⑴ Every language has its own special words and expressions. And a story can be told about each of them. Hot is a simple, easily understood word. So are most of the expressions made with the word hot. But not always, as we shall see.
⑵ The words hot potato, for example, give you no idea at all to the meaning of the expression, hot potato. The potato is popular and many Americans like baked potatoes. Imagine trying to carry a hot potato in your hand. It would be difficult, even painful, to do so. Some publicly argued problems are highly emotional. The problems must be treated carefully, or they will be difficult and painful if an elected official has to deal with them. One such hot potato is taxes. Calling for higher taxes can mean defeat for a politician. And yet, if taxes are not raised, some very popular government programs could be cut. And that also can make a politician very unpopular. The questions must be dealt with carefully, the same way you would handle any other hot potato.
⑶ Another expression is not so hot. If you ask someone how she feels, she may answer “not so hot”. What she means is she does not feel well. Not so hot also is a way of saying you do not really like something. You may tell a friend that the new play you saw last night is not so hot. That means ____________________________.
⑷ A hot shot is a person, often a young person, who thinks he can do anything. He is very sure he can succeed. But often he fails. The expression was born in the military forces. A hot shot was a soldier who fired without aiming carefully.
⑸ Hot is a word that is often used to talk about anger. A person who becomes angry easily is called a hothead. An angry person’s neck often becomes red. We say he is hot under the collar.
小题1:What is the text mainly about? (no more than 8 words)
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小题2:Fill in the blank in Paragraph 3 with a proper sentence. ( no more than 8 words)
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小题3:Which sentence in the text is the closest in meaning to the following one?
As you would deal with other difficult problems, you must be careful with these ones.
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小题4:List three situations where “hot” expressions can be used according to the text. (no more than 30 words)
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小题5:Translate the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 into Chinese.
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