2014英语四级听力练习慢速4.13(2)_大学英语听力

2014英语四级听力练习慢速4.13(2)

　　Now, Words and Their Stories, a Special English program about American expressions.

　　Im Rich Kleinfeldt with expressions made using the word hold.

　　Cant hold a candle to is a popular expression. It is from the time before electricity, when people used candles for light. Someone who lived in a big house would have a servant light his way by holding a candle. The expression meant that the person who cannot hold a candle to you is not fit even to be your servant. Now, it means such a person cannot compare or compete. In the following song, singer Dolly Parton tells her new love that her old flames, her old lovers, cannot compare with him...

　　Another expression is hold your tongue. It means to be still and not talk. Hold your tongue is not something you would tell a friend. But a parent or teacher might use the expression to quiet a noisy child.

　　Hold out is an expression one hears often in sports reports and labor news. It means to refuse to play or work. Professional football and baseball players hold out if their team refuses to pay them what they think they are worth. Members of labor unions hold out and refuse to work until they get the work agreement they want.

　　The expression hold up has several different meanings. One is a robbery. A man with a gun may say, This is a hold up. Give me your money. Another meaning is to delay. A driver late for work may tell his boss, I was held up by heavy traffic. Someone who was robbed on the way to work might say, Sorry, boss, I was held up by a hold up.