英语四级中有趣的口语（5）

　more bark than bite 说得多，做得少
　　I thought his lecture would be very informative, but to my disappointment, there was more bark than bite throughout the lecture: there was nothing practically important.
　　The boss threatened Joe by saying that he would kick him out of the company, but Joe was certain that there was more bark than bite in his remark.
　　There is generally more bark than bite in most of modern publications, either in literally or in academic writings.
　　You don't have to take off your gloves to a girl like Jenny: there's more bark than bite in what she says.对像杰妮这样的女孩你没有必要如此不依不饶的。她说起话来只不过是嘴厉害了点儿，可他很少伤害人。
　　Cave in 屈服，投降
　　At our company Christmas party, a lot of wine, even vodka, was available. I knew Lao Zhang and Rob were heavy drinkers, so I egged them on (怂恿某人做某事）in a competition for drinking vodka. I was the judge. They readily （欣然地）agreed. After a few drinks, their faces were all very red. Rob then refused to drink more and said, "I cave in." I did not understand, so I gain a farfetched （牵强的，不着边际的）interpretation of the work "cave" and considered it was equivalent to "trap" . "No. NO, No cave," I said, "It's a fair play." Rob's face looked even redder and hastened to add: " I give up. Lao Zhang wins".
　　It turns out that "cave in" has the meaning as "give up or give in".
　　Change my dress 调离我的职位
　　I worked in a big, well-known American firm more than two decades ago. My boss Caroline was a young and beautiful American girl. A promotion or raise of her subordinates （下属）by her depended solely on the number or value of presents that they gave her. As a result, the practice of giving dinners or sending gifts was in a vogue (盛行的，流行的）for a while. Later, here superior （上级，长官）heard of it and called all the staff of our section together for a conference to transfer Caroline from her post. In the conference, Caroline kept asking:
　　 "Why do you want to change my dress?"
　　Hearing her saying" change my dress", I felt rather confused, wondering why the superior wanted to change her dress. Later, I understood that "change a dress" has the meaning of "transfer from a post". I narrowly escaped being made myself the laughing-stock （笑柄）of all.
　　Blow your own horn 自吹自擂
　　Xiao Zhang just graduated from university and was hunting for a job (寻找工作）. One day he was driving a car to go on an outing with several friends. They were caught in a traffic jam downtown, so they had to wait patiently in their car. They began to talk one after another about their experiences in looking for a job and exchange ideas on how to write a curriculum vitae.(简历)
　　One of his friends patted Xiao Zhang on the shoulder and said, "You should blow your own horn!"
　　As soon as that friend finished speaking, a burst of sounds of horn （阵阵喇叭声） was heard. His friend quickly stopped him, "Hey, what will be you doing? Sounding your horn is forbidden here, otherwise fines will be imposed（施加；加于某人...）. Did you see the signboard 'Don't horn!' over there?"
　　Xiao Zhang felt wronged(被冤枉的；受委屈的) and said, "Didn't you ask me to blow the horn? I thought you wanted me to sound the horn to hurry the unmoving cars in front."
　　Later Xiao Zhang figured out （搞清楚，弄明白）that "blow your horn" mean "publicize or boast （吹嘘，自夸）one's abilities or achievements. There his friend meant that Xiao Zhang should not be modes but show off his strong points （长处，优势）and merits（优点） when writing his resume.