Expressions about water are almost as common as water itself.
The expression to be in hot water is a very old expression. Hot water was used five hundred years ago to mean being in trouble. One story says it got that meaning from the custom of throwing extremely hot water down on enemies attacking a castle.
That no longer happens. But we still get in hot water. When we are in hot water, we are in trouble. It can be any kind of trouble—serious or not so serious. A person who breaks a law can be in hot water with the police. A young boy can be in hot water with his mother, if he walks in the house with dirty shoes.
Beingin deep water is almost the same as being in hot water. When you are in deep water, you are in a difficult position.
To keep your head above water is a colorful expression that means staying out of debt. A company seeks to keep its head above water during economic hard times. A man who loses his job tries to keep his head above water until he finds a new job.
Water over the dam is another expression about a past event. It is something that is finished. It cannot be changed. The expression comes from the idea that water that has flowed over a dam cannot be brought back again.
Another common expression to hold water, is about the strength or weakness of an idea or opinion that you may be arguing about. It probably comes from a way of testing the condition of a container.; If it can hold water, it is strong and has no holes in it. If your argument can hold water, it is strong and does not have any holes.
Throwing cold water also is an expression that deals with ideas or suggestions. It means to not like an idea. For example, you want to buy a new car because the old one has some problems. But your wife throws cold water on the idea, because she says a new car costs too much.
【小题1】If Robert says he is in deep water, we may guess_________.

When I was a law professor, a student reported that I made an error in grading his exam by giving him too many points. He was   36 , and after thanking him for his honesty, I changed the grade in my   37 . His beaming (欢笑的) face turned to shock. “You’re   38  my grade?” he said angrily. “I would never have come in   39  ……”
He didn’t finish the   40 , but it was obvious that his display of honesty was   41 . He thought he’d have it all—praise and the higher grade.
Several colleagues thought I should have let the higher grade   42  because all I’d accomplished was to discourage him from being   43  in the future. And every time I tell this story some people agree with this   44 .
But I can’t see how I could give good reason for worsening my   45  in grading by undermining (损害) the honesty of all my grades by failing to   46  an error. The grade itself would be a dishonest   47  of his knowledge and it would have been   48 to other students. How could I   49  give a student a gift of an unearned grade?
I know  50  reporting an error in one’s favor is unusual, but, like   51  too much change, it’s clearly the right thing to do. People of character, those with real honesty, hate to give up  52_ as much as anyone else. The difference is that for them a good conscience and reputation is  _53 enough to give reason for the cost of doing the right thing.
Perhaps lowering the student’s grade did   54  him from being honest in the future, but bribing (贿赂) him to be honest so that he does the right thing when it’s cost-free would have _55
him even more. The duty to be honest is about right and wrong, not risks and rewards.

Dear Aunty,

I work at a supermarket, and another girl and I share tasks we must finish before leaving. But she takes half an hour to do something I can do in ten minutes. She always has a story to tell me and stops working when she does. My boss is angry at both of us, but It’s not my fault. I don’t want to rat on her, but what else can I do?

Flustered

Dear Flustered,

Let me propose a better way. Make a log of all the tasks you share, then suggest to your boss that for efficiency your duties could be divided into two separate checklists. If he’s reluctant, go to plan B: the next time this girl starts telling you a story, stop working to listen and call your boss over to hear what a great storyteller she is. I’m sure he’ll take it from here.

Aunty

Dear Aunty,

I’m a college student in the Philippines who wants to be wise with money. I’m not an economics or business major student and I don’t know anything about stocks. But I really want to buy assets and invest. I receive about 15,000 pesos（比索）every school term from my education plan. I don’t have any idea how I should spend it. I don’t want to just buy new clothes, or hang out with my friends because it would not be wise. I want my money to grow. Please enlighten me.

Fastbreakplay

Dear Fastbreakplay,

Being wise with money is the No. 1 thing to learn. Start with a disciplined and systematic savings plan. When your savings reach a sizeable amount, then you may start investing. In the meantime, invest in yourself by reading up on stock markets and capital markets. Follow the news. Before I started investing during my senior high school years, I had already studied stock market data of the past century as I believe markets tend to repeat themselves. If you master this skill, you will master your reading of the markets.

Aunty

1.When Flustered’s boss isn’t willing to separate their work, Flustered can _____.

A．follow the second advice                 B．invite the boss to listen to the girl

C．stop working or do other things             D．report to the boss on time

2.Fastbreakplay writes a letter to Aunty in order to _____.

A．buy some pesos                        B．become an expert on stocks

C．get ways to grow money                  D．study economics as his major

3.In Aunty’s opinion, one should _____ at the beginning to be wise with money.

A．start investing                          B．have a saving plan

C．study stock markets                      D．master market reading

4.From letters above, we know Aunty should be ________.

A．an elder kind woman                    B．a lady in the community

C．a famous singer                         D．a name of a columnist

My elder brother Steve, in the absence of my father who died when I was six, gave me important lessons in values that helped me grow into an adult.

For instance, Steve taught me to face the results of my behavior. Once when I returned in tears from a Saturday baseball game, it was Steve who took the time to ask me what happened. When I explained that my baseball had soared through Mrs. Holt’s basement window, breaking the glass with a crash, Steve encouraged me to confess（承认）to her. After all, I should have been playing in the park down Fifth Street and not in the path between buildings. Although my knees knocked as I explained to Mrs. Holt, I offered to pay for the window from my pocket money if she would return my ball. I also learned from Steve that personal property is a sacred（神圣的） thing. After I found a shiny silver pen in my fifth-grade classroom, I wanted to keep it, but Steve explained that it might be important to someone else in spite of the fact that it had little value. He reminded me of how much I’d hate to lose to someone else the small dog that my father carved from a piece of cheap wood. I returned the pen to my teacher, Mrs. Davids, and still remembered the smell of her perfume as she patted me on my shoulder.

Yet of all the instructions Steve gave me, his respect for life is the most vivid in my mind. When I was twelve, I killed an old brown sparrow in the yard with a BB gun. Excited with my accuracy, I screamed to Steve to come from the house to take a look. I shall never forget the way he stood for a long moment and stared at the bird on the ground. Then in a dead, quiet voice, he asked, “Did it hurt you first, Mark?” I didn’t know what to answer. He continued with his eyes firm, “The only time you should even think of hurting a living thing is if it hurts you first. And then you think a long, long time.” I really felt terrible then, but that moment stands out as the most important lesson my brother taught me.

1. What is the main subject of the passage?

A．The relationship between Mark and Steve.

B．The important lesson Mark learned in school

C．Steve’s important role in mark’s growing process.

D．Mark and Steve’s respect for living things.

2. It can be inferred from the passage that when Mark confessed to Mrs. Holt, __________.

A．he felt surprised                        B．he was light-hearted

C．he felt frightened                       D．he knelt before her

3.In the story about the pen, which of the following lessons did Steve teach his brother?

A．Respect for personal property.

B．Respect for life.

C．Sympathy for people with problems.

D．The value of honesty.

4. According to the writer, which was the most important lesson Steve taught his young brother?

A．Respect for living things.

B．Responsibility for one’s actions.

C．The value of the honesty.

D．Care for the property of others.

5.Which of the follow is true according to the passage?

A．Mark was still a boy when he wrote this passage.

B．Mark lost the small dog his father carved somewhere.

C．When a living thing hurts you, you should kill it.

D．Even if a living thing hurts you, you should not kill it without hesitation.

Nuclear­powered aircraft carriers are considered one of the most important marine weapons in the 20th century. So far, only two countries in the world, the USA and France, have ever produced them. But these fearful fighting machines are about to enter Asia.

The US Navy said last month that one of its nine nuclear­powered aircraft carriers will be sent to Japan to replace the diesel(柴油)­powered carrier Kitty Hawk in 2008. In an agreement on October 30, the two countries also planned to level up their military (军事的) cooperation and the USA called for Japan to take a larger role in military alliance (同盟) moves.

It will be the first time that a nuclear­powered carrier is based in Japan. Bombed by US forces in World War Ⅱ at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan is the only world country to have been attacked by a nuclear weapon. Therefore, the citizens are highly sensitive to where nuclear­powered weapons are based.

“A radiation leak at Yokosuka would kill 100,000 people as far away as Tokyo, and could cause billions of dollars in damage，” said Masahiko Goto, leader of a protest group in Yokosuka. His group has collected more than 300,000 signatures of people across Japan opposed to the nuclear carrier.

The 44­year­old Kitty Hawk, the US Navy's oldest active ship, has been based in Yokosuka since 1998. It had returned to the US to be decommissioned(使退役) in 2008. The new carrier, yet to be unveiled, will travel faster, be capable of supporting longer operations and carry with it the Navy's most modern technology.

Experts pointed that this change is not only to strengthen the US­Japan military alliance but also to keep the military power of China and North Korea within limits. However, even Japanese experts don't believe that the two countries are threats to the region.

“There is no need for Japan to have a nuclear carrier as defense，” said Tetsuo Maeda, an international relations professor at Tokyo International University. He said that the change of ship indicates an increased military capability in the region, much more than what is needed.

1.With such a fearful weapon to enter its country, Japanese citizens ________.

A．are aware of its benefits to the country

B．are anxious about its potential danger

C．are curious about the advanced technology

D．are against where the carrier will be based

2.The replacement of the aircraft carrier is intended to________.

A．set up a kind of base in Japan

B．strengthen the US­Japan military alliance

C．show Japan's greater military capability

D．get rid of the dated marine weapon

3.From the story, we learn that________.

A．no other countries except the USA and France possess aircraft carriers

B．Japan has long planned to increase its military capability with new weapons

C．Japan will be the first country in Asia to have a nuclear aircraft carrier

D．Japan will be the third country to produce a nuclear­powered aircraft carrier

4.The underlined word “unveiled” in the fifth paragraph probably means________.

A．perfected                             B．discussed about

C．produced                             D．brought to view