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Right now, final examinations are taking place at most of the schools in Hong Kong. How do you feel before examinations? Some of you might feel calm and confident while some might feel like cats on hot bricks. 

If someone says you are like a cat on hot bricks, this means that you are in a state of anxiety or restlessness. As we all know, cats are climbers by nature. Imagine if a cat walks about on hot bricks, it cannot keep still there for a long time and would probably jump off from the bricks immediately. 

This saying first appeared as " like a cat upon a hot bake-stone " in a book about English proverbs compiled by the British naturalist John Ray in 1670. A bakestone is a thin flat piece of stone or slate used as a baking surface over an open fire. 

An American English version, " like a cat on a hot tin roof " , carries a similar meaning of nervousness. This phrase gained popularity probably because of the famous play " Cat on a Hot Tin Roof " by Tennessee Williams. The play was first performed in 1955. 

香港大部分的學校現時都在舉行期終考試。在考試前,你覺得怎麼樣?你們當中有些人可能感到從容且充滿信心,但是有些人也許覺得像在熱磚上的貓。

如果有人說你像一隻在熱磚上的貓(like a cat on hot bricks), 這就是說你處於焦慮坐立不安的狀態中。眾所周知, 貓本性喜愛到處攀爬。想像一下,如果一隻貓在熱磚上走動,牠不能夠在那裡長時間一動不動,可能會馬上跳離熱磚。

這語句最初在一本關於英文諺語的書籍裡出現為like a cat upon a hot bake-stone。該書於1670年出版,由英國博物學家約翰.雷伊編撰。Bakestone是在明火上面一塊薄而平的石頭或石板,用作烤焙的爐面。

美式英語版本like a cat on a hot tin roof同樣含有緊張的意思。這短語漸受歡迎,或許是由於田納西.威廉斯所撰寫的著名話劇Cat on a Hot Tin Roof。這齣話劇在1955年首次公演。

  
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