Read the given sentences carefully. Choose the options that demonstrate the most appropriate usage of idioms:
(A) Ever so often, the minority shareholders squeaked and chattered but none of them dared to bell the cat.
(B) My new mop comes with numerous features that help me tidy up the house quickly; it really is a white elephant!
(C) Economic policymakers in Japan seem to be bereft of ideas for shaking the country out of the doldrums.
(D) The young woman, aware of her family's financial constraints, decided to sow her wild oats by getting a part-time job at the library.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → (A) and (C) only
(A) Ever so often, the minority shareholders squeaked and chattered but none of them dared to bell the cat. — Correct.
- To bell the cat means to take on a dangerous task for the benefit of a group.
- In the fable, the mice agree that the cat should wear a bell but none dares to tie it.
Example: Everyone complained about the manager, but no one dared to bell the cat.
(B) My new mop comes with numerous features that help me tidy up the house quickly; it really is a white elephant! — Incorrect.
- A white elephant is a costly possession that is useless or a burden to keep.
- In old Siam a white elephant was a sacred animal, costly to keep and never put to work.
- The mop is praised as useful, so the idiom is used wrongly.
Example: The huge stadium built for one event became a white elephant. - Correct form: My new mop comes with numerous features that help me tidy up the house quickly; it really is a useful buy!
(C) Economic policymakers in Japan seem to be bereft of ideas for shaking the country out of the doldrums. — Correct.
- In the doldrums means in a state of no activity, growth or progress (the doldrums are the calm belt near the equator where sailing ships could lie becalmed for days).
- The sentence uses it for a stagnant economy.
Example: The car industry has been in the doldrums for two years.
(D) The young woman, aware of her family's financial constraints, decided to sow her wild oats by getting a part-time job at the library. — Incorrect.
- To sow one's wild oats means to enjoy a period of careless pleasure in youth before settling down.
- Taking a job to help the family is the opposite of that.
Example: He sowed his wild oats in college before joining the family business. - Correct form: The young woman, aware of her family's financial constraints, decided to help her family by getting a part-time job at the library.
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