用法学习: 1. Fifty shades of Grey主角宣布: The breakthrough announcements over the holiday weekend were the first for the film based on the international best seller. The two roles have been a longtime source of speculation on the Internet. As James tweeted before the Monday madness, "Good moaning all. Hold on to your hats坐稳当了, 坐好了, 准备好了..." Dakota Johnson will star as Anastasia Steele and Charlie Hunnam as Christian Grey in the highly anticipated film adaptation of the erotically charged novel Fifty Shades of Grey. For months speculation has raged about who would play the two main leads. There has been similar excitement about the handsome, billionaire businessman Grey, who has a secret affinity ( affinity [ə'finiti] 喜好, 爱好 I. A natural attraction, liking, or feeling of kinship. II. Relationship by marriage. III. An inherent similarity between persons or things. affinity for someone or something a strong preference for something; a strong liking for something. Mary's affinity for classical music accounts for her large collection of recordings.) for kinky sex. Rumors have swirled around stars like White Collar's Matt Bomer, Ian Somerhalder, and True Blood's Alexander Skarsgard. The Lone Ranger's Armie Hammer told Playboy in June that he had discussed the part of Grey with his agent, but dismissed the notion quickly. "I'm not going to sit on top of the laundry machine in spin cycle reading about putting a ball gag ( A ball gag嘴里塞球, as I'm sure you've seen if you've ever looked at some bondage, has two parts: a soft ball that will easily fit into a person's mouth, and strap that attaches to both sides of the ball. The ball is fitted into the person's mouth, and then the strap is tightened around the back of the head to keep the ball in the person's mouth. They are now essentially silenced, or gagged; they can't make cries or screams that can be easily heard. The master is now free to do as they please, without fear of the slave being heard outside of the area. Also, a lot of slaves like the feeling of helplessness that it gives them, and like having their teeth protected from biting damage. a bondage item that consists of a ball on a rope that is shoved into the victim's mouth and tied tight. Supposedly it's more effective at muffling yells. In your mom's closet I found three lengths of rope, some handcuffs, and a ball gag, with bitemarks in it. ) in someone's mouth. That doesn't do it for me("Doesn't do it for me对我无效, 对我无用, 引不起我兴趣" is a standard expression that means "does not excite me." Fails to meet or exceed expected desired results.......or it is really disappointing. "The PS2 doesn't do it for me". "Electronica just doesn't do it for me". "Racing on rain tires just doesn't do it for me". )," Hammer told the magazine. As reaction to the announcement rolled in Monday, James took it all in stride( take something in [your] stride 照单全收, 全部接受 to calmly and easily deal with something unpleasant or difficult and not let it affect what you are doing. to accept advances or setbacks as the normal course of events. There's a lot of pressure at work but she seems to take it all in her stride. A certain amount of criticism comes with the job and you have to learn to take it in stride. put somebody off their stroke/stride to take someone's attention away from what they are doing so they are not able to do it well. She was making funny faces at me, trying to put me off my stroke. When I'm playing chess, the slightest noise can put me off my stride. ). 2. What is religion?, part II: why football doesn't measure up ( measure up (to somebody/something) 比不上, 不够标准, 算不上 to reach a standard that is as good as someone or something else. The math skills of the majority of children in this school measure up to the national standards. Usage notes: often used in a negative way: They didn't measure up so I couldn't hire them. Too often computer software fails to measure up to expectations. ): The most blinding and obvious deficiency不足之处 of football as a religion is that it lacks any kind of theology – and excludes many women. A perfectly reasonable question to ask of people like me, who define "religion" in a way that plays down theology, is why something like football should not be a religion. After all, it involves collective emotion, quasi-mystical experiences of loss of selfhood自我迷失自我 in a higher purpose更高的目标, 更高的追求( "Your Knowledge is your purpose." Each of us has been sent into the world for a greater purpose, waiting to be discovered. This greater purpose resides beyond the realm and the reach of the intellect, in Knowledge deep within us. "Be happy that you have a higher purpose in life, for this means that your life is meaningful and not chaotic.... Be grateful, then, that the relationships you reclaim unto yourself you will be able to keep, for once you have recognized another, you cannot forget that person.), even if that is only to crush those bastards from the visiting team. If Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch is to be believed可信的话, it is also a way of coming to terms with the disappointments and tragedies of life. Going to a match with your estranged father has something of the effect that taking communion together is meant to have for Christians. 3. shell shock = combat neurosis = combat/battle fatigue n. loss of sight, memory, etc., resulting from psychological strain during prolonged engagement in warfare. a posttraumatic stress disorder occurring among soldiers engaged in active and usu. prolonged combat. shell-shocked Stunned, distressed, or exhausted from a prolonged trauma or an unexpected difficulty. "it's a shock to the system". For example, "returning to school after Christmas will be a shock to the system". it means that getting back into the routine of early mornings and homework etc, will be hard after relaxing over the Christmas holidays. The shock was so deep as to affect his entire being, his whole body. It is used to emphasize the depth and extent of the shock and does not mean that there were physical symptoms. 4. morph I. 变种. 变体. II. To transform (an image) by computer: cinematic special effects that morphed the villain into a snake. III. 蜕变. to transform or be transformed completely in appearance or character. he morphed from nerd into pop icon. Reports are circulating that Justin Bieber is said to ditch his pretty-boy pop persona and morph into, yes, a rapper. While Pharrell Williams has produced albums for artists spanning several genres, he's one of several major hip-hop players the Biebs has recorded with in recent weeks. Some, however, are not convinced. Sharon Osbourne weighed in, saying, Biebs "doesn't realise he's white and not black; that's a huge problem." 5. Big Brother needs to vote: Coalition leader Tony Abbott roped in two of his daughters ( rope someone into something and rope someone in Fig. to cause someone to get involved in some project. She's always trying to rope me into her club. Let's rope in someone to help with cleaning up. rope somebody/something in to persuade a person or group to do something. They're running ads that they hope will rope in the undecided voters. Once they're interested in the product, we try to rope them in and sell it to them. Usage notes: also used in the form rope someone into doing something: He roped me into helping him clean up the yard.) to record an election message for the Big Brother housemates, while Prime Minister Kevin Rudd just dropped off a generic 通用的 campaign DVD. The Nine Network invited all candidates to make tailor-made campaign messages for the housemates. Of the political quartet, only the prime minister did not personalise his message to the Big Brother roomies, who have yet to be told the general election is being held on Saturday. "We offered everyone a chance but I think Rudd had several pre-made generic messages and he sent one of those. This is the first time in the world a Big Brother franchise has had to deal with an election, he said. "We will endeavour to show the same amount of time on each message, so we won't be showing more of Rudd and less of Abbott or vice versa," he said. "We'll play it with a straight bat( play a straight bat I. (British) to avoid answering someone's questions or giving them the information they want. When asked about the affair, he plays a straight bat. II. (British old-fashioned) someone who plays a straight bat is honest and has traditional ideas and beliefs. Wilf has played a straight bat all his life - I can't believe he'd get mixed up in anything illegal. straight/right off the bat Fig. immediately; first thing. When he was learning to ride a bicycle, he fell on his head right off the bat. The new manager demanded new office furniture right off the bat. straight bat Brit informal honest or honorable behavior. ) and we won't be telling them to tell us who they voted for. "If they feel they want to discuss with each other we will put it to air." The housemates will, one at a time, cast their postal votes in the diary room. 6. 新西兰人搞笑视频被撤: A feminist parody of Robin Thicke's controversial 'Blurred Lines' film clip has been pulled from YouTube after being flagged for inappropriate content, while Thicke's video remains on the site. The video, called Defined Lines, was created by three University of Auckland law students and received over 300,000 views before being removed, TVNZ reports. YouTube claimed the video violated its terms and conditions by displaying sexually explicit content. The lyrics include: "You if you want to get nasty, just don't harass me. You can't just grab me. It's a sex crime. We don't want it, it's chauvinistic." They go on: "What you see on TV, doesn't speak equality; it's straight up misogyny." Ms Lubbock, a fifth year law student, said the clip was intended to be tongue in cheek by showing men being objectified by women. "We had a lot of fun making it and like I said it was part of a comedy sketch so it was always intended to be taken as a bit of a joke," she said. The filmmakers, who are reportedly "mystified" that their video has been removed, believe part of the negative reaction stems from the fact men are being portrayed as sex objects. The video was created as part of the Law Revue, a collection of skits performed to 1500 people over three shows in Auckland last week. It was made in response to the furore generated when Thicke's song was released, with some saying 'Blurred Lines' promoted non-consensual sex and objectified women. 7. dwell [dwel]. aviator ['eivi,eitə] n .Old-fashioned the pilot of an aeroplane or airship; flyer. Kevin Rudd delivers same-sex smackdown on Q&A: smack someone down I. Lit. to knock a person down or cause a person to retreat with a slap or a blow. He tried to touch her again and she smacked him down. She smacked down the rude fellow. II. Fig. to rebuke someone. 驳斥. 嗤之以鼻. She smacked him down by telling him that he didn't fit in there anymore. He has a way of smacking down people who ask stupid questions. smack something down (on something) to slap something down onto something. He smacked his bet down onto the table, angry with his mounting losses. Todd smacked down his hand on the table. She smacked her dollar down and grabbed up the newspaper. Pastor Matt Prater took Kevin Rudd to task over same sex marriage and received a passionate response from the Prime Minister. IN an extraordinary moment on TV, Kevin Rudd gave a staunch defence of ( staunch [stontʃ] I. 坚定的. 坚定不移的. Firm and steadfast; true. loyal, firm, and dependable. a staunch supporter. a staunch defense of the government. II. Having a strong or substantial construction or constitution. Usage Note: Staunch is more common than stanch as the spelling of the adjective. Stanch is more common than staunch as the spelling of the verb. ) same-sex marriage when challenged by a Pastor on Q & A. When confronted by a question from New Hope Church pastor Matt Prater, who quoted the Bible as stating it was clearly wrong in the eyes of God, he said: "People don't choose their sexuality, they are born that way. "The idea this is somehow an abnormal condition is wrong." Mr Rudd said homosexuality was not an abnormal condition and the Bible also said "slavery was a natural condition". "If you accept it to be natural and normal to be gay then it follows it is not right for two folk who love each other to be denied marriage剥夺婚姻权," he said. The deeply religious虔诚的宗教徒 Prime Minister said he had changed his view on the issue after "reflection in good Christian conscience." During a frank and at times hostile Q & A session Mr Rudd said he would "trust my future to their (the Australian people) judgment". His retort 反驳 to the Pastor won viewers' praise on Twitter, with many supporting Mr Rudd including celebrities. 8. whatever turns you on. I. Inf. Whatever pleases or excites you is okay. Mary: Do you mind if I buy some of these flowers? Bill: Whatever turns you on. Mary: I just love to hear a raucous saxophone play some smooth jazz. Bob: Whatever turns you on, baby. II. Inf. a comment implying that it is strange to get so excited about something. (Essentially sarcastic.) Bob: I just go wild whenever I see pink gloves on a woman. I don't understand it. Bill: Whatever turns you on. Jane: You see, I never told anybody this, but whenever I see snow falling, I just go sort of mushy inside内心伤感, 感伤, 内心唏嘘的, 唏嘘不已的. Sue: Weird, Jane, weird. But, whatever turns you on. mushy a. Excessively sentimental. b. Given to or displaying mawkish affection or amorousness. mushy love letters. sentimental, bathetic, maudlin, mawkish, mushy, romantic, schmaltzy [ʃmæltsi ʃmɔ:ltsi]: These adjectives mean overly or insincerely emotional: a sentimental card; a bathetic novel; maudlin words of sympathy; mawkish sentiment; mushy effusiveness; a romantic adolescent; a schmaltzy song. slushy poetry. Mushy peas 豆糊糊 are dried marrowfat peas which are first soaked overnight in water with 2 teaspoons of bicarbonate soda/baking soda, then rinsed, in fresh water and then simmered with a little sugar and salt until they form a thick green lumpy soup. In Northern England and the Midlands they are a traditional accompaniment to fish and chips, although their appeal has spread and sometimes mint is used as a flavouring. 9. intestine [in'tɛstin] 澳洲人的发音是[inˈtɛstain] large intestine, small intestine liver肝脏. spleen脾脏. kidney肾脏. renal failure肾衰竭. take the mick/mickey (British & Australian informal) to make people laugh at someone, usually by copying what they do or say in a way that seems funny. They used to take the mick out of him because of the way he walked. I thought you were being serious - I didn't realise you were taking the mickey. For the last eight years, taking the mickey out of George Bush has been great, victimless fun. Like taking candy from babies or shooting aquatically-challenged fish in size-challenged barrels. take the piss (out of) = slam (Slang 指责, 斥责. 直斥 To criticize harshly; censure forcefully.) = hack on someone I. To tease, ridicule or mock (someone). You know, cos he was like taking the piss out of them and they took the piss out of him. A lot of that stuff that people take the piss out of all the time is actually useful. II. To subject those present to teasing, ridicule or mockery, or to show contempt. He's either taking it easy or taking the piss by arriving at the eleventh hour. Usage notes: As this phrase may be found offensive, it is often bowdlerised to take the pee or censored in print as "take the p***" or, less commonly, "take the p—". A common jocular euphemism is extract the urine, a formal equivalent of the literal meaning of the words. 10. pile 大量做, 大量堆积, 堆砌 to increase something by a large amount, or to do it a lot. a team that never fails to pile on the action. pile on the pressure: The UN is piling on the pressure and the two sides may both have to withdraw. pile on something if someone piles on weight, or if it piles on, their weight increases suddenly and by a large amount. I always pile on the pounds over Christmas. pile on the agony a. to make a bad situation much worse for someone. b. to enjoy making a situation seem much worse than it is. to try to get sympathy from other people by making your problems seem worse than they really are (usually in continuous tenses). He was really piling on the agony, saying he was heart-broken and hadn't got anything left to live for.
美国袭击叙利亚借口: inconclusive [,inkən'klu:siv] 不充分的, 非决定性的, 证据不足的. 证据不充分的, 说明不了什么的, 说明不了问题的. ( concrete 证据充分的, 铁证如山的. ). Not conclusive. not conclusive or decisive; not finally settled; indeterminate. inconclusive evidence. Russia is rejecting American evidence of chemical weapons use in Syria as "inconclusive" and urging the United States to declassify all of its intelligence. "There are no facts, there is simply talk about what we definitely know. But when you ask for more detailed evidence, they say that it is all classified, therefore it cannot be shown to us. This means there are no such facts to encourage international cooperation," the minister told a group of students this morning. President Obama has decided the attack warrants a military response by the United States, but will seek authorization 寻求授权 from Congress first. "We now have evidence from hair and blood samples from first responders in East Damascus, the people who came to help, we have signatures of Sarin in their hair and blood samples, so the case is growing stronger 证据越来越充分 by the day," Kerry told ABC's George Stephanopoulos. Syrian authorities have denied the claims. The US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul presented the evidence directly to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Saturday. Russian officials have dismissed it as long on claims yet short on specifics(long on something (and short on something else) ...不足...有余. having a lot of one quality and not enough of another. The story is a slow-moving mystery that's long on atmosphere and short on tension长于氛围, 短于紧张感. The opposing team was short on athleticism. Her dresses, made of cotton, were short on style and long on wear.). "Yes, we were shown certain pieces of evidence that did not contain anything concrete - neither geographical locations, nor names, nor evidence that samples had been taken by professionals. Nor did they comment on the fact that numerous experts have serious doubts regarding the video footage circulating on the Internet," Lavrov said, according to Interfax. "If there truly is top secret information available, the veil should be lifted. This is a question of war and peace. To continue this game of secrecy is simply inappropriate," he said. "Common sense speaks for itself: the Syrian government forces are on the offensive, and they have encircled insurgents in some regions, and it would be utter stupidity to give up a trump card to those who have been regularly calling for military intervention. It defies any logic不合逻辑的, especially on the day when UN monitors came there," Putin told reporters, suggesting the attack was a "provocation" by rebel groups to get Western powers to intervene. Today, Lavrov said it was "strange" to hear Kerry accuse Moscow of ignoring the evidence, saying Russia wants to see the independent UN report first. "There are plenty of contradictions 自相矛盾 and oddities莫名其妙, if we are speaking of footage of chemical weapons use and the condition of the victims," he said. Lavrov also reiterated Russia's concern that an American strike will set back efforts 挫败努力 to convene an international peace conference, saying the opposition won't show up if the West intervenes militarily军事干预, 军事干涉.
Congestion pricing or congestion charges 拥堵费 is a system of surcharging users of public goods that are subject to congestion through excess demand such as higher peak charges for use of bus services, electricity, metros, railways, telephones, and road pricing to reduce traffic congestion; airlines and shipping companies may be charged higher fees for slots at airports and through canals at busy times. This variable pricing strategy regulates demand, making it possible to manage congestion without increasing supply. Market economics theory, which encompasses the congestion pricing concept, postulates that users will be forced to pay for the negative externalities they create, making them conscious of the costs they impose upon each other when consuming during the peak demand, and more aware of their impact on the environment. The London congestion charge is a fee charged on most motor vehicles operating within the Congestion Charge Zone (CCZ) in central London between 07:00 and 18:00 Monday to Friday. It is not charged at weekends, public holidays or between Christmas Day and New Year's Day (inclusive). The charge aims to reduce congestion, and to raise investment funds for London's transport system. The standard charge is £10 for each day, for each non-exempt vehicle that travels within the zone with a penalty of between £60 and £187 levied for non-payment.
