공통영어1 지학 신상근 2과 본문 빈칸 퀴즈

____ you heard the expression, “It’s Greek to me”?

It means “I can’t understand ____ you are saying because it sounds like a foreign language to me.”

You may wonder why it is not French or ____ but Greek.

The reason is ____ the Ancient Greeks had an enormous influence on Western culture.

Greece was the ____ of Classical Western civilization, and therefore, also left us with some pretty great idioms.

Idioms pose a special challenge in language learning because their meanings ____ different from the words that make them up.

Learning their origins will make it easier to understand what they mean and to figure out how to use ____

____ are four English idioms with Greek origins.

According to Homer, the Ancient Greek poet, the Greeks ____ Trojans had a war that lasted ten years.

This war eventually became ____ as the Trojan War, where Achilles became the most famous hero.

____ Achilles was born, his mother, a goddess of water, attempted to make him immortal.

____ dipped him in the magical River Styx.

Wherever the water touched, the ____ touched would become indestructible.

However, because she held him upside down by one of his heels, Achilles’ heel remained ____

This ____ his only weak spot.

Achilles grew up ____ be a great warrior and survived many great battles.

However, during the Trojan War, Paris, a prince ____ Troy, shot a poisoned arrow that struck Achilles’ heel, which led to his death.

This is why the idiom “Achilles’ heel” refers ____ a fatal weakness, especially in a situation where all other parts are strong.

Even after the death ____ Achilles, the Trojan War reached a point where no one could win.

One day, the Greeks came up ____ an idea.

They built a big wooden horse and left it outside ____ city of Troy.

They pretended to leave the horse behind ____ a gift for the Trojans.

____ Trojans thought they had won, so they pulled the horse inside their city gates.

However, the Greeks had hidden their soldiers inside ____ horse.

That night, the soldiers came out of the horse and opened the gates to let in the ____ army waiting outside.

This allowed the Greeks to ____ the war.

Nowadays, people use the idiom “Trojan horse” to describe a trick or scheme that is used to hide someone’s true purpose or ____

Greek legend tells of the Gordian Knot, which was ____ by a king named Gordius.

The knot was so complex that no one was able to ____ it.

A prophet said whoever could untie the knot would ____ the ruler of Asia.

For hundreds of ____ people unsuccessfully tried to untie the knot.

Then, Alexander the ____ came along.

He tried to untie it, and it ____ got tighter.

After thinking for a ____ he drew his sword and cut the knot in half!

Everyone was shocked because that was not what they had ____

He explained, “It ____ matter how the knot was untied.

The important thing is ____ it’s undone.”

____ that day on, the idiom “cutting the Gordian knot” has been commonly used to describe a simple solution to a complex problem.

In ancient ____ people often discussed important matters and made decisions through voting.

____ cast votes by dropping a white or black bean into a clay jar.

White beans were used ____ positive votes, and black beans for negative votes.

These votes were cast in secret, so if someone knocked over the jar, whether ____ accident or on purpose, they spilled the beans and revealed the results of the vote prematurely.

Because of this origin, the phrase “spill the beans” came to mean “reveal information that ____ meant to be kept secret.”

Idioms are an important part of everyday English, and ____ make the language rich and colorful.

When you run into idioms that are “Greek to you,” take the time to study ____ origins.

It is a fun way to ____ your understanding of English, and it can also help you to remember them and use them in the appropriate situations going forward.