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In its early history, Chicago had floods frequently, especially in the spring, making the streets so muddy that people, horses, and carts got stuck. An old joke that was popular at the time went something like this: A man is stuck up to his waist in a muddy Chicago street. Asked if he needs help, he replies，“No, thanks. I've got a good horse under me.”
Text 8
M：Can I help you, madam?
W：Yes, I'm looking for a new winter coat.
M：Have you any particular color in mind?
W：I don't know really. What's the fashionable color this year?
M：Red is very popular.
W：Good. Red suits me very well. It's a cheerful color, isn't it?
M：Yes, madam, I agree. What size are you in?
W：Well, I used to be size fourteen, but I've put on a bit of weight recently, so may be sixteen.
M：Here you are, madam. All these are sixteen.
W：I quite like this one. How much is it?
M：It's $ 180.
W：Oh, that's too expensive. Aren't there any cheaper ones?
M：These are our cheapest coat, madam.
W：OK. I see. I'll take it. Here's $200.
M：Here's your change.
W：Thank you.
Text 9
W：Is that you, John?
M：Yes, speaking.
W：Tell Mary we'll be late for dinner this evening.
M：I'm afraid I don't understand.
W：Hasn't Mary told you? She invited Joseph and me to dinner this evening. I said I would be at your house at six o'clock, but the boss wants me to do some extra work. I'll have to stay at the office. I don't know when I'll finish. Oh, by the way, my husband wants to know if Mary needs any help.
M：I don't know what you're talking about.
W：That is John Smith, isn't it?
M：Yes, I'm John Smith.
W：You are John Smith, the engineer, aren't you?
M：That's right.
W：You work for the Overseas Engineering Company, don't you?
M：No, I don't. I'm John Smith, the telephone engineer and I'm repairing the telephone line.
Text 10
Some expressions describe people who are important, or at least who think they are. One such expression is bigwig.
In the seventeenth century, important men in Europe began to wear false hair, called wigs. As years passed, wigs began to get bigger. The size of a man's wig depended on how important he was. The more important he was — or thought he was — the bigger the wig he wore. Some wigs were so large that they covered a man's shoulders or back.
Today, the expression bigwig is used to make fun of a person who feels important. People never tell someone he is a bigwig. They only use the expression behind his back.
Big wheel is another way to describe an important person. A big wheel may be a head of a company, a political leader or a famous doctor. They are big wheels because they are powerful. What they do affects many persons. Big wheels give the orders. Other people carry them out. As in many machines, a big wheel makes the little wheels turn.
Big wheel became a popular expression after World War Ⅱ. It probably comes from an expression used for many years by people who fix the mechanical parts of cars and trucks. They said a person “rolled a big wheel” if he was important and had influence.
