Many expressions(表达方式) we use in American English come from movies and books. Today we will learn some expressions from Lewis Carol's famous book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. This book is better known as Alice in Wonderland.

    The story is about a young girl falling for a long time down a rabbit hole. When she finally lands, she finds herself in a strange world. In this strange world are some of the most popular characters in children's books. Many of the expressions from the book have found their way into American English.

    The first character Alice meets is the White Rabbit. The White Rabbit is not a usual rabbit. Alice chases (追赶) after him, and that is where her adventures begin.

    In English, "chasing a white rabbit" means to chase an impossible dream. "Following the white rabbit" means you are in the middle of an unusual situation. This situation often challenges your thinking and changes your life. Like "chasing a white rabbit", "falling down the rabbit hole" means we get interested in something else and lose ideas about time.

    Later in the story, Alice is the guest at a tea party— a crazy tea party! There she meets the March Hare. The hare seems to be truly crazy. To be "mad as a March hare" means that someone is completely mad or crazy.

Using expressions from popular books can add special flavor(味道). And when used properly, they also show you have a deeper understanding of the English language.

    Many say their most painful moments are saying goodbye to those they love. After watching Cheryl, my cousin, watch her mother suffer for six months before dying, I think the most painful moments can be in waiting to say goodbye.

    Cheryl made the two-hour trip over and over to be with her mother. They spent long afternoons holding hands and sharing memories.

    Each time she kissed her mother before leaving, her mother would feel sad and say, “I'm sorry you drove so far and sat for so long, and I didn't stay up long to talk with you.”

    Cheryl would tell her not to worry. It didn't matter. But still her mother felt she had let her down and said sorry at each goodbye.

    “Mom, do you remember when I made the high school basketball team?” Cheryl's mother nodded.

    “You'd drive so far and sit for so long, and I never even left the bench to play. You waited for me after every game and each time I felt bad and said sorry to you for wasting your time.” Cheryl gently took her mother's hand.

    “Do you remember what you'd say to me?”

    “I would say I didn't come to see you play. I came to see you.” “And you meant those words, didn't you?”

    “Yes, I really did.”

    “Well, now I say the same words to you. I didn't come to see you talk. I came to see you.” Her mother understood and smiled as she fell asleep.

    Their afternoons together passed quietly into days, weeks, and months. To the last day they cared each other in silence, love given and received just by seeing each other.

One day, a fox was walking through the tasty grapes hanging from a branch (树枝) high above him. He was quite hungry. 

 First, the fox tried to jump in the air and reach the grapes. But with each jump, he was just inches(英寸) away from getting the grapes. As he jumped and jumped, he was getting farther and farther away from the grapes. After a short rest, he tried taking a few steps back and doing a running jump at the grapes— but again, he could not reach them. 

 He even tried to climb the tree to reach the grapes, but his paws weren ' t strong enough for him to pull himself up the tree. How he wished he had the same paws as a monkey ! He sat and looked at the grapes angrily. 

 Just then, a bear happened to walk by the fox. He saw the fox look ing at the grapes. The fox turned to him and said, " Never mind. Those grapes probably don 't taste good anyway. " And with that, he turned once more and left. 

 The bear reached up, got the grapes and ate them. They were, of course, quite delicious. " Why not ask me for help?" the bear thought. 

It was so dark outside. There was still two hours 1 my parents got home from the theatre. I didn't go with them 2 I wasn't interested in opera. After finishing my homework, I locked 3 in my parents' bedroom and turned on the TV.

Suddenly, the 4 began to ring. I picked it up and said "Hello?" but nobody answered. I knew someone was at 5 end. Finally? I hung up. A minute later, the phone rang again, but still nobody answered. I became more and more 6 as time passed.

To take my mind off this prank (恶作剧), I called my friend Jane. She 7 me to give my parents a call, but they were not allowed to use phones in the theatre. As we talked, a car drove in our driveway. I 8 the window and saw an unfamiliar (不熟悉的) car. Five minutes passed and the car was 9 there. Anna told me to call the police, but I refused. I thought I'd better find a place to 10 . Luckily, my parents arrived home soon. Since then I haven't stayed home alone and I think I will never be home alone.