When I first began to work with international students, I asked someone at a lunch, “What brings you here today?” Looking at me like I was a bit crazy, he answered, “ The bus.” That was my first realization that no matter how good a speaker is, there are phrases that will always tend to cause confusion to non-native speakers. These idiomatic phrases(惯用语) add color and interest to any language and are worth learning if you want to talk fluently with native speakers.
“By no stretch”----The speaker is referring to something that’s very hard to achieve or realize, even with great effort, as in “It was not a good meal, by any stretch of the imagination.” Which means that ______________.
“Half dead”----An expression of extreme tiredness, having nothing to do with actual health. Commonly used at the end of a long and tiring day.
“By the book”----This means that an action should follow the rules exactly. It also describes the nature of someone who won’t deviate(背离) from a set of rules no matter what the situation is.
“More power to you”----This isn’t a wish for you to have better electricity from the power company----it’s a statement, usually slightly ironic(讽刺的), that the speaker thinks that you are unlikely to do a task, but you should try if you think you can complete it. It generally means the speaker has no intention of helping you achieve your goal neither will they discourage you from attempting to reach it. For example, “I don’t think you can meet that deadline, but more power to you.”
“As easy as pie”----A reference that something is as simple or easy as eating a delicious dessert, or that it requires little effort to successfully achieve. In chatting, this phrase does not refer to the process of cooking or eating.The example given by the author in the first paragraph is used to show__________.
| A．the importance of learning idioms | B．the beauty of the English language |
| C．the foolishness of the student | D．the cause of the misunderstanding |
According to the passage, which of the following would be proper to fill in the blank in Paragraph 2?
| A．the meal is very delicious | B．it’s very hard to make the meal delicious |
| C．people make great efforts to make the meal delicious | |
| D．even if people try to believe it, the meal could not be described as good |
If someone says he is half dead, he means____________.
| A．he is in poor health | B．he cannot move |
| C．he has a sound sleep | D．he is exhausted |
If a person daren’t do things in a creative way, you may describe him by using “__________”.
| A．by no stretch | B．by the book |
| C．as easy as pie | D．the breaker of rules |
In the Harry Potter films, Hermione Granger is better than her male friends and is considered the brightest pupil in her grade. Isn’t it often the same in schools of our real world?
“It’s surprising but true that most of the top students have been girls since primary school. Girls are class leaders, club presidents and the top ones in exams,” said Wang Feixuan, 15, who studies at a Chengdu school. By any measure, Wang herself is a high-achiever. She is a top student, a team leader in her school’s sports club and a winner in national English and IT competitions.
But why do so many girls outperform their male peers?
In Sun Yunxiao’s latest book Save Our Boys, he points out that the education system is “more suited to girls, who are good at memorizing and like to sit quietly and read.” Yet he also says that girls have to do so much more when they compete with males for honors, top universities and later good jobs. They can feel great pressure nearly every day.
This seems to be the same in most countries in the world. Young women in the United States are also reported to feel the same pressure to be perfect.
“Let’s look at what we ask of our teenage girls,” says Professor Stephen Hinshaw in an interview. He thinks that it’s no longer enough that a girl does well in school and is a caring friend. On the TV, on the Internet and everywhere, girls see images of impossible perfection.
Today’s young women must be good learners, good athletes, and fill their after-school lives with other activities. But they are also asked to have the styles and looks of popular stars. “Be pretty, sweet and nice. Be athletic, competitive and get straight. Be impossibly perfect.” Stephen Hinshaw sums up.The passage suggests that .
| A．our society asks far too much of teenage girls |
| B．teenage girls shouldn’t be so perfect at school |
| C．boys are always lazy ones rather than girls |
| D．American girls have less pressure than Chinese girls |
According to the passage, it is true that .
| A．boys are less smart than girls throughout school life |
| B．boys usually don’t have so much pressure as girls do |
| C．girls are all fond of the Chinese education system |
| D．girls are better at school because boys don’t work hard |
The underlined word “outperform” means .
| A．hate | B．misunderstand | C．like | D．defeat |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．Impossibly Perfect Is Possible． | B．Why Are Girls So Perfect? |
| C．Perfect? Pressure Every Day! | D．Perfect: Boys or Girls? |
United States President George W. Bush is expected to issue a directive in the next few weeks. It will give the US Air Force a green light for the development of space weapons, US media reported last week.
This would potentially start a new global arms race, some experts have warned.
To keep that from happening, last Wednesday the White House explained that it was not considering putting weapons in space. It said it was making a shift in US space policy to allow for protection of satellites.
But some defense analysts and arms control advocates argue that the policy will pave the way for the US to put both defensive and offensive weapons in space.
“No one should be fooled,” said Theresa Hitchens, an American weapons expert.
The US is now restricted by a 1996 directive signed by President Bill Clinton. Plans for space weapons were vetoed by the Clinton cabinet. The directive emphasized the peaceful use of space , in agreement with almost unanimous global opinion.
The US military has placed importance on space and has sent up numberous satellites for troop communications and to provide intelligence and data to guide bombs to their targets.
The US Air Force wants to develop space- based weapons that could strike targets anywhere in the world within 90 minutes of receiving the order to open fire.
These new weapons under development cover a wide range. They include hunter- killer satellites and orbiting weapons. And they use lasers, radio waves, or even dense metal tubes, known as “ Rods from God”, dropped from space to do the damage.
There are many barriers to the setting up of this kind of program, experts say.
First is the coast. It is estimated that the budget may be US $220 billion to US $ 1 trillion .
The technical difficulties of developing reliable space weapons are also a problem.
And, the program will draw strong criticism from around the world. Experts worry about starting a space arms race.Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?
| A．US Military Plans |
| B．The Global Arms Race |
| C．A Comparison between Two Presidents |
| D．President George W. Bush and the World Peace |
According to this passage, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．President George W. Bush supports space weapon development. |
| B．The space weapon program will threaten world peace |
| C．Clinton government was poorer than Bush government. |
| D．The US space weapon project is very expensive. |
After reading this passage, it can be inferred that “___________ “.
| A．George W. Bush’s directive to be issued will be against global opinions |
| B．The White House is right in explaining that US new space policy aims to protect satellites |
| C．US government has little difficulty in developing new space weapons |
| D．President George W. Bush and Bill Clinton share a lot in common |
The author’s attitude towards the coming space weapon development is _______.
| A．optimistic | B．critical | C．excited | D．indifferent |
There are two types of people in the world. Although they have equal degree of health and wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy, the other becomes unhappy. This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds.
People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things. The pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine, the fine weather. They enjoy all the cheerful things. Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things. Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied. By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend(or hurt) many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere. If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied. The intention of criticizing and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation. It grows into a habit, unknown to its possessors. The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realize its bad effects on their interests and tastes. I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit.
Although in fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck. Those people offend many others; nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect. This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments. If they aim at getting some advantages in social position or fortune, nobody wishes them success. Nor will anyone start a step or speak a word to favor their hopes. If they bring on themselves public objections, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrongdoings. These should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others. If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact with them. Otherwise, it can be disagreeable and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels.The phrase“sour the pleasure of society” most nearly means__________.
| A．have a good taste with social life | B．make others unhappy |
| C．tend to scold others openly | D．enjoy the pleasure of life |
We can conclude from the passage that__________.
| A．people can get rid of the habit of unhappiness |
| B．such unhappy people are dangerous to social life |
| C．we should pity all such unhappy people |
| D．unhappy people can not understand happy persons |
If such unhappy persons insist on keeping the habit, the author suggests that people should ______.
| A．prevent any communication with them |
| B．show no respect and politeness to them |
| C．persuade them to recognize the bad effects |
| D．quarrel with them until they realize the mistakes |
In this passage, the writer mainly________.
| A．describes two types of people | B．laughs at the unhappy people |
| C．suggests ways to help them unhappy | D．tells people how to be happy in life |
The Taj Mahal (泰姬陵) is considered to be one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and the finest example of the late style of Indian architecture (建筑). It is at Agra in northern India. It lies beside the River Jumna in the middle of gardens with quiet pools.
The Taj Mahal was built by the Mogul emperor (皇帝) Shah Jehan, who ruled India in the seventeenth century. It is in memory of his favorite wife, Arjumand Banu Bagam, known as Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631. The building, which was completed between 1632 and 1638, was designed by a local Muslim architect (建筑师), Ustad Ahmad Lahori. The whole building, with gardens and gateway structures, was completed in 1643. The Taj Mahal stands at one end of the garden tomb with marble (大理石) path. The room is softly lighted by the light that passes through double screens of carved marble set high in the walls. The building now is kept in good condition.
The Taj Mahal took 22 years to build. Shah Jehan planned a similar building, but in black instead of white, to lie on the other side of the river. But before it could be built, Shah Jehan was imprisoned (监禁) by his son and buried next to his wife in the Taj Mahal.The Taj Mahal was built for____ .
| A．Mumtaz | B．Shah | C．Either Mumtaz or Shah | D．Both Mumtaz and Shah |
Why do you think Shah Jehan was buried next to his wife?
| A．His own tomb hadn’t been built. | B．He hoped to be buried there. |
| C．King and Queen should be buried together | D．He liked Mumtaz all his life. |
The passage mainly tells us____ .
| A．why the Taj Mahal was built |
| B．the love story between Shah and Mumtaz |
| C．some information about the Taj Mahal |
| D．the Taj Mahal—the pride of Indians |
Form the passage we can learn that____ .
| A．the Taj Mahal looks more beautiful than before . |
| B．the Taj Mahal doesn’t exist now. |
| C．the Taj Mahal has completely changed. |
| D．the Taj Mahal has become a place of interest. |
I am a writer. I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language — the way it can evoke（唤起） an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth. Language is the tool of my trade. And I use them all—all the Englishes I grew up with.
Born into a Chinese family that had recently arrived in California, I’ve been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. Like others, I have described it to people as “broken” English. But feel embarrassed to say that. It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than “broken”, as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness. I’ve heard other terms used, “limited English,” for example. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people’s perceptions（认识）of the limited English speaker.
I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mother’s “limited” English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English. I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say. That is, because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect. And I had plenty of evidence to support me: the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her.
I started writing fiction in 1985. And for reasons I won’t get into today, I began to write stories using all the Englishes I grew up with: the English she used with me, which for lack of a better term might be described as “broken”, and what I imagine to be her translation of her Chinese, her internal（内在的）language, and for that I sought to preserve the essence, but neither an English nor a Chinese structure: I wanted to catch what language ability tests can never show; her intention, her feelings, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts. By saying “Language is the tool of my trade”, the author means that ______.
| A．she uses English in foreign trade |
| B．she is fascinated by languages |
| C．she works as a translator |
| D．she is a writer by profession |
The author used to think of her mother’s English as ______.
| A．impolite | B．amusing | C．imperfect | D．practical |
Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 3?
| A．Americans do not understand broken English. |
| B．The author’s mother was not respected sometimes. |
| C．The author’ mother had positive influence on her. |
| D．Broken English always reflects imperfect thoughts. |
The author gradually realizes her mother’s English is ______.
| A．well structured | B．in the old style |
| C．easy to translate | D．rich in meaning |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．The changes of the author’s attitude to her mother’s English. |
| B．The limitation of the author’s perception of her mother. |
| C．The author’s misunderstanding of “limited” English. |
| D．The author’s experiences of using broken English. |