[Easy English Blog] Asia Museum

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Today I went to an Asian culture museum. It has exhibitions of Japanese cloth, and old weaving machinery.

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It also has an exhibition of Persian fabric. This was my favourite exhibition room. The colours and patterns are very beautiful. There is also an exhibition room about Mongolia and Mongolian costumes.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to take photographs in most of the exhibition rooms. I could only take photographs in the room about weaving. It was very interesting to see how cloth used to be made. It looks like painstaking* work.

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The museum is set in beautiful grounds. Now it is full of greenery.

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It is also very noisy, because there are many insects around at this time of year. The cicadas have started singing, and the dragonflies and bees are buzzing around!

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It is also getting very hot and humid. It is around 33 degrees every day. The weather forecast says that it is going to be a sweltering* summer. It is going to be hotter than usual in August and September. I hope I can spend some time cooling off at the beach or under a tree somewhere!

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*painstaking = needs a lot of care, effort and hard work

*sweltering = very hot!

Once in a……moon

Can you complete this famous English idiom?

Once in a…….. moon.

a) red

b) green

c) blue

The answer is below! ↓

 

 

Once in a blue moon. It means “very rarely”.

Here is an example.

Nina: How often do you go to the cinema?

Ted: I go once in a blue moon. I’m so busy with my business, I have hardly any free time!

 

 

Go the extra mile

Do you know the English idiom “go the extra mile“?

Look at this conversation. Can you guess the meaning?

Zita: Harry made a great presentation, didn’t he? His PowerPoint slides were really impressive. They were better than mine!

Dillon: Yes, he always goes the extra mile when he makes a presentation.

Does it mean

a) be motivated in your work

b) make a bigger effort than is expected

c) travel a long distance

d) perform your job correctly

The answer is below! ↓

 

 

Answer: b) make a bigger effort than is expected

 

You can’t judge a book by its cover

Do you know the famous English saying “you can’t judge a book by its cover“?

Look at the conversation. Can you guess the meaning?

Nina: When I first saw Kelly, I didn’t have a good impression of her. But after talking to her, I realised she is a very nice person.

Anna: You can’t judge a book by its cover!

Does it mean…

a) the cover of a book is not important

b) you can never really know someone

c) you cannot know about a person or thing just by looking at the person or thing

d) you cannot know if someone is nice until you become friends with them

The answer is below ↓

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Answer:

c) you cannot know about a person or thing just by looking at the person or thing

Look before you…

Can you complete this famous English saying?

Look before you…

a) leap

b) run

c) swim

d) dive

The answer is below! ↓

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Answer:

a) leap 

(leap = jump)

The phrase means think about the dangers or consequences of doing something before you do it!

The grass is always greener on the other side

Do you know the phrase “the grass is always greener on the other side“?

Look at this conversation. Can you guess the meaning?

Fred: I heard that Julie is going to change jobs again! This is the 6th time she has changed jobs this year!

Louise: I heard that too. She always thinks the grass is greener on the other side!

Does it mean

a) the other side has greener grass

b) people are never satisfied with their situation. They always think another situation is better

c) people enjoy going to different places and doing different things

d) people think that changing jobs often is a good thing

The answer is below ↓

 

Answer:

b) people are never satisfied with their situation. They always think another situation is better

 

 

Right as rain

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It’s raining heavily today, so here is an idiom using the word “rain”.

The idiom is “right as rain

Read the short conversation below. Can you guess the meaning?

Des: I heard you caught a cold last week. How are you feeling?

Angela: Well, I took a week off work and rested a lot, so I’m right as rain now.

 

Does it mean

a) nearly fine

b) not fine

c) completely fine

The answer is below! ↓

 

Answer: c) completely fine