Idioms - Manhattan

Question 1

266.

Worry

ˈwɜːri

Answer 1

about
Construction:
worry about+ noun/gerund

Correct:

• The study found that many students worry excessively about fitting in.

Incorrect:

• The study found that many students worry excessively over fitting in.
• The study found that many students worry excessively on fitting in.

این مطالعه نشان داد که بسیاری از دانش‌آموزان بیش از حد نگران جا گرفتن هستند.

Question 2

267.

I was surprised by the adulation accorded the elderly author at the high school assembly.

əˈkɔːrd

Formal

Answer 2

Accorded to – Given or granted to. (Sometimes accorded is used without to, as in

You will not be accorded any special treatment.

هیچ برخورد خاصی با شما نخواهد شد.

to give someone or something special attention or a particular type of treatment:

Question 3

268.

• When I was planning my wedding, it was a given that my parents would invite anyone they wanted, since they were paying for everything.
• It’s a given that everyone here is against human trafficking—what we disagree about is the best way to fight.

Answer 3

A given – The use of a given as a noun is different from the use of given alone. For instance, a person’s given name is the one given by his or her parents (a “first name” in the United States), and you might also say, “The truth differs from the given explanation.” Here, given explanation just means the explanation that someone gave. However, a given means something taken for granted, something assumed, or something that does not require proof.

On any given day in the Houston area, half the hospital beds are empty.

Question 4

269.

The city has done an admirable job rebuilding its infrastructure and marketing itself, but the crime rate continues to be an albatross around the city’s neck in trying to attract tourists.

Answer 4

Albatross or albatross around the neck of (a person or group) – A constant burden or worry; an obstacle. Literally, an albatross is a bird. The expression an albatross around one’s neck creates the silly image of a person wearing a (dead?) bird—but that certainly sounds like a constant burden or worry! (This expression comes from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, in which an old man had to wear an albatross around his neck as punishment for his sins.)

این شهر در بازسازی زیرساخت های خود و بازاریابی خود کار تحسین برانگیزی انجام داده است، اما میزان جرم و جنایت همچنان در تلاش برای جذب گردشگر گریبانگیر شهر است.

Question 5

270.

Your objections have arrived too late; the proposal is all but approved.

Answer 5

All but – Almost definitely. The bill’s passage is all but assured means that the bill will almost certainly pass.

اعتراض شما خیلی دیر رسیده است. پروپوزال عینا تأیید شده است.

Question 6

271.

The company was lauded for its commitment to the environment. And yet its employees regularly fly in private jets, creating carbon footprints that would embarrass any true environmentalist.

Answer 6

And yet – A stronger way of saying yet. The expression and yet seems ungrammatical (two conjunctions right next to each other is very strange—you don’t say and but), but it is an idiom used for emphasis. It indicates a surprising twist, an ironic realization, etc. It is often used at the beginning of a sentence for emphasis, and can even be used on its own, although this usage is casual.

این شرکت به دلیل تعهد خود به محیط زیست مورد تحسین قرار گرفت. با این وجود کارکنان آن مرتباً با جت‌های شخصی پرواز می‌کنند و ردپای کربنی ایجاد می‌کنند که باعث شرمساری هر طرفدار واقعی محیط‌زیست می‌شود.

Question 7

272.

Aside from the obvious financial benefits of investing in a socially responsible fund, you can rest assured that your money is used to maximize social goods.

Answer 7

Aside from – In addition to, not even counting.

علاوه بر مزایای مالی آشکار سرمایه گذاری در یک صندوق مسئولیت اجتماعی، می توانید مطمئن باشید که پول شما برای به حداکثر رساندن کالاهای اجتماعی استفاده می شود.

Question 8

273.

• As pleased as we are to see more minorities on the board than ever before, discrimination in hiring and promotion is still a serious problem.
• Charming as she is, I just don’t want to be friends with her anymore.

Answer 8

(Adjective) as it is, … – This pattern is used to contrast the part after the comma with the part before.

Question 9

274.

At fault – Guilty.

Question 10

275.

The strike is not likely to end soon—the transit authority and the union representatives have been at loggerheads for weeks.

Answer 10

At loggerheads – In conflict, at a standstill.

Question 11

276.

The teachers’ union and the state government are always at odds.

Answer 11

At odds – In conflict

Question 12

277.

1. For the better part of human history, slavery has been a reality.
2. When the oil magnate died, he left the better part of his fortune to his third wife, and only a small sliver to his children.

Answer 12

The better part – The largest or longest part. The better part does not have to be good! The word better is a bit confusing here.

1. (The speaker is not saying that slavery is good. The speaker is saying that, for most of human history, slavery has existed.)

Question 13

278.

Beside the point

Answer 13

Irrelevant, off topic

Question 14

279.

As a libertarian, he wants to abolish the IRS. By the same token, he wants drugs legalized.

Answer 14

By the same token – This expression means that the speaker will then say something else based on the same evidence he or she just used to make a different point.

Question 15

280.

Her opinion about the prison system was colored by having grown up effectively an orphan while both her parents served sentences in separate prisons.

Answer 15

Colored by – Influenced or prejudiced by.

Question 16

281.

Couldn’t have come at a better time

Answer 16

The same as could hardly have come at a better time, this expression means that something happened at the best possible time, such as at a very convenient moment or just in time to prevent disaster.

Question 17

282.

• Your grades are slipping and you’ve been very secretive about your behavior—the latter worries your father and me the most.
• I intend to choose a business school based on reputation and cost, the former more so than the latter.

Answer 17

Former and latter – When two things are mentioned, the first one is the former and the second one is the latter.

Question 18

283.

• However much people may agree that saving money is a virtue, the majority of Americans don’t have sufficient funds for any kind of emergency.
• As much as I’d like to attend your wedding, I just can’t afford a trip to Taiwan.

Answer 18

However much, as much as – Even though, no matter how much.

Question 19

284.

Concern about foreign debt is not misplaced.

Answer 19

(Here, this means that you should be concerned! The phrase also may be implying that others incorrectly think you should not be concerned.)
Not (adjective) – Of course, putting not before an adjective indicates the opposite. However, sometimes it indicates a softer or more polite way to say something. If someone asks if you like the meal he cooked or the outfit he is wearing, and you know him well enough to be honest, you might say, It’s not my favorite. Or, sometimes, you say something like not irrelevant instead of simply relevant in order to indicate that you are correcting someone else’s misconception.

Question 20

285.

Our remaining funds are not enough to get us through the week, let alone pay next month’s payroll.

Answer 20

(Here, getting through the week is less expensive than next month’s payroll, so if you can’t afford the cheaper thing, you definitely can’t afford the more expensive thing.)

“Not X, let alone Y – The meaning is Not X and definitely not this even more extreme thing, Y.

Question 21

286.

• The advocates pressed for greater regulation of child-care providers

Answer 21

Press for – Argue in favor of. Think of pushing people toward what you want them to do.

فشار آوردن که چیزی که می‌خوی بشه

Question 22

287.

One school of thought says that companies don’t need to “give back” to communities, since the companies make profits from voluntarily trading with others; a competing school of thought says that companies benefit from a nation’s infrastructure, the school systems that educate their employees, etc., and thus have responsibilities similar to those of citizens.

Answer 22

School of thought – A group of people with similar beliefs or perspective on things, or the beliefs themselves. If a GMAT writer says One school of thought argues X, it is probably the case that the author is about to say the opposite (calling something a school of thought can emphasize that it’s not the only way to think about the issue).

Question 23

288.

Sight vs. site vs. cite – To sight is to see, or discover by looking. A site is a location. To cite is to reference or to give credit to.
The sailors had nearly given up hope when they finally sighted land. When they reached the shore, they planted a flag on the site of their landing.
A good research report cites relevant studies.

Question 24

289.

• My teacher is so awful that she won’t so much as answer a question.
• After her husband decided to take up day trading and lost $100,000 in one day, she wouldn’t so much as look at him.

Answer 24

• In other words, the teacher won’t even answer questions.
• She wouldn’t even look at him.

So much as – Typically used in the negative

Question 25

290.

Other books have dealt with the topic in a superficial way, but this is the first book to really sound the depths of the response of the British lower class to the American Revolution.

Answer 25

Sound the depths – Explore, investigate, or look into something really deeply. This expression is a metaphor based on the idea of a sounding line, which is a rope with a weight on the bottom that you drop to the ocean floor to see how deep the ocean is.

Question 26

291.

With 15 years of experience on all kinds of campaigns, she took umbrageat her sexist coworker’s suggestion that she was only qualified to develop advertising for “women’s products.”

Answer 26

Take umbrage – Become offended.

Question 27

292.

With 15 years of experience on all kinds of campaigns, she took umbrageat her sexist coworker’s suggestion that she was only qualified to develop advertising for “women’s products.”

Answer 27

Take umbrage – Become offended.
رنجیده خاطر شدن

Question 28

293.

The author conjures up a drifting yet haunting word picture that challenges the very idea of what constitutes a story.

Answer 28

The very ideaor the very notion– This expression is used to express a strong contrast.

(This means that the author’s strange “word picture” story goes against the most basic things that you think must be true about stories.)

Question 29

294.

Take the consultant’s advice with a grain of salt—the software he’s recommending is produced by a company that is also a client of his.

Answer 29

With a grain of salt – To take something (a statement, claim, etc.) with a grain of salt is to maintain a small amount of skepticism. The origin of this expression is related to an old belief that a small amount of salt could help protect against poison.

Question 30

295.

With respect to your request for a raise, I’m afraid no one is getting one this year. This year is, in some respects, the worst year we’ve ever had.

Answer 30

With respect to or in some respects – These expressions are not really about giving respect. With respect to (or in respect to) just means about. The expression in some respects just means in some ways.

Question 31

296.

1. Reach for something
2. Reach of something

Answer 31

Reach of

Question 32

297.

1. Unlike many butterflies which have faded colors, moths are generally not brightly colored.
2. Unlike many butterflies, moths are generally not brightly colored.

Answer 32

Construction:
unlike X, Y

Correct:

• Unlike many butterflies, moths are generally not brightly colored.

Incorrect:

• Unlike many butterflies which have faded colors, moths are generally not brightly colored.

is a clause and
“unlike” operator should not be used to compare this clause with “textbook writers”. “Unlike X and Y “ is the correct idiom where X and Y are nouns

Question 33

1. The team agreed with a solution.
2. The team agreed on a solution.
3. The team agreed to a solution.

Answer 33

Agree
Construction:
Agree on X, (X is noun)

Correct:
* The team agreed on a solution.

Incorrect:
* The team agreed with a solution.
* The team agreed to a solution.

to make a decision with someone after a discussion with them