英语中的成语和汉语中的一样，也是十分丰富的，其中不少都有典故。如果能够了解它们背后的故事，对于我们理解和记忆是十分有帮助的。下面几个例子和大家一起分享。
1. give a lick and a promise 敷衍搪塞
这条成语直译为“先舔一下再做承诺”。它出自一则英国民间传说。至少两个世纪以前有一只猫，它的脸常常脏得很，每当别的猫要它洗脸时它就用舌头很快舔一下，然后保证说下次一定弄干净，但实际只是敷衍了事。后来这个说法就被用来表示“工作马虎、敷衍搪塞”。例如：
You didn’t wash your hands; you just gave them a lick and a promise. (你根本没洗手，只不过敷衍了事。)

TEXT 38
A stilted story
踩高跷的故事（陈继龙 编译）
Jun 29th 2006
From The Economist print edition
IF THERE were a Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Ants, Matthias Wittlinger of the University of Ulm, in Germany, would probably be top of its hate list. The reason is that Dr Wittlinger and hisc________①hav

英语中的成语和汉语中的一样，也是十分丰富的，其中不少都有典故。如果能够了解它们背后的故事，对于我们理解和记忆是十分有帮助的。下面几个例子和大家一起分享。
1. give a lick and a promise 敷衍搪塞
这条成语直译为“先舔一下再做承诺”。它出自一则英国民间传说。至少两个世纪以前有一只猫，它的脸常常脏得很，每当别的猫要它洗脸时它就用舌头很快舔一下，然后保证说下次一定弄干净，但实际只是敷衍了事。后来这个说法就被用来表示“工作马虎、敷衍搪塞”。例如：
You didn’t wash your hands; you just gave them a lick and a promise. (你根本没洗手，只不过敷衍了事。)
2. bury

　Primitive　peoples　believe　that　hair，　nail　clippings，　and　lost　teeth　remain　magically　linked　to　the　owner　even　after　they　have　been　disconnected　from　his　body.　As　any　voodoo　artist　will　tell　you，　if　you　want　to　grind　someone　into　powder，　you　don't　need　to　touch　him　at　all.　It's　quite　enough　to　stamp　on　a　missing　molar　and　let　"contagious　magic"　do　

　海龟宝宝看见太阳。
　　The baby turtle can see the sun.
　　他看见海滩。
　　He can see the sand.
　　他看见岩石。
　　He can see the rock.
　　他看见螃蟹。
　　He can see the crab.
　　他看见海鸥！
　　He can see the seagull！
　　他看见海水。
　　He can see the water.
　　海龟宝宝爬进水中游走了。
　　The baby turtle goes i

　　一个母亲坐在她孩子的身旁，非常焦虑，因为她害怕孩子会死去。他的小脸蛋已经没有血色了，他的眼睛闭起来了。他的呼吸很困难，只偶尔深深地吸一口气，好像在叹息。母亲望着这个小小的生物，样子比以前更愁苦。有人在敲门。一个穷苦的老头儿走进来了。他裹着一件宽大得像马毡一样的衣服，因为这使人感到更温暖，而且他也有这个需要。外面是寒冷的冬天，一切都被雪和冰覆盖了，风吹得厉害，刺人的面孔。
　　当老头儿正冻得发抖、这孩子暂时睡着了的时候，母亲就走过去，在火炉上的一个小罐子里倒进一点啤酒，为的是让这老人喝了暖一下。老人坐下来，摇着摇篮。母亲也在他旁边的一张椅子上坐下来，望着她那个呼吸很困难的病孩子，握着他的一只小手。
　　“你以为我要把他拉住，是不是？”她问。“我们的上帝

Eros(Cupid)
eros was the god of love，better known by hislatin name cupid．son of aphrodite by ares ，he took his place among the small gods of olympus．he was represented asa little naked boy，with sparkling wings，and he carried his bowand arrows wherever he wandered．shooting his thrilling arrows in evils，he inspired the passion of lo

During the Spring and Autumn period,Zhi Bo of the Spring and Autumn period,Zhi Bo of the State of Jin destroyed Fan's family.Taking advantage of this occasion,a man went to Fan's house and tried to steal something.As soon as the man entered the gate,he saw that there hung a big bell in the courtyard.The bell was cast in high-quality bronza,and w

 
The Peasant and the Devil
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
　　Once upon a time there was a clever, wily peasant, whose tricks could be much talked about. The best story, however, is how he once got the best of the devil and made a fool of him. One day the peasant had been working in his f

It was Christmas and the judge was in a benevolent mood as he questioned the prisoner. "What are you charged wit

莎士比亚戏剧故事系列
暴风雨
在一片汪洋大sea上有个荒凉的小island(岛)，小island上lived着老汉普罗斯比罗and他的daughter (女儿)。他的女儿called(叫)米兰达。米兰达是个很 beautiful (美丽的)girl。她来到这个小island上的时候，年龄非常young，所以除了她父亲的face(脸)，她不remember(记得)任何人的face。
他们lived在一个在石头上凿出的cave(洞)里。这个cave被隔成了几个rooms，这几个房间之一是普罗斯比罗的study(书房)，在里面放了很many书。这些books大部分上关于 magic (魔法)的。At that time(那时候)，许多le

故事新编：听老人言的后果
Once upon a time there was a nice young man called Karim. He used to sell caps for a living, and roam around several villages.<注1> One day he would be in village A, the other day people would find him in village B.
It was an afternoon in summer and he was traversing the vast plains when he felt tired and wanted t

Dell’s Story
What I saw was a great opportunity to provide computing technology in a more efficient way. That was the core idea of what became Dell Computer Corporation and that’s one we were stuck over ever since.
I started the business with a simple question: how can we make the process of buying a computer better? The answer was:

少儿英语故事:The Ant And The Grasshopper

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