题文
What is an idiom? An idiom is a group of words which, when used together, has a different meaning from the one which the individual words have. For example, “---How do you know that Sid and Nancy have separated ?” “---I heard it on the grapevine(葡萄藤)”.Of course, the second speaker does not mean he heard the news about John by putting his ear to a grapevine! He is conveying the idea visually of information spreading around a widespread network, similar to a grapevine. We use idioms to express something that other words do not express as clearly or as cleverly. We often use an image or symbol to describe something as clearly as possible and thus make our point as effectively as possible. For example, "in a nutshell" suggests the idea of having all the information contained within very few words. Idioms tend to be informal and are best used in spoken rather than written English.
One of the best ways to learn an idiom is by looking at the context in which it is used. This can be done by concentrating on the rest of the sentence and try to guess the meaning. Many idioms are not that difficult to understand when considered in their context. For example: We are going to have a surprise party for Tom tomorrow. It's a secret so please don't let the cat out of the bag.
'Let the cat out of the bag' is an idiom. Imagine you don't know what this idiom means; by looking at the words preceding, it should be easy to guess that the speaker does not want you to tell Tom about the surprise party. Therefore, 'let the cat out of the bag' must mean something like' reveal a secret' or 'tell a secret'.
小题1:Which of the following sentences is NOT similar to “I heard it on the grapevine. ” in figures of speech(在修辞方面)？A．The exam was a piece of cake. B．You will be paid under the table.C．You eat with that mouth? D．It rained cats and dogs yesterday.小题2:“I was feeling under the weather so I went to see a doctor.” The underlined idiom means____.A．blueB．homesickC．unhappyD．ill小题3:It is most probable that idioms will be seen______.A．in a paperB．in an preface(序言)C．in a noticeD．in online chatting小题4:Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?A．Other words can express something as vividly as idioms.B．Written English with spoken English does not use idioms at all.C．There are plant, food, animal idioms used to express something.D．Contexts play not a bit important part in guessing the meaning of idioms. 题型：未知 难度：其他题型
答案
小题1:C
小题2:D
小题3:D
小题4:C
解析
文章介绍了习语这种修辞手法，习语使用的语言环境，使用习语的好处和如何准确的猜测习语的含义。
小题1:考查修辞手法：根据文章第一段的内容：“I heard it on the grapevine. ”是个习语而四个选项中C不是习语。选C。
小题2:猜词题：从I went to see a doctor.可知生病了才会去看医生的，under the weather=ill，选D
小题3:细节题：从第三段的句子：Idioms tend to be informal and are best used in spoken rather than written English. 可知习语经常在非正式或是口语中使用，四个选择中的“网络聊天”符合这个要求，选D。
小题4:推理题：从文章中举的习语的例子：“---I heard it on the grapevine(葡萄藤)”.， "in a nutshell"，
'Let the cat out of the bag'可知习语中有食物，动物和植物，选 C
考点
据考高分专家说，试题“What is an idiom? An.....”主要考查你对 [政治经济类阅读 ]考点的理解。政治经济类阅读
政治经济类文章的概念：
要做好这类阅读，平时就要注意了解国内外发生的政治经济大事，掌握一定背景知识，对这类文章的叙述特点及内容安排有一定了解，还要扩展这方面的词汇。阅读这类文章，要抓住文章的核心，即文章整体和各段主要在说什么，也要注意段落之间的逻辑关系。
如何备考政治经济类阅读理解题：
【题型说明】政治经济类阅读文章是高考常选材料之一。该类文章时代气息浓郁，语言鲜活，但熟字新义词、超纲词及专业词语多，长句、难句多。政治类文章大多数是同学们感性趣的内容，读起来倒有似曾相识的感觉，经济类文章读起来就像是雾里看花，文章看完，一头雾水。再加之这类文章的命题侧重于词义猜测、推理判断和文章主旨，同学们对这类题材是望而生畏。
【备考策略】建立心理优势。针对不同体裁的文章，我们要采取相应的阅读方法和技巧。政治类文章多采用记叙文形式，我们可采取“顺读法”，以便抓关键语句，领会文章主旨；而经济类文章则多采用说明文形式，我们则可以采取“逆读法”，先读试题，再从文章中查找有用信息。若遇到的确难读的材料。千万不用着急，因为你觉得难，其他人也一定是同感。在高考前，我们就要有这种心理准备，高考试卷肯定有一、两篇难以阅读的材料。不过，我们平时可以有意识地从报刊杂志上找一些较难的阅读材料来阅读，以培养自己迎难而上的心理素质。
【答题方法】
1、寻找主干：
根据英语中五种基本句型结构，把句子中的主语、谓语、宾语、表语等主要成分找出来，其他成分如定语、状语、补语等则易于理解。找到了句子主干，句子的意思至少明白了一半。
2、剔除从句：
在一个长句中可能会出现若干个从句，在理解时，如果把各个从句剔除出来单独理解，然后把大意拼凑起来，整个长句的意思就会明白六、七分。
3、辨别分句：
一个长句如果是由几个并列、转折、递进、对比关系的分句组成，句中往往有表示这些分句关系的连接词，只要能弄清楚分句和分句之间的逻辑关系，再把各层分句的意思加以连贯，整个长句的句意基本上能跃然脑中。
4、寻找关键词：
如果一个句子看完，一点句意的感觉也没有，下下策就是抓住句中的关键词，通过关键词大体弄懂这个长句的意思。
