Phrases from Shakespeare (Easy)

Vocabulary points to take away:
be the be-all and end-all
be the most important thing
For some people, social networking is the be-all and end-all of their lives.


a dish fit for the gods
the best possible food you can serve
You don’t need to make a dish fit for the gods. It’s just a relaxed supper.


be not for the faint-hearted
be not suitable for people who lack courage or determination
Mountain-climbing is not for the faint-hearted.


forever and a day
a very long time
This homework’s going to take me forever and a day.


be a foregone conclusion
be a result that is certain to happen
I’m sure our team win the match. It’s almost a foregone conclusion.


in one fell swoop
all at once and suddenly
Let’s call a meeting and deal with all these points in one fell swoop.


have a heart of gold
be very kind and caring
Alice always thinks of other people. She has a heart of gold.

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Cloze Test

CLOZE TEST

ClearlyDinnerFinnINeilShesabout
anandcanchangecookdayeveryforhe
initskindmoremuchnumberofoncerightsomesomethingspecialstuckthatthatsthewhatwhichwild-gooseyou

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute Vocabulary with me Neil.

Finn

And me, Finn. In this programme were talking phrases from Shakespeare.

Neil

Theyre phrases that were either invented by Shakespeare or used by him in his plays

that we still use a lot today. Well give you plenty of examples of these and well teach you

they mean.

Finn

Well have a quiz; and well also bring you a top tip for learning vocabulary.

Neil

Lets start with Danny. Hes talking about cooking, and entertaining friends.

Finn

And while you listen, think this question: Does Danny think its easy to find special

ingredients for recipes?

Danny

For some people food is be-all and end-all and I have friends who, whenever I visit,

produce a dish fit for the gods! But my opinion, cooking is not for the faint-hearted-. I

really hate spending forever and a day in the kitchen. parties usually mean trying to

track down some special ingredient, which ends up being a wild-goose chase. Its pretty

a foregone conclusion that my chosen recipe wont work out as I hope. So I just

throw a party a year to repay all my friends in one fell swoop. Fortunately, every one

of them has a heart gold, so they understand!

Neil

That was Danny. And we asked you: Does Danny think its easy to find ingredients

for recipes?

Finn

And the answer is no, because usually it's a wild-goose chase.

Neil

Now a chase is used in Romeo and Juliet. This means a situation where you

waste time chasing after something that cant get.

Finn

So Danny clearly has had bad experiences of trying to find ingredients and not succeeding.

Exactly. Well, there are four more Shakespearean phrases in our first clip. Listen out for

them!

CLIP 1

For people food is the be-all and end-all and I have friends who, whenever I visit,

produce a dish fit the gods! But in my opinion, cooking is not for the faint-hearted-. I

really hate spending forever and a in the kitchen.

Finn

So food is the be-all and end-all-. Thats the beginning and ending of everything, means

it's the most important thing.

Neil

And thats why they always produce a dish fit for the gods. if something is suitable

for the gods, it is the best possible.

Finn

But cooking is not for faint-hearted-, Danny says. The faint-hearted are people who lack

courage or determination and he thinks people like that shouldnt . This phrase shows

how difficult Danny finds cooking.

Neil

And he hates spending a long time in the kitchen.

He does. Forever and a day is a very long time! Right, there are three more phrases coming

up our next clip.

CLIP 2

Its pretty much a foregone conclusion that my chosen recipe wont work out as hope. So

I throw a party once a year to repay all my friends in one fell swoop. Fortunately, one

of them has a heart of gold, so they understand!

Neil

Now, if something is a foregone conclusion, a result that is certain to happen. He thinks

its certain that his recipe wont work out.

Finn

And why he entertains his friends in one fell swoop. Now if you deal with things in

one fell swoop, means you deal with them all together and suddenly, like a bird

sweeping down through the air to attack .

Neil

Yes, he doesnt want to cook for people more often than necessary! But fortunately his

friends understand how feels, dont they?

Finn

They do. They each have a heart of gold. Now that means they are very and caring.

IDENT

6 Minute Vocabulary from BBC Learning English.

Finn

And its quiz time! Today you have to the last three or four words of each sentence

to use a phrase from Shakespeare from the programme. So one: Some successful

people dont go to university. Its really not the most important thing. Which phrase from

Shakespeare replace the most important thing?

Neil

Its really not the be-all and end-all-.

Finn

Right. Number two. We got in bad traffic so the journey took a very long time. So

what can replace a very long time?

The journey took forever and a day.

Finn

Correct! And number three: Everyone thinks Clare is the nicest person. always been

very kind. What can replace very kind?

Neil

Shes always had a heart of gold.

She has. That's excellent! And that is the end of the quiz. Well done if you got them all .

Neil

But before we go, heres todays top tip. English is very rich in phrases and idioms like

ones in this programme. Using them makes your English sound much more like that of a

native speaker. Use idioms dictionary and try learning five idioms a day. Then try

working them into your conversations too.

Finn

Theres about this at bbclearningenglishcom.. Join us again for more 6 Minute

Vocabulary.

Both

Bye!

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created with the online Cloze Test Creator © 2009 Lucy Georges

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