Up, Up and Away

On Monday, out of the clear sky, the local travel agent tele­phoned Janice to tell her that she had won two tickets to the Albu­querque International Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico.

Janice and John, her husband, had always wanted to go bal­looning at the festival, but they thought that such a trip was beyond their reach. She was walking on air when she telephoned John to tell him the good news. At first, John thought that Janice was joking and full of hot air, but when he realized that she was not building castles in the air, his annoyance vanished into thin air. As soon as John came home from work, Janice and John eagerly talked about the trip. Soon their plans grew by leaps and bounds. Janice's head was in the clouds all the time because she was anticipating the trip and her first balloon ride.

Two weeks before the trip, Janice was rushed to the hospital. After examining her, the doctor burst her bubble when he said that she would need an operation. The doctor's decision went over like a lead balloon. Janice was devastated. Now their balloon vacation was up in the air. She knew that without the free tickets, the cost of the trip would be sky high. But Janice was lucky. The operation was not serious, and she begged the doctor to let her go on the trip. One week later, Janice and John took their dream trip. They were on cloud nine as their balloon rose into the blue sky. Janice smiled and thought: sometimes it pays to reach for the sky.

Idioms to the story:

1. The sky's the limit - there is upper limit;

2. Out of the clear blue sky - suddenly; without warning;

3. Go sky high -go very high;

4. Walk on air- be very happy; euphoric;

5. By leaps and bounds - rapidly;

6. Full of hot air -talking nonsense;

7. Go fly a kite - go away and stop bothering me;

8. Burst one's bubble - disillusion someone;

9. Have one's head in the clouds - be unaware of what is going on;.<

10. Up in the air - undecided; uncertain;

11. Out of thin air - out of nowhere; out of nothing;

12. Vanish into thin air-disappear without leaving a trace;

13. On cloud nine-very happy;

14. Reach for the sky - aspire to something; set one's goals high;

15. Beyond one's reach - more than one can afford;

16. Under a cloud of suspicion - be suspected of something;

17. Go over like a lead balloon - not well received by others;

18. As high as a kite-very happy;

19. Breath of fresh air - new, fresh, and imaginative approach;

20. Build castles in the air - daydream; make plans that never
come true.

IV. LEXICO-GRAMMATICAL ASPECTS OF TRANSLATION