1513.the top line news 头条新闻；This is the top-of-the-line laptop. 这是这款手提电脑中质量最好的。the bottom line 底线，The bottom line is that the People’s Daily strictly follows the communist line.It will never cross the line. All the Party members have to come into line with the Party policy.底线是人民日报严格走党报路线。它绝不会偏离这点。党员都必须与党的政策保持一致。这里三个句子用了四个关于line的习惯用法，都是常用的。You have crossed the line when you criticize your boss publicly. 你公开批评老板，这样做就有点不能为人接受了。step over the line, 也是“过线、过分”的意思。They are under constant pressures to step over the line.他们受到很大的压力，要违规作业。push the line,挑战容忍度（push the envelop也是这意思）

　　1514.He’s in the line of fire again Your life will be on the line.We have to draw a line in the sand. 我们必须作出清楚的界定。（我们必须表明清楚的立场。）
　　1515.Recession? I have so many customers waiting in line. 衰退？我的顾客都排成了长队。to line up, 排队
　　1516.hard line and soft line: They took a hard line on defense. 他们在国防上采取强硬立场。Beijing"s soft line on corruption will hurt the Party. 北京对腐败睁一只眼，闭一只眼只会让这个党受损。
　　1517.He is very strong-willed in his line of business. 他在业界是出了名的犟脾气。A policeman was wounded in the line of duty.一位丨警丨察在执行任务时受伤。
　　1518.the country line 国家边界线，the province line, 省界the assembly line 流水线 the assembly line education, 指那种没有人性、机械性的教育，就像工厂的流水线一样。the line of credit, 信用额度。I was on the line when you called. 你给我电话时，我正在打电话。online education, 网上教育。Don"t forget to drop me a line when you visit a new place. 到了新地方，记得给我来封信！Drop me a line. 来封信！

　　1519.Somewhere further down the line, you will come across his name. 只要你往后留意，你总会碰到他的名字。I do TV as a sideline. I spend the bulk of time doing my main business. 作电视节目是我的副业，我大部分时间都在做我的主要业务。It is quite a lucrative little sideline. 这个副业油水足。 The fault lines are emerging in the upcoming battle over the reform. fault lines 是地质上岩石的断裂层。这里的意思是：改革即将面临一场激烈的纷争，分裂在所难免。fast line 或fast lane，一个意思。 punch line 笑话里的包袱句子，The first-line service people, the cover line，

　　1520.The shorter the hemline, the better the economy is. When hemlines fall, watch out!摆裙线越短，经济就越好，摆裙线拉长时，就得小心（熊市）了。这不是很常用的表达法，可记可不记。

日期：2009-04-10　11:17:03

　　楼上漏了一点，就是本人为基督徒。
　　1521.put one’s foot in one’s mouth, 因说错话而后悔莫及。Charles put his foot in his mouth when he asked the overweight girl if she was pregnant. Charles追悔莫及，因为他问那个胖女孩是不是怀孕了。有人根据A rolling stone gathers no moss. （滚石不生苔）的句型造出A closed mouth gathers no foot. 管紧嘴不后悔。意思是只要不乱开口，就不会有后悔的言论发出。又有人发展出foot-in-mouth disease 一词组，表示“说话不算数症” Most politicians suffer from foot-in-mouth disease; they make promises that they never keep. 大多数政客都患有说话不算数症，许些从来就不履行的诺言。

　　1522.Gotcha. 为Got You.的口语。抓到你了。
　　1523.He is a child of the 1950s. 他是50年代的人（或者受教育成长的人）。注意，不一定是说，他是50年代出生的孩子，他或许是40年代就出生了。
　　1524.知道“光棍”英语怎么说吗？有人翻译为bare-branches，很是传神。One child policy destroys the ratio of male and female. It has produced more guang-gun, or "bare branches," because they are branches of the family tree that will never bear fruit. In China the sex ratio for children up through age 4 is over 120:100 (120 boys for every 100 girls), according to the 2000 census.独生子女政策导致了男女比例严重失调，会制造更多的光棍，也就是不能为家庭开花结果的树枝。根据2000年的一项调查，中国到四岁的孩童男女比例是120：100（也就是每100个女孩有120个男孩。）

　　1525.Pumpkin boy 稚嫩的男孩，Look at this cute pumpkin boy! 瞧瞧这个好玩的胖娃娃！
　　1526.baby steps：蹒跚学步，艰难的起步，Taking baby steps is better than taking no steps at all. 开头难总比不开头要好。Take baby steps to achieve your goal. 一步一个脚印，去达到你的目标。蹒跚走路的单词为：teeter
　　1527.He is axed. 他惨遭淘汰。The leaders dropped ax on the program. 领导把这个节目给砍了。
　　1528.The program could be on the chopping block. 这个项目有可能被砍掉。What is on the chopping block? 要砍那些项目？
　　1529.If you don’t work hard, you’d better polish your resume. 如果你不努力干活的话，看来你最好另谋高就吧！（直译是：把你的履历去润色一下吧！也就是让他走路。）

　　1530.spear-head, head up, lead, 都是“带领、领导”的意思。Can you spear-head the discussion? 你能带领大家讨论吗？

日期：2009-04-14　12:35:34

　　1531.If the Lord doesn’t do anything else, resurrection is enough for me.如果主没有为我做任何事，复活就足矣。
　　1532.the final frontier or the last frontier 最后的未开耕的处丨女丨地，最后的挑战。Space is the last frontier for man. I want to be the first Chinese female astronaut in space.太空是人类的终极挑战，我要成为第一位进入太空中国女人。
　　1533.“死角、盲点”一般应该是blind spot，不是dead angle。Dead angle是一军事用语，虽然意思也是“死角”：(Mil.) an angle or space which cannot be seen or defended from behind the parapet （军事用语）碉堡射击的死角。radar blind spot 死角，盲点Why do a lot of women have a blind spot for men’s lies, especially in an intimate relationship?为什么很多女性看不出男人的谎言，为什么在亲密的关系中更是如此？After all, a blind spot for anything spells trouble.归根到底，任何事的盲点都只会带来麻烦。

　　1534.手机短信是text message, 注意，不是short message, 手机短信也可以写得比较长，虽然一般短。She likes text messaging to others. 她喜欢给人发短信。Text me. 给我发短信。
　　1535.Your car is mere scrap metal, worthless. 你的车不过是破铜烂铁，值不了几个钱。scrap paper, 废弃的纸，I just need some scrap paper and write a few words on. 我只需要一点废纸，写几个字。
　　1536.Don’t write me off yet, give me another chance. 不要把我一笔勾销，再给我一次机会。
　　1537.I understand where you are coming from. 我明白你的立场。
　　1538.It caught my attention. 这引起了我的注意。“引起注意”的动名词搭配有好几个： It arrested/ got/ my attention. This sign is an attention-getter. The sign commands attention. 这两句的意思都是：这块招牌引人注目。The old car needs/ requires constant attention. 这辆老爷车需要勤护理。complete attention, pay attention to, 注意；复数也可以：pay attentions to。 Attention! 军队用语：立正！

　　1539.You need to have a radical surgery on your life. 你的人生需要来一次彻底的改变。（直译是要动一次手术。）