Q: 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?"

Answer the following questions:
1. What is the article about?
2. What are they?
3. What is an example?
4. What does that insinuate?
5. Another example?
6. Can you explain?
7. What is the significance?
8. Any other examples?
9. What does that indicate?
10. Any other examples?
11. What does that indicate?
12. Is there history behind it?
13. A certain group?
A: 1. idioms
2. a phrase that we can't understand from the meaning of each word
3. As the crow flies
4. the most direct route
5. Blow hot and cold
6. Blowing can cool or warm.
7. Contradictions are like hot and cold coming from the same breath.
8. Break the ice
9. refers to ending an awkward silence
10. Bury the hatchet
11. to make peace with someone else.
12. Yes.
13. native American culture
Q: The New York Times (sometimes abbreviated NYT and The Times) is an American daily newspaper, founded and continuously published in New York City since September 18, 1851, by The New York Times Company. "The New York Times" has won 122 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper. The paper's print version in 2013 had the second-largest circulation, behind "The Wall Street Journal", and the largest circulation among the metropolitan newspapers in the United States. "The New York Times" is ranked 18th in the world by circulation. Following industry trends, its weekday circulation had fallen in 2009 to fewer than one million.

Nicknamed "The Gray Lady", "The New York Times" has long been regarded within the industry as a national "newspaper of record". It has been owned by the Ochs-Sulzberger family since 1896; Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., the publisher of the Times and the chairman of the New York Times Company, is the fourth generation of the family to helm the paper. "The New York Times" international version, formerly the "International Herald Tribune", is now called the "New York Times International Edition". The paper's motto, "All the News That's Fit to Print", appears in the upper left-hand corner of the front page.

Answer the following questions:
1. What is the abbreviation for the New York Times?
2. Is there another name it's known as?
3. Any other nicknames?
4. Has it been owned by the same family for a long time?
5. Who is that family?
6. What generation of the family currently owns the paper?
7. When was it founded?
8. Has it ever won a Pulitzer?
9. How many?
10. Has any other paper won more Pulitzers?
11. Is its print version the largest in circulation?
12. What paper has the largest print circulation?
13. What is its world ranking in terms of circulation?
14. What was the international version once called?
15. What is it called now?
16. What is the NYT motto?
17. Does it appear on the front page?
18. Where?
19. On what page?
20. What is the current weekday circulation?
A: 1. NYT
2. The Times
3. The Gray Lady
4. YES
5. Ochs-Sulzberger
6. fourth generation
7. 1896
8. Yes
9. 122
10. No
11. No
12. "The Wall Street Journal"
13. 18th
14. "International Herald Tribune"
15. New York Times International Edition
16. All the News That's Fit to Print"
17. Yes
18. upper left-hand corner
19. front page
20. unknown
Q: Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Geographically located in the South Central region of the country, Texas shares borders with the U.S. states of Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas to the southwest, while the Gulf of Mexico is to the southeast.

Houston is the most populous city in Texas and the fourth largest in the U.S., while San Antonio is the second most populous in the state and seventh largest in the U.S. DallasFort Worth and Greater Houston are the fourth and fifth largest metropolitan statistical areas in the country, respectively. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U.S., and El Paso. Texas is nicknamed "The Lone Star State" to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the state's struggle for independence from Mexico. The "Lone Star" can be found on the Texas state flag and on the Texan state seal. The origin of Texas's name is from the word "Tejas," which means "friends" in the Caddo language.

Answer the following questions:
1. What's the second-largest state by area?
2. And by population?
3. How many US states does it border?
4. And how many Mexican states?
5. What body of water also borders it?
6. What does its name mean?
7. In what language?
8. What's the state's nickname?
9. Why is it called that?
10. Its status as what?
11. Which US region is it in?
12. What state is to the west?
13. Northeast?
14. East?
15. North?
16. What's the state capital?
17. Is it also the largest city in the state?
18. What is?
19. How does it rank in the whole US?
20. What's the second-largest city in the state?
A:
1. Texas
2. second largest
3. Four
4. Four
5. the Gulf of Mexico
6. friends"
7. the Caddo language.
8. "The Lone Star State"
9. to signify its former status
10. as an independent republic,
11. the South Central
12. New Mexico
13. Arkansas
14. Louisiana
15. Oklahoma
16. Austin,
17. No!
18. Houston
19. fourth
20. San Antonio