620. The overall workload is too much for young students in China. 中国青少年学生每天学习任务都太重。The job is tough, but overall, I enjoy it. 这工作不容做，但总的来说，我还是蛮喜欢的。To suffer is part of your overall experience. overall是个常用的口语词汇。

日期：2008-8-28　21:58:20

　　教学相长，这只能是开坛者的自谦话，不过本夫还是笑纳了。
　　621.“（学生）进步了”，我们大概都会说，The students made progress. 也可以说：All students made gains/improvements/good scores on this year’s exams. 今年考试，所有的学生都有较大的进步。注意：progress为不可数名词。
　　622. I know you are bursting your buttons as a proud papa.我知道作为一个骄傲的爸爸，你喜得在手舞足蹈了。一个人得意洋洋时，会把胸挺起，结果把衬衣的纽扣都挣断了。
　　623. Although I am not a stellar student in his class by any stretch of the imagination, Professor Zhou really takes good care of me. 虽然我从来算不上一个优秀的学生，不过周教授真的挺照顾我。by any stretch of the imagination, 无论如何想象（用于否定句。）
　　624. He is making a name for himself in this field. 他正在这个领域崭露头角。另一个类似的说法：He is casting his own shadow. 他正在成为一个有影响力的人。He has cast a long shadow as president of the college. 他是学院院长，影响力深厚。She is trying to escape his father’s shadow and be independent.

　　625. When your fate is in our hands, it won’t go out of hand. 把你的命运交在我们的手中，你的命运就不会失手了。
　　626. 在中国，锤子上了**的党旗，所以说是锤子应该是个正面的东东。但是在英文里就不见得如此了。You can’t teach a hammer to love nails. 你不可能让锤子爱上钉子。(我为鱼肉，人为刀俎之意) To a hammer, everything is a nail. 对锤子而言，其余的都是钉子。（对我而言，**就是锤子，我们普通人都是钉子。）由此句话发展出了很多相关的话，例如：If the only tool you have is a hammer, you will see every problem as a nail. 如果你唯一的工具就是锤子的话，你就会视每个问题都是钉子。(此句意思是，你得多掌握解决问题的办法，不要只一根筋。)Your boss is a hammer, don’t be a nail. 你的老板是锤子，你不要成为钉子。(不要被他任意宰割之意。)Do you need a hammer?

　　627. Dragon在国人看来是祖宗，但在英文里可不是什么可爱的东东。 “AIDS is a very big dragon,” Clinton said. “This dragon must be slain by millions of foot soldiers.” 艾滋病是个庞然怪兽，只有靠成千上万的平凡勇士才能制服这头怪兽。foot soldier 步兵，在前线作战的平凡战士。
　　628. Never bite the hands that feed your mouth/ you. 这句话的意思是：不要做得不偿失的事，不要做忘恩负义的事。
　　629. How can we trust him when we know he talks out of both sides of his mouth?这个人见人说人话，见鬼说鬼话，叫我们如何相信他？talk out of both sides of his mouth, 说话没有立场；想怎样说就怎样说。有人把这句话发展为talk out of three sides of his mouth, 左、前、右。
　　630. (今年的金牌)这超过了我的所求所想：This exceeds my expectations. 口语说法是：This simply blows my mind away.

日期：2008-8-29　20:33:02

　　谁再顶一下，你就成为“千斤顶”了。
　　631. Yaoming has achieved the great acclaim in the hoops. His hoops career is legendary. 他有着传奇般的篮球生涯。 hoops: 篮球。原意为球框。
　　632. Yaoming is the guy who pulls the crowds. 姚明很能吸引人。Attract是比较正式的用法。He pulls in one million dollars a month. pull in 挣(大)钱。
　　633. She cracked the top 10. 她进入了前十名。口语里，crack是个很常用的单词，兹举以下例子：I have set up 30 characters in length for my password so that no one can crack it easily. to crack a password, 解密码。我把密码设到30位那么长，这可以减少被盗的危险。Crack另一个常用含义为“丨毒丨品”：As a rule of thumb, it is profoundly unwise to get addicted to crack.记住最要紧的事，吸丨毒丨是最愚蠢的事。She was a normal gal until she started smoking crack, now she is a prostitute for $5 to buy another rock. 吸丨毒丨前她是个很正常的女孩，现在她成了**，5美元就卖身，好去再买一剂丨毒丨品。Ford said he had always wanted to take a crack at writing a novel. 福特说，他总怀有一个念头就是要尝试写本小说。Winter is a great time to prep for a last crack at the Entrance Exam. 寒假是很好的时间，预备高考的最后机会。

　　634. He is a bargain hunter。他最会讨价还价。
　　635. I have just lost my job, and I have to stretch my dollars. 我失业了，得精打细算过日子。Stretch dollars 一块钱做两块钱用。She has a passion for penny-pinching. 只要谈到省钱，她就来劲。
　　636. Economy is not good. They struggle to stay afloat. 经济萧条，他们竭力设法能生存下去。
　　637. a standout 与outstanding意思一样。 a standout player or an outstanding player优秀的球员。
　　638. Can you cover it for me? 你能不能顶替我一下？

　　639. It was no picnic. 这事可不是看上去那么简单。相反的说法是：That is a piece of cake.这事易如反掌。
　　640. There is no stopping a man on a mission to accomplish this. 他决心要完成这使命，没有什么力量能使他放弃。

日期：2008-9-1　13:46:14

　　We are low on food now, can you go and do some shopping? 吃的东西不多了，你能不能去买点菜？We are running low on food. 现在食品供应紧张。
　　642. He credits his success to his deep-seeded Christian faith. 他把自己的成功归结为根植于基督教的信仰。I work hard, but my boss won’t give me any credit. 我努力工作，但老板并不买账。
　　643. Kudos to Jim, who has worked really hard to make this possible. 向Jim致敬，因为他的努力，这一切才有可能。或者说：A tip of the hat to Junko for his contribution. Thank you, Junko! a tip of the hat to 向某人致敬 to tip the hat to someone, 见前面的例句。
　　644. That is when the light bulb went off. 那时，我忽然顿开茅塞。很多人都说go off, 但也有人说go on.
　　645. There is the impression that I have been calling all the shots in this company, but that couldn’t be more wrong. 有人以为我在公司包揽做一切都决定，但这根本就不是事实。call shots 做决定

　　646. It took him three shots to pass the bar. 他考了三次才通过律师资格。
　　647. a close call, 差不多，几乎 My car almost hit the guy, what a close call.我的车几乎撞到那个人了，真是好险呀。The White House race is a close call. 竞选白宫现在是难分胜负。类似的说法还有close shave. narrow escape, near miss.