News Exercise #189

1. When the correspondent took over on the White House lawn, he used an unusual idiom. What was it, and what did he mean by it?
2. At 1:31, the reporter explains the accusations with two stressed nouns. WHat are they?
3. How does Putin dismiss the evidence of this?

Answers:
1. When the correspondent took over on the White House lawn, he used an unusual idiom. What was it, and what did he mean by it?
He said, “Here at the White House they’re bracing for the next shoe to drop…”
It is an idiom which means to wait for an inevitable thing to happen. They know something bad will happen; they’re just wondering when it will happen. It’s an old US idiom of someone living a cheap apartment building and hearing the upstairs neighbour kick off a shoe, noisily dropping it onto the wooden floor. Then they wait to hear the second noise of the other shoe.
2. At 1:31, the reporter explains the accusations with two stressed nouns. WHat are they?
Russian meddling and possible collusion with Trump associates.
3. How does Putin dismiss the evidence of this?
He said that a hacker could make it look like a 3-year-old had done it; it’s not proof.