A Night Owl | Drink Like a Fish | The Lion’s Share | Have Eyes Like a Hawk | Take the Bull By the Horns

Exercise 1

Vocabulary

a night owl

Phrase

ə naɪt aʊl

a person who tends to stay up late at night

I always feel more energetic in the evening; I’m definitely a night owl!

He became a night owl in his forties when he got that new job.

drink like a fish

Phrase

drɪŋk laɪk ə fɪʃ

to drink an excessive amount of alcohol

Mark really drank like a fish at the party last night.

Stan drinks like a fish. He has 8 cans of beer every night!

the lion’s share

Phrase

ˈlaɪənz ʃɛr

the biggest part of something

He got the lion’s share of the pizza.

Sheila received the lion’s share of the research money.

have eyes like a hawk

Phrase

hæv aɪz laɪk ə hɔk

to have good eyesight; to be good at noticing details

He has eyes like a hawk; he noticed what earrings she was wearing from afar.

Beware of our new boss – he has eyes like a hawk.

take the bull by the horns

Phrase

teɪk ðə bʊl baɪ ðə hɔrnz

to deal with a problem or challenge in a direct and fearless way

The house was falling apart, so she decided to take the bull by the horns and renovate it herself.

Exercise 2

Dialogue Practice

Read the dialogues aloud with your teacher.

Mark Smith	Tom always gets the lion’s share of the work at the office. I wonder if the boss trusts him more than he trusts us.
Jonathan Abbott	Maybe he does. But it’s actually very stressful for Tom. He drinks like a fish because of it!

Nathan	Hey! You look tired! Have you been staying up late again? You used to be a night owl as far as I remember.
Zach	I thought no one would notice. You’ve got eyes like a hawk!

Arisa	What should I do? The project is a mess!
Alex	Well, how about you take the bull by the horns? Take control and get things done, there's no other way to deal with it.

Exercise 3

Article

Read the passage aloud with your teacher.

This is the story of how I became a night owl.

I never used to stay up late. However, that changed once I got my new job. At the beginning, I was getting the lion’s share of the editing tasks. My boss thought that I had eyes like a hawk, so he used to give me a lot of work, which I often had to finish at home. Obviously, I would stay up late to finish everything on time. Back then, I wanted to take the bull by the horns; I wanted to prove to everyone that I was a good worker. Then, on weekends, I would usually go to a bar and drink like a fish.

After a while, I realized that I would stay up late even though I didn't have work to do. I just got used to it.

Exercise 4

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct idioms to complete the dialogue.

Matt is complaining to Nathan.
Matt	I’m so tired!
Nathan	You? Tired? No way.
Matt	I am a (1), but I’m not Superman! I can’t get any sleep at all these days.
Nathan	So what’s going on? Is it that group project?
Matt	Yes! I decided to (2). But that was a huge mistake. I’m the only one working on it.
Nathan	Oh... Now I get why you are stressed. And that's why you are (3) every weekend!
Both chuckle.
Matt	No! You know that's not true!
Nathan	Hey, isn’t that Jim? He’s in your team, right? You should go talk to him!
Matt	You (4)! I didn’t even notice him.
Nathan	Go talk to him! You're doing (5) of the work and that's not fair. He should do something at least!
Matt	Okay, you're right. I'll be right back.