью - гордыней).