Cold weather has a great effect on how our minds and our bodies work. Maybe that is why there are so many expressions that use the word “cold”. For centuries, the body’s blood has been linked closely with the emotions. People who show no human emotions or feelings, for example, are said to be cold-blooded. Cold-blooded people act in merciless ways. They may do brutal things to others, and not by accident. For example, a newspaper says the police are searching for a cold-blooded killer. The killer murdered someone, not in self-defense. He seemed to kill for no reason, and with no emotion, as if taking someone’s life meant nothing.
Cold can affect other parts of the body, the feet, for example. Heavy socks can you’re your feet, if your feet are really cold. But there is an expression—to get cold feet—that has nothing to do with cold or your feet.
The expression means being afraid to do something you have decided to do. For example, you agree to be president of an organization. But then you learn that all the other officers have resigned. All the work of the organization will be your responsibility. You are likely to get cold feet about being the president when you understand the situation.
Cold can also affect your shoulder. You give someone the cold shoulder when you refuse to speak to them. You treat them in a distant and cold way. The expression probably comes from the physical act of turning your back toward someone, instead of speaking to him face-to-face. You may give a cold shoulder to a friend who has not kept a promise he made to you, or to someone who has lied about you to others.
A cold fish is not a fish. It is a person. But it is a person who is unfriendly, unemotional and shows no love or warmth. A cold fish does not offer much of himself to anyone.
Out in the cold is an expression often heard. It means not getting something that everybody else got. A person might say that everybody but him got a pay raise, and that he was left out in the cold. And it is not a pleasant place to be.
小题1:The passage is intended to tell us that ______ .
A．cold weather has a great effect on human bodies
B．many English expressions contain the word “cold”
C．cold is a word closely linked with human emotions
D．the word “cold” has many different meanings in English小题2:The underlined word “brutal” in Paragraph 1 most probably means “______”.
A．impolite
B．illegal
C．cruel
D．extreme小题3:Which of the following expressions can best describe a person who is unwilling to offer anything to others?
A．Cold-blooded.
B．To get cold feet.
C．A cold shoulder.
D．A cold fish.小题4:You can say Tom ______ if the teacher gives all the boys except him a pen as a prize.
A．is given the cold shoulder
B．is left out in the cold
C．has got cold feet
D．is murdered by a cold-blooded killer小题5:We can draw a conclusion from the passage that ______ .
A．all the expressions containing the word “cold” have a negative meaning
B．all the expressions containing the word “cold” have something to do with cold
C．people who show no human emotions or feelings have cold blood
D．many parts of the human body can be badly affected by cold
