Ifyousay“Thecat’soutofthebag”insteadof“Thesecrethasbeengivenaway”you’reusinganidiom．Themeaningofanidiomisdifferentfromtheactualmeaningofthewordsused．“Anappleadaykeepsthedoctor

Question

       If you say “The cat’s out of the bag” instead of “The secret has been given away” you’re using an idiom．The meaning of an idiom is different from the actual meaning of the words used．“An apple a day keeps the doctor away” is a proverb．Proverbs are old but familiar sayings that usually give advice．Both idioms and proverbs are part of our daily speech．Many are very old and have interesting histories．See how many of these sayings you know．

       “Save by the bell．”

       About 400 years ago in England a guard at Windsor Castle was on trial for falling asleep at his post．He said he could prove that he hadn’t done so．He had heard the church bell strike thirteen times at midnight．The town’s people supported his claim and he was not punished．Today we think of the bell that ends a round in boxing often saving the boxers from injury or the bell at the end of a class period saving you from more work．

       “He who pays the piper calls the tune．”

       In medieval times about AD 1000 to AD 1450 people were entertained by traveling musicians．Whoever paid the price could choose the music．The proverb means that whoever pays is in charge．

       “The pen is mightier than the sword．”

       In the 17th century in England a free press was banned by the government．This meant that people who disagreed with the government and printed their views were punished．In spite of this people published their ideas and opinions in illegal small books that were handed out to the public．The proverb means that the written expressions of ideas cannot be stopped by physical force．

1．“Saved by the bell” actually means________．

       A．that you won’t be rescued until the bell rings

       B．that we can save a lot of money by ringing the bell

       C．saving a lot of trouble by ringing the bell

       D．being rescued from a situation at the last moment

2．The writer wants to make the readers know that_______．

       A．proverbs are more common than idioms in spoken and written English．

       B．proverbs and idioms play an important role in our daily life．

       C．you’d better not use idioms in your writing．

       D．idioms help people a lot in their daily life．

3．According to the passage which of the following expressions is a proverb?

       A．Try to make ends meet．

       B．Believe it or not

       C．Don’t put all your eggs in one basket．

       D．Don’t go against nature．

4．From the passage we can know_______．

       A．proverbs are usually used to give advice．

       B．we’d better use as many ideas as we can while talking with others．

       C．using idioms while you are talking can make yourself understood better．

       D．we’d better use neither idioms nor proverbs while talking with others．

Answer 1

DBCA