Proverbs(谚语) are quite common in spoken English. We do not normally put them in a composition or letter. Sometimes it is helpful if you know what common proverbs mean. Here are a few examples:
Once bitten, twice shy. If a dog bites me, I shall be twice as careful in future when I see it. This proverb is also used to apply to many things and not only to dogs. If you have been cheated at a shop, you will not go to the same shop again.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. If I am a hunter, trying to catch birds, it is better to catch one bird than to see two birds in a bush but not be able to catch them. Thus this means that what you have already got is better than the chance of being able to get something bigger in the future.
Too many cooks spoil the broth(soup). When too many people do something together, they get in each other’s way and cannot do a good job.
To pour oil on troubled waters Is to try to calm things down. Oil is lighter than water. If a ship is in trouble at sea, another ship may come to help it. The second ship can send small boats to rescue people. However, it may first pour oil on the sea to make the sea less rough.
Don't be a dog in a manger(马槽). Means “ Don’t be selfish.” In a stable(马厩), the manger is the place where the horse’s food is put. Sometimes a dog will sleep in the manger and bard when a horse comes to get its food. The dog does not want to eat the hay in the manger but it will not let the horse eat it.
He’s sitting on the fence. Means that somebody will not say whether he is in favour of a plan or against it. He is sitting on a fence between two opposing sides, perhaps waiting to see which side will win.
He who pays the piper calls the tune. A piper is a musician . The man who employs or pays a musician can say what tunes the man will play. Thus this means that if a man provides the money for a plan, he can say how it will be carried out.
You can’t get blood out of a stone means that you can’t get something out of a person who has not got any of the things you want. For example, you cannot get a million dollars from a poor man.Peter had a bicycle which was much too small for him but he did not want to let his younger brother ride on it. His mother was angry and said to him : “______”.
| A．You cannot get blood out of a stone | B．Don’t be a dog in a manger |
| C．The early bird gets the worm | D．Don’t be a horse in the manger |
Mr Wang paid for a new school. Some people did not like the design of the school but they did not argue with Mr Wang because ________.
| A．he was sitting on the fence | B．once bitten, twice shy |
| C．he who pays the piper calls the tune | D．a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush |
Mrs Chen wanted to buy a new dress. Her husband suggested that she buy it from a shop near their home. Mrs Chen disagreed because she had been cheated by that shop. Then she said: “ I won’t go there again because___.”
| A．a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush | B．I am sitting on the fence |
| C．Once bitten, twice shy | D．too man cooks spoil the broth |
Mr brown had quite a good job in Hong Kong but he thought that if he went to Singapore he might get a much better job with more money and a large house. His wife did not want him to leave his job in Hong Kong and she warned him that _____.
| A．a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush | B．too many cooks spoil the broth |
| C．you cannot get blood out of a stone | D．he who pays the piper calls the tune |
In kindergarten your idea of a good friend was the person who let you have the red crayon when all that were left were the ugly black ones.
In third grade your idea of a good friend was the person who shared his or her lunch with you when you forgot yours on the bus.
In eighth grade your idea of a good friend was the person who helped you pack up your childhood stuff so that your room would be a “middle school student’s” room, but didn’t laugh at you when you finished and broke out into tears.
In eleventh grade your idea of a good friend was the person who came to comfort you when you broke up with someone.
In the twelfth grade your idea of a good friend was the person who helped you pick out a university, assured you that you would get into that university and helped you deal with your parents, who were having a hard time to adjust to letting you go.
At graduation your idea of a good friend was the person who was crying on the inside but managed the biggest smile one could give as they congratulated you.
Now , your idea of a good friend is still the person who gives you the better of the two choices; holds your hand when you are scared; thinks of you when you are not there; reminds you of what you have forgotten; helps you put the past behind you, but understands when you need to hold on to it a little longer; stays with you so that you have confidence; goes out of their way to make time for you; helps you clear up your mistakes; helps you deal with pressure from others; smiles for you when you sad; helps you become a better person; and ______, loves you!
Thank you for being a friend. No matter where we go or who we become, never forget who helped us get here.What is the best title of the passage? (please answer within 10 words)
_________________________________________________________________________Translate the underlined sentence in the passage into Chinese.
__________________________________________________________________________Please fill in the blank with proper words or phrases to complete the sentence. (please answer within 10 words)
____________________________________________________________________________Please find out the sentence which can be replaced by the following one.
We will remember those who have helped us when we are in need of great help.
____________________________________________________________________________By reading the passage, what kind of friend do you think is a good one?(please answer within 30 words.)
____________________________________________________________________________
In the traditional marriage, the man worked at a job to earn money for the family. Most men worked in an office, a factory, or some other place away from the home. Since the man earned the money, they paid the bills. The money was used for food, clothes, the house, and other family needs, the man made most of the decisions. He was the boss.
In the traditional marriage, the woman seldom worked away from the house. She stayed at home to care for the children and her husband. She cooked meals, cleaned the house, washed the clothes, and did other housework. Her job at home was very important.
In recent years, many couples continues to have a traditional relationship of the kind of man who has a job and earns the money for the family. The woman stays at home and cares for the children and the house. Many American are happy with the kind of marriage. But some other Americans have a different impression of marriage and family responsibilities
There are two important differences in male and female roles now. One is that both men and women have to stay at home. Both men and women may choose roles that are comfortable for them.
The second difference in male and female roles is that within marriage many decisions and responsibilities are shared. The husband and wife may choose to have children, or they may not. If they have children, the man takes care of them some of the time, all of the time or not at all. The woman may want to stay at home and take care of the children, or she may want to go to work. Men and women now decide these things together in a marriage. Many married people now share these decisions and responsibilities of their families.Which of the following is NOT true in the traditional marriage?
| A．Men worked at a job to earn money for the family. |
| B．The woman made most of the decisions. |
| C．The woman stayed at home to care for the children. |
| D．The man paid the bills. |
In recent years_______.
A young couples refuse the traditional relationship
B. the woman has a job and earns the money for the family
C. the woman doesn’t stay at home and care for the children and the house
D. the role of men and women has begun to changeMen and women may now choose all the following except to _______.
| A．marry or to stay single |
| B．work or stay at home |
| C．leave their job just because they have children |
| D．have their roles that are comfortable for them |
The followings are all now true except ______.
| A．they may choose to have children or not |
| B．the man may take care of the children some of the time |
| C．the woman is the most important person in the house |
| D．the woman may want to go to work |
A child who has once been pleased with a tale likes, as a rule, to have it retold in almost the same words, but this should not lead parents to treat printed fairly stories as formal texts. It is always much better to tell a story than read it out of a book, and if a parent can produce what, in the actual situation of the time and the child, is an improvement on the printed text, so much the better.
A charge made against fairy tales is that they harm the child by frightening him or making him sad thinking. To prove the latter, one would have to show in a controlled experiment that children who have read fairy stories were more often sorry for cruelty than those who had not. As to fears, there are, in think, some cases of children being dangerously terrified by some fairy story. Often, however, this arises from the child having heard the story once. Familiarity with the story by repetition turns the pain of fear into the pleasure of a fear faces and mastered.
There are also people who object to fairy stories on the grounds that they are not objectively true, that giants, witches, two-headed dragons, magic carpets, etc. do not exist; and that , instead of being fond of the strange side in fairy tales, the child should be taught to learn the reality by studying history. I find such people, I must say so peculiar that I do not know how to argue with them. If their case were sound, the world should be full of mad men attempting to fly from New York to Philadelphia on a stick or covering a telephone with kisses in the belief that it was their beloved girlfriend.
No fairy story ever declared to be a description of the real world and no clever child has ever believed that it wasThe author considers that a fairy story is more effective when it is_______
| A．repeated without any change |
| B．treated as a joke |
| C．make some changes by the parents |
| D．set in the present |
According to the passage, great fear can take place in a child when the story is ______.
| A．in a realistic setting |
| B．heard for the first time |
| C．repeated too often |
| D．told in a different way |
The advantage claimed(提出)for repeating fairy stories to young children is that it ______.
| A．makes them less fearful |
| B．develops their power of memory |
| C．makes them believe there is nothing to be afraid of |
| D．encourages them not to have strange beliefs |
The author’s mention of sticks and telephones is meant to suggest that _______.
| A．fairy stories are still being made up |
| B．there is some misunderstanding about fairy tales |
| C．people try to modernize old fairy stories |
| D．there is more concern for children’s fears nowadays |
One of the reasons why some people are not in favor of fairy tales is that ______.
| A．they are full of imagination |
| B．they just make up the stories which are far from the truth |
| C．they are not interesting |
| D．they make teachers of history difficult to teach |
Henry Ford was the first person to build cars which were cheap，strong and fast．He was able to se11 millions of models because be could produce them in large numbers at a time；that is，he made a great many cars of exactly the same kind．Ford’s father hoped that his son would be come a farmer，but the young man did not like the idea and he went to Detroit（底特律）where he worked as a mechanic（机械师）．By the age of 29，in 1892，he had built his first car．However，the car made in this way，the famous “Model T” did not appear until 1908-five years after Ford bad started his great motor car factory．This car showed to be well-known that it remained unchanged for twenty year．Since Ford’s time，this way of producing cars in large numbers has be come common in industry and has reduced the price of many goods which would otherwise be very expensive．Henry Ford was the man to built _____ cars．
| A．cheap and strong | B．cheap and long |
| C．fast and expensive | D．strong and slow |
Ford was able to sell millions of cars，because_____．
| A．he made many greet cars |
| B．his cars are many |
| C．he made lots of cars of the same kind |
| D．both A and B |
The young man became a mechanic，_______．
| A．which was his father’s will |
| B．which was against his own will |
| C．which was against his father’s will |
| D．which was the will of both |
The “Model T” was very famous_____．
| A．before 1908 | B．between 1982 and 1908 |
| C．before 1892 | D．after 1908 |
Ford built his own car factory
| A．in 1903 | B．in 1908 | C．in 1913 | D．in 1897 |
One day a student went to see his teacher. He had been given an important position and now was coming to say goodbye to his teacher. The old man asked him how he would live among high officials. The student answered, “ I will be all right. I have prepared a hundred high hats, one for each official I will meet. I am sure I will succeed.” The teacher got angry on hearing this. “What?” he cried. “Is this what ten years of my teaching has made of you? Nothing but flatterer(拍马屁的人)?” “Excuse me, honored(尊敬的) master,” the student rose to his feet and apologized hurriedly. “But you have always been absorbed in your studies and don’t know how vulgar(庸俗的) the world has come to be. There are few men in the world who are above flatterers like you.” “There is something true in what you said,” the teacher nodded, smiling with one of the student’s “high hats” on.The student came to say goodbye to his teacher because_____________.
| A．he had got hundred hats to sell |
| B．he had got a fairly high position in society |
| C．he wanted to see his parents in his home town |
| D．he moved away to another city |
The student would live among high officials by___________.
| A．selling hats to them | B．making a hundred hats for them |
| C．flattering them | D．serving them |
The teacher was angry with__________.
| A．himself | B．the society | C．his student | D．high officials |
The phrase “rose to his feet” means________.
| A．stood up | B．kicked with his feet |
| C．became quite excited | D．raised his feet |
The teacher____________.
| A．liked to be flattered as well |
| B．really knew nothing about the vulgar world |
| C．was in need of a high hat |
| D．was satisfied with the new hat |