Cream of the Crop——百裡挑一

** best or choicest of anything（任何事情中最好或最上等的）// very best of all（最好的）

~~ 精華；精選；名流；極品；最優秀的；出類拔萃的

~~ la crème de la crème // icing on the cake // top of the line // upper class // upper crust // top drawer // top of the heap // state of the art（最先進的） // blue blood（貴族）

!! Cream is the richest or choicest part of milk that rises to the top. Richard Mulcaster wrote in Positions in 1521:“the gentleman, which be the “cream" of the common.” “Cream” was referring to the “cream of the market,” the best of what were for sale.

（奶油是牛奶中最醇厚或最上等的部分，會浮到頂部。 Richard Mulcaster在1521年的《立場》中寫道：“這紳士是下議院的‘奶油’”。“奶油”是指“市場的奶油”，是出售中最好的。）

!! “Cream of the crop” probably came from its alliteration (when a group of words in a poem begin with a consonant that sounds the same).

（“農作物的奶油”可能來自它的頭韻〔詩詞中一組詞以發音相同的子音開頭〕。）

>> After Coronavirus epidemic has passed, our education center has proven to be the cream of the crop, receiving nearly a hundred applications from tutors on the first day after every recruitment advertisement.

（經過新冠肺炎疫情後，我們的教育中心確是百裡挑一，每個招聘廣告發佈後的第一日均收到近百封應徵做補習導師的電郵。）

>> When the head of state arrived in Hong Kong, a large number of the cream of the crop flying tigers and police secret service were on guard at the airport.

（當國家元首抵達香港時，大批精英的飛虎隊及警方特勤隊在機場戒備。）

學勤進修教育中心英語專科導師

李啟文 教授