890. You can wow your professors with the stuff you learn from this column.如果你能掌握好这个专栏的东西，你会让你的教授大吃一惊的。wow一般作惊叹词，这里作动词，表示让谁大吃一惊。What I can do to wow my boyfriend for his birthday? 我可以做件什么事来让男朋友在生日时大吃一惊呢？


日期：2008-10-17　10:39:09

　　891. If you’ve been burned by someone, it may be tempting to give the person a taste of his or her own medicine. 如果有人在背后占你的功劳，你会很自然地想要报复，让他也同样尝尝受伤的味道。burn在口语里为“背后贪别人的功劳，贪天功为己有”。此词从电脑词汇 “burn a CD” 的 “burn”引申出来。Getting a Taste of One’s Own Medicine Is Surely a Hard One to Swallow.自己酿的苦酒要自己尝绝不是好滋味。

　　892. With gossip or office politics, you should remain above the fray as much as possible. If you get involved in a tit-for-tat game, it can damage your own reputation. 对于流言或办公室内的勾心斗角，你应该学会超然，远离是非。如果你卷入了你争我夺的是非，你的声誉也会受到蒙羞。tit-for-tat 报复。
　　893. So fight the fights that actually mean something. If it doesn’t mean anything, just let it go and try to get along. 所以干仗也要干一些有意义的仗，如果太过无聊，就不要去理会，试着与大家和和气气好了。Let it go. 让这事过去好了。
　　894. Horseplay is not allowed in the bus. 车内禁止大声喧哗打闹。horseplay不能望文生义，理解为骑马。
　　895. You may want a second opinion. 你最好再询问一下其他人的意见。
　　896. I am not your mind reader. How can I know your thought? 我又不是你肚子里的蛔虫，我怎么知道你的想法？mind reader，世界几乎所有文化中都有这种迷信，类似的还有palm reader, 看手相，crystal ball, 水晶灯；tarot cards，算命牌；numerology，算八字；astrology 看星座，等等不一而足。

　　897. Children can sharpen their mental reflexes by learning to play chess. 儿童学下棋可以提高敏锐反应的能力。mental reflexes 头脑反应快，条件反射。 “Oneself” is a reflexive pronouns. (反身代词）
　　898. You don’t have to scratch the flaky surface of extreme nationalism very hard to reveal the totalitarian underneath. Extreme nationalism doesn’t have much in store for us. 你不用太费力，就能把极端民族主义的薄薄表皮给捅破，藏在下面的不过是极权主义。极端民族主义没有什么精神力量可以提供给大家。

　　899. He is a dirt bag. 他脏兮兮的。或者，他这个人品格很坏。
　　900. lose one’s shirt, 输得精光。Don’t lose your shirt in a bear market. 熊市期间不要把钱都打了水漂。

日期：2008-10-19　18:05:19

　　901. I have set my heart and mind on Qinghua university.我一心一意想考上清华。Or I set my sights on Harvard. 我把目光投向了哈佛。Before you get into the sanctuary, have your heart and mind set on magnifying God. 在还没有聚会前，你就得开始把心灵投放在上帝上来荣耀他。
　　902. The little boy is asking me for a piggyback ride. 这小孩要我背他。It can be a felony in some states to piggyback on someone’s unsecure Wi-Fi connection without the owner’s permission. 在美国有些州，一个人如果擅自上他人没有上锁的无线网络可以判为重罪。piggy backer汽车或摩托车后面的小型拖斗车。大一点的拖斗车叫trailer。

　　903. His forte is to show people around in the company. 他最拿手的就是向大家介绍公司。
　　904. Someone once said, “Journalism is the first rough draft of history.” No wonder journalists always get things wrong. 有人曾经说过，“新闻不过是历史的最初的、粗糙的草稿”。难怪记者总是把事情搞错了。
　　905. History doesn’t repeat itself--historians do. I am with Karl Popper in the belief that history has no laws, only some occasional recurring patterns.历史是不能重复的，但历史学家却在不断重复着。我赞同卡尔波普尔的信念，即历史是没有规律的，有的不过是一些偶尔重复的轨迹。
　　906. History is a great teacher. 历史就是最好的老师。
　　907. Think twice, dig deep, and you will find a good answer. 好好思考，多下工夫，你会得到一个美好的答案。Your English is poor now, but that is OK. If you dig deep and push yourself hard, you will be in good shape. 你的英语现在是不怎么样，但这不要紧。只要你用功努力，你就会很不错的。
　　908. It seems the perfect solution everyone looks for is to minimize his work life while still getting the stuff done that needs to get done. work life 与work-life 是有区别的。work life指的是工作时间，与leisure life相对应。“似乎每个人都在寻找一个完美的生活方式，那就是尽可能减少工作时间，同时该干的工作又都干好了。”I would like to have my work life to be enjoyable, productive, low-stress and high fun. 我希望我的上班时间能有趣、高效率、少压力、又快快乐乐。work-life指的是工作与生活要有平衡。You are not a robot. You need a good work-life balance. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.你又不是机器人，你需要处理好工作与生活之间的平衡关系。只有工作没有娱乐让Jack成为了一个枯燥的人。

　　909. Is your plan still hazy?你的计划是不是仍旧模糊得很？
　　910. The concept of language errors is a fuzzy one. Someone would say this sentence is right, while others say it is wrong.语言错误这一个概念实际上很不容易界定。有人说这句子是对的，有人说这是错的。

日期：2008-10-20　19:26:41

　　有人顶就发新篇。
　　911. She has a sharp tongue and think fast. 她伶牙俐齿，思维敏捷。顺便再介绍三种舌头：forked tongue: Those officials at the department all speak with a forked tongue, promising support they will never deliver. 这个部门的官员个个是谎话连篇，承诺解决问题，但是绝无行动。用tongue来表示说谎最直接的说法是a lying tongue. a flattering tongue, 甜言蜜语

　　912. Go bang your head against a wall, so that maybe it will stop making you say the stupidest things at the worst possible times. 你把头去撞墙吧，这样或许会让你不会在最糟糕的时间说最蠢的话。
　　913. 887句学了lifeline, 这里学另一句：He is putting his life on the line to promote democracy and freedom. 他冒生命危险去推动民主与自由。put one’s life on the line, 冒生命危险。That crazy driver puts everyone’s life on the line. 这个疯子司机在把大家的生命当儿戏。冒生命危险还有两个说法：May one lie when a life is at stake? 当生命出危险时，能说谎吗？His life is at risk. 他的生命处在危险中。

　　914. 中国人喜欢礼让，但最后总有一方要让步，这时我们可以说if you insist, 如果你一定坚持的话，那么。这是正规说法，口语的说法是：if you twist my arm. 例句：If you twist my arm, I’ll stay for a second beer. 既然你这么客气，那我就再喝一杯好了。