题目内容

24、Expressions about water are almost as water itself．But many of the expressions using water have unpleasant meanings．The expression to be in hot water in 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 boiling water down on enemies attacking a castle．That is no longer the custom, serious and not so serious．A person who breaks a law can be in hot water with the police; a boy can be in hot water with his mother if he comes into the house with muddy shoes．

    Being in deep water is almost the same as being in hot water．When you are in deep water, you are in difficulty．You are in deep water when you are facing a problem which is too deep for you．You can be in deep water, for example, if you invest (投资)in stocks （股票）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 that can keep its head above water can survive economic hard times．Water over the dam is an expression about a past event．It’s something that is over and done with． It cannot be changed．When a friend is troubled by a mistake he has made, you might tell him 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, opinion or argument．It probably comes from the way of testing the condition of a container．If it can hold water, it is strong．The expression is used the same way to describe an idea or argument．If the argument can hold water, it is solid and strong without any holes．If it doesn’t hold water, then, it is weak, and cannot be proved．

Throwing cold water  also is an expression that deals with ideas or proposals．It means, not to like an idea．For example, you want to buy a new computer, so you can do some of your work at home, but your wife throws cold water on the idea, because a computer costs too much．

1．The expression “ get in hot water” means “ be in trouble”． The trouble refers to ____．

A．not serious trouble

B．serious trouble

C．any kind of trouble

D．the possibility to be arrested by policemen

2．Galileo’s theory about falling objects can ___________．

A．keep his head above water                B．hold water

C．be in hot water                         D．be water over the dam

3．“ Your boss throws cold water on your proposal” means ___________．

A．your boss agrees to your proposal

B．your boss has no idea about your proposal

C．your boss dislikes your proposal

D．your boss feels puzzled about your proposal

4．If your friend has made a mistake, you may say_________．

A．you should be thrown cold water on

B．you should keep your head above water

C．you can hold water

D．it’s water over the dam and don’t think about it any more

5．The passage mainly tells us ______________．

A．something about water                  B．some expressions about water

C．origins of some phrases                 D．stories of some idioms