Expressions about water are mostly as common as water itself.
The expression “to be in hot water “is one of them. It is a very old expression. Hot water was used five hundred years ago to mean being in trouble . One story says it got that meaning from the custom of throwing extremely hot water down on enemies attacking a castle. That no longer happens. But we still get “in hot water”. When we are in hot water, we are in trouble. It can be any kind of trouble , serious or not so serious. A person who breaks a law can be in hot water with the police. A young boy can be in hot water with his mother if he walks in the house with dirty shoes.
“Being in deep water” is almost the same as being in hot water . When you are in deep water, you are in a difficult position. Imagine a person who cannot swim being thrown in water over his head. You are in deep water when you are facing a problem that you don’t have the ability to solve. You can be in deep water, for example , if you invest in stocks without knowing anything about the stock market.
“To keep your heads above water” is a colorful expression that means staying out of debt. A company seeks to keep its head above water during economic hard times. A man who loses his job tries to keep his head above water until he finds a new job.
“Water over the dam” is another expression about past events. It is something that is finished, and cannot be changed . The expression comes from the idea that water has floated over a dam and cannot be brought back again. When a friend is troubled by a mistake he or she has made , you might tell him or her to forget about it. You say it is water over the dam.
Another common expression “to hold water” is about the strength or weakness of an idea or opinion that you may be arguing about . It probably comes from a way of testing the condition of a container. If it can hold water, it is strong and has no holes in it. If your argument can hold water, it is strong and does not have any holes；if it does not hold water, then ,it is weak and not worth debating.
“Throwing cold water” also is an expression that deals with ideas or proposals. For example, you want to buy a new car because the old one has some problems, but your wife throws cold water on the idea because she says a new car costs too much.
64.Don’t cheat in this exam! Or you’ll____ if you’re caught cheating by the teacher.
A.be in hot water B.have to hold water
C.be in deep water D.keep your head above water
65.The expression using water in paragraph ____has almost the same meaning as “things done cannot be undone.”
A.3 B.4 C.5 D.6
66.We can see from this passage that many of the expression using water have_____meanings.
A. funny B. unpleasant C. close D. moral
67.The best title for this passage should be_______.
A.The history of the water B.Cold water or hot water
C.Water and its culture D.Expression and their stories
The need to feed a growing population is putting much pressure on the world's supply of water. With 97% of the world's water too salty to be drunk or used in agriculture, the worldwide supply of water needs careful management, especially in agriculture. Although the idea of a water shortage(短缺)seems strange to someone fortunate enough to live in a high rainfall country, many of the world's agricultural industries experience constant water shortages.
Although dams can be built to store water for agricultural use in dry areas and dry seasons, the costs of water redistribution(重新分配)are very high. Not only is there the cost of the engineering itself, but there is also an environmental cost to be considered. Where valleys(山谷)are flooded to create dams, houses are lost and wildlife homes destroyed. Besides, water may flow easily through pipes to fields, but it cannot be transported from one side of the world to the other. Each country must therefore rely on the management of its own water to supply its farming requirements.
This is particularly troubling for countries with agricultural industries in areas dependent on irrigation (灌溉). In Texas, farmers' overuse of irrigation water has resulted in a 25% reduction of the water stores. In the Central Valley area of southwestern USA, a huge water engineering project provided water for farming in dry valleys, but much of the water use has been poorly managed.
Saudi Arabia's attempts to grow wheat in desert areas have seen the pumping of huge quantities of irrigation water from underground reserves. Because there is no rainfall in these areas, such reserves can only decrease, and it is believed that fifty years of pumping will see them run dry.From the first two paragraphs we learn that________.
| A．much of the world's water is available for use |
| B．people in high rainfall countries feel lucky |
| C．water can be easily carried through pipes across the world |
| D．the costs of water redistribution should be considered |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The water stores in Texas have been reduced by 75%. |
| B．Most industries in the world suffer from water shortages. |
| C．The underground water in Saudi Arabia might run out in 50 years. |
| D．Good management of water use resulted from the project in the Central Valley. |
What is most likely to be discussed in the paragraph that follows?
| A．Steps to improving water use management. |
| B．Ways to reduce the costs of building dams. |
| C．Measures to deal with worldwide water shortages. |
| D．Approaches to handling the pressure on water supply. |
The text is mainly about________.
| A．water supply and increasing population |
| B．water use management and agriculture |
| C．water redistribution and wildlife protection |
| D．water shortages and environmental protection |
Babies are born yogis. Once we were all able to pull our toes up by our ears and laugh about it. Then we aged, got injured, and began carrying stress in our shoulders and back. In short, we lost our balance.
Yoga（瑜伽） is an ancient practice that helps create a sense of union in body, mind, and spirit. It brings us balance. I was seriously out of balance when I started practicing yoga in 1999. I had plantar fascitis in both feet, and my doctor had warned me against all the things I loved to do: walking, hiking, and playing tennis. I was desperate for exercise. Yoga became my salvation and even enhanced my other fitness activities. I practice yoga at least twice a week, but I consider yoga to be part of my daily life because after a while you no longer just practice yoga—you love it.
Yoga becomes part of your physical life. Your body grows stronger, more toned, and more flexible as you move from one pose to the other. I spent a week in Mexico at a yoga retreat, and it was the first vacation on which I lost weight. “Rather than building muscle, yoga builds muscle tone,” says Shakta Kaur Khalsa, author of the K.I.S.S. Guide to Yoga. “Because yoga helps maintain a balanced metabolism (新陈代谢), it also helps to regulate weight. Additionally, yoga stretches muscles lengthwise, causing fat to be removed around the cells.” I do yoga poses throughout the day. After hours at my computer, I stretch my stiff shoulders and arms. When I need a boost of energy, I do energizing poses. When I am feeling exhausted at the end of the day, I do restorative poses.
Yoga becomes part of your mental life. Yoga teaches you to focus on breathing while you hold the poses. This attention to breath is calming; it dissolves stress and anxiety. I use yogic breathing on the tennis courts, in the dentist’s chair, and in traffic jams. You should always leave a yoga practice feeling energized, not tired. If you feel tired after yoga, it means you spent the time “fighting” yourself, trying to force yourself into poses. In yoga, you “surrender” to the pose by letting go of the tension.
Yoga becomes part of your spiritual life. Yoga is practiced by people from all religions; it is not restricted to any religious group. Yoga teaches “right” living in how we deal with ourselves and others. As I work on a difficult pose, I learn patience, forgiveness, and the value of gentleness. Yoga advocates proper eating, but you don’t have to be a vegetarian to practice yoga.What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．What’s Yoga? | B．The Benefits of Yoga |
| C．How I Do Yoga Poses | D．The Varieties of Yoga |
According to the third paragraph, yoga can help people __________.
| A．grow taller | B．lose weight |
| C．become flexible in thinking | D．make more friends |
People feel tired after yoga because __________.
| A．they spend too much time on yoga |
| B．they respond well to yoga poses |
| C．they force themselves into yoga poses |
| D．they consume energy in practicing yoga |
If this passage continues, what will the writer most probably write about in the next paragraph?
| A．Yoga as a means to keep fit. |
| B．Different yoga poses. |
| C．Popularity of yoga all over the world. |
| D．Encouraging people to do yoga. |
Remembering names is an important social skill. Here are some ways to master it.
Recite and repeat in conversation
When you hear a person’s name, repeat it. Immediately say it to yourself several times without moving your lips .You could also repeat the name in a way that does not sound forced or artificial.
Ask the other person to recite and repeat
You can let other people help you remember their names. After you’ve been introduced to someone, ask that person to spell the name and pronounce it correctly for you. Most people will be pleased by the effort you’re making to learn their names.
Admit you don’t know
Admitting that you can’t remember someone’s name can actually make people relaxed. Most of them will feel sympathy if you say, “I’m working to remember names better. Yours is right on the tip of my tongue. What is it again？”
Use association
Link each person you meet with one thing you find interesting or unusual. For example, you could make a mental note: “Vicki Cheng-tall，black hair”. To reinforce your association, write them on a small card as soon as possible.
Limit the number of new names you learn at one time.
When meeting a group of people, concentrate on remembering just two or three names. Free yourself from remembering everyone. Few of the people in mass introductions expect you to remember their names. Another way is to limit yourself to learning just first names. Last names can come later.
Go early
Consider going early to conferences, parties and classes. Sometimes just a few people show up on time. That’s fewer names for you to remember. And as more people arrive, you can hear them being introduced to others-an automatic review for you. If you can’t remember someone’s name, you may________
| A．tell them the truth | B．tell them a white lie |
| C．ask him for pity | D．ask others to help you |
The underlined word “reinforce” mostly means “______”.
| A．get | B．simplify | C．strengthen | D．collect |
When you meet a group of people, it is better to remember______
| A．all their names | B．a couple of names first |
| C．just their last names | D．as many names as possible |
What does the text mainly tell us?
| A．How to recite and repeat names | B．Importance of attending parties |
| C．How to make use of associations | D．Tips on an important social skill |
Brenda Bongos was a happy, artistic girl. She had one big ambition—to play the drums in a band. But one big obstacle lay in her way. To be good enough to play in a band, Brenda had to practice a lot, but she lived next-door to a lot of old people. Many of them are sick. She knew that the sound of beating drums would really get on their nerves. So, she had tried playing in the strangest places: a basement, a kitchen, and even in a shower. But there was always someone it would annoy.
One day, while watching a science documentary on TV, she heard that sound cannot travel in space, because there's no air. At that moment, Brenda Bongos decided to become a sort of musical astronaut.
With the help of a lot of time, books and work, Brenda built a space bubble. This was a big glass ball connected to a machine which sucked out all the air inside. All that would be left inside was a drum kit (成套设备)and a chair. Brenda got into the space suit she had made, entered the bubble, turned on the machine, and played those drums like a wild child.
It wasn't long before Brenda Bongos came very famous. Many people came to see her play in her space bubble. Shortly afterwards she came out of the bubble and started giving concerts. Her fame spread so much that the government suggested that she be part of a unique space journey. Finally, Brenda was a real musical astronaut, and had gone far beyond her first ambition of playing drums in a band.
Years later, when asked how she had achieved all this, she thought for a moment, and said: "If those old people next - door hadn't mattered so much to me, I wouldn't have found a solution, and none of this would have ever happened."Why did Brenda try to play in the strangest places?
| A．Because she didn't mean to disturb others. |
| B．Because she didn't want others to hear her play. |
| C．Because she didn't have her own room. |
| D．Because she didn’t like her neighbors. |
Brenda started to give concerts _______.
| A．when people came to see her in the space bubble |
| B．when she became part of the unique space journey |
| C．after she became a real musical astronaut |
| D．after she practiced in her space bubble |
Brenda became famous because _______.
| A．she was good at music and science |
| B．she invented a special way of practice |
| C．she became a real musical astronaut |
| D．she played well and had a talent |
Which of the following can be used to describe Brenda?
| A．Lovely, brave and kind. |
| B．Brave, kind and hardworking. |
| C．Kind, hardworking and clever. |
| D．Nervous, kind and clever. |
As they migrate (迁移), butterflies and moths choose the winds they want to fly with, and they change their body positions if they start floating in the wrong direction. This new finding suggests that insects may employ some of the same methods that birds use for traveling long distances. Scientists have long thought that insects were simply at the mercy of the wind.
Fascinating as their skills of flight are, migrating behavior has been difficult to study in insects because many long distant trips happen thousands of feet above ground. Only recently have scientists developed technologies that can detect (测出) such little creatures at such great heights.
To their surprise, though, the insects weren’t passive travelers on the winds. In autumn, for example, most light winds blew from the east, but the insects somehow sought out ones that carried them south and they positioned themselves to navigate directly to their wintering homes.
Even in the spring, when most winds flowed northward, the insects didn’t always go with the flow. If breezes weren’t blowing in the exact direction they wanted to go, the insects changed their body positions to compensate (补偿). Many migrating birds do the same thing.
The study also found, butterflies and moths actively flew within the air streams that pushed them along. By adding flight speeds to wind speeds, the scientists calculated that butterflies and moths can travel as fast as 100 kilometers an hour. The findings may have real-world applications. With climate warming, migrating insects are growing in number. Knowing how and when these pests move could help when farmers decide when to spray their crops. What’s the main idea of the text?
| A．Insects migrate with the seasons． |
| B．Wind helps insects greatly in migrating． |
| C．Windsurfing insects have real direction． |
| D．Scientists have trouble in observing insects． |
Scientists originally thought that ________．
| A．insects always waited for their favorable winds |
| B．insects chose the winds they wanted to ride |
| C．insects were just blown about by the wind |
| D．insects positioned themselves in the winds |
It is not easy to study the migrating behavior of the insects because ________．
| A．the little creatures can fly very fast |
| B．they have no regular migrating courses |
| C．the wind’s direction is hard to foresee |
| D．their flight is long and high above ground |
We can learn from the text that _________．
| A．insects fly in the way birds do |
| B．insects travel more easily in autumn |
| C．insects never position themselves when flying low |
| D．insects rest a lot when the wind pushes them along |
According to the passage, the findings can__________．
| A．increase insects in number | B．instruct farmers when to spray |
| C．prevent climate warming | D．help protect insects |
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