Idioms / Risk – Choose the option that BEST explains the highlighted idiom. Sentence: If you give John all your money, you are likely to burn your fingers.

Difficulty: Easy

Correct Answer: suffer

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:
“Burn your fingers” is an idiom commonly used in finance, business, and everyday cautionary advice. It means to incur loss, get hurt, or suffer unpleasant consequences due to a risky or unwise action, especially involving money or trust. The sentence warns about handing over all your money to John—a risky move likely to end badly.


Given Data / Assumptions:

  • The act: giving someone all your money (high risk).
  • Outcome predicted: negative consequence.
  • We need a concise paraphrase of the idiom.


Concept / Approach:
Because “burn your fingers” focuses on suffering harm, the best one-word paraphrase is “suffer.” It generalizes across financial loss, betrayal, or regret. Options about happiness or illness are off-topic; “unhappy” is too weak and affective rather than consequence-focused.


Step-by-Step Solution:
Interpret idiom: incur harm or loss due to a risky choice.Relate to context: giving away all money exposes you to exploitation.Choose the option that captures adverse consequence broadly—“suffer.”Confirm by substitution.


Verification / Alternative check:
Paraphrase: “If you give John all your money, you are likely to suffer.” This fits typical cautionary usage; in finance, one might say “take a bath” or “get burned,” both aligning with loss.


Why Other Options Are Wrong:

  • be unhappy: emotional state, not necessarily a concrete consequence.
  • be happy: opposite of the warning.
  • be ill: unrelated to monetary risk.


Common Pitfalls:
Interpreting “burn” literally; overlooking that the idiom is metaphorical for negative outcomes, especially financial.


Final Answer:
suffer

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