beat the gmat idioms

7/27/2019 Beat the GMAT Idioms

1/23

(As an adolescent/ while in adolescence) ,

John suffered from tonsillitesAs an adolescent/ a teenager/

a child

** Don't expend too much

effort (at/ on) this document

expend on - spend on

** The sculpture was estimated (to be/

at) worth much more than the base price.estimated to be

**John is contrasting his

working style with that of Jacob

'contrast with' - contrast is used as verb;

denotes the actual act of contrasting two

things

**John's working style is a

contrast to Jacob's

'a contrast to' - contrast is used as noun;

mainly used to show the dissimilarities

between two things

**My problem is identical

(with /to) yoursidentical with

A life of sin will inevitably lead

___ sufferinglead to

A plant grows ___ a seed grow from

All his troubles originate (in/

from) his mindoriginate in

All the time I dream (about/

of) footballdream about


2/23

Are international charities becoming

more localized ___the economic crisis?localized in

Both John __ Jack are coming

for dinner

Both X and Y

By the end of the contest the boxer had

drawn (on/ upon/ at/ to) all the energy

he had

drawn upon - used up

Can you make yourself indifferent

_____ someone you love?indifferent towards

Can you permit me ___ the

door please

permit (someone) through

Cats have the ability (to see /of

seeing) in the darkability to see

Could I draw attention (to/ at)

this slide?draw attention to

Criminals cannot distinguish right from wrong

Criminals cannot distinguish between right and

wrong

distinguish X from Y

distinguish between X and Y

Designer corals have been prized

___ jewelry ___nearly 5000 yearsprized as, prized for

Do not expose the film__

direct sunlightexpose to


3/23

Does my dress conform (with/

to) your regulation?conform to

Evaporation is defined (as/ in/ to be) the

process in which water changes into

vapor

defined as

Evaporation refers ___ a

scientific termrefer to

Even as a young boy he was (known to/

known as wanting to) explore different

ways of doing things

known to

For centuries, people have been using

herbs ___ remedies for the different

diseases

used X as Y

For some people, laptops are

just a means __ an enda means to

Fred indicated his assent to

meindicate to

Freddie was elected (as/ to be/ to

act as ) the president of our clubelected as

Gold jewelry has been prized

___ thousands of yearsprized for

He had to choose between

yoga (and/ or) dancebetween x and y


4/23

He is asking __ trouble asking for

He prized his only child ____

everything else in the world

prized above

He was trained (to become/ as) an

athlete ever since he was a childtrained to

Her will power is starting to

dwindle away

dwindle away - become less or

smaller

His reasoning was flawed, and appeared

to be independent (to/of) any logicindependent of

I agree (to/ with) your

proposal of buyoutagree to

I am concerned (with/ about)

my brother's health

concerned about = worried

about

I am expecting parcel __ my

brother

expect from - to be waiting for

something from someone

I am looking at him ____ I

am studying his jacket

so much as - can mean 'but

rather'

I am more clever than my

brothermore... than


5/23

I am not so much sad

___perplexednot so much X as Y

I am travelling from New York

to London

from X to Y

I am worried ___ my parents worried about

I believe John's version (as/ to

be) the truthbelieve to be

I can't concieve of you (to be/

as) a scientistconcieve of X as

I chose an interesting gift __

anniversarychoose X for Y

I consider myself (none/ as/ to be) a

close firend of the rockstarconsider X Y

I disagree ___ you on this

subject

disagree with (person/ idea) -

same as agree with

I disaprove __ the use of

cheating to pass the testdisapprove of

I discouraged them (from

filing/ to file ) a complaintdiscourage from


6/23

I do not subscribe ___ the

view that John is guiltysubscribe to

I doubt (that/ whether) his

venture will succeed

doubt that

I expected better __ John expected X of Y - to anticipate

that someone will do something

I have always regarded you

___ my brotherregard as

I have got as (many/ much)

books as you canmany

I hope I do not fail (in/ on) the

test

fail in - you will fail in

something

I hope that this will result ___

the police finding your carresult in

I persuaded Tim ___

complete my assignmentpersuade X to Y

I sacrificed a lot for money __

visit Europesacrifice to

I think my earlier request

escaped your notice

escape notice - to go unnoticed


7/23

I will have either ice-cream or

pastryeither X or Y

I will have tea ____ coffee X instead of Y

I will speak ___ John about

this problemspeak with

I would have not tea ____

coffeenot X but rather Y

I'm delighted (to/ at) make

your acquaintancedelighted to = glad to

In Argentina, Maradona is

often compared (to/with) Godcompared to

Is the novel as great as is being

reported in the media?as great as

Is this shirt promised __

anyone?promise to

It is the CEO's responsibility

___ meet the assigned targetsresponsibility to

It will be interesting to see what

results ___ the police's effortsresults from


8/23

Jack is contending (that/ with)

Jerry for the award

contend with - compete with

someone

Jack prefers tea (to/over)

coffee

prefer X to Y

Jack works out everyday (so as to/

in order to) build his staminain order to

Jacol likes to associate (with/

among) honest peopleassociate with

Jeanne has inherited her

complexion ___ her motherinherited from

Jenna is contrasting her casual

jeans (with/ to) a formal topcontrasing with

Jenny sought ____ a helper

for her motherseek out

Jerry is capable (for/ of) great

feats of strengthcapable of

Jerry is so soft-spoken ___ one can

barely hear him speakso X that Y

Jerry is training for six hours with

the aim of winning the marathonwith the aim of 'verb'ing


9/23

Jerry mad me as (many/ much)

as fifteen mistakes in the testmany

Jerry was drawn (to/ at) the

sports car

drawn to - attracted to

John always associates coke

(with/ to) pizzaassociate X with Y

John and Tina agree (on/ with) the

need to hire a traineragree on = agree upon

John cant decide (among/ between) a

laptop, a mobile phone and a media

player

among

John cares a lot (of / for/

about) his familycares about = cares for

John contends (with/ that) his

friend is innocent

contends that - claim/ state

John demands (that he be

given a raise/ for a raise)

John demands that he be

given a raise

John enquired the rates ___

applerates for

John forbid his driver (to

enter/ from entering) the houseforbid to


10/23

John has been (accused of/ accused

with/ accused to have committed ) theftaccused of

John has invested 6 weeks __

preparing for the test

invested in

John has very strong opinions

(on/ about) censorshipopinions on

John is a native (of/to) the US native of - use for human

John is comparing a BMW

(with/ to) Mercedescompare with

John is confirming the plan

__Jackconfirm with

John is fascinated (by/ with)

his bossfascinated by

John is in danger of

contracting malariain danger of verb +ing

John is unable to decide whether__

go to Harvard or Stanfordwhether to

John mistook a Ferrari (as/

for/ to be) a Lamborghinimistake X for Y


11/23

John narrated the entire

sequence __events to the copssequence of

John permitted his son __

drive to college

permit X to Y

John said the would (try to

come/ try and come) on timetry to

John thinks ___ Jack ___ is

best friendthink of X as Y

John wants to know what is required

(of/for) him in this jobrequired of

John was required to supervise the entire

operations of the assembly linerequire to

John's grades are so poor (as to/ in order

to) lead to his expulsion from the school

so X as to Y - denote cause and effect

cannot replace "in order to"

Just as Katy is a champion

swimmer, __ is Angie

Just as X, so Y (to point

similarities)

Language structure is partly determined

(by/ from) social structuredetermined by

Lets try to agree (upon/ with)

a date for the vacationagree upon = agree on


12/23

Modern mobile phones can

(act as/ act like) camerasact as

Monarch declared all fundamental rights

(none/ as/ to be) unconstitutionaldeclared (takes nothing)

Much as Lola needed the car,

she had no refuseMuch as

My achievement is no less

than his achievementno less ... than

My car is better (than/ from)

yoursbetter than

My friend referred me ___ a

specialistrefer to

My house is similar ___ yours similar to

My problem is less serious

than yoursless X than Y

Myopia differs from hypermetropia

I am very different from my twin sister

Her hobbies are different than mine

differs/ different from

Newton is credited (with the discovery of/

as discovering / to having discovered/ for

discovering the laws of) gravity

credited with


13/23

No city seems better served by a

motorway beltways than Madridbetter served by X than by Y

Not only is he very intelligent,

____ very humble

not only X but also Y

Oxygen is essential (to/ for)

lifeessential to

Please disclose the details to

me at oncedisclose to - reveal

Please stop (acting like/ acting

as) a kidacting like

Rampant cutting of trees is a

danger to ecologydanger to + noun

Rising temperatures is a consequence

(of/ for) global warmingconsequence of = result of

She began taking classes in order (to/ that

she could) learn Frenchin order to

She would permit not permit

me up the ladderpermit up

Sheena wants to speak ___ for

the rights of the homelessspeak up


14/23

Some of our customs originate

(in/ from) past belieforiginate from

Studies indicate___women

actually live longer than men

indicate that

Telenet gave Tim a credit (of / for) $100

because of an interruption in servicecredit for

The accused seemed (to be/

like) hiding somethingseem to be

The agreement invests the vice-chairman

__ the authority to act on the chairman's

behalf in certain conditions

invests with

The boss seemed ___ a nice

person when I met himseem like

The boy was not tall enough to reach the window

The boy was short enough not to reach the window enough to

The CEO deemed it necessary

___ask the employee to resignnecessary to

The CEO has attributed the loss ___the

economic recession earlier in the yearX is attributed to Y

The CEO is likely___arrested

todaylikely to be


15/23

The CEO is responsible ___

meeting the assigned targetsresponsible for

The chairman approves __ the

new marketing plan

approves of

The chairman claimed that he was

speaking ___ his experiencespeaking from

The child asked __a glass of

waterasked for

The child grew (into/ to be/

as) tall handsome teenagergrow into

The child was reluctant (to attend /

about attending) the classreluctant to

The children have been independent (to/

of) their parents since childhoodindependent from

The coach thinks Jack has the potential __

play at the national levelpotential to

The college has been asked to

manage __the funds that it hasmanage with

The company's astounding

profits speak ___ themselvesspeak for


16/23

The conversation ceters (around/ on)

Mozart's contribution to musiccenters on

The costs associated (to/ wtih)

setting up a factory are prohibitivecosts associated with

The country's mind is

preoccupied ___ soccerpreoccupied with

The director depicted the actor

(as/ to be) a mutantdepicted as

The document has been dated (at

being/ at/ as being) 100 years olddated at

The dogs fled __ their kennel flee to

The dogs fled ___ their cruel

masterflee from - run away

The donation will enable the

college __ buy a new projectorenable X to Y

The editor has access __ the

entire manuscriptaccess to

The facts dont correlate (to/

with) her storycorrelate with


17/23

The house is beautiful and perfect

except __ one thing - the priceexcept for

The Indian constitution is modeled

____ the British constitutionmodeled after

The job requires John (to/ none)

supervise the entire operations of the

assembly line

require X to

The job requires that John (to/ none)

supervise the entire operations of the

assembly line

requires that X

The landlord has prohibited John ___

coming late in the nightprohibit X from Y

The landlord owes me an apology -

he as good as coled me a thief.as good as = nearly

The management views the

problem (as/ to be) an opportunityview X as Y

The match has been posponed

as a result of rain

as a result of = because of

The members insisted ___ the speaker

be removed from his postinsisted that

The more the price rise, the

____ the demand increases

the more/ greater X, the

more/ greater Y


18/23

The motorist need aid (in finding/

to find) their way outaid in fining

The MPs debate (about/ over/

on/ for) the bill tomorrow

debate about/ on/ over -

discuss in detail

The new ad for lawnmower is

targeted ___ gardenerstarget at

The police continue to seek ___ the

thief who stole John's carseek after

The police led the criminal

___ from the other accused.lead away

The prisoner seeks pardon

___ the victimseek from

The Royal Bengal Tiger is

native (of/to) the Sunderbans

native to - use for plants or

animal species

The ruler is expected (to/ that he should)

protect his peopleexpected to

The rules of war mandate ___ no

prisoner be tortured for informationmandate that

The scientists noted ___ the aspect

ratio remained unchangednoted that


19/23

The students' marks range

___ good ___ averagerange from X to Y

The teacher failed half of the

class (in/ on) the test

fail on - somebody will fail you

on something

The team credits its own

success (to/ with) good fortunecredit to

The team is composed (from/ of)

people (of/ from) every departmentComposed of

The team's success is

dependent (upon/ on) himdependent on

The temperature outside is high enough

to cause a heat strokeenough to

The thief has escaped ___ the

prisonescape from

The US has imposed restrictions ___ the

licensing of firearmsrestrictions on

the weakest candidate emerged

(as/ to be) the winneremerged as

The worth of the sculpture was

estimated ___ Madrid

estimated at - used to denote place

where the estimation was done


20/23

There is a dispute ___ the

new name of the citydispute over

There is no connection

between Tim and Larry

connection between X and Y

There was not _____ a speck

of dust in the houseso much as = even

These CDs date (from/ on/ at)

the early 70s

date from - to have existence that

extends from a particular time

These trees range ____ a very

large territoryrange over

This color looks the same to me ___

it would ___ anyone elsethe same to X as to Y

This dish appears __

undercookedappear to be

This group includes such cars

___ BMW ____ Audisuch X as Y and Z

This is a real life instnace__

plagiarisminstance of

This movie is base __ a true

storybased on


21/23

This resembles chocolate ice cream ___

flavor, but not in consistencyresemble in

This topic is concerned (with/

about) the use of DNA sequencingconcerned with

Tim has been asked to

continue __ his trainingcontinue with

Tim is attending __ his sick

motherattend to

Tina decided ___ the

chocolate flavored ice-creamdecide on - select

Tom is trying to focus (on/ at)

the problem at hadfocus on

Tom was elected (to/ for) the office

by the party memberselect to

Unlike John, (Tom wrote a good

essay/ Tom's essay was good)Unlike X, Y

Walter claimes __ he can run

backwardsclaims that

We allowed room __ improvement

when we wrote this bookallowed for


22/23

We attribute our success (to/

from) good fortuneattribute to

We can count __John's to

compete the project

count on

We choose him (as/ to be) our

representativechosee as

We could neither walk (nor/

or) drive to the venueneither X nor Y

We encouraged Mary __

develop her singing talentsencouraged X to Y

We encouraged Mary __ her

singing careerencourage in

We isolated the chemicals___the

source of the leakisolated from

Would you sacrifice your job

for a chance to go to Europe?sacrifice X for Y

You are to your parents what I

am to mine

X is to Y what W is to Z

You can't explain ___ all your

mistakes

explain away - to explain something

so that it is no longer a problem


23/23

Your analysis (agrees with/

agree to) mineagrees with

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