Idioms are phrases and sentences that do not mean exactly what they say. Even if you know the meaning of each word you see or hear, you may not understand the idiom because you don't understand the culture behind it.
　　 For example, if an American boy asks his mother what's for dinner tomorrow, she may say "I'll play it by ear", that means she doesn't have plans for dinner and she will decide later. "Play by ear" used to mean playing music using the sheet music, but now people often use it when they're not talking about music.
　　 There're many idioms in English. If you learn to use them, your English will be more vivid and colorful. English idioms are more common in spoken English. They can be difficult to remember sometimes. Next time when you hear somebody saying to you, "Give me a hand", you don't necessarily stretch out your hand to him/her, but you do need to be helpful. And when the situation is out of hand, you usually can do very little to manage all that. What about a green hand? It's not about the color of your hand! You're a green hand when you are very new at your work and don't have much experience. If you and your partner always work together hand in glove, you two definitely work together very well.
　　 Can you guess the meanings of some common English idioms to do with parts of your body?
【小题1】An idiom is _______.

[1] Look at the center circles of Diagram A and Diagram B. Which of the centre circles looks larger?
[2] Take a first look and you probably think that the centre circle in Diagram A is smaller than that in Diagram B. In fact, they are exactly the same size.
[3]Then look at the picture on the right.What do you see? A vase? Or two faces? Does the picture change quickly from one to the other again and again? Maybe or maybe not, but you can see them at the same time.
[4]“What’s happening? Is something wrong with my eyes?” You may wonder at what you see. Don’t worry. Here is how it goes:
[5]When we look at things, our eyes send messages to our brains and then our brains interpret (解释) the information. However, sometimes our brains interpret the received information in a wrong way. It seems that our eyes are playing a joke on us. This often happens and we call it “Visual illusion(幻觉)”.
[6] Movie makers often make use of illusions. They make the objects around actors much smaller or bigger than usual. This makes us believe that the actors are much larger or smaller than they usually are. The movies Jurassic Park and Honey J shrunk the kids just make use of illusions.
66. In which column of a magazine can you read the above text?
A. Culture.          B. Science.     C. Humour.    D. Education.
67. The centre circle in Diagram A looks smaller than that in Diagram B, That’s because____.
A. something is wrong with our eyes
B. the two circles are not of the same size
C. our brains interpret the information wrongly
D. pictures change quickly from one to the other
68. In the picture on the right, it seems that Line AB is shorter than lane
CD, but in fact lane AB is as long as Line CD. Which paragraph
can explain what has happened to our eyes?
A. The second one.             B. The third one.
C. The fifth one.                    D. The sixth one.
69. What’s the right order according to the text?
a. We look at things with our eyes.      
b. Our brains interpret the messages.
c. Our brains tell us what we have seen.  
d. Our eyes send messages to our brains.
A. a-d-b-c     B c-a-b-d       C a-c-d-b       D. b-e-a-d
70. Movie makers make use of visual illusions to        .
A. help the actors look better             B. make the actors much braver
C. help the actors become stronger      D. make the actors seem different in size

[1] Look at the center circles of Diagram A and Diagram B. Which of the centre circles looks larger?

[2] Take a first look and you probably think that the centre circle in Diagram A is smaller than that in Diagram B. In fact, they are exactly the same size.

[3]Then look at the picture on the right. What do you see? A vase? Or two faces? Does the picture change quickly from one to the other again and again? Maybe or maybe not, but you can see them at the same time.

[4]“What’s happening? Is something wrong with my eyes?” You may wonder at what you see. Don’t worry. Here is how it goes:

[5]When we look at things, our eyes send messages to our brains and then our brains interpret the information. However, sometimes our brains interpret the received information in a wrong way. It seems that our eyes are playing a joke on us. This often happens and we call it “Visual illusion(幻觉)”.

[6] Movie makers often make use of illusions. They make the objects around actors much smaller or bigger than usual. This makes us believe that the actors are much larger or smaller than they usually are. The movies Jurassic Park and Honey J shrunk the kids just make use of illusions.

1.In which column of a magazine can you read the above text?

A．Culture.           B．Science.           C．Humour.          D．Education.

2.The centre circle in Diagram A looks smaller than that in Diagram B, That’s because____.

A．something is wrong with our eyes

B．the two circles are not of the same size

C．our brains interpret the information wrongly

D．pictures change quickly from one to the other

3.In the picture on the right, it seems that Line AB is shorter than line CD, but in fact line AB is as long as Line CD. Which paragraph can explain what has happened to our eyes?

A. The second one.         B. The third one.   C. The sixth one..          D. The fifth one

4.What’s the right order according to the text?

a. We look at things with our eyes.        b. Our brains interpret the messages.

c. Our brains tell us what we have seen.  d. Our eyes send messages to our brains.

A. a-d-b-c      B c-a-b-d    C a-c-d-b   D. b-e-a-d

Findings from a new study were presented at a recent meeting of the American Psychosomatic(身心的) Society. Researchers in the United States studied 100,000 women during an eight-year period, beginning in 1994. All of the women were fifty or older. The study was part of the Women’s Health Initiative organized by the National Institutes of Health.

The women were asked questions measuring their beliefs or ideas about the future. The researchers attempted to identify each woman’s personality eight years after gathering the information.

The study found that hopeful individuals were 14% less likely than other women to have died from any cause. The hopeful women were also 30% less likely to have died from heart disease after the eight years.

Hilary Tindle from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania was the lead author of the report. She said the study confirmed earlier research that linked optimistic feelings to longer life.

The researchers also gathered information about people’s education, financial earnings, physical activity and use of alcohol or cigarettes. Independent of those things, the findings still showed that optimists had less of a chance of dying during the eight-year period.

Some women who answered the questions were found to be hostile (怀敌意的), or highly untrusting of others. These women were 16% more likely to die than the others. They also were 23% more likely to die of cancer.

The study also found women who were not optimistic were more likely to smoke and have high blood pressure or diabetes. They were also more likely not to exercise.

Tindle says the study did not confirm whether optimism leads to healthier choices, or if it actually affects a person’s physical health. She also says the study does not prove that negative (消极的) emotions or distrust lead to bad health effects and shorter life. Yet there does appear to be a link that calls for more research.

1. In which part of a newspaper can you read the above passage?

   A. Nation     B. Opinion   C. Science    D. Business

2.Researchers carry out the study to ________.

A. decide who is more likely to enjoy a happier life

B. find out the link between personality and health

C. gather information for the National Institutes of Health

D. compare each woman’s personality changes

3.What can be inferred from the text?

A. Negative emotions cause a shorter life indeed.

B. There may be some link between personality and health.

C. It’s uncertain whether optimism affects one’s health.

D. The more optimistic you are, the longer life you may enjoy.

4.Who is more likely to die of cancer according to the text?

A. A woman who always doubts what others say.    B. A woman who doesn’t exercise.

C. A woman with high blood pressure.            D. A woman with poor physical health.

5. What’s Hilary Tindle’s opinion of the study?

A. Unfair.       B. Useless.      C. Necessary.     D. Reliable.

[1] Look at the center circles of Diagram A and Diagram B. Which of the centre circles looks larger?

[2] Take a first look and you probably think that the centre circle in Diagram A is smaller than that in Diagram B. In fact, they are exactly the same size.
[3]Then look at the picture on the right. What do you see? A vase? Or two faces? Does the picture change quickly from one to the other again and again? Maybe or maybe not, but you can see them at the same time.

[4]“What’s happening? Is something wrong with my eyes?” You may wonder at what you see. Don’t worry. Here is how it goes:
[5]When we look at things, our eyes send messages to our brains and then our brains interpret the information. However, sometimes our brains interpret the received information in a wrong way. It seems that our eyes are playing a joke on us. This often happens and we call it “Visual illusion(幻觉)”.

[6] Movie makers often make use of illusions. They make the objects around actors much smaller or bigger than usual. This makes us believe that the actors are much larger or smaller than they usually are. The movies Jurassic Park and Honey J shrunk the kids just make use of illusions.
【小题1】In which column of a magazine can you read the above text?