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用法学习: 1. 英国首相的疯狂岁月: A new unauthorised biography of United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron has caused controversy with disturbing claims he put a 'private part of his anatomy' into a dead pig's mouth during an initiation ritual. A passage of the book says Mr Cameron carried out the act 做出这样的行为 while the pig's head was resting on the lap of another member of the Piers Gaveston Society. Mr Ashcroft said the scandalous story was recounted by a trusted source. "Perhaps it is a case of mistaken identity 认错了人. Yet it is an elaborate story 细节详尽的, 栩栩如生的 for an otherwise credible figure to invent," he said. "Furthermore, there are a number of accounts of pigs' heads at debauched parties in Cameron's day." The explosive biography also alleges debauchery and drug taking by Mr Cameron during his Oxford days. 电视剧Skins: Maxxie Oliver (Mitch Hewer) is openly gay and has a passion for dance. He is portrayed as attractive, seductive and talented, and is well accepted by most of his friends and family. His best friend Anwar Kharral (Dev Patel) has a slightly off-the-wall personality, and is known for his silly antics and sense of humour. While he takes a pick-and-choose approach 只挑一些有用的 to ( pick and choose 挑三拣四的, 光挑好的 select only the best or most desirable from among a number of alternatives. to choose very carefully from a number of possibilities; to be selective. You must take what you are given. You cannot pick and choose. Meg is so beautiful. She can pick and choose from a whole range of boyfriends. By tapping in your preferences, you essentially create a virtual music nerd, ready to recommend you things based on its encyclopaedic knowledge and library of 30 million songs. You're instantly given dozens of playlists to dip into. If you tell the app you like Billie Holiday, you'll get curated 精选的, 精心挑选的, 精挑细选的 playlists featuring cuts from Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington and Nina Simone. If you say you like Rihanna and dance music, you're given a selection of the Barbadian pop star's finest remixes. The good: Excellent personalised curation and recommendations. The bad: Social media component Connect — which, like Facebook or Twitter, will let artists share their work directly with listeners — is currently a wasteland. ) Islam, and has no qualms about 没有丝毫不安的 indulging in premarital sex and usage of alcohol and drugs in spite of his religion's policies against them, he has some difficulty fully accepting Maxxie's sexuality. Appearing only in the second series, Lucy, better known as "Sketch" (Aimee-Ffion Edwards), is a quiet and scheming 狡猾的, 诡计多端的 Welsh girl who is polite yet unnerving. Living two buildings over and having a clear view of his room, she develops an obsession for Maxxie and becomes his stalker. Without her father, she is a young carer for her mother Sheila, who suffers from multiple sclerosis. 第二季: Though Cook is charismatic and sociable, he is also boisterous and not afraid of authority不畏权势的, 不怕老师的. His womanising 花心 drives many of the events in the series. By contrast, Freddie is an easy-going skater who likes to smoke weed, and as the more sensible and responsible friend, is often put out by( be put out 被惹恼, 被惹怒 to be annoyed, often because of something that someone has done or said to you: He seemed a bit put out at not having been invited. put out I. [transitive] [usually in negatives or questions] put someone out 造成麻烦, 带来麻烦 to cause problems or difficulties for someone by making them do something for you. It would be lovely to stay with you, but I don't want to put you out. a. put yourself out (for someone) to do something to help someone even if it causes problems or difficulties for you. I don't see why I should put myself out for him. put yourself out to do something: She really put herself out to get everything ready for us. II. to produce information for people to read, watch, or hear. Police have put out 张贴出去. 贴出 a warning about an escaped prisoner. The band put out 发布. 发出. a statement denying rumours of a split. Most of the stuff they put out isn’t worth watching. III. put someone out to defeat a player or team in a game or competition so that they can no longer take part in it. He was put out in the first round at Wimbledon. [transitive] 使昏迷不醒. 使不省人事. to make someone unconscious by giving them a drug, usually before a medical operation. III. [transitive] 搅乱. 弄乱. to affect numbers or calculations in a way that makes them incorrect. If you get one figure wrong it puts the whole calculation out. put the rubbish out to put waste outside your house so that it can be collected and taken away. put the washing out to hang clothes outside to dry after you have washed them. put your back/shoulder etc out 脱臼. throw out one's back 闪腰 to injure your back/shoulder etc by moving a bone out of its position in a joint. put your hand/arm/foot out 伸出 to move your hand/arm/foot forwards from your body. She put her hand out to stop herself from falling. put the word out 放话. 放出话去 informal to tell people about something. Can you put the word out that the meeting has been cancelled. ) Cook's behaviour. Cook and Freddie are both drawn 被吸引 to Effy, which drives a rift 心生嫌隙, 隔阂 in their friendship. JJ's autism makes it difficult for him to fit in socially, but he has learnt to use magic tricks to make friends. His friends view him kindly but with a degree of amusement and sometimes irritation, but he knows Cook and Freddie will always take care of him. He is the kindest of the three, and by far the least worldly ( I. 社会经验丰富的. a worldly person has a lot of experience and knowledge of life. Teenagers today are much more worldly than I ever was. II. 世俗的. 人间世的. 入世的. relating to the practical rather than the spiritual aspects of life. They were ambitious for worldly power and possessions. someone's worldly goods/possessions all the things that someone owns. He left all his worldly goods to her when he died. worldly-wise 有阅历的. 阅历广的 a worldly-wise person has a lot of experience and knowledge of life. Cara was more worldly-wise than her friends.). Plans for a film spin-off 衍生物, 衍生品 were first discussed in 2009, but ultimately did not come to fruition. Instead, a specially-commissioned seventh and final series of the show was broadcast in 2013, featuring some of the cast from its 2007–10 run. 第一季: Tony's manipulative ways often go unnoticed by many, and are a catalyst for the majority of the events in the series. Sid Jenkins (Mike Bailey) is Tony's best friend, but has an entirely opposite personality 个性完全相反. He lacks confidence, is socially uneasy and struggles with school work. Tony's girlfriend is Michelle Richardson (April Pearson), a girl who can never stay angry at his mischievous behaviour for long. Outwardly 外表上, 外表看起来, 表面上, Michelle appears shallow, vain ( I. showing disapproval someone who is vain is very proud and thinks they are very attractive or special. having or showing an excessively high opinion of one's appearance, abilities, or worth. Overly proud of oneself, especially concerning appearance; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason. "their flattery made him vain". He was vain about his looks, spending hours in the gym. II. unsuccessful, or useless. a vain attempt/bid/effort 徒劳无功的, 徒劳的: They made a vain attempt to protect the town from attack. vain hope: He underwent a knee operation in the vain hope of getting into the team. ) and conceited, but she works hard, has a strong interest in French and Spanish, and is very emotionally mature. Chris Miles (Joe Dempsie) is the party animal of the group. He has a difficult home life; he lost his brother to a hereditary subarachnoid haemorrhage at a young age, and is living alone due to his ambivalent father ( ambivalent [æmˈbɪvələnt] 既爱又恨的, 又爱又恨的 feeling two different things about someone or something at the same time, for example that you like them and dislike them. Leigh's response was ambivalent. Most of us have an ambivalent attitude towards technology. ambivalent about: Joe was ambivalent about taking the job. Ambivalence is a state of having simultaneous conflicting reactions, beliefs, or feelings towards some object. Stated another way, ambivalence is the experience of having an attitude towards someone or something that contains both positively and negatively valenced components.) and absent mother( Deadbeat parent 不尽责的, 形同虚设的, 等于没有的 is a pejorative term referring to parents of any gender who do not fulfill their parental responsibilities, especially when they evade court-ordered child support obligations. The gender-specific deadbeat dad and deadbeat mom are commonly used to refer to men and women who have fathered or mothered a child and intentionally fail to pay child support ordered by a family law court or statutory agency such as the Child Support Agency. ). He has a crush on his psychology teacher Angie (Siwan Morris). Jal Fazer (Larissa Wilson) is a sensible girl with a talent for playing the clarinet. Her runaway 落跑的, 离家出走的 mother has left Jal to live with her famous musician father and aspiring rapper brothers. She is best friends with Michelle. 第三季: She is innocent to the sexual and narcotic world in which Effy indulges, but is ready and willing to explore it. Thomas Tomone (Merveille Lukeba) is an immigrant from DR Congo, with a morally upright 正直的, 三观很正的, 道德意识强的 outlook and good-hearted nature, and his storyline sees him becoming romantically involved with Pandora. Katie thinks of herself as something of a WAG and wants to usurp 篡夺, 篡位 Effy's place as queen bee 女王蜂 of the group. Katie's homophobic attitudes cause problems between them, as Emily comes to terms with 逐渐接受, 渐渐接受 her homosexuality. The quieter of the two, Emily is used to being in her sister's shadow, and is sulky ( feeling angry and unhappy and not wanting to talk to anyone or to be with other people. ) but perceptive 有见识的, 有识见的, 有眼光的( having or showing sensitive insight. "an extraordinarily perceptive account of their relationship". ). She tends to not stand out in a crowd due to her insecurities, but later grows out within the show. 关于第二季男主扮演者Jack O'Connell: He played as a striker for Alvaston Rangers and was later scouted 被看上, 被选中, 被挖掘 by Derby County, where he had trials. After a series of injuries ended this career path, he wanted to join the army, believing it to be his only realistic option to make an honest living 踏实生活, 老师过活( make an honest living humorous to ​earn ​money by ​working hard at a ​job.). His parents had sent him to army cadets when he was 12, with the aim of teaching him discipline, but his juvenile criminal record prevented him from enlisting in the army. As a youth, O'Connell was in and out of 出出进进的court on charges related to alcohol and violence, and he received a one-year young offender's referral order when he was 17. Regarding his past transgressions 叛逆行为, 桀骜不驯( an act that goes against a law, rule, or code of conduct; an offence. "I'll be keeping an eye out for further transgressions". transgress to do something that is not allowed by a law, custom, or religion.), he has described himself as "a product of his environment.". He later reflected on 回忆, 反思, 反省 his "brutal" experience at Saint Benedict, saying, "What I learnt aside from anything academic at school was probably very valuable lessons in terms of how to lie, how to play the game, how to play authority against itself." He took an interest in acting during the compulsory drama classes, and from age 13, he attended the free Television Workshop in Nottingham, where he trained in drama twice weekly. O'Connell began attending auditions in London, where he sometimes slept outside, not being able to afford a hotel. He eventually moved from Derby to Hounslow in west London, working as a farmhand in nearby Cobham in between acting parts. Grantlandwriter Amos Barshad opined that among his co-stars, which included Dev Patel and Nicholas Hoult, none "ever quite matched the luminescent 发光发热的, 光芒四射的, leering mania ( leering: to look at someone in an unpleasant way that shows you are sexually interested in them. ) of O'Connell's Cook. As a preposterously (preposterous [prɪˈpɑst(ə)rəs] extremely unreasonable or silly. The whole idea is preposterous.) ramped up 夸大的 bad boy(ramp up to increase something such as a rate or level, especially the rate at which goods are produced. We've had to ramp up production to meet demand.), Cook was almost like a baby Tyler Durden." He won a TV Choice Award for Best Actor for his performance in the fourth series. O'Connell later reprised his role in the feature-length special Skins Rise (2013), which follows a twenty-something Cook on the run from authorities. He has said of Cook, "He's probably the most similar character to myself that I had the good fortune of portraying," though he noted that unlike Cook he had matured beyond adolescence. 3. 五星级监狱? Social media is often used to brag to friends, family, and followers about the exciting activities one is doing, or the envy-inducing 招人羡慕的, 惹人嫉妒的 places they're visiting. 'The tea and coffee making facilities leave a lot to be desired(leave a lot to be desired 不尽如人意 to be much ​worse than you would like. to be of a very low quality or standard. I feel the quality of some of our policemen leaves a lot to be desired. Apparently, Meg's ​cooking ​leaves a lot to be ​desired. )', another man wrote. Ryan Renyold 因朋友卖儿照片断绝关系: The 38-year-old actor told GQ why becoming a dad brought about the end of the friendship. "A guy that I'd known for my whole life, one of my closest friends growing up, he had been shopping pictures of my baby around," he says. "I kind of got in front of it 逮个正着( what it means is that you take action quickly so that you aren't just reacting - you're among the first to notice problems, and this allows you to begin to solve them before everybody else has already noticed them and started to criticize you. Getting in front of an issue 及时发现 doesn't necessarily imply that it was resolved before any negative consequences developed, simply that an effort was made to avoid a really serious (overwhelming) problem. ), which is good. But it was a slightly dark period. A bad couple of weeks. "It was like a death. It was like one of those devastating things to find out." Ryan doesn't explain how he became aware of the potential sale, but once he did, it wasn't hard to pinpoint the culprit. Yikes, that's pretty personal. Clearly this friend was desperate for money, but approaching his Hollywood connection for a loan was apparently out of the question ( be no question of (doing) sth 问都不用问的, 完全不可能的, 不切实际的 不值得一提的. 没有可能的. 不实际的. too impracticable or unlikely to merit discussion.  to be an ​event that cannot ​possibly ​happen: A ​trip to New Zealand is out of the question this ​year. There's no question of ​agreeing to the ​demands. ). "Well, I think he'd asked for a check enough times where I was like, 'There's no more checks to be had,'" Ryan reveals. 4. Cafe owner的骗局: After the aunt passed away, Ms Neale discovered that her aunt had a new will - with Debbie Salem as the major beneficiary 受益人. While her nieces shared in ( share something They shared a common interest in botany. a view that is widely shared. shared values. share in something 人人有份 Everybody shares in the cooking chores. I didn't really share in her love of animals. To have a share or part in something: When the company began to make money, everyone working there shared in the profits. ) around $600,000, 60 percent of the will was left to Debbie Salem - who received $1.27 million. 关于艾美奖: But the bill, as it stands, is left with the event's organising body, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and America's free-to-air TV networks, ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC, who air them on rotation. It is the events smallest audience on record. The numbers are "preliminary national estimates" - more precise data will be released in the next few days - but even if the last few digits are off 最后几位数字错了 it represents a drop of roughly four million viewers from last year's telecast on NBC. canoodle I. To caress, touch up, pet or make love He's got a big smile on his face; who's he been canoodling recently? II. To persuade or cajole. 关于名人学徒: Cooper was more than happy to oblige 乐意从命 but Garvey was reticent ( reticent [ˈretɪs(ə)nt] not willing to provide information about something, especially about yourself or your feelings. She remembered how reticent her father had been about his past.) when it came to the big moment. "I don't know if that was going to go against his brand or if he felt a little tubby ( slightly fat. ) and out of shape," said Reid who then stepped up and wowed with his moves. It didn't bode well for Garvey in the boardroom and he got a grilling from Mr Bouris. "This is for charity ok, why is he prepared to do it and you chose not to do it, I need to know," said Mr Bouris. "If we're talking the extra inch of the mile I could have probably slept with the whole office, but there's certain things I wasn't going to do for charity," said Garvey as shocked faces reverberated around the boardroom. 5. 悉尼房产过剩: Is a tsunami of new housing about to swamp Australia and lead to a property market crash? "That's funny!" says Harley Dale, the economist with the Housing Industry Association. "There's no doubt we're building a record number of new homes this year but that only means we're making inroads into只不过仅仅开始 a very large shortage of housing that has built up over many years. "I think some people, as a result of that, are making sensationalist suggestions that we're facing an Armageddon of sorts(Armageddon is mentioned in the Bible as the place where the final battle between good and evil will be fought.), and that the sky's about to fall in on us 天要塌下来了. But the reality is simply that we are making some inroads into the existing shortage." At developer Crown Group, sales and marketing director Roy Marcellus is equally nonplussed不为所动, 无动于衷. He's just presided over the record-breaking $380 million off-the-plan sale of the company's new residential building at Green Square, Infinity by Crown, where all 305 apartments sold within three to four hours. An oversupply of new homes?" he asks. "Are you crazy? That's a crazy, a very crazy statement. We're only catching up on a very big shortage of accommodation in Sydney. Although just over 50,000 new dwellings are currently under construction in NSW, which is, believes Harley Dale, a 20-year record, it's still not enough to plug the gap. 6. 车祸现场, bobcat司机主动清理: The truck crossed the median strip at Pimpama about 6am, veered across four lanes, hit the oncoming ute, and then crashed into bush on the other side of the motorway. A passing 路过的 driver with a bobcat on his truck used the vehicle to clear tree debris from the road, greatly decreasing the amount of time lanes had to be closed. "Officers on scene say this man's action have resulted in lanes been open two hours earlier," the Queensland Police Service tweeted. "Like a true hero he left without anyone knowing 英雄不留名 who he was so thank you." The unknown man's efforts have led to a social media hunt for his identity so he can be thanked, with Queensland's police minister Jo-Ann Miller among those to join the quest. "I'd love to find out who our #BobCatSuperhero is & award him a ministerial cape," Ms Miller tweeted. PM报复心重?: Malcolm Turnbull been accused of pursuing "vendettas and revenge" by stripping Border Protection Minister Peter Dutton of his position on the national security committee of cabinet. Mr Dutton, who held a permanent seat on the peak national security committee under Tony Abbott, confirmed today that he would now only attend meetings when they directly relate to his portfolio responsibilities 直接有关系. "I'm co-opted into ( co-opt I. To elect as a fellow member of a group. British if a committee, group etc co-opts someone, they agree to make that person a member. Up to four additional members can be co-opted onto the Council to fulfil specific requirements. II. mainly American to take someone's idea or plan and use it as if it were your own. III. To take or assume for one's own use; appropriate: co-opted the criticism by embracing it. IV. 同化, 招安. 吸纳. 招收. To neutralize or win over (an independent minority, for example) through assimilation into an established group or culture. to try to control someone or stop them from harming you by bringing them into your own group or organization: co-opt rebels by giving them positions of authority. These industry-wide gatherings are used by the major companies to co-opt their smaller competitors. ) the national security committee when there is a border security issue," Mr Dutton told Adelaide radio station 5AA. Bill Shorten said the decision to exclude Mr Dutton from regular meetings was "bewildering", notwithstanding ( despite something 无视, 不管, 不顾. 尽管. 虽然. Notwithstanding his love of luxury, his house was simple inside. ) Mr Dutton's "chequered career ( checkered = checquered I. if someone has had a checkered past or a checkered career, they have experienced both successes and failures. He remains a popular figure despite his checkered past. II. with a pattern of squares in two different colors, all of the same size. a checkered tablecloth. )". 7. 药价格大涨: Ever since an HIV/AIDS patient advocacy group began raising questions last week about why Turing Pharmaceuticals jacked up the price for a medication from $US18 ($25.30) per pill to $US750 ($1060) overnight, anger against the company has been boiling over. 其CEO回应: "We needed to go to a price where we could turn a profit," Shkreli said. "With this acquisition 收购, we may become profitable." Uwe Reinhardt, a noted health-care economist from Princeton University, said that, in a way, what Shkreli did may have been a service to the discussion about(service I. [countable/uncountable] help that you give to someone, especially by using your skills, ability, or knowledge. do someone a service: You'll be doing me a service by just staying out of my way. need the services of someone: To achieve the best results you need the services帮忙, 帮助 of a designer. offer your services as something: Sarah offered her services as a childminder 看孩子的, 看小孩的人, 保姆 for the day. a. [uncountable] help and advice given to customers in a shop, hotel, or business. a shop with a reputation for excellent customer service. the standard/level/quality of service: We must raise the quality of service to our customers. II. [countable/uncountable] work or duties done for a person or an organization. Jack had given 25 years of loyal service. She was praised for her services to the community. voluntary service: He was finally rewarded for his many years of outstanding voluntary service. III. a service charge 服务费 in a restaurant. an amount of money that a company adds to the cost of something in order to be paid for their services. There's a £1 service charge for using another bank's cash machine.) health-care spending. "He bought this patent and he's milking it for all it's worth. In a way, I thank him, because it's really sort of like putting a sign on your back saying, 'Kick me'," Reinhardt said. "Sometimes you need some sentinel ( [ˈsentɪn(ə)l] sentry [ˈsentri] a soldier who stands at the entrance to a place and guards it. ) effect that wakes people up." 8. 唐氏综合症: Down syndrome (DS or DNS) or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is typically associated with physical growth delays 发育迟缓, characteristic facial features 显著的面部特征, and mild to moderate intellectual disability. The average IQ of a young adult with Down syndrome is 50, equivalent to the mental age 智力年龄, 心智 of an 8- or 9-year-old child, but this varies widely. Down syndrome can be identified during pregnancy by prenatal screening followed by diagnostic testing, or after birth by direct observation and genetic testing. Since the introduction of screening, pregnancies with the diagnosis are often terminated. Regular screening for health problems common in Down syndrome is recommended throughout the person's life. Education and proper care have been shown to improve quality of life. Some children with Down syndrome are educated in typical school classes, while others require more specialized education. Some individuals with Down syndrome graduate from high school and a few attend post-secondary education. In adulthood, about 20% in the United States do paid work 有收入的工作 in some capacity with many requiring a sheltered work environment. Support in financial and legal matters is often needed. Life expectancy is around 50 to 60 years in the developed world with proper health care. 9. 711风波: The company has had to almost triple the the level of financial support it provides to franchisees after the media investigation revealed 138 of the 620 stores made $300,000 or less in income in 2015, which is not enough to pay full freight wages and other costs. The pressure on franchisees to start paying the legal wages has prompted some to consider selling up 出售. Fairfax Media has learned one franchisee on the Gold Coast suddenly pulled up stumps 拔寨, 拔腿 on his Surfers Paradise store following the scandal. A central 7-Eleven database obtained by Fairfax Media, which records thousands of interviews between store owners and head office regarding payroll compliance, shows the franchisee in question was suspected of underpaying staff. "Anomalies 异常, 不正常 have been found regarding number of hours and pay rates NOT MATCHING roster and time sheets for most employees," the review reads. "[Franchisee] explained that he calculates how much each staff member should be paid per shift considering the different pay rates, and divides the total amount by the ordinary hourly rate to find the total number of hours!" goldfish memory(myth 迷思) 金鱼的记忆: Three-second memory myth: Fish show they can remember things for up to five months. Their brain power is at best shallow. Or so we thought. But scientists believe fish may have hidden depths. The creatures said to have a mere three-second memory span can actually recall information for up to five months. Scientists found that fish trained to respond to certain sounds in captivity still reacted months later when they heard them in the wild.

 迪拜王子之死: Although the official cause of death has been given as a heart attack, allegations of drug and steroid abuse and of several stints in rehab have long percolated through ( percolate [ˈpɜ:(r)kəleɪt] I. [intransitive] if a liquid or gas percolates through a substance, it gradually passes through it. Rainwater percolates slowly through the soil. a. [intransitive/transitive] if coffee percolates, or if you percolate it, it is made in a container in which hot water passes through coffee powder. II. [intransitive] 传遍. if information or ideas percolate, they spread gradually and become known to more people. Rumours of his resignation percolated through Congress.) Emirati society circles. Rashid, who at one point held a number of high profile roles, quietly withdrew from public life 悄然远离公众视线 in the years leading up to his death and became an enigmatic figure in the emirate he was once destined to rule. Sheikh Mohammed is a modernizer, albeit one with two wives and 24 children, and has transformed what was once a dusty patch of sand into a glittering 熠熠生辉的, 光彩亮丽的 modern metropolis. He has also parlayed ( parlay [ˈpɑrˌleɪ] 以少变多, 以少赢多 to use a small amount of money to try to win a larger amount of money. a. to use something that you have in order to get something much better or much more valuable. ) what was a small trickle of oil into tourist dollars, making Dubai, with its mega-malls and year-round sunshine into one of the top tourist destinations in the Middle East. With a personal fortune of an estimated $1.9 billion, he had no shortage of funds to invest and soon racked up 囊获, 收获 an impressive number of winners(赛马) – 428 in total. He also developed an interest in endurance racing, the equestrian equivalent of the marathon, and in 2006, became a national hero when he picked up two gold medals at the Asian Games. But less than a year later, Sheikh Rashid had all but disappeared from public life – and, in 2008, was stripped of the title of crown prince. A third brother, Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, 31, was given the title of deputy ruler of Dubai at the same time. Quite why this should have happened remains unclear, with the official explanation being that the current incumbent Hamdan, 32, was simply better suited to the job. That, however, was not the explanation bandied about ( bandy words 吵, 争, 斗嘴 to argue, especially when this is a waste of time. Don't bandy words with me. bandy around/about to mention something a lot, usually without thinking much about what you are saying. I don't want people bandying my name about in public. bandy legs 罗圈腿 are curved, so that the knees do not touch. ) in the upper echelons of Emirati society at the time or, indeed, as it later became clear, among the diplomatic community. One particularly lurid version ( lurid I. 香艳的. full of unpleasant or sexual details that are meant to shock or interest people. a lurid description/story/headline. II. a lurid color 刺眼的颜色, 俗气的, 俗艳的颜色 is very bright in an ugly way. ) of events appeared in a confidential memo written by the then Acting Consul General David Williams for the CIA the same year. The diplomatic cable was one of thousands released by Wikileaks and offers a fascinating insight into what really went on behind the scenes at the Zabeel Palace. Noting that the move wasn't a complete surprise because of Hamdan's increasingly high profile, Williams went on to say that Rashid 'does not play a public rule in Dubai affairs'. Then came a bombshell 重磅炸弹. 'It is alleged that Rashid killed an assistant in the Ruler's office,' continues Williams, 'thereby forfeiting his opportunity to be heir.' Although the identity of the aide supposedly murdered by Rashid has never been revealed, commentators at the time suggested that the attack could have taken place during an episode of 'roid rage' – a reference to the steroids the prince was believed to have taken. Further colorful allegations emerged in another cable, this time written in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, which spoke of an underground royal party scene in which sex parties and drugs were common currency. Although the notoriously secretive Zabeel Palace has never commented on Rashid's alleged use of drugs, another illuminating episode came three years later in 2011 – shortly after the prince gave up his presidency of the UAE Olympic Committee due to his 'heavy workload'. A British aide who had been working for the Al Maktoums at the sprawling 地大物博的, 巨大的 Longross Palace in Surrey, England, brought an unfair dismissal 不正当解雇 case against the family in London and claimed he was sacked after refusing to spy on a dignitary staying there. Mr Ali, who claimed he 'regularly came into contact with the family', alleged that Rashid, far from having a heavy workload, was instead in the throes of ( throes [θroʊz] the final/last/death throes of something 最后阶段 the last stages of something, just before it ends, usually when it is ending badly. the last throes of my career. ) drug addiction. What's more, Mr Ali continued, the problem had become so acute that prince had been made to attend a rehab clinic by his furious family in 2009. Other bizarre claims emerged, including accusations that staff working for the Al Maktoum family operated in a 'climate of fear' 长期生活在恐惧中. Another aide, Olatunji Faleye, giving evidence on behalf of Mr Ali, claimed racial abuse from 'my bosses' was commonplace and said he had repeatedly been called 'a black slave'. He also claimed that colleagues had dismissed his Christian beliefs as 'inferior, rubbish and no good' and had told him to convert to Islam. Most damaging 具毁灭性的 for the family, if not Rashid himself, was the accusation that Mr Ali had been 'bullied, harassed and belittled' before being forced out of his £60,000-a-year ($93,000) job. Since then, little has been heard from or about the 33-year-old, although his brother Hamdan has made frequent public appearances alongside his father. Until the announcement of his death on Friday, Rashid had been all but hidden away behind the scenes at the Zabeel Palace. For all that, it seems likely that Sheikh Rashid will become little more than a footnote in the United Arab Emirates' royal history. But whatever the truth of his alleged penchant for drugs, there is no denying that the death of a young man in his prime is anything but a tragedy.