(1) toil at/over意为“辛苦地(做某事)”，后接名词或动名词，含有“吃力、费劲”的意味。
- Week on week, he toiled over compiling the book.
他一周又一周辛苦地编着这本书。 - After toiling at the article for weeks, he suddenly found the right way to organize it.
为这篇文章辛辛苦苦工作了几周之后，他豁然开朗，找到了合适的写作构架。 - Children are toiling over the spelling-book.
孩子们在苦学拼字课本。
(2) toil through意为“辛苦地做完(某事)”。
- I've at last toiled through the book.
费了九牛二虎之力，我终于啃完了这本书。
(3) labor at/over也指“辛苦地做(某事)”，后接名词、动名词，与toil at/over意思接近。
- He has labored at the English course for two years.
他很用功地学了两年英语。 - They are laboring over improving the quality of their products.
他们辛苦工作，力图改进产品质量。
(4) labor through指“艰难费力地走过，驶过；费劲地读完(书等)”。
- They labored through the thick forest and up the steep hill.
他们艰难地穿过茂密的森林，爬上一座陡峭的山峰。 - I've at last labored through the book.
我终于费劲地读完了这本书。
(5) work at意为“学习，研究，致力于(某事)”，后接名词、动名词。
- You'll have to work at the weak points in your English if you want to pass the exam.
如果你想通过考试，你就得努力补习英语课程中的弱项。 - You'll certainly crack the problem if you really work at it.
只要你真正下了功夫，你就一定能解决这个问题的。 - I want to work at perfecting my style before trying anything new.
我想努力完善我的风格，然后再尝试一些新的手法。
(6) ①work on/upon意为“从事(某项工作)”，不少情况下可与work at换用。
- They're working on/at improving the performance of the machine.
他们正改进机器的性能。 - When we began to work on/at the new plan, several unexpected difficulties cropped up.
我们正打算实施新计划，有几个意想不到的困难出现了。
②work on还可表示“做(某人的)工作，对(某人)施加影响”。
- The manager might accept our plan if someone works on him properly.
如果有人给经理做工作做得好的话，他可能会接受我们的计划。
③work on it, work at it作为固定用法，表示“继续在某事上下力气(以图加以改变)”。
- I haven't yet persuaded the chairman to change his mind, but don't worry, I'm still working on/at it .
我还没能说服主席改变主意，但不要着急，我还在做他的工作。
(7) work through作“穿透，渗透”解，还有“克服，干(完)”之意。
- The rain is still working through the roof.
雨水还在从屋顶向下渗透。 - It's not easy to work the needle through a thick pile of paper.
用针把这么厚一撂纸扎透不容易。 - We must work through the difficulties until we find an answer.
我们必须克服种种困难找到答案。
(8) work one's way through意为“通过(某事)”。
- It takes years to work your way through the examination system until you gain a degree.
通过各项考试直到你获得学位得需要好多年。 - He paid for his own education by working his way through college.
他靠打工自己付学费念完了大学。
