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You've spent a lot of time studying how to use English in a proper way. But have you ever wondered
why English speakers say some of the things they say? For example, why do they say "an easy task" is "a
piece of cake"? Why do the two letters "OK" means "all right"?
Many English words and phrases have stories behind them. Sometimes these stories can help us look
back into old western history. Let's take a look at a few of the original * common English words and phrases:
OK
"OK" was an American who lived in the 19th century. His name was "Old Kinderhook". In one year he was
trying to take the place of the leader of his town. His supporters went around the town shouting" OK \ OK \"
The supporters thought their future leader was" all right". The expression caught on, and now if something is
"all right", people like to say"OK"
Boss
Is your boss nice to you? If not, just be glad you weren't living in the old times. Back to that time, bosses
could do anything bad to their men and could even beat* them! That explains why the word "boss" comes from
an old German word meaning"to beat".
A piece of cake
A famous American writer named Ogden Nash lived in the 1930s. Many readers enjoyed his poems and
wrote them down in their notebooks. In one of his poems, Nash wrote," Her picture's in the papers now, and
life's a piece of cake." His readers found these words interesting and quickly wrote them down. They thought
that if one picture in a newspaper could make you famous, wouldn't life be easy?
For nearly 70 years, "a piece of cake" has meant any task or activity that is easy.
B. how English speakers create the words
C. how people spoke English
D. how people taught others to speak English
B. to help
C. to beat
D. to kill
B. Old Kindman
C. Old Kinderhook
D. Old Mcdonald
B. a difficult task or activity
C. a simple newspaper to read
D. a famous picture in a newspaper
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“Certainly! Everyone back home will laugh at me if I leave here without seeing it. The Great Wall is wonderful!”“Yes, it is one of the wonders in the world. And people of many countries have come to visit it.” As I went on telling him more about it, he stopped me again, “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.
“Did you say ‘You don’t say!’?” I asked again.
Hearing this, the foreigner laughed loudly. He began to explain, “‘You don’t say!’ means ‘Really’. Perhaps you know little about English idioms(惯用语).”
Wow! How foolish I was! Since then I have been careful with English idioms.
【小题1】The writer was puzzled because .
| A.the foreigner has some difficulty in understanding him. |
| B.the writer himself didn’t understand the meaning of “You don’t say!” |
| C.the foreigner was not polite. |
| D.the writer was very clever |
| A.The English idioms | B.The writer’s talking about the Great Wall |
| C.The writer’s explanation | D.The writer’s question |
| A.China | B.America | C.England | D.Canada |
| A.once | B.twice | C.three times | D.four times |
| A.Thank you | B.OK | C.Really | D. Sorry |
One day, I happened to meet an Englishman in the street and soon we began to talk. As I was talking about how I was studying English, the foreigner seemed to be very surprised, gently shaking his head and saying “You don’t say!”
I was confused, and I thought, “Perhaps this is not a right thing to talk about.” Then I said to him, “Well, shall we talk about the Great Wall? Have you ever visited it?”
“Certainly! Everyone back home will laugh at me if I leave here without seeing it. The Great Wall is wonderful! ” “Yes, it is one of the wonders in the world. And people of many countries have come to visit it.” As I went on telling him more about it, he stopped me again, “You don’t say!”
I couldn’t help asking, “Why couldn’t I talk about it?”
“Well, I didn’t stop you talking about it,” he answered, greatly surprised.
“Didn’t you say ‘You don’t say!’?” I asked again.
Hearing this, the foreigner laughed loudly. He began to explain, “’You don’t say!’ means ‘Really’. Perhaps you know little about English idioms(习惯用语).”
Wow! How foolish I was! Since then I have been careful with English idioms.
【小题1】What made the foreigner laugh loudly?
| A.English idioms. |
| B.The writer’s question. |
| C.Their talking about the Great Wall |
| D.The writer’s way of learning English |
| A.In China. | B.In America. |
| C.In England. | D.In Japan. |
| A.Thank you | B.Excuse me | C.OK | D.Really |
| A.improve his spoken English |
| B.speak with foreigners in a polite way |
| C.pay attention to English idioms |
| D.be brave enough talking with foreigners |
| A.the difference | B.the popularity |
| C.the grammar rule | D.the change |
One day I happened to meet an Englishman in the street and soon we began to talk. As I was talking about how I was studying English, the foreigner seemed to be very surprised, gently shaking his head and saying “You don’t say!” I was puzzled, and I thought , “Perhaps this is not a right thing to talk about.” So I said to him, “Well, shall we talk about the Great Wall? Have you ever been there?”
“Certainly! Everyone back home will laugh at me if I leave here without seeing it. The Great Wall is wonderful!” “Yes, it is one of the wonders in the world. And people of many countries have come to visit it.” As I went on telling him more about it, he stopped me again, “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.
“Did you say ‘You don’t say!’?” I asked again.
Hearing this, the foreigner laughed loudly. He began to explain, “‘You don’t say!’ means ‘Really’. Perhaps you know little about English idioms(惯用语).”
Wow! How foolish I was! Since then I have been careful with English idioms.
【小题1】The writer was puzzled because .
| A.the foreigner has some difficulty in understanding him. |
| B.the writer himself didn’t understand the meaning of “You don’t say!” |
| C.the foreigner was not polite. |
| D.the writer was very clever |
| A.The English idioms | B.The writer’s talking about the Great Wall |
| C.The writer’s explanation | D.The writer’s question |
| A.China | B.America | C.England | D.Canada |
| A.once | B.twice | C.three times | D.four times |
| A.Thank you | B.OK | C.Really | D. Sorry |