People use their mouths for many things. They eat, talk, shout and sing. They smile and they kiss. In the English language, there are many expressions about the word“mouth”. But some of them are not so nice. For example, if you say bad things about a person, the person might protest and say “Do not bad mouth me.” Sometimes, people say something to a friend or family member that they later regret because it hurts that people’s feelings. Or they tell the person something they were not supposed to. The speaker might say: “I really put my foot in my mouth this time”. If this should happen, the speaker might feel down in the mouth, In other words, he might feel sad for saying the wrong thing.
Information is often spread through word of mouth. This is general communication between people, like friends talking to each other.” How did you hear about that new movie?” someone might ask,” Oh, by word of mouth.” A more official way of getting information is through a company or government mouthpiece. This is an official spokesperson. Government –run media could also be called a mouthpiece.
Sometimes when one person is speaking, he says the same thing that his friend was going to say. When this happens, the friend might say: “You took the words right out of my mouth!” Sometimes a person has a bad or unpleasant experience with another person. He might say that experience “left a bad taste in my mouth”. Or the person might have had a very frightening experience, like being chased by an angry dog. He might say : “ I had my heart in my mouth.”
小题1:The underlined words “ down in the mouth” in Paragraph One can be best replaced by _______.
A．ashamed
B．regretful
C．satisfied
D．excited小题2:Which could be used to describe one’s fear?
A．By word of mouth
B．Put one ‘s foot in one’s mouth
C．Take the words right out one’s mouth.
D．Have one’s heart in one’s mouth.小题3:The second paragraph of the passage mainly tells us _____.
A．the meaning of two expressions
B．information from folk communication
C．information from official-run media
D．two different ways to get information小题4:The author writes the passage in order to _____.
A．introduce some expressions
B．enjoy learning English
C．learn about English culture
D．use words correctly
