2．Expressions about water are almost as common as water itself．But many of the expressions using water have unpleasant meanings．
The expression"to be in hot water"is one of them．It is a very old expression．"Hot water"was used 500years 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．
Being in"deep water"is almost the same as being in hot water．When you are in deep water，you are in a difficult position．Imagine a person who cannot swim being thrown in water over his head．You are in deep water when you are facing a problem that you do not have the ability to solve．You can be in deep water，for example，if you invest in stocks without knowing anything about the stock market．
"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．If it does not hold water，then it is weak and not worth debating．
"Throwing cold water"also is an expression that deals with ideas or proposals．It means that one doesn't 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．
This is our Special English program，WORDS AND THEIR STORIES．It was written by Marilyn Christiano．I'm Rich Kleinfeldt．See you next time．
56．According to the passage，expressions about waterA．
A．a(chǎn)re very common
B．have unpleasant meanings
C．a(chǎn)re very interesting
D．a(chǎn)re easy to understand
57．The expression"hot water"B．
A．is not used nowadays
B．has a long history
C．means arguing with others
D．only means serious trouble
58．Which of the following expressions have the similar meaning？D
A．"Throwing cold water"and"deep water"
B．"Hot water"and"water over the dam"
C．"Deep water"and"water over the dam"
D．"Hot water"and"deep water"
59．If you signed an agreement with Tom yesterday and want to change it now，Tom may say"C"．
A．You should keep your head above water
B．You can't throw cold water
C．It is water over the dam
D．Don't be in deep water
60．What would be the best title for the passage？B
A．Water
B．Expressions about water
C．Several common expressions
D．Water and everyday English．
分析 本文主要講述了幾個與water有關(guān)的習(xí)語，如hot water，deep water等．
解答 56-60 ABDCB
56 A 細(xì)節(jié)理解題．由第一段"Expressions about water are almost as common as water itself"可知，與水有關(guān)的表達(dá)像水一樣普遍．故選A．
57 B 細(xì)節(jié)理解題．文章第二段說Hot water，was used 500 years ago to mean being in trouble短語hot water五百年前就被用來指麻煩事，陷入困境．故選B．
58 D 細(xì)節(jié)理解題．文章第四段說Being in"deep water"is almost the same as being in hot water短語deep water和hot water是意思相同．故選D
59 C 細(xì)節(jié)理解題．文章第六段說It is something that is finished．It cannot be changed短語water over the dam的意思是不可改變的事實．故選C．
60．B 主旨大意題．通讀全文可知文章講述的是與water有關(guān)的短語．故選B．
點評 學(xué)生需要認(rèn)真閱讀原文，把握文章大意，對文章脈絡(luò)有整體的了解，能仔細(xì)查找文中細(xì)節(jié)，并能根據(jù)文章內(nèi)容進行合理的推測判斷．
