6. Like a rat up a drainpipe 形容快速且急切

　　If you move like a rat up a drainpipe, you move extremely fast.

　　如果你的行动like a rat up a drainpipe，表示你移动速度很快。

　　Pity the poor rat – a shrewd but shunned animal in Britain, where it’s often said that ‘you’re never more than six foot away from’ one. Rats are known to be able to squeeze through the tiniest of openings and are often found in sewers, so this expression is, as the Brits would say, spot on.

　　可怜的老鼠值得同情——在英国老鼠是一种精明但人类极力躲开的动物，但在英国人们常说，“你距离一个老鼠的距离不会超过六英尺”。老鼠因为能够挤过狭小开口并经常在下水道中被发现而被人类熟知。所以这个表达在英国较为流行，英国人常会使用。

　　例如：

　　‘Where did Steve go?’ – ‘I don’t know – he just took off like a rat up a drainpipe.’

　　“史蒂夫要去哪里?”-“我不知道，他只是离开得很匆忙”。

　　7. Be up with the lark 很早起床

　　The lark has a special place in British wildlife – its silvery song inspired the piece that, according one recent poll, has become the country’s favourite piece of classical music. We have long associated the lark with daybreak, even before Shakespeare wrote the lark, the herald of the morn: a person who gets up early is known as a lark, as opposed to an owl who prefers to stay up late.

　　百灵鸟在英国野生动物有特别的位置——它银铃般的歌声启发了一支乐章的谱曲，并且这首乐章在最近的投票中当选英国民众最受欢迎的古典音乐。在莎士比亚写云雀之前，我们便一直将百灵鸟与黎明联系在一起，百灵鸟代表着早晨起床很早的人，相反，猫头鹰更常用来代表熬夜的人。

　　例如：

　　‘We were up with the lark this morning because we had a plane to catch.’

　　“我们今天很早起床，因为要赶一趟航班。”

　　‘On Christmas Day, my sister and I would always be up with the lark.’

　　“在圣诞节，我和姐姐总是起得很早。”

　　8. The lion’s share 事物中最大的一部分

　　The lion has been a symbol of England for more than nine hundred years, and traditionally represents bravery and strength. We see the shadow side of these qualities, however, in Aesop’s fable of this name, which tells the story of a lion, a fox, a jackal, and a wolf who go out hunting together. After dividing their prey into four equal parts, the lion claims all the spoils for himself.

　　九百多年来，狮子一直是英国的象征，传统意义上代表勇气和力量。然而，我们总是看到这些品质的阴暗面，伊索寓言中，讲述了一只狮子、一只狐狸、豺和狼一起打猎的故事。它们之后将猎物分成四个相等的部分，但狮子占有了所有的战利品。

　　The British expression used today has a slightly different meaning: if you get the lion’s share of something, you get most of it (rather than all of it).

　　但今天使用的英式表达中含义有轻微的不同：如果你“get the lion’s share of something”，表示你获得了某事物的绝大部分(而不是所有)。

　　例如：

　　‘Well, I think you got the lion’s share of the cake there, Pete!’

　　“好吧，我认为你得到了蛋糕的绝大部分，彼得!”

　　‘She’ll get the lion’s share of the payout – the rest of the money will go to charity.’

　　“她将获取支出中的绝大部分，剩下的将捐给慈善机构。”

（编辑：何莹莹）