Expressions cover all parts of our life. They may be around your ears every day. You may know a lot of Chinese expressions that describe how you feel. Here are some English ones for your enjoyment.

Have Your Heart in Your Mouth

This expression means that you're really afraid or anxious about something. When your heart starts beating so much that you can feel a thumping(怦怦跳) in your throat, it may feel like you "have your heart in your mouth."

Have Butterflies in the Stomach

How did butterflies get in your stomach? Well, those really aren't butterflies in there. It is a way of describing those nervous feelings you might get before a test or a very important decision.

These stomach flutters (跳动) are normal and happen to many people. Some people believe having a few butterflies might even help you perform better.

Sick as a Dog

If you've ever been very sick, you may have used this expression. Because dogs eat just about anything they find, they often get sick. So it's all right to describe someone who's not feeling well as being "sick as a dog".

Under the Weather

When it's rainy all day outside, how would you feel? This expression comes from the idea that bad weather might hurt a person's health and mood(心情).

1.The expression "__" is most probably used while you are watching a thriller.

A. have your heart in your mouth

B. sick as a dog

C. under the weather

2.Someone believes__ if you "have butterflies in the stomach" before a test.

A. you're sure to fail

B. you will forget everything

C. you might do better

3.It's __ to say somebody is "sick as a dog" when he is not feeling well.

A. impolite   B. suitable       C. wrong

4.When somebody says "under the weather", he must feel     

A. upset      B. happy         C. calm

5.All expressions discussed in this passage are about      

A. health      B. habits        C. feelings

The size and shape（外形）of your ears show your character（性格）more than any other part of the face. Other parts of the face change shapes as we get older，but ears do not change their shapes. They only change in size.
Reading people’s character from their ears is a very old science. In the past people thought that a person’s ears with colour was dangerous. They also thought that the shape of the ears showed if a person was musical or not. Today，too，many people believe that the size and shape of the ears help you know if a person is musical.
Ears are all different，and each different thing has a meaning. Next time you look at a person，see if his or her ears are large，medium-size，or small. Look at the lobes（耳垂）.Do they stick to the face? Ears that are always red mean that a person may get angry easily. Ears that are always cold and  nearly white colour mean that a person has a nervous（神经质）character.
1. Reading people’s character from their ears is____________ .
A．only for music      B．an old idea   C．very new     D．a good way to talk with others
2. When a baby is born,___________ .
A．his / her ears are red               B．his / her ears will not change all the life
C．his / her ears will not change in shape  D．he / she will get large ears
3. When one’s ears are red，it means_____________ .
A．he is a kind man                B．he is very happy
C．he may get angry easily             D．he drinks too much
4. Which may be the best title of the article?___________.
A.Looking at a person in the right way.    B.Ears and colours.
C.The change of ears.                   D.Ears and characters
5.If you look at someone’s ears，the right way is____________  .
A．to look at his face，ears and nose     
B．to look at the size，colour，and shape
C．to look at his mouth，eyes and nose                
D．to look at the hair，eyes and colour[

“No man is an island” is a well-known line from John Donne’s Devotion, written more than three hundred years ago. Even now people still agree with him. No one can live a completely isolated life. Without other people, life became empty and sad. We all need friends.
For some of us, though making friends is not difficult, feeling shy, we may not want to make the first move. It is also difficult at times to keep the friends we already have.
There are many books about friendship, but Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence  People, written in 1936, is the most famous. This “how to” book about getting along with other people became a best-seller. It was later put into 28 languages.
Dale Carnegie’s advice seems to be simple, but can his advice help you? Do you need to change the way you act? Here is the list of advice from his book.
1. Be friendly and polite. Always greet with a smile. Begin with “excuse me” or “would you please”, when you want to ask somebody. Remember to say “thank you” and try to be as helpful as you can.
2. Go out of your way to be nice. Find some time to do special things for other people. Making some soup for a sick neighbor may seem like a little thing to you, but it will make your neighbor feel a lot better.
3. Remember names. They say that the sweetest music to a person’s ears is the sound of his or her own name.
4. Be open-minded. Try to understand other people’s ways and ideas and learn something from them.
5. Listen patiently. When someone is talking to you, look at him or her, listen carefully and say something when necessary.
【小题1】The underlined sentence “No one can live a completely isolated life” means “______” in this passage.

One summer vacation in my college, my roommate Ted asked to me to work on his father’s farm in Argentina. The idea was exciting. Then I had second thoughts. I had never been far from New England, and I had been homesick my first few weeks at college. What about the language? The more I thought about it, the more the idea worried me.

Finally, I turned down the invitation. Then I realized I had turned down something I wanted to do because I was scared and felt depressed(沮丧). That experience taught me a valuable lesson and I developed a rule for myself: do what makes you anxious(焦虑); don’t do what makes you depressed.

In my senior year, I wanted to be a writer. But my professor wanted me to teach. I hesitated. The idea of writing was much scarier than spending a summer in Argentina. Back and forth I went, making my decision, unmaking it. Suddenly I realized that every time I gave up the idea of writing, that downhearted feeling went through me.

Giving up writing really depressed me. Then I learned another lesson. To avoid the depression meant having to bear much worry and concern.

When I first began writing articles, I often interviewed big names. Before each interview I would get butterflies in the stomach. One of them was the great composer Duke Ellington. On the stage and on television, he seemed very confident. Then I learned Ellington still got stage fright（害怕）. If Ellington still had anxiety attacks, how could I avoid them? I went on doing those frightening interviews. Little by little, I was even looking forward to the interviews. Where were those butterflies?

In truth, they were still there, but fewer of them. I had learned from a process psychologists（心理学家） call “extinction”. If you put an individual in an anxious situation often, finally there isn’t anything to be worried about, which brings me to a conclusion: you’ll never get rid of anxiety by avoiding the things that caused it.

The point is that the new, the different, is definitely scary. But each time you try something, you learn, and as the learning piles up, the world opens to you.

1.We can infer from the passage that the author________. 

A．finds it difficult to make decision

B．has found out what causes anxiety

C．was encouraged by Duke Ellington’s stage fright

D．no longer feels anxious about new experiences

2.What does the word “extinction” in Paragraph 6 means?

A．a person’s loss of confidence little by little

B．the natural development of a child’s abilities

C．the inborn ability to avoid anxious situations

D．the process of losing fear by keeping facing anxiety

3.Which of the following opinions does the writer probably accept?

A．Anxiety can be a positive drive

B．Hesitation leads to depression.

C．Avoiding anxiety reduces depression.

D．Depression is a signal that one is growing up.

4.What's the best title for the passage?

A．Confidence: Key to Success

B．Anxiety: Challenge by Another Name

C．Depression: A Psychological Appearance

D．Success: A Trip Through Anxiety and Depression