*Question*
There are many idioms in English. An idiom is a phrase that we can't understand from the meaning of each word. The following are some of them. As the crow flies When a bird flies from place to place, it takes the most direct route. But when people drive, they have to follow roads and often go farther. When people give a distance "as the crow flies", they mean the shortest distance between the two points, not the distance you would have to travel by following roads. As Dan and his mum drove along the river, they could see the beach on the opposite side. Dan asked "How far is it to the beach?" "It's only about a quarter of a mile as the crow flies" his mother said. Blow hot and cold In one of Aesop's Fables, a man blows on his fingers to warm them up and then blows on his soup to cool it down. In both cases, the man is opening his mouth, but what comes out is different. If a person says one thing and later says the opposite, we say that the person is blowing hot and cold. "Is Felicia going to try out for the soccer team this year?" Stacy asked. "I don't know," Tricia replied." Last week she was saying yes, but this week she's saying no. She's really blowing hot and cold." Break the ice Nowadays people use the phrase to refer to ending an awkward silence by beginning a conversation. It was the first day of summer camp. The four girls began to make their beds in silence. None of the girls knew each other, and no one knew what to say. Finally, one of them broke the ice by saying" Hey, where's everybody from?" Bury the hatchet In native American culture, when two nations agreed to end their war, they buried the hatchet. So to bury the hatchet is to make peace with someone else. Colin could not excuse his sister for breaking his tennis racket. Finally, his sister said, "Colin, can't we bury the hatchet?" What does "as the crow flies" mean? A) In the smoothest way. B) In a straight line. C) By plane. D) At top speed.
**Answer**
B

*Question*
How to look good in a photo? What should you do if you want to have a nice photo taken? Whether it's work or fun, the most important thing is lighting. If you get bad lighting, you will look bad, too. Know where the light is. You don't want it below you or above you, you want it to shine directly at you. The key thing is no shadow. If you are being photographed outside, do it in the morning, or wait till the 2 o'clock shadow has passed. Also don't let pictures in the magazines stress you out--all the pictures are taken by great photographers. And all the faces have had pimples(, ) taken out by computers. Tip your head and learn what angles work with your face; everyone is different. So you have to learn what suits you. You can practice in Photo Booth for as long as it is your turn, to learn what angles suit your face. Tip your neck to make it look longer, make eye contact with the camera. No one can look bad if they smile. For long legs, point one leg into center of the frame and get the photographer to shoot looking up your body. For just leg shots, lie upside down and raise legs in the air for the best angle. And your legs will look thinner and be in better shape. Keep shoulders back. Always have mouth slightly open, enough to put a penny between your lips, as this will make your lips look fuller. Lower your eyes and then look up just as shutter is clicked for full eyes. Delete any evidence of a less than perfect photogenic moment, everyone has off days. What advice does the author give on taking photos? A) Raise legs on the wall. B) Look down. C) Put a penny between lips. D) Keep shoulders back.
**Answer**
D

*Question*
The Chinese invented paper in 105 A. D. They mixed the bark of a tree and rags with water, put a screen into the mixture, and lifted out a thin piece of wet paper. They dried the paper in the sun. The Chinese kept their secret of how to make paper until a war with Muslims in the ninth century. The art of papermaking soon spread throughout the Muslim world. The Mayan Indians in Central America and Pacific Islanders also discovered how to make paper, but their knowledge never spread to the rest of the world. For centuries, all paper was made by hand. Rags were the main material. Then a French scientist discovered that people could make paper from wood, too. Finally, in the eighteenth century. a Frenchman invented a machine to make paper from wood. How was papermaking introduced into the rest of the world from China? A) Through wars. B) Through the Muslims. C) Through the Mayan Indians. D) Through the Pacific Islanders.
**Answer**
B

*Question*
Great Wall Xmas BBQ Beijing Hikers is organizing a three-hour hike on a rarely-visited part of the Great Wall and will celebrate Christmas afterwards with a Christmas barbecue dinner in a small hotel at the foot of the Great Wall.Meet at 8:30 am.Dec 25 in front ofStarbucks at Lido Holiday Inn, Jiangtai Lu.Please write to _ or 139-100-25516.Pingyao tour High Club will guide a weekend trip to Pingyao, an ancient-walled town near Taiyuan, capital city of Shanxi Province.The town is among one of the best-preserved featuring a number of courtyard buildings of the Ming and Qing dynasties(1368-1911).Among them is the Qiao family courtyard house, the shooting location of Zhang Yimou's " Raise the Red Lantern (')".Leave on Friday (December 23) night by train and back to Beijing on Sunday morning.For sign-up and more information, contact Lucy at _ or 8580-5080, 130-11171326. New year Harbin trip The Chinese Culture Club is running a new year trip to Harbin, to catch a fresh view of its yearly ice and snow lantern festival. As the temperature is expected to fall between minus 20 degC to 30 degC, visitors are warned to prepare well with down jackets, masks, fur gloves and boots.The trip sets out by train at night on December 31 and gets back on the morning January 2.The cost is 2,300 yuan (US $284).Reservation is required at 8457-2772 or 138-101-33998. The term "BBQ" in the topic Great WallXmas BBQ should mean a kind of _ . A) food B) tour C) transportation D) dance
**Answer**
A