用法学习: 1. Home Alone Star: When Macaulay Culkin reappeared in headlines after photos surfaced of him looking gaunt ( [ɡɔnt] I. 瘦骨嶙峋的.
very thin, usually because you are sick, tired, or worried. If someone
looks gaunt, they look very thin, usually because they have been very
ill or worried. Looking gaunt and tired, he denied there was anything to worry about. His face was pale and gaunt. II. If you describe a building as gaunt, you mean it is very plain and unattractive. Above on the hillside was a large, gaunt, grey house.) and emaciated ( emaciated 瘦弱的, 羸弱的 [ɪmeɪsieɪtɪd, ɪˈmeɪʃiˌeɪtəd] A person or animal that is emaciated is extremely thin and weak because of illness or lack of food. ...horrific television pictures of emaciated prisoners. emancipate [ɪˈmænsɪˌpeɪ] to give freedom and rights to someone. emanate [ˈeməˌneɪt] I. [intransitive] to come from a particular place. emanate from: She could hear raised voices emanating from her parents' room. Wonderful smells emanated from the kitchen. II. [intransitive/transitive] if you emanate a lot of a quality or feeling, or if it emanates from you, you show it without expressing it in words. emanate from: A sense of joy emanated from him. enunciate [ɪˈnʌnsiˌeɪt]
[intransitive/transitive] to pronounce words clearly so that they can
be easily understood. When you enunciate a word or part of a word, you
pronounce it clearly. His
voice was harsh as he enunciated each word carefully. She enunciates
very slowly and carefully. ... his grammar always precise, his
enunciation always perfect. a. [transitive] to express an
idea clearly and in detail. When you enunciate a thought, idea, or plan,
you express it very clearly and precisely. ...the enunciation of grand moral principles. He was ever ready to enunciate his views to all who would listen. ), people quickly assumed that he had become a drug addict. Culkin was asked if people were right to be worried. He said, "Not necessarily. Of course, when silly stuff is going on – but no, I was not pounding six grand of [drugs] every month or whatever. The thing that bugged me was tabloids wrapping it all in this weird guise of concern 搞得好像关心一样, 打着关心的旗号. No, you're trying to shift (I. If you shift something or if it shifts, it moves slightly. He
stopped, shifting his cane to his left hand. He shifted from foot to
foot. The entire pile shifted and slid, thumping onto the floor. ...the
squeak of his boots in the snow as he shifted his weight. II. If someone's opinion, a situation, or a policy shifts or is shifted, it changes slightly. Attitudes
to mental illness have shifted in recent years. The emphasis should be
shifted more towards Parliament. ...a shift in government policy. [+ in]
...the shift in opinion away from the Prime Minister. III. If someone shifts the responsibility or blame for something onto you, they unfairly make you responsible or make people blame you for it, instead of them. [disapproval] It was a vain attempt to shift the responsibility for the murder to somebody else. IV. If a shop or company shifts goods, they sell goods that are difficult to sell. [British] Some suppliers were selling at a loss to shift stock 清理库存.
V. If you shift gears in a car, you put the car into a different gear.
VI. If a group of factory workers, nurses, or other people work shifts,
they work for a set period before being replaced by another group, so
that there is always a group working. Each of these set periods is
called a shift. You can also use shift to refer to a group of workers
who work together on a particular shift. His
father worked shifts in a steel mill. ...workers coming home from the
afternoon shift. The night shift should have been safely down the mine
long ago. ) papers." 2. 巴西总统: Brazil's far-right President, Jair Bolsonaro, has posted an explicit video on Twitter in an apparent effort to denigrate
( [denɪgreɪt] If you denigrate someone or something, you criticize them
unfairly or insult them. to criticize something in a way that shows you
think it has no value at all. They denigrated his work, questioning whether it did anything to confront the problems. ...the denigration of minorities in this country. [+ of] ) the country's raucous ( [rɔːkəs] A raucous sound is loud, harsh, and rather unpleasant. They
heard a bottle being smashed, then more raucous laughter. ...the
raucous cries of the sea-birds. ...a raucous crowd of 25,000 delirious
fans. They laughed together raucously. ) Carnival celebrations.
印度大选, 莫迪利用国家安全: The Mumbai attacks in 2008 took place five months
before the elections in 2009 - and the then ruling Congress party won without making national security a campaign plank ( A political party platform or program 党政, 党策 is a formal set of principal goals which are supported by a political party or individual candidate, in order to appeal to the general public,
for the ultimate purpose of garnering the general public's support and
votes about complicated topics or issues. "Plank" is the term often
given to the components of the political platform – the opinions and viewpoints about individual topics, as held by a party, person, or organization. The word "plank" depicts a component of an overall political platform, as a metaphorical reference to a basic stage made out of boards or planks of wood.
The metaphor can return to its literal origin when public speaking or
debates are actually held upon a physical platform. A party platform is
sometimes referred to as a manifesto or a political platform. Across the Western world, political parties are highly likely to fulfill their election promises.). Really uncomfortable with pictures of soldiers on election posters and podiums. This should be banned. Surely the uniform is sullied ( sully [sʌli] 玷污, 玷辱, 侮辱, 辱没 I. If something is sullied by something else, it is damaged so that it is no longer pure or of such high value. The City's reputation has been sullied by these scandals. She claimed they were sullying her good name. II. If someone sullies something, they make it dirty. [formal] I felt loath to sully the gleaming brass knocker by handling it. ) by vote gathering in its name,"
tweeted Barkha Dutt, an Indian television journalist and author. The
remark by Mr Yeddyurappa, former chief minister of Karnataka, was remarkable in its candour. Not surprisingly, it was immediately seized upon by opposition parties. They said it was a brazen admission of the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party was mining
( verb. I. When a mineral such as coal, diamonds, or gold is mined, it
is obtained from the ground by digging deep holes and tunnels. The
pit is being shut down because it no longer has enough coal that can be
mined economically. ...the finest gems, mined from all corners of the
world. II. If an area of land or water is mined, mines are placed there which will explode when people or things touch them. The approaches to the garrison have been heavily mined. n.
I. A mine is a bomb which is hidden in the ground or in water and which
explodes when people or things touch it. to hide bombs under the ground
or under water The road was heavily mined 布满地雷.
II. A mine is a place where deep holes and tunnels are dug under the
ground in order to obtain a mineral such as coal, diamonds, or gold. ...coal mines. mine of information If you say that someone is a mine of information, you mean that they know a great deal about something. ) the tensions between
the nuclear-armed rivals ahead of general elections, which are barely a
month away. Mr Modi's party is looking at a second term in power. 3.
世界大城市: It may be slightly consoling 稍可安慰的 that the US - the world's largest economy - counts New York as its only city in the real estate brokerage's top 10. MOVIE - Snakes on a plane:
Sean Jones is escorted by FBIagents Neville Flynn and John Sanders on a
Boeing 747-400 to testify in a trial in Los Angeles. Despite increased security for the flight, Kim arranges for a time-release ( (of
a pill) releasing its contents gradually during the day. consisting of
or containing a drug that is released in small amounts over time (as by
dissolution of a coating) usually in the gastrointestinal tract. A
sleeping pill that gradually releases the active drug ingredients over
the course of the night is an example of a time-release medication. Time-release 逐渐释放的, 逐步放出的
drugs use a special technology to release small amounts of the
medication into a person's system over a long period of time. This is
also referred to as sustained release, extended release, or controlled
release. These tend to come in pill form and are simply made to be more
potent but dissolve slowly. wiki: Modified-release dosage is a mechanism that (in contrast to immediate-release dosage) delivers a drug with a delay after its administration (delayed-release dosage)
or for a prolonged period of time (extended-release [ER, XR, XL]
dosage) or to a specific target in the body (targeted-release dosage). Sustained-release dosage
forms are dosage forms designed to release (liberate) a drug at a
predetermined rate in order to maintain a constant drug concentration
for a specific period of time with minimum side effects. This can be
achieved through a variety of formulations, including liposomes and
drug-polymer conjugates (an example being hydrogels). Sustained
release's definition is more akin to a "controlled release" rather than
"sustained". Extended-release dosage consists of sustained-release (SR)
and controlled-release (CR) dosage. SR maintains drug release over a
sustained period but not at a constant rate. CR maintains drug release
over a sustained period at a nearly constant rate.) crate full of venomous snakes to be placed in the cargo hold in an attempt to bring down the plane before it reaches Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). To ensure the snakes attack the passengers without the need for provocation, he has one of his henchmen disguised as an airport ground employee spray the passengers' leis ( lei
[lei] (in Hawaii) a garland of flowers, worn around the neck. in
Hawaii, a wreath of flowers and leaves, generally worn about the neck. )
with a special pheromone which makes the snakes highly
aggressive. The crate opens midway through the flight and the snakes
make their way through the cabin. A couple having sex in a bathroom, and
a man using another bathroom are the first killed. The plane's captain,
Sam McKeon, investigates and fixes an electrical short,
but is killed by the viper that caused it. Co-pilot Rick, unaware of
the snake, believes Sam has suffered a heart attack and continues toward
LAX. 4. caught up in something I. so involved in an activity that you do not notice other things: I was so caught up in my school work, that I didn't realize what was happening with my sister.
II. To be caught up in something also means to be involved in an
activity that you did not intend to be involved in. to become
unexpectedly involved in an unpleasant or annoying situation. We
were caught in a heavy storm. Sorry I'm late – I got caught in traffic.
She got caught up in a clash between protesters and police. He got caught up in the demonstrations and got arrested. a different ball game = a whole new ball game a situation that is completely different from what has happened before I'm working in management now, which is a whole new ball game. Its
one thing for a small airline to leave an alliance, such as Kenya
Airways (Fleet size 40 jets to 53 destinations), but for a founding
member to leave it is a whole other ball game 完全是另一回事. So what situation could possibly occur to move Cathay Pacific from their perch? cascade [kæskeɪd] I. 扩散. If one thing cascades over another, it falls or hangs over it. Vivid red and pink geraniums cascade over my balcony. From her tiny waist a crinolined skirt cascaded in three deep tiers. If
a few passengers are flying in other United flights and their plane is
running late, United will delay their connecting flight to ensure they
reach their destination. A simple delay of 15 minutes in one small
regional airport could cascade throughout the United network. II. If water cascades somewhere, it pours or flows downwards very fast and in large quantities. She hung on as the freezing, rushing water cascaded past her. A waterfall cascades down the cliff from the hills behind. n. If you refer to a cascade of something, you mean that there is a large amount of it. The women have lustrous cascades of black hair. [+ of] A cascade of mail arrived from friends. 5. Kyle Sandliands: "Matty was saying a couple of weeks ago that he was filling in when you were sick and he was complaining that he got a speeding ticket," Abby Coleman told Sandilands, who was hearing about the $220 fine for the first time. "Do you want me to spot you (spot I. Spots on a person's skin are small lumps or marks. Never squeeze blackheads, spots or pimples. II. A spot of a liquid is a small amount of it. [mainly British] Spots of rain had begun to fall. [+ of] Secure with a few spots of glue. III. If you have a spot of something, you have a small amount of it. [mainly British] Mr Brooke is undoubtedly in a spot of bother. [+ of] A year or two ago I found myself indulging in a spot of yachting in Finnish waters. We've given all the club members tea, coffee and a spot of lunch. [+ of]. IV. You can refer to a particular place as a spot. They stayed at several of the island's top tourist spots. They all stood there staring, as if frozen to the spot.
VI. A spot in a television or radio show is a part of it that is
regularly reserved for a particular performer or type of entertainment. Unsuccessful at screen writing, he got a spot on a CNN film show. V. If you spot something or someone, you notice them. Hugh was spotted by local police and had to leave quickly. Mara spotted the book she gave Ed for his birthday in the trash. spot someone doing something: The boys had been spotted buying alcohol. Vicenzo failed to spot the error. He left the party seconds before smoke was spotted coming up the stairs. She was spotted singing in bars when she was 18. spot someone's potential: An effective teacher can spot a child's potential. II. (transitive) US informal 让棋. 让子. to yield (an advantage or concession) to (one's opponent) to spot someone a piece in chess. in sports, to give an advantage to someone who you are playing against, usually because they are not as good as you. III. To loan a small amount of money to someone. Slang for "lend me," as in money or other goods. Hey, spot me some cash for dinner and I'll pay you back on Tuesday. I'll spot you ten dollars for lunch. spot cash 当场现金支付 money that is paid for something immediately, when it is delivered: We will pay spot cash for your used car.
IV. 保护. to watch someone doing a sports activity such as weight
training or gymnastics in order to help them, and to make sure that they
do not get injured. wiki: Spotting in weight or resistance training,
is the act of supporting another person during a particular exercise,
with an emphasis on allowing the participant to lift or push more than
they could normally do safely. Correct spotting involves knowing when to
intervene and assist with a lift, and encouraging a training partner to
push beyond the point in which they would normally 'rack' the weight
(return it to its stationary position). Spotting is particularly
prevalent when performing the bench press. Because of the risks
of lifting a heavy weight in the supine position, a lifter will often
ask for a spot unless he or she is completely confident that the lift
will not be failed. While a spotter
may prevent injury, a lifter may become too dependent on the spotter,
and not realize the degree that the spotter is assisting them. This is
sometimes jocularly referred to as the "two man bench press". ) that money? I do earn $45,000 a day so I'm happy to pay," 47-year-old Sandilands asked Acton. "I'll pay it for you. It's the least I can do." Acton said that wasn't what he was alluding [əˈlud] to(allude to something to mention someone or something in an indirect way. He kept alluding to his wife, but didn't mention her name.) at all but since Sandilands -- who recently admitted to overcoming a cocaine addiction -- was offering, then it'd be rude to knock it back. "Every morning there would be crates of bread delivered, crates of milk in the loading dock out the back, so I'd take a loaf of bread and a carton of milk and eat that dry bread," he revealed in 2016 on comedian Anh Do's TV series Anh's Brush With Fame. "Still to this day I'll guzzle milk out the carton and take three or four slices of dry bread and munch on that." But Sandilands hasn't earned his fortune from his radio gig alone -- his side hustles
are also bringing in the cash. In 2014, he invested in coconut oil
H2Coco, which is 23 percent owned by his company, King Kyle Investments.
That same year, Sandilands launched 13KYLE -- a service that helps
young consumers looking for their first loan. 6. grovelling [ˈɡrɒv(ə)lɪŋ] adj. acting obsequiously in order to obtain forgiveness or favour. Alan
Jones forced into making yet another grovelling apology after calling
former prime minster @TurnbullMalcolm 'a traitor to the nation'. "his grovelling references to 'great' historians". n. obsequious behaviour aimed at obtaining forgiveness or favour. "it was time to give in and do a bit of grovelling". grove [grɒvəl]
I. If you say that someone grovels, you think they are behaving too
respectfully towards another person, for example because they are
frightened or because they want something. to show too much respect for
someone or be too willing to obey someone, because you want to please
them or you are afraid of them. I don't grovel to anybody. Speakers have been shouted down, classes disrupted, teachers made to grovel. ...a letter of grovelling apology. II. If you grovel, you crawl on the ground, for example in order to find something. We grovelled around the club on our knees.
If you die early, how will your children remember you? Gaby Eirew suffered two big bereavements in the space of a month. The experience impelled her to find a way of
prompting parents to record video messages for their children. When
Gaby Eirew's father was dying from pancreatic cancer one of his last
pieces of advice was: "Grieve for me for two years, after that you're grieving for yourself."
She thought she would be good at grieving. After all, she had worked as
a counsellor dealing with cases of childhood trauma. But she found
herself struggling more than she had expected. To make matters worse,
she and her husband had recently moved from London to Vancouver with
three young children, meaning she had no support network. Feeling fragile,
she tried to ring a close friend from childhood, Emma, a doctor in
London. But then she got some more unexpected news: Emma had died
suddenly and unexpectedly. "She was clever, beautiful, hard-working and
warm," recalls Gaby. "I was small and wacky and she was this graceful
intelligent person. Somehow we liked each other." Her friend's death plunged Gaby further into grief.
"I imagined my kids like hers, growing up with everything that they
knew directly from their mum stopping there and then. I wanted to write
to them all and reassure them and tell them the most useful things, but I
could not sum her up. Some things I realised the children would hear
from their father and grandparents, but some things would surely have to
come straight from her?" For weeks she felt "like a lunatic", obsessed
by death. She kept asking friends and strangers she met: "What have you
prepared for death?" It was her favourite topic of conversation. Looking
back, she sees it as part of a recovery process and a need to channel her pain into something practical.
The eventual result would be a tool to help children mourn their
parents - a free app that has been used by tens of thousands of people
in more than 30 countries to leave a legacy of video messages for their
families. In the summer of 2008, a few months after her double blow,
Gaby began a study of bereavement. Over the next five years, she
interviewed more than 100 people in Canada and the UK who had lost one
or both parents as children. (In the UK about one in 20 children will
lose a parent before the age of 16 - approximately 24,000 each year.)
She found them by posting notices on online forums, and leaving physical
notes in swimming pools and libraries. "I spoke to people born after
their dads died, or came home to a crime scene, or were in car accidents
that killed their parents," says Gaby. Gaby also realised that they
didn't want to hear the kind of sugar-coated, idealised accounts of their parents they had heard at funerals and family gatherings - they wanted raw stories, warts and all 一股脑的, 好的坏的一起(If you describe someone or accept them warts and all, you describe them or accept them as they are, including all their faults. Lyn
loves him warts and all. He gives us a portrait of the real Gandhi,
warts and all. 'Edinburgh in Focus' provides a warts-and-all look at the
city. ), that they could relate to. That's why the
app encourages you to talk about difficult times, says Gaby. "You need
to be a three-dimensional person, not a big walking success story,
which is too much for anyone to live up to. You can be troubled, that's
OK, that's part of life and that will help your children when they have
a difficult day." There were also queries that reflected a child's lack
of understanding about death, says Gaby. Some people looked back on
their childhood and said they "didn't understand why Daddy was buried
but we've still got his wheelchair, how can he be without it in heaven?"
So one question prompt in the app to the dying person is simply: "How
do you view death and dying? What do you think happens after death?" The
app is designed to be simple with "no bells and whistles"
says Gaby, because when you are diagnosed with a terminal disease, you
suddenly have millions of things to think about, including work, wills
and other financial matters, and a short time-frame to act on them.
Your mind can be all over the place and the app should help you to
focus on this important, but daunting, task. Two large communities of
people the app has helped are those who have been told they have
terminal cancer, and those diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease.
Eventually though, he decided to visit his doctor, and was diagnosed in
2013 with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) - a disease that affects the brain
and spinal cord, often progressing rapidly and leaving people locked in a failing body. "It's really hard to get your head round. You're not feeling poorly. When you try and move it's like having massive lead weights on your arms,
your legs, your neck. You get to think a lot," he says. The worst thing
is the frustration. He wants to play with his children, but he can't.
These observations were made by Dean in videos he made with the
RecordMeNow app in 2015. In some he tells his life story, including
lessons he has learned. These make clear that the diagnosis was cruel timing. Dean was just beginning to reap the benefits 收获, 开始享受 of his life's hard work:
a successful career, wife, home and children. He left school in 1987
and worked in a factory for many years, but eventually enrolled
part-time in a college to study Information Technology. He then trained
to become an engineer fixing photocopiers and cash machines. That led to
a job at electronics firm, Ricoh, where he rose up the ranks 脱颖而出,
eventually travelling around the UK managing a team of trainers. Hard
work and dedication are the key ingredients to getting on in life, he
says in one video. This is what he said when prompted by the app to
answer the question, "When were you most scared?" I was scared walking
down the aisle to marry your mum. I was scared but it was the best thing
I ever did. I was scared to have children. As soon as you have children
you never stop being scared or worried. Scared makes you alive. So
embrace it, use it. Never let it stop you. He "banked" his voice before he lost it,
preserving phrases, words and sounds in a digital database. Thanks to
this, when he composes words using his special software, it is played
out on a speaker attached to his wheelchair, in a computerised,
synthetic version of his voice, complete with Brummie accent. Reflecting
on the video messages, now that he has lost his capacity to speak, Dean
says: "I always wanted to leave some kind of history for my kids.
Especially for my youngest as she has only known me this way. I used
RecordMeNow because it was in the format I wanted with loads of
questions and the option to add other questions. "I wanted my kids to
have somewhere to go if they ever think to themselves, 'What would dad
think?' They'll always have a recording of my thoughts and opinions.
It's been so beneficial knowing that my kids will see the real me.
Hopefully I can pass on some advice." Dean's son and daughter are aged
10 and six. He doesn't think they are ready to see the videos he has
made yet. He just wants them to be available for them when the time
comes. Gaby has close relationships with many hospices ( hospice 临终关怀 [ˈhɑspɪs] I. [countable] a hospital that cares for people who are dying. Volunteers caring for hospice patients commonly report how their own lives were changed. II. [uncountable] a program of care for a dying person provided by a hospice organization, usually in the patient's own home. on hospice (care): My Grandpa had been on hospice so it was an expected death.) and palliative
( [pæliətɪv, US -eɪt] I. A palliative is a drug or medical treatment
that relieves suffering without treating the cause of the suffering. II.
A palliative is an action that is intended to make the effects of a
problem less severe but does not actually solve the problem. The
loan was a palliative, not a cure, for ever-increasing financial
troubles. A scheme offered as a palliative for economic pain might harm
the intended beneficiary.) care units, which use her app with patients. She knows from her own experience that often people want to record messages for posterity ( [pɑˈsterəti] the people who will live in the future after you are dead. ),
but leave it very late. Sometimes they leave it so late that they can
no longer physically do it, so she has to help out and record the video
herself. "I've been called by the husband or nurse, and I will step over
a tiny baby in a cradle or a car seat and the mum will be dying that
day. That is very kind of her that she still wants to record a message,
but very far from ideal." It's a shame that in their final months people
often focus on financial matters instead of leaving "something
emotionally supportive", says Gaby. In fact she would like every parent
to make a video, in the event of an unexpected accident taking their
life, something she calls "an emotional insurance policy". (The app is
free, so she doesn't benefit.) She has taken this precaution herself,
for the benefit of her three children. "I have seen so many people who
have died and I am getting older, so it's feeling increasingly real to
me," says Gaby. Her children were aged one, four and seven when she
began her recordings. "I chose key stories that are extremely happy or
funny or tough and speak to a core characteristic of that person, or our
relationship. As I talk, I imagine my children at all different ages
and scenarios and want to be loving and supporting to them, whatever
they are going through. "I tell very clear stories. I laugh or cry
throughout - that is OK." She's made messages about family rituals, like
all climbing into bed together every night to read the chapter of a
book. Or the time she made her family wait in the rain to watch a cow
give birth, before realising it was just stuck in the mud. But she also
talks about romance, a subject she found many bereaved children found difficult to broach with their parents,
but wanted to know more about. "I talk about going out with my husband
who was my good friend for many years and how I suddenly knew we should
be together and went to his home at 5am, and just sat there, totally
ready for life with him. "I try to talk of interesting things each child
did or said at certain times. They are snapshots, to say I care, I
noticed." She thinks every parent should make these videos every five
years or so. Although keeping your composure can be hard in a video,
Gaby says the medium has advantages over audio when it comes to
grieving. Some people feel they are not looking their best, but children
don't care about that, she says. "I have footage of my dad, and just
the way his eyebrows twitched a bit when he found something funny, it's
like… uuuh... yes, that's him." In time, video becomes especially
valuable for young children who are bereaved because there is a huge
amount of hurt associated with not being able to remember what your
parent looked like, says Gaby. The videos can help you trust your
memories. Though Gaby Eirew lives in Canada, she has kept in touch with
Sky, the eldest daughter of her friend, Emma, whose death inspired the
RecordMeNow app. The pair met in person in December, for the first time
in a few years. Sky is now 21 and a university student. The meeting was a
chance for Gaby to tell Sky stories about her mum. Gaby's friendship
with Emma blossomed when they were around Sky's age, so the stories
become more relatable. Sky is the oldest of three siblings and was 10
when her mother died. Her earliest distinct memory of her mother is
during a skiing holiday, when she was six years old. Sky fractured her
collar bone during her final ski lesson and was taken to hospital by her
instructor. She recalls being "so scared" and wanting to see her
parents. She has an enduring image of her mother running to the
hospital, frantically trying to find the entrance. She thinks she can
remember some bath-times too. "I was lucky in that as the oldest I have
the most memories," says Sky. "I remember when I was told [about her
death] I had a flash forward ( A flashforward
(also spelled flash-forward) is a scene that temporarily takes the
narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in
literature, film, television and other media. a transition in a novel,
film, etc, to a scene or event in the future. ) of my life,
thinking she's not going to be here then, she's not going to be here
then… the hardest part is accepting that." Recalling her mother's death
and the impact it had on her family brings Sky to tears. But after a pause she regains her composure.
"One of the best pieces of advice I was ever given was from my dad. It
is that you should never be afraid to cry and show that you are hurting,
because you are, and you are too young to hide it. That helped an awful
lot. "It's easy to think, 'I hate the world, this is so unfair, why has
this happened to me?' And you have every right to think those things."
Here the RecordMeNow app can help, she thinks. "Half of the fear is
thinking, 'I am alone,' and having the app is like having a little safe
haven, allowing you to celebrate your parent's life as opposed to grieve
their death." Small details, such as what make-up they liked to use,
would be nice to know, she thinks. "It's the little things," she says.
"You'd be surprised how small stories can make such an impact, so you
feel they are still with you, or you are part of their lives." And at a
simpler level, the app would just allow you to just listen to their
voice again, says Sky. "One of the things I found most scary was
forgetting how they sounded, how they spoke." There is another reason
that Gaby is driven to spread the word about her app. "I was raised by
someone who didn't know who she was," she says. Gaby's mother, Denise
Paluch, now 82, was a child of the Holocaust. She was smuggled out of
the Drancy camp in France by the French Resistance in 1942. Her parents -
rounded up for being Jewish - were sent on to the Auschwitz
concentration camp a few days later. Because she was only four years old
when this happened, Gaby's mother has very little memory of her
parents. She lived her early childhood in Lyon under the protection of a
woman who ran a school for children with special needs - she still
calls this woman "my French mother". Denise was given a false identity
to protect her in Vichy France. She was also given a fake postcard
pretending to be from her parents, saying that if she cried for them,
they would not come back. This was a way of protecting her, because it
was feared that if she displayed any emotion about her parents it would
draw attention to her true Jewish identity, and put her life at risk.
Grieving, or any attempt to emotionally process the absence of her
parents, was not permitted. It was life-threatening. Denise spent her
teenage years in South Africa, living with an aunt. Aged 15, her
grandfather gave her a few pictures of her parents, the first time she
was able to see what they looked like. In later life in the UK, she
married and raised four children, including Gaby, still without knowing
her parents' fate. It was only when she reached her 50s that records
were discovered that confirmed her parents were sent to Auschwitz and
died there. Only then could she accept she was an orphan and begin some
kind of delayed grieving process. She visited various places with Gaby,
such as her parents' home in Brussels, in a desperate bid to corroborate
memories. One breakthrough was finding some distinctive wall tiles she
remembered, that she would have gazed at from her pram. Recalling these
events after so many years, the things that bring tears to her eyes are
the fact that she was deprived of an education and that she was given
away by her mother, something she says she felt more acutely after
having her own children. "The saddest thing for me, looking back, is the
feeling of rejection," says Denise. "I thought she didn't want me,
therefore she went one way and I went the other." This might seem
strange to someone learning about her story for the first time, who
knows the historical context. But you have to see things from a child's
perspective, says Gaby. The trauma of rejection at such an early age
leaves a deep scar, even though the only reason Denise's parents took
this heart-wrenching step was to save her life. It worked, and something
of them now survives in Denise's 11 grandchildren. One of Denise's most
precious objects, hanging on the wall of her north London home, is a
sepia photograph of her mother, aged about four. "She would have been
roughly the same age in that photograph as I was when she gave me away,"
says Denise. "I'm so proud of what Gaby's done with her app, because it
will help so many people who don't remember their parents, to feel like
somebody's child." So what question would she ask of her parents, if
they had had access to the app their granddaughter, Gaby Eirew, has
created? Without hesitation Denise knows the answer. "What colour were
my mother's eyes?"
