There are hundreds of funny and strange expressions in the English language. A lot of them include country names or nationalities. Take these examples:
The Dutch（丹麦人）are the target of most English expressions about nationalities. Why are there so many jokes about the Dutch in English? And what do these expressions mean? In the 17th and early 18th centuries, there were three wars between the British and the Dutch, and Dutch became a bad word. So double Dutch means something that has no meaning or is impossible to understand. A Dutch uncle is someone who gives much stronger advice than they need to. There are later expressions, which are funnier and kinder, like to go Dutch, which is nowadays a popular expression. It means to pay for your part of a bill. This often happens when a group of friends have a meal together, and each person pays for the food they ate. I’m a Dutchman is another commonly used expression. This means not being able to believe something.
An expression with a similar meaning to double Dutch is it’s all Greek to me, which means I don’t understand. The expression was made famous in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar although the expression is actually hundreds of years older.
If you take French leave, you are not present or leave somewhere without permission. For example, you could take French leave from a classroom or the place where you work. This expression is from the 18th century when French people left parties without saying goodbye to the host or hostess.
There are Chinese whispers, which mean confused（令人困惑的）messages. This describes the fact that a message can often change as it is passed from person to person. This expression comes from the First World War when foreigners were often confused by Chinese language.
Many people find English expressions confusing, but now that you know about some of them, you can easily have fun finding out many more funny English expressions.
【小题1】Are there many jokes about the Dutch in English?
【小题2】When did Dutch become a bad word?
【小题3】What does “French leave” mean?
【小题4】Which three expressions mentioned above have similar meanings?
【小题5】What do the funny and strange expressions in the passage have in common?

Mrs. Chen lives with her son and her daughter in Loudi. She is very busy. After school Mrs. Chen takes her   rom football to basketball. Then she has to take her daughter to piano lessons. The tired children don’t get    until 7 p.m. They have a quick    , and it’s time for homework.
Most of the parents do the      things not only in Loudi but also in Changsha. They take their children from activity to activity. They want them to do things as many as possible. This makes children        too much pressure(压力). Teachers say their students are very tired in the      and can’t study well.
Only a few of parents     about such pressure. They say “Parents send their kids to all kinds of classes when they are very     , it’s crazy. People shouldn’t push their kids so hard.”
Dr Li also says “Parents should give their kids a bit more     to themselves. Children need organized(组织的) activities. They also need time to relax, and they need time to do things    .
【小题1】A. son                B. daughter            C. friend
【小题2】A. school          B. home             C. station
【小题3】A. breakfast           B. lunch           C. supper
【小题4】A. same            B. different            C. happy
【小题5】A. across         B. under                C. over
【小题6】A. classroom       B. bedroom          C. library
【小题7】A. decide         B. hurt             C. know
【小题8】A. easy                B. old              C. young
【小题9】A. books          B. time           C. fruits
【小题10】A. by themselves   B. of course           C. by the way

Children in England mustn't work until they are 13. They need to have a work permit (许可证) to start working.

The jobs teenagers can do_:

Delivering (递送) newspapers_: Many teenagers will get up early to deliver newspapers to houses in their local area before going to school. They are known as Paper-boys or Papergirls.

Babysitting: Looking after young children in their home while their parents have gone out for the evening is a popular job for teenagers, as they get money for watching children and television all at the same time!

Helping the Milkman: From the age of 14 some teenagers help the milkman deliver milk to houses.

Other popular jobs ： Working in a shop; Office work; Washing cars ; In a cafe or restaurant. The hours teenagers (13 and 14 year olds )can work:

School Days_: Not more than 2 hours in one day during the following periods:

Morning 7 a. m. —start of school or Evening _: close of school— 7 p. m.

Saturdays: Up to 5 hours between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Sundays_: Up to 2 hours between 7 a.m. and 11 a. m.

Term time_: Up to 12 hours a week (Including weekends)

1. In England how old do children have to be before they can work?

A. 15.   B. 14.       C.10.       D. 13.

2. Paper-boys and Papergirls deliver newspapers           

A. early in the morning

B. at noon

C. in the afternoon

D. in the evening

3.Teenagers in England can do all of the follow­ing except_________.

A. work in an office

B. work in a night club

C. look after young children

D. deliver newspapers

4. How many hours a week may teenagers work during the term time?

A. 10.    B. 14.       C. 17.       D. 20.

根据下列句子及所给单词的首字母，在答题纸上按题号写出各单词的完全形式（每空限填一词）。
【小题1】Linda had a sore throat , she c           a lot , her mother asked her to take an X-ray.
【小题2】Tina tells of the importance of making a good d________, and of being in control of one’s life.
【小题3】--What happened to the shop?
--I’m not sure. Some policemen are waiting for the o         of the shop now.
【小题4】Last week, he v         at an after-school study program. He helped the kids read some interesting books.
【小题5】Sally wants to put o______ making a plan to work in an animal hospital until next summer. She’s too busy with her studies this year.
【小题6】Tom lost the basketball match yesterday, so he is so sad now. Let’s do something to c_____ him up.
【小题7】 We had a long j         in the countryside. We took a lot of photos and had a picnic with the farmers. We felt very tired.
【小题8】After the earthquake, thousands of people became d         . Some of them lost their arms or legs, they need our help.
【小题9】If you don’t u          the meanings of the words, please look them up in your dictionary or ask the teacher for help.
【小题10】A Malaysia airplane was missing on March 8th, can you i        what happened to this plane? Was it exploded （爆炸）or being hijacked (劫持了)?