In today’s article, we will be learning about several collocations related to Sports, a pretty common topic. Acquiring knowledge about collocations is essential if we want to improve our lexical diversity and sophistication in the Duolingo English Test. Without further ado, let us begin:
This is your Idioms and Collocations series, No. 02, Sports topic
1. Drop the ball
Meaning: Making a silly mistake or forgetting something important.
Example: You dropped the ball when you rejected that incredible job offer.
This idiom originated from a few sports such as American football, basketball, and cricket, where dropping the ball is detrimental. Thus, this idiom indicates a big mistake
2. Give one’s best shot
Meaning: Trying one’s best despite being worried or afraid.
Example: Give this audition your best shot – you won’t regret it!
This idiom derives from sharpshooting and is usually used as an encouragement for people to try their hardest.
3. Meet one’s match
Meaning: To meet someone as good as one can get.
Example: I met my match when I faced Jenna in the final of the local chess tournament.
This is a fairly common idiom that comes from competitive sports. It means that one has finally found a rival that can match them evenly in every aspect.
4. A long shot
Meaning: Something that is unlikely to happen.
Example: It’s a long shot, but I think we’ll be able to finish this project tonight.
Shooting at a far target is never easy, albeit possible. Hence, this phrase is used to say that something is possible, but difficult to achieve.
5. Out of one’s league
Meaning: Somebody that is far better for the other person.
Example: I stopped trying to pursue her when I realized she was out of my league.
Teams from different leagues or divisions usually cannot play against one another, so this idiom is used as an indication that one person is much better than the other.
6. Throw in the towel
Meaning: To stop trying to do something because it is impossible to accomplish.
Example: He decided to throw in the towel after staying up many nights to fix this impossible problem.
In boxing, when a fighter throws in the towel, they surrender. Thus, we use this idiom to tell that somebody has given up.
7. Don’t sweat it
Meaning: Telling someone not to be afraid or worried.
Example: You forgot your wallet? Don’t sweat it, I brought some extra cash.
When we worry, we tend to sweat a lot. Therefore, this idiom is used to encourage people not to be worried or scared because things will be fine.
8. Take time out
Meaning: To have a break from what one is doing.
Example: I plan on taking time out between college and getting a job to understand what I really like doing.
Everyone needs a break, especially athletes after competing intensively. This idiom is used when we talk about having some rest from school, work, and so on.
9. Go the distance
Meaning: To go with something until the end.
Example: It is difficult to secure the promotion, but I believe you can go the distance.
An athlete failing to reach the end of a match is not uncommon in sports. However, if they can go the distance, they might be victorious. The same can be applied to most situations in life.
After learning those sports-related collocations, we need to put them into use. Thus, let us try and apply a few of them in an exercise.
Cre: TADE Hub
Question:
Describe a sport that you would like to learn.
What sport it is;
How you would learn it;
How difficult do you think it would be to learn;
And explain why you would like to learn this sport.
Sample answer:
Sports have been changing for thousands of years, and we have dozens of different sports such as baseball, basketball, volleyball, and so on. But I would like to learn football, the king of sports.
Football is an on-field sport, so I would need to immerse myself in football matches to enhance and master it in the years to come. Accurately, I have over ten male colleagues at work that we are able to divide into two teams to play against one another and give our best shot.
Our ideal match lasts for 30 minutes per half. But unfortunately, my health is not good enough to play the whole time. I often get tired after 10 to 20 minutes; therefore, I have to take time out and get substituted. Getting stronger is necessary, but I will avoid dropping the ball and getting injured. Although it is a long shot, I will not throw in the towel.
Playing a football match possesses a plethora of challenges. Thus, it helps me advance my physical and mental health to go the distance in the long term. In the short term, I can take that opportunity to have a better and deeper understanding of my colleagues, which will help me deliver better results in our organization.
Let us have a look at another exercise with the above idioms getting put into use:
Question:Describe an extreme sport you want to try. Why do you want to try it? What should we do before trying it?
Cre: TADE Hub
Sample answer:
Extreme sports are adrenaline-pumping experiences. They will make us scream in both fear and joy, which will be unforgettable. Thus, I have always wanted to try skydiving, where we jump out of an airplane with a parachute.
I have always wanted to try an extreme sport since I was a kid. I want to feel the rush of adrenaline through my veins as I jump out of a moving plane. Moreover, I want to go the distance, testing the limits of my body and mind to see how strong I am. If I get exhausted or scared, I will not sweat it and improve myself.
In order to try this sport, we ought to prepare a handful of things. To begin with, we should train ourselves to get perfect health. Due to the height of the jump, the air will be relatively rarefied; we might faint. Furthermore, we should give our best shots and work on our minds to make sure we do not get too scared.
To sum up, skydiving is the extreme sport I want to try, although it is slightly out of my league. However, I have to train my physical and mental health so as to participate in it.
After turning in this exercise on our Practice Platform, these are the feedbacks we will get:
Cre: TADE Hub
After taking a look at the feedback, our Lexical Sophistication lies at 75, which is a decent score. We can learn more vocabulary, especially collocations and idioms in order to further improve this score.
Live-Interactive DET Practice Platform
The speaking passage above is an example of how these phrases and idioms get put into use. If students wish to achieve high DET scores, practicing every day and trying to apply these phrases and idioms are truly vital.
On the DET Practice Platform, everything is readily available to support your Duolingo English Test preparation, including the following:
Thousands of practicing questions;
Hundreds of Interactive Reading and Interactive Listening sets;
At least 15 one-hour Tests with estimated scores;
Instant detailed feedback for all question types;
Same grading elements as what DET uses to evaluate your scores;
Alongside many other supporting features.
It’s time for you to utilize this effective DET Practice Platform and take another step closer to your desired score. If you are new to the DET or you have yet to get your desired scores, this Five-Step Preparation Strategy will help you significantly.
