今天要给大家介绍的一个习惯用语是：to throw a monkey wrench。A monkey wrench就是那种用来拧螺丝的活动扳头。要是一个工人在工作的时候不小心把扳头掉到正在运转的机器里去了，那个机器就会停顿。这也正是to throw a monkey wrench的意思，那就是影响、或终止某些本来该发生的事。下面的例子是一个人在对他的朋友诉苦：

"The family and I planned to leave Monday for a two-week vacation in California. But the boss threw a monkey wrench into our plans today when he told me I have to go to a business meeting in New York next week."

他说：“我们全家计划星期一去加州两个星期渡假。但是，老板今天突然要我下星期去纽约参加一个会议，这下可把我们一家人的计划都给破坏了。”

下面这个例子是美国人可能在新闻节目里听到的消息：

"A federal judge threw a monkey wrench into the project to build a new oil refinery on the river. He ordered the company to stop work until they had a better plan to guard against water pollution."

新闻说：“联邦法官终止了在河上修建新的炼油厂的工程。他下令那个公司在制定出更好的防止水污染计划之前停止这项工程。”

wrench
n.扳钳, 扳手, 猛扭, 痛苦, 扭伤, 歪曲
vt.猛扭, 使扭伤, 曲解, 抢, 折磨
He gave a wrench to his ankle when he jumped down.
他跳下去的时候扭伤了足踝。