to keep one's eye on the ball

eye-opener (来源：英语杂志 http://www.EnglishCN.com)

我们再给大家介绍一个又eye组成的俗语：To keep one's eye on the ball。To keep one's eye on the ball这个常用语原先是来自球类运动,如网球、高尔夫球、垒球等。你一定要把眼睛看准了才能打到这些球。下面这个垒球运动员说的话就能说明问题：

例句-1: We were playing Chicago there and the crowd was yelling and booing and waving handkerchiefs to distract us. But I kept my eye on the ball, swung as hard as I could and hit a home run. That Chicago crowd sure quieted down as I jogged around the bases.

这位垒球手说："我们那时正在芝加哥和当地一个球队比赛，看球的人群又喊又嚷，还挥动手绢想分散我们的注意力。可是，我集中精力，使出所有的劲儿来打球，结果打了一个本垒打。这下，当我沿着垒跑的时候，芝加哥的观众就变得很安静了。"

让我们来举一个汽车推销员的例子吧。这个人家里有些事不顺心，使他在工作时很分散精力。于是，他的老板就把他叫到办公室去对他说：

例句-2: Tom, your sales record is way down the past six months. You've only sold 17 cars all this time. You'd better start keeping your eye on the ball, or you'll find yourself looking for another job.

这位老板说："汤姆，你的销售量在过去半年里一直很低。你在这段时间里一共才卖了十七辆汽车。你还是集中注意力地工作，否则，你恐怕得另找工作了。"还有一个由eye这个字组成的、非常有用的习惯用语是eye-opener。Eye-opener是一个字。

Eye-opener有两个意思，一个是表示惊奇，就像下面这个女子所表达的情绪：

例句-3: Of course, John and I have had a few problems, just like most married couples. But I always felt we had a good, solid marriage. So it was a terrible eye-opener when I opened the letter he'd left on the kitchen table and found out he'd run off with his old college sweetheart.

这个被抛弃的妻子说："当然，约翰和我是有一些矛盾，就像大多数夫妻一样。但是，我一直认为我们的婚姻是有牢固基础的。所以，当我打开他留在厨房桌上的信，知道他和他以前大学里的女朋友出走了的时候，我真是非常惊奇。"

Eye-opener的另一意思是：开阔了眼界。请听下面这个例子：

例句-4: Seeing those color films the astronauts took off the earth on their flight to the moon was certainly an eye-opener. I never realized how beautiful and how lonely our planet looks hanging there in space.

这句话的意思是："看到宇航员在登上月球时拍的那些有关地球的彩色照片真是开了眼界。我从来也不知道我们的地球在空间是这么美丽、这么孤单。"