 It's easy

 It's raining hard

 Get two things done with a single action
 Give away a secret

1. Let the cat out of the bag

2. It's raining cats and dogs
3. It's a piece of cake
4. Kill two birds with one stone
What thing or hobby are you most fond of
in the world?
Why are you fond of this thing or hobby?
The character in our story also has a thing he
is most fond of. Read the story, and find out
what this thing is. Also, write down the idioms
that you will encounter in the story.
 The Light of Life
by Margaret Gatty from Parables of Nature
An Adaptation
"What more could have been done for it than I have done!" The cry
came from Hans Jansen's afflicted heart. Hans Jansen is the
Hamburgh printer's only son. He sat moaning over a dying rose tree
in the corner of a little backyard behind his father's house.

Hans Jansen was what is commonly called not all there-that Is he

could not see and comprehend the things of this life as his
neighbors did. More than half of what passed around him was
hidden from his eyes. He was, in part, an idiot.
It was a great distress to his parents that this should be the
case. But being good Christians, they had reconciled
themselves to the fact and leaped by degrees to see comfort
through the cloud. If Hans was below the rest of the world
in some ways, he was above them in others. The fear of
God and the love of his neighbors had come to him almost
as an instinct and without the struggles some people have to
go through before their hearts are touched by either one or
the other.
He wouldn't have missed saying his prayers night and
morning. or grace at meals. An unkind word about
anyone could never be got out of him. Truly their
Hans was ripening for a better state of existence,
whether he had any book-learning or not. He had
nothing to fear, but everything to hope for.
He had one passion-one special cause of enjoyment
and delight. He doted on flowers and was seldom
seen without one in his buttonhole' all the summer
through. But this was because his good nature had
made him many friends, who took a pleasure in
seeing him pleased, and gave him a nosegay when
they could. It was very well known that he had no
garden of his own.
Mr. Jansen's house was a red brick one, in a row, with a square
enclosure in front, covered with pebbles, and a square yard at the
back, which had a pump in the middle, and a dog kennel on one
side. It is true this yard was covered with soil, and there were
scrubby patches of grass upon it here and there; but it was used for
a drying ground, and had never once been brightened by flowers
since the day it was first parceled out and the walls were built
round it, across which were now stretched the lines on which the
linen was hung to dry.
The fact was Mr. Jansen had not wished for a garden.
He was busy from morning to night at his printing
business in the town; his wife had quite enough on
her hands in household cares; and no effectual work
could be expected from an idiot child.
How Hans came to be so fond of flowers was a mystery, but there
are many mysteries of this sort in the world. It had been so from his
baby days, and many were the hours he had spent, unnoticed, in a
corner of that backyard, grubbing in the old black soil, "making
believe to have a garden with beds and walks like those he had
seen elsewhere. Nay, once or twice he had tried to grow mustard
and cress, and even sweet peas, a few seeds of which were given
by a neighbor's child; but somehow or other, nothing ever came of
these real attempts, and he had to make himself happy with the
make believe garden at the end.
But it was no make-believe plant he was wailing over now, but a real Géant
de Batailles rose-tree, which had been given to him many weeks before. It
was thus: a good-natured nursery gardener, who knew his father, had let him
walk through his grounds one day, and having noticed poor Hans sobbing
from excitement at the sight of the glories around him, his own heart melted:
for he had an only and clever son himself, and he felt sorry for the darkness
over his friend's child. So when Hans was going away, he gave him, not only
a nosegay² of the tulips and hyacinths, but a fine young rose-tree in a pot: "as
fine a Géant de Batailles as had ever been raised," said he to Hans as he
offered it, adding that it would flower in six or eight weeks, and brighten all
the place up by its rich blaze of color.
Hans trembled as he received it, and he stood with his
mouth half open, irresolute and abashed, wanting to speak,
yet not daring.
"What is it, boy?" asked the nursery gardener. "Speak out."
"How do you make your flowers so beautiful?" gasped
Hans, half afraid of what he had said.
"Well, well," returned the nursery gardener, with a
smile, "some in one way and some in another; but we
don't tell our secrets to everybody. Nevertheless, I'll
tell you how to make your rose beautiful, for you'll
make no bad use of anything, I'll be bound. You've a
yard or a court, or some place with soil in it, eh?"
"Yes, yes," cried Hans. "Then I'll tell you what you must do." pursued the
nursery gardener. "Dig a hole in a sheltered place, pretty deep, you know, and
put in a bone or two, and some hair at the bottom. Then turn the plant out of
the pot, not disturbing the ball of earth for the world, remember; and set it
right down upon the hair. Then fill up the hole neatly with soil, and say
nothing about what you've done to anybody, and there's an end. Keep It
sheltered, mind, and water it at first. or if you see it get very dry: and with
soapsuds whenever you can get them. Soapsuds and bones and hair are the
main things. There's nothing like them for bringing roses to perfection. You'll
have flowers as big as a hat, and as bright as cherries, before the summer's
over, if you do as I say, and look well after the plant. There! Good luck to
you and to it! Goodbye."
A. Did you enjoy the story? How did you feel after reading it?

1. How would you describe Hans Jansen as a person? What is the meaning of
the phrase the second sentence, "not all there"?
2. What is Hans's one passion?
3. What puts Hans above others?
4. Who gave Hans the rose plant? What are the instructions given to Hans?
5. What can you say about the gardener's instruction?
COMPREHENSION CHECK
Box the idiomatic expressions in each sentence below.

1. Last night, it was raining cats and dogs.

2. I am having a field day with my final exam.
3. Once in every blue moon do you fail to succeed.
4. The dog days of summer are starting to wear on me.
5. My parents rolled out the red carpet for our visiting relatives.
6. He was being a good Samaritan because he helped me out.
7. Kendra had butterflies in her stomach before the championship
game.
8. My dad blew his stack when he saw my poor grades on my
report card.
9. Danessa was a bundle of nerves before getting her driving test
results.
10. When I tried to get into the good school, the process involved a
lot of red tape.
IDIOM

is a common word or phrase which means something

different from its literal meaning but can be
understood because of their popular use.
Idioms are not the same thing as slang. Idioms are
made of normal words that have a special meaning
known to almost everyone. Slang is usually special
words or special meanings of normal words that are
known only to a particular group of people.
 EXERCISE
Read each idiom and match it to its meaning. Write the letter of
your answer on the blank
 
a. Be patient
1. Out of the blue ___________________
b. To share a secret that wasn't supposed to be shared
2. Mom's the word ___________________
  c. The family bond is closer than anything else
3. Apple of my eye ___________________ d. To go from being very poor to being very wealthy
e. Quickly doing things results in a poor ending
4. Hold your horses ___________________ f. Something that suddenly and unexpectedly occurs
5. Knock on wood ___________________ g. Knuckle tapping on wood in order to avoid some bad luck
  h. Don't rely on it until you’re sure of it
6. From rags to riches ___________________
i. To keep quiet and say nothing
7. Haste makes waste ___________________
8. Let the cat out of the bag ___________________
j. Someone who is cherished above all others
9. Blood is thicker than water  
___________________
10. Don't count your chickens before they
hatch___________________
 
 
B. Read the following sentences below. Identify the meaning of idiomatic expressions
using context clues.

1. Julie thought her mom would let her go to the party, but no dice.
2. 2. The lawyer knew that beating around the bush would get Tom all worked up.
3. 3. I thought Patricia would be a good worker, but it turns out that she can’t cut the
mustard.
4. 4. We thought that our neighbor’s, the Perez family, were rich beyond our wildest dreams,
but it turns out that we’re all in the same boat.
5. 5. If Jena thinks that I’m going to let her copy my math homework, she’s barking up the
wrong tree.
 ASSIGNMENT

Use the following idioms in the sentence.

1. No pain, no gain:
2. Pull yourself together:
3. Add insult to injury:
4. The early bird gets the worm:
5. Slow and steady wins the race: