托福聽力的備考和考試中考生常會聽到一些比較耳熟的短語，但實際上大家對這些短語的意思并不十分了解。而這些高頻短語對于提升考生理解能力有著很大的幫助。下面小編就來為大家匯總22個托福聽力中常見的慣用語并結合實例做詳細解讀，一起來看。
1.all over the place：亂七八糟的;到處都是
Paraphrase: completely disorganized or confused
官方真題Official: T13L2 – Ecology
Yeah,well, there used to be beavers all over the place, something like 200 million beavers, just in the continental United States.
這里曾經到處都是海貍，大概有200萬只生活在美洲大陸上。
2.all the rag：風靡一時
Paraphrase: popular or fashionable at the moment
官方真題Official: T30L4 – Music History
Before long, Hawaiian steel guitar music was all the rage in the mainland US.
不久，夏威夷吉他就在美國本土風靡起來。
3.at odd：爭執;不一致
Paraphrase: cannot agree or argue with someone
官方真題Official: T4L2 – Literature
They try to fit in with the rest of the world even though it’s at odds with their beliefs and their identities.
他們正努力融入世界，盡管他們和世界其他地方有著不同的身份和信仰。
Tips: at odds是爭執、不一致的意思，應該把它作為一個整體來熟悉和運用。odd可以當形容詞,意意思是奇數的;古怪的;剩余的;臨時的;零散的;也可當名詞,意思是：奇數;怪人;奇特的事物;
如：Although it sounded odd, this is the only way to describe this behavior.
雖然聽起來很奇怪，但是這是描述這一行為的唯一方法。
It's not as though, oh, today is odd but maybe tomorrow it will be even.
并不是說今天它是奇數，明天就是偶數了。
而odds 只能當名詞,意思是：幾率;勝算;不平等;差別
如：Sure, you can raise money but the odds of getting venture capital are high.
當然了，你可以籌集資金，但是風險投資的幾率也是非常高的。
4.be that as it may：即使如此，盡管那樣; 話雖如此
Paraphrase: even so, even now
官方真題Official: T3L3 – Art History
But be that as it may, whatever the exact date, whether it's 15,000, 20,000or 30,000 years ago, the Chauvet paintings are from the dawn of art.
盡管如此，無論準確的日期是哪天，哪怕是在15000、20000還是30000年前，肖維巖洞的壁畫都被認為是藝術的開端。
5.do the trick：奏效，成功
Paraphrase: go places, make a hit
官方真題Official: T19C1 – Student & Professor
Yeah,I can see how that might do the trick. But, anyway, what I wanted to ask was, when you started talking about game theory.Well, I know a little bit about it, but I am not clear about its use in biology.
是的，我已經看到效果了，但是，我還是想問一下，當你提到game theory的時候，我是有一定的了解，但是我不知道這個理論是如何運用在生物學中的。
6.down the drain：浪費掉;徒勞;墮落
Paraphrase: wasted or produces no results
官方真題Official: T4C2 – Student & Professor
I know, but I didn’t want to risk the project going down the drain.
我知道，但是我不能讓這個項目冒功虧一簣的風險。
7.drop in the bucket：滄海一粟，九牛一毛，杯水車薪
Paraphrase: something is so small that it won't make any noticeable difference.
官方真題Official: T12L4 – Environmental Science
It can generate 194 megawatts of electric power, but that’s just a drop in the bucket.
它能產生194兆瓦的電量，但是也是杯水車薪。
8.for the birds：毫無意義的
Paraphrase: worthless or ridiculous
官方真題Official: T8L1 – Animal Behavior
Studies have been done on the reproductive success rates for the birds in both areas, and the result showed surprisingly that the reproductive success was essentially the same in both areas – the preferred and the second choice habitat.
關于繁殖的成功率的研究結論是毫無價值的，結果令人震驚地表明，繁殖的成功率在首選和第二選擇的棲息地中本質上是一樣的
9.from scratch：白手起家，從頭做起
Paraphrase: from the beginning
官方真題Official: T4C2 – Student & Professor
But we've got all the sources and its due next week. We don’t have time to start from scratch.
但是我們已經找好各種資料了，截止日期是下周，我們已經沒有時間重新來過了。
10.get a handle on：控制，掌握，駕馭，左右
Paraphrase: get something under control
官方真題Official: T25L4 – Animal Behavior
Apparently,it also contributes to the development of a brain that's flexible, a brain that's quickly able to get a handle on unfamiliar situations.
很顯然，它對大腦靈活、快速的適應陌生環境有著重要幫助。
11.heavenly body：天體
Paraphrase: planet
官方真題Official: T18L1 – Astronomy
That's because of their belief at the time that the heavenly bodies, the Sun,Moon,Stars and Planets, were perfect, without any flaws or blemishes.
這是因為他們堅信所有的行星，太陽，月亮等等，都是完美無瑕的。
12.high and low：到處
Paraphrase:everywhere
官方真題Official: T5C1 – Student & Counselor at the University Counseling Center
And it so happened that the cellist graduated last year. They’ve been searching high and low for a replacement, someone with experience.
大提琴手去年畢業了，他們到處尋找有經驗的接班人。
13.how come：為什么，怎么會
Paraphrase: disbelief or surprise
官方真題Official:T26L3 – Astronomy
I mean, how come Halley’s is still there? After four and a half billion years. How could it be?
我意思是，經過了45億年哈雷彗星怎么還在那，怎么可能?
14.let alone：更不必說;不打擾
Paraphrase: to say nothing of…
官方真題Official: T22L2 – Astronomy
we know the Sun’s current rate of mass loss, but if we assume that this rate has been steady over the last four billion years, the young Sun wouldn’t have been massive enough to have warmed Earth, let alone Mars, not enough to have caused liquid water.
我們知道太陽現在質量在衰減，如果我們假設太陽質量衰減的速度是恒定的，那么經過40億年，太陽將不再有足夠的質量給地球提供熱量，更不用說火星了，這些熱量都不夠形成液態水。
15.off the hook：擺脫困境;脫身
Paraphrase: avoid sth.
官方真題Official: T15C2 – Student & Biology Professor
And that's supposed to be a quiet environment? Not exactly. My brother and parents try to keep it down when I am studying, but the phone pretty much rings off the hook, so ...
本該是一個很安靜的環境吧?事實卻不是這樣，在我學習的時候都爸爸和哥哥放低聲音，但是電話卻響個不停。
16.pros and cons：利弊
Paraphrase: advantages & disadvantages
官方真題Official: The question is how. I mean no one really thinks that, say a bee goes through weighing thepros and cons of pollinating this flower or that flower.
問題在于怎樣做到的。沒有人會認為蜜蜂給花朵授粉的時候會去權衡一下這朵花和那朵花的利弊。
17.put two and two together：根據事實推理
Paraphrase: reach acorrect conclusion from the evidence; making inference
官方真題Official: T3L4 – Astronomy
Sohe put two and two together, and decided there was an element in the sun that hadn’t been discovered here on the earth yet.
所以他根據現有情況推斷，太陽里有一種元素是我們至今都沒有發現的。
18.rule of thumb：經驗法則
Paraphrase: approximately
官方真題Official: T2C1 – Student & Professor
.. like your parents. That’s usually my rule of thumb: would my parents understand this?
例如你的父母。按我的經驗我會問一句，我的父母能理解嗎?
19.spot on：完全正確
Paraphrase: exactly right
官方真題Official:T29L4 – Structural Engineering
There’sa reason I mentioned that figure of 36,000 kilometers. That’s about how high an object would have to be orbiting straight up from the equator to constantly remain directly above the exact same spot on the rotating planet Earth.
就像我剛提到的，36000公里是近地同步衛星的最低軌道高度。
20.take for granted：認為…理所當然
Paraphrase: assume sth.Is real for sure
官方真題Official: T24L3 – Archeology
Today we take for granted that there horizontal bands of plant communities.
今天我們認為植物帶的水平分布是理所當然的。
21.tall order：離譜的要求，苛求
Paraphrase: hard to achieve or fulfill
官方真題Official: T5C2 – Student & Professor
It's still a pretty tall order, and we will be moving right along, so you will really need to stay on top of it.
這始終是個苛刻的要求，我們要一直保持前進，你就必須保持在巔峰狀態。
22.tongue in cheek：不是認真的，虛情假意的
Paraphrase:not seriously
官方真題Official:T12L1 – Biology
That's the so-called JUNK DNA. Though the word junk is used sort of tongue in cheek.
這就是所謂的“無用DNA”，不過junk一詞在這里有點嘲弄的意思。
以上就是小編為大家匯總整理的托福聽力22個常見慣用語，希望各位考生盡早掌握，順利獲得聽力部分的能力和分數提升。
