“掉鏈子”的第一個意思是“自行車在行駛過程中,鏈條從傳動的鏈輪上脫落，從而失去傳動能力”。英語譯為to come off。例如：

1. 當(dāng)這個騎行者蹬車時，忽然發(fā)現(xiàn)它不前行。原來是掉鏈子了。When the bicyclist pedaled his bike, he suddenly found it refuse to move on. It turned out that its cycle chain had come off.“掉鏈子”的第二個意思是“事件在發(fā)展過程中的節(jié)骨眼上出現(xiàn)意外，沒有達(dá)到預(yù)期效果就失敗了”。英語譯為to come to failure, to turn to failure。例如：

2. 他在實驗關(guān)鍵時候掉鏈子，感到極其郁悶。As he came to failure at the critical moment in his experiment, he felt greatly depressed.

3. 這個籃球隊在比賽快結(jié)束時，突然掉鏈子而輸了球。The basketball team suddenly turned to failure and lost the match when the game drew to an end. ▲

（本欄目供稿：王逢鑫教授）