A year ago，I paid no attention to English idioms (习语), though my teacher told us 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 surprised. 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 a right topic. “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 wonderful.” 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 (打断) 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 ask 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.” I realized 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.
【小题1】A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms because       .

A man came home from work late, tired, to find his 5-year-old son waiting for him at the door.
“Daddy, how much money do you make each hour?”
“If you must know, I make $20 each hour.”
“Oh,” the little boy answered, with his head down. He thought for a moment, looked up and said, “Daddy, could you lend me $10?”
The father was furious, “If you asked for the money to buy a toy or some other rubbish, then go straight to your room and think about why are you so selfish (自私)！”
The little boy went to his room with no words and shut the door. After a short while, the father calmed down, and started to think, “Maybe he really needs to buy something and he didn’t really ask for money very often.” So he went to the little boy’s room.
“Sorry！Maybe I was too strict with you just now.” said the man, “Here’s $10.”
“Oh, thank you Daddy!” he said happily. Then the boy took out some coins. When the father found that the boy already had money, he got angry again.
“Why do you want more money since you already have some?” the father shouted angrily.
“Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do.” The little boy replied, “Daddy, I have $20 now. Can I buy one hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.”
【小题1】How much does the boy’s father make one hour?

A student newspaper reports that most students go to sleep at 1:30 am. Even if that’s an overstatement (夸张), it’s close to the truth. Scientists say teens should sleep nine hours each night. But that’s hard. Some are even “pulling all-nighters” (开夜车). These students must hand in their homework the next day but they haven’t done it. In the morning they don’t look healthy and you can tell who’s been doing it. One of my classmates did a survey on the topic. She found that most kids pull all-nighters to finish homework, but some do it for other reasons, such as playing computer games!
Maybe our lack(缺乏) of sleep is because of laziness — I think I’m a rather lazy student — or maybe it’s because we have too much to do in American high schools. I usually go to bed around midnight. If I stayed up past 1:30 am, I wouldn’t get any work done. I’d be falling asleep at my computer. My classes begin at 7:30 am. I’m partly awake in my first class. By the second, I’m a little sleepy. By my third class, I’m sleepy. By midday I’m finally fully awake. But by 3:00 pm, I’m slowing down again. Yet I get more sleep than usual students.
Most American high schools seem to have a similar(相似的) problem with sleepy students. High school classes start at 7:30 am, so students have to get up one and a half hours before that to get ready and catch the bus. It’s believed that lack of sleep can be bad for both grades and health. Some schools are paying attention. Classes in those schools start at 8:30 am.
【小题1】What does the underlined sentence “it’s close to the truth” mean?

A man came back home from work late, he was tired And he was surprised to find his ten-year-old son waiting for him at the door.
"Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?"
"If you want to know, I make $20 an hour."
"Oh,"the little boy answered, with his head down. He thought for a moment, looked up and said, “Daddy, could you lend me $10?"
The father was furious, "If you asked for money to buy a toy or some other rubbish, then go straight to your room and think why you are being so selfish !"
The little boy quietly went to his room and closed the door. After about an hour, the father calmed down, and started to think, "Maybe he really needs to buy something and he didn’t ask for money very often."So he went to the little boy’s room.
"Sorry! Maybe I was too hard on you just now," said the man. "Here’s $10."
"Oh, thank you, Daddy!"the boy said happily. Then, the boy took out some coins. When the father found that the boy already had some money, he got angry again.
"Why do you want more money after you already have some?" the father shouted angrily.
"Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do," the little boy answered, "Daddy, I have $20 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."
【小题1】How much does the man make if he works an hour?