英语讲义【140】由“at”引导的介词短语

在英语里，介词短语（prepositional phrases）数量之多，可以和片语动词（phrasal verbs）互相比拟，不与它们亲近也难。

　　下面是些由“at”引导的介词短语，你都见过吗？

　　1. At bay：（经常和keep或hold连用）使……不能接近
　　One of the gangsters kept the police at bay until the rest escaped.

　　2. At bottom：实际上
　　Judy said she was not jealous of her friends' success, but at bottom, she was.

　　3. At close quarters：逼近地
　　The two rivals grappled at close quarters.

　　4. At cross purposes：互相误解
　　I think we are at cross purposes. When I said "J.C.", I meant "Jason Chen", not "John Chen".

　　5. At daggers drawn：势不两立
　　Dan and Bob have been at daggers drawn for years. There is no evidence that they will make up.

　　6. At every turn：处处
　　When you go downtown, you will see shops, big and small, at every turn.

　　7. At one fell swoop：一举
　　Which country can invade another country and conquer it at one fell swoop?

　　8. At issue：在讨论中的
　　The question asked was not relevant to the matter at issue .

　　9. At large：一般的；逍遥法外的。
　　a. The people at large support the government's various policies.
　　b. Some illegal immigrants were caught, but some others are still at large.

　　10. At length：详细地
　　Time did not allow the speaker to talk about the financial turmoil at length.

　　11. At loggerheads with……：经常和……争吵
　　Mr and Mrs Thang are often at loggerheads with each other. Why can't they get along well?

　　12. At a loss for words：不知说什么好
　　The news came so surprisingly that she was at a loss for words.

　　13. At a low ebb：处于低潮
　　Henry's mood seems to be at a low ebb now; let's cheer him up a bit.

　　14. At a price：付高代价
　　Some people became successful at a price; their health and family life were adversely affected.

　　15. At random：随意地
　　One may choose things at random, but not the prospective life partner.

　　16. At the ready：处在准备状态中
　　At the news conference, news reporters gathered around, pens and notebooks at the ready.

　　17. At sea：茫然
　　Those not interested in politics will be at sea when people discuss political issues.

　　18. At a stretch：连续地
　　In order to earn money, some workers do overtime works for a few days at a stretch.

　　19. At will：任意地
　　In a society like ours, one has to be law-abiding and not to do things at will.

　　20. At one's wits end：不知所措
　　Chased by the enemy to an abyss, the man could not advance any more, nor could he retreat; he was at his wits end.

　　21. At heart：在内心里；本质上
　　a. A good leader often has the people's interests at heart.
　　b. Though Xiao Gan works in a city, he is a country boy at heart.

　　22. At sixes and sevens：乱七八糟
　　When the maid returned to work after three days' leave, she found all the rooms at sixes and sevens.