A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms, though my teacher emphasized(强调) the importance again and again. But soon, the importance of English idioms was shown in an amusing experience.

One day, I happened to meet an Englishman on the road, and soon we began to talk. As I was talking about how I was studying English, the foreigner seemed to be astonished. Gently shaking his head, shrugging his shoulders, he said, “You don’t say!” “You don’t say!” I was puzzled. I thought, perhaps this is not an appropriate topic(适当的话题). “Well, I’d better change the topic.” So I said to him. “Well, shall we talk about the Great Wall? By the way, have you ever been there?” “Certainly, everyone back home will laugh at me if I leave China without seeing it. It was magnificent.” He was deep in thought when I began to talk like a tourist guide. “The Great Wall is one of the wonders in the world. We are very proud of it.” Soon I was interrupted again by his words:“You don’t say!” I couldn’t help asking, “Why do you ask me not to talk about it?” “Well, I didn’t request you to do so, ” he answered, greatly surprised. I said, “Didn’t you say’ you don’t say?” Hearing this, the Englishman laughed to tears. He began to explain, ‘You don’t say’ actually means ‘really!’ It is an expression of surprise. Perhaps you don’t pay attention to English idioms.” Only then did I know I had made a fool of myself. Since then I have been more careful with idiomatic expressions. Remember: what the English teachers said is always right to us students.

A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms because _______.

A. English idioms were not important

B. I was not careful with English idioms

C. my teacher didn’t emphasize the importance of them

D. I had no interest in them

At first, on hearing “You don’t say,” I thought the foreigner meant _______.

A. he was not interested in the topic

B. he was only interested in the Great Wall

C. I had talked too much

D. I had to stop talking

The underlined word in the first paragraph probably means _______.

A. interesting  B. important

C. terrible       D. unlucky

Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. The Englishman left China without seeing the Great Wall.

B. The Englishman wanted to see the Great Wall after I talked about it.

C. The Englishman wanted me to act as his guide.

D. The Englishman visited the Great Wall and thought it worth visiting.

After the Englishman explained the idiom, _______.

A. I thought the Englishman had made me a fool

B. the Englishman became a real fool.

C. I felt very silly

D. I became more carefully in everything

Stacy had recently moved from New York City to Stoneybrook, Connecticut. It was ___1___ for her to make new friends but she finally had three when she joined the Babysitters Club to ___2___ little children whose parents were busy. Claudia, Kristy, and Mary were in her class at school and also the other ___3___ of the club. The girls met at five o’clock on Fridays and waited for the ___4___ to ring. So far they had been busy, in spite of the ___5___ that they couldn’t stay out late and were under 13.

___6___, the girls’ world was invaded(侵犯) by a second group ___7___ themselves the Babysitters Agency. They were ___8___ and the group also included a few boys. The Babysitters Club tried to think of ways to ___9___ with the older group. They could clean and work for less money, however, they ___10___ it would be difficult to compete. The shock was even greater than they had ___11___ when most of their best customers started to call the new group. They ___12___ to get only a few jobs.

To try a new ___13___ Kristy recruited(招收) a few older kids who told the club they didn’t want to ___14___ their money with the other group. The club ___15___ only too quickly that these older girls joined only as spies and didn’t ___16___ for their job assignments(分派). Thus, more parents were ___17___ with the club.

Finally, the girls realized that the ___18___ in the other group were not good babysitters. They watched television, talked on the phone, and invited boyfriends to the house ___19___ they were sitting. When the children of the families started to ___20___, and a near accident almost occurred, the club went to the parents to tell them what was happening.

1. A. active     B. thoughtful       C. easy                         D. hard

2. A. take care of    B. run into                    C. go through              D. take advantage of

3. A. children  B. members                  C. circles D. players

4. A. alarm     B. traffic C. phone D. neighbor

5. A. fact B. degree C. question     D. demand

6. A. Therefore      B. Suddenly    C. Regularly                 D. Unwillingly

7. A. attracting             B. finding       C. calling       D. matching

8. A. younger               B. cleverer      C. taller   D. older

9. A. compete B. fight   C. do      D. meet

10. A. heard    B. knew  C. promised    D. shot

11. A. damaged      B. caught C. expected     D. forced

12. A. hoped   B. liked   C. refused       D. seemed

13. A. chance  B. possibility  C. power D. policy

14. A. share    B. give    C. provide      D. mark

15. A. put down     B. paid off      C. found out   D. come through

16. A. check up      B. end up       C. look up      D. show up

17. A. satisfied       B. unhappy     C. curious       D. helpful

18. A. kids      B. adults  C. systems      D. situations

19. A. that      B. when  C. where D. how

20. A. blow    B. complain    C. appreciate   D. spread

The $ 11 billion self – help industry is built on the idea that you should turn negative thoughts like “ I never do anything right” into positive ones like “I can succeed.” But was positive thinking advocate Norman Vincent Peale right? Is there power in positive thinking?

Researchers in Canada just published a study in the journal Psychological Science that says trying to get people to think more positively can actually have the opposite effect: it can simply highlight how unhappy they are.

The study's authors, Joanne Wood and John Lee of the University of Waterloo and Elaine Perunovic of the University of New Brunswick, begin by citing older research showing that when people get feedback which they believe is overly positive, they actually feel worse, not better. If you tell your dim friend that he has the potential of an Einstein, you're just underlining his faults. In one 1990s experiment, a team including psychologist Joel Cooper of Princeton asked participants to write essays opposing funding for the disabled. When the essayists were later praised for their sympathy, they felt even worse about what they had written.

In this experiment, Wood, Lee and Perunovic measured 68 students' self-esteem. The participants were then asked to write down their thoughts and feelings for four minutes. Every 15 seconds, one group of students heard a bell. When it rang, they were supposed to tell themselves, "I am lovable."

Those with low self-esteem didn't feel better after the forced self-affirmation. In fact, their moods turned significantly darker than those of members of the control group, who weren't urged to think positive thoughts.

The paper provides support for newer forms of psychotherapy (心理治疗) that urge people to accept their negative thoughts and feelings rather than fight them. In the fighting, we not only often fail but can make things worse. Meditation (静思) techniques, in contrast, can teach people to put their shortcomings into a larger, more realistic perspective. Call it the power of negative thinking.

What do we learn from the first paragraph about the self-help industry?

       A.It is a highly profitable industry.

       B.It is based on the concept of positive thinking.

       C.It was established by Norman Vincent Peale.

       D.It has yielded positive results.

What is the finding of the Canadian researchers?

       A.Encouraging positive thinking many do more harm than good.

       B.There can be no simple therapy for psychological problems.

       C.Unhappy people cannot think positively.

       D.The power of positive thinking is limited.

What does the author mean by "you're just underlining his faults" in the third paragraph?

       A.You are not taking his mistakes seriously enough.

       B.You are pointing out the errors he has committed.

       C.You are emphasizing the fact that he is not intelligent.

       D.You are trying to make him feel better about his faults.

It can be inferred from the experiment of Wood, Lee and Perunovic that        .

       A.it is important for people to continually keep their self - esteem

       B.self – affirmation can bring a positive change to one’s mood

       C.forcing a person to think positive thoughts may lower their self - esteem

       D.people with low self – esteem seldom write down their true feelings

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