Saturday afternoon would be more _________（方便的）,if it’s all right with you

The teacher _____（解散）the class early last Friday because she had to attend an important meeting.

He has made an invention and applied for a ________（专利） for it.

What ______（优势） do the 3G mobile phone offer?

The government calls on the youth to _____（捐献） their blood voluntarily.

The escaped prisoner was ______（拽） out of the cave.

The gate is ____（窄）  than a car: we’ll have to walk through.

S: Hi, are you being helped?

K:__61__I'm interested in some scarves. （围巾）

S: All our scarves are in this section. What do you think of this one here? It's made of silk.

K:__62__

S: Maybe you would like a heavy wool scarf. How about this one?

K: __63__ How much is it?

S: It's seventy-five dollars plus tax.

K: __64_ Do you think it's possible to get a discount?

S: Hm, since you like it so much, how about a 10 percent discount. That's the best I can offer.

K: That's good. __65__.

S: Sure. Is there anything else I can get for you?

K: No, that should be it. Thank you.

A. It’s a little expensive.

B. Sure.

C. I don’t like the color.

D. No. I’m not.

E. Could you wrap it for me?

F. I think that’s what I want.

G. I’d like to have something warm for the winter.

Expressions about water are mostly as common as water itself.

The expression “to be in hot water” is 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 extremely hot water down on enemies attacking a castle. That no longer happens. But we still get “in hot water”. When we are in hot water, we are in trouble. It can be any kind of trouble, serious or not so serious. A person who breaks a law can be in hot water with the police. A young boy can be in hot water with his mother if he walks in the house with dirty shoes.

 “Being in deep water” is almost the same as being in hot water. When you are in deep water, you are in a difficult position. Imagine a person who can not swim being thrown in water over his head. You are in deep water when you are facing a problem that you don’t have the ability to solve. You can be in deep water, for example, if you invest in stocks 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 seeks to keep its head above water during economic hard times. A man who loses his job tries to keep his head above water until he finds a new job.

 “Water over the dam” is another expression about past events. It is something that is finished, and cannot be changed. The expression comes from the idea that water has floated over a dam and cannot be brought back again. When a friend is troubled by a mistake she has made, you might tell her 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 or opinion that you may be arguing about. It probably comes from a way of testing the condition of a container. If it can hold water, it is strong and has no holes in it. If your argument can hold water, it is strong and does not have any holes; if it does not hold water, then, it is weak and not worth debating.

 “Throwing cold water” also is an expression that deals with ideas or proposals.

For example, you want to buy a new car because the old one has some problems, but your wife throws cold water on the idea because she says a new car costs too much.

57. Don’t cheat in this exam! Or you’ll _____if you’re caught cheating by the teacher.

A. be in hot water                            B. have to hold water

C. be in deep water                          D. keep your head above water

58. The expression using water in Paragraph ______ has almost the same meaning as “Things done cannot be undone.”

A. 3                  B. 4           C. 5              D. 6

59. We can see from this passage that many of the expressions using water have ______ meanings.

A. funny              B. unpleasant      C. close          D. moral

60. The best title for this passage should be _________.

A. The history of water              B. Cold water or hot water?

C. Water and its culture             D. Expressions and their stories