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 |
【小题2】What made the foreigner laugh?
A.The English idioms | B.The writer’s talking about the Great Wall |
C.The writer’s explanation | D.The writer’s question |
【小题3】The story probably happened in
.
A.China | B.America | C.England | D.Canada |
【小题4】The writer was puzzled
in the passage.
A.once | B.twice | C.three times | D.four times |
【小题5】The English idiom “You don’t say!” means “
”
A.Thank you | B.OK | C.Really | D. Sorry |