To keep an ear to the ground，它的意思就是保持高度警觉，及早发现那些即将会发生的事情的预兆。比如说，一个精明的政客对选民的想法总是很警觉的，有时候，一些选民还没有想到的事，他们倒已经想到了。下面一位国会议员说的话正好说明了这一点：

　　例句-1:"Every two weeks while the Congress is in session, I try to get back home to California to talk to people. This doesn't give me much time to relax with my family, but I have to keep an ear to the ground and hear what voters are thinking about."
　　这位议员说：“当国会举行会议的时候我每两个星期设法抽空回加州一次去和当地的人进行交谈。我没有多少时间可以和家人在一起，但是我得及时了解选民的想法。”

　　下面我们再听听另外一个议员说的话：

　　例句-2:"I try to keep an ear to the ground and what I hear these days is that most people think we spend too much money on building roads and not enough on our schools."
　　这个议员说：“我总是设法注意人们的想法。最近我听说，大多数人认为我们在筑路方面花钱太多，而用在学校方面的钱却不足。”

　　下面我们要讲的一个习惯用语也是和耳朵，也就是ear有关的。它是up to one's ears。 Up to one's ears有好几个意思。首先，它可以解释成“很忙”的意思。比如说：

　　例句-3: "Half the people in my office are home sick, so I'm up to my ears!"
　　这个人说：“我办公室里有一半的人有病请假，所以我简直忙得不得了。”

　　下面这个例子是一个丈夫为了逃避到厨房去帮他太太的忙正在找借口：

　　例句-4:"Gee, honey, you know I'd like to help you paint the kitchen tonight, but I'm up to my ears in paper work I had to bring home from the office. "
　　这个丈夫说：“亲爱的，你知道我很愿意今晚帮你把厨房上油漆。可是我从办公室带回来好些要做的事。”

　　Up to one's ears这个习惯用语在下面这句句子里的意思就不同了：

　　例句-5:"The mayor says he didn't know people on his staff were taking bribes. But my guess is he's up to his ears in it."
　　这句话的意思是：“市长说他不知道他手下的工作人员接受贿赂。可是，我猜想他完全是介入这些事的。”