Expressions about water are almost as water itself．But many of the expressions using water have unpleasant meanings．The expression to be in hot water in one of them．It is a very old expression．Hot water was used five hundred years ago to mean being in trouble．One story says it got that meaning from the custom of throwing boiling water down on enemies attacking a castle．That is no longer the custom, serious and not so serious．A person who breaks a law can be in hot water with the police; a boy can be in hot water with his mother if he comes into the house with muddy shoes．

    Being in deep water is almost the same as being in hot water．When you are in deep water, you are in difficulty．You are in deep water when you are facing a problem which is too deep for you．You can be in deep water, for example, if you invest (投资)in stocks （股票）without knowing anything about the stock market．

    To keep your head above water is a colorful expression that means staying out of debt．A company that can keep its head above water can survive economic hard times．Water over the dam is an expression about a past event．It’s something that is over and done with． It cannot be changed．When a friend is troubled by a mistake he has made, you might tell him to forget about it．You say it is water over the dam．

    Another common expression to hold water is about the strength or weakness of an idea, opinion or argument．It probably comes from the way of testing the condition of a container．If it can hold water, it is strong．The expression is used the same way to describe an idea or argument．If the argument can hold water, it is solid and strong without any holes．If it doesn’t hold water, then, it is weak, and cannot be proved．

Throwing cold water  also is an expression that deals with ideas or proposals．It means, not to like an idea．For example, you want to buy a new computer, so you can do some of your work at home, but your wife throws cold water on the idea, because a computer costs too much．

1．The expression “ get in hot water” means “ be in trouble”． The trouble refers to ____．

A．not serious trouble

B．serious trouble

C．any kind of trouble

D．the possibility to be arrested by policemen

2．Galileo’s theory about falling objects can ___________．

A．keep his head above water                B．hold water

C．be in hot water                         D．be water over the dam

3．“ Your boss throws cold water on your proposal” means ___________．

A．your boss agrees to your proposal

B．your boss has no idea about your proposal

C．your boss dislikes your proposal

D．your boss feels puzzled about your proposal

4．If your friend has made a mistake, you may say_________．

A．you should be thrown cold water on

B．you should keep your head above water

C．you can hold water

D．it’s water over the dam and don’t think about it any more

5．The passage mainly tells us ______________．

A．something about water                  B．some expressions about water

C．origins of some phrases                 D．stories of some idioms

Inventions can change our lives. But have all these things really improved our lives? Imagine this. You’re doing your homework on the computer. Your mobile phone rings and the noise from the television is getting louder and louder. Suddenly the computer is turned off and you lose all your work. How do you feel? Inventions have speeded up our lives, but they often leave us feeling tired.
One family in England went “back in time” to see what life was like without these inventions. The grandparents, with their daughter and grandsons Ben 10 and Tom 7, spent nine weeks in an old house. They had no computers or mobile phones. The grandmother, Linda, said, “The more things you have, the harder life becomes.” And Ben also noticed that his grandmother had changed. She cooked delicious food for them!
根据短文内容，选择正确答案。

1. 1.

   The writer uses the quotation(引语) at the beginning to _____.

   1. A.
      tell us a truth about our lives
   2. B.
      tell us what life was like before
   3. C.
      show why such a thing happened
   4. D.
      show that we face big problems
2. 2.

   In the passage the writer describes a picture to show that new inventions _____.

   1. A.
      have speeded up our lives
   2. B.
      have improved our lives
   3. C.
      may make people feel happy
   4. D.
      may bring people some trouble
3. 3.

   The family chose to spend some time in an old house because _____.

   1. A.
      they loved to live simple lives
   2. B.
      they wanted to know how people lived without modern inventions
   3. C.
      they were troubled by modern inventions
   4. D.
      living in a different way would be fun for them
4. 4.

   According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

   1. A.
      With the improvement of our lives, we often feel tired.
   2. B.
      An unknown man was sure that life would get better.
   3. C.
      The family had some changes when they lived in an old house.
   4. D.
      The grandson Ben was ten when the family went “back in time”.
5. 5.

   The passage is mainly about _____.

   1. A.
      problems with technology
   2. B.
      improvements of our lives with technology
   3. C.
      changes happening to technology
   4. D.
      the importance of technology