他那番话不过是表面文章。

He was merely paying lip service.

他政治上的承诺只是表面文章.

His political commitment is only skin - deep.

跟律师乱搞不过是表面文章而已。

Boinking the lawyer is just icing on the cake.

你想听到真心话，没有时间做表面文章。

You want to hear it from the heart and have no time for superficiality .

他们的慈善观念中包含的所有东西都是表面文章.

And all that they have included are very superficial things.

做一些阵阵正正的技术, 不要总是做表面文章.

Do some real deeds, not the facial work.

良好的人际关系是基于生活中的点滴而并非表面文章。

Good relationships are based on things deeper than the surface.

前台工作人员和酒店主人好像更喜欢在网站上做表面文章。

The front desk staff and owner were surprisingly dismissive seeming to want to spend more time doing paperwork and being on the web then being helpful.

没有人能否认现在这样的安排(捕鲸禁令)毫无章法,而且只是表面文章.

Nobody can deny that the present arrangement is messy and hypocritical.

那个年代很流行在性别比例上做表面文章，当时的女性会观察四周，而不是联合起来去反对不公平的体制，并且常常把彼此看作竞争对手，

In the days of tokenism, women looked around the room and instead of bonding against an unfair system, they often viewed one another as competition.