Sporty idioms

Hello!
Since Ania's idea of presenting idioms was a full success and all of us enjoyed it, now it's time for somebody else to continue. I hope you have fun!

If you want to know where the idioms come from look for the sport disciplines in brackets.

the ball is in your court (tennis)	You need to answer or react		-What should I do now? * I don’t know, the ball is in your court.
blow the competition away (any sport)	win easily		If you do your best, you will blow the competition away.
get a head start (horse racing)	start earlier than the others/ have advantage over somebody		If you want to avoid traffic jams, leave at 3 o’clock – you will get a head start.
hit below the belt (martial arts)	behave unfairly or say something very offensive		My friend hit me below the belt  when she said that I'm too fat.
keep one's head above water (swimming)	do your work or duties on time/ manage to survive		We have so many orders that we hardly manage to make everything on time, now it's very difficult for us to keep our heads above the water.
learn the ropes (sailing)	understand/ learn new things		Once you learn the ropes, you will start working on your own.
on the ball (baseball)	ready/ alert		When you give a lecture you have to be on the ball to react to your students boredom.
skate on thin ice (skating)	do something dangerous or risky		You're skating on thin ice by spending so much money and havong no savings.
take the bull by the horns (bull fighting)	do something that is dangerous or difficult with courage		Take the bull by the horns and tell him the truth.

Exercies 1:

Practice the sayings by completing phrases with one word:

1. to be .............. the ball

2. to .............. on thin ice

3. to take the bull by the ..................

4. to keep one's ............ above water

5. to get a ................ start

6. to ............. the ropes

7. to blow the competition............

8. the ball is in your .................

9. to ............ below the belt

Exercise 2:

Now match the phrases from exercise 1. with the sentences given below:

1. Now it's your time to take the next step, they won't wait forever. 

2. Somebody who has small children should observe them all the time and react quickly when they do something dangerous. 

3. With your knowledge of Chineese you will find a job easier than the others. 

4. When the new opportunities occured, she decided to move to another country and do her best to be successful.

5. The runner left everybody behind and crossed the finish line when everybody else were at halfway point.

6. I love gambling. Sometimes I bet all the money I have earned during a month on one horse.

7. I could win the divorce case and get all the money but I don't want to be so unfair.

8. My father will convey his company to me but first he must be sure that I know how to manage it. 

9. It will be very hard to live on money we have, maybe we will have to lend some money from our friends to survive.

Exercise 3:

Now think of one situation that happened to you and fits one of the idioms you have learned today and tell about it your friend. His task is to find the saying which best describes your story.