451．三个结构相似的词组：Wall to wall；Bumper to bumper；Paycheck to paycheck 第一个词组的意思是“挤满了，所有的”，There are wall to wall students in every classroom. （现在的高中）每间教室都挤满了学生。Independent channels are promising wall-to-wall coverage of the Olympics. 第二个词组的意思是“车挤得一辆接一辆”（bumper是汽车的前后保险杠）。The cars are bumper to bumper everyday in Beijing.Only crazy people love to make a living there. 每天北京的交通是挤得水泄不通，只有神经病人才愿意在那里去讨生活。第三个词组的意思是“工薪族”：We are ordinary people, making ends meet by paycheck to paycheck. 我们不过是普通百姓，靠每月的工资才能度日。（不会有存款之意）

　　452．redux 这个词很多辞典没有收录，但有时也会有人使用，意思是“旧事重提”，Their redux reopens old wounds. 他们旧事重提，揭开了旧的伤痕。另一个类似的口语是rub it in：I know I was stupid at that time, but you don’t have to rub it in. 我知道我当时极不明智，但你也不必老是提此事好不好。
　　453．tradeoff: 利益交换，权衡，折中I am still debating the tradeoffs between going or not going. 我仍在想来想去，是去还是不去。A classic trade-off in business is the trio of time, money and quality. It is generally considered that only two of the three can be anchored at any given moment. 商业中一个经典的利益交换例子就是时间、金钱与质量三者之间的关系。一般认为，在一个时刻，三者中只能同时获得两者。经济学的核心问题就是一个tradeoff的问题。

　　454．Can you just give me a snapshot of yourself? 你能不能给我做一个简单的自我介绍？snapshot：一分钟快照。
　　455． Ifeel wilted now after a full day of work. 干了整整一天的活后，我感到筋疲力尽了。Wilt本来的意思是指植物“枯萎”，如wilted flowers, 借指“疲劳，麻木”，a wilted soul。
　　456．shoddy:a crappy job/furniture crappy weatherWhat a crappy thing to say about anyone!Why do you like these crappy movies? Shoddy质量很差的东西 China is well-known for its shoddy and unsafe products.
　　457．I am no spring chicken. 我已经不是（精力旺盛的）年轻人了。spring chicken不到一年的嫩鸡，喻年轻人。不一定只用于女性。
　　458．Can you crank up the volume a little bit? 你能把音量调高一点吗？
　　459．He is raised in a tight-knit family. 他在一个关系亲密的家庭长大。a tight-knit 关系密切或严密，a tight-knit organization 一个严密的组织，例如共产党。

　　460．My daughter blows me a kiss. 我的女儿给了我一个飞吻。

日期：2008-2-18　6:45:39

　　461．You need to keep your instincts under wraps. 你要克制住冲动。The financial details of the case have been kept firmly under wraps. 这单生意的财务细节绝不向外人透露（仍旧处在保密中）。The identity of the buyer is still under wraps. 买家身份仍旧是个迷。
　　462. A surprise witness proved to be the wild card at the trial. wildcard:出其不意的一招。One wild card is to propose to her in front of the whole class. 当着全班的面向她求婚，这会是最厉害的一招。
　　463．egg on促使，唆使，加剧egg on：Jack is always egging me on to drive faster.杰克老是怂恿我开快车。Seemingly quiet,Margo actually eggs on Donald to quarrel with his staff. Margo看起来一言不发，但他实际上在唆使Donald与职工们干仗。People are upset with the bad roads, egged on by soaring food prices.大家对路况本来就厌恶了，现在食品价格飞涨更是让人不安。要注意的是，这里的egg与鸡蛋无关，此词的来源是从“eggja”衍生来的，意思是“edge”,所以“edge on”与“egg on”是同义词，但是egg on更流行一点。

　　464．toss oneself into 不知不觉投入 He tossed himself into this pro-democracy movement that is gaining slowly thousands of adherents.他不知不觉中投入到了民主运动的行列，现在民运正在慢慢成长，获得了成千上万的积极投入者。
　　465．Carve out 获取 He carved out a successful career.他事业有成。She carved out a reputation for herself asa high-powered lawyer.
　　466．run into a wall, run into a stone wall or run into a brick wall意思都一样，都是“碰壁，遇阻”。 We tried to get faster approvalfrom the town and ran into a stone wall, For Allan, learning a foreign language amounted to running into a brick wall. 对Allen而言，学习一门外语意味着要克服巨大的困难。

　　467．Laoyang, you are at work now.You should be working hard, not cruising thedating sites. 老杨，你现在在工作，就得好好工作，拜托不要老在那些婚介网站上跑来跑去好不好？cruise 巡航，游览。He cruised to the victory. 他一路顺利，直到最后胜利。Cruise是个很有用的词，现在很多汽车里都有cruise的装置，“自动巡航”。Youcan set on the cruise, and relax. cruise missile 巡航导弹。That dude hasbuilt a cruise missile in his own garage, on a budget of just US$5,000.那个老兄在自己家的车库了花了不过5000美元就造出了一枚巡航导弹。

　　468．You should put your money where your mouth is. 你提倡这事，就得在这事上花钱。
　　469．She is a bust, a loser. 她是个破罐子。They are bust. 他们破产了。
　　470．Let"s go,pedal to the metal! 走了，我们现在全速前进。pedal to the metal是“一脚油门踩到底”的意思，也就是把车开到最高速度。Chinese car industry puts pedal to the metal for Auto-Expo.中国汽车工业卯足全力来参加汽车展览。
　　欢迎来本博客交流：englishlaoshi.blog.tom.com
　　本博客开设以下栏目，文章全部为原创（除开标明的之外），欢迎留言交流：
　　英语学习：本栏目重点是介绍当代英语口语。读本栏保证你学到最佳的口语。
　　反动观点：本栏目的许多文章都被网警给删掉，但就是剩下的文章可读性也颇高。
　　信仰漫谈：本栏目讨论基督教有关问题。

　　游遍天下：本人为背包族，告诉你一些好玩的地方，以及如何省钱。
　　电影欣赏：主要介绍英语电影。
　　国际观察：文章不多，但是是作为一个平常人应该关心的事务。
　　三言两语：想说但没有时间说的一些问题。
　　台湾观察：介绍台湾。这一栏目的文章基本上都是转载。

　　林昭专栏：介绍林昭的事迹。这一栏目的文章基本上都是转载。

日期：2008-2-26　5:37:18

　　471. We have some big projects in the pipeline. Pipeline是油管的意思。此句的意思是：我们有好几个大的项目即将进行。
　　472. He is a brainy guy. 他非常有头脑。
　　473. I caved in and gave him my phone number. 我妥协了，给了他我的电话号码。
　　474. Finally, my luck is taking a turn. 终于，我时来运转了。
　　I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot. 我感到我撞大运了。Jackpot是赌博用的工具，hit the jackpot就是赢了大钱。
　　475.Friends on net can email each other till cows come home, but a real live phone call can mean much more. till cows come home 很长时间，无止境 You don’t have to wait till cows come home. I will do it for you right away.

　　476. I can’t imagine my role as house frau after marriage. a house frau 家庭主妇（有点不快乐的那种）She is not a suburban house frau any more. frau是个德文单词，意思是“女士，夫人”，例如：Frau Smith, Frau Holle。
　　477. In the small hours of that day, he killed 10 people.那天他在短短的几个小时内就杀了十个人。small hours 就几个小时