1. Monkey business  猢狲把戏

silly or deceitful behavior; stupid or time-wasting activity

愚蠢行为或欺骗行为；毫无意义或浪费时间的举动

Our accountant has been fired as there was some monkey business with the books.

会计师对账单做了手脚，已经遭到解雇。

Are you still fiddling about with those old tools? Stop the monkey business and get some new ones.

还在摆弄这些旧工具吗？别浪费时间了，换套新的吧。

2. Rat race  激烈的竞争

an exhausting routine, a hectic struggle for success

累人的工作，为了成功拼命奋斗

I’m so tired of the rat race. I’d love to retire and move to the country.

这里竞争过于激烈，让人感到精疲力竭。我打算退休，移居他国了。

She started to work from home as she couldn’t stand the rat race at the office.

由于不能忍受办公室激烈的竞争环境，她开始在家办公了。

3. Cat burglar  飞贼

a stealthy burglar who climbs into buildings, usually through upper windows, skylights, etc.

鬼鬼祟祟的盗贼，通常通过窗户、天窗进入建筑物内

Grandfather’s old telescope has disappeared from the loft. It must have been a cat burglar that took it.

阁楼里祖父珍藏已久的望远镜不见了，一定是飞贼把它偷走了。

The inspector was surprised by the exploits of a cat burglar who only stole from upper floors and attics.

有个飞贼只从窗户和阁楼偷窃，这令巡视员吃惊不已。

4. Top dog  主要人物

the most important person in a group, somebody with the dominant position or highest authority

一群人中的关键人物，占主导地位或极有威信

I don’t want to be the top dog at our company, I just do my job as well as I can

我从未想过成为公司的主要人物，只是尽我所能做好工作。

Peter is the top dog at English in our class.

皮特是我们班英语成绩最好的人。

5. Cash cow  摇钱树

a dependable source of income; a product or service that makes money

可靠的收入来源；赚钱的产品或服务

Our company’s cash cow is the sales department, which makes enough income to finance the developers.

销售部是我们公司的摇钱树，向开发部提供了大量资助。

The publisher saw the new bestseller as a cash cow.

出版商把最新的畅销作品视为摇钱树。

6. Eager beaver  干事卖力的人

an enthusiastic hard worker; someone very excited to start a task

做事勤奋的人；做事卖力的人

The new secretary is an eager beaver. Although she comes to work at seven every day, she’s the last to leave in the evening.

新来的秘书做事勤奋。虽然每天七点就来上班，但总是最晚下班的人。

Don’t be an eager beaver; we have plenty of time to do this job.

别那么卖命，我们有的是时间。

7. Road hog  鲁莽的驾驶员

a inconsiderate driver, someone who drives carelessly and selfishly

不顾他人安危的司机，开车马虎，十分自私

Sorry that we’re so slow, but there is no way to overtake that road hog in front of us.

抱歉速度太慢，但是我们无法超越前面那个乱抢路的司机。

A road hog nearly ran me over at the crossing as he failed to stop at the sign.

在十字路口，一位鲁莽的司机从我身边开车而过，一点停车的迹象也没有。

8. Black sheep  害群之马

an undesirable member of a group, a disliked person, somebody who causes shame or embarrassment due to deviation

群体中不受欢迎之人，给群体抹黑、危害集体的人

Don’t be surprised that he doesn’t want to take over father’s business, he’s always been the black sheep of the family.

他本来就不打算继承父业，别惊讶，他一直是家里的败家子。

They called me the black sheep as I didn’t want to go to the pub and play billiards with them.

就因为我不想去酒吧跟他们打台球，他们就说我不合群。

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