I was asked in an email about learning idioms in a foreign language.Maybe I am different from most people，but I do not bother with them.To me they are kind of dessert of language learning.They come at the end of a meal.Once you have filled up with the solid fare—the key words and phrases that are used in a variety of situations，then you can add a few idioms to spice up things.And by that time you will be able to pick them up naturally anyway.

I find that many learners have an obsession(困扰) with slang and idioms，as if repeating some very colloquial expressions is going to upgrade how they sound in a language.In fact it is the opposite.Idioms are difficult to use correctly.They can easily sound very strange coming from someone who obviously does not have a good sense of the language.

Yes，occasionally you hear idioms or slang and do not understand.But，in my experience，there are always situations where you do not understand.It is best to focus on the most important words，what they mean and how they are used.Certainly，it is best for a non?native speaker to stick to standard speech.

Some teachers even try to teach the “real language”．Then you hear non?native speakers saying things like “I gonna” ，“You wanna” etc.I just cringe(厌烦)．

You will learn all the idioms you need just by exposing yourself to the language.In general，you can save any phrase that you find interesting，and if that includes idioms，go to it.But I would not make any special effort to go after idioms.I，in fact，avoid them.If I come across something in Russian that strikes me as a particularly slangy or idiomatic use of words，I just leave it aside; do not even bother trying to learn it.If it keeps on appearing，then I will learn it.But I would certainly be reluctant(勉强的) to try to use it.

1．In the writer's opinion，when one learns a new language，one should learn its idioms ________.

A．at the beginning　　 B．on one's own

C．in the end　　　 　　 D．without help

2．The underlined word “colloquial” in Para.2 means “________”．

A．oral 　　　　　 B．informal

C．formal　 　　　　 D．written

3．It can be inferred from the passage that________.

A．idioms are the most important part in a language

B．the writer is not very willing to use idioms

C．non?native speakers should learn more idioms

D．there are no ways to master idioms

4．Which of the following is the best title of the passage?

A．It's better to avoid idioms in a language

B．Idioms are very charming in a language

C．How to learn idioms in a language

D．Why it's difficult to use idioms in a language

5．How did the writer develop the passage?

A．By inferring.

B．By comparing.

C．By listing examples.

D．By giving explanations.

Idioms are phrases and sentences that do not mean exactly what they say. Even if you know the meaning of each word you see or hear, you may not understand the idiom because you don't understand the culture behind it.
　　 For example, if an American boy asks his mother what's for dinner tomorrow, she may say "I'll play it by ear", that means she doesn't have plans for dinner and she will decide later. "Play by ear" used to mean playing music using the sheet music, but now people often use it when they're not talking about music.
　　 There're many idioms in English. If you learn to use them, your English will be more vivid and colorful. English idioms are more common in spoken English. They can be difficult to remember sometimes. Next time when you hear somebody saying to you, "Give me a hand", you don't necessarily stretch out your hand to him/her, but you do need to be helpful. And when the situation is out of hand, you usually can do very little to manage all that. What about a green hand? It's not about the color of your hand! You're a green hand when you are very new at your work and don't have much experience. If you and your partner always work together hand in glove, you two definitely work together very well.
　　 Can you guess the meanings of some common English idioms to do with parts of your body?
【小题1】An idiom is _______.

　　The city of Venice, in Italy, is one of a kind. It is built on more than 120 islands, just off the coast. The islands are small and close together. The waterways between them are used as streets. They are called canals.

　　In this watery world, people use boats to get from place to place. Gondolas to place, small boats that are moved with one oar（桨）, were once the only boats used in the canals. But today motorboats make getting around faster; there are still lots of gondolas, though. Many visitors go to Venice all the year round. And they like to ride in the old-style（老式）boats.

　　If you aren't going far in this city, it's easier to go on foot. There are hundreds of narrow footpaths. About 100 low bridges connect the footpaths and islands. But these bridges cause problems for the boaters. When the sea tide（潮）is high, the canal water rises. People in the boats must duck to fit under bridges.

(1)After reading the first paragraph, we can come to the conclusion that ________.

[　　]

A．all the buildings in Venice are help up（抬高）on seawater

B．there's no land in the city of Venice

C．the streets in Venice are all lined with waterways

D．nobody can be seen walking in the streets of Venice

(2)It is clear that ________.

[　　]

A．all the Venetian people ride in boats with one oar to get from place to place

B．gondolas are the only boats used in the canals

C．the ways of getting round in Venice are different from those in any other city

D．motorboats have taken the place of gondolas in Venice now

(3)Which of the following statements shows no difference between itself and the passage? ________

[　　]

A．All the Venetian people like to ride in the old-style boats.

B．Neither cars nor buses are used in Venice.

C．Citizens in Venice don't walk much.

D．Gondolas rides are much more expensive.

(4)Which of the following statements leads us to the conclusion that traveling around Venice by gondolas can be slow? ________

[　　]

A．Gondolas, small boats that are moved with one oar, were once the only boats used in the canals.

B．But today, motorboats make getting around faster.

C．But these bridges cause problems for the boaters.

D．People in the boats must duck to fit under bridges.

(5)The word“duck”in the last sentence means ________.

[　　]

A．bend one's head in order not to be hit

B．go quickly under water for a short time

C．swim as a duck does

D．dive suddenly like a duck

As you are probably aware, the latest job markets news isn’t good: Unemployment is still more than 9 percent, and new job growth has fallen close to zero. That’s bad for the economy, of course. And it may be especially discouraging if you happen to be looking for a job or hoping to change careers right now. But it actually shouldn’t matter to you nearly as much as you think.

　　That’s because job growth numbers don’t matter to job hunters as much as job turnover data. After all, existing jobs open up every day due to promotions, resignations, terminations, and retirements. (Yes, people are retiring even in this economy.) In both good times and bad, turnover creates more openings than economic growth does. Even in June of 2007, when the economy was still humming along, job growth was only 132,000, while turnover was 4.7 million!

　　And as it turns out, even today — with job growth near zero — over 4 million job hunters are being hired every month.

　　I don’t mean to imply that overall job growth doesn’t have an impact on one’s ability to land a job. It’s true that if total employment were higher, it would mean more jobs for all of us to choose from (and compete for). And it’s true that there are currently more people applying for each available job opening, regardless of whether it’s a new one or not.

　　But what often distinguishes those who land jobs from those who don’t is their ability to stay motivated. They’re willing to do the hard work of identifying their valuable skills; be creative about where and how to look; learn how to present themselves to potential employers; and keep going, even after repeated rejections. The Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that 2.7 million people who wanted and were available for work hadn’t looked within the last four weeks and were no longer even classified as unemployed.

　　So don’t let the headlines fool you into giving up. Four million people get hired every month in the U.S. You can be one of them.

1.The author tends to believe that high unemployment rate ______?

A.deprives many people of job opportunities.

B.prevents many people from changing careers.

C.should not stop people from looking for a job.

D.does not mean the U.S. economy is worsening.

2.Where do most job openings come from?

A.Job growth

B.Job turnover

C.Improved economy

D.Business expansion

3.What does the author say about overall job growth?

A.It doesn’t have much effect on individual job seekers.

B.It increases people’s confidence in the economy.

C.It gives a ray of hope to the unemployed.

D.It doesn’t mean greater job security for the employed.

4.What is the key to landing a job according to the author?

A.Education

B.Intelligence

C.Persistence

D.Experience

5.What do we learn from the passage about the unemployment figures in the US?

A.They clearly indicate how healthy the economy is.

B.They provide the public with the latest information.

C.They warn of the structural problems in the economy.

D.They exclude those who have stopped looking for a job.

　Many people believe the glare（炫目的光）from snow causes snowblindness. Yet, with dark glasses or not, they find themselves suffering from headaches and watering eyes, and even snowblindness ,when exposed to several hours of“ snow light”.

　　The United States army has now determined that glare from snow does not cause snowblindness in troops in a snow -covered country. Rather ,a man’s eyes frequently find nothing to focus on （聚集） in a broad space of snow- covered without- grass land. So his gaze continually moves and jumps back and forth over the entire landscape in search of something to look at. Finding something, hour after hour, the eyes never stop searching and the eyeballs become tired and the eye muscles ache. Nature makes up for this discomfort by producing more and more fluid （流 体） which covers the eyeball. The fluid covers the eyeball in increasing quantity until it makes eyes difficult to see dearly, and the result is total, even though for a short time, snowblindness.

　　Experiments led the Army to a simple method of overcoming this problem. Scouts（侦察兵）ahead of the troops are trained to shake snow from evergreen bushes, creating a dotted line as they cross completely snow - covered landscape. Even the scouts themselves throw lightweight, dark - colored objects ahead on which they can focus too. The men following can then see something. Their gaze is arrested. Their eyes focus on a bush and having found something to see, stop searching the snow -blanketed landscape. By focusing their attention on one object at a time. the men can cross the snow without becoming hopelessly snowblind or lost. In this way the problem of crossing a continuous white land is overcome.

To prevent snowblindness caused by the strong light from snow, wearing glasses or not ________.

　　A. depends on whether the snow is white enough

　　B. makes no difference

　　C. makes much difference

　　D. depends on whether the snow is thick

When the eyes are tired, tears flow out ________.

　　A. to clear the vision

　　B. to make the eyes stop searching

　　C. to make the vision unclear

　　D. to produce more and more liquid

Snowblindness can be avoided ________.

　　A. by moving one’s gaze back and forth

　　B. by walking ahead and keeping looking around

　　C. by making up for the discomfort of one’s eyes

　　D. by providing the eyes with something to focus on