Idioms: risk and danger

With this ESL worksheet, students will learn and practise 13 idioms related to risk and danger. 

The first 6 idioms (e.g. go all-in, throw caution to the wind, put your neck on the line, better safe than sorry) are introduced through a short dialogue between 2 friends about investing. After matching the idioms to their definitions, students practise them by completing 5 questions with the correct word and then ask and answer the questions with a partner.

Next, a dialogue between an employee and their manager follows, which features 4 more idioms (go on a limb, on thin ice, at stake, stick your neck out). To practise, students complete 4 sentences with the correct idioms and then discuss whether the sentences are true for them.

Students see the last 3 idioms (live life on the edge, risk life and limb, in harm’s way) in an opinion about extreme sports. After matching the idioms to their meanings, students discuss to what extent they agree with the opinion.

The last 2 activities are focused on speaking. First, students take a look at 10 different situations and discuss the risks involved in each one and how to manage the risks involved). Finally, students are given 2 role-play scenarios to work on.

For further speaking practice, you can use the conversation cards, which contain 12 conversation questions + a definition and an example sentence for each idiom.