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 somewhat like being in hot water. When you are in deep water, you are in a difficult position. Imagine a person who can not 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 head 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 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.

60. Don’t cheat in this exam! Or you’ll      if you are caught cheating by the teacher.

A. be in hot wate                  B. have to hold water

C . be in deep water                 D. keep your head above water

61.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

62. We can see from this passage that many of the expressions using water have         meanings.

A. double   B. unpleasant   C . close   D. moral

63.The best title for this passage should be         .

A. The history of water         B. Cold water or hot water

C . Water and it culture         D. Expressions concerning water

It always takes me not so long to shop because I like to go directly to ______ I want to buy.

Expressions about water are almost as common as water itself. But many of the expressions using water have unpleasant meanings.

The expression “to be in hot water" is one of them. It is a very old expression. “Hot water” was used 500 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 do not have the ability to solve. The problem is too deep. You can be in deep water, for example, if you invest in stocks without knowing anything about the stock market.

“To keep your head 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 a past event. It is something that is finished. It cannot be changed. The expression comes from the idea that water that has flowed over a dam cannot be brought back again.

1.Which of the following two expressions have almost the same meaning?

A．To be in hot water；To be in deep water.

B．To be in hot water；To keep your head above water.

C．To be in deep water；Water over the dam.

D．Water over the dam；To be in hot water.

2.If a person tries to keep his head out of water，we can say that       .

A．he is in danger of losing his life

B．he is trying to pay off his debt

C．he is trying to keep his promise

D．he is trying not to get into debt

3.What can you infer from the passage?

A．“To be in hot water” can only be used to mention serious trouble.

B．“Water over the dam” is an expression about a future event.

C．Water could be used in the war in the past.

D．All of the expressions using water have unpleasant meanings.

4.This passage is written mainly to tell us        .

A．the use of water

B．how to use some expressions about water

C．expressions about water and their meanings

D．expressions with negative meaning

第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A

He was a funny—looking man with a cheerful face，good—natured and a great talker．He was described by his student，the great philosopher Plato，as“the best and most just and wisest man”．Yet this same man was sentenced to death for his belief．

The man was the Greek philosopher，Socrates．He was sentenced for not believing in the recognized gods and for corrupting young people．The second charge arose from his association with many young men, who came to Athens from all over the civilized world to study under him．

Socrates’ method of teaching was to ask questions and, by pretending not to know the answers，to press his students into thinking for themselves．His teaching had great influence on all the Greek and Roman schools of philosophy．Yet, for all his fame and influence, Socrates himself never wrote a word．

Socrates encouraged new ideas and thinking in the young, and this was frightening to the people who held traditional views．They wanted him silenced．Yet, many were probably surprised that he accepted death so readily．

Socrates had right to ask for less punishment, and he probably could have won over enough of the people who had sentenced him before．But Socrates, as a firm believer in law, reasoned that it was proper to accept the death sentence．So, he calmly accepted his fate and drank accept of poison in the presence of his sorrow-stricken friends and students．

56．Which of the following statements does NOT agree with the passage?

A．Socrates had a strong character．

B．young people in those days admired Socrates very much．

C．Socrates’ teaching methods had little influence on schools of philosophy．

D．Socrates attached importance to the development of his, students creative thinking．

57．Socrates was sentenced to death because    ．

A．he did not respect law                                 B．he was a philosopher

C．he published philosophical articles                D．his beliefs were not accepted

58．By mentioning that Socrates himself never wrote anything，the author implies that    ．

A．Socrates was different from many other philosophers

B．Socrates was not so learned as people thought

C．Socrates used the works of his students in teaching

D．the government forbad publishing Socrates’ works

59．Socrates accepted the death sentence to show    ．

A．his determination to fight against the rulers to the end

B．his recognition of the legal system

C．that he looked down upon the lawmakers

D．how brave he was

—Does Bill do his new job well?

— ________ his old job. I'm afraid there's no hope for him.