【英语早间课堂】Lay your cards on the table.

Morning！I am Juliet. Nice to meet you through network. Hope we could spend a wonderful morning together. An hour in the morning is worth two hours in the evening.
一天之计在于晨，若您有个美好晨间生活，相信您一天的生活都是美好的，您会由此干感到快乐的。A hard beginning makes a good ending. 常言道：善始善终。
【温故知新】
Last time we finished learning 1 "Just come out and say it." which is a way of saying "Tell me something even if it isn't nice." "Come out" means "become to be known". And we put emphasis 2 on the phrases study which are : would rather and rather than. Finally I leave some translation exercises for you and now I am about let it out in the open.
1 江姐宁死不屈。
Miss Chang would rather die than surrender 3.
Miss Chang sooner die than surrender. 【点评】
（1）would rather...than和 sooner...than两个非常精彩的短语。
（2）would rather die than surrender 宁死不屈2 我倒希望你立即把信件寄出去。
I would rather you post this letter right away. 【点评】这句话理解了would rather somebody do something的用法，用于别人在2个选择中，你为别人做出建议性的选择。经常中文说的“最好，到希望”就可用这个句式。
3 你为何不向别人求助而是自己干呢？
Why didn't you ask for help rather than trying to do it on your own. 【点评】这句话妙语连珠呀。rather than doing something和on one's own很精彩的2个短语. On one's own比用by oneself来得更为精彩。此外，在同一句子或是同一文章中，使用不同的短语表示同样的意思，这样是文字不单调枯燥，读者不厌烦。
4 宁缺毋滥。
We would rather leave the post vacant 4 than have it filled by anybody unqualified for it.
【点评】
1 leaver+ something + 形容词 和 have something done 这2个短语结构很精彩。
2 精彩形容词性短语unqualified for something修饰前面的不定代词anybody. We would rather go without than make somebody do with anything not up to the work.
【点评】
1 词句妙语连珠：go without 没有 do with 处理 up to 胜任2 掌握了up to 是形容词性短语，否定结构在其前加上not, 共同修饰前面的不定代词anything.

【今日主题】
And this morning we are about to begin a new lesson. In this lesson I'd like to share an idiom including "card" with you which is equal to this short sentence "Tell me the whole truth." that expresses the speaker is telling somebody to say everything honestly. Guess what it is. Let's get the answer from the following simple situational dialogue. A : I want to ask Sara to marry me. B : Lay your cards on the table. See what she says.
【答疑解惑】 It is "Lay your cards on the table." That means "to tell somebody honestly what your plans , ideas, etc. are". It can also be said as "Put your cards on the table". Lay (put) one's cards on the table. 从字面意思来看：把某人的拍摊在桌面上，这样做不就是让对方知道自己的牌了。So , in oral English, 引申为：摊牌；（把计划和打算等）和盘说出。
【视野拓展】
We have a very idiom including "card" that is opposite to it. It's so lively that we can figure out it's real meaning. It is "play one's cards close to one's chest". It means keep one’s planes, ideas, etc. secret. play one's cards close to one's chest非常形象的表示出其意思为：守口如瓶，不漏声色，秘而不宣等等。从字面意思看：我们玩牌时就是把牌对于自己的胸前，不让别人知道。那也就引申出了上面的意思。What's more, it can be said as: keep one's cards close to one's chest or hold one's cards to one's chest.
There is another familiar idiom including "bush" which is equal to "Lay (put) one's cards on the table.". It is "Beat around bush." It is so lively that we can imagine it's meaning. 字面上说：绕着灌木丛打转转，那不就是说总打不到目标。So, it's similar to saying in Chinese: 拐弯抹角； 旁敲侧击。
这个人不想惹祸上身，知道很多事情就是不说出来，而这件事你有很想知道，你就会不高兴的说：He knew the matter perfectly 5 well but held his cards close to his chest. I don't why he did so even if you are his best friend. 他很清楚这些事，但是就是守口如瓶。即使是他最好的朋友也这样，我真不知道他为何这样做。男生要逃的到女生的花心，很是累人的，要花钱，还得赔上自己的很多时间，可是人的忍受度是有限的，超越了，男生会说：I'm just going to put my cards on the table to tell you I would rather have a break-up with you because I cannot put up with you any more. 对不起，我要跟你摊牌了，我再也受不了你了，我决定和你分手。Yeah , sometimes we may have to bite the bullet 6, lay our cards on the table and end a romance 7. 是的，有时候我们必须忍受着痛苦，摊牌说出真心话而结束浪漫的爱情。这个人想加薪水可是老是对老板说他的业绩如何，老板并不知到他的目的是想加薪，因此这人的朋友就说：Why should you beat around the bush when asking for better wages. I think you should put your cards on the table in front of your boss. 你要加薪水有何必拐弯抹角呢？你要当着老板的面把话挑明着说呀。
 
转自可可英语