anything but

听力原句：

Librarian：Oh, well I guess youmight think that. But when I saw it back then it was anything but boring.

语境释义：并不；一点也不

注：近似词组nothing but意为“只不过是”,例如：It's nothing but a joke.

in such short notice

听力原句：

Student：Hi, thanks forseeing me in such short notice.

语境释义：如此仓促

in person

听力原句：

Manager: Right, the choir. It’s nice tofinally meet you in person. So, you are having problems with...

语境释义：亲自，当面

high-end

听力原句：　Pro: Ok, basically they have to offer things that most people canfind anywhere else, you know quality, that means better exerciseequipment,high-end stuff, and classes-exercise classes may be aerobics.

语境释义：高端的

drive…home

听力原句：

Therefore, it’s best to be anon-conformist – to do your own thing, not worrying about what other people think.That’s an important point. He really drives this argument home throughoutthe essay.

语境释义：把（论点、问题等）讲得透彻、明白

goof off

听力原句：

Student: I went off to the stack and foundsome really good material for my part, but when I got back to our table, theywere just goofing off and talking. So I went and got materials for theirsections as well.

语境释义：游手好闲，混日子

go down the drain

听力原句：

Student: I know, but I didn’t want torisk the project going down the drain.

语境释义：前功尽弃，付诸东流

start from scratch

听力原句：

Student: But we’ve got allthe sources and it’s due next week. We don’t have time to startfrom scratch.

语境释义：从头开始

come down to

听力原句：

It’s been shaped byconstraints over vast stretches of time, all of which comes down to the factthat the best foraging strategy for beavers isn’t the one thatyields the most food or wood.

语境释义：归结为

open spot

听力原句：

I am afraid we don’t have anyopenings at lunch time. A lot of students want to work then, so it is reallyrare for us to have anopen spot at that time of day.

语境释义：职位空缺

not necessarily

听力原句1：

Well, design doesn't necessarily includethings like sculptures or decorative walkways or… or even eyecatching window displays, you know art.

听力原句2：

Professor：That’s anotherpossible reason although it doesn’t necessarily explain other behaviors such as eating, drinking orsleeping.”

语境释义：不一定，未必（不是“不需要”或者“不必要”的意思！）

be at odds with

听力原句：

They try to fit in with the rest of theworld even though it’s at odds with their beliefs and their identities.

语境释义：与…相违背、相冲突

注：在听力中该短语会有连读，要多听。

lesser-known

听力原句：

Employee：You are lucky tohave professor who includes the lesser-known writer like her on the syllabus,you know, not the usual authors we’ve all read.

语境释义：不知名的

pros and cons

听力原句：　I mean no one really thinks that, say a bee goes through weighingthepros and cons of pollinating this flower or that flower.

语境释义：权衡利弊，仔细斟酌

in a different light

听力原句：

Student: I mean... Being a waiter, I get tosee a lot of the professors, like in a different light, we joke around a littleyou know. In the classroom, they always have to be pretty formal, but …

语境释义：从不同的角度，从另外一面

low key

听力原句：　Pro: Oh, that's very thoughtful of you, Eric, but it will be lowkey, nothing flashy. That's not her style.

语境释义：低调的，不张扬的

common denominato

听力原句：

There are variations on this model ofcourse, but the common denominators are always an idea of creating a shoppingspace that will get people to shop in the city without needing their cars.

语境释义：共同点，共性

注意：denominator本意为“分母”

tongue in cheek

听力原句：

But if you took away all the DNA that codesfor genes, you still have maybe 70% of the DNA left over. That’s theso-called JUNK DNA. Though the word junk is used sort of tongue in cheek.

语境释义：半开玩笑地

pull them from thin air

听力原句：

To begin, how do we create fictionalcharacters? We don’t just pull them from thin air, do we? I mean we don’t createthem out of nothing.

语境释义：凭空捏造

touch base

听力原句：

Advisor: Hi, Steven I schedule thisappointment, cause it has been a while since we touched base.

语境释义：联系，进行接触

这就是托福听力中容易误解的听力词组集锦，有没有感觉茅塞顿开？现在就去练练手吧！