He contrived to make a mess of the whole thing.

他挖空心思反而把事情全盘弄糟了。

You can't come round with such yarns．

你别想用这套花言巧语来哄骗我。

It has no counterpart in the world．

举世无双。

The storm clouds gathered darkly，乌云密布。

He was daunted by the amount of work still to be done。

还有那么多工作要做，弄得他灰心丧气。
　　
He was silent in default by any excuse 。

他无可推诿，哑口无言。

His speech was dreary。他的演讲枯燥乏味。

The state was in disruption 。

这个国家处于分崩离析之中。

Harcourt had just bought the book, and had reached into his pocket for the money with a free ready gesture to make it appear that he has been accustomed to buying books for young ladies.

哈科特刚选好书，用潇洒自如的姿态，把手伸进口袋去掏钱。显得是一位为妙龄女郎买书的老手呢。

由此可见，熟练掌握汉语的四字词组，充分理解、挖掘英语原文的深刻含义，就能在翻译中得心应手、运用自如。

既然汉语四字词组有这么大的优点，我们是不是该反过来考虑考虑如何将我们这一语言精华翻译成英语呢。四字词组翻译成英语有各种不同的方法，如一些人提到的直译法，意译法和直译意译结合法。在这里我们探讨四种翻译四字词组的常用方法。