Living in a large city can be expensive and so sometimes students struggle to make ends meet.
Pay for food, pay the bills, etc.
The design ticks the right boxes. It's elegant, cheap to make, and doesn't harm the environment!
Satisfies important criteria.
She recreated the recommended essay structure to a tee.
Faithfully and accurately.
He's such an idealist. He always sees the world through rose-tinted glasses.
To be excessively optimistic in a given situation.
My brother is very good at English. For him the IELTS test will be a piece of cake.
Very easy.
iPhones are great, but they cost an arm and a leg!
They're very expensive!
I've actually been feeling under the weather for the past few days and I wasn't sure I'd be ble to attend the test.
Feeling ill.
Yes I've been studying hard and, well, so far so good!
Everything is going well, at least for now.
My boss told me I was being demoted, but she was only pulling my leg. She gave me a promotion.
Give someone misinformation, as a joke.
I really hope I get a score this time. I don't want to miss the boat again!
Miss an opportunity.
It was late and I was ready to hit the sack, but I decided to finish the assignment.
Go to bed.
I know that if I want a good IELTS score I'll need to get my act together.
Stop being lazy, focus carefully and work hard.
There's no cutting corners with IELTS preparation. Anything less than 100% effort is just not enough!
Avoiding effort or spending less in order to finish something quickly.
I was about to call it a day with the scholarship applications, but then I got this offer from AAS!
Stop trying, or stop doing something that's not worth the effort.
I disagreed, but since he's my boss I decided to eat humble pie.
Pretend that you agree with someone so as to avoid negative consequences.
Stop beating around the bush! Just say what you want to say!
Avoiding the main point in an argument.
I drew the short straw when it came to job placement. My colleagues went to tropical countries but they sent me to Iceland!
To receive something that is not as attractive than the things other people receive.
Please keep me in the loop, John. I need to know all the latest developments!
If you are <i>in the loop</i>, you are aware of the latest details relating to an ongoing situation.
Banning hooliganism by banning football is like throwing out the baby with the bath water!
Taking extreme steps to solve a problem so that the overall effect is worse than the original problem.
Farming is their bread and butter. It's their only source of income.
Main means of earning money.
When she told me she loved me I felt like I was on cloud nine.
Extremely happy!
Samsung and Apple are neck and neck in terms of sales.
Competing at an equal level.
I don't want to make all those people redundant, but I suppose I'll have to bite the bullet.
When you do something you don't really want to do, but you have to.
I go to the cinema once in a blue moon - maybe once every five years!
You do something very infrequently.
Innovation starts to happen when people think outside the box.
Using original thought to think about a problem.
He gave me a hard time when he was my boss, but now the shoe is on the other foot. I'm his boss!
When the roles of leader and follower are reversed, unfortunately for the new follower!
The gig economy is a grey area in terms of taxation and employment benefits.
A situation in which meanings are less clear and often ignored.
When people complain about the public sector, they're barking up the wrong tree. The private sector is much worse!
Looking in the wrong place for something, or talking about something irrelevant