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People, especially English people, love talking about the weather. It’s an easy way to start a conversation. But do you know some weather terms can also express a feeling or situation. Here are some interesting expressions.
Head in the clouds
If someone has his head in the clouds, they are out of touch with the everyday world and can be unrealistic as a result.
The expression reminds you to be aware of what’s happening around you.
Take a rain check
If you hear someone say “I’ll take a rain check”, it doesn’t mean that he will go out to see if it’s raining.
In fact, the expression could be used as a polite way to turn down invitations. However, not as a full refusal, but more likely to put the invitation off to another time.
When it rains, it pours
The expression is used when something goes wrong, especially when a lot of things go wrong at the same time. People like to say it when they meet with bad lucks one after another in a short time.
Weather the storm
As an extreme weather, a storm could be very dangerous and cause serious results. To weather the storm is to get through difficult situations in your life.
1.Why do English people love talking about the weather in the writer’s opinion?
A. They care about the weather very much.
B. They want to know what’s happening around them.
C. They don’t have other interesting things to talk about.
D. They think it’s an easy way to start a conversation.
2.What does the underlined phrase “turn down” mean?
A. accept B. refuse C. throw D. change
3.Which of the following statements is true?
A. The whole article is telling us how to tell the weather.
B. The writer thinks if someone has his head in the clouds, the person must care about what’s happening very much.
C. When somebody says “when it rains, it pours”, he must be unlucky.
D. The expression “weather the storm” can be used to put off an appointment.
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Arriving in Sydney on his own from India, my husband, Rashid, stayed in a hotel for a short time while looking for a house for me and our children.
During the first week of his stay, he went out one day to do some shopping. He came back in the late afternoon to discover that his suitcase was gone. He was extremely worried as the suitcase had all his important papers, including his passport.
He reported the case to the police and then sat there，lost and lonely in strange city, thinking of the terrible troubles of getting all the paperwork organized again from a distant country while trying to settle down in a new one.
Late in the evening, the phone rang. It was a stranger. He was trying to pronounce my husband’s name and was asking him a lot of questions. Then he said they had found a pile of papers in their trash can（垃圾桶）that had been left out on the footpath.
My husband rushed to their home to find a kind family holding all his papers and documents. Their young daughter had gone to the trash can and found a pile of papers. Her parents had carefully sorted them out, although they had found mainly foreign addresses on most of the documents. At last they had seen a half-written letter in the pile in which my husband had given his new telephone number to a friend.
That family not only gave back the important documents to us that day but also gave back our faith and trust in people. We still remember their kindness and often send them a warm wish.
1.What did Rashid plan to do after his arrival in Sydney?
A. Go shopping B. Find a house C. Join his family D. Take his family
2.The girl’s parents got Rashid’s phone number from_______.
A. a friend of his family B. a Sydney policeman
C. a letter in his papers D. a stranger in Sydney
3.Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
A. Turning Trash to Treasure(珍宝) B. Living in a New Country
C. From India to Australia D. Making New Friends
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Do you often listen to music at loud volumes（音量）? You should know that this habit is bad for your hearing, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Over 1 billion young people have problems in listening because they listen at loud volumes for a long time, WHO said. Listening to music or watching a TV show at loud volumes can harm your hearing.
The United Nations has standards for safe listening. It is not safe to listen to sounds that are louder than 85 decibels (分贝) for eight hours or 100 dB for 15 minutes. The sound of a busy road is about 85 dB and the sound of a rock concert can be about 100 dB.
Loud noise is harmful to the inner ear. Most of us are born with about 16,000 hair cells (听毛细胞) in our inner ears. These cells detect (探测) sounds. However, listening to loud noise for a long time can make these cells work too hard and make some of them die. This is why people have hearing loss.
Some people might think that their music isn’t all that loud. But this can depend on where you are. For example, if you are in a noisy place like the subway, you might turn up your music too loud without realizing it. Later, when you listen to it at the same volume in a quiet place, you might feel uncomfortable.
WHO said the “safe level” for most sound is below 80 decibels for up to 40 hours a week. A level of 80 decibels is roughly equal to the noise of a subway.
1.According to the story, WHO suggests that it is NOT safe to _____.
A. listen to music every day B. watch TV for over an hour
C. listen to loud sounds for long D. go to a rock concert
2.The sound level of a busy road is about _____.
A. 80 dB B. 85 dB
C. 100 dB D. 115 dB
3.Why can listening to loud music cause hearing problems?
A. Because it puts our brains under great pressure.
B. Because it can cause hair cells in the inner ear to die.
C. Because it prevents our ears from resting.
D. Because it allows people to get used to listening to loud sounds.
4.What can we get from the last paragraph?
A. People love to listen to loud music.
B. It’s reasonable to listen to loud music in some places.
C. People are likely to listen to music on the subway.
D. People don’t always realize how loud their music is.
