Lesson 22

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come about = happen

How did that come about?

A chance like this doesn't come about every day.

I I hope a solution to the problem will come about soon.

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do away with = end; get rid of

I must do away with the mouse that lives in my basement.

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in advance = before; ahead of time

You should make reservations in advance.

A: It's a very popular hotel. Are you sure you can get in?

B: Don't worry. I booked a room three months in advance.

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from scratch = from nothing;

This bread was made from scratch, not from a prepared mix.

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in the long run = after a long time

A: Let's fix that leaky pipe right away.

B: Yes. If we do it now, we'll have less trouble in the long run.

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on average = looking at the average case

Most people eat fast food twice a week on average.

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set aside = put apart; place out of the way

I set aside half of the donut to eat later.

The government has set aside money especially to deal with this problem.

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settle for = accept instead of something better

There was no soda, so he settled for water.

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so far, so good = everything is fine up to this time

"How is your project going?" "So far, so good."

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take over = take control; take responsibility

If you are tired from driving, I can take over for a while.

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My husband and I just had our first baby. For the first three months, I was breast feeding the baby. Then we decided we would do away with breast-feeding and give the baby formula and solid food. Part of the reason for this change was that I needed sleep. I had been feeding the baby when she woke up at night. That meant I was getting up two or three times each night on average. We knew the change to the new food would not come about easily, but we had to try. Even if it was hard at first, in the long run it was for the best.

My husband likes to eat all natural food, so he wanted the baby to eat home-made food. I told him that unless he was willing to set aside the time to make the food himself in advance, he would have to settle for regular baby food from the store. There was no way I was going to make baby food from scratch!

After we had tried giving formula to our baby for a few nights, a friend of mine asked, "How is the new feeding schedule going?"

"So far, so good," I told her. "I'm getting more sleep now that my husband took over some of the feedings at night. But sometimes I have to push my husband out of bed because he is a heavy sleeper. Last night when the baby started to cry, I woke my husband up and said, 'She's hungry.' He looked confused and asked, 'Who?'"