Question

A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms( 习语 ), though my teacher emphasized(强调) 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 astonished. 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 an appropriate(合适的) 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 magnificent(宏伟的).” 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 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 request 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.” Only then did I know I had made a fool of myself. Since then I have been more careful with idiomatic expressions(习语表达). Remember -- what the English teachers said is always right to us students.

1.The underlined word “amusing” in the first paragraph probably means______.

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

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

A. he was not interested in the topic    B. he was only interested in the Great Wall

C. I had talked too much    D. I had to stop talking

3.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

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

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

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

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

4.After the Englishman explained the idiom, _______.

A. I thought the Englishman had made me a fool

B. the Englishman became a real fool

C. I felt very silly

D. I became more careful in everything

Answer

1.A

2.A

3.D

4.C

【解析】你知道You don’t say这句话是什么意思吗？你不要说？其实这是一个英语中的习语，这篇短文的作者在学习英语的时候，不重视英语习语的学习，结果在一次跟外国人的交流中出了丑。

1.词义猜测题。根据文意可知，这篇短文作者讲述了自己因为不重视英语习语的学习，而闹出了笑话。所以amusing是有趣的意思，这是作者的一次很有趣的经历，故应选A。

2.细节理解题。根据短文第二段中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 an appropriate(合适的) topic.可知，当作者第一次听到那个外国人说You don’t say的时候，他以为自己说的这个话题对方不感兴趣，不合适。由此可知应选A。

3.细节理解题。根据短文第二段中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 magnificent(宏伟的).”可知，这个外国人说他去过长城，而且他觉得来中国不去长城，等回去的时候会受到嘲笑的，他觉得长城很宏伟。所以这个人去过长城，而且觉得那里很值得一去。由此可知应选D。

4.细节理解题。根据短文的最后Only then did I know I had made a fool of myself.可知，在听了那个外国人的解释之后，作者觉得自己很傻、很愚蠢。故应选C。

点睛：这篇短文是一篇记叙文，作者讲述了自己因为不重视学习英语习语而闹出的一个笑话。短文内容较容易理解，后面的题目也是以细节理解为主，题目的答案都可以在短文中找到。做题时，我们可以在题目中找到一个关键词，用它引领我们定位到原文，找到相关信息。例如第2小题，题目的关键是作者第一次听到You don’t say的时候，是什么感觉。因此这个题目的答案应该在第二段的开头部分，原文说的是作者觉得他说的话题不合适，这与A选项的意思相同，也就是外国人对作者的话题不感兴趣。故选A。