Session I: It's a Zoo Out There(真象个动物园)

　　1. Smell a Rat = feel that something is wrong

　　可以用 I smell a rat 来表达自己感觉什么事情不正常、奇怪、不对头的意思，就象闻到死老鼠的味道一样。

　　范例对话：

　　A: How come the front door is open? Didn't you close it before wewent shopping?

　　B: I'm sure I did. I can't understand it。

　　A: Frankly, I smell a rat。

　　B: Me, too. I'm convinced that something is definitely wronghere。

　　A: We'd better call the police。

　　2. Fishy = strange and suspicious

　　同 smell a rat 意思相近，也表示感觉奇怪和怀疑，就象闻到鱼的腥臭味一样。

　　范例短文：

　　When the security guard(保安)saw a light in the store after closinghours, it seemed to him that there was something fishy going on. Hecalled the central office and explained to his superior(上级) that hethought something strange and suspicious(令人怀疑的) was occuring。

　　3. Take the Bull by the Horns = take decisive action in adifficult situation

　　在困难的条件下作出决定性的动作，或不计安危，勇敢面对，直接面对，就象擒牛从牛角入手的方法。

　　范例短文：

　　Julie has always felt that she was missing out on a lot of funbecause of her clumsiness(笨拙) on the dance floor. She had beenputting off taking lessions, but she finally took the bull by thehorns and went to a professional dance studio for help. She wastired of feeling left out and acted decisively to correct thesituation。

　　4. For the Birds = uninteresting， meaningless, boring andsilly

　　无聊、无趣，愚蠢的，只是为鸟儿们准备的。

　　范例短文：

　　They went to a poetry reading, but they got bored and restless. Asfar as they were concerned, it was for the birds! They left duringan intermission(中间休息) because they found the reading totallyuninteresting and meaningless。

　　5. Straight From the Horse's Mouth = from a reliablesource

　　说话者本人的原话，或从可靠、权威人士处得来的信息。美国人在这里把说话的人比作大马了。

　　范例对话：

　　A: How did you find out that Jill was engaged?

　　B: I got the information from a very reliable source。

　　A: You mean Jill told you so herself?

　　B: That's right. I got it straight from the horse's mouth!