用法学习: 1. burn out I. If a fire burns out, it stops producing flames because nothing remains that can burn. If a fire burns itself out, it stops burning because there is nothing left to burn. Fire officials let the fire burn itself out 火烧完了. II. If something such as a motor burns out, it stops working because of damage from heat: It looks like the starter motor 引擎烧坏了 on the car has burned out. III. If you burn yourself out, you make yourself exhausted or ill by working too hard. He might burn himself out and go to an early grave. burnt-out = burned-out I. Burnt-out vehicles or buildings have been so badly damaged by fire that they can no longer be used. ...a burnt-out car. II. If someone is burnt-out, they exhaust themselves at an early stage in their life or career because they have achieved too much too quickly. But everyone I know who kept it up at that intensity is burnt out. burnout 身心俱疲 the state of having no energy or enthusiasm because of working too hard, or someone who shows the effects of this state. If someone suffers burnout, they exhaust themselves at an early stage in their life or career because they have achieved too much too quickly. We have found there is much more burnout and sickness among those who don't get help. The drummer walked in looking like a rock and roll burnout. The term "burnout" was coined in the 1970s by the American psychologist Herbert Freudenberger. He used it to describe the consequences of severe stress and high ideals in "helping" professions. Doctors and nurses, for example, who sacrifice themselves for others, would often end up being "burned out" – exhausted, listless, and unable to cope. Nowadays, the term is not only used for these helping professions, or for the dark side of self-sacrifice. It seems it can affect anyone, from stressed-out careerists and celebrities to overworked employees and homemakers. burn off I. = burn up. If someone burns off energy, they use it. to use up energy or get rid of fat from your body by doing physical activity. Swimming can help you burn off 燃烧卡路里 those unwanted calories. This will improve your performance and help you burn off calories. II. To burn off something unwanted means to get rid of it by burning it. The bushfire actually helped to burn off 烧光 a lot of dead undergrowth. to remove something by burning it They managed to burn off the excess wax. 2. A controlled or prescribed burn, also known as hazard reduction burning, backfire, swailing, or a burn-off, is a wildfire set intentionally for purposes of forest management, farming, prairie restoration or greenhouse gas abatement. A controlled burn may also refer to the intentional burning of slash and fuels through burn piles. Fire is a natural part of both forest and grassland ecology and controlled fire can be a tool for foresters. Hazard reduction or controlled burning is conducted during the cooler months to reduce fuel buildup and decrease the likelihood of serious hotter fires. Controlled burning stimulates the germination of some desirable forest trees, and reveals soil mineral layers which increases seedling vitality, thus renewing the forest. Some cones, such as those of lodgepole pine and sequoia, are serotinous, as well as many chaparral shrubs, meaning they require heat from fire to open cones to disperse seeds. In industrialized countries, controlled burning is usually overseen by fire control authorities for regulations and permits. 3. be minded to do something 准备, 计划, 打算 formal to want or intend to do something. If someone is minded to do something, they want or intend to do it. The Home Office said at that time that it was minded to reject his application for political asylum. If the Americans were so minded then they could take sanctions against them. At about this time the plaintiff became suspicious that the appellants were minded to sell the property at Westbourne Grove. 新闻: The radio broadcaster and former Wallabies coach has been a staunch 坚定的 supporter of Folau and his right to express his religious beliefs. straw purchase 代买, 代购 noun US a criminal act in which something, especially a firearm, is bought by one person on behalf of another who is legally unable to make the purchase themselves. A straw purchase or nominee purchase is any purchase wherein an agent agrees to acquire a good or service for someone who is unable or unwilling to purchase the good or service themselves, and the agent transfers the goods or services to that person after purchasing them. In general, straw purchases are legal except in cases where the ultimate receiver of goods or services uses those goods or services in the commission of a crime with the prior knowledge of the straw purchaser, or if the ultimate possessor is not legally able to purchase the goods or services. In some jurisdictions, straw purchases are legal even if the end user is not legally able to purchase the good or service himself or herself. 4. 捡到的护照当ID: This is gonna sound rather weird and I hope you take it the right way but for the last year and two months I've been using your passport as a means of ID([miːnz] I. A means of 办法, 途径, 手段 doing something is a method, instrument, or process which can be used to do it. Means is both the singular and the plural form for this use. The move is a means to fight crime. The army had perfected the use of terror as a means of controlling the population. Business managers are focused on increasing their personal wealth by any available means. II. You can refer to the money that someone has as their means. ...a person of means. He did not have the means to compensate her. live beyond your means 入不敷出 If someone is living beyond their means, they are spending more money than they can afford. If someone is living within their means, they are not spending more money than they can afford. The more gifts she received, the more she craved, until he was living beyond his means. It is far better to pay off old debts steadily by living within your means. by means of If you do something by means of a particular method, instrument, or process, you do it using that method, instrument, or process. This is a two year course taught by means of lectures and seminars. The trailer was connected to the car by means of a complicated system of hoses, pipes and rods. not by any means = by no means = by no manner of means You use expressions such as 'by no means', 'not by any means', and 'by no manner of means' to emphasize that something is not true. This is by no means out of the ordinary. They were not finished, however, not by any means. a means to an end 一种方式, 一种手段 If you say that something is a means to an end, you mean that it helps you to achieve what you want, although it may not be enjoyable or important itself. We seem to have lost sight of the fact that marketing is only a means to an end.) because I wasn't 18," Sam said to Joe in a message sent on Instagram. 5. The National Rifle Association (NRA 枪支协会) is accusing its longtime public relations firm of "fomenting" ( foment [fouˈment] If someone or something foments trouble or violent opposition, they cause it to develop. They accused strike leaders of fomenting violence.) an "executive coup" attempt, and the gun group is suing the agency for $40 million in damages, alleging a "total breach of contract" in the wake of what it calls "misleading, defamatory[dɪˈfæməˌtɔri]" leaks of confidential documents. The lawsuit, filed in Virginia state court on Wednesday, is the latest salvo ( [sælvoʊ] I. 一轮射击. A salvo is the firing of several guns or missiles at the same time in a battle or ceremony. They were to fire a salvo of blanks 打空枪, after the national anthem. II. A salvo of angry words is a lot of them spoken or written at about the same time. His testimony, however, was only one in a salvo of new attacks. ) in the battle between the NRA and Ackerman McQueen, which has long crafted 打造 the gun group's public image. The decades-long partnership began to sour last summer, in the wake of threats from regulators to challenge the NRA's nonprofit status. Scrambling to 着急的, 急着 get its finances in order, the NRA sought to audit Ackerman McQueen's books. When the agency stonewalled 不理会 instead of cooperating, the NRA sued for access to its financial records. This legal action precipitated 猝发, 触发, 导致 a power struggle at the NRA's annual convention in Indianapolis this April. LaPierre survived the leadership challenge and North was turned out as ( turn out 赶出去, 踢出去 to force someone to leave a place, especially their home Our landlord turned us out on the street. turn someone out of something: If they don't pay, they could be turned out of the house.) president. According to the legal complaint, "the conspiracy led by AMc had a malicious, singular purpose: to derail inquiries by the NRA into AMc's business and accounting practices." The litigation asserts that "escalating salvos" over access to financial records "culminated in an extortion threat delivered by an employee, Lt. Col. Oliver North" timed 掐准了时间, 卡着时间 to the NRA's annual convention. The NRA asserts that all of its controversial expenditures "were proper," and that the PR firm knew this "full well" because "it was deeply involved in their incurrence (incur If you incur something unpleasant, it happens to you because of something you have done. The government had also incurred huge debts. She falls in love and incurs the wrath of her father. ...the terrible damage incurred during the past decade. )." The counterclaim 反诉 sheds new light on the power struggle that has roiled ( roil Something that roils a state or situation makes it disturbed and confused. Times of national turmoil generally roil a country's financial markets. ) the gun world. And it helps explain why the NRA's outside counsel has been drawn into the firefight. NRA spokespeople like Dana Loesch routinely appear on TV in the aftermath of mass shootings to insist that the real enemy is the pernicious 毒害的 ( [pərnɪʃəs] adj If you describe something as pernicious, you mean that it is very harmful. I did what I could, but her mother's influence was pernicious. There is a pernicious 病态的, 有害的 culture of excellence: everything has to be not merely good but the best.) influence of the entertainment industry and that the solution is the sale of more guns, not fewer. The NRA's primary goal was to improve marksmanship 射击技术. In those early days, there was no strident ( [straɪdənt] I. [disapproval] 直截了当的, 毫不掩饰的. 不管不顾的. 毫无顾忌的, 不顾忌别人感受的. If you use strident to describe someone or the way they express themselves, you mean that they make their feelings or opinions known in a very strong way that perhaps makes people uncomfortable. ...the unnecessarily strident tone of the Prime Minister's remarks. Demands for his resignation have become more and more strident. He was arrested in 1984 on suspicion of being a spy–a charge he stridently denies. In the late 1920s the party began to adopt a more stridently nationalistic posture. II. If a voice or sound is strident, it is loud, harsh, and unpleasant to listen to. She tried to laugh, and the sound was harsh and strident. He could hear Hilton's strident voice rising in vehement argument with Houston. ) insistence on the Second Amendment guarantee of the right to bear arms. The NRA was simply concerned with training hunters to shoot and promoting responsible gun ownership. The US Army donated surplus rifles to their cause and the state of New York even funded the construction of their first rifle range at Creedmoor, Long Island. 6. If It Bleeds, It Leads: Understanding Fear-Based Media: News programming uses a hierarchy if it bleeds, it leads. Fear-based news programming has two aims. The first is to grab the viewer's attention. In the news media, this is called the teaser. The second aim is to persuade the viewer that the solution for reducing the identified fear will be in the news story. partial I. not complete. You use partial to refer to something that is not complete or whole. He managed to reach a partial agreement with both republics. ...a partial ban on the use of cars in the city. ...partial blindness. a partial withdrawal from enemy territory. a partial refund. II. [not usually before noun] supporting one person, group, or opinion more than any others when you should be fair to all those involved. Someone who is partial supports a particular person or thing, for example in a competition or dispute, instead of being completely fair. I might be accused of being partial. She is criticized by some others for her one-sidedness and partiality. It is important that historians are not partial. partial toward 偏向, 偏心: The referee was clearly partial toward the other side. be partial to 特别爱好, 特别喜欢, 偏好, 偏爱 to like something very much. He's partial to sporty women with blue eyes. [+ to] Mollie confesses she is rather partial to pink. I am partial to baking cookies. partiality [pɑːrʃiælɪti] He has a great partiality for chocolate biscuits. How can he drink Champagne when your mother is hardly cold 尸骨未寒? I think he's just really partial to that. I'm very partial to bacon and eggs. impartial 不偏不向的. 没有偏心的. According to most impartial observers, including the Bank of England, the International Monetary Fund, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a no-deal Brexit would deliver a crushing blow to the UK economy and more than likely tip it into a deep economic recession. The UK's global supply chains would be disrupted and both domestic and foreign investors would take flight over worries about Britain's diminished access to Europe's single market, which consumes around half of UK exports. at this (or that) rate 像这样的话, 老是这样的话, 这样下去的话 if matters continue in this or that way. used to say what will happen if things continue to happen in the same way as now. I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that. I'll never make a detective at this rate, will I. At this rate, we won't be home until midnight. At this rate we won’t ever be able to afford a holiday. "at this rate, I won't have a job to go back to". 7. To mete out 施加 (惩罚)
a punishment means to order that someone should be punished in a
certain way. to give or order a punishment or make someone receive cruel
or unfair treatment. To mete out a punishment 惩恶扬善, 伸张正义 means to order that someone should be punished in a certain way. This provided an illustrative example of how justice was meted out to the local population at the time. In the past, schoolteachers regularly meted out physical punishment to their pupils. His father meted out punishment with a slipper. Regarded as one of the most reserved and polite players in the England side, Ali admits the pressure of a first overseas Ashes series got to him but said the abuse meted out to him on the field took him aback. People say Shetland discovered that double agent and meted out their own brutal form of justice.
You can not wake a person who's pretending to be asleep. Don't reason with people who are unreasonable. You cannot reason people out of something they were not reasoned into = You cannot reason people out of a position that they did not reason themselves into. You can't reason with crazy, can't argue with stupid 宁和明白人吵架, 不和糊涂人说话. 宁和明白人吵场架, 不和糊涂人说句话. Stupid people try to bring you down to their level.
伊朗局势Is the United States heading for war with Iran?: There are two competing narratives [nærətɪv](I. A narrative is a story or an account of a series of events. ...a fast-moving narrative. Sloan began his narrative with the day of the murder. It's a moving narrative of wartime adventure. a first-person/third-person narrative. a gripping/compelling narrative. II. 描述. 叙述. 叙事. Narrative is the description of a series of events, usually in a novel. Neither author was very strong on narrative. ...Nye's simple narrative style. III. 说法. 说辞. a particular way of explaining or understanding events: There was pressure on academics to construct narratives of the period that were positive. Both sides in the conflict have a narrative of victimhood. the grand narratives of nation, race, and faith.). The first, which is favoured by US President Donald Trump's administration, is that Iran is up to no good. Preparations are said to have been seen for a potential attack on US targets, though few details have been revealed publicly. The US has moved reinforcements to the region; it is reducing its non-essential diplomatic personnel in Iraq; and it is reportedly dusting off war plans 作战计划. The message to Tehran is clear: any attack on a US target from whatever source, be it Iran or one of its many proxies or allies in the region, will be met by a significant military response. The second narrative lays the blame for this crisis squarely at Washington's door. Iran - not surprisingly - holds to this view 持这种观点, but so too do many domestic critics of the Trump administration's approach. Indeed, to varying degrees many of Mr Trump's key European allies share some of these concerns. According to this narrative, the "Iran hawks" in the Trump administration - people like National Security Adviser John Bolton, or Secretary of State Mike Pompeo - sense an opportunity. Their goal, this narrative argues, is regime change 政权更替 in Tehran. And if maximum economic pressure does not work then they believe, military action is not ruled out in the appropriate circumstances. These two narratives reflect different interpretations of the reality and, as so often, they play up certain facts 夸大事实 and ignore others to make their case( play up I. British if children play up or play someone up 作妖. 找事. 调皮捣蛋, they behave badly in a way that they think is funny. Patrick often plays up when he knows I'm in a hurry. I'm exhausted! The children have been really playing up this afternoon. II. [transitive] to try to persuade people to believe that something is more important than it is. If you play up something, you emphasize it and try to make people believe that it is important. The media played up the prospects for a settlement. His Japanese ancestry has been played up by some of his opponents. The newspapers have really played up the government's poor election results. III. [intransitive/transitive] to cause difficulties or pain for someone. If something such as a machine or a part of your body is playing up or is playing you up, it is causing problems because it is not working properly. The engine had been playing up. It was his back playing him up. The printer's playing up again. My back's been playing me up all day. play up to someone to behave in a very friendly or polite way to someone because you want them to like you or to do something for you. He took great pains to play up to Joan's mother.). But perceptions here matter just as much as reality. Indeed, in many ways they produce the reality. And that reality is that a conflict between the US and Iran - albeit by accident rather than design 意外还是故意 - is more likely today than at any time since Mr Trump took office. Tensions in the Middle East are certainly mounting. Iran, its economy suffering from the re-imposition of US sanctions that were lifted under a 2015 nuclear accord with world powers, is pushing back. It has warned that it may no longer abide by the restrictions on its nuclear activities. The arrival of Mr Trump was a turning point. The president pulled the US out of the nuclear deal a year ago and embarked upon a policy of maximum pressure against Tehran. Iran has had enough. It is pushing the Europeans to do more to help its ailing economy and threatening if they do not - and it is hard to see what they can do - it will go ahead and breach the nuclear deal. That would only give the Trump administration additional ammunition. Much now depends upon the dynamics inside the Trump administration and also on Tehran's assessment of what is going on there. The president himself has sought to play down the idea that his officials are divided regarding Iran, and reports indicate that he has little enthusiasm for war. His opposition to military entanglements abroad is well-known. However Mr Trump is unlikely to back down if US forces or facilities are attacked. However this is not necessarily the way things may be seen in Tehran. Might Iran think that it can play off ( play off if two or more teams or players who have the same number of points in a competition play off, they play a game or games to see who is the winner. The 16 finalists will play off to see who will win the championship. play someone off against someone 对立, 对台戏 (pit someone against someone) if you play two people off against each other, you try to cause an argument between them because you think that this will give you more power or control in a situation. ) Mr Bolton against his boss; raising tensions enough for the national security adviser's perceived designs to be revealed perhaps precipitating ( precipitate [prɪ'sɪpəteɪt] verb I. 导致. 触发. 促使, 促发 If something precipitates an event or situation, usually a bad one, it causes it to happen suddenly or sooner than normal. The recent killings have precipitated the worst crisis yet. A slight mistake could precipitate a disaster. Such headaches can be precipitated by certain foods as well as stress. II. [intransitive/transitive] chemistry if a solid substance precipitates, or if something precipitates it, it becomes separate from the liquid that it is in and drops to the bottom of the container. III. [intransitive] science to rain, snow, hail, etc. adj. [prɪ'sɪpətət] A precipitate action or decision 仓促决定, 仓促行为 happens or is made more quickly or suddenly than most people think is sensible. I don't think we should make precipitate decisions. Many of our current problems have been caused by precipitate policy making in the past. Somebody hired from another country is not likely to resign precipitately. He hurried precipitately away.) his downfall? If that is Tehran's assessment, then it is a high-risk strategy. While Washington's key Middle Eastern allies - Israel and Saudi Arabia - may be applauding from the sidelines, Mr Trump's European partners are uneasy at the way things are heading. Spain, Germany and the Netherlands have all taken steps to suspend military activities in the region alongside the Americans, citing the rising tensions. This is not the moment to rehearse what a conflict between Iran and the US would look like. But comparisons between such a conflict and the 2003 Iraq war are unhelpful. Iran is a very different proposition ( I. If you describe something such as a task or an activity as, for example, a difficult proposition or an attractive proposition, you mean that it is difficult or pleasant to do. Making easy money has always been an attractive proposition. Even among seasoned mountaineers this peak is considered quite a tough proposition. II. A proposition is a statement or an idea which people can consider or discuss to decide whether it is true. The proposition that democracies do not fight each other is based on a tiny historical sample. III. 提议. 提案. In the United States, a proposition is a question or statement about an issue of public policy which appears on a voting paper so that people can vote for or against it. I voted 'yes' on proposition 136, but 'no' on propositions 129, 133 and 134. IV. A proposition is an offer or a suggestion that someone makes to you, usually concerning some work or business that you might be able to do together. You came to see me at my office the other day with a business proposition. I want to make you a proposition. verb. If someone who you do not know very well propositions you, they suggest that you have sex with them. He had allegedly tried to proposition a colleague. ..unwanted sexual propositions. ) to Saddam Hussein's Iraq. A full-scale invasion of Iran is not going to be on the cards. Rather, this would be an air and maritime conflict with a huge dose of asymmetry in Iran's responses. It could set the whole region ablaze. There were those who predicted a major foreign policy catastrophe when Mr Trump took office. Instead, there is an unfolding and multi-dimensional crisis that has many elements and the Iran situation illustrates them all: an antipathy 敌意, 不喜欢 to international agreements; an over-reliance on regional allies with their own agendas to pursue; rising tensions with long-standing Nato partners; and, above all, an inability to determine and to prioritise Washington's real strategic interests. With the revival of great power competition, when the US is seeking to re-orientate its deployments and to bolster its armed forces to face a rising China and an emboldened Russia, where should Iran rate in Washington's strategic priorities? Does the Iran threat really merit a major conflict? Many US strategic pundits would say no. Many accept that containing Tehran and, yes, threatening severe reprisals if US interests are attacked, may be necessary. But the steady drumbeat towards war is not. And one thing should be clear. There is no "drift" towards war. That suggests an involuntary process that people can do little about. If there is a conflict then it will be down to conscious decision-making, to the calculations and miscalculations of the Iranians and the Americans themselves.
