用法学习： 1. 吹风机叫blowdryer or hair dryer: An electromechanical device designed to blow cool or hot air over wet or damp hair, in order to accelerate the evaporation蒸发 of water particles水分子 and dry the hair. Blowdryers allow to better control the shape and style of hair, by accelerating and controlling the formation of temporary hydrogen bonds inside each strand. Hairstyles using blowdryers usually have volume and discipline, which can be further improved by the use of styling products造型产品 and hairbrushes during drying to add tension, hold and lift. 2. salmon ['sæmən]. almond ['ɑmənd]. in recent memory Fig. the period of time in which things are still remembered and discussed. Never in recent memory has there been this much snow! I haven't been this happy in recent memory! 3. Red Widow is an American drama television series. On May 11, 2012, ABC picked up Red Widow as a series. The series ran from播出 March 3, to May 5, 2013 and aired播出 on Sundays. The series stars Radha Mitchell as Marta Walraven, a housewife from Northern California whose husband, a figure in organized crime, was killed. She has to continue his work to protect her family. My husband is barely cold尸骨未寒, my kid is still in shock and you are doing this to us? consignment n. I. The act of consigning. II. Something consigned. a shipment of goods consigned. on consignment 代销 With the provision that payment is expected only on completed sales and that unsold items may be returned to the one consigning. [of goods] having been placed in a store for sale, with payments made for the goods by the operator of the store only if they are sold. The artist placed his work in a gallery on consignment. I will attempt to sell your clothing on consignment. The retailer accepted the shipment on consignment. He made the last shipment on consignment.
MKTO - Thank you: Yo, this one right here is for all the drop-out-of-schoolers. The future cougars. The Mary Jane (Mary Jane, a slang term for Marijuana, which itself is a loose translation of "Mary Jane" in Spanish) abusers. The ones that chose to be losers, for all the Misfit Kids and total outcasts MKTO. This one's for you role models. We are the ones, the ones you left behind. Don't tell us how, tell us how to live our lives. Ten million strong we're breaking all the rules. Thank you for nothing, cause there's nothing left to lose. Thank you for feeding us years of lies. Thank you for the wars you left us to fight. Thank you for the world you ruined overnight. But we'll be fine, yeah we'll be fine. Thank you for the world you broke, Like yolk and it ain't no joke. So cold and there ain't no coat, Just me, my friends, my folks, And we gonna do what we like. So raise that bird up high. And when they ask you why. Just stand there laugh and smile. Thank you for the times you said, "Don't make a sound." Thanks for the ropes you used to hold us down. Cause when I break through I'ma use them to reach the clouds. We ain't comin' down (Come on). We ain't comin' down (Hey). Look, ma, I finally made it, This world is too damn jaded ( I. Worn out, wearied, exhausted or lacking enthusiasm, due to age or experience. II. Made callous or cynically insensitive, by experience.). My life is just like Vegas, go big, go home get faded. Been a problem since '92. Can't shut me down curfew And them girls I'll take a few. Do what I wanna do. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. From head to toe from the soul you ripped apart撕碎, 撕裂. I say, "Thank you." I say, "Thank you." Yeah, yeah. Yo if you don't like what they tell you to do, don't do it. If you don't want to be who they want you to be, screw it. It's your world, it's your life and they ruined it. Role models, tune in, turn up, drop out. Crystal Bell of Celebuzz wrote, "But MKTO's "Thank You" is more than just another song about teenage angst([æŋst] I. 说不清道不明的焦虑. an acute but nonspecific sense of anxiety or remorse. A feeling of anxiety or apprehension often accompanied by depression. II. the dread caused by man's awareness that his future is not determined but must be freely chosen.) -- it's an anthem for underdogs, something both Oller and Kelley experienced in their careers."
In his sights: Covert Kevin's mission to get Julia: Julia Gillard took the reins of the ALP and with it the prime ministership on June 24, 2010, in one of the most abrupt leadership transitions in modern political history. She did so with the goodwill of most of her party, and with a fawning ( fawn
n . I. 邀宠, 献媚, 争宠. 摇头晃尾, 摇头摆尾 To exhibit affection or attempt to
please, as a dog does by wagging its tail, whining, or cringing. II. To
seek favor or attention by flattery and obsequious behavior. n. 1. A
young deer, especially one less than a year old. II. A grayish
yellow-brown to moderate reddish brown. fawn (all) over someone Fig. to flatter someone or attend to someone excessively; to curry favor with someone. Please stop fawning all over the guests. You are embarrassing me. She always fawns over us when we visit. fawn (up)on someone Fig. to praise and flatter someone. Aunt
Mabel fawned on the new baby till the poor child was rescued by her
mother. I hate the way our aunts fawn on us at family gatherings. ) Canberra press gallery at her feet( at one's feet 拜倒石榴裙下 Under your influence or power. She had a dozen men at her feet. Her voice kept audiences at her feet for years. land on your feet (British, American & Australian) also fall on your feet (British & Australian)
to be lucky or successful after you have been in a difficult situation.
to be in good or improved condition after a difficult experience. It may take a few months to get a job, but I'm sure you'll land on your feet. She
really landed on her feet - she found an apartment right in the middle
of San Francisco. Richard takes the most awful risks, but he always
seems to fall on his feet. I. (idiomatic) Being stable or capable, especially in a financial or emotional sense. The
organization provides training and assistance to help the unemployed
get back on their feet. It took some time for the lady to get back on
her feet after the death of her husband. II. (idiomatic) Being well again after a bout of illness. Welcome back! It's good to see you back on your feet. ). The man she supplanted( supplant [sə'plɑ:nt] 取代 vb. (tr) to take the place of, often by trickery or force. He easily supplanted his rival. The word processor has largely supplanted electric typewriters. ), Kevin Rudd, led an isolated band of angry Labor voices at this surprising turn of events; the collective political and media verdict was that his time, short though it had been,
was up. Gillard allies say Rudd started planning for his return to the
prime ministership within days. By the time Gillard announced in
February 2011 that her government would introduce a carbon pricing
scheme, Rudd and his small team of malcontents ( The Malcontent 愤世嫉俗者, 心怀不满者, 怀才不遇者 is a character type that often appeared in early modern drama. The character is discontent with 心怀不满的 the social structure and other characters in the play—and is often an outsider who observes and comments on the action,
and may even acknowledge they are in a play. Shakespeare's Richard III
and Iago in Othello are typical malcontents. The role is usually both
political and dramatic, with the malcontent voicing dissatisfaction with the usually 'Machiavellian' political atmosphere and often using asides to build up a kind of self-consciousness and awareness of the text itself that other characters in the play lack. The morality and sympathy of the malcontent is highly variable不尽相同, as in the examples above. Sometimes, as in Hamlet and The Malcontent, they are the sympathetic centre of the play, whereas Iago is a very unsympathetic character. The most important thing about the malcontent is that the character is malcontent—unhappy, unsettled, displeased with the world of the play, eager to change it somehow, or to dispute with it. The malcontent is an objective or quasi-objective voice
that comments on the play's concerns as though somehow above or beyond
them. The concept has much to do with the Renaissance idea of 'humours'
and a surfeit of 'black bile' which caused melancholy. Bile or gall [gol] 胆汁 is a bitter-tasting, dark green to yellowish brown fluid, produced by the liver of most vertebrates, that aids the process of digestion of lipids in the small intestine. In many species, bile is stored in the gallbladder and upon eating is discharged into the duodenum.
In medical theories prevalent in the West from Classical Antiquity up
to the Middle Ages, the body's health depended on the equilibrium
between four "humors" or vital fluids: blood, phlegm, "yellow bile" (or choler), and "black bile"[ choler [ˈkolə] n. anger or ill humour ]. Excesses of the last two humors were thought to produce aggression and depression, respectively; and the Greek names for them gave rise to the English words "cholera" and "melancholia".
Those same theories explain the derivation of the English word
"bilious" from "bile", and the meaning of "gall" in English as "exasperation" or "impudence". These theories derived from the four element theory. have the gall to do something Fig. to have sufficient arrogance to do something. I bet you don't have the gall to argue with the mayor. Only Jane has the gall to ask the boss for a second raise this month. Humorism 体液学说: The theory founded on the influence which the humors were supposed to have in the production of disease; humor I.
One of the four fluids of the body, blood, phlegm, choler, and black
bile, whose relative proportions were thought in ancient and medieval
physiology to determine a person's disposition and general health. II. A
person's characteristic disposition or temperament: a boy of sullen humor. III. An often temporary state of mind; a mood. a temporary mood or frame of mind. I'm in no humor to argue. in a sulky humor today. ) were in lock-step with ( lock-step
I. A way of marching in which the marchers follow each other as closely
as possible. II. A standardized procedure that is closely, often
mindlessly followed. in lockstep with 亦步亦趋
progressing at exactly the same speed and in the same direction as
other people or things, esp as a matter of course rather than by choice.
Gold has largely moved in lockstep with the
euro's performance against the dollar since early April. This rate, used
for many short-term consumer and business loans, moves in lockstep with
the funds rate. Lockstep marching or simply lockstep refers to marching, in the USA, in a very close single file in such a way that the leg of each person in the file moves in the same way and at the same time
as the corresponding leg of the person immediately in front of him, so
that their legs stay very close all the time. Originally it was used in
drilling soldiers. Each soldier stepped on the point just vacated by the
foot of the soldier in front of him. Thus the soldiers stayed in
position to form close files.) key journalists in Canberra and around the country in a drive to push her out of the prime ministerial chair. A year after her ascent, the undercurrent 暗涌, 暗流 had become so poisonous that Gillard was forced into fighting a ludicrous ( ['lu:dikrəs] adj.
可笑的, 荒谬绝伦的. absurd or incongruous to the point of provoking ridicule or
laughter. Laughable or hilarious because of obvious absurdity or
incongruity. ) battle against a man who had been removed from office because he was incapable of governing, who was despised 鄙视, 嗤之以鼻 by the overwhelming majority of his caucus colleagues and, most importantly, whose return many feared would plummet the government into the same chaotic state that had prompted his removal. In the words of a former high-level Rudd adviser who penned a personal, unpublished account of his time in the Rudd government, the way Rudd operated was ''a powerful warning for future governments … The Rudd government was never and could never have been a functional government because of the man who ran it.'' This adviser was in a trusted position; he was intimate with the running and functioning of Rudd's cabinet and at the centre of much of its day-to-day mayhem. Once deposed, Rudd's toxic ambition appears to have been either to return to the leadership, or to destroy both the government that had dumped him and the woman who had replaced him. In this pursuit he was abetted ( abet [ə'bɛt] 怂恿. 帮凶. to assist or encourage, esp in crime or wrongdoing. abetted the thief in robbing the bank. abet someone in something to help someone in some deed; to help someone do something illegal. Surely you do not expect me to abet you in this crime! aid and abet someone Cliché to help someone; to incite someone to do something, possibly something that is wrong. (Originally a legal phrase.) He was scolded for aiding and abetting the boys who were fighting. egg on To encourage or coax a person to do something, especially something foolhardy or reckless. ) by political journalists who became pawns 爪牙, 帮凶 in his comeback play, channelling the Chinese whispers of his spruikers( 说客, 游说者. spruik ['spru:ik] vb (intr) Austral archaic slang to speak in public (used esp of a showman or salesman). ) and giving credibility and substance to exaggerated claims about the pretender's level of support within the parliamentary party for a comeback. Privately, there had always been deep unease among his colleagues about Rudd — his overpowering personal ambition, his ruthless use of people and power blocs to get the leader's job, his lack of strong policy focus and his uneven temperament. The oft-quoted fable ['feibəl] 经常被引用的, 经常被提起的段子 that(I.
A usually short narrative making an edifying or cautionary point and
often employing as characters animals that speak and act like humans.
II. A story about legendary persons and exploits. III. A falsehood; a
lie.) his crash in the opinion polls was the reason for his removal is hotly disputed by激烈争论 those central to Rudd's fate. Anybody who had an ear to the ground ( have/keep one's/an ear to the ground Fig. to devote attention to watching or listening for clues as to what is going to happen. John
had his ear to the ground, hoping to find out about new ideas in
computers. His boss told him to keep his ear to the ground so that he'd
be the first to know of a new idea. ) in Canberra at the time knew Rudd was in a bad way( be in a bad way 情况不好, 情况不乐观. 境况不好 (British & Australian) to be ill, unhappy, or in a bad state. She was thin and tired-looking and generally in a bad way. After 17 years of Conservative government, the country was in a bad way. ); that he'd been unravelling since the disaster of the December 2009 climate change summit in Copenhagen; that his office, his department and the wider bureaucracy were paralysed by a prime minister who could not make the big decisions, but who sweated the minutiae ( minutiae [mi'nju:ʃi,i:] small, precise, or trifling details. ) of irrelevant tasks 不相关的事情 and board appointments; that he was so obsessed with polling numbers and day-to-day politics that months into 2010, with an eye to the election, he was designing ever more extravagant and untenable policies( untenable [ʌn'tɛnəbəl] I. 难以防守的, 难以防御的. Being such that defense or maintenance is impossible: an untenable position. 也可以形容立场, 观点等"站不住脚的, 不堪一击的". I find your theory is untenable and it must be rejected. This argument is clearly untenable. II. 无法居住的. Being such that occupation or habitation is impossible: untenable quarters.) that would provide him with the quick fixes of media limelight he appeared to need. As Rudd toyed with possible election dates, his cabinet ministers became increasingly alarmed that the agenda was getting bigger and the announcements more prolific( [prə'lifik] adj I. producing fruit, offspring, etc., in abundance. II. producing constant or successful results. ) but that there was no follow-through. When Gillard eventually moved into the prime ministerial suite, she inherited a daunting mess of unfinished business and half-baked ideas. ''The incoming Gillard government had an in-tray (a tray for incoming papers requiring attention. ) full to bursting with half-started and half-finished ideas to work its way through,'' proclaims the adviser. Rudd has always displayed erratic work tendencies, plus a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality( Jekyll and Hyde ['dʒɛkəl] [haid] 喜怒无常的人, 天使与魔鬼兼具的人
someone with both an evil and a good personality. (From the novel The
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.) Bill
thinks Mary is so soft and gentle, but she can be very cruel—she is a
real Jekyll and Hyde. Jane doesn't know that Fred is a Jekyll and Hyde.
She sees him only when he is being kind and generous, but he can be very
cruel. ). His mercurial temper 火爆脾气 and appalling treatment of any member of staff or bureaucrat he considered an underling( 下属. One of lesser rank or authority than another; a subordinate. a subordinate or lackey. ) was legendary; these traits were occasionally reported when he was opposition leader, and again — sporadically — when he became PM. In the lead-up to the events of June 23 and 24, these tendencies bordered on the manic. Of all his ministers, Gillard and Wayne Swan most intimately knew how unhinged ( affected with madness or insanity. unhinge I. To remove from hinges. II. To remove the hinges from. III. To confuse; disrupt. IV. Informal To derange; unbalance: He was unhinged by his wife's death. ) Rudd had become in the first half of 2010; so, too, did most of his staff. Perhaps, in his heart of hearts(in your heart of hearts 内心里, 内心深处 if you know something in your heart of hearts, you are certain of it although you might not want to admit it. I
knew in my heart of hearts that something was wrong, but I just wasn't
ready to deal with it. Do you believe in your heart of hearts that
things will get better? in/at the back of someone's mind I. 抛之脑后. 丢到一边. 不去管它 Fig. remembered by someone, but not very important; vaguely remembered by someone. (have something ~; keep something ~; leave something ~; put something ~; remain ~; Stay ~.) You should put this problem in the back of your mind and concentrate on other things. II. understood or known but not actively considered. I'd like to believe we can still be friends, but in the back of my mind, I know that's not true.), Rudd knew it about himself as well. He may have possessed an overweening ( I. Presumptuously arrogant; overbearing: had a witty but overweening manner about him. II. Excessive; immoderate: overweening ambition. ) ambition to succeed and slick PR skills, but he did not, and still does not, have that essential mix necessary to lead a political party: a steely and steady personality, the ability to be calm under great pressure and under the weight of extreme criticism, and consistently clear thinking. It's not as if the many facets of Rudd's personality weren't known to his caucus colleagues and the wider Labor family. Many were deeply uneasy at 不安 the remorseless 不悔改的 way he had gone about whittling away( whittle ['witəl] 削小 I. a. To cut small bits or pare shavings from (a piece of wood). b. To fashion or shape in this way: whittle a toy boat. II. To reduce or eliminate gradually, as if by whittling with a knife: whittled down the debt by making small payments. whittle something down/away to gradually reduce or destroy something. By
halftime our team's lead had been whittled down to only two points.
College is so expensive, after two years, my college fund has been
whittled away to almost nothing. Usage notes: also used in the form whittle away at something: Over the past year, we've whittled away at our debts. Etymology: based on the literal meaning of whittle (to shape a piece of wood by cutting strips or small pieces from it with a knife). whittle someone down to size
Fig. to reduce someone's ego; to cause someone to have better, more
respectful behavior. (Fig. on whittle something down (to size).) . After
a few days at camp, the counselors had whittled young Walter down to
size. It took some doing, but they whittled him down to size. ) Kim Beazley's leadership, but their disquiet didn't stop them promoting him to the job of opposition leader. His caucus colleagues, and the factional and union bosses he duchessed( duchess ['dʌtʃis] n. I. the wife or widow of a duke. II. a woman who holds the rank of duke in her own right. vb. Austral informal to overwhelm with flattering attention. ), primarily chose to support a man whose fitness for office they questioned for one reason: the perception, fuelled by the ever-present opinion polls, that he was more popular in the electorate than Beazley. Rudd represented a guarantee they would plonk their bums ( plonk 丢 vb (often foll by down) to drop or be dropped, esp heavily or suddenly he plonked the money on the table. n. Chiefly British Slang Cheap or inferior wine. plonk something down to slap something down; to plop something down. He plonked a dollar down and demanded a newspaper. He plonked down his beer mug on the bar.) on government seats, whereas Beazley was an each-way bet( An each-way bet is a wager offered by bookmakers consisting of two separate bets: a win bet and a place bet. For the win part of the bet to give a return,
the selection must win, or finish first, in the event. For the place
part of the bet to give a return, the selection must either win or finish in one of the predetermined 'places' for the event, such as in first "place" or second "place". The odds paid on the place part of the bet are usually a fraction (commonly 1⁄2, 1⁄3, 1⁄4 or 1⁄5) of the win odds. The trade-off being that one has a greater chance of making one's bet in trade for getting less payoff for doing so. Examples are domestic football knockout competitions
(e.g., FA Cup) where the quoted place terms may be 1⁄2 the odds a place
1st or 2nd and horse racing where the quoted place terms may be 1⁄5 the
odds a place in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd.). Those in the federal parliamentary Labor Party who voted for Rudd in 2006, and those outside it who wielded their factional muscle to help install him, bear as much responsibility for the lurching disasters of the past five years as Gillard or Rudd. As Rudd's grip on the realities of day-to-day governing slipped dangerously, his close colleagues saw it as their duty to restore good government by taking the unprecedented step of removing him. Their intent was matched by the wider caucus: MPs had wised up 终于意识到 about his unfitness for the job ( wise someone up (about someone or something) Inf. to instruct someone about something; to give someone important information. Let me wise you up about the way we do things around here. I will do what I can to wise her up. wise up (to someone or something) to
(finally) begin to understand someone or something; to realize and
accept the facts about someone or something. (Also as a command.) Sally finally wised up to Richard. Come on, Sally! Wise up! )
of prime minister. Faced with the surprising choice of dumping a
first-term Labor prime minister or keeping someone who only a few years
before had been one of the party's great success stories, Rudd's colleagues didn't hesitate to cut him adrift. But in the political shorthand of media reporting, the extraordinary circumstances that forced such an outcome were boiled down to winner and loser, victor and vanquished. The deeper reasons became too hard for many journalists to explore. It has been confirmed to me by impeccable sources([im'pɛkəbəl] I. 完美无缺的. without flaw or error; faultless. an impeccable record. II. Incapable of sin or wrongdoing.) who were at the centre of the action on the night of June 23 that Gillard was deeply reluctant to take the job. Even former Hawke government minister Graham Richardson - no friend of Gillard's and for most of 2011 a fierce critic严厉的批评者, who still talks to the ''right'' Labor people in the faction of the same description - has debunked conspiracy theories that Gillard was either the architect or complicit 帮凶的, 有关联的 ( Associated with or participating in a questionable act or a crime; having complicity: newspapers complicit with the propaganda arm of a dictatorship. ) in a planned attack on Rudd's prime ministership. She was a most reluctant draftee; despite the media perception to the contrary, no credible evidence has ever been offered to suggest otherwise. Yet the story that she was an active plotter has dogged her. It doesn't matter what Gillard says, she is disbelieved. The mythology is now stamped as part of her political DNA: she is disloyal, treacherous, a liar. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott also promptly set his tone about her, taunting her as an untrustworthy political assassin — a rich description from a man who had ambushed his own leader, Malcolm Turnbull, and snatched his party's leadership by just one vote on December 1, 2009. The white-anting ( White-anting 内部腐烂 is an Australian term for the process of internal erosion of a foundation.
It is often used in reference to groups such as political parties or
organisations where information from group insiders is 'leaked' or used
to undermine the goals of the group. The Macquarie Dictionary says the
verb "to white-ant" means "to subvert or undermine from within".
The term is derived from the action of termites (white ants) eating the
inside of wooden building foundations, often leaving no outward
evidence, until the structure crumbles. whitewash ['waiɪt,woʃ] n. I. 漂白. a substance used for whitening walls and other surfaces, consisting of a suspension of lime or whiting in water, often with other substances, such as size, added. II. 掩盖, 美化 Informal deceptive or specious words or actions intended to conceal defects, gloss over failings, etc. III. Informal 大惨败. 血洗. 输光. a defeat in a sporting contest in which the loser is beaten in every match, game, etc. in a series. They face the prospect of a whitewash in the five-test series. vb (tr) I. to cover or whiten with whitewash. II. Informal to conceal, gloss over, or suppress. III. Informal to defeat (an opponent or opposing team) by winning every match in a series. ) against Gillard started almost as soon as she'd stepped up as prime minister. The first ''exclusives'' about what had been promised to Rudd and what dastardly (dastardly ['dæstədli] adj mean and cowardly. dastard [ˈdæstəd] a contemptible sneaking coward. ) acts were perpetrated by ( perpetrate ['pɜ:pi,treit] To be responsible for; commit: perpetrate a crime; perpetrate a practical joke. ) Gillard against him bobbed up (bob up 涌现出来, 冒出来. To appear or arise unexpectedly or suddenly.)
in The Australian and other News Ltd publications within weeks of
Rudd's departure from the prime ministerial suite. Once the election was
called in July, the dams burst 大坝崩溃, 大坝溃堤(A dam is a barrier across flowing water that obstructs, directs or slows down the flow, often creating a reservoir, lake or impoundments.
Most dams have a section called a spillway or weir over which, or
through which, water flows, either intermittently or continuously, and
some have hydroelectric power generation systems installed. ). There was speculation that Rudd had been sounded out for a top United Nations job; there was the allegation that Gillard had sent her bodyguard in her place to highly sensitive meetings of cabinet's National Security Committee; she was also alleged to have opposed Rudd's parental leave scheme. In a devastating blow to Gillard's credibility, which haunted her for months, despite her protestations that the accusations were wrong, it was claimed that she had questioned cash handouts to pensioners because they were Coalition voters. It was Channel Nine's veteran political editor, doyen ( n. 资深人士. A man who is the eldest or senior member of a group. Doyen is a surname. In the English language, its meaning has extended to refer to any senior member of a group, particularly one whose knowledge or abilities exceed that of other members.) of the press gallery and Rudd favourite, Laurie Oakes, who ''broke'' the killer stories about Gillard's alleged harsh attitude to pensioners and the parental leave scheme. He also delivered a crushing question at the National Press Club to Gillard about the events of the night of June 23, which portrayed Rudd sympathetically. Channelling Rudd, Oakes asked whether, in a private meeting with Rudd that fateful night, Gillard had agreed to Rudd's plea to be given until October to improve the government's standing, and if he couldn't he would stand aside voluntarily. Furthermore, he asked if Gillard then left the room, consulted 咨询, 商量 colleagues, returned and told Rudd he didn't have the numbers so she was backtracking on the deal, and would challenge anyway. Demurring (demur
[di'mɜ:] I. 抗议, 反对. To voice opposition; object. to raise objections or
show reluctance; object demurred at the suggestion. II. Law To enter a demurrer. II. To delay. demur at something to dispute something; to challenge something. I fear I must demur at your suggestion that I am aloof and condescending. Alice demurred at the suggestion that she was late.), she tried to make light of 淡化 the question by referring to Oakes' rare appearance at the press conference. Oakes sat steely-eyed ( steely adj. I. Made of steel. II. Resembling steel, as in color or hardness: steely eyes. steely gaze Cliché an intense, staring gaze. The principal turned a steely gaze toward the frightened student and suddenly smiled. steely-eyed 目光坚毅的
I. (idiomatic) Having a hard, strong, and determined look about
oneself. II. (idiomatic) Having a hard, strong, and determined mindset /
mentality. steely-eyed missile man (US, slang) A NASA astronaut or engineer who quickly. devises an ingenious solution to a tough problem while under extreme pressure. ingenious [in'dʒi:njəs] possessing
or done with ingenuity; skilful or clever. Marked by inventive skill
and imagination. Having or arising from an inventive or cunning mind;
clever: an ingenious scheme.), unmoved不为所动的. I understand that Gillard's counsel from colleagues was that Rudd's personality and his personal crisis at that time rendered him unable to change, thus the advice remained the same: he had to go. The tumult ( tumult ['tju:mʌlt] n.
I. a loud confused noise, as of a crowd; commotion. II. violent
agitation or disturbance. III. great emotional or mental agitation. "I spend much time in a tumult of anger and disbelief". ) of the leaks and attacks on Gillard's credibility helped drive Labor's polling numbers down
during the campaign, resulting in one of the closest election results
in Australian history - 72 seats apiece for the two largest parties,
with a gaggle ( gaggle ['gægəl] vb (intr) (of geese) to cackle. n. I. a flock of geese. II. Informal 一群, 一帮. a disorderly group of people. "A gaggle of photographers huddled on the sidewalk beside a swelling crowd of onlookers". III. a gabbling or cackling sound. ) of independents and a Green making up the remainder of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives. In the aftermath, the deft 熟练的 political skills Gillard deployed to successfully negotiate a minority government with the independents after 17 days of haggling should have turned around perceptions of her abilities and character(turn around/about to reverse the direction of something; to cause something to face the opposite direction. Turn the car around and head it in the other direction. If you turn the chair around, we can see one another while we talk.). She had achieved what Tony Abbott could not, and had delivered government for Labor when many in the commentariat( commentariat [,komən'tɛəriæt] n. the journalists and broadcasters who analyse and comment on current affairs. ) had written her and Labor off. But after a brief media honeymoon, Gillard's successes started to be overlooked as personality politics crept back. Public support for Gillard and her government started crashing in February 2011, after she announced she would introduce a carbon pricing scheme. Her critics claimed she had broken an ironclad election promise
not to introduce a ''carbon tax''. During the election campaign she had
stated: ''There will be no carbon tax under a government I lead, but
let me be clear: I will be putting a price on carbon and I will move to an emissions trading scheme.'' This is what she announced, but not as far as those in the opposition and hysterical commentariat were concerned. The announcement was followed by a crash in the polls, fed by a growing cacophony of ( cacophony [kə'kofəni] I. 不和谐的. Jarring, discordant sound; dissonance: heard a cacophony of horns during the traffic jam. II. The use of harsh or discordant sounds in literary composition, as for poetic effect.) anti-Gillard media voices who labelled her an untrustworthy liar and a disgrace. Unsurprisingly, the anonymous malicious gripes of Rudd supporters mushroomed in the wake of Gillard's ''betrayal'' and rapidly became the media focus, diminishing the real story of a remarkably stable and productive minority parliament that was in large part due to her abilities as a negotiator and peacemaker. What was opportunistically never acknowledged by the opposition, and never by the pro-Rudd and anti-carbon pricing commentariat, was that the art for a prime minister steering a successful minority parliament is to compromise with coalition partners; in Gillard's case, the rural independents and lone Green, all of whom had some form of carbon pricing scheme on their wish-lists. It was both Labor and Liberal policy, also. Yet Gillard was flayed alive ( flay [flei]
vb (tr) I. 扒皮. 扒光. to strip off the skin or outer covering of, esp by
whipping; skin. II. 疯狂攻击. to attack with savage criticism. III. to strip
of money or goods, esp by cheating or extortion. ) over the
announcement and it dogged her days. That she made no headway ( make headway to make progress (often negative) Talks between the two countries are making very little headway. ) rebutting attacks on 反击 her honesty and credibility says more about the campaign that was waged against her than her communication skills, wanting though they were at the times she needed them most. In June 2011, as the Senate prepared to welcome the Greens as the new ascendant force in a formal alliance with Labor that had also been negotiated with Gillard, the portents for a calm passage ( God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage. If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it. portent/sign/harbinger of things to come 只是个开始 a sample of the events that are to occur in the future. The first cuts in our budget are a harbinger of things to come. Today's visit from the auditors is a portent of things to come. portent ['pɔ:tɛnt]
n. I. a sign or indication of a future event, esp a momentous or
calamitous one; omen. An indication of something important or calamitous
about to occur; an omen. signs full of portent. II. momentous or ominous significance. a cry of dire portent. III. a miraculous occurrence; marvel. harbinger ['hɑ:bindʒə]
a person or thing that announces or indicates the approach of
something; forerunner. One that indicates or foreshadows what is to
come; a forerunner. ) through the rest of the parliamentary year didn't look positive. Enemy forces were at work, and they were not just on the opposition benches.
