《实用英语口译教程》（第三版）（上）
口译练习参考译文
（仅供参考）
第3单元
1. Interpret the following Chinese idioms into English.
(1)to harbor/have/out of/with ulterior motives; with malicious intent; to have an axe to grind
(2)to go back on one’s words; to play fast and loose; to blow hot and cold; to chop and change; inconsistent/
undependable/self-contradictory
(3)to lord it over (others/all); to play the tyrant; to dominate/domineer and swashbuckle
(4)to act in bad faith; to play foul/false; treacherous; to go back on one’s words
(5)arrogant and conceited; self-important; to ride the high horse; false pride; to get too big for one’s boots
(6)to work hand in glove with; to band together; to collaborate/collude with sb. in evil doing
(7)Courtesy demands reciprocity; to exchange on an equal basis/footing
(8)The united will of the masses is like a fortress; People with one will are stronger than a fortress; Unity is
strength.
(9)blinded by one’s gains (by the lust for gain/the love of gain/self-interests); to bend one’s principles to one’s
interests; to be so obsessed with the idea of profit-making that one loses all sense of righteousness
(10)to eat one’s own bitter fruit (the fruit of one’s own doing/the fruit of one’s own making); to reap what one
sows; to bite off one’s own head; to face the consequences of one’s own action
(11)Honest advice is unpleasant to the ear.
(12)to court one’s own ruin/doom/disaster; to invite one’s own destruction; to cut one’s own throat; to bring
destruction to oneself; to take the road to one’s doom
(13)to go against the trend of the times; to set back the clock; to push a reactionary policy;
retrogressive/perverse acts
(14)to intensify one’s efforts to do sth; to become aggravated; to be further intensified; with ever-increasing
intensity
(15)to be obvious to all; as clear as day
(16)as always; just as in the past; as before
(17)to exaggerate just to scare/frighten people; alarmist talk; sensational
(18)to make irresponsible remarks/criticisms
(19)to surrender a country’s sovereign rights under humiliating terms; to humiliate the nation by forfeiting its
sovereignty
(20)to invite/bring a wolf into the house; to open the door to an enemy
(21)no end of trouble for the future; Endless troubles will follow.
(22)to be filled with indignation
(23)the trend of the time; the general trend
(24)to run counter to …
(25)to cling obstinately to one’s course; to act willfully; to insist on having one’s own way
(26)to reap the spoils of victory without lifting a finger; to profit from other’s conflict
(27)Neighbors are dearer than distant relatives. Neighbors are more helpful than distant relatives. A remote
kinsfolk is not as good as a near neighbor.
(28)the same medicine prepared with different water; the same old stuff with a different label; a change in form
but not in essence
(29)to lift a rock only to crush/squash one’s own feet; to tread on one’s own tail
(30)to defy public opinion (the will of the people); to fly/go in the face of the will of the people (public opinion);
