Idioms from A to Z

You will be responsible for understanding the idioms listed below. To study them, look up their definitions at the following website: http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/ (you can cut and paste this URL into another window).

These are the idioms you must remember for next week:

a little bird told me
Achilles' heel
all hat, no cattle
all the tea in China
ants in your pants
apple of your eye
asleep at the wheel
ballpark figure
barfly
beat around the bush
between a rock and a hard place
Big Apple
birthday suit
blow a gasket
burn the midnight oil
cat nap
cold feet
drive [someone] up the wall
eager beaver
eat humble pie
elephant in the room
eye for an eye
face the music
fairweather friend
flash in the pan
food for thought
grab the bull by its horns
graveyard shift
heads will roll
in one ear out the other
in the doghouse
keep your eyes on the ball
kid gloves
light at the end of the tunnel
miss the boat
my hands are tied
not my cup of tea
on the tip of your tongue
once bitten, twice shy
paint the town red
put your foot in your mouth
quiet as a mouse
rack your brain
rank and file
ring a bell
sacred cow
throw in the towel
true blue
upper hand
vicious circle
wake-up call
writing on the wall
X factor
yellow press
you scratch my back and I scratch yours
zero tolerance (note: this can relate to zero tolerance for anything; not only crime)

Debate Information

Over the next few weeks, we will hold in-class debates. Students will be divided into two teams on each side. The speaking order will be as follows:

Opening Arguments
1st Proposition Speaker... 4 minutes
1st Opposition Speaker... 4 minutes
2nd Proposition... 4 minutes
2nd Opposition... 4 minutes

Summary (Rebuttal-no new arguments)
3rd Opposition... 3 minutes
3rd Proposition... 3 minutes

The proposition team will present a topic for debate. They can choose from the following list of issues, or they can choose another topic of their choice (but run it by me first...). Here are some sample topics:

-Good things come to those who wait.
-It is better to save time than money.
-Love is foolish.
-Conventionality is not morality
-Technology is killing our work ethic.
-"History" is not "her story."
-Dogs are better pets for humankind than cats.
-The students should run the school.
-Privacy is more important than security.
-There is, in this age, a dearth of heroes.
-Society today has an unhealthy obsession with sports.
-What costs little is of little worth.
-"Ex's" should not remain friends.
-Freedom of the individual is a myth.
-Art is in the eye of the beholder.

If you would like more background on academic debate, see the following article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debate.