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Some expressions in English can be really puzzling. Have a look at the following to see how it challenges your brainpower.
Homeric laughter
The "Homer" in this expression is the Greek poet. People laugh differently. Some laugh silently, while others tend to laugh loudly. "Homeric laughter" refers to laughter of the latter kind. It is at times uncontrollable, and the entire body shakes during the process. This kind of laughter is called Homeric laughter because this is how the gods laughed in Homer's classics.
A three-ring circus
When you refer to a situation as being a three-ring circus, you are saying that it is a situation of complete confusion. There are so many activities taking place all together that they leave you confused or annoyed. The expression comes from the world of entertainment — the circus. The area where the artists perform their acts is called the "ring". In the past, some of the circuses were so grand that they had three acts taking place simultaneously in three different "rings". The audience had to decide which "ring" they wanted to focus on.
In the swim (of things)
When someone is in the swim of things, the individual is actively participating in the things happening around him, as in "I've been ill, but soon I’ll be back in the swim of thing." In the world of fishing, fishermen use the word "swim" to refer to the section of the lake/river where fish can be found in plenty. So, if you are a fisherman and wish to catch a lot offish, where would you be? You would be "in the swim".
Chickens have come home to roost
The word "roost" refers to the place where birds rest. It could be anything — the branch of a tree, a henhouse, etc. The expression is normally used to mean that the bad things that someone did in the past have come back to bite or upset the individual. In other words, one has to face the consequences of the deeds done in the past. The original form of this 700-year-old expression was "curses are like chickens; they always come home to roost".
1.Which of the following can best describe the picture?
A. Homeric laughter B. A three-ring circus
C. In the swim (of things) D. Chickens have come home to roost
2.What does the underlined word "simultaneously'(Paragraph 3) mean?
A. At the same time. B. Step by step.
C. All of a sudden. D. One after another.
3.lf you want to know more about such expressions, which website will you probably visit?
A. www.chinadaily.com.cn/sports/China.html
B. www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/university.html
C. www.chinadaily.com.cn/culuture/language.html
D. www.chinadaily.com.cn/entertainment/fashion.html
4.The passage is written to________.
A. tell readers some old and interesting stories
B. indicate the development of English phrases
C. correct some misunderstandings about words
D. explain the meanings and origins of some phrases
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______ I have made great progress in my spoken English, I can not express myself freely.
A. In spite of B. Even though C. As though D. Despite
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改错
1.My English is so limited that I have to keep on learning some expressions and use them.________________________________________________________
2.Don't be angry with me because not having replied to your letter.
______________________________________________________________
3.The difficulty faces us today is the supply of food to those in need.
_____________________________________________________________
4.Much experience are needed to operate a computer well.
_____________________________________________________________
5.We are now living in the room whose windows face the south.
_____________________________________________________________
6.The managers discussed the plan that they would like to see it carried out the next year.________________________________________________________
7.It has been announced, we shall have our final exam this month.
____________________________________________________________
8.She thought I was talking about her daughter, which, in fact, I was talking about my daughter.______________________________________________
9.The clouds moved across the moon, left us in total darkness.
______________________________________________________________
10.They looked up and saw a notice on the wall read:"No smoking!"
_____________________________________________________________
11.They bought a new house but which will need a lot of work before they can move in.
_____________________________________________________________
12.We can learn a lot of about what a person is thinking by watching his or her body language.________________________________________________
13.I was still so angry that I went up to tell him how I thought of him.
____________________________________________________________
14.It never occurred me to phone you.
_____________________________________________________________
15.I was prevented by illness taking the exam.
_____________________________________________________________
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From his _______expression, we can guess that the problem maybe was quite _______.
| A．puzzled ; puzzling | B．puzzling; puzzled |
| C．puzzled; puzzled | D．puzzling; puzzling |
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Human beings have used tools for a very long time. In some parts of the world you can still find tools that people used more than two million years ago. They made these tools by hitting one stone against another. In this way, they broke off pieces from one of the stones. These chips of stone were usually sharp on one side. People used them for cutting meat and skin from dead animals, and also for making other tools out of wood. Human beings needed to use tools because they did not have sharp teeth like other meat eating animals, such as lions and tigers. Tools helped people to get food more easily.
Working with tools also helped to develop human intelligence. The human brain grew bigger, and human beings began to invent more and more tools and machines. The stone chip was one of the first tools that people used, and perhaps it is the most important. Some scientists say that it was the key to success of mankind.
Since 1960 a new kind of tool has appeared. This is the silicon chip -- a little chip of silicon crystal. It is smaller than a finger nail, but it can store more than a million "bits" of information. It is an electronic brain. Every year these chips get cleverer, but their size gets smaller, and their cost gets less. They are used in watches, calculators and intelligent machines that we can use in many ways. In the future we will not need to work with tools in the old way. Machines will do everything for us. They will even talk and play games with us. People will have plenty of spare time. But what will they do with it?
Human beings used stone chips for more than two million years, but human life changed very little in that time. We have used silicon chips for only a few years, but life is changing faster every day. What will life be like twenty years from now? What will the world be like two million years
from now?
1.From paragraph，we can know .
A. why early human beings cut skin from dead animals
B. how early human beings discovered the tools
C. what early human beings used the tools for
D. what food early human beings stored
2.The stone chip is thought to be the most important tool because it ______.
A. was very important to the development of mankind
B. led to the invention of machines in the early time
C. developed cooking abilities of mankind
D. was one of the first tools of mankind
3.The silicon chip is mentioned in the passage to________.
A. show the changes of tools
B. introduce a new kind of tool
C. give an example of using tools
D. compare the effects of two kinds of tools
4.At the end of the passage the author seems to suggest that life in future is ______.
A. Out of order B. Less colorful
C. hard to predict D. full of meanings
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There have been cases________some English learners can’t get their message across even though they have memorized a lot of words.
A. which B. when C. where D. what
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Though British and American English have some differences in spelling and pronunciation,
they have much .
A. in general B. in common
C. in place D. in words
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Visiting the city when you are six months pregnant and have a two-year-old girl can be really 1. (challenge). One spring afternoon, we went to one of the grocery stores nearby to buy some food for dinner. There was no sign of rain, and the store was just around the comer, so we went there 2. an umbrella. However, we were about to leave the store 3. the rain came in full force. It seemed that the streets would be flooded 4. water within minutes.
I noticed a young Chinese couple staring at 5. (we) when we came to a crossroads and were waiting for the light to change. I figured they were probably wondering 6. a pregnant foreigner was dragging her little kid out through the rain. But as we crossed the street,7. woman offered me her umbrella. I told her I couldn’t take it when it was clearly starting to storm. She insisted,8. (hand) it to me and hurried off with her husband.
Though caught in the rain 9. (expect), we still treasured the memory and will always recall the 10. (friend) and kindness of the Chinese couple.
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If it really is what’s on the inside that counts, then a lot of thin people might be in trouble.
Some doctors now think that the internal(内部的) fat surrounding important organs like the heart or liver could be as dangerous as the external fat which can be noticed more easily.
“Being thin doesn’t surely mean you are not fat,” said Dr Jimmy Bell at Imperial College. Since 1994, Bell and his team have scanned nearly 800 people with MRI machines to create “fat maps” showing where people store fat.
According to the result, people who keep their weight through diet rather than exercise are likely to have major deposits of internal fat, even if they are slim.
Even people with normal Body Mass Index scores can have surprising levels of fat deposits inside. Of the women, as many as 45 percent of those with normal BMI scores (20 to 25) actually had too high levels of internal fat. Among men, the percentage was nearly 60 percent.
According to Bell, people who are fat on the inside are actually on the edge of being fat. They eat too many fatty and sugary foods, but they are not eating enough to be fat. Scientists believe we naturally store fat around the belly first, but at some point, the body may start storing it elsewhere.
Doctors are unsure about the exact dangers of internal fat, but some think it has something to do with heart disease and diabetes(糖尿病). They want to prove that internal fat damages the body’s communication systems.
The good news is that internal fat can be easily burned off through exercise or even by improving your diet. “If you want to be healthy, there is no shortcut. Exercise has to be an important part of your lifestyle.” Bell said.
1.What is the passage mainly about?
A. Thin people may be fat inside.
B. Internal fat is of no importance.
C. Internal fat leads to many diseases.
D. Thin people don’t have diabetes.
2.According to the passage, which of the following is WRONG?
A．Exercise can help to reduce the internal fat.
B．People can get rid of internal fat by improving diet.
C．Men are more likely to have too much internal fat.
D．People with heart disease all have internal fat.
3.From the last paragraph, we can find that ______.
A．internal fat leading to disease has been proved
B．exercise plays an important role in people’s life for keeping healthy
C．thin people usually have internal fat even if they are slim
D．it is easier to burn off internal fat than external fat
4.The underlined part in the last paragraph means ______.
A．a long road
B．a clear difference
C．an easy way
D．a short distance
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If it really is what’s on the inside that counts, then a lot of thin people might be in trouble.
Some doctors now think that the internal(内部的) fat surrounding important organs like the heart or liver could be as dangerous as the external fat which can be noticed more easily.
“Being thin doesn’t surely mean you are not fat,” said Dr Jimmy Bell at Imperial College. Since 1994, Bell and his team have scanned nearly 800 people with MRI machines to create “fat maps” showing where people store fat.
According to the result, people who keep their weight through diet rather than exercise are likely to have major deposits(储蓄, 沉淀物)of internal fat, even if they are slim.
Even people with normal Body Mass Index scores can have surprising levels of fat deposits inside. Of the women, as many as 45 percent of those with normal BMI scores (20 to 25) actually had too high levels of internal fat. Among men, the percentage was nearly 60 percent.
According to Bell, people who are fat on the inside are actually on the edge of being fat. They eat too many fatty and sugary foods, but they are not eating enough to be fat. Scientists believe we naturally store fat around the belly first, but at some point, the body may start storing it elsewhere.
Doctors are unsure about the exact dangers of internal fat, but some think it has something to do with heart disease and diabetes(糖尿病). They want to prove that internal fat damages the body’s communication systems.
The good news is that internal fat can be easily burned off through exercise or even by improving your diet. “If you want to be healthy, there is no shortcut. Exercise has to be an important part of your lifestyle.” Bell said.
1. What is the passage mainly about?
A. Internal fat leads to many diseases.
B. Internal fat is of no importance.
C. Thin people may be fat inside.
D. Thin people don’t have diabetes.
2. According to the passage, which of the following is WRONG?
A．Exercise can help to reduce the internal fat.
B．People with heart disease all have internal fat.
C．Men are more likely to have too much internal fat.
D．People can get rid of internal fat by improving diet.
3.From the last paragraph, we can find that ______.
A．internal fat leading to disease has been proved
B．it is easier to burn off internal fat than external fat
C．thin people usually have internal fat even if they are slim
D．exercise plays an important role in people’s life for keeping healthy
4.The underlined part in the last paragraph means ______.
A. long road B. clear difference
C. short distance D. easy way