下面我们就一起来学习一下往年的托福听力真题里有哪些常见的短语表达，希望大家熟读背诵，达到熟练运用的程度。在托福写作和托福口语考试中都可以用，还能增色不少。

　　例：rub sb.the wrong way 使(某人)有点恼火;惹怒;引起反感;烦扰，打搅

　　Model:

　　——What do you think of our new economics instructor? (你觉得新经济学老师怎么样?)

　　——I don't know.Something about him rubs me the wrong way.(不知怎么的，他有点让我反感。)

　　例：leave no stone unturned 不遗余力;全力以赴

　　Model:

　　——Lynn left no stone unturned in her research, and handed in an excellent paper.(Lynn全力以赴做她的研究，交了一篇优秀的论文。)

　　例：on cloud nine 沉浸在幸福之中;非常高兴

　　Model:

　　——Marcia looks like she's on cloud nine.Do you know what made her so happy? (Marcia好象沉浸在幸福之中。你知道她为什么这么高兴吗?)

　　——She just had a paper accepted for publication.(她有一篇文章要发表了。)

　　例：on the tip of one's tongue 一时想不起来，话到嘴边又忘记

　　Model:

　　——Are you sure you can't remember the name of that record? (你肯定记不起来那张唱片的名字吗?)

　　——It's just on the tip of my tongue! (我就是一时想不起来了。

　　例：reach the bottom of the barrel 用完，弹尽粮绝

　　Model:

　　——Don't you have any other clean shirts? (你还有其它干净衬衫吗?)

　　——I guess I've reached the bottom of the barrel.(我想我已经用完了。)

　　例：keep between the two of us 不让第三者知道，保密

　　Model：

　　——What I'm going to say is rather personal，so let's keep between the two of us.(我要讲的纯属私事，所以希望你能保密。)

　　例：scratch the surface 只懂皮毛，很不了解(通常和限制性副词如only, hardly等词连用)

　　Model:

　　——You've certainly done a lot of research for your project.(你显然对你的课题做了不少研究。)

　　——It seems like a lot, but actually I've only scratched the surface.(看上去不少，但事实上我只懂一些毛皮。)

　　例：up in the air 尚未决定的;捉摸不定的;悬而未决的

　　Model:

　　——Her plans for the weekend are still up in the air.(她尚未决定如何度过这个周末。)