Weed out | Vanish Into Thin Air | Have/Keep One’s Feet on the Ground

Exercise 1

Vocabulary

weed out

Phrase

wi:d aʊt

to remove unwanted or undesirable things or people from a group

The audition was held to weed out the weakest performers.

Yuki weeded out the unnecessary clothing from her closet.

vanish into thin air

Phrase

ˈvænɪʃ ˈɪntə θɪn ɛr

to disappear completely

My keys are nowhere to be found. It's as if they've vanished into thin air.

keep (one’s) feet on the ground

Phrase

kip (wʌnz) fit ɑn ðə graʊnd

to be sensible and practical about one's situation and see things as they really are

I really hope the new president will keep his feet on the ground.

Despite her fame and wealth, she still keeps her feet on the ground.

have a crack at

Phrase

həv ə kræk ət

to make an attempt; to try something

You'll only make it worse! Let me have a crack at it.

Why don’t we have a crack at this new project?

Exercise 2

Dialogue Practice

Read the dialogue aloud with your teacher.

Ling	Hi, James. Where did you go last night? You just vanished into thin air.
James	I had to go home to weed out the clothes that I don't wear anymore and see if I have anything decent for the wedding reception. But, sadly, all of the suits I have are really old. I'll need to buy a new one.
Ling	I could go shopping with you, if you want.
James	Thanks! That would be great! I always have a hard time choosing the right suit.
Ling	No problem! Anyway, I’m planning to sing a song at the reception. Perhaps we could have a crack at it together. What do you say?
James	Sounds fun! But I don’t want to lose face in front of all those people, so let’s have some practice first.
Ling	You always keep your feet on the ground. How about we meet in two hours, practice a bit and then go shopping?
James	Sounds like a plan!

Exercise 3

Article

Read the passage aloud with your teacher.

While his closest friends were discussing some details about the wedding, James suddenly vanished into thin air - he went home to weed out his old clothes and find what to wear for the reception. However, James realized that all his suits were really old and that he needed a new one. Ling offered to help him buy one. She also suggested the two of them have a crack at singing a song at the party. James agreed, but insisted they practice first, as he likes to keep his feet on the ground and doesn't want to embarrass himself.

Exercise 4

Fill in the Blanks

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

Nicole and Andrei are talking about how to restore their house that has been severely damaged in a fire.
Nicole	It's as if everything simply (1)! There is nothing left.
Andrei	We need to start with (2) everything that can't be reused. Look at this pile of brick and wood! I can’t imagine how long it will take us to remove all of this!
Nicole	Do you think we should (3) it by ourselves? I think it would be better to hire someone to help us.
Andrei	Good idea. We need to find a company that has high-tech machinery, as doing all of this manually will take too much time. Then, we need to figure out how we want to rebuild the house.
Nicole	Yeah. Although we are facing a lot of hardship, we must (4). I believe we can do it!
Andrei	Indeed. I’m going to call some construction companies.