•2．日常行为•

“aha!” moment大呼“啊哈”的时刻→恍然大悟的时刻

In the course of these explorations some have an “aha!”moment that tells them unambiguously which path is right for them.

探索过程中，有些人有着顿悟的时刻，明确走哪条路是正确的。

balloon气球→如气球般地激增

Far from fragmenting, Chinese language Web content is ballooning—and may soon surpass English content by volume.

中文网站非但没有支离破碎，而且还在不断激增——数量上可能很快就会超过英文网站。

ballooning气球充气的→膨胀的，越来越大的

Prices are returning to levels more on a par with incomes, sprawling developments as well as new intown condos have stalled, while walkable neighborhoods are commanding premiums, and ballooning house sizes are beginning to come down.

价格正回归到与收入相当的水平，不断扩张的房地产开发以及新的市区公寓建设已停滞，而可以步行上班的社区更值钱了，并且越来越大面积的住房也在开始减少。

breadwinning挣面包→养家糊口

And many men are often just as delighted to be free of the shackles of breadwinning and feeling unappreciated for their efforts. Being single later in life can feel incredibly liberating.

而许多男人也同样乐于摆脱养家糊口的束缚，不会再觉得自己的努力白费。以后的生活中保持单身会让他们觉得无比自由。

comb梳头→梳理；整理

We, therefore, invited the chairmen of our academic departments to comb the stacks; books deemed worthy of retention were distributed to respective departments, while those not selected were donated to local nonprofits and public schools.

因此，我们邀请了学术部门的领导来梳理这些书库；值得保留的书籍分发给各部门，而未被选中的书籍则捐赠给当地的非营利组织和公立学校。

crunch（脚、车轮等）咬碎声；扎扎地踏→关键时刻

You believe that you are more motivated when in a time crunch, or that you move faster under pressure.

你认为：时间紧迫的时候更有动力，或者压力下动作更快。

cry叫喊——a rallying cry号召力；共同呼吁

Some say the study is a rallying cry for those who see home cooking as “time-consuming and often done for a bunch of ingrates who would rather just be eating fast food”.

有人说这项研究是在呼吁那些把家庭烹饪看作“浪费时间”的人，他们认为“吃的人往往是一群忘恩负义的家伙，吃完才说宁愿吃快餐”。

cry叫喊——It’s a far cry from...to...同……有着天壤之别

It’s a far cry from Walter Cronkite to Brian Williams the celebrity news reader.

沃尔特·克朗凯特同新闻名主播布莱恩·威廉姆斯之间有着天壤之别。

dumb傻的——dumb down简化；降低难度

Have colleges, in their efforts to keep graduation rates high and students happy,dumbed down their curriculums?

努力保持高毕业率和学生快乐的同时，大学是否降低了课程难度？

flip-flop作后手翻，翻腾，翻转→（观点、态度等的）突然改变（或转变）

Speaking of spinelessness, Mitt Romney has flip-flopped, again, on the assault weapons ban.

说到懦弱，米特·罗姆尼又一次在攻击性武器禁令方面出尔反尔。

fray磨损→破坏

In recent years, though, that vision has frayed.

然而，近年来，这一景象渐遭破坏。

gloss over给予光滑的表面→掩盖，掩饰

But in sugar-coating the holiday and glossing over important issues regarding migration, religious freedom and the destruction of a way of life for native Americans, have we done a disservice to our nation’s history and failed to challenge our children’s world view?

但是，在粉饰假日和掩饰一些重要问题（例如移民、宗教自由和破坏美国土著人的生活方式）方面，我们是否违背了国家历史？是否没能挑战孩子的世界观？

haul拖；拉——for the long or short haul或长或短时期

However, living under the same roof for the long or short haul will remain a configuration that defines American families in the foreseeable future.

然而，或长或短时期生活在同一个屋檐下将仍然是一种生活方式。在可预见的未来日子里，美国家庭会是这样子的。

hone用磨刀石磨→磨炼

Young women should believe successful directing careers are within their reach. They should then train and hone their craft.

年轻女性应该相信成功的导演生涯是她们力所能及的。接下来，她们应该训练和磨炼技能。

line up排队→得到；征集

And even after lining up an apartment or a room, things can go wrong—things that can generally be managed in a campus residence hall.

即便租到一套公寓或一个房间，也可能会有问题，而这些问题住在校内也可以应对。

lug用力拉或拖——lug things卖力

Fewer Americans today lugthings for a living.

如今，几乎没有美国人会为了生存而卖力。

pat-down拍打→搜身安检

Many passengers are disturbed about the nearly-naked images created by the scanners and even more distressed with the thorough pat-downs for those who refuse to go through the machines.

许多乘客对（机场）安检仪扫描的近乎裸体的图像感到不安，甚至对因拒绝通过安检仪而遭到彻底搜身而感到更加难受。

pick up the tab捡起账单→承担费用；买单

Some interactions justify, and are even strengthened by, anonymity—but it often comes with a huge price tag for marginalized communities on the web, leaving women to pick up thetab.

因为匿名，有些互动是合理的，甚至得以加强，但随之而来的往往是在网络上给边缘化社区贴上巨额标签，让女性为此买单。

play玩——play down淡化；缩小

In studies of heroism, psychologists find that heroes often display personal modesty by playing down the dangers that they faced.

对英雄行为的研究中，心理学家发现：英雄经常表现出个人谦虚，淡化所面临的危险。

plod沉重地走→辛勤工作，埋头苦干

Do you plod through the day at the office? Are you so tired by the afternoon that exercise is the last thing on your mind?

你是否在办公室里埋头苦干了一整天呢？到了下午，你是不是累得根本不想去锻炼身体了？

pull off脱下→努力实现；完成；做过

His success in stealing the thunder away from what we used to call the “straight news”business is the greatest and funniest joke he ever pulled off.

他成功地在我们过去所谓的“纯新闻”业务方面抢了风头，这是他开过的最大、最有趣的玩笑。

rattle喋喋不休——death rattle死前的喉鸣→死亡之声

The current discomfort is not a death rattle, but we do need to learn to live with the growing pains.

目前的不适并不是死亡之声，但我们确实须要学会忍受成长的烦恼。

scalp剥头皮→倒卖门票，卖黑市票

In the past few months several new apps have let people pay to get reservations at restaurants where tables are in a great demand. Some essentially scalp reservations. With others, like Resy, the restaurants themselves sell reservations.

过去的几个月里，一些新的应用程序已经让人可以在经常爆满的餐馆付费预订座位。有一些应用程序基本上是在倒卖预订的座位。而其他的应用程序，像Resy餐厅订位应用程序，也卖预订座位。

shaky摇晃的→不可靠的

These arguments are shaky at best.

这些论点充其量是站不住脚的。

show sb. the light给某人照明→给某人指明方向

Whether it’s VBAC vs. Caesarean, breast milk vs. formula, disposable vs. cloth, or wraps vs. strollers, these moms know what they think and will stop at nothing to show you the light.

不管是剖宫产术后阴道分娩还是剖腹产，母乳还是配方奶，一次性尿布还是布料的尿布，背带式的裹布条还是婴儿车，这些妈妈们都很清楚，而且都乐意停下手头的活教会你。

shy away from羞于→回避

So governing bodies have shied away from this lofty ideal of integrity and building character and have focused on the social goals of access and winning.

因此，管理机构回避了正直和塑造品格这一崇高的理想，并将重点放在获取和取胜的社会目标上。

sit坐→处于

With the release of the December jobs report, employment now officially sits at 9.4 percent and over half of those people have been out of work for over six months.

随着12月就业报告的公布，目前官方的就业率处在9.4%，超过一半的人失业超过六个月。

slap at the wrists of sb.打某人手腕→轻度惩罚某人

I believe that this weakness in the face of cheating probably has something to do with the 1960s and certainly underlies the decision to keep ethics courses optional and to merely slap at the wrists of students who break the rules.

我认为，面对作弊行为却无能为力，可能与20世纪60年代的情况有关，而且肯定导致了这个决策：仍旧把道德课程当成选修课，而对违规的学生仅仅是打其手腕般的轻度惩罚。

snap one’s fingers打响指→引起注意

It would be so wonderful if we could simply snap our fingers and fix the issue of bias among university professors for good.

如果我们能简单地引起注意，永远地解决大学教授的偏见问题，那就太好了。

staggering蹒跚的→令人惊愕的

Desperate and childless, she began losing herself in Ebay, ran up a staggering amount of credit card debt, and watched her husband file for divorce.

没有孩子，感到绝望，她便开始沉迷于易趣网上购物，结果信用卡债务达到了惊人数目，眼睁睁地看着丈夫申请离婚。

stand站立→立场

However, since being exploited as an unpaid intern by Fox Searchlight Pictures, I have been forced to take a stand.

然而，作为一名无薪的实习生，受到福克斯探照灯影业的剥削，我被迫表明立场。

stand behind站在后面→支持

Yet all over the world, flight attendants are standing behind Slater’s actions.

然而世界各地，空乘人员都支持斯莱特的行为。

step back后退一步→不介入；不插手

Or should officials step back, assuming that this arrangement mutually benefits employers and interns?

或者，假设这样的安排对于雇主和实习生来说是互利的，政府官员就应不插手？

stray走失→背离

When my husband broke his vows, I, too, chose to keep mine. And when he strayed, I stayed.

我丈夫打破了誓言，可我还是选择遵守诺言。他背离，我坚守。

stride大步——make strides大有进步，取得进展

A recent article in a series in International Herald Tribune noted that while German and other European women are making strides in education and in the workplace, their professional advancement stalls once they have children.

《国际先驱论坛报》最近的一篇系列文章指出，德国和其他欧洲国家的女性在教育和工作中大有进步，不过一旦有了子女，她们的专业发展就停滞不前。

sugarcoat裹以糖衣→粉饰；使有吸引力

Happy talk about “collaboration” won’t sugarcoat that fact.

愉快地谈论“合作”不会粉饰这个事实。

tinker修补→摆弄；捣鼓

Outside of school, they may disappear to tinker in the garage or spend endless hours practicing an instrument.

课外时间，他们可能会躲在车库中捣鼓车，或者花好几个小时弹奏乐器。

tried-and-true经过检验而可靠的→靠得住的；行之有效的

In New York City and Miami-Dade, I looked beyond traditional constraints and moved past the tried-and-true perspectives in creating the Chancellor’s District and the School Improvement Zone.

在纽约市和迈阿密的戴德，在创建“大臣区”和“学校改善区”方面，我超越了传统的束缚，采纳了行之有效的观点。

wait out等到……结束→渡过

Family of origin has become a lifeboat for roughly one in five 25- to 34-year-olds who move in with parents to wait out the economic storm.

原生家庭已成为大约五分之一的25～34岁年轻人的救生艇，他们回来跟父母一起住，以便渡过经济风暴。

wake-up call电话叫醒服务→警钟

I have used Turnitin.com as a learning tool in my classes by showing students what percentage of their papers were not cited properly; the alert acts like a wake-up call.

我在课堂上使用Turnitin.com这个网站作为学习工具，向学生展示他们论文中错误引用的百分比；这种警报就像一记警钟。

whine机器等嘎嘎响；发呜呜声→发牢骚；哭诉

A lot of time is spent on whining.

花了很多时间发牢骚。

wield挥舞→使用；行使

But still, most holiday shoppers this year are wielding credit cards, debit cards and cash.

不过，今年大多数假日购物者仍在使用信用卡、借记卡和现金。

woo向（女子）求爱→招致

Furthermore, firms typically need to pay employed workers a premium to woo them away from their current employer, making it more puzzling that firms would opt to limit applications to those currently employed.

此外，企业通常须要向已在其他企业就职的员工开出更高工资，以吸引他们离开当前的雇主；令人感到困惑的是，企业招聘时，经常会选择将申请人限制于当前的在职人员。