(1) be at pains to do sth.是“费心、费事、努力设法做某事”。

• He was at great pains to help me in the work and I made rapid progress.
  他努力设法帮助我做这项工作，我才取得迅速进展。
• I could hardly refuse the gift after she had been at such pains to make it.
  她费了这么多心血制作这礼物，我几乎无法拒绝接受它。

 (2) go to great pains to do sth. 意为“努力做某事，极力设法/费心做某事”。

• She went to great pains to see that none of her guests was left out/all her guests were provided with whatever they needed.
  她极力设法做到没有一个客人被冷落/所有客人都不乏所需。
• The speaker went to great pains to show how horrifying the war was.
  演讲者极力设法说明这场战争是何等可怕。

 (3) ①take pains/trouble over (doing) sth., take pains/trouble/doing/to do sth., go to...trouble doing/to do sth., take trouble doing/to do sth.意思都是“费心、费事、极力做某事”，依据情况，可以换用。

• He wrote a letter to his boss to explain the situation, taking extra pains to be tactful.
  他给老板写了一封信说明情况，信中格外注意说话的策略。
• She took pains to see that her guests had everything that they could possibly want.
  她费尽心力照料客人，使他们尽量得到所有他们可能想要的东西。
• She took a lot of trouble over preparing that meal for me.
  她费了很多麻烦为我做了那顿饭。
• Jane went to a lot of trouble to make her guests comfortable/at ease.
  简费了很多心思使客人们舒适/不拘束。
• He has taken endless trouble to make a success of his work.
  他为了成功地完成工作，费了无穷无尽的麻烦。
• Please take the trouble to read the contract thoroughly.
  请费心通读一遍合同。
• I went to all the trouble fixing this place for you.
  我费尽周折为你定下这个地方。
• Don't take pains/too much trouble over finding the exact right word.
  不要费事/费太多心思去寻找最正确的词。
• I can see that you've taken (great) pains/much trouble over your article, but there is still room for improvement.
  可以看出，这篇文章你费了很多心血，但仍有改进的余地。

②有时用介词with。

• It was clear that our hostess had taken great pains with the preparations for the party.
  显然，我们的女主人费了很多心血来准备这次聚会。
• She took great pains with her English lesson and always got high marks.
  她在英语这门课上下了很大功夫，所以总是得高分。
• Mary always takes pains with her appearance.
  玛丽在她的外表上费了许多心思。

 (4) go to...trouble for (sb.)表示“为……(某人)麻烦、费事”。

• I'd like to stay with you, but please do not go to a lot of trouble for me .
  我愿与你在一起，但请不要为我太麻烦。

 (5) go to the trouble of doing sth. 也表示“费事、费劲做某事”。

• You needn't go to the trouble of painting the house since you're going to move out of it in one or two years.
  既然你要在一两年后搬出，你就不必费事粉刷这房子了。