There are many idioms（习语）in English that are about animals．Today let's chat a little about some of the idioms about dogs that make English language fun and colorful．

We love dogs；they are our best friends．When you first started to learn English，your teacher might teach you a number of phrases about dogs，such as：“you are a lucky dog，” “I'm dog tired，” “every dog has its day，” or “our team was the underdog but won the first place at last．”

When I first got into high school。my English teacher used the idiom “dog-ear”，which interested me very much．This word can be used as a noun，a verb，and an adjective as well．As a noun，it means a turned-down（折叠的）corner of a page as a bookmark（书签）．As a verb，it means someone makes a bookmark by turning down the corner of a page in the book．And，as an adjective，the word describes an old book with many broken pages．Examples：

John made a dog-ear（noun）of the page he was reading before closing the book．

Jane was reading a book；when the telephone rang，she dg-eared（verb）the page before answering the phone．

In the old room，the children found some dog-eared（adjective）books left there for more than 30 years．

The idiom “dog-ear” gives a lively image of a page being turned down like a curled（卷起来的）dog ear，but some dogs don't have curled ears；rather，they have pointed（竖起来的）ears．

1．Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A．Idioms about colors．                               B．Idioms about history．

C．Idioms about animals．                               D．Idioms about dogs．

2．How many idioms about dogs are mentioned（提及）in this passage?

A．3．                       B．4．                       C．5．                        D．6．

3．Which of the following statements is NOT true about the meaning of the idiom “dog ear”?

A．It means a turned-down corner of a page as a bookmark．

B．It means someone makes a bookmark by turning down the corner of a page in the book．

C．It means an old book with many broken pages．

D．It means something is short and small like a dog's ear．

There are a lot of educational TV programmes for kids．Some educational shows for kids will not only  1  their lives，but also make their parents’ lives a little  2  ．

At school，our kids learn a lot of  3  ．On TV，they  4   learn more of the same．But．there’s a lot of life information that kids need to learn，  5   how to keep their drawers clean and tidy and how to   6   their study．Some people may say，“It’s parents’ job to  7  them．”That may be so，  8  who says a parent can’t teach indirectly（间接地）by making a kid see a TV show with useful information?

Most parents will be more likely to agree  9  teachers and other authority figures（权威人士）．But sometimes they seem to  10  more weight to our kids．At school，for example，my kids try to get their coats on the hooks（挂钩）when they  11  at classroom．These same coats are never hung up at  12  ．One reason is that we think it’s quicker to do these things by  13  instead of asking our kids to do their parts．That’s  14   many kids go off to college without any idea how to deal with basic things．

So，I’ll let my kids  15  more programmes like“THE FLOOR IS NOT A DRAWER”，“I’M OLD ENOUGH” and so on．

1．A．experience                B．increase                  C．improve                  D．live

2．A．slower                      B．busier                     C．harder                    D．better

3．A．programmes             B．courses                   C．books                     D．passages

4．A．can                          B．should                    C．need                       D．must

5．A．instead of                 B．because of                     C．as well                    D．such as

6．A．organize                   B．educate                   C．expect                    D．join

7．A．promise                    B．teach                      C．save                       D．influence

8．A．and                          B．so                          C．but                         D．if

9．A．at                             B．in                           C．with                       D．to

10．A．add                        B．put                         C．reduce                    D．lend

11．A．get                         B．reach                      C．take                        D．arrive

12．A．hotel                       B．home                      C．restaurant               D．hospital

13．A．ourselves                B．themselves              C．itself                       D．them

14．A．when                      B．where                     C．because                  D．why

15．A．watch                     B．make                      C．write                      D．direct

Near our school there’s a store．It’s   1   but there’re（有）   2   of school things．Do   3   like exercise books, erasers, pens   4   color pencils? They are   5  ．Big erasers are just one yuan   6   and the small one is 0.5 yuan． The color pencils are just   7   2 yuan．I want a cartoon pencil sharpener．It is   8   expensive, either．I will take   9  ．Do you want some school things for yourself? Just come   10   this store．

1．A．big                                  B．small                       C．long

2．A．lots                                   B．lot                           C．many

3．A．I                                       B．they                        C．you

4．A．or                                     B．and                          C．but

5．A．expensive（贵的）            B．cheap（便宜的）     C．old

6．A．one                                   B．every                       C．each

7．A．for                                    B．on                           C．in  

8．A．not                                    B．no                           C．/

9．A．them                                 B．it                             C．that

10．A．for                                  B．up                           C．to

    The school party was only two weeks away, and our children were all as ___1___as bees（蜜蜂）getting ready for it.

  That afternoon, as I __2___from my desk, Patty was standing there. She had waited to talk to me.

“Every year the other kids are always in a p-p-p-p-play or something, singing or t-t-t-t-taking, but I g-g-g-g-get to do some ___3___work for them. This year, I w-w-want to read a p-p-p-poem, myself! Please, Miss Teresa!”

    She was so ___4___that I couldn’t（拒绝）refuse her. I had to say, “Yes, you will. ”

    I tried to find some poems for her, but ___5___of my books was of good use. At last, I worked out a poem carefully myself. The poem wasn’t beautiful, but it would ___6___best for Patty.

    After a moment’s reading, Patty had remembered all the __7___and was prepared to do the poem. However, I had to stop her from doing too fast. Day after day, we worked together after school. She made wonderful progress.

  The night of the party saw children in __8_.

  The headmaster walked up to me with a piece of paper-the program list. “There is a _9___! Look, Patty here. But she can’t even say her own name well!” I had no __10___to explain（解释） because many of my students were going up there. So I said to him, “We know what we are doing. ”

    Patty’s turn ___11___. She walked up there, neither fast nor slowly. She stood there. She began.

  I could ___12___breathe. I felt time stopped.

  She said every word clearly. She did every line nicely.

  Applause! Applause everywhere!

1A. happy                     B. busy                      C. small                     D. lovely

2 A. looked after            B. looked at                C. looked for              D. looked up

3 A. difficult                  B. important                C. boring                   D. quiet

4 A. hopeful                  B. wonderful               C. thankful                 D. careful

5 A. one                        B. some                      C. none                     D. both

6 A. speak                     B. work                      C. write                     D. look

7 A. words                    B. lines                       C. paragraphs             D. poems

8 A. trouble                   B. surprise                  C. excitement             D. danger

9A. question                  B. mistake                  C. thing                     D. reason

10 A. interest                 B. way                       C. wish                     D. time

11 A. came                   B. went                      C. ran                        D. flew

12 A. easily                   B. possibly                  C. hardly                   D. happily

　　In our country, every school has a library. You have read many interesting books. You borrow them from the school library, I am sure. Perhaps you also borrow books from the public library. Sometimes, you get books from your parents or friends as presents, I think. Besides, （除…之外）, if you like reading and want to learn more knowledge, I'm sure that you'll buy books yourself.

　　Have you ever thought of how books are made? Well, after the draft（草稿）of a book is written, it passes through the hands of many people. Every one of them has to work very carefully, for there must not be any mistakes in the books. It is checked（校对）several times by different people before it is printed（印刷）.

　　Millions and millions of books and magazines are published in our country every year. So people have plenty of things to read. We all like reading. Let's take good care of books.

根据短文内容判断正（T）误（F）。

(1) We never borrow books from the library.

(　　)

(2) A book passes through the hands of many people before we read it.

(　　)

(3) Everyone works carefully because he likes it very much.

(　　)

(4) A book is often checked only by the writer of it.

(　　)

(5) From different books we can learn a lot of knowledge. (　　)