be at pains

基本解释

Even now, Andrew Lansley, the health secretary, is at pains to portray his plans as evolutionary rather than revolutionary.
即便到了今天，卫生大臣Andrew Lansley在描述其改良的而非革命的计划时依然痛心疾首。
Erian, an outspoken reformist on the brotherhood's guidance council, is at pains to sketch out the limits of his organisation's political ambitions.
埃利安是兄弟会训导委员会里一位坦率的改革主义者。
Muhammad al-Jasser of Saudi Arabia is at pains to emphasise that “the surpluses of the oil-exporting economies of the Gulf [are] overstated as a problem.”
沙特央行行长埃尔亚瑟费尽苦心地强调“以石油出口为主的海湾经济体的贸易顺差问题被夸大了。”

But although I've been at pains to say this is the fundamental bad thing about death, I think it's arguable that-- I think one could make the case that this isn't the only bad thing about death, even if we're focusing on why is death bad for me?
但是虽然我一直在努力阐述,这是死亡的基本坏处，我觉得-,人们有理由认为,这不是死亡的唯一坏处，就算我们重点思考为何死亡对我是坏事？
耶鲁公开课 - 死亡课程节选

Mr Plaskow is at pains to point out that Radlett is not a ghetto.
ECONOMIST: The strange cohesiveness of British Jewry
Mr Blocher is at pains to distance himself from Mr Haider, and other leaders of the far right.
ECONOMIST: Christoph Blocher, ascendant Swiss populist
He is at pains to suggest that his foreign policy would bear a striking similarity to Mr Blair's.
ECONOMIST: Bagehot