[摘要]
· smell a rat察觉可疑

He is a well-known miser. I smell a rat when he invites me to his home for dinner. I was wondering if he is asking favors of me.

· beat a hasty retreat急忙撤退

· smell a rat察觉可疑

He is a well-known miser. I smell a rat when he invites me to his home for dinner. I was wondering if he is asking favors of me.

· beat a hasty retreat急忙撤退

The hoodlum was about to dully the lady when he saw a patrolman coming towards them. He beat a hasty retreat.

· take someone for a ride欺骗某人，玩弄某人的感情

They were taking us for a ride. I turned out that the tickets they sold us with low price were invalid.

· rip someone off敲某人竹杠

The local villain rips us off by collecting 100 yuan for protection charge every month.

· be on the rocks陷入困境，完蛋

The foam economy was struck by the Asian financial crisis. Japan’s economy was on the rocks.
· rub it in哪壶不开提哪壶

Would you please talk in Chinese? You know I’m a pretty bad English speaker. You don’t have to rub it in.

· give someone the runaround敷衍搪塞

My washing machine broke down, When I went to the repair shop, they gave me the runaround.

· be in a rut千篇一律，一筹莫展

His life is in a rut. Office, library, and home are the three places he goes everyday. It is time he had a holiday for a change.

· play it safe小心谨慎

Our car works very well. But to play it safe, we will bring a spare tire.

· safe and sound安全无事

He came back from the battlefield safe and sound.

· the salt of the earth好心肠的人，没有坏心眼的人

The taxi driver who saved the drowning boy from the river is the salt of the earth.

· take something with a grain of salt听话打折扣，不能轻信

He is a braggart. Take his words with a grain of salt.

· tip the scales扭转局势

In the boxing ring, the two sides were evenly matched. But the short break seemed to tip the scales in favor of the boxer in red.

· throw someone off the scent转移某人的视线

The murder wrote a last letter for the victim and left it in the site, hoping to throw the police off the scent.

· start from scratch从零开始，白手起家

There are so many spelling mistakes. I have to write it again from scratch.

· talk sense into someone开导某人

I’ve tired to talk sense into him, but he still chose to work in the countryside.

· an open sesame法宝，秘诀，关键

Having connections with VIPs is not an open sesame to success.

· the lion’s share最大的一份，绝大多数

He designed the most important part of the machine. So he deserves the lion’s share of the award.