WATER EXPRESSIONS

Expressions with water are very common in the English language, many of them having unpleasant meanings:

The expression ”to be in hot water” is one of them. It is an old expression. “Hot water” was used many years ago to mean being in trouble. One story says it got that meaning from the custom of throwing extremely hot water down on enemies attacking a castle.

That no longer happens.  But we still get in hot water.  When we are in hot water, we are in trouble. It can be any kind of trouble - serious or not so serious. A person who breaks a law can be in hot water with the police. A young boy can be in hot water with his mother, if he walks in the house with dirty shoes.

Being in “deep water” is almost the same as being in hot water. When you are in deep water, you are in a difficult position. Imagine a person who cannot swim being thrown in water over his head.

You are in deep water when you are facing a problem that you do not have the ability to solve. The problem is too deep. You can be in deep water, for example, if you invest in stocks without knowing anything about the stock market.

“To keep your head above water” is a colorful expression that means staying out of debt. A company seeks to keep its head above water during economic hard times. A man who loses his job tries to keep his head above water until he finds a new job.

“Water over the dam” is another expression about a past event. It is something that is finished. It cannot be changed. The expression comes from the idea that water that has flowed over a dam cannot be brought back again.

When a friend is troubled by a mistake she has made, you might tell her to forget about it. You say it is water over the dam.

Another common expression, “to hold water,” is about the strength or weakness of an idea or opinion that you may be arguing about. It probably comes from a way of testing the condition of a container. If it can hold water, it is strong and has no holes in it.

If your argument can hold water, it is strong and does not have any holes. If it does not hold water, then it is weak and not worth debating.

“Throwing cold water” also is an expression that deals with ideas or proposals. It means to not like an idea. For example, you want to buy a new car because the old one has some problems. But your wife “throws cold water” on the idea because she says a new car costs too much.

                                   From www.voanews.com – Adapted by Milton França 

EASY ENGLISH

For more than fifteen years it was available all over Brazil my first book called "Inglês no Vestibular". As the vestibular was practically extinguished, I´ve decided not to use that name anymore.
In September 2010 I finished writing a new book and decided to call it EASY ENGLISH, due to the fact that it is explained in an easy and very understandable way. It is much more complete than the previous one, with more chapters, texts and exercises in almost 400 pages.
This year it is being used only in São Luis, in 2012 in the whole state and afterwards in all the states of Brazil.
If you know the book already, I would like you to use this space here for your comments so that we can improve it more and more.
Milton França

ARE ANIMALS GETTING FATTER?

Like many people, animals are getting fatter. At least, that is the finding of a report published in the British press.

Weight gain is often blamed on too much fatty food and too little exercise.  But Professor Allison and his research team say there may be reasons other than these traditional ones.

The researchers studied body weight changes in more than 20,000 animals.  The animals came from 24 populations of eight different species, or groups, across North America.

“Each animal was said to be in early middle age for its species.  Yann Klimentidis worked on the study with David Allison.  Mr. Klimentidis said they considered animals with at least two body weight measurements in the past 60 years.  At least one measurement was made in the last half of the twentieth century.  One exception was non-laboratory rats.  Their body weight was first measured in 1948.

The study involved creatures as different as large animals in research centers and rats living free around Baltimore, Maryland.  All the animals demonstrated major gains in average body weight over ten-year periods.

For example, chimpanzees in captivity showed a 33% increase in weight each decade.  Laboratory marmosets increased weight at a rate of 9% over a ten-year period. 

Laboratory mice became fatter at a rate of 10%.  And laboratory rats increased at a 3% rate.

The study also showed that pet animals are fatter.  The average house cat weighed almost 10% more each decade.  Dogs’ weight increased at a rate of 3%.”

A virus called AD36 could be involved in the gain.  Its presence has been connected to obesity in adults. And the team says changes in time spent in light or dark environments influence eating habits.

David Allison says earlier studies found that light differences may be part of the reason for fatter animals.  For example, one kind of animal – the lemming – experiences body weight changes at different times of the year.

“We know that light affects weight gain in species like lemmings that gain or lose a great deal of weight in different times of the year, when there is much sunlight versus little sunlight.  That is the natural thing for them.  So our brains are responsive to light and in ways that may relate to body weight.”

David Allison says changes in environmental temperature affect weight in both people and animals.  The body produces more energy to keep itself warm in the cold.  But it produces less energy to cool itself in heat.

“That all other things being equal, if you put a warm-blooded species like humans or mice or dogs into a colder environment, then they will need to expend more energy to maintain their body temperature.  And so, being in a cold environment increases energy expenditure, and if you eat the exact same amount, will lead to lesser body weight.  Being in a warmer environment, up to a point, will lead to decreased energy expenditure, and therefore, at the same amount of food intake, weight gain.”

Yann Klimentidis says knowing causes of weight gain in animals may help researchers as they deal with overweight human beings.

VOCABULARY:

at least – pelo menos                                            finding – descoberta

British press – imprensa britânica                           weight – peso

blamed on – atribuído a                                         research team – equipe de pesquisa

measurements – medidas                                      century – século

creatures – criaturas                                             average - média

captivity – cativeiro                                               increase – aumento, aumentar

marmosets – saguis (macacos pequenos)               mice - ratos

environments – ambientes                                     lemming – lemingue

a great deal of – muito                                          brains – cérebros

both …. and… - tanto …. quanto                              to cool – esfriar

expenditure – gasto                                              lesser – menor

therefore – portanto                                              intake – ingestão

to deal with – lidar com

1. In the beginning, the text says that “like many people, animals are getting fatter”. This means that the article is about:

a) people losing weight                                      d) people dying

b) animals getting heavier                                  e) animals losing weight

c) animals getting sick

2. Which of the following is not a possible cause of weight gain in animals?

a) the virus called AD36

b) amount of time spent in light and dark environments

c) environmental temperature

d) fast food (hamburger, French fries, etc)

e) none of the answers above

3. According to the article, why is understanding weight gain in animals important?

a) It will make the animals happier.

b) It will give us information about diseases.

c) It´s interesting, but not important.

d) It may help researchers deal with overweight people.

e) It will make us fatter.

4. “Fatter” is in the comparative of superiority. Which of these words is not in the comparative?

a) slower                                                        d) heavier

b) sinner                                                         e) thicker

c) thinner

5. “Mice” is the plural of mouse. It is an example of irregular plural. Which noun also forms its plural in an irregular way?

a) goose                                                          d) marmoset

b) lemming                                                       e) monkey

c) brain

6. Which of these words from the text is NOT in the plural?

a) changes                                                      d) studies

b) says                                                            e) reasons

c) creatures

Original text by www.voanews.com with adaptations by Milton França 

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Information technology is the study of and use of computers and related systems for storing and using electronic information.

Some people are worried these days that the information society makes it more difficult for us to protect our privacy. 

The BBC website asked its visitors: Do you think that your data is safe online or are you concerned about this too?

Here are a few answers from different parts of the world:

(In some of them you can notice incorrect use of English)

Eliza, China
I'll only talk about my own experience: I had used my real name on the internet, and my age, city and other information on my profiles were true. I also had use only one username on different sites. Once a contact on my msn searched my username on Google, then he knew my real name, address, phone number, posts on forums, blogs and other things. He told me about it, and warned me. It was when I realized that how unsafe and scary to put your real information on the internet. Now I've canceled all of my accounts, and deleted all of my information only to protect my privacy. I think people may not open 
their profiles unless they're celebrities, or who wants to be famous.


Sheyla, Germany

The information society has the problem to protect privacy on the one hand and to give freedom on the other hand. It is, in my opinion, better to be concerned about the data especially the issue of online banking. It would be a bad surprise to realize that somebody unauthorized has got this sensitive data of yours! But the possibility of, for example, online banking is so worthy that it would be ineffective for the information society to let it be. Security and protection is the most important thing in the www. Every user should insist on a safe usage with his data. This will be a signal that can't be unheard. Then the freedom of the users will become real.

Hoang, Vietnam
Nowadays, people almost can not live without information society, not only industry but also people's everyday life. whereas, sometimes it is not safely using internet. many people like uploading photos on the blog, unfortunately, usually their privacy photos are illegally copied by the other strange people. as many people, I am keen on internet and concern about safety of my data online. Therefore, I add a code that just for my real friend to enter my blog. I think it is better way can protect my privacy.

Tatuli, Georgia
Look around. Do you see how many cameras watching you? They are in every corner. What for they are needed? To keep you from doing something wrong from one side and to protect you from another. It is the same with Internet. Information technology must have something to keep some people from wrongdoing in Internet and therefore to protect the rest of them. But the best way to protect yourself is to remember that Internet is a public place and not you closet…

Vania, Brazil
Today, privacy is something which everybody tries to keep. Although, many times we have been invaded by people sending us garbage emails. My email box is always getting messages from unknown people that I was the winner of something. Even though after I delete all, I go on receiving other ones. In my opinion, it is the face of two coins to live at the age of an information society; however, for one side it has been helping us to get all the news before starting the day. Although, on the another hand, every day I'm obliged to throw away all bad emails. It is the price to live in a world that is called developed so forth.

Eric, China
Many years ago, we created accounts on a website using our real name and ID number where we could send messages and communicate with classmates. Finally we could be found by public searching engine. There was no doubt that the website sold our private information to make a profit. After that I never public my real information to website you don't trust. So in information society, you must know how protect privacy when you are using internet.

ly, China
Just think about what it was like ten years before, I can not believe how can I survive in a world without any new information except from TV and radio... Thanks to IT development, people are connected together and the differences between cultures, countries, religions were minimized to some extent, which help to improve our communication.

Selina, China
Nowadays, people almost can not live without information society, not only industry but also people's everyday life. whereas, sometimes it is not safely using internet. many people like uploading photos on the blog, unfortunately, usually their privacy photos are illegally copied by the other strange people. as many people, I am keen on internet and concern about safety of my data online. therefore, I add a code that just for my real friend to enter my blog. I think it is better way can protect my privacy.

Shaji, Saudi Arabia
Of course IT is very important factor each and every business. Same time people has been misusing the IT in all meaning it leads to interfering the privacy, which means we are not safe.

Luciano, Italy 

I think there are more risks to allow too personal information in the Net, but if you know the Site and it is protect for example with secure connection we haven't problems.

Qanh, Vietnam
Nowadays, we can't live without Internet. Through Internet, we receive any information we need. Beside, we also worry about that our previous information will be read and used by other people to do not good things. We should except this state because we are living in "information society" where we have both positive things and negative things.

Roy Chan, Hong Kong
The Internet can help us to save many many times. It makes very convenience in our lives, such as e-banking and bidding. I use this services only at home.

Don't use these services in the public areas. If we use the Internet carefully, it can improve our lifestyle.

Henry, China
In my opinion, everything has two sides at modern society, the information society becomes more and more important. we will not feel embarrassed if we could have access to the Internet. At meantime, we have to pay more attention to cut down our personal info on the internet to protect our privacy. To many rules to obey.

Tomoko, Japan
Whether our data is safe or not is depending on us. Facebook, for instance, both are available which is to show our pictures to every users or restricted friends. We could choose if we will show them to everyone or not during the process of uploading pictures. I am very concerned about this problem, I never showed my pictures except my friends. Showing our data to strangers is dangerous because they might be abused where we don't know. In fact, lots of Japanese people committed suicide because of being abused their private data. Thanks of information society, everything became convenient. We can communicate with foreigners, show our pictures each other through the internet. But in contrast, it has a huge risk to make people die, even make people feel uncomfortable in a way.

Clara, Spain
We are living now a big revolution with information society. It has changed the way we are informed, the way we buy, the way we entertain, the way we relate with each others, the way we work and definitely the way we live. But this new information society has also its dangerous face, we put lots of personal and sensitive data in our computers or in servers, which lots of hackers and geeks have demonstrated can be stolen and used to commit delictive actions. No matter how many care you take to preserve your privacy, by means of security software, there is always someone who can uncover it by electronic means. As an example there are the last attacks to Google in China to steal user accounts, passwords and other sensitive information; and Google is one of the strongest giants in the information society. I think the best way to preserve your private data is not introduce them in the computer or in the net.

Mico, China
as you know. in the information society. many data on the line is open. even you set secretly. most of computer expert can also share it in some special way.

Dório, Brasil
I think my data isn't safe online, because I use wireless net, and there are a lot of hackers, here and anywhere, with your antennas waiting de prefect moment for spy others PCs. I'm concerned about this too.

Carla Diéguez, Brazil
I think the information society is so fantastic, because I can go to every places in world and I can acess my datas in all places, without need to carry my stuffs (computers, pen drivers, portable hd). The internet provides the mobility for everybody.

Deimante, Lithuania 
Nowadays people can't imagine life without internet, telecommunications, so without any doubt, a term 'information society' is absolutely reasonable. Nonetheless, as every good thing it has negative side too. For instance, a mission to keep computer totally safe is almost impossible, so our data is always in danger. Talking about my personally experience, I've faced with similar problem and my advice is to protect a computer as much as possible and use it wisely.

Seong-Mee, Korea
I think that Information society is useful to human. and nowadays it is necessary. But I believe that Information society is not always good. Sometimes I am afraid of my privacy being known by anyone.

Trinh, Vietnam
Obviously, the more people to connect to the Internet, the greater information they upload. Also, they spend too much time on the websites. Facebook, for example, is receiving a lot of information and they can sell the information of the users for the advertising companies, etc. In my opinion, the development of the information society, at the same time, means the loss of users privacy.

Jose D Gamez, Venezuela 
I think some data is safe online because many people have access to general information. I have saw in the internet many search engine such as Google, Terra, etc., where you are able find general information about our countries such as agriculture, history, culture, the economy, population, education, natural resources, tourism services, scientist advance, technology , etc., that is part of information society. It's good has freedom access, because when you want to go to some place, you can to consult about it in the internet and make your schedule. Also you can investigate any topic for your studies or work. So we have other data which could be confidential and restricted only for the government use.

Elena, Spain
I feel enough safe in the net, but I try to have caution, but I used to buy a lot of things and my trips and my tickets and I never had problems

Hiep, Vietnam
Society today need more information, through computer networks people come near what they want. I think that private problems firmly is protected by legislation.

CAT EXPRESSIONS

Cats are the most popular pets among Americans. So it is not surprising that there are many expressions about cats. Some cats like to catch small birds, like canaries. If someone looks very proud or satisfied with himself, we say he looks like the cat that ate the canary.

Sometimes, a cat likes to play with a small animal it catches.

So if you play cat and mouse with someone, you change between different kinds of behavior when dealing with another person. For example, a child might offer something sweet to her little brother and then take it away when he reaches for it.

A cat will often catch a small animal and present it to its owner. The saying that looks like something the cat dragged in describes something in bad condition.

Two old and funny expressions describe something that is the best or finest. Americans might say that something is the cat's meow and the cat's pajamas.

Children might call a child who is easily frightened a fraidy cat or a scaredy cat. A copycat is someone who acts just like someone else or copies another person's work. A fat cat is a person with a lot of money.

You may have known that cats spend most of their time sleeping. Sometimes people sleep for a short time during the day. This is called a cat nap.

If you tell about something that was supposed to be a secret, we say you let the cat out of the bag. If you are not able to speak or answer a question someone might ask if the cat has got your tongue.

Have you ever watched children in a classroom when their teacher leaves for a few minutes? When the cat's away, the mice will play means people sometimes misbehave when there is no supervision.

You may have heard this expression: curiosity killed the cat. This means being too concerned about things that are not your business might cause problems.

If your home is very small, you might say there is not enough room to swing a cat. But you probably should not try this at home!

If you ever had cats as pets, you know it is difficult to train them or to get them to do something. Cats are not like sheep or cows that can be moved in a group. So we say a difficult or impossible job is like herding cats.

From voanews.com

EYE EXPRESSIONS

When it comes to relationships, people’s eyes can be a window into their hearts.  This means that their eyes can tell a lot about how they feel. We will tell a story about a man and woman who are teachers at the same school.  The woman is interested in the man.  She uses many methods to catch his eye, or get him to notice her.  Once he sets eyes on her, or sees her, she might try to get him interested in her by acting playful.  In other words, she might try to make eyes at him or give him the eye.

Let us suppose that this man gets hit between the eyes.  In other words, the woman has a strong affect on him.  He wants to spend time with her to get to know her better.  He asks her out on a date.

She is so happy that she may walk around for days with stars in her eyes. She is extremely happy because this man is the apple of her eye, a very special person. She might tell him that he is the only person she wants, or “I only have eyes for you.”

On their date, the couple might eat a meal together at a restaurant. If the man is really hungry, his eyes might be bigger than his stomach. He might order more food than he can eat. When his food arrives at the table, his eyes might pop out. He might be very surprised by the amount of food provided. He might not even believe his own eyes. If fact, all eyes would be watching him if he ate all the food.  This might even cause raised eyebrows. People might look at the man with disapproval.

During their dinner, the couple might discuss many things. They might discover that they see eye to eye, or agree on many issues. They share the same beliefs and opinions.  For example, they might agree that every crime or injury should be punished. That is, they firmly believe in the idea of an eye for an eye. They might also agree that it is wrong to pull the wool over a person’s eyes. This means to try to trick a person by making him believe something that is false. But the man and woman do not believe in the evil eye, that a person can harm you by looking at you.

The next day, at  their school, the woman asks the man to keep an eye on, or watch the young students in her class while she is out of the classroom. This might be hard to do when the teacher is writing on a board at the front of the classroom. To do so, a teacher would need to have eyes in the back of his head. In other words, he would know what the children are doing even when he is not watching them.


From voanews.com

NOSE AND EAR EXPRESSIONS

A person’s nose is important for breathing and smelling. The nose is also used in many popular expressions.

Some people are able to lead other people by the nose. For example, if a wife leads her husband by the nose, she makes him do whatever she wants him to do.

Some people are said to be hard-nosed. They will not change their opinions or positions on anything. If someone is hard-nosed, chances are he will never pay through the nose, or pay too much money, for an object or service.

It is always helpful when people keep their nose out of other people’s business. They do not interfere. The opposite of this is someone whonoses around all the time. This kind of person is interested in other people’s private matters. He is considered nosey.

Someone who keeps his nose to the grindstone works very hard. This can help a worker keep his nose clean or stay out of trouble.

One unusual expression is that is no skin off my nose. This means that a situation does not affect or concern me. We also say that sometimes a person cuts off his nose to spite his face. That is, he makes a situation worse for himself by doing something foolish because he is angry.

More problems can develop if a person looks down his nose at someone or something. The person acts like something is unimportant or worthless. This person might also turn up his nose at something that he considers not good enough. This person thinks he is better than everyone else. He has hisnose in the air.

In school, some students thumb their nose at their teacher.  They refuse to obey orders or do any work. Maybe these students do not know the correct answers. My mother always told me, if you study hard, the answers should be right under your nose or easily seen.

I think we have explained the nose expressions. What about ears? Well, I hope you are all ears or very interested in hearing more expressions. We might even put a bug in your ear or give you an idea about something. We also advise you to keep your ear to the ground. This means to be interested in what is happening around you and what people are thinking.

If you are a good person, you will lend an ear to your friends. You will listen to them when they have a problem they need to talk about. Our last expression is to play it by ear. This has two meanings. One is to play a song on a musical instrument by remembering the tune and not by reading the music. Play it by ear also means to decide what to do at the last minute instead of making detailed plans.

From voanews.com

MOUTH EXPRESSIONS

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 using 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 person’s feelings.  Or they tell the person something they were not supposed to tell.

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.

Another situation is when someone falsely claims another person said something.  The other person might protest: “I did not say that.  Do not put words in my mouth.”

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.”

Some people have lots of money because they were born into a very rich family.  There is an expression for this, too. You might say such a person, “was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.”

This rich person is the opposite of a person who lives from hand to mouth.  This person is very poor and only has enough money for the most important things in life, like food.

Parents might sometimes withhold sweet food from a child as a form of punishment for saying bad things.  For example, if a child says things she should not say to her parents, she might be described as a mouthy child.  The parents might even tell the child to stop mouthing off. 

But enough of all this talk.  I have been running my mouth long enough.

From voanews.com