One of the most difficult aspects of learning any foreign language is being able to understand and use a wide range of idioms. The English language has over 15,000 idioms and native speakers use them very frequently, often without realising it themselves. This can make communication with native speakers confusing.
在任何語言學習中最困難的一個方面就是，要能理解并運用大量成語。英語有15000多個成語，而且本族語使用者常常在不自覺的情況下頻繁使用它們。這就造成了與本族語使用者的溝通不暢。
What is an idiom? An idiom is a group of words which, when used together, has a different meaning from the one which the individual words have. For example:
什么是成語呢？一個成語就是一組詞，當結合在一起使用時，其意與單個詞語所表達的意思均不相同。例如：
-How do you know that Sid and Nancy have separated
你怎么知道席德和南希分手了？
-I heard it on the grapevine.
我是從小道消息聽到的。
Of course, the second speaker does not mean he heard the news about John by putting his ear to a grapevine! He is conveying the idea visually of information spreading around a widespread network, similar to a grapevine.
當然，第二個談話者并不是說，他把耳朵貼在葡萄藤上才聽到這個關于約翰的消息的！他只是在形象地表達一種意味，即這個消息通過一個類似葡萄藤的巨大網絡傳播開來。
We use idioms to express something that other words do not express as clearly or as cleverly. We often use an image or symbol to describe something as clearly as possible and thus make our point as effectively as possible. For example, "in a nutshell" suggests the idea of having all the information contained within very few words. Idioms tend to be informal and are best used in spoken rather than written English.
我們使用成語是要表達其它詞語無法如此清晰或如此巧妙表達的東西。我們經常會運用比喻和象征以便盡可能清晰地描述事物，因而可以盡可能有效地闡述我們的觀點。比如，“in a nutshell”表明的意思是，用很少幾個詞來涵蓋所要表達的全部意思。成語往往是非正式的，最好用于口語，而不要用在非書面表達中。
One of the best ways to learn an idiom is by looking at the context in which it is used. This can be done by concentrating on the rest of the sentence and try to guess the meaning. Many idioms are not that difficult to understand when considered in their context. For example:
學習成語的最好方法之一是查看它所在的上下文。而這可以通過通讀句子其它部分來實現，并試著猜測其意。當把許多成語放在上下文中考慮，理解起來就不那么難了。例如：
We are going to have a surprise party for Tom tomorrow. It's a secret so please don't let the cat out of the bag.
明天，我們要給湯姆舉辦一個驚喜聚會。這是一個秘密，因此請不要泄露秘密。
'Let the cat out of the bag' is an idiom. Imagine you don't know what this idiom means; by looking at the words preceding it should be easy to guess that the speaker does not want you to tell Tom about the surprise party. Therefore, 'let the cat out of the bag' must mean something like' reveal a secret' or 'tell a secret'.
“Let the cat out of the bag”是一個成語。設想你不知道這個成語的意思；如果看看之前的單詞，就會很容易地猜出，講話者是不想讓你跟湯姆談及驚喜聚會的事情。因此，“let the cat out of the bag”一定是“揭露秘密”或“泄露秘密”之類的意思。
Other examples:
其它例子：
He was on the carpet last week for being late to work three times.
上星期，他由于遲到三次而受到批評。
It was a very long report. It took me three hours to wade through.
那是一個很長的報告。我花了三個小時才總算讀完它。
Let's call it a day. I'm very tired and I think we have covered the main points of the meeting already.
我們今天就到此為止。我很累，而且我認為，我們已經處理了這次會議的主要問題。
However, idioms can often be very difficult to understand. You may be able to guess the meaning from context but if not, it is not easy to know the meaning. Many idioms, for instance, come from favorite traditional British activities such as fighting, sailing and hunting. As well as being quite specialist in meaning, some of the words in idioms were used two or three hundred years ago, or longer, and can be a little obscure. Here are some examples:
然而，成語通常很難理解。你也許能夠通過上下文來猜測其意，但如果不能的話，那么就不易理解其意了。譬如，很多成語起源于英國人鐘愛的傳統活動，如搏斗、航海和狩獵。其不僅在意思上是十分特殊的，而且成語中的有些詞是二、三百年前，甚至是在更久遠年代使用的詞匯，因此可能有點晦澀難懂。以下是一些例子：
-Now that the Prime Minister has been elected there will be a lot of jockeying for position to get the key posts in his administration. (Horse Racing)
由于首相已被選定，所以在謀求其政府要職的過程中將會出現許多欺詐牟利的行為。（賽馬）
-I finally ran the book to earth in a second-hand bookshop in Wales. I had been searching for it for three years. (Hunting)
我最終在威爾士的一家舊書書店里覓求到了這本書。我找這本書已經有三年的時間了。（打獵）
-They took her ideas on board and decided to increase the budget. (Sailing)
他們考慮了她的意見，并決定增加預算。（航海）
-You should fall in with our arrangements; we can't make alternative plans for you. (Army)
你應該同意我們的安排，我們不可能再為你另做安排。（軍隊）
-We saw the boss at the bar but we gave him a wide berth. We did not want to talk to him then. (Sailing)
我們在酒吧里見到了老板，但我們避開了他。我們那時不想與他說話。（航海）
What is the best way to learn idioms? It is best to learn idioms as you do vocabulary. In other words, select and actively learn idioms which will be useful to you. Write the idiom in a relevant and practical sentence so that you will be able to remember its meaning easily. If you can, record the idioms in a file and on a card along with other words and idioms which have similar meanings.
學習成語的最好方法是什么？最好就是像學單詞一樣學成語。換句話說，要選出并主動學習那些對你有用的成語。把這個成語寫在一句與之相關、有實際意義的句子中，這樣你就可以輕易記住它的意思了。如果可以的話，你可以把這些成語記錄在那些寫有意思相近的其它單詞或成語的卡片上，收在文件中。
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