There are many idioms in English. An idiom is a phrase that we can't understand from the meaning of each word. The following are some of them.
As the crow flies
When a bird flies from place to place, it takes the most direct route. But when people drive, they have to follow roads and often go farther. When people give a distance "as the crow flies", they mean the shortest distance between the two points, not the distance you would have to travel by following roads.
As Dan and his mum drove along the river, they could see the beach on the opposite side. Dan asked "How far is it to the beach?"
"It's only about a quarter of a mile as the crow flies" his mother said.
Blow hot and cold
In one of Aesop's Fables, a man blows on his fingers to warm them up and then blows on his soup to cool it down. In both cases, the man is opening his mouth, but what comes out is different. If a person says one thing and later says the opposite, we say that the person is blowing hot and cold.
"Is Felicia going to try out for the soccer team this year?" Stacy asked.
"I don't know," Tricia replied." Last week she was saying yes, but this week she's saying no. She's really blowing hot and cold."
Break the ice
Nowadays people use the phrase to refer to ending an awkward silence by beginning a conversation.
It was the first day of summer camp. The four girls began to make their beds in silence. None of the girls knew each other, and no one knew what to say. Finally, one of them broke the ice by saying" Hey, where's everybody from?"
Bury the hatchet
In native American culture, when two nations agreed to end their war, they buried the hatchet. So to bury the hatchet is to make peace with someone else.
Colin could not excuse his sister for breaking his tennis racket. Finally, his sister said, "Colin, can't we bury the hatchet?"
1.What does "as the crow flies" mean?
A. In the smoothest way. B. In a straight line.
C. By plane. D. At top speed.
2."Blow hot and cold " can be used to talk about someone's ______.
A. dishonesty B. changing attitudes
C. communication skills D. bad manner
3.It can be inferred that Colin's sister hoped that Colin would ______.
A. buy a new tennis racket
B. stay away from her
C. forgive her mistake
D. make an apology to her
4.Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?
A. What Felicia thought was different from what he said.
B. Dan and his mother need drive a quarter of a mile to the beach.
C. “Bury the hatchet” is an idiom from Aesop’s Fables.
D. It’s difficult to understand the meaning of an idiom by each word.
Andy never wanted to go to bed on time. His parents had explained to him how important it was to go to bed early and get a good rest. But Andy paid no attention to them, and they didn't know what to do until one weekend when they were visiting Andy's grandparents.
Grandpa Peter heard all about it and said, "This sounds like a job for Tubby." So Andy's parents loaded the cat onto the car and returned home.
That night, at bedtime, the same problem happened. Andy didn't want to go to bed, and even though his parents waited a while to see if Tubby would solve the problem, nothing happened.
Hours later, Andy finally decided to go to bed. But what a surprise when he entered his bedroom! Tubby was in his bed, totally sprawling out, pot-belly in the air, and snoring like an express train.
Andy tried to move the cat, but there was no way of moving him an inch. That night he hardly slept, lying on one tiny corner of his bed.
The next day the same thing happened, even though Andy was much more tired from not having slept well. When the third day arrived, he had understood that if he wanted to sleep in his bed, he would have to get into it before Tubby did. That night, when his parents only started to mention the topic of bedtime, Andy rushed upstairs and dived into bed. His parents could not believe it. They knew nothing about Tubby in the bed, nor did they understand why Andy went to bed on time without complaint. They were so happy about this that they stayed up quite late, celebrating.
1.By saying "This sounds like a job for Tubby", Grandpa means Tubby________.
A. has the same problem as Andy
B. often stays up late on weekend
C. can help solve Andy's problem
D. always likes playing with small boys
2.The underlined word "snoring" in the fourth paragraph probably means ________.
A. sleeping B. making noises
C. dreaming D. relaxing
3.Andy rushed upstairs for sleep because ________.
A. he was afraid Tubby would take up the bed
B. his parents reminded him of the bed time
C. he was much more tired from lacking sleep
D. his parents might punish him for staying up late
4.The parents' attitude towards Andy's change can be described as ______.
A. curious B. disappointed
C. worried D. Joyful
Our room was on the second floor but you could still hear the roar of the ocean and see the stars at night. I used to take long walks along the water. The food in town was wonderful and the people were very friendly. The area was very quiet and peaceful, and fairly deserted.
The last evening of our vacation, however, we all heard strange footsteps following closely behind us as we were walking up to our room in the holiday centre. We turned around and noticed a fairly young man moving very rapidly across the beach and getting closer to us. He was tall and wore a baseball cap. We didn’t have any cell phones on us. I never saw Dad as worried as he was then and knew that something was terribly wrong. The sense of fear started to overwhelm Mom and me. We had had such a good time in town. Now, the night was rapidly turning into a dangerous situation.
We could hear the man’s footsteps getting closer. Dad’s face was almost pale. The so-called intruder (侵入者) had moved nearer and nearer when all of a sudden, the nearby vending (自动贩卖) machine started going crazy and spitting out cans of soda! The noise actually scared the intruder and he ran out of sight. My parents were shaking, but we all turned around to see who had put money into the vending machine downstairs, and actually saved us, but no one was around at all.Not a soul.
It’s one vacation I will never forget.
1.Where did the author spend her vacation?
A. Near a lake. B. In a village.
C. At the seaside. D. In a mountain.
2.What happened on the last evening of their vacation?
A. They lost their way.
B. Their cell phones were missing.
C. Their money was stolen.
D. They were followed by a stranger.
3.The underlined word “overwhelm” in Paragraph 2 means ________.
A. move B. control C. excite D. impress
4.What helped them get out of the trouble?
A. Their quick action.
B. Other people’s kind help.
C. The young man’s warning.
D. The noise from the vending machine.
根据首字母或汉语提示拼写单词
1.In our solar system eight p________ circle around the sun.
2.Do what you are told and don’t a_______ with me.
3.It was in a shop nearby t________ I bought this dress.
4.This kind of fish is r________ in oil, which is good for people who have heart trouble.
5.I would r________ tell him about it myself than let him find out from other people.
6.The train left late that night and arrived in Montreal at ________(黎明) the next
morning.
7.Organic farmers, ________(因此), often prefer using natural waste from animals as
fertilizer.
8.They ________ on (集中精力于) keeping their soil rich and free of disease.
9.Dr. Yuan is quite ________ (满意的) with his life. However, he doesn’t care about being
famous.
10.________ to (由于) his research, the UN has more tools in the battle to rid the world
of hunger.
单词与释义搭配
1.export A. bags that people take with them when they travel
2.baggage B. to try extremely hard to achieve something
3.expand C. to become larger in size, number or amount
4.outspoken D. a short informal test
5.welfare E. happiness and health of people
6.bond F. on or onto a ship, plane, bus or train
7.project G. task that requires a lot of time and effort
8.aboard H. close connection that people have with each other
9.quiz I. giving opinions openly and honestly
10. J. to send things to foreign countries for sale
七选五
根据短文内容，从短文后的七个选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Are you afraid of making mistakes?
Learn to accept mistakes as opportunities, then you’ll feel less stressed and fearful and you’ll be more confident. __1._______ So what should you do?
2._________
Accept that you’re human and that each of us will make mistakes. 3._________ If you are open to learning from your mistake, you will be able to move on rather than wallowing in (沉湎于) regret.
Be aware
In other words, look for areas of improvement. Be aware of what you are doing, why you are doing it, how you feel, and how you make others feel. Sometimes, your words just don’t land right or you say something but it is not what you mean to say. People have difficulty expressing what they really mean. 4. _________
5._________
Whenever you make a mistake or you are involved in a misunderstanding, take responsibility. There is always something to be learned or improved even if the other person is wrong, too.
A. By being fully aware of how you impact others, you keep an open state of learning which allows you to practice being a better person.
B. Be open to making mistakes and consider them as opportunities to learn valuable life lessons.
C. Here are some ideas that can prevent you from making mistakes.
D. Be open to making mistakes.
E. In short, you will benefit from the mistakes.
F. Say your words again so that others can understand you.
G. Accept full responsibility.
