1. My best friend helped me choose a dissertation topic. -我的最好的朋友帮我选了论文题目。
托福常会考一些关于学习生活的句子。写论文通常是自己选论文题目，导师同意了才可以写。
Dissertation: a long piece of writing about a subject, especially one that you write as part of a university degree- (博士学位)论文;(专题)论文
还有一个意思差不多的词thesis，托福也考过这个词。
Thesis: a long piece of writing about a particular subject that you do as part of an advanced university degree such as an MA or a PhD:论文;毕业(或学位)论文
e.g. Writing a thesis on dance clubs is not as strange as it seems.
2. Linda developed the film herself.-Linda自己冲洗胶卷。
Develop这里不是"发展"的意思，而是"冲洗胶卷"。Film-胶卷
Develop: to make a photograph out of a photographic film, using chemicals-冲洗胶卷
I will have the film developed tomorrow. -我明天会把胶卷拿去冲洗。
I want to have this photo enlarged. -我想把相片放大。
相片的底片叫做negative (noun)
3. Bill disliked doing the laundry. -Bill讨厌洗衣服。
很多中国学生会说，"Bill disliked washing his clothes."这样说也可以，但是口语中"洗衣服"常说"do the laundry"
Laundry: [uncountable] clothes, sheets etc that need to be washed or have just been washed
洗衣店有两种Laundromat和dry cleaner’s Laundromat是可以用水帮你洗衣服的店。我的外国朋友问我广州有没有Laundromat.因为她没有洗衣机，冬天水很冷，不想自己用手洗衣服。
Dry cleaner’s：干洗店。
Like doing something-喜欢做某事
I like dancing in discos.
Dislike doing something -不喜欢做某事
Tom dislikes going to the dentist.
Hate doing something -厌恶做某事
Paul hates having his photo taken.
Loathe/resent doing something-憎恨做某事
I absolutely loathe traveling.
4. I had the department secretary type my term paper.-我叫系里的秘书帮我打我的学期论文。
Have sb do something. -让别人做某事，托福常考结构。
Term paper-学期论文。在美国的大学，有些科目不进行期末考，期末交一篇学期论文就当是该科的考试。
5. Most colleges are no longer overcrowded, neither are the secondary schools. -多数大学都不再过度拥挤，中学也不是这样了。
Neither这是初中就学过的词，便是"也不"。
e.g. (1) He doesn’t like rock music, neither do I. -他不喜欢摇滚音乐，我也不喜欢。
e.g. (2) Mary is not American, neither am I. -Mary不是美国人，我也不是。
Neither后面的动词形式取决于前面句子的动词。
6. Her face lit up when she saw him.-她见到他时马上面露喜色。
Lit up的原形是light up.从字面理解是"亮起来""突然有光"
If someone’s face or eyes light up, they show pleasure, excitement.是指面露喜色或是显得兴奋。
常用搭配：Light up with joy/pride/glee.
7. After the cake had cooled, I put frosting on it.
Frosting(在糕饼上的)糖霜混合物,英国人称为"icing"
8. The program will be on in a quarter of an hour. -这个节目将会在15分钟后播放。On指电视或是电台节目开播。
在【潇潇语言实验室22集】提到quarter有几个意思，这里的quarter是15分钟。
9. Judge Gray was never known for his leniency toward criminals. Gray法官向来都不是以对犯人仁慈闻名的。(言下之意，他对犯人不留情。)
Be known for/be famous for/be noted for-以。。。。。闻名
10. Mark has decided to run against Jack for treasurer. -Mark和Jack竞争财务部长的职位。
Run for a position:参加竞选一个职位。Run against somebody for a position-和某人竞争一个职位。
e.g. Bob Dole’s running for President. -Bob Dole正在竞选总统职位。
11. W: I need to make a hotel reservation for the conference. -我要给这次会议顶酒店。
Make a reservation预定，可以是在餐厅预定位置，在酒店预定房间，或是预定机票。托福常考的情形就是这几种。
M: How about having the travel agent do it? -叫旅行社帮忙预定怎么样。
How about doing something:这个句型常用来提建议。
A: I can’t decide where to eat out. -我决定不了去哪吃饭。B: How about going to the McDonald’s? -去麦当劳怎么样？
Eat out-是指出去餐馆吃饭。"我么今天晚上出去吃饭吧"这句话很多中国学生容易说成，"Let’s go out to eat tonight."事实上，口语中的表达是，"Let’s eat out tonight."
12. W: How about some more apple pie, Bob? -Bob，在再吃点苹果派吧。M: You wouldn’t have to force me to take another helping. -你不用逼我，我也会再吃多一份的。(言下之意是这苹果派很好吃，你不用逼我，我也会自己多吃些。) Helping：(食物的)一份,一客Force sb to do sth. -逼某人做某事。
13. M: I’ll have to repair this old knapsack (背包) again. W: Will it do any good? -这有用么？(这样做有好处么？)言下之意是她不赞成补那个背包，还不如买个新的算了。
e.g. (1) Smoking does you no good.-吸烟对你没有好处。e.g. (2) Drinking hot milk before bed will do you good. -睡觉钱喝热牛奶对你有好处。
14. M: Would you tell Paul I’m sorry I lost his radio?-你能不能告诉Paul我很抱歉我弄丢了他的收音机。W: Hadn’t you better tell him yourself? -你自己告诉他不是更好么？
英文中常用You’d better do something来提建议，这里是用了这个句型的反问句型Hadn’t you better do something?
15. W: Can you take me to the Palace Restaurant quickly? I’m ten minutes late already. M: I don’t know. I’ll try. But with traffic this heavy, it will take at least twenty more. With traffic this heavy -交通这么拥挤，this在这里的是"这么,这样地"的意思。表程度。
That有类似的用法：That-那样,那么(表程度) e.g. (1) Is the problem that easy?问题有那么简单吗?
e.g. (2) Things are not that bad. -事情并没有那么糟糕。
16. W: Weren’t you nervous when the professor called on you? -教授叫你回答问题时你是不是很紧张。M: I’ll say. I shook all over. -是的，我全身都发抖。
我们在中学课本学过call on sb.是拜访某人的意思。call on sb：to visit someone for a short time e.g. I’d like to call on Annal while I’m in London.
但是在美式英文中，call on sb.有另外的意思：(American) to ask a person in asgroupsof people to answer a question or to give their opinion about something -提问某人，或是叫某人发表意见。
She was afraid the teacher would call on her and she wouldn’t know the answer.-她怕老师提问她时她不知道答案.
"I’ll say"是表示同意对方说的话。
类似的表达方法还有：You bet/You said it/You can say that again./You hit the nail on the head.这些句子都是表示赞成对方说的话，托福听力都考过。
17. W: Why do you always put on slippers(拖鞋) when you go into your apartment? -你进你的公寓时为什么总是穿上拖鞋。
18. M: It saves wear and tear on the carpet. -这样会减少对地毯的磨损。wear and tear: [often on]the damage that happens to an object or a person when they are used or when they do something -使用一样东西对这样东西产生的磨损。这个短语也可以用于人。指事情对人的损耗。
e.g. (1)She made everyone wear slippers inside the house to avoid wear and tear on the carpet. -
e.g. (2) The wear and tear of life in a busy office has taken its toll on our staff.
take a/its/their toll: to have a bad effect on someone or something -对某事产生不好的影响，尤其指身心的损耗。
Bringing up nine children had taken its toll on my mother. [often on] The disease has taken a horrendous toll in parts of western Africa.
19. W: Which do you prefer? The striped (条纹的), the polka dot(圆点花样的) or the plaid(有格子图案的)? M: Actually I like the solid orange best. -事实上，我最喜欢纯橙色。solid是只有一种颜色，没有其他花纹或是图案。Solid blue-纯蓝色
20. In other words, lightening quickly heats the air and causes thunder. In other words:换句话说
21. The radio station is going to be on around the clock. -这个电台将24小时开播。Around the clock-24小时。托福常考短语。
来源：