| 41. Milk the bull 试图做不可能的事
He is such a miser. Borrowing money from his is like milking the bull. 他是个十足的吝啬鬼，想从他手里借钱如同叫铁公鸡下蛋一样根本没有可能。
It's like milking the bull asking him to give up the foolish plan. 让他放弃那个愚蠢的计划根本不可能。
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| 42. Night owl 习惯于夜间工作的人，夜猫子
He is in the habit of staying up at night to read. He is a real night owl. 他习惯于夜读，真是个夜猫子。
He is a night owl and often turns night into day. 他是个夜猫子，常常把黑夜当白天。
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| 43. Nip in the bud 防患于未然
A bad habit in a child should be nipped in the bud. 应该尽早把孩子的坏习惯改过来。
Her plan to go shopping was nipped in the bud when visitors arrived unexpectedly. 有客人突然来访，使她上街购物的计划落了空。
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| 44. No picnic 不是轻松的事
We gather a good deal of valuable information from our expedition, but it was no picnic, I can tell you.我们通过探险收集到不少宝贵资料，不过我可以告诉你们，这可来之不易。
It's no picnic having to look after six small children all day, you know! 你知道，整天照看六个孩子可不是件容易的事情。
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| 45. Not turn a hair 不动声色，泰然自若
When John saw the large dog running straight towards him and Mary, he ran away quickly. But Mary just stood and didn't turn a hair.约翰看见那条大狗朝他和马丽直冲过来就赶快跑开了，而马丽却站立不动，毫无惧色。
Even when the doctor told him he should have his left leg amputated, he never turned a hair. 甚至医生在告诉他左腿必须做截肢手术时，他也显得泰然自若，毫无畏惧。
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| 46. Once in a blue moon 千载难逢
The schoolmaster said that he was able to go to a play only once in a blue moon. 这位校长说他难得有空去看戏
It's only once in a blue moon that you get an opportunity like that. 像这样的机会真是千载难逢。
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| 47. On pins and needles 座如针毡
The mother had been on pins and needles all day long, until she received the call from her son. 母亲在接到儿子电话前，一直焦虑不安。
The close game had us on pins and needles till the very end. 由于比赛双方势均力敌，我们一直很紧张，知道比赛结束才平静下来。
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| 48. On tenterhooks 焦虑不安，提心吊胆
My examination results are going to arrive this morning. I was on tenterhooks all day yesterday thinking about them. 我的考试成绩今天上午才能知道。昨天一整天我老想这事，坐立不安。
The author keeps the reader on tenterhooks till the last chapter. 作者不断给读者制造悬念知道最后一章。
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| 49. On thin ice 如履薄冰
The football club was on thin ice at the end of the year. It had lost most of its games and had very little money left. 这个足球俱乐部到年底时陷入困境，它的大部分球赛都输了，而且只剩下很少一点钱。
Without some facts to support you, you're on thin ice with that argument. 如果没有一些事实作为依据，你的那种论点是站不住脚的。
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| 50. Out of one's shell 不再害羞，不再沉默
Mary was a new comer and she felt ill at ease in the new school, so the teacher tried to draw her out of her shell by asking her to talk about her former school. 马丽是个新来的同学，她初到这所学校感到很拘谨，所以老师就特地让她谈谈她以前的学校使其有话可说。
He has to know you for a long time before he really begins to come out of his shell. 他非得认识你很长时间之后才会真正愿意与你攀谈。
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