Answer: to bite off more than you can chew → to take on more than you can manage; to let the cat out of the bag → to reveal a secret by accident; to be on the fence → to be undecided; to hit the nail on the head → to describe something exactly right; to cost an arm and a leg → to be very expensive; to burn the midnight oil → to work late into the night

Answer: Model: The cold bit through my gloves and made my fingers ache. (Any original, specific description is correct.)

Answer: Model: She slipped into the room so softly that nobody looked up from their books.

Answer: Model: Before we knew it, the streetlights had flickered on and our pizza had gone cold.

Answer: Clichés are predictable, so they make writing feel lazy and unoriginal. Fresh, specific descriptions create clearer images and show the writer's own voice.

Answer: Unemployed.

Answer: Lying or not telling the whole truth.

Answer: Model: Saying someone passed away when speaking to their grieving family. The gentler phrase shows sensitivity and respect at a painful time.

Answer: Model: A company describing job losses as restructuring or streamlining. The vague language hides the real impact on workers, so readers may not understand how serious the situation is.

Model answer: I knew I had bitten off more than I could chew when I agreed to cook dinner for the whole family. The recipe needed twelve ingredients, and I had none of them. By six o'clock the kitchen looked as if a bag of flour had exploded, and the smoke alarm was shrieking. When my brother tasted the pasta, he said it was an acquired taste. When my aunt arrived, she took one look at the pan and said we should probably order in. In the end we laughed so hard that nobody minded, and I learned to read a recipe before I promise to cook it. My brother's euphemism, an acquired taste, was kind because he did not want to say it tasted terrible.