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 blow on his fingers to warm them up and then blow 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?"

56.What does "as the crow flies" mean?

A.In the smoothest way   B.By plane    C.In a straight line   D.At top speed.

57."Blow hot and cold " can be used to talk about someone's ______.

A. poor health        B. Bad manner  C. Communication skills  D. changing attitudes

58.When the four girls were making their beds in silence, they probably felt _____.

A. shy               B. disappointed   C. excited        D. Curious

59. It can be inferred that Colin's sister hoped that Colin would ______.

A. buy a new tennis racket           B. forgive her mistake

C. stay away from her               D. make an apology to her

閱讀理解

　　On August 27, 2003, Mars was recorded as being just 34,646,418 miles away from us. The planet moved closer to earth than at any time in the last 5,000 years. If that doesn't sound close, just remember that it was five times as distant only six months ago.

　　“You can't miss Mars. It's bright and red.”said Myles Standish, an American astronomer. Mars is so close because of something called "opposition". This means the sun. the earth and Mars are positioned in a straight line and, as a result, they're closer (remember, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line) .

　　For the next few weeks the planet should shine brighter than any other star, apart from the moon and Venus (金星) .

　　It won’t be difficult to see Mars. You can use a telescope if you have one, but you won't need it. Mars will be so bright that even the lights of the city shouldn't get in the way. All you need to do is to go outside and look up at the sky. Mars can be found a little to the south and a little to the east.

　　But the planet will not seem very big; it will shine like a coin seen from 500 feet away. Even though Mars is twice the size of the moon, it is 145 times as distant. And it might not be red, either. If there are dust storms on Mars, it will look mostly gold. If you do see red, then you’re seeing the surface of the planet.

　　Make sure you go outside and have a look: the next time Mars will be this close will be August 28, 2287．

　　Cool facts about Mars:

　　The last time it rained on Mars was about 3 billion years ago. You’d have more time on Mars. The Martian day is 24 hours 37 minutes. What would you do with an extra half hour? Gravity (引力) is less on Mars than on the earth. So someone who weighs 100 pounds here would weigh only 38 pounds on Mars.

1．On February 27, 2003, Mars was about－miles away from the earth.

[　　]

2．Why was Mars so close to us on August 27, 2003?

[　　]

A．Because something is called“opposition”.

B．Because it has been moving to us in the last 5, 000 years.

C．Because the sun, the earth and Mars are positioned in a straight line.

D．Because of some unknown reasons.

3．Which of the following is TRUE about Mars?

[　　]

A．Mars will be the third brightest star in the night sky for the next few weeks.

B．For the next few weeks, Mars will be the brightest star in the night sky.

C．Mars will look red if there're dust storms on it.

D．Mars is 145 times larger than the moon.

4．If you stayed on Mars for a week, you actually stayed there for ________. And if you weighed 46 pounds on Mars, you would weigh about ________ pounds on the earth.

[　　]

A．less than 7 days; 110

B．six days and four more hours; 175

C．more than 7 days; 175

D．seven days and four more hours; 121