Learning English grammar and English vocabulary can be hard enough, but trying to understand English sayings can be more difficult. Some are just hard to figure out and others don’t make any sense at all. Here are four funny English sayings that you can use every day.

I’m happy as a clam(蛤).

Think of a clam. It doesn’t have to do anything. It just sits on a beach or on the bottom of the ocean all day doing nothing. It never has to work. That sounds like happiness, doesn’t it? If someone asks, “How are you today?” you can answer “I am happy as a clam” to let him or her know what a great mood you are in.

I wouldn’t touch that (or him/her) with a ten-foot pole.

Maybe there is a person who you don’t want to be friends with or even talk to. Well, this saying means that you dislike him or her so much that you don’t want to touch or go near him or her, even within ten feet!

You don’t have a leg to stand on.

?? This saying doesn’t mean that the person you’re talking to has no legs. It means that his or her argument is incorrect. He or she doesn’t have a leg to stand on because he or she has no facts to support what he or she is saying. This saying is a good way to tell people that you think they’re wrong.

??? Break a leg!

??? This saying actually means the opposite of what it sounds like. If you tell this to a person, you’re wishing him or her good luck！The saying comes from a superstition(迷信) that whatever you say aloud, the opposite will come true.

1.The first paragraph mainly tells us____________________.

A.learning English grammar is hard

B.learning English vocabulary is hard

C.we should use English sayings every day

D.it can be harder to understand English sayings

2.Which of the following is TRUE about a clam?

A.It can be used to show happiness.????? B.It needs to do many things.

C.It needs to eat a lot.???????????????? D.It can only live on the beach.

3.The saying “I wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole” means___________.

A.I hate him.????????????????????? B.I want him to be my friend.

C.I like him.?????????????????????? D.I want to argue with him.

4.We can learn from the passage that______________________.

A.the saying “You don’t have a leg to stand on” means someone loses his legs

B.the saying “Break a leg” means someone hurts his or her leg

C.if we say “Break a leg” to someone, we give him or her a good wish

D.if we say “I am ill” aloud, we will become healthy

Some time ago I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn't think there would be any difficulty in getting it repaired, as there are a lot of antique (古董) shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception（接待）． I was quite wrong. The man wouldn't even look at my chair.

    The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth -- so I decided that my approach must be wrong.

    I entered the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, "Would you like to buy a chair?"

    He looked it over carefully and said,- "Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?"

    “Twenty pounds," I said.

    “OK," he said, "I'll give you twenty pounds."

    “It's got a slightly broken leg," I said.

    ‘'Yes, I saw that, it's nothing."

    Everything was going according to my plan and l was getting excited. "What will you do with it?" I asked.

    “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done."

    “I'll buy it," I said.

    “What do you mean? You've just sold it to me," he said.

    "Yes, I know but I've changed my mind. I am sorry. I'll give you twenty-seven pounds for it."

    “You must be crazy," he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair."

    “You're right," I said. "And what would you have done if I had walked in and said, 'Would you repair this chair for me?"'

    “I wouldn't have agreed to do it," he said. "We don't do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I'II repair this for you. Shall we say for five pounds?" He was a very nice man and was greatly amused by the whole thing.

1.We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer_______.

A. was rather impolite                                                  B. was warmly received

C. asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair       D. asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair

2. The underlined word "approach" in the second paragraph means_______.

A. plan for dealing with things                           B. way of doing things

C. idea of repairing things                                  D. decision to sell things

3.The expression "the penny dropped" in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper_______.

A. changed his mind                                            B. accepted the offer

C. saw the writer's purpose                                         D. decided to help the writer

4.How much did the writer pay?

A.￡5.                               B.￡7.                                C. ￡20.                  D. ￡27.

5.From the text, we can learn that the writer was_______.

A. honest                B. careful                          C. smart                   D. funny