Lisa has always been overweight. She wanted to lose weight, not just because she wanted to  1  more beautiful and he healthier, but also because it would make life easier. For example, it was   2 for Lisa to find ready-made clothes that would fit. She had to ask a tailor(裁缝)  3 clothes that were large enough. In school, she needed a special chair  4 was bigger and stronger than the other chairs. If she went for a walk, she got tired very quickly. She was also unhappy about the way people treated 5 sometimes. “People look at me and even make fun of me. That’s unfair! It’s true that I’m overweight, but I don’t think people  6 treat me differently because I’m big. I can’t enjoy  7  with my friends because I’m afraid of getting fatter.” Her friends and family never made fun of her. They tried to help her  8 . They wanted her to be happy and healthy. Sometimes when Lisa was feeling sad, she didn’t want to speak to  9 .
But now things   10 quite different. Last month her classmates were preparing for the School  11 Week. Someone advised Lisa to play the lead role of the proud Queen(女王) who was tall and fat. Lisa   12 and practiced a lot.
Soon after the play, Lisa became the star! She did  13 well that everybody remembered the proud Queen. They stood around her and said “  14 ” to her. She even won the School Best Actress Award for her wonderful performance.
Now Lisa doesn’t worry  15  being fat any more. She believes in the English saying “Every dog has its day.”

Today is Sunday, December 2nd, everyone in Sheep Village (羊村) is very busy. What does he/she do?
I’m Nuan Yangyang. I write a letter(信) to my friend at one o’clock in the afternoon. Then I do my homework.
I’m Fei Yangyang. I want to be healthy, so I go to a sports club to play sports in the morning. I go home at three o’clock in the afternoon.
I’m Lan Yangyang. I have lunch in a restaurant（饭店）. But the food isn’t good, I don’t like it.
I’m Mei Yangyang. I go to a clothes store at nine in the morning. The clothes there are beautiful, so I buy a nice skirt.
I’m Xi Yangyang. I take the bus to the English club at ten thirteen in the morning. There I help two kids（孩子） learn to speak English.
【小题1】Nuan Yangyang writes to a friend at ______.

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?