如何地道的表示“繁忙”

 　　We all lead busy lives and sometimes it feels like we’re never going to get off that treadmill¹. In English, there are many idiomatic² expressions to express this “busyness”.

　　我们都过着繁忙的生活，有时感觉仿佛永远无法停下来。英语中有很多习惯用语用于表达这种”繁忙“。

　　I know that some colleagues in the ELT community question whether we should teach idioms to our learners, especially as there are more non-native speakers than native speakers of English in the world. I, for one, think that idiomatic expressions give colour to a language and even if the learner might never use these expressions or be expected to use them, they are very likely to come across them when reading or listening to native speakers. So, an awareness³ of them is vital if they are to understand what they’re reading or listening to.

　　我知道有些英语教学社区会就是否应该教授学习者习语而有疑问，尤其是在世界各地说英语的人中非母语人士远多于母语人士。而我，作为其中一员，认为习语会为语言增添色彩，即使学习者可能从不用它或被期望使用它们，但是当他们阅读英文原版文章或听母语为英语的人说话时就会很容易碰到这些习语。因此，习语的学习在这个时候就尤为关键了。

　　Back to busy lives. In this post I’d like to share 8 idioms that are often used to describe a busy working life.The examples I’ve used are business-related.

　　话题回到繁忙生活。本文我打算跟大家分享8个用于描述繁忙工作生活的习语。例句中为商务场合用法。

　　1. All hands on deck⁴

　　1. 全员各就各位

　　When there’s a lot of work to be done and everyone needs to be involved.

　　当有很多工作需要做时，所有人都要加入。

　　As the opening day approached, it was all hands on deck to get everything ready in time.

　　由于开业时间迫在眉睫，所有人员必须各就各位，及时做好各方面准备。

　　2. Hive of activity

　　2. 一片繁忙的景象

　　A place where there are a lot of things happening and everyone is busy.

　　指某处正在发生大量的事，每个人都很忙。

　　When I arrived at the office, the place was already a hive of activity with everyone buzzing⁵ around.

　　当我到达时，办公室里已经一片热火朝天的景象，每个人都在忙的团团转。

　　3. Rushed off your feet

　　3. 忙的不可开交

　　You are so busy that you don’t have time to stop.

　　你太忙了以至于完全停不下来。

　　I am exhausted⁶. I’ve been rushed off my feet all day at the shop.

　　我感到筋疲力尽。我在店里的一整天都是忙的脚打后脑勺。

　　4. Work your fingers to the bone

　　4. 拼命地做，非常努力

　　To work very hard or to be extremely hardworking.

　　工作努力或努力到极致。

　　He deserves⁷ his success. He worked his fingers to the bone when he started the business.

　　他的成功归功于他自己。刚开始创业时他工作非常努力。

　　5. Roll up your sleeves

　　5. 卷起袖子准备大干一场

　　Get ready for hard work.

　　准备好努力工作。

　　If we’re going to increase our market share, we’re going to have to roll our sleeves and get new customers.

　　如果我们想要增加市场份额，我就需要撸起袖子大干一场，获得新的客户。

　　6. Have your work cut out

　　6. 按时完成艰巨的任务

　　Have a difficult or challenging task or problem to deal with.

　　有困难的或挑战性的或问题需要处理应对。

　　They have their work cut out with that client⁸. He is incredibly demanding.

　　关于那个客户他们有一大堆工作要做。他要求太苛刻了。

　　7. A race against time

　　7. 和时间赛跑

　　Working towards a deadline.

　　在时间截点前干工作。

　　I have so many deadlines. It’s a never-ending race against time to meet them.

　　我有这么多任务截点。要在规定时间内完成简直就是和时间赛跑。

　　8. Hit the ground running

　　8. 立即快马加鞭地开展重要工作

　　Start an activity immediately and with energy.

　　全力以赴马上开展活动。

　　He intends to hit the ground running if and when he wins that contract.

　　一旦他赢得了那份合同，他就打算马上全力以赴开展工作。

1 treadmill   

n.踏车；单调的工作

参考例句：

• The treadmill has a heart rate monitor.跑步机上有个脉搏监视器。
• Drugs remove man from the treadmill of routine.药物可以使人摆脱日常单调的工作带来的疲劳。

2 idiomatic   

adj.成语的，符合语言习惯的

参考例句：

• In our reading we should always be alert for idiomatic expressions.我们在阅读过程中应经常注意惯用法。
• In his lecture,he bore down on the importance of idiomatic usage in a language.他在演讲中着重强调了语言中习惯用法的重要性。

3 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

4 deck   

n.甲板；公共汽车一层的车厢；纸牌；vt.装饰

参考例句：

• Let's have a walk round the deck.我们去甲板上散步吧。
• The sea wind swept over the deck.海风席卷过甲板。

5 buzzing   

adj.嗡嗡响的v.发出嗡嗡声( buzz的现在分词 )；（发出）充满兴奋的谈话声[闲话，谣言]；忙乱，急行；用蜂鸣器（发信号）

参考例句：

• The computer made a buzzing noise that she found off-putting. 计算机发出的嗡嗡声让她心烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Bees are humming [buzzing] around from flower to flower. 蜜蜂在花丛中嗡嗡地飞来飞去。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

7 deserves   

v.应受，应得，值得( deserve的第三人称单数 )；应受报答；应得报酬；应得赔偿

参考例句：

• A wilful fault has no excuse and deserves no pardon. 不能宽恕故意犯下的错误。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is the only poet in this country that deserves the name. 他是这个国家唯一的一位名副其实的诗人。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 client   

n.委托人，当事人，顾客

参考例句：

• She can't come to the telephone;she's serving a client.她不能来接电话，她正在接待一位顾客。
• The lawyer produced a clever defence of his client.律师机智地为委托人辩护。