用法学习: 1. unhinged 神经病的, 精神不正常, 精神错乱的, 神经不正常的 adj. to make someone upset or mentally ill. Mentally ill or unstable. mentally unbalanced; deranged. "the violent acts of unhinged minds". She was unhinged with grief. deranged [dɪˈreɪndʒd] behaving in an uncontrolled or dangerous way because of mental illness. disturbed or upset, especially mentally. 3. 明星出街: "Do you want a peep at Ed Sheeran for two bucks?" he asked a passerby. Would you believe a shady-looking 形迹可疑的人man who approached you on the street offering a $2 Ed Sheeran peep show? Only problem is, no one dared to believe the offer from a dishevelled and bearded undercover Blake. "I think one of the big problems is that people think Ed Sheeran is a code word for a new drug," Blake told Lee via a secret earpiece. Sheeran, in Australia for a national tour, said he wouldn't peep at himself either. When asked if he'd take his clothes off for a customer who wanted a nude Ed Sheeran show, the singer declined, confessing he'd been drinking too much beer. "I'm in shape, just the shape of a potato." But two hours and 23 minutes later, the first adventurous customers started to filter through, their gobsmacked reactions worth the wait. First was an English couple who immediately whipped out 掏出 ( I. to move somewhere very fast The wind whipped her hair into her eyes. Ferguson whipped the ball across the court. whip around/into/past etc something: A cold wind was whipping across the water. I whipped round the corner. II. to remove something or take something from somewhere very fast. whip something out/off: Smiling, he whipped out his wallet. They whipped off their shirts and dived into the pool. I whipped the film out of the camera. III. [transitive] informal 抢走. to steal something. He just whipped my pen! the whip hand 翻云覆雨手 someone who has the whip hand is in a good position because they can make other people do what they want. Knowing they had the whip hand, they refused the first offer. smart as a whip = whip smart extremely intelligent Obama is overturning old stereotypes about black women by presenting herself as "nurturing, beautiful and stylish as well as whip smart, athletic and strong". whip someone into something to make someone become very excited. The band whipped the audience into a frenzy. whip someone into line to use strict methods to make someone do what you want them to do. The government wants to whip teachers into line. lick/knock/whip /someone/something into shape 棍棒出孝子, 不打不成器 to improve the condition or performance of someone or something I'm going to whip this department into shape.) their phones, followed by a middle-aged man who performed an impromptu duet to Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud. 'I didn't think anyone would come in!' Ed Sheeran performs songs for $2 in a dingy peep show prank organised by Hamish Blake and Andy Lee: "Peep shows, they have a pretty bad name," explains Andy Lee at the start of the hilarious video. "Normally associated with lewd content, but by definition, they don't have to be." "So in attempt to change that," continued Hamish Blake, "we took one of the world's biggest performing artists, kept all his clothes on, and set up an Ed Sheeran Peep Show. "Would anyone dare to believe what was written outside and come into our very dodgy looking venue?" With Sheeran sitting behind a velvet curtain inside, Hamish stood out the front of the venue dressed as a "fairly shady looking spruiker([spruk] v. to try to persuade someone to do or buy something, often in a dishonest or exaggerated way. Going "gift-free" has been spruiked in the pages of the Oprah magazine and advocated by Mennonite Christians as a way to rediscover the reason for the season. spruiker someone who tries to persuade people to buy something, use a service, etc often in a dishonest or exaggerated way. The recent steady rise in property prices has heralded the return of the property spruiker.)" and attempted to lure people inside. It's fair to say they were pretty sceptical 不相信的, 持怀疑态度的, but the look on their faces when the velvet curtain opened and they saw him singing Thinking Out Loud was absolutely priceless. The affable 和善可亲的, 和蔼的, 平易近人的 ([ˈæfəb(ə)l] friendly, relaxed, and easy to talk to. Beneath his affable manner lies a very tough businessman. an affable smile. ) Ed had his doubts the prank would even work, saying: 'I wouldn't come in,' he said, noting Hamish's seedy outfit(connected with activities that are illegal or morally wrong, and often looking dirty or unpleasant. There was something a little bit seedy about the hotel. a seedy lawyer. ). 'It's going to be a brave soul [soul],' said Andy, asking then if they were pricing the 30 second-long gig too high. 'I love you,' the girl told Hamish as they exited. Another man willing to take the plunge even provided a harmony as Ed sang a snippet of Thinking Out Loud. One man sat there in obvious bewilderment, with one hand on his hip and his mouth hanging open 大张着嘴. As he left, he said: 'Best f****** $2 I've ever spent.' 4. 政府招标新动作: Commonwealth procurement is set to be overhauled again, with panels for digital and IT services making way for an online one-stop shop. The Digital Transformation Office is working on a prototype for a digital marketplace for business suppliers to list their services for government. Announced as part of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's Innovation Statement on Monday, the digital marketplace is based on the UK model that is itself still in beta. Tackling a common complaint from the business world that procurement panels 招标委员会 are overly complex and burdensome, with no guarantee of return for the effort, it's intended to make it easier for small businesses to offer their services and government to meet its IT needs — currently a $5 billion a year endeavour. Government buyers will be able to easily search for services, identity suitable suppliers and procure the best value open. The prototype will be open for agencies to trial in 2016. Like all DTO projects, it will be created using user-centred design methodologies and iterative development. too clever by half 聪明过头, 聪明反被聪明误, 想太多 (idiomatic, of a person, plan, theory, etc.) Shrewd but flawed by overthinking or excessive complexity, with a resulting tendency to be unreliable or unsuccessful. to be too confident of your own intelligence in a way that annoys other people: She was too clever by half - always correcting the teacher or coming back with a smart answer. not do things by halves 做就做到最好 humorous Do things thoroughly or extravagantly. If someone does not do things by halves, they put a lot of effort and enthusiasm into doing things, often more than is necessary: "I didn't realize you were decorating the whole house." "Oh, we don't do things by halves round here.". 学生被母害死: "She was a high-achieving student; she was very well liked amongst her peers and right across the school community," he said. "They would say that she's a really good friend to all - in fact she recently won the citizenship award at the graduation ceremony 毕业典礼, so a beautiful child." 5. bobcat - 是美国的一个机械公司. Bobcat Company is an American-based manufacturer of farm and construction equipment, part of Doosan Group of South Korea. The company sells skid steer loaders( skid I. (of a vehicle) slide, typically sideways or obliquely, on slippery ground or as a result of stopping or turning too quickly. to slide across the ground in an uncontrolled way. The van skidded to a stop right in front of the bus. "her car skidded and hit the grass verge". II. fasten a skid to (a wheel) as a brake. n. I. an act of skidding or sliding. "the Volvo went into a skid". II. a runner attached to the underside of an aircraft for use when landing on snow or grass. come/jerk/skid etc to a stop to stop moving. The truck skidded to a stop to avoid hitting a dog. skid marks I. 刹车印. black marks left on the road after a vehicle has skidded. II. humorous dirty marks on the inside of a pair of underpants (= underwear for the lower body). skid/screech/shudder etc. to a halt: The bus rocked and skidded to a halt.), compact excavators(A compact or mini excavator is a tracked or wheeled vehicle with an approximate operating weight from 0.7 to 8.5 tonnes. It generally includes a standard backfill blade and features independent boom swing.), compact utility vehicles, compact tractors, and other small hydraulic equipment under the Bobcat brand name. A skid loader, skid-steer loader, or skidsteer 推土机, is a small, rigid-frame, engine-powered machine with lift arms used to attach a wide variety of labor-saving tools or attachments. Skid-steer loaders are typically four-wheel vehicles with the wheels mechanically locked in synchronization on each side, and the left-side drive wheels can be driven independently of the right-side drive wheels. The wheels typically have no separate steering mechanism and hold a fixed straight alignment on the body of the machine. By operating the left and right wheel pairs at different speeds, the machine turns by skidding, or dragging its fixed-orientation wheels across the ground. The extremely rigid frame and strong wheel bearings prevent the torsional forces caused by this dragging motion from damaging the machine. 6. construe [kənˈstruː] To interpret or explain the meaning of something. to understand the meaning of something in a particular way. construe something as something 解读, 理解为, 认为: Please do not construe this as any criticism of yourself. That kind of behavior would be construed as sexual harassment. appraise I. formal to form an opinion about how successful, effective etc someone or something is. The company will hire bankers and lawyers to appraise the terms of the deal. II. business British 评估, 评定,考核. 核定. to interview people who work for a company and tell them how well they are doing their job. Staff will be appraised twice a year. performance appraisal 表现评估, 绩效考核. An employee performance appraisal is a process—often combining both written and oral elements—whereby management evaluates and provides feedback on employee job performance, including steps to improve or redirect activities as needed. Documenting performance provides a basis for pay increases and promotions. Appraisals are also important to help staff members improve their performance and as an avenue by which they can be rewarded or recognized for a job well done. handle/treat sb with kid gloves 小心翼翼的对待 to be very polite or kind to someone because you do not want to make them angry or upset. 7. A cruiser 巡洋舰 is a type of warship. The term has been in use
for several hundred years, and has had different meanings throughout
this period. During the Age of Sail, the term cruising referred to
certain kinds of missions – independent scouting, raiding or commerce
protection – fulfilled by a frigate or sloop, which were the cruising
warships of a fleet. Cruise, a trip or voyage by cruise ship 游轮, 游船: A cruise
ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages,
where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are a part of the
experience, as well as the different destinations along the way.
Transportation is not the prime purpose, as cruise ships operate mostly
on routes that return passengers to their originating port, so the ports
of call 停靠点 are usually in a specified region of a continent. There are
even "cruises to nowhere" or "nowhere voyages" where the ship makes 2–3
night round trips without any ports of call. By contrast,
dedicated transport oriented ocean liners 轮船(passenger liner) do "line voyages" and
typically transport passengers from one point to another, rather than on
round trips. Traditionally, an ocean liner for the transoceanic trade
will be built to a higher standard than a typical cruise ship, including
high freeboard and stronger plating to withstand rough seas and adverse
conditions encountered in the open ocean, such as the North Atlantic.
Ocean liners also usually have larger capacities for fuel, victuals食物, and
other stores for consumption on long voyages, compared to dedicated
cruise ships. Although often luxurious, ocean liners had
characteristics that made them unsuitable for cruising, such as high
fuel consumption, deep draught that prevented their entering shallow
ports, enclosed weatherproof decks that were not appropriate for
tropical weather, and cabins designed to maximize passenger numbers
rather than comfort (such as a high proportion of windowless suites).
The gradual evolution of passenger ship design from ocean liners to
cruise ships has seen passenger cabins shifted from inside the hull to
the superstructure with private verandas. The modern cruise ships, while
sacrificing qualities of seaworthiness, have added amenities to cater
to water tourists, and recent vessels have been described as
"balcony-laden floating condominiums" The
distinction between ocean liners and cruise ships has blurred,
particularly with respect to deployment. Differences in construction
remain. Larger cruise ships have also engaged in longer trips such as
transoceanic voyages which may not return to the same port for months
(longer round trips). Some former ocean liners operate as cruise
ships, such as Marco Polo. This number is diminishing. The only
dedicated transatlantic ocean liner in operation as a liner (as of
December 2013) is Queen Mary 2 of the Cunard fleet. She also has the
amenities of contemporary cruise ships and sees significant service on
cruises. Cruising 做游轮 has become a major part of the tourism
industry, accounting for U.S.$29.4 billion with over 19 million
passengers carried worldwide in 2011. The industry's rapid growth has
seen nine or more newly built ships catering to a North American
clientele added every year since 2001, as well as others servicing
European clientele. Smaller markets, such as the Asia-Pacific region,
are generally serviced by older ships. These are displaced by new ships
in the high growth areas. 8. Sydney is blessed with stunning natural wonders, from the beach to the bush. Apple Map领先于Google了?: The improvements to Apple Maps may finally bring closure to an unhappy episode for the company. At the outset 刚开始的时候, 刚出来的时候, Apple Maps packed a number of blunders, from misplaced routes and locations to oddly distorted images. The effort was widely ridiculed 嘲笑, 嘲讽 and was a boon ( something useful that brings great benefits or makes your life easier. boon for/to: Falling PC prices are a boon for consumers, but bad news for manufacturers.) for competing apps such as Google Maps. The problems also prompted speculation that Apple had lost its ability to create quality software, following the death of co-founder Steve Jobs a year earlier. At the time, Cook said that Apple "fell short on this commitment" and advised people to try alternative map programs until the company could resolve the issues with Apple Maps. To gain back the trust of users, Apple has worked to correct the faults of its Maps app and has added new features such as mass transit directions. Also in Apple's favor is the fact that Apple Maps enjoys certain advantages over its Google rival inside iOS. Apple Maps is built into iOS as the default and only navigation service. If you want Google Maps, you must install the app manually.
一天八杯水理论: Eight glasses of water a day is a bogus claim: A professor of paediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine, wrote in the New York Times that "the human body is finely tuned to signal you to drink long before you are actually dehydrated". Research has supported this notion that the body's thirst mechanism kicks in before serious issues arise. Carroll has published a paper that dispels medical myths 驳斥 – including the fact that you need to have eight glasses of water day – and argues that the idea that drinking more than two litres of water has not been proven to help your skin. "Contrary to many stories you may hear, there's no scientific proof that, for otherwise healthy people, drinking extra water has any health benefits," says Carroll. Milena Katz, accredited practising dietitian and spokesperson for the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA), says the amount of water you need comes down to 归结于 individual variables. "It all depends on your level of activity, body size and the environment that you're in," says Katz. "There's no set amount 一定量, 固定的数字 that everybody must drink per day, but guidelines suggest drinking around two litres a day for an 80kg person – but again that all depends on variables like level of activity." The DAA recommends on their website that adults should aim to drink between 1.5 – 2 litres a day, and children should aim for 1 – 1.5 litres a day. They also state that it's crucial to stay well-hydrated in "hot weather and when exercising". When asked if drinking more than the recommended amount would give you benefits like amazingly glowing skin, Katz said she wasn't aware of any studies that showed that. Is it possible to drink too much water? It is – although it's extremely rare. It's known as water intoxication 水中毒 or diluted hyponatremia, where a person's blood becomes dangerously diluted of essential salts. Here in Australia, in 1995 Anna Wood died after falling into a coma brought on 引发 by water intoxication after taking an ecstasy tablet at a Sydney rave. Her death prompted 促使 the government to roll out drug education programs across the country. 乌鸦被喂手指当食物: Crows are one of the largest songbirds in the world. We know, we laughed too because the last thing we would associate with the word song is the hacking death coughs(hacking cough (pathology) A small and frequent cough, usually short and dry; a broken cough with a rough and loud sound; a hacking cough. A hacking cough is most commonly observed in chronic catarrh of the upper air-passages, in pharyngitis and laryngitis, and especially in beginning pulmonary tuberculosis; hence its importance. hacking 短促的, 急促的 Short and interrupted, broken, jerky; hacky. A hacking cough. A hacking laugh. A hacking breath. A hacking cry. A more hacking and harrowing cough I have never heard. Anise will diminish the most hacking cough to where it is no longer irritating. Usage notes: Most non-creative collocations are the phrases given as examples. To cough hackingly. To laugh hackingly. To weep hackingly. The furnace protested long and hackingly like the lungs of an old smoker at an early morning cigarette. Magazine illustrations cut hackingly by her tiny, amateur fingers. hacking run (computing) A hacking session extended long outside normal working times, especially one longer than 12 hours; sometimes an all-nighter. It'll take a hacking run to find the roots of such a Byzantine bug. ) produced by the family corvidae. It's also a sound that many urban-dwelling Australians are familiar with in the early hours of the morning. Well, it seems there is a very simple, and effective way to shut them up. Stick a finger down its throat. In what can only be described as grotesquely hilarious( grotesque [ɡrəuˈtesk] I. extremely ugly and strange. a grotesque statue of the devil. II. unreasonable, or offensive. He called the original broadcast a grotesque distortion.), this is exactly what happens to a baby crow in this vintage YouTube video that has recently gone viral again. Turning its signature squawk into the corvus version of a baby's flubflubflub, it's hard not to laugh despite knowing that the poor thing is expecting some food. 澳洲两个Surfers墨西哥惨死: Mexican prosecutors believe Australian surfer Adam Coleman was shot in the face by a gang of highway bandits who then drove him and his mate Dean Lucas to a deserted area and torched 放火烧了 their van. Mr Coleman and Mr Lucas, 33-year-olds from Perth on a Mexican surfing adventure, were allegedly stopped by the robbers after midnight on November 21. The bandits were dressed in police uniforms and in the early hours staked out an area of ( stake out I. to wait outside a building and watch it, especially because something exciting or illegal is happening. The police are staking out his home in case he returns. II. stake out something to explain your opinion clearly and defend it in a determined way. Political leaders are busy staking out their positions 表明立场 on this issue. III. to mark an area with fences or posts to show that it belongs to someone. The settlers would arrive in a place and immediately stake out their territory 宣示主权.) the Benito Juarez Highway in Sinaloa state, a region infamous for drug cartels ( cartel [kɑrˈtel] a group of people or companies who all agree to sell something at the same price so that they can all make profits without competing with one another. a drug/oil cartel. ) and violence. The dreadlocked Mr Coleman was shot when he resisted 抵抗, 反抗 the gang, but remained alive, while Mr Lucas was unharmed, authorities believe. Mexican prosecutors do not believe the badly injured Mr Coleman and the terrified Mr Lucas were handcuffed or restrained. They were then allegedly held captive and driven off the highway and through the darkness to a dirt road in a deserted rural area near the town of Navolato. "One of them was severely injured," Guadalupe Martinez, spokesman for Sinaloa state's attorney-general, told AAP on Monday. "I imagine the other one was too scared to do anything." When they reached the rural area the robbers allegedly shot the Australians and torched Mr Coleman's old Chevy van, with their bodies inside. Two bodies burnt beyond recognition were found inside. DNA testing, involving comparing DNA from the two Australians' family members with the charred bodies, is yet to be completed. "It will take at least another week," Mr Martinez said. Sinaloa authorities have arrested three of the alleged bandits - Julio Cesar Muniz, Martin Rogelio Muniz and Sergio Simon Benitez - and continue to pursue others. They say the investigation is complete, with just the final arrests to be made. "We are looking for the person for which we have an arrest warrant and getting warrant for all the other ones,"
Chef spared jail after being caught faking slip 假摔倒 on wet floor to claim compensation: Court hears Anita Quansah-Okoe, 52, dropped her £8,000 personal injury claim after insurers were sent CCTV footage clearly showing she had faked a fall: A chef who falsely claimed she had slipped at work after CCTV footage showed she had slowly lowered herself onto the wet floor was spared jail 免于牢狱之灾, 逃过牢狱之灾 today. She went to A&E on the morning of July 3, 2013, where the doctor found some tenderness over her shoulder and right ankle. But Quansah-Okoe, who has cooked in the Houses of Parliament, dropped her £8,000 personal injury claim after insurers were sent CCTV footage clearly showing she had faked the incident. At the Old Bailey today, she was ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work in the community and pay £500 towards prosecution costs after being found guilty of fraud. Before playing three video clips to the jury during the trial, prosecutor Danny Robinson said: "Ms Quansah-Okoe appears to walk towards an area which is being mopped, pauses, then lowers herself to the floor. "She didn't slip. That claim she made that day that she had accidentally slipped on a wet floor was dishonest 不诚实的, it was untrue, because she didn't accidentally fall on a wet floor she lowered herself onto the ground." Giving evidence 作证 in court, Quansah-Okoe insisted she had fallen down because it was slippery and she had injuries as a result, causing her to miss three weeks of work. "I'm not claiming for the accident, I'm claiming because they have not paid me," said Quansah-Okoe. The prosecutor suggested: "You didn't slip at all, you just claimed to have fallen over so you could claim." The defendant replied: "My mind isn't like that. I just fought to claim my earnings." But the jury, who were handed a DVD to watch during their deliberations, found Quansah-Okoe, unanimously guilty of fraud. Judge Gerald Gordon QC said: "The reality is that the jury convicted you after a very short period of time, and having watched with them the CCTV of you at the time when you claim to have fallen I am not surprised. "Faking an accident is all too easy to do and often hard to disprove 很难反驳. That's why the courts have to take a serious view of such cases when it is evident, as it is here. "You were in the circumstances where you were familiar, arrived at work at the time you knew the floor was being mopped and there were indications that you looked to check this was happening before attempting to perform your fall." He cited her previous good character 良好本性 and her family responsibilities, before sentencing her to 80 hours unpaid work in the community along with a £500 fine towards prosecution costs. Quansah-Okoe, of Brixton, denied fraud. Khloé Kardashian Calls Out Kylie Jenner for Not Inviting Her to 18th Birthday Bash: It's her party, and Kylie Jenner will invite who she wants to. In a preview for the next episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Khloé and Kourtney Kardashian learn that their youngest sister is throwing a lavish 18th birthday bash soon. There are about 300 people on the guest list — but Khloé, 31, and Kourtney, 36, didn't seem to make the cut. "What a little bitch Kylie is!" Khloé says before calling the budding makeup entrepreneur to confront her. "I haven't told anybody!" Kylie insists. "I'm not going to tell anybody until I for sure know where I want it and everything." The reality stars then tease 开玩笑的说 that they didn't know to save the date 留出那天来, 空出那天来 and are already "busy" – but say Kylie can "beg" them to attend. Of course, Khlo and Kourt eventually made it into the exclusive celebration at celebrity hot spot the Nice Guy in Los Angeles, along with Kim Kardashian West and Kendall, Kris and Caitlyn Jenner – plus the birthday girl's boyfriend, rapper Tyga.
