Idioms and Phrasal Verbs: Strategy and Leverage
Explore strategy and leverage with eight useful expressions, including play your cards close to your chest, steal a march on, throw down the gauntlet. Read the meanings and examples, then use the language in eight C2 discussion questions.
What’s in the worksheet?
- Eight expressions with meanings and example sentences
- Eight matching discussion questions
- One printable page
- Open-ended speaking practice
Practise eight C2 expressions for strategic advantage and negotiation. Learners examine secrecy, timing, public commitments and unfair conditions, including the possible costs to trust.
Worksheet preview
Open PDF ↗
Page 1 of 1 · A4 printable PDF
A simple way to teach it
Before the lesson
Use the one-page adults/teens discussion sheet. There is no fixed key; hypothetical negotiations avoid personal or confidential business details.
- Explain the figurative meanings of cards, gauntlet, powder and deck through the supplied examples. Note the disapproval in stack the deck.
- Discuss the eight prompts, considering both immediate advantage and the eventual relationship. Compare preserving resources with appearing indecisive.
- Role-play a low-stakes negotiation and describe afterwards whether a promise boxed someone in or an unexpected concession wrong-footed them.
Support and extension
Support with a shared-event decision. Extend by comparing transparent and secretive approaches; this is language discussion, not advice for high-stakes negotiations.
Suggested approach. Adjust the pace and number of questions to suit your class.
