Can someone answer a few questions i have to ask !

which phrase from the paragraph best the reader understand the meaning of the underlined phrase?
i had entered an essay contest with the local newspaper and was hoping that i would win. the first prize was a trip to city hall to meet the mayor. the entry rules had said we would receive a letter in the mail within three weeks of submitting our essays. when i came home after basketball practice, mom was holding the letter. i couldn’t wait to hear the surprising news and said, “mom, spill the beans.”
a. was hoping that
b. hear the surprising news
c. came home after
d. had said we would receive

read the entry from a thesaurus page.

which words would be the closest to the meaning of the underlined word as it is used in the paragraph?

i tease my kid brother, neil, all the time, and i can get him to swallow something hook, line, and sinker. we were fishing on grandpa’s boat. neil was enjoying himself until we went over a few large waves. i had neil convinced that a giant whale was underneath the boat, making it rock back and forth.

swallow, v. accept, believe, eat, consume

choose all answers that are correct.

a.
accept

b.
believe

c.
eat

d.
consume

which phrase gives the correct meaning of the underlined phrase in this paragraph?

my cousin michelle loves cats, but all that fur makes her sneeze. one day my uncle brought home a hairless cat for michelle because he heard it wouldn’t affect her allergies as much. balderdash is a very strange looking cat, but michelle loves him warts and all.

a.
without any fur

b.
even with his ugly looks

c.
as a pet

d.
for not making her sneeze

which idiom best describes the paragraph?

i haven’t seen grandpa joe since i was very little. all i remember about him is that he is a lot of fun. he lives in another country, so he doesn’t visit us very often. when my parents and i picked him up at the airport, i was so nervous that i couldn’t even talk to him at first.

a.
not one's cup of tea

b.
spill the beans

c.
butterflies in one's stomach

d.
skeletons in the closet

what is the meaning of the idiom "grab the bull by the horns"?

a.
take care of something difficult

b.
stop something coming toward you

c.
keep from getting hurt

d.
handle a sharp object