特别声明：改稿出自可可编辑Juliet和英语专家，外教共同合作出版发行的英语书籍《娜娜教英语》之《小题大做》篇，在此提供可可会员学习，转载请注明出处。

第一， 迷你对话

A: There is nothing you can do. She won’t talk to me any longer.

你帮不上什么忙的，她现在不理我了。

B: I know when to button my lips, but at a time when you bogged down in trouble, I have right to ask where the shoe pinches.

我知道什么时候保持沉默，但是当你陷入困境的时候，我有权利知道问题出在哪里了。

A: I told you that she won’t talk to me. That is where the shoe pinches. But what can you do about it?

我跟你说了她不理我了，这就是问题所在，你能坐什么呢？

B: Put me in the picture and I may help you to sort things out.

把具体情况告诉我，也许我能帮你解决问题。

第二， 地道表达

button one’s lips

1. 解词释义

Button one’s lips的字面意思就是“把嘴唇锁紧来”，比喻为“保持沉默，闭口不言”的意思。

2. 拓展例句

e.g. Sometimes he would sit silent and abstracted, buttoning his lips.

有些时候他神思不定地坐在那里，一言不发，任何人都不理。

e.g. Buttoning his lips, he hurried away, with his hoary head bending low.

他一言不发，低着白发苍苍的头, 匆匆地走了。

e.g. Now and then Lord Henry looked across at him, wondering at abstracted manner and his buttering his lips.

亨利勋爵不时地隔着桌子瞧着他，对他一言不发和魂不守舍的态度感到奇怪。

第三， 词海拾贝

1. bog down：陷入困境，使……拖延，停滞

e.g. The talks have bogged down over the issue of military reform.

谈判在军队改革问题上陷入了僵局。

e.g. We intended from the very beginning to bog the prosecution down over who did this.

我们从一开始就打算延缓对责任人提出诉讼。

e.g. Negotiations are likely to bog down.

谈判很可能会停滞不前。

2. in trouble：处于困境

e.g. I've been in trouble since I was eleven years of age.

我从11岁起就麻烦不断。

e.g. Her marriage is in trouble and she is desperately unhappy.

她的婚姻陷入困境，她为此非常郁闷。

3. where the shoe pinches：问题所在，关键所在

e.g. We can't do anything about it before we first find out where the shoe pinches.

在发现困难所在之前,我们无法加以处理。

e.g. You didn't experience that, so you don't know where the shoe pinches.

你没有亲身经历过, 所以你不知道困难在什么地方。

4. put sb. in the picture：让某人了解详情，知道详情

e.g. Members of Parliament insisted on being put in the picture about the government's plans.

议员坚持要充分了解政府计画的详情。

e.g. He's been away for several weeks, and we'd better put him in the picture about his father’s death at once.

他已经离开几星期了，我们最好立即把情况告诉他。

5. sort out：整理，理清

e.g. Try to sort out the basic principles from what is simply illustrative detail and digression.

试着从那些繁琐的、枝节的论述中把基本原理摘出来。

e.g. Sometime between two and four in the morning Churchill quits and goes to bed, leaving others to sort out carbons.

邱吉尔约在凌晨两点到四点之间离开工作台去睡觉，把其他人留在那儿整理复写的材料。

e.g. You need a professional to sort out your finances.

你需要专业人士替你管理财务。

第四， 口语运用

询问某人是否能处理某事。

What can you do about something?

e.g. Mary and John had a fight yesterday evening. What can you do about it as their friend?

Mary和John昨晚打起架来了，作为他们的朋友，你可否做些事情？