Instructions: Choose the option that best completes each sentence in meaning, form, collocation, and register.
Some distractors are near-synonyms or near-forms (spacing/hyphenation/part of speech).
After two sessions, he finally ______ and stopped asking where every button was.
a) got the hang of
b) got the hang of it
c) got a kick out of it
d) got the weeds out of it
I texted twice, followed up once, and he still ______.
a) brushed me off
b) put me off
c) kicked the can down the road
d) blew me off
Don’t be fooled by his calm tone—he’s basically saying, “If you don’t like it, ______.”
a) kick rocks
b) kick the bucket
c) kick off
d) kick back
We’re here to decide the budget. The argument about who started the rumor is ______.
a) out of my hands
b) in the weeds
c) neither here nor there
d) cut and dried
The committee keeps “tabling” the vote. They’re just ______.
a) lost in the weeds
b) throwing a wrench in the works
c) kicking up a fuss
d) kicking the can down the road
The new export rule ______ and forced us to redesign the entire workflow.
a) threw a wrench into the work
b) threw a wrench in the works
c) threw the wrench in works
d) threw wrench in the works
He “fixed” the plagiarism problem by banning all citations—classic ______.
a) throwing the baby out with the bathwater
b) cutting off his nose to spite his face
c) kicking someone when they’re down
d) blowing up in his face
We spent the whole meeting debating comma placement. We were completely ______.
a) kicking back
b) out of our hands
c) lost in the weeds
d) rolling in dough
She refused the apology just to look tough, and now she can’t get the job. She ______.
a) threw a wrench in the works
b) kicked up a fuss
c) got the hang of it
d) cut off her nose to spite her face
I’m not promising miracles, but I’ll ______ and see if I can recover the files.
a) take a stab at it
b) take a stab on it
c) take a stab to it
d) take a stab
The moment he got famous, ______—old “friends,” brands, distant cousins.
a) everybody wanted a piece from him
b) everybody wanted pieces of him
c) everybody wanted a piece of him
d) everybody wanted a piece to him
I tried to embarrass her in the meeting, but it ______ and I looked petty.
a) blew up on my face
b) blew up in my face
c) blew up to my face
d) blew up at my face
The restaurant was slammed; two cooks called in sick and we were ______ all night.
a) in the weeds
b) into the weeds
c) on the weeds
d) under the weeds
The negotiation was going fine until Legal joined and made a surprise demand—total ______.
a) out of my hands
b) neither here nor there
c) cut and dried
d) wrench in the works
Once HR starts an investigation, it’s ______; managers can’t “handle it quietly.”
a) out of my league
b) in the weeds
c) out of our hands
d) neither here nor there
After the flight got canceled, he ______ at the gate until security showed up.
a) kicked the can down the road
b) kicked up a fuss
c) kicked in the teeth
d) kicked the habit