I am all ears 洗耳恭听
　　One day, we hired a carpenter to repair our house. I dwelt on (详细讲述)all the details that needed repairing to him. then I asked him, "Are you clear? Can you remember all that?" "Yes!" the carpenter replied. "I am all ears!" I felt puzzled and did not know what he meant. Later my eldest son explained to me that he meant, "I am listening attentively!".

　　I am broke 我没钱了　
　　One day when I was walking in the school corridor, Anna ran over to me and said, "I'm broke. May I ...?" I thought she might have fallen somewhere and was injured, so I hurriedly supported her with my hands and asked her, "Are you OK? Do you want me to send you to the clinic?" She felt a little puzzled, but then she said , "I'm ok. I'm broke. May I borrow some money?"
　　I assumed that she wanted to borrow money to go to hospital to see a doctor, so I responded quickly, "Let me help you to call an ambulance to the hospital."
　　Not until then did she realize that I had not understood what she meant. She told me that "I'm broke" meant, "I'm penniless." I suddenly saw the light too.

　　Have an affair with...与...有暧昧关系
　　The president was forced to resign, for his having an affair with a film star was like a time-bomb that would sooner or later ruin his fame.
　　It was reported that President Clinton had an affair with a girl called Monica.

　　五官与英语习语

　　eye

　　The eyes are extremely precious to us. That is why we say“Mind your eye (当心)!”when we reminding someone to be careful.

　　Not only human beings and animals have eyes, many things also have“eyes”- the eyes of a ship, the eye of a needle, the eye of a typhoon, and so on.

　　ear

　　The ear is the organ of hearing. A piece of light music is easy on the ear. (悦耳动听). We are usually all ears (专心聆听) for bit news.

　　When they think somebody is overhearing, English people use either of the two proverbs: Walls have ears (隔墙有耳) and Pitchers have ears (壶罐有耳). They also think that little pitchers have big ears(小孩子耳朵尖). Nice boys and girls respect other people. They will not secretly listen to others' private conversations.

　　nose

　　The English phrase "face to face (面对面)" and its Chinese counterpart(对应)are exactly the same. But English people, to express the same idea, can say nose to nose instead. There is no such substitute in Chinese.

　　The word nose appears in many idioms. Here are two which are quite similar to their Chinese equivalents: lead somebody by the nose (牵着某人的鼻子走) and turn up one's nose at somebody or something (对某人或某物嗤之一鼻).

　　lip

　　We have two lips: the upper lip and the lower lip. If one's two lips are closed, one cannot speak. So it goes without saying that "don't open your lips (不要开口)" means "don't speak".

　　His lips are sealed. Are his lips really stuck together by wax or glue? No, his lips are sealed when asked about something that he must keep secret. Sometimes a top secret is betrayed because it has escaped someone's lips (脱口而出). Then the incident may become a piece of news that is on everybody's lips (众口相传).

　　tongue

　　We all know we cannot speak without the tongue. So the tongue is closely related to speech. To hold one's tongue (保持沉默) means "to keep silent". A person who has too much tongue (太多嘴) is disliked by all, for he is too talkative. Mother tongue is not the tongue of a mother: it is a person's native language.

　　"Don't you have a moth below your nose (你鼻子底下不是有张嘴吗)?" The Chinese say so to blame a person who did not say what he should have said. But this not the right way to express the idea in English. English people would say, "You have a tongue in your head, haven't you?"

　　aim high 胸怀大志

　　Frank aimed high, but achieved little

　　Dialogue:

　　Sue: You seem to be worried about something these days

　　Bob: Yeah. I'm running around in circles (忙得团团转)without achieving anything.

　　Sue: Running in circles? Maybe you aim too high and you've taken more than you can chew.

　　Bob: Maybe. but I can't tolerate doing nothing.

　　Sue: You may take a break before buckling down on (开始认真地干)your targets.

　　go ape 神魂颠倒的，发疯

　　He went ape as soon as he learned that he got the first prize.

　　Dialogue

　　Mary: Jack went ape. What's happened?

　　Lora: He made a bomb (赚大钱)in his business.

　　Mary: How come? He told me that his business had almost landed on the rocks （没有前途，没指望了）only a couple of days ago! Besides, he doesn't seem to be cut out for （天生适合干...）doing business.

　　Lora: Fools may have a fortune. And this is why he went ape when he make bundles(发大财).

　　argue someone down 驳倒某人

　　He has a glib tongue. Few people can argue him down.他有三寸不烂之舌。几乎没人能把他驳倒。

　　Frank argued the manager down, though he could hardly be convinced by any other people.

　　Most people present at the meeting argued against the measures to be taken by the local government in dealing with traffic jams.

　　Jack was punished, but most of his colleagues argued fro his actions.

　　I am the one wearing pants in the house 我当家

　　One day we invited our American friends, a couple, to our home. We had a pleasant chat. During the chat, I asked them who was in control of their family's finance. My friend's wife answered, "I am the one wearing pants in the house." Both my wife and I were very confused. We were wondering why she told me that only she wore trousers in her house when I asked who was in charge of the money I their family. A few pointers (指点，暗示)from my friend made us suddenly see the light. It turned out that what she meant was "I am in charge."

　　It's up in the air 尚未确定

　　Once I met an old friend of mine at the school's celebration meeting. Hence it was quite natural that we had a talk.

　　"I am going to be transferred to another school," said my friend.

　　"When?" I asked.

　　"It's up in the air," she answered.

　　I felt rather confused and wondered why she said it was "up in the air".

　　Finding I looked puzzled, my friend knew that I did not understand what she meant. So she explained to me with the help of gestures.

　　Finally I got the point that "It's up in the air" meant "It is uncertain".

　　cost an arm and a leg 付出过高的代价

　　Eating in the restaurants in this street will cost you an arm and a leg.

　　Buying an apartment in Beijing will cost you an arm and a leg

　　Dialogue

　　Sandra: I say, Frank. Have you thought about changing the bed sets(床上用品)？

　　Frank: Well, I've actually been thinking of discarding them.

　　Sandra: And have you thought about where we should go for the new sets?

　　Frank: Well, I need to shop around a bit before I can decide.

　　Sandra: How about the Johns' in the Fifth Street?

　　Frank: The Johns'? They will cost you an arm and a leg. You have to pay through the nose（为买...付出过高的代价；被敲竹杠）， you know?

　　Sandra: But their quality is first rate.

　　Frank: I know. And their price is first rate, too.

　　keep someone at arm's length与某人保持距离

　　She said that she couldn't put her finger on why everyone in the company should keep her at arm's length. 她说他搞不清楚为何公司里的人都不愿已接近他。
　　If you've kept her at arm's length, she wouldn't be able to et hold of your weakness and take advantage of you.

　　touch someone on the raw.触及某人的痛处

　　The question asked by the Japanese lady seemed to have touched the president on the raw, and it had almost driven him on the wall.

　　那位日本妇女向总统提出个问题，这一问就好像触及了总统的痛处，并把他逼上了绝境。

　　When with friends, people always try to avoid the topics that would possibly touch them on the raw.

　　Your acid comment made him lose face and the question you raised had touched him on the raw.

　　You should avoid offending him by touching him on the raw.