通过成语故事,可以激发学习兴趣,讲授人生道理,活跃课堂气氛。我们在教学中,应该关注成语教学的具体实施策略,下面这些是小编为大家推荐的几篇英语成语故事最短。

英语成语故事最短1：势如破竹

In the last years of the Three Kingdoms period,Sima Yan conquered the Kingdom of Shu and seized the state power of the Kingdom of Wei, and became Emperor Wudi of the Jin Dynasty. Then he planned to send his troops to attack the Kingdom of Wu so as to unify China. He called his civil and military officials to discuss the plan to destroy the Kingdom of Wu.

Most of them thought that it would be difficult to try to destroy the Kingdom of Wu with one action because the Kingdom of Wu was still powerfull. So it would be better to wait until fuller preparations were made. However,General Du Yu did not agree with them, so he wrote a memorial to the throne. According to Du Yu, it would be better to destroy the Kingdom of Wu as soon as possible, because it was still weak at that time. It would be more difficult to defeat the Kingdom of Wu later if it became stronger.

After reading it, Emperor Wudi decided to send troops to attack the Kingdom of Wu as early as possible, so as to avoid future trouble. So Emperor Wudi made up his mind, and appointed Du Yu the Grand General for Conquering the south .

In 279, sima Yan, Emperor Wudi of the Jin Dynasty, mustered more than two hundred thousand troops who were divided into six army divisions to proceed by both land and water to attack the kingdom of Wu. Battle drums thundering and the colours fluttering, the soldiers were full of power and grandeur.

The next day, Jiangling city was captured, and a general of the Kingdom of Wu was killed. And the Jin army pushed on in the flush of victory. Hearing this, the troops of the Kingdom of Wu south of the Yuanjiang River and the Xiangjiang River were overwhelmed with fear, and they opened the gates of cities and surrendered one after another.

Sima Yan ordered Du Yu to advance to Jianye, capital city of the Kingdom of Wu, by water.Someone feared that the Yangtze River might have a sharp rise and thought it more advantageous to withdraw the troops for the time being and wait until winter came.

Du Yu resolutely opposed the idea, saying ," Now our army's morale is high,and our army is winning one victory after another, just like a sharp knife splitting a bamboo. It won't be too strenuous to conquer the Kingdom of Wu with one action. " Under Du Yu's command , the Jin army charged at the capital city Jianye, occupied it ,and thus destroyed the Kingdom of wu. In this way, Emperor Wudi of the Jin Dynasty unified the whole country.

This story appears in "The Life of Du Yu "in The History of the Jin Dynasty. Later the set phrase" like splitting a bamboo" is used to refer to irresistible force or victorious advance.

英语成语故事最短2:按图索骥

During the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a man in the State of Qin whose name was Sun Yang. Sun Yang was very expert in looking at horses and judging their worth. Whatever the horse might be, he could tell whether it was good or bad at first sight. People called him Bo Le (Bo Le was the name of one of the celestial bodies and was fabled to be in charge of heavenly steeds), and he was often asked to appraise and select horses.

One day, when Sun Yang was passing a place, an old horse pulling a cart loaded with salt suddenly neighed to him without stopping. He came near, and saw that it was a horse that really could cover a thousand Li a day, and that the only problem with it was that it was a little too old. The old horse was pulling the heavy cart with difficulties and hardships. Sun Yang felt acutely that the horse was really unjustly treated, for it might have been a fine steed galloping on the battlefield. It was a great pity that it was pulling the cart loaded with salt without attracting public attention, which had taken the edge off its spirit and consumed its energy. When he thought of this, he was so grieved that he shed tears.

In order to help more people learn how to appraise horses so that fine horses which could cover a thousand LI a day would no longer fall into oblivion, and also in order to ensure that his unique skill in judging horses would not be lost, Sun Yang worte a book entitled The Art of Looking at Horses and Judging Their Worth, based on his experiences and knowledge accumulated over the years. The book was also illustrated with the pictures of various horses.

Sun Yang had a son who, after reading his father's The Art of Looking at Horses and Judging Their Worth, thought it was very esay to appraise horses. So he took the book with him to look for fine horses everywhere. At first he searched according to the pictures in the book, and accomplished nothing. Then he searched according to the characteristics of a toad fit very well the characteristics described in the book. So he happily took the toad back home, and said to his father, "Father, I have found a horse that can cover a thousand Li a day, only its hoofs are not good enough." Looking at the toad, Sun Yang did not know whether he should laugh or cry. Knowing that his son was stupid, Sun Yang said humourously. "It's a pity that this horse is too fond of jumping to pull a cart." Then he sighed, "That is just what we call looking for a steed with the aid of its picture."

Later, people have used the set phrase "look for a steed with the aid of its picture" to refer to handling affairs mechanically in the outmoded ways without being flexible. Somethimes it is also used to refer to trying to locate something by following up a clue. This set phrase originates in Lumbering in the Forest of Art written by Yang Shen in the Ming Dynasty .

英语成语故事最短3:鸡鸣狗盗

During the Warring States period,Prince Mengchang of the State of Qi was fond of having various kinds of people as his hangers-on,the number of whom was said to have amounted to three thousand.Never refusing anyone who came to hime,he let the talented people do what they could and also offered food and lodging to the mediocre.Once,followed by his hangers-on,Prince Mengchang was sent on a diplomatic mission to the State of Qin.Attermpting to make him prime minister of the state of Qin,King Zhao of the State of Qin kept hime from leaving.

Not daring to offend the king,Prince Mengchang stay here.He is a person of royal lineage,and has feud and family back in the State of Qi,How could he serve the State of Qin heart and soul?"The king thought it plausible,and changed his mind.He put Prince Mengchang and his hangers-on under house arrest,waiting to find an excuse to kill them.The king had an imperial concubine on whom he doted most,and he never refused her anything,Prince Mengchang sent a man to her for help.The concubine promised to help if she could have the unique white fox fur coat of the State of Qi as her reward.Prince Mengchang was troubled,for he had already given it to the king of the State of Oin as a gift when he arrived here.Just then,one of the hangers-on said,"I can manage to get it ."H " He left immediately.It turned out that this man was a skilled burglar who used to enter horses through the hole for dogs in the wall.He made an investigation first,and learned that the king was too fond of the fox fur coat to wear it and that the coat was kept in the choice storeroom in the palace.Eluding the patrol,he found his way easily in the moonlight into the storeroom and got the fur coat out.Seeing the coat,the concubine was extremely pleased,She tried every means to talk the king into giving up the idea of killing Prince Mengchang.

The king also planned to give a farewell dinner to Prince Mengchang two days later before sending him back to the State of Qi..But Prince Mengchang did not dare to wait two more days.Mounting the horses,he and his men sped stealthily eastward that very night.It was just midnight when they arrived at the Hangu Pass(in today's Lingbao County in Henan Province,which was the east gate of the State of Qin).According to the laws of the State of Qin,the gate of the pass should not be opened until cocks crew in the morning.

But how could they crow at midnight?They were very much worried when they heard a cock crowing.Immediately all the cocks inside and outside the pass followed the cock in crowing.It turned out that one other hanger-on could imitate the cock's crow very well,and the first crow was actually his imitation.The guards of the pass felt it very strange to have heard the cocks' crow before they could hardly have had enough sleep.Nevertheless,they had to open the gate of the pass and let them go.At dawn,the king of the State of Qin learned that Prince Mengchang and his men had escaped.

He immediately sent his troops to chase them.When the troops arrived.He immediately sent his troops to chase them.When the troops arrived at the Hangu Pass ,they had gone for a long time.With the help of those people who knew small tricks such as crowing like a cock and snatching like a dog,Prince Mengchang finally got back to the State of Qi.This story appears in"The Life of Prince Mengchang" in the Historical Records written by Sima Qian.Later,the set phrase"crowing like a cock and snatching like a dog" is used to refer to small tricks or people who know small tricks.