在英语教学中,笔者遇到一些英语成语与其对应的汉语成语在意义上基本一致,有时用法也一样,可以互译.笔者在此做一小结。

　　1. call a spade a spade 汉语中有"直言不讳".例如:I'd better call a spade a spade, I'm not interested in your design. 直言不讳地说,我对你的设计不感兴趣。

　　2. castles in the air 汉语中有"空中楼阁".例如:My plan for the summer vacation proved to be a castle in the air. 我为暑期做的计划看来是空中楼阁了。

　　3. between the devil and the deep sea 汉语中有"进退维谷,左右为难"。例如:

　　I was taken to pay my husband's debts, which I was told I had to pay or go to prison, so I was between the devil and the deep sea. 他们认为我应该偿还我丈夫欠的债,说我要么还债,要么坐牢,我真是左右为难。

　　4. no smoke without fire 汉语中有"无风不起浪;无烟没有火".例如:He's denied taking bribes, but of course there's no smoke without fire. 他否认收受贿赂,但是无风不起浪。

　　5. an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth 汉语中有"以眼还眼,以牙还牙".这则成语来自《圣经》.《圣经》中讲到:"If some men are fighting and hurt a pregnant woman so that she loses her child,.... But if the woman herself is injured, the punishment shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe."

　　6. put all one's eggs in one basket 汉语中有"孤注一掷".例如:My happiness depends on this plan. I've put all my eggs in one basket. 我的幸福就看这个计划了.我已经孤注一掷了。

　　7. pour oil on fire 汉语中有"火上浇油".例如:I thought you came to help us, but in fact you put oil on fire and made things worse.我以为你是来帮忙的,但实际上你把事情弄得更糟.

　　8. many hands make light work 汉语中有"人多好办事".例如:I made this shed with the help of neighbors. You see, many hands make light work. 我和邻居们一起盖了这个小屋.人多好办事嘛。

　　9. seeing is believing 汉语中有"眼见为实".例如:My mother tells me that there's a letter for me from American, but I say, "seeing is believing." 妈妈说我有一封来自美国的信,但我说眼见为实。

　　10. kill two birds with one stone 汉语中有"一箭双雕,一石二鸟"。例如:I went to downtown to meet an old friend and then bought a birthday present for my daughter, I killed two birds with one stone. 我去市中心真是一举两得,既看了朋友又给女儿买了生日礼物。

　　(文/刘艳晖　英语辅导报大学教师版04~05学年第4期;版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)