A year ago，I paid no attention to English idioms (习语), though my teacher told us the importance again and again. But soon, the importance of English idioms was shown in an amusing experience.

One day, I happened to meet an Englishman on the road, and soon we began to talk. As I was talking about how I was studying English, the foreigner seemed to be surprised. Gently shaking his head，shrugging his shoulders, he said，“You don’t say!” “You don’t say!” I was puzzled. I thought , perhaps this is not a right topic. “Well, I’d better change the topic.” So I said to him. “Well, shall we talk about the Great Wall? By the way, have you ever been there?” “Certainly, everyone back home will laugh at me if I leave China without seeing it. It was wonderful.” He was deep in thought when I began to talk like a tourist guide. “The Great Wall is one of the wonders in the world. We are very proud of it.” Soon I was interrupted (打断) again by his words: “You don’t say!” I couldn’t help asking, “Why do you ask me not to talk about it?” “Well, I didn’t ask you to do so,” he answered, greatly surprised. I said, “Didn’t you say ‘you don’t say’？” Hearing this, the Englishman laughed to tears. He began to explain, “ ‘You don’t say’ actually means ‘really!’ It is an expression of surprise. Perhaps you don’t pay attention to English idioms.” I realized I had made a fool of myself. Since then I have been more careful with idiomatic expressions. Remember: what the English teachers said is always right to us students.

1.A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms because       .

A．I had no interest in them

B．English idioms were very difficult

C．I did not realize the importance of them

D．my teacher didn’t tell us the importance of them

2.At first, on hearing “You don’t say,” I thought the foreigner meant       .

A．I had talked too much

B．I had to stop talking

C．he was not interested in the topic

D．he was only interested in the Great Wall

3.“… was shown in an amusing experience.” The word “amusing” probably means       .

A．interesting        B．important         C．terrible           D．unlucky

4.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The Englishman wanted me to act as his guide.

B．The Englishman left China without seeing the Great Wall.

C．The Englishman wanted to see the Great Wall after I talked about it.

D．The Englishman visited the Great Wall and thought it worth visiting.

5.After the Englishman explained the idiom, ___________.

A．I felt very silly

B．the Englishman became a real fool

C．I became more carefully in everything

D．I thought the Englishman had made me a fool

 

Oxford graduates sell faces to pay ￡50,000 university debts

Business is growing for two graduates who decided to pay off ( 偿清) their university debts by selling advertising space on their faces .Ross Harper and Ed Moyse, both from Oxford , are selling advertising space for hundreds of pounds a day and have earned more than ￡25,000 since setting up business last October.
Anyone can buy the advertising space , from businesses to individuals or groups, on a day-to-day basis, through the pair’s website, buymyface .co. uk. The logo (标识) is then seen by people as they go about their daily business. The pair sold their first face ads to friends and family for just ￡ 1 a day, but as need has increased, so has the daily price , which has reached an amazing ￡400 by now, the end of May. So far , the main customers have been Paddy Power , the online betting agency ( 网络博彩企业), and accountancy firm ( 会计事务所)Earnest & Young , which is now the website ‘s official sponsor ( 赞助商).
Moyse and Harper said , “ It’s our special way of paying off our student debts. We’ve seen so many students unsuccessfully applying for jobs , only to find one that they never really wanted. It’s just something a bit different and has taken off quite nicely.”  ( 236 words)
【小题1】Why do the two Oxford graduates sell advertising space on their faces?

A．To raise money for their friends.

B．To earn money for their family.

C．To pay off their university debts .

D．To pay for their online betting

【小题2】Where can people buy their advertising space ?

A．At Oxford University.

B．At the website buymyface. co.uk.

C．At the accountancy firm.

D．At the online betting agency.

【小题3】How much money do they earn every day on average (平均) so far ?

A．Just ￡1 .

B．About￡100 .

C．Over ￡400.

D．Up to￡500.

【小题4】From the last paragraph we can learn that Moyse and Harper _____________________.

A．are satisfied with their special job

B．have paid off their debts already

C．are ready to apply for another job

D．never really wanted to do face ads

阅读下面短文，用括号内所给动词的适当形式填空(必要时可加情态动词或助动词）。

  " Everything happens for the best," my grandmother said whenever things weren't going my way. "Don't worry, one day your luck1._______(change). "

Grandmother was right, as I discovered after graduating from college. I had decided to be sports announcer (广播员) in a radio station, so I 2._______ ( go) to Shanghai and knocked on the door of every station. But I got refused every time.

In one station, a kind lady said my problem was short of experience. " Get some work with a small station and3.______(work) your way up ," she said.

I couldn't get a job there, either. Then my dad told me a businessman had opened a company and needed someone4._______ ( manage) the sports center. But again, I didn't get the job.

I felt really down. "Your luck will change," Granny reminded me. I tried another radio station in Beijing. But the owner, a nice man, told me he already had someone.

As I left his office, I asked, " How can someone be a sports announcer if he 5._______(not, get) a job in a radio station?"

I 6._______( wait) for the elevator when I heard the man call, " What was that you said about sports? Do you know anything about football?" I 7._______(put) in front of a microphone and asked to imagine I was commenting (评论) on a football game. "Now you 8._______ (watch) the football game between Lu Neng and Shen Hua. . . "

On my way home, Granny's words came back to me, " One day your luck will change, boy. And when it 9. _______( happen) , it'll feel twice as good because of all the disappointment (失望) you 10. _______ ( have) . " At that moment I knew just what she meant.

 

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said, “I am blind, please help.” There were only a few coins in the hat.
A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.
Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized(听出)his footsteps and asked, “Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?”
The man said, “I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.”
What he had written was, “Today is a beautiful day; I can not see it.”
Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply sign the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective (有效的)？
【小题1】The boy in the passage can not           .

A．see

B．walk

C．hear

D．speak

【小题2】 How did the man help the boy?

A．He gave the boy a lot of money.

B．He brought the boy back to his home.

C．He wrote some new words on the sign.

D．He sent the boy to a special school.

【小题3】The underlined words “held up” in the first paragraph mean          .

A．阻碍

B．举着

C．承受

D．坚持

【小题4】What happened after the man changed the sign?

A．The boy still got a few coins in the hat.

B．The boy got much more money.

C．No one gave the boy coins any more.

D．No one gave the boy coins any more.

【小题5】 What can we learn from the story?

A．Time can we learn from the story?

B．You should be brave even thought you’re blind.

C．Treating a thing differently brings a different result.

D．If we want to be rich, we should be honest.(结果)

A teacher began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it.  He held it up for all to see, and asked the students, " How much do you think this glass weighs?"

"50 g!" "100 g!" "125 g!" the students answered.

        "I really don't know unless I weigh it," said the teacher, "but my question is what would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?"

" Nothing! " the students said.

"OK. What would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?" the teacher asked.

"Your arm would begin to ache," said one of the students.

"You're right.  Now, what would happen if I held it for a day?"

"Your arm could go numb. Have to go to hospital for sure!" said another student. All the students laughed.

"Very good. But during all this, did the weight of the glass change?" asked the teacher.

"No." the students said.

"Then what caused the arm ache and the muscle (肌肉) stress?"

The students fell silent for a moment.

"Put the glass down!" said one of the students.

"Exactly!" said the teacher. "The problems of life are something like this. Hold them for a few minutes in your head, and it seems OK. Think of them for a long time and they begin to make you ache. Hold them even longer and you will not be able to do anything. It's important to think of the  challenges(挑战)  in your life, but it' s even more important to put them down at the end of every day before you go to sleep. That way, you are not stressed. You wake up fresh and strong and can deal with any challenge that comes your way!"

Remember to put the glass down today.

1. How much do you think this glass which was held by the teacher weighs?

A.50g     B.125g       C.I don’t know.    D.100g

2.What would happen if the teacher held the glass up like this for an hour?

A. One of the students thought his arm could go numb.

B. One of the students thought his arm would begin to ache.

C. One of the students thought his arm would be changed.

D. One of the students thought his arm would be lost.

3. Why did the teacher hold up a glass in his class?

A. Because he wanted to know how much the glass weighs.

B. Because he wanted to ask some student to weigh the glass.

C. Because he wanted to make his class more interesting.

D. Because he wanted to explain it was important to put the challenges in life down at the end of every day.

4. In this passage, the underlined words "go numb" means_______.

A．疼痛不止                  B．消瘦萎缩                   C．松弛下垂         D．失去感觉

5. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

A. The teacher told his students to face the challenges bravely.

B. The teacher taught his students how to deal with the problems.

C. The teacher used to begin his class with a glass of water.

D. The teacher usually begins his class by holding a glass of water.