Q.6 (a)
1. adverse, averse
Adverse means inauspicious, hostile; averse means disinclined, repelled.
“I’m very much averse to making a long, arduous journey under such adverse weather conditions.”
2. altogether, all together
Altogether means wholly; all together means everybody in a group:
“It’s altogether too bad that you can’t come.”
“All together, now: ‘Good morning, Sir!’”
3. allude, elude
Allude means to refer to; elude means to dodge or escape.
4. braise, braze
Braise means to cook slowly in liquid (usually meat); braze most commonly means to solder with an alloy of copper and zinc.
5. curb, kerb
Curb means to control, as in “curb your temper”, while kerb is the edge of a footpath or sidewalk.
6. faze, phase
The most common error is the use of phase when the writer means faze. To faze someone is to fluster or confuse them, whereas phase is mostly used in reference to a stage in someone’s life—though it can be a stage in almost anything else:
“Like most children, Danny’s going through a phase of refusing to eat his vegetables.”
“Nothing fazes my mother, who can produce a meal for unexpected guests at a moment’s notice.”
7. maybe, may be
Another tricky one, best explained by demonstration:
“Maybe you could explain this to us a little clearer.”
“It may be a good idea to give us a clearer explanation of this.”
8. moat, mote
Somebody found this confusion in Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Moat is a deep, wide ditch surrounding a castle, fort or town. Usually filled with water, it is intended as a defence against attack. Mote is a tiny piece of substance, as in motes of dust that can show up in a sunbeam. Apparently Meyer had written “dust moats”.
Taken from:
http://labarker.com/WritingRelated/words.html
Q.6 (b)
89. Smash hit -
Meaning - Refers to music, films which are very successful.
Example - His music became a smash hit in a week's time.
90. Murphy's law -
Meaning - Means that if anything can go wrong, it will.
Example - Let's be prepared for the worst but don't forget the Murphy's law.
91. Place in the sun -
Meaning - Finding a place in the sun refers to a position which provides you all the success and happiness you want in your life.
Example - Getting married into the renowned business family in the town, she found a place in the sun.
96. Wooden spoon -
Meaning - Imaginary prize for the last person in a race.
Example - We won a wooden spoon at the fashion show.
Note: (1,2,3,4 taken from
http://www.careerride.com/idioms-mea...es-part-4.aspx)
56. Go bananas -
Meaning - Refers to someone who behaves in a crazy way out of emotions.
Example - Your decision to go abroad for a year will make your family go bananas.
54. Beard the lion in his den -
Meaning - Challenge someone in his own area.
Example - If he doesn't come to see me today, I'll have to beard the lion in his den.
53. Groan inwardly -
Meaning - Refers to a feeling where you want to express despair, disapproval or distress, but you keep quite.
Example - She was quite disappointed at the sarcastic remark by her friend but looking at the situation sh groaned inwardly.
Note( 5,6,7 taken from
http://www.careerride.com/idioms-mea...es-part-3.aspx)