不过是...

Only master had been reading in his bed last night; he fell asleep with his candle lit, and the curtains got on fire; but, fortunately, he awoke before the bedclothes or the woodwork caught, and contrived to quench the flames with the water in the ewer.

"不过是昨晚老爷躺在床上看书，亮着蜡烛就睡着了，床幔起了火，幸亏床单或木板还没着火他就醒了，想法用罐子里的水浇灭了火焰。"

That was an exclamation of surprise.

那不过是一个表示惊讶的感叹词。

For some, this oversight only confirmed suspicions that commission staff overlook potentially exculpatory evidence.

对一些人来说，这种渎职行为不过是证明了坊间的猜测：该委员会成员可能对辩护证据持漠视态度。

At the time, skeptics, this column included, viewed Twitter as just the latest example of Internet exhibitionism mixed with information pollution.

而包括本专栏在内的怀疑派人士当时则认为，Twitter不过是网络暴露癖和信息污染的最新例证。

An expat in China thinks: that's a little over a dime a day .

一个在中国流亡的人说：不过是一天一毛多一点儿。

The British Expeditionary Force was no more than a symbolic contribution.

英国远征军不过是一种象征性的支援。

Boss threated and said to expel him,and this is not just threaghen .

老板威胁说要解雇他，但这不过是恐吓而已。。

But to avoid the impression that this exteriorization, this transference of our most intimate feelings, is just a characteristic of the so called primitive stages of development, let's remind ourselves of a phenomenon quite usual in popular TV shows or serials - canned-laughter.

但是要避免我们内心最深处的感觉的这种外化、这种转移不过是所谓的原初发展阶段的一个特征的这种印象，让我们回想一下在通俗电视表演或连续剧中的一个相当常见的现象——录音的笑声（canned-laughter）。

The so-called heathen made "graven images" of their Gods, whom they were accustomed to worship, but among the most intelligent, at least, these images were but the visible fulcrums with which they were enabled to mentally concentrate on the qualities which they desired to externalize in their lives.

所谓"蛮族"的人们为自己的神"雕刻偶像"，然后向它屈身跪拜，对於他们中少数有智慧的人来说，他们不过是把这些偶像当作一个精神支点，一个可视化的外在形象，用来寄托自己的灵魂。

There are extraneous occupations that eat away precious time.

有些无关紧要的工作，不过是空耗宝贵的时间。

The split between the two groups can hardly be papered over.

这两个团体间的分歧难以掩饰。

This approach not only encourages a greater number of responses, but minimizes the likelihood of stale groupthink.

这种做法不仅鼓励了更多的反应，而且减少跟风的可能性。