Inglish_24/11/09

nuclear family: 核心家庭; 基本家庭; 小家庭; a family that consists of father, mother and children, when it is thought of as a unit in society.
Not everybody nowadays lives in the conventional nuclear family.

dead as a dodo: 绝迹的；失效不复存在

egg on : 怂恿某人(煽动某人)

If you egg a person on, you encourage them to do something, especially something dangerous or foolish.
Wouldn't the proverbial smell of fear just egg on one's enemies?

hash sth out: 把复杂麻烦的事情快速解决
hash out a problem: 经过长时间讨论解决一个问题

The teacher asked them to sit down together and hash out their differences.

run-of-the-mill: 普通的；A run-of-the-mill person or thing is very ordinary, with no special or interesting features.

It made the case seem too familiar, and thus run-of-the-mill and simplistic.