20

Question 1

a red herring

Answer 1

轉移注意力的事情（或想法、話題）
The police investigated many clues, but they were all red herrings.
警方調查了很多線索，但那都是些轉移他們視線的內容。

Question 2

to spill the beans

Answer 2

洩漏秘密
So who spilled the beans about her affair with David?
那到底是誰把她和戴維的私情抖露出來的？

Question 3

stiff upper lip

Answer 3

堅忍，剛毅，沉得住氣
He was taught to keep a stiff upper lip, whatever happens.
他學會無論發生甚麼事都要堅強。

Question 4

get cold feet

Answer 4

（尤指面對結婚等重要事宜時）突然退縮，裹足不前

Question 5

never look a gift horse in the mouth

Answer 5

不要拒絕別人的好意。

Question 6

to pay the piper

Answer 6

To pay the consequences for self-indulgent behavior: “If you stay up late at night to watch TV, in the morning you will have to pay the piper.”

Question 7

on the carpet

Answer 7

被上司責備，受老闆訓斥

Question 8

show your hand

Answer 8

攤牌；表明自己的意圖
Keep the names of the team secret - don’t show your hand until the day of the game.
球隊的名稱要保密——比賽那天再宣佈。

Question 9

to tilt at windmills

Answer 9

向風車挑戰；跟實際不存在的敵人戰鬥

Question 10

to feather one’s nest

Answer 10

營私; 中飽私囊
He went into illegal business to feather his nest.
他做非法生意以達到營私之目的。

Question 11

fair-weather friends

Answer 11

酒肉朋友，不能共患難的朋友

Question 12

to sow wild oats

Answer 12

（年輕男子）過放蕩的生活

Question 13

windfall

Answer 13

意外之財
Investors each received a windfall of £3,000.
每位投資者都獲得3000英鎊的意外之財。

Question 14

wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve

Answer 14

流露（自己的）情感

Question 15

wash dirty linen in public

Answer 15

在公開場合談論私密之事；家醜外揚

Question 16

save face

Answer 16

保全面子
Though she’d lost her job, she saved face by saying she’d left it willingly.
她失去了工作, 卻說是自願離職以保全面子。

Question 17

Indian summer

Answer 17

興旺的晚期；幸福安寧的晚年
A star of the 1960s, she’s enjoying an Indian summer with her second highly acclaimed film this year.
她本是20世紀60年代的影星，今年以其第二部獲大力讚揚的影片迎接事業的第二個春天。

Question 18

take the bull by the horns

Answer 18

當機立斷；大膽應對困難
Why don’t you take the bull by the horns and tell him to leave?
你為甚麽不當機立斷，直接讓他離開？

Question 19

the lion’s share

Answer 19

最大份額，大部分
Reputable charities spend the lion’s share of donations on aid and a tiny fraction on administration.
聲譽好的慈善機構將捐款的大部分都花在援助上，只有極少部分用於管理。

Question 20

out of the frying pan into the fire

Answer 20

跳出油鍋又入火坑；才出龍潭又入虎穴

Question 21

keep the pot boiling

Answer 21

使某事物(如兒童遊戲)快速進行；使對某事物的興趣不減

Question 22

bury the hatchet

Answer 22

言歸於好
Can’t you two just bury the hatchet?
你們倆難道就不能言歸於好嗎？

Question 23

Philadelphia lawyer

Answer 23

精明的律師（長於詞令，深知法界內幕，善用手段）

Question 24

gild the lily

Answer 24

畫蛇添足，多此一舉
Should I add a scarf to this jacket or would it be gilding the lily?
穿上這件外套，我再配條圍巾好嗎？不會顯得畫蛇添足吧？

Question 25

steal one’s thunder

Answer 25

搶先（某人）做；（尤指）搶了（某人）的成功機會（或風頭）
Sandy stole my thunder when she announced that she was pregnant two days before I’d planned to tell people about my pregnancy.
在我打算告訴大家我懷孕的消息之前兩天，桑迪搶先宣佈她懷孕了，搶了我的風頭。

Question 26

woolgathering

Answer 26

空想,心不在焉的空想的,心不在焉的

Question 27

to whitewash

Answer 27

掩蓋真相，粉飾
The official report on the killings has been denounced as a whitewash.
關於那些謀殺的官方報道被斥責為試圖掩蓋事實真相。

Question 28

break the ice

Answer 28

打破冷場
Someone suggested that we play a party game to break the ice.
有人建議我們玩一個集體遊戲來打破沉默。

Question 29

hear (sth) through/on the grapevine

Answer 29

從傳聞中聽說，透過道聽途說獲悉，聽小道消息知道
I heard through the grapevine that he was leaving - is it true?
我聽到傳聞說他要離開了——是真的嗎？

Question 30

in a bee line

Answer 30

沿著一條直線,筆直地

Question 31

the world, the flesh, and the devil

Answer 31

【文】一切壞事; 誘人作惡的一切事物

Question 32

make bricks without straw

Answer 32

巧婦難為無米之炊

Question 33

the upper hand

Answer 33

上風；有利位置
After hours of fierce negotiations, the president gained/got/had the upper hand.
經過幾個小時的激烈談判，總統最終佔了上風。

Question 34

draw/pull in your horns

Answer 34

行為收斂；（尤指）減少開支
He’ll have to draw in his horns now he’s lost his job.
由於失業，他將不得不減少開支。

Question 35

put the cart before the horse

Answer 35

本末倒置；前後顛倒
Aren’t you putting the cart before the horse by deciding what to wear for the wedding before you’ve even been invited to it?
還未被邀請參加婚禮，就先決定該穿甚麼，你這不是本末倒置嗎？

Question 36

turn the tables on sb

Answer 36

扭轉局面，轉而佔（某人的）上風
She turned the tables on her rival with allegations of corruption.
她指控對手腐敗，從而扭轉了對自己不利的局面。

Question 37

chip off the old block

Answer 37

（性格上）酷似父親（或母親）的人

Question 38

under the wire

Answer 38

在最後關頭
They got in under the wire just before the entry requirements for the training program changed.
他們在招生要求變更前的最後時刻加入了這個培訓計劃。

Question 39

to be at large

Answer 39

逍遙法外，尚未捉拿歸案
Twelve prisoners are at large following a series of escapes.
一連串的越獄事件發生後，12名犯人目前依然逍遙法外。

Question 40

go against the grain

Answer 40

不正常，違反常理；與…格格不入
These days it goes against the grain to show too much respect for authority.
如今尊重權威反而不正常了。

Question 41

to play possum

Answer 41

裝死；裝睡
I don’t think he’s really asleep. He’s playing possum.
我認為他並沒有睡，他只是在裝。

Question 42

it’s an ill wind (that blows nobody any good)

Answer 42

天下無絕對的壞事。

Question 43

behind the eight ball

Answer 43

【美】【俚】處境危險，無可挽回

Question 44

left holding the bag

Answer 44

被迫獨立撐起局面，不得不承擔起（別人丟下的）責任
The other investors pulled out of the project and we were left holding the baby.
其他投資者從該專案裡撤出後，我們不得不獨立撐起局面。

Question 45

a lick and a promise

Answer 45

匆匆打掃，草草洗涮

Question 46

tongue in cheek

Answer 46

開玩笑地；說著玩地
He said that he was a huge fan of the president, although I suspect it was tongue in cheek.
他說自己對總統極為仰慕，而我認為他是在開玩笑。

Question 47

take the wind out of one’s sails

Answer 47

使（某人）洩氣；使（某人）不堅定
I was all ready to tell him that the relationship was over when he greeted me with a big bunch of flowers - that took the wind out of my sails.
我已經準備好要告訴他我們分手吧，可他捧著一大束花向我迎來——這令我的心又軟了下來。

Question 48

two strings to one’s bow

Answer 48

有後備人選(或技術、資源), 有兩手準備
As both a novelist and a university lecturer, she has two strings to her bow.
她又是小說家又當大學講師, 有兩手準備。

Question 49

on tenterhooks

Answer 49

提心吊膽的，焦慮不安的，如坐針氈的
We were on tenterhooks all morning waiting for the phone to ring.
我們整個上午都如坐針氈，一直在等電話鈴響。

Question 50

fat is in the fire

Answer 50

事情搞糟了；闖禍了