to take stock 盤點
e.g. Every so often I take stock of my life, and see if I'm really
content with what I'm doing, or not.
2014年1月21日 星期二
to go with the flow 隨波逐流 / 跟大隊
to go with the flow 隨波逐流 / 跟大隊
e.g. While I would have
preferred to have our annual party at my favorite old restaurant, other people
wanted a new place. I decided to go with the flow.
2014年1月15日 星期三
spine-tingling 令人激動的 / 令人又驚又喜的
spine-tingling 令人激動的 / 令人又驚又喜的
If you are in politics or public life, you probably had some moment
of spine-tingling transcendence. Maybe you read
the Declaration of Independence or watched the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr.’s mountaintop sermon, or read Nelson Mandela’s 1964 speech from the dock. (如果你從事政治或公眾事業，你或許曾經歷過一些驚神泣鬼的超驗瞬間。也許你在讀《獨立宣言》或者看小馬丁路德金牧師的“頂峰”佈道，又或者讀納爾遜·曼德拉1964年站在被告席上的演講。)
transcendence 超越常態 / 卓絕 / 超然存在
e.g. The desire for peace transcend
political difference.
e.g. The transcendent genius of Mozart …….
dock 被告席 / 船塢 / 碼頭 / 羊蹄
talked-about 談論的
talked-about 談論的
One of the most talked-about is a tax of one peso (about 8 cents) on every liter
of sugary beverages, which our Congress approved on Thursday. The tax — part of
a fiscal reform package that also includes an 8 percent tax on junk food — is
aimed at obesity.(人們討論最多的是國會在週四通過的稅收政策——對每升含糖飲料徵收一比索（約合八美分）的賦稅。這項稅收政策主要針對肥胖問題，是財政改革方案的一部分，改革方案還包括對垃圾食品徵收8%的賦稅。)
obesity 過胖 / 肥胖症
swimmingly 順利流暢地
swimmingly 順利流暢地
"Starting with the presidency of Felipe
Calderón, from 2006 to 2012, the government lost control over the war on drug cartels and failed to fulfill its part of the social contract. It has been
unable to guarantee the safety of its citizens and to implement educational
reforms, but it has given politicians carte blanche to earn money through illegal means and to benefit swimmingly from their tolerance of private monopolies. The government has been truly valiant, however, when it comes
to assaulting its citizens with more taxes."
(自利佩·卡爾德龍(Felipe Calderón)在2006年至2012年擔任總統以來，政府就失去了對打擊販毒集團的行動的控制，沒能履行其社會契約。政府無法保障公民的安全，無法實施教育改革，但卻給予政治人士空頭支票，使其可以通過非法途徑牟利，通過寬容對待私人壟斷而輕易獲益。然而政府在對人民徵收更多賦稅的時候卻十分之雷厲風行。)
carte blanche 白紙 / 全權處理(花錢的權力)
give sb carte
blanche 授予sb全權處理 [idiom]
We were given carte blanche to redecorate the hotel . (我們獲授予全權重新裝修酒店。)
It has given
politicians carte
blanche to earn money through illegal means. (政客被賦予以非法手段謀利利的權力)
valiant 勇敢地
Use of "where" --> the place that
We went where the government didn’t go, where there were no hospitals, no schools and sometimes even no running water.
(我们前往那些政府都不涉足的地方，那里没有医院、学校，有时甚至都没有自来水。)
Nowadays, one of the most dangerous jobs in Mexico is driving a delivery truck down what Graham Greene called “lawless roads,” where delivery men are robbed, extorted and even killed.
(如今，墨西哥最危险的工作之一就是开着货车经过格雷厄姆·格林(Graham Greene)所说的“不法之路”，送货员在那里会遭到抢劫、敲诈，甚至会被杀害。)
2014年1月14日 星期二
call a spade a spade 實話實說 / 堂堂正正
call a spade a spade 實話實說 / 堂堂正正
e.g. it (government) should “call a spade a spade”
and put them (political implication) forward for open discussion.(政府就應該堂堂正正把這些政治理由拿出來讓公眾討論。)
bluntly 直言不諱地
bluntly 直言不諱地
This, if I can be forgiven for putting it bluntly, is a
form of Rule by Man, in the name of Rule of Law.(恕我坦白一點，這種想法實乃借「法治」為名的「人治」。)
resonate 響徹 / 產生共鳴
resonate 響徹 / 產生共鳴
e.g. The music resonated through the streets
e.g. A hall resonating with laughter
e.g. An idea that resonates with many voter
Every words of that resonates and rings true today. (以上字字鏗鏘，擲地有聲，一字一句至今仍然適用。)
little hope 希望渺茫
little hope 希望渺茫
If courts are corrupt, swayed by prejudice, or
subject to improper influence by outside persons or bodies, little hope exists for the protection
of the rights of the individual. (如果法院腐敗，被偏見所左右，或受外界人士或機構不當影響，個人權利受保護的希望就變得渺茫。)
count/ counts
count計算
counts 價值
Not everything that counts can be counted
and not everything that can be counted counts. (不是所有有價值的東西可以被計算，亦不是所有可計算的東西是有價值的。)
sterile 不能生育的 / 貧瘠的 / 意指缺乏[結果]
sterile 不能生育的 / 貧瘠的 / 意指缺乏[結果]
e.g. Land that is sterile cannot be used
for growing crops. (土地貧瘠得不長植物。)
e.g. a sterile
debate 沒完沒了的爭論
a broken record 跳了線的唱片
a broken record 跳了線的唱片
For regular attendants of this ceremony, I
may sound like a broken
record when I start off my speech today by talking about the perennial problem of
legal aid. (這典禮的常客聽到我首先要說的是有關法律援助這個每年都談的問題時，也許會認為我的發言像一張跳了線的唱片，不斷重覆。)
spoof 嘲諷性的模仿作品/ 愚弄; 欺騙
spoof
嘲諷性的模仿作品/ 愚弄; 欺騙
e.g. ' A Five Minute Hamlet ' is an amusing spoof of Shakespeare ' s most famous play .(《五分鐘哈姆雷特》是一齣模仿莎士比亞最著名的戲劇的滑稽劇。)
e.g. Yan Oi Court Garden in Kwun Tong is the sad winner of the Spoof Award as the least
desirable public space. Surrounded by tall fences this public space resembles a
jail or animal cage. (觀塘仁愛圍花園為「最需改善的公共空間」。公園被欄柵圍著，在內歇息有如置身在監牢，笑稱「鳥籠公園」。)
from the outset/ at the outset 從一開始
from the outset/ at the outset 從一開始
e.g. the share of good-as-new notes issued in the run-up to each Chinese New
Year has increased from 20% at the outset to around 45% in recent years. (臨近農曆新年推出的「迎新鈔」，佔總出鈔量的比例由當初的20%增加到近年約45%。)
Road to Damascus 使人信念改變的經歷
Road to Damascus形容一些使人信仰或信念上作180度改變的經歷
典故：保羅逼迫基督徒。他在往大馬士革途中突然盲了，基督使他回復視力，自此保羅成為最堅定的教徒。
e.g. It was this chance meeting in a bar in
Portland that he would later describe as his road to Damascus.
Complimentary讚揚的/ 免費的
Complimentary讚揚的/ 免費的
He made some very complimentary remarks about your work. 他大力讚揚你的工作。
two complimentary tickets 贈劵
Use of Brain
Use of Brain:
Ÿ the brains behind 幕後的主腦人物
Ÿ brains, not brawns = intelligence, not
strength 重腦力，多於體力
Ÿ beat one’s brains out = think very hard to
solve a problem 絞盡腦汁
Ÿ pick somebody’s brains 向某人請教，吸收他的意見或知識，為己所用
Ÿ rack my brains大動腦筋
這句成語也可以說:wreck my brains/cudgel my brains：I racked my brains, trying to think what on earth to do.
這句成語也可以說:wreck my brains/cudgel my brains：I racked my brains, trying to think what on earth to do.
Ÿ brainchild = one’s own idea 腦力勞動的產物，如思想、作品、發明、發現等
Ÿ have a brainwave = have a sudden
inspiration 突然想到的妙計
Ÿ a brain trust = a discussion group of
experts 智囊團
keeping its cards close to its chest 仍未公佈
keeping its cards close to its chest 仍未公佈
As for the ministry, it is keeping its cards close to its
chest. 仍未公佈
to rat on 背棄
to rat on 背棄
to rat on your friends 出賣朋友
to rat on something 背棄承諾 to go back on an agreement
to rat on a promise背信棄義
dismiss the idea of 決定不會
dismiss the idea of 決定不會
I dismiss the idea of selling my company = I decide not to sell my
company
e.g. I dismiss the idea of
joining his course.
e.g. I dismiss the idea of going to college.
e.g. I dismiss the idea of abortion.
e.g. I dismiss the idea of going to college.
e.g. I dismiss the idea of abortion.
mindful of 時常謹記
mindful of 時常謹記
I am always mindful of my own failures = I always remember my failures
e.g. I am mindful of what my
grandfather has taught me.
e.g. I am mindful of the way he used to treat me.
e.g. I am always mindful of the consequences of being lazy.
e.g. I am mindful of the way he used to treat me.
e.g. I am always mindful of the consequences of being lazy.
Nothing beats 好正
Nothing beats 好正
Nothing
beats the milk tea from
Fairwood = Milk tea from Fairwood is very good
e.g. Nothing beats hard work.
e.g. Nothing beats our team spirit.
e.g. Nothing beats an English breakfast.
e.g. Nothing beats our team spirit.
e.g. Nothing beats an English breakfast.
windy drivel 誇誇其談的胡說八道
windy drivel 誇誇其談的胡說八道 (drivel = 流鼻涕/胡說)
e.g. whatever windy drivel they might put forward as a corporate mission
statement, mainstream for-profit businesses have a clear, central mission: make
money for shareholders.
containment, ramified
containment 圍堵
ramified 綜橫交錯的
e.g. A ramified architecture for China-India relationship
will be required. This must be a deeply layered, multilevel, interlocking structure
for mutual confidence, consultation, and coordination involving political
leaders, legislators, officials, experts, businesses, policy institutes,
academics, students, and other actors in the two societies.
reinvigorate, hub-and-spoke
reinvigorate 重新振作 / 復甦
(invigorate 振作 / 賦予精神)
hub-and-spoke 幅射狀的 (指運輸系統)
e.g. The U.S. pivot to Asia
under President Barack Obama seeks to reinvigorate the hub-and-spoke alliance system that the
United States constructed during the Cold War.
jeopardize, preoccupation
jeopardize 危及
preoccupation 最優先處理的事情 / 全神貫注的事情
e.g. War, conflict, and unregulated competition between
them would jeopardize
the very arrangements that are making their rise possible. Thus, economic and
political reforms at home, not the threat or use of military power, are China's
and India's preoccupation.
quarrel / quarrel with
quarrel 爭吵 / 不和
quarrel with sth 否定/ 不同意
e.g. The two countries were
also divided by a border
quarrel, conflict over Pakistan, and mutual suspicions over Tibet. The
result today is a trust
deficit between the giants of Asia. International
concern about the relationship is understandable: A "protracted contest"
between China and India, to use Sinologist John Garver's description, would be disastrous for 40 percent
of the world's population, the rest of Asia, and humanity at large.
protracted 長期的 (過長的)
disastrous 災難性的
2014年1月13日 星期一
far cry, haunt
far cry 長距離/ 相距很遠
haunt 常出沒於/ 常受困擾/ 常去的地方/ 棲息之地
e.g. The estate, where rents are around £550-a-month, is a far cry from the
21-year-old player's usual
haunts - he splits his time between a £3m mansion or a £975-a-night
suite at Manchester's Hilton Hotel.
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