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.
【小题1】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 : “______”.

FOR many young people, having to attend school with a parent would be their worst nightmare. However, Senior 1 student Li Qinmei is happy taking her father with her as long as she can go to classes. He is disabled and unable to take care of himself.
The 16-year-old country girl in Zhucheng, Shandong Province has experienced one disaster after another in her short life. Li lost her mother at three. Four years later, her father became paralyzed after a tractor accident. At 12, her misfortune returned with the death of her grandma. Since then she has been forced to shoulder all the responsibility for her broken family.
Li learnt to cook and managed to live a life with an allowance of only 24 yuan per month. The most difficult thing she had to deal with was helping her father bathe, dress and use the toilet as he could hardly move.
"I felt embarrassed, and so did my dad. It was really hard at the beginning," she recalled.
During most of her junior school years, Li went to classes only once a month as her father was seriously ill at the time.
"I taught myself at home and asked teachers for help on my school days," she explained.
Li's hard work paid off this fall. She was admitted by Zhucheng No 1 High School, a local key school, based on her good performance in the entrance exams.
The school offered Li and her father a room on campus to live in so she could look after him during breaks.
Once in a while, Li felt sad when she saw her classmates going shopping or hanging out with friends.
"I envy them sometimes because they have both mum and dad to look after them. However, I soon feel relieved as I still have my dad with me," she said.
Li admitted that the difficulties in life had taught her to be strong.
"I believe I will go on and continue my studies at a good university," she said, in a confident tone.
Her teacher Mr. Wang has the same belief. Li made great progress in the recent monthly exams. "She works hard and is always eager to excel (好强的). It's not easy for her never to be late for school, but she has managed to make it work," Wang said.
【小题1】Li Qinmei has to shoulder the family because ________.

此题要求改正所给句子中的错误。下列个句黑体部分中都有且只有一个错误，并按下列情况改正：

此句多一个词：把多余的词用斜线（ \ ）划掉，在该行右边横线上写出该词，并也用斜线划掉。

此句 缺一个：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（ ^ ）在该行右边横线上写出该加的词。

此句错一个词：在错的词下划一横线，在该行右边横线上写出改正后的词。

完全正确的句子：在该行右边横线上打钩

Mr. Wang is my physics teacher. He has 1.75 meters                

1.______ 

in the height. He was born on November 4,1952. So               

2.______ 

he is a middle-aged man. He graduated Qinghua                  

3.______ 

University in 1978. After graduation, he becomes a middle        

4._____ 

school teacher. He has been teaching physics for more than 20 year.   

5.______ 

He is very successful as a teacher. He has been given a            

6.______ 

lot of honors. I not only is a good teacher in                       

7.______ 

physics but also speaks English and Russian very good.              

8.______ 

In his spare time, he likes reading books, collect stamps             

9.______ 

and listening music. Also, Mr. Smith is kind-hearted.                 

10.______ 

Mr. Wang decided to devote all his time_______ his spoken English before going abroad.

-- Do you know______ famous novelist, Mr. Wang in your school?
--- I do know______ Mr. Wang in our school, but not that one.