Ａｎ　Ｉｎｔｅｒｅｓｔｉｎｇ　Ｐｈｒａｓｅ

詹秀萍

A bag is useful and the word “bag” is useful， too. It reminds us of an interesting phrase（短語）， i.e. “to let the cat out of the bag”. In meaning it is the same as “to tell the secret”. And there is an old interesting story about it.

Long ago， when farmers wanted to sell chickens at the market， most of the time they would just throw the chickens in cloth bags. But cats were cheaper than chickens， so many farmers would put cats into the cloth bags instead of chickens. One day， a woman asked a man for a chicken. The man gave her a cloth bag in which there was a cat. The woman begged to see the chicken. When the man opened the cloth bag， a big black cat ran out. Not a chicken! The mans secret was out and everyone knew it.

Now when someone lets out（泄漏） a secret， he “lets the cat out of the bag”. And that is the story where the interesting phrase comes from.

根據短文內容，從A、B、C、D中選擇正確答案。

1. The phrase “to let the cat out of the bag” came from__________.

A. a woman and a chicken B. a man and a cat

C. a chicken and a cat D. an interesting story

2. The woman wanted to buy__________.

A. a cloth bag

B. a chicken

C. a black cat

D. a bag and a chicken

3. Why did the farmers put cats into their cloth bags instead of chickens？

A. Because the farmers liked cats.

B. Because people liked cats.

C. Because cats were cheaper than chickens.

D. Because cats were easy to find.

4. In “... everyone knew it” at the end of the second paragraph（段落）， “it” refers to “ ________”.

A. there was a chicken in the mans bag

B. there was a cat in the cloth bag

C. the cloth bag

D. the mans cat

5. John “lets the cat out of the bag” means that he ____________.

A. makes everyone know a secret

B. puts the cats away from the bag

C. buys a cat in the bag

D. sells the cat in the bag

Key： 1-5 DBCBA