Lesson 9

Wake up.... be in charge of....as soon as…. get in touch with…. have a good time.. in no time….. cut down on….. quite a few….. used to…… be used to….. get used to….. back and forth
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To wake up: to arise from sleep, to awaken (S)
Compare wake up and get up (lesson 1) as used in the first example.
Ø Marge woke up this morning very early, but she did not get up until about ten o’clock.
Ø My alarm clock wakes me up at the same time every day.
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To be in charge of: to manage, to have responsibility for
Ø Jane is in charge of the office while Mrs. Haig is on a business trip.
Ø Who is in charge of arrangements for the dance next week?
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As soon as: just after, when
Ø As soon as it started to snow, the children ran outside with big smiles on their faces.
Ø I’m busy now, but I’ll meet you as soon as I’ve finished this work.
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To get in touch with: to communicate with, to contact
Ø You can get in touch with him by calling the Burma Hotel.
Ø I’ve been trying all morning to get in touch with Miss Peters, but her phone is always busy.
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To have a good time: to enjoy oneself
Ø We all had a good time at the class reunion last night.
Ø Did you have a good time at the park? I really enjoyed it.
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In no time: very quickly, rapidly
This idiom can be used with the idiom at all to add emphasis to the certainty of the statement.
Ø Mac said that he’d be ready to leave in no time
Ø We thought that the meeting would take two hours, but it was over in no time at all.
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To cut down on: to reduce, to lessen (also: to cut back on)
Ø In order to lose weight, you have to cut down on your intake of sugar.
Ø The doctor told me to cut back on exercise until my back injury heals.
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Quite a few: many
Ø Quite a few students were absent yesterday; in fact, more than half of them were not there.
Ø We did not expect many people to attend the affair, but quite a few of our friends actually came.
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Used to: formerly did, had the habit of
This idiom is used to indicate a past situation, action, or habit that does not exist in the present. The idiom is always followed by a simple verb form.
Ø I used to live in New York, but I moved to California two years ago.
Ø Kim used to smoke cigarettes, but she stopped the habit last month.
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To be used to: be accustomed to
This idiom refers to a situation, action, or habit that continues in the present. The idiom is always followed by a noun or gerund phrase.
Ø He is used to this climate now, so the changes in temperature do not affect him much.
Ø I am used to studying in the library, so it's difficult for me to study at home now.
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To get used to: to become used to, to become adjusted to.
This idiom describes the process of change that allows someone to be used to a situation, action or habit.
Ø It took Yoshiko a long time to get used to the food that her American host family served her.
Ø Mark can’t seem to get used to wearing contact lenses, recently he’s been wearing his glasses a lot.
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Back and forth: in a backward and forward motion
Ø The restless lion kept pacing back and forth along the front of its cage
Ø Grandmother finds is relaxing to sit in her rocking chair and move back and forth.
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E X E R C I S E S
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Choose the appropriate idiomatic expression to substitute for the italicized word or words in each sentence below. Idioms from previous lessons are indicated by number.
1. When we finally decided to eat out, we got ready rapidly.
a. in no time
b. on time (lesson 7)
c. as soon as
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2. Joe has never been able to become adjusted to getting up early in the morning
a. used to
b. to be used to
c. to get used to
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3. I have a lot of trouble breathing well when I run, so I guess that I should reduce
smoking.
a. be in charge of
b. throw away (lesson 8)
c. cut down on
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4. While I was reading in bed last night, the phone in the kitchen rang, so I had to
arise to answer it.
a. to wake up
b. to get up (lesson 1)
c. to be used to
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5. Many people at the beach were wearing jackets because the wind was cool.
a. quite a few
b. as soon as
c. few and far between (lesson 6)
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6. Would you contact the Jacksons and tell them that we’ve put off the garage
sale?
a. get in touch with
b. be in charge of
c. have a good time
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7. When my parents were ready to leave, we went out to dinner.
a. At first (lesson 1)
b. As soon as
c. All of a sudden (lesson 6)
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8. Jack made the engine of his car useless by forgetting to add oil to it regularly.
a. got worse (lesson 7)
b. used to
c. wore out (lesson 8)
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9. The boat was moving in backward and forward motion because of the large
waves on the ocean.
a. at least (lesson 4)
b. back and forth
c. on purpose (lesson 3)
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10. Vera had the habit to bite her nails until they were very short, but now she’s
stopped doing that.
a. has been used to
b. used to
c. cut back on
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Fill in each blank with the appropriate form of an idiomatic expression from this unit only.
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Zeke: What do you mean? It’s the weekend, and I _______________ sleeping
until at least 10 A.M. on Saturdays!
Abe: Don’t you remember? We’re organizing a beach picnic for our sports club
Today.
Zeke: Oh, I forgot about that. Just give me fifteen more minutes. I can be ready
__________.
Abe: Look, there’s a lot to take to the beach and to set up, like the volleyball
Net. We need to do it together.
Zeke: Can’t you _______________ the other students and tell them that the
Picnic will start later?
Abe: Zeke, I can’t call everybody. _______________ people are planning to
come.
Zeke: Boy, why did you agree that we would _______________ the picnic? It’s
too much responsibility.
Abe: I didn’t agree. You did!