Build up vocabulary from the news

hedgehog

CHINESE dissidents have assailed Mo Yan's Nobel literature prize as a disgraceful vindication of the Communist Party's control of creative expression, accusing the author of being a stooge（奴才，走狗） of officialdom.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/ ... rg6so-1226494653857

hedgehog

Rupee News has predicted that NATO and ISAF will leave Afghanistan ahead of the 2014 announced deadline. Our prescient(有先见之明的) prediction is coming true.
......
After more than a decade of fruitless war, Australian combat operations in Afghanistan are set to all but end by December.

According to Australian news sources “The surprise announcement – that all four Afghan infantry battalions in Oruzgan are expected to begin operating independently by December – was made by the Defence Minister, Stephen Smith, at a NATO conference in Brussels this week.

prescient = knowing or appearing to know about things before they happen 预知的，先觉的
http://rupeenews.com/2012/10/in- ... fghanistan-in-2012/

[ 本帖最后由 hedgehog 于 12-10-2012 23:25 编辑 ]

KYLIE2008

楼主， 你的帖子太好啦。。。
学习学习再学习

hedgehog

India lost the 1962 war with China as it was not prepared for such an eventuality（可能性）and armed forces were neither ready nor equipped for it, former Army Chief General V K Singh said.
......
He also underlined the growing economic and military capability of China to be kept in mind to deal with any eventuality（可能发生的事情）.

eventuality = something that may possibly happen especially sth unpleasant 可能发生的事情，可能出现的结果，

http://www.indianexpress.com/new ... -v-k-singh/1007558/

[ 本帖最后由 hedgehog 于 13-10-2012 00:02 编辑 ]

hedgehog

animus = 仇恨；愤怒；敌意 a strong feeling of opposition, anger or hatred.

''I have never had any personal animus against her. I was never involved in any conflict with her during my time at the firm until these matters emerged. And then there was no, I still don't believe there was any sort of open conflict between us,'' he says.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/the- ... 20121012-27i27.html

hedgehog

touch-and-go = a. used to say that the result of a situation is uncertain and that there is a possibility that sth bad or unpleasant will happen. 不确定的，无把握的，很难说的，吉凶未卜

Dear Aunty B,

I’m really panicking. I’ve got enough cash to make payroll this month, but the next month is looking very touch and go.

My problem is a few key customers are shocking payers. The money comes eventually, but it takes forever. In the last few weeks there have been even more delays than normal and things are getting stretched to breaking point.

What do I do? I’ve harassed the accounts payable people at my key customers, but I’m worried that if I shake the tree too hard I’m going to damage the relationships. And then I’ll be in more trouble.

I need some advice Aunty, and I need it fast.

Hanging by a thread,

Brisbane

http://www.smartcompany.com.au/a ... ext-month-help.html

hedgehog

CAIRO—Dozens were injured in clashes between secular-leaning and Islamist activists in the heart of Egypt's capital Friday in the first such internecine political violence since the country's Muslim Brotherhood-backed president took office in late June.

But like the other violent spats that have rattled Egypt's hard-won political stability, it remained unclear whether Friday's riots reflected a broader political standoff or a catharsis（宣泄） for embittered youth.

internecin = （团体、国家、组织）内部发生的，内讧的 happening between memebers of the same group, country or orgnization
。（两败俱伤的）内部斗争的，自相残杀的

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB ... 52590265855944.html

[ 本帖最后由 hedgehog 于 13-10-2012 13:27 编辑 ]

hedgehog

willy-nilly = in a careless way without planning

Don’t just fire off your resumé willy-nilly（随意地，乱糟糟地）, take time to find out how best to make an impact on realistic targets, says Metro's job expert John Lees.

http://www.metro.co.uk/lifestyle ... ent-not-a-biography

hedgehog

Still, kudos to Harry for stepping up when his country asked him to. He could opt for the playboy lifestyle, carousing in the south of France like his brother William and Kate Middleton. However, he chose to serve as an Apache helicopter pilot in probably the worst place on the globe.

http://news.gather.com/viewArtic ... eId=281474981699048

carouse = 痛饮狂欢，狂欢作乐 to spend time drinking alcohol, laughing and enjoying yourself in a noisy way with other people.

hedgehog

In terms of total power and heft, in terms of unstoppable force, in terms of the likelihood staying solidly on course, would you prefer to be travelling in the slipstream of a Torana SLR 5000 or the Chinese juggernaut?

juggernaut = 1.重型卡车 a large, heavy vehicle, especially an articulated lorry. 2. 不可抗拒的强大力量；无法控制的强大机构 a huge, powerful, and overwhelming force

http://www.smh.com.au/business/g ... 20121010-27cmg.html

yearshappy

so much to learn

hedgehog

Kat is the brand ambassador of the soap company and was shooting for a new commercial. Our source says, “Since it was a soap ad, Katrina was required to shoot for her scenes inside a bath tub. Despite giving several shots, the director didn’t think Kat was emoting the right ‘seductive’ expressions. He requested her to try once more.”

All hell broke lose after that with the actress even apparently issuing a warning to the director to not “push the envelope”. The source adds, “Kat was cordial with everyone on the sets. However, after the director made his request, Kat lost it.” Post this, the crew decided to stay mum （=keep quiet) on the issue and proceeded to wrap up the shoot at the earliest.

emote = v. (especially of an actor) portray emotion in a theatrical manner. （演戏、拍电影时）强烈地表现感情；过火表演

push the envelope = if someone pushes the envelope, they do something to a greater degree or in a more extreme way than it has ever been done before.

http://www.mid-day.com/entertain ... ote-seductively.htm

hedgehog

But besides these indigenous ills, for which no one is to blame but Pakistanis themselves, there’s no question that the country has paid a huge price for playing patsy to American machinations in Afghanistan.

Pakistan was the linchpin（关键） of the Afghan resistance against the Soviet occupation (1980-88).  

[ linchpin = n. a person or thing that is the most important part of an organization, a plan, etc., because everything else depends on them or it (组织、计划等的）关键人物，关键事物]

Another military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, was rewarded for siding with the U.S. But the nation he was presiding over was not the one Zia had lorded over（指挥，支配）.

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1269186--the-afghanization-of-pakistan

hedgehog

gambit = ploy, manoeuvre，精心策划的一着；（常带有风险的）策略，开场白，开局

http://articles.timesofindia.ind ... tory-diaoyu-islands

hedgehog

To be both successful in mainstream America and black-identified is a delicate business. Commonly, the way people wangle the equipoise is to maintain a visceral kind of allegiance to in-group folkways and concerns while building most of one’s life around a more mainstream essence.

wangle = to get sth that you or another person wants by persuading sb or by a clever plan 靠耍手腕或劝诱获得，计取；搞到手

equipoise = a state of balance 平衡；均势

visceral = resulting from strong feelings rather than careful thought （未经过认真思考而）发自内心的，发自肺腑的

http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/10 ... uble-consciousness#

hedgehog

This week’s push for “rational patriotism,” mirrored also in commercial media like Guangzhou’s Southern Metropolis Daily, is a reminder once again of the razor’s edge China’s Communist Party leadership has walked in mobilizing jingoistic（好战的） nationalism to legitimize its power, in the process creating further sources of domestic unrest that can be difficult to manage politically.

jingoistic = something that is jingoistic shows enthusiastic and unreasonable belief in the superiority of a particular country, especially in support of a war against another country.

http://cmp.hku.hk/2012/09/17/27162/

For all the jingoistic talk（好战叫嚣）, the marches have been largely free of violence. China has far more to lose than gain by going to war. And yet the country’s conflicts with Japan and other Asian neighbors are a reminder of the potential dangers posed by China’s rise to global power.

http://www.businessweek.com/arti ... -kind-of-superpower

[ 本帖最后由 hedgehog 于 14-10-2012 21:02 编辑 ]

hedgehog

“We are confident that no Chinese company has ever cooperated as comprehensively as ZTE has with any U.S. congressional inquiry,” ZTE wrote in a letter it sent the House committee in late September and that the Chinese company released on Oct. 8. “ZTE profoundly disagrees with any suggestion that the company is directed or controlled by China’s government. And ZTE categorically rejects any suggestion that ZTE could be importuned by anyone to undermine our customers’ telecom infrastructure networks.” Added spokesperson David Dai in an e-mail statement on Oct. 8: “ZTE’s equipment is safe.”

译文：有人认为中兴通讯可能会因屈服于任何人（此处暗指中国政府-译者）的压力而做出不利于我们客户（此处指美国）的电讯基础网络安全的事情，中兴公司对这种观点完全不能同意。......中兴通讯的设备是安全的。

importune =harass (someone) persistently for or to do something 向......强求，对......胡搅蛮缠(for)；迫使

http://www.businessweek.com/arti ... -in-the-u-dot-s-dot

[ 本帖最后由 hedgehog 于 14-10-2012 21:55 编辑 ]

hedgehog

''The community wants the Parliament to respect the institution, get on with the job of governing the country, and lift the game. Lift the standards and let's get back to clever and intelligent repartee(巧辩) rather than just plain, personal derogatory remarks,'' she said.

repartee = 机智而又巧妙的应对（或回答） clever and amusing comments and replies that are made quickly

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/po ... 20121014-27kqa.html

hedgehog

You are ready for this problem. Amy loves to tattle on other kids. She gets this righteous look on her face; you can almost see her halo glowing when she tries to involve you in solving her problem.

When a child tattles it is because they want to get another kid in trouble, look good in the eyes of the adult or have an adult solve the problem. You can often tell simply by their demeanour and they will often follow their description of the problem by saying, "What are you going to do to her?"

The best way to handle a tattler is to refuse to engage. If this is the first time she has tattled just let her know that she is tattling and you don't want to deal with that.

tattle = to tell sb, especially sb in authority, about sth bad that sb else has done. 向当权者告发；打小报告
其他解释： 闲谈，聊天，谈论他人私事或隐私

http://www.nsnews.com/Refuse+engage+tattler/7366931/story.html

hedgehog

Soon, space won't be just a vicarious（间接感受到的） pursuit: it'll be a place people will visit in their thousands.

vicarious = felt or experienced by watching or reading about sb else doing sth, rather than by doing it yourself. 由共鸣感受到的；从他人的经验中间接获得的

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/ ... 20121016-27o43.html

[ 本帖最后由 hedgehog 于 18-10-2012 07:24 编辑 ]

yearshappy

原帖由 hedgehog 于 18-10-2012 07:05 发表

                               
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Soon, space won't be just a vicarious（间接感受到的） pursuit: it'll be a place people will visit in their thousands.

vicarious = felt or experienced by watching or reading about sb else doing sth ...

This one is easy to remember.
Most of us have known, v i c a r 牧师, 中间传达的。。

hedgehog

Long ago, Thomas Malthus argued that, although humans might be able to outpace nature's carrying capacity in the short-term, in the long run the mathematics of population growth would precipitate(使...突然降临) disaster. According to Malthus' original predictions, widespread starvation was inevitable due to the fact that food production could only increase arithmetically, whereas population growth was exponential.

precipitate = to make sth, especially sth bad happen suddenly or sooner than it shoud 加速（坏事的发生）

exponential = 1, of or shown by an exponent;指数的，幂的，由指数表示的；2(of a rate of increase) becoming faster and faster （增长率）越来越快的

http://www.opednews.com/articles ... gan-121017-584.html

hedgehog

introspection = the careful examination of your own thoughts, feelings and reasons for behaving in a particular way.

Cotto: Many believe that mental functions are best studied using introspective methods. Cognitive psychology begs to differ. Why is this?

Dr. Sternberg: Our introspections are often wrong. Much of our thinking is below our conscious awareness, and we simply don't have access to it. So when we introspect, we only look at the conscious part and may draw conclusions that are incorrect. Also, much of our thinking happens very quickly, in milliseconds, and we cannot access it because it was just too fast.

There are mental operations, for example, that take 30 milliseconds. They are not available to conscious introspection. That said, introspection can be helpful in certain cases, for example, in asking ourselves why we did something we did that was thought through over a longer period of time.

http://communities.washingtontim ... o-most-us-rely-fee/

hedgehog

The announcement on Friday that this year's Nobel Prize for Peace was being awarded to the European Union was another invitation to retrospection.
...
He knows that the EU will not be saved by a two-week exercise in crisis management – exhilarating though the Cuba Crisis might seem in retrospect and impressive though President Kennedy's performance was.

retrospect = n.  a survey or review of a past course of events or period of time. 回顾；回想. v.
retrospection = n. thinking about past events or situations.回顾，回忆

http://www.europeanvoice.com/art ... learned-/75430.aspx

hedgehog

He revealed that his group had implored monks, who hold tremendous sway over the Buddhist-majority nation, to join the protests that later metamorphosed（变形，变化，发生质变） into a “saffron（藏红花色的，橘黄的） revolution,” triggering yet another bloody military crackdown.

metamorphose = v. to change or make sth/sb change into sth completely different, espcially over a period of time.

http://blogs.afp.com/corresponde ... tays-in-the-shadows

hedgehog

“If ever there was a clear example that Lebanese males in their vast numbers not only hate our country and our heritage, this was it,” Mr Jones had said. “They simply rape, pillage and plunder a nation that’s taken them in.”

pillage = plunder, to steal things from a place or region, especially in a war, using violence 抢劫；劫掠；掠夺

http://frontpagemag.com/2012/dgr ... -muslim-immigrants/

hedgehog

artifice = the clever use of tricks to cheat sb. cunning, 奸计，诡计；狡诈，欺骗，虚伪行为；巧妙办法；灵巧，巧妙

When passing new laws to resurrect offshore processing of asylum seekers, the government used the artifice of introducing amendments to an already existing bill so as to avoid the need for providing a statement of compatibility and so as to keep the contested legislation away from the parliamentary committee.

http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=33687

hedgehog

bruit = v. to spread a piece of news widely. 传播；散播（信息）；宣扬；传颂. This rumour has been bruited about for years.

What’s especially frustrating when we hear the blind support for digital technology bruited in government white papers and the mass media today is the refusal to acknowledge the substantial empirical research over the last 15 years that questions the value of such technology.

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/e ... e-digital-classroom

hedgehog

stilted = (of a way of speaking or writing) not natural or relaxed; too formal 生硬的；不自然的
sangfroid = the ability to remain calm in a difficult or dangerous situation. 镇定；沉着

A migrant worker that the video refers to as Miao Cuihua (苗翠花) exhibits admirable sang-froid throughout her staged four-minute appeal, which mixes plain and forceful language with purposefully stilted bureaucratic jargon.

[ 本帖最后由 hedgehog 于 21-10-2012 20:33 编辑 ]

hedgehog

有紧急任务要在11月2日完成。所以最近看新闻要放一放了。