本文为大家分析的是托福听力考试中的“习语题”。
出题形式：
习语题通常都是以what 开头的特殊疑问句, 一般来说问的比较直接, 例如：
What does the professor mean when he says this?
A: Henry James was one of the critics who had very few comments on Whitman.
B: Henry James was one of the critics who thought Whitman’s works lacked sweetness.
C; Henry James was one of the critics who firmly believed Whitman was good.
D: Henry James was among those who criticized Whitman’s works intensely.
What does the professor mean by saying___?
What does X refer to?
剖析习语：
在做习语题的时候经常会碰到一些难题。其难题之一就是当几个熟悉的单词在一起构成短语时，其短语的整体意思与单词本身的意思则大相径庭，这便是习语的难点所在。每一种语言都有它独特的习语。一般说来,有些习惯用语从字面上看不出它们的确切意思，这是因为考生不可能从组成某个习语的字面上来懂得它的意思。另外还有些习语在不同场合却表达不同的意思,它们在词典上的解释是相同的，但是却有不同的用法。所以在解这类题目的时候是需要积累一些这方面的素材的。例如:
“in the pink”是表示“身体很健康，精力充沛”的常用语。 当一段材料中说：He is in the pink,那你就知道他肯定感到身体很好。E.g. Our next door neighbor came back from the hospital yesterday after his heart attack. And I'm glad to say he certainly looks in the pink again. 我们的隔壁邻居心脏病发作进了医院，昨天他出院回家了。他看起来确实和以往一样健康，我很高兴。从这样的一个题目中我们就不难推出问题的答案了。
“sandwich generation” sandwich就是“三明治”, generation就是“一代人”。所以，sandwich generation就是“既要赡养老人，又要抚养下一代的人”。他们和夹在三明治当中的肉一样夹在老一代和下一代之中。E.g. Older people tend to retire earlier and live longer these days. And if they don't have pensions big enough to live on, this means their children in the sandwich generation have to bear the financial burden longer. 老年人现在都比较早地退休了，他们的寿命也比以往长。如果他们的退休金不够维持生活的话，这就意味着他们的孩子既要抚养老人，又要抚养他们自己的孩子，他们的经济负担时间也就更长。实际上这句词语可以从字面上猜出其含义，捅破这层窗户纸，答案不难得出了。
“under the weather”的意思是“我不太舒服”，与天气没有关系。例如：Mr. Jones, this is Sally Smith. I'm sorry, but I can't come to work today - I'm feeling a little under the weather. 琼斯先生，我是萨莉?史密斯。对不起，今天我有点儿不舒服，所以不能去上班了。under the weather是有小毛病的时候最普遍的用法。所以在听力材料中听到这个短语的时候就可以大概猜到问题了，一定是关于健康方面的。
解题技巧：
谈到习语，没有太多的捷径，只有熟练掌握常用美国习语，正确理解其惯用语境合场合才能事半功倍。千万不要从词语的字面意思来揣摩词义，事实上，习语往往与该词的字面意思相差千里;再解答该类题型时，可以遵循这样一种逻辑：见到什么，不选什么。例如，在课堂演讲结束之前，教授通常会总结一下所论述的观点。教授说：To wrap up… 大家知道，wrap字面上作“包装，包裹”之意，但与up结合，即成了“总结”之意。在答案中遇到“包装，包裹”的字眼，完全可以不予理会。例如:
举例说明：
Professor: I have chosen to limit this study to the reactions of Whitman’s admirers for the simple reason that the opinions of his detractors have remained static. Early critics, like later ones, violently objected to Whitman’s technique and subject matter. Among them was Henry James, whose criticism was nothing short of bitterness.
Narrator: Listen again to part of the lecture. Then answer the question.
Professor: Among them was Henry James, whose criticism was nothing short of bitterness.
What does the professor mean when he says this?
A: Henry James was one of the critics who had very few comments on Whitman.
B: Henry James was one of the critics who thought Whitman’s works lacked sweetness.
C; Henry James was one of the critics who firmly believed Whitman was good.
D: Henry James was among those who criticized Whitman’s works intensely.
解析：
Nothing short of 是 “一点儿也不少，非常” 之意
答案A，B将该习语强行分割开，如将nothing对应few，将short of 对应lack。因此A，B 予以排除。
答案C正好将词义本末倒置，也予以排除，答案为D。
因此正确答案为D。
总之，在做习语题的时候一定要多多积累，根据材料的上下文去推断。不要解释习语的字面意思，脱离语境，制造混乱，不准确或不完整的解释。
