用法学习: 1. 巴基斯坦 Diplomat's daughter beheaded for spurning proposal: spurn I. to refuse to accept someone's love or friendship. If you spurn someone or something, you reject them. He spurned the advice of management consultants. These gestures have been spurned. ...a spurned 拒爱 lover. II. to refuse to accept something, do something, or deal with something. Noor Muqaddam's murder by a man she knew in the same group of high society friends 富家子弟, 高官显贵们 had dominated headlines for months. It brought calls for an overhaul 全面审视 of Pakistan's criminal justice system, which has very low conviction rates, particularly for crimes against women. ruination [ˌruɪˈneɪʃ(ə)n] 摧毁 the destruction or loss of something, or the cause of destruction or loss. The ruination of someone or something is the act of ruining them or the process of being ruined. Money was the ruination of him. The clerics have brought ruination on our people. This action yesterday was just another level of crazy. It's a ruination of Russia for decades, so damaging for Ukraine and so costly all around. 2. primrose path [ˈprɪmˌroʊz] 毁灭之路, 自毁之路 (primrose 报春花) I. a pleasurable way of life. An easy and pleasant life; a self-indulgent or hedonistic life; such a life that leads to damnation. The West is leading Ukraine down the primrose path & the end result is Ukraine is going to get wrecked. II. A deceptively easy or appealing course of action that leads one astray or into error. III. The life of prostitution. Etymology: Coined by William Shakespeare in 1609 in "The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark," act 1, scene 3: Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads. bristle [ˈbrɪs(ə)l] verb. I. to be angry or offended about something. bristle at: If you bristle at something, you react to it angrily, and show this in your expression or the way you move. Ellis bristles at accusations that Berkeley's experiment is ill-conceived. He bristled at the suggestion that he was like his father. II. 炸毛. 汗毛倒竖. 汗毛倒立. 毛骨悚然. if an animal's fur bristles, it sticks up because the animal is angry or afraid. If the hair on a person's or animal's body bristles, it rises away from their skin because they are cold, frightened, or angry. It makes the hairs at the nape of the neck bristle. Cats yowl. My dog's hair bristles in response. Anne Considine bristles when people tell her, if their child was gay, it'd be "no big deal". She finds it diminishing ( diminish [dɪˈmɪnɪʃ] I. intransitive to become less. When something diminishes, or when something diminishes it, it becomes reduced in size, importance, or intensity. The threat of nuclear war has diminished. Federalism is intended to diminish the power of the central state. Universities are facing grave problems because of diminishing resources. This could mean diminished public support for the war. Her enthusiasm was by now fast diminishing. The intensity of the sound diminished gradually. II. transitive to make something become less. The delay may well have diminished the impact of their campaign. His reassurances did nothing to diminish her anxiety. III. transitive 说得不值一提似的, 大事化小的. 故意说小了. 贬低. 淡化 (downplay) to deliberately make someone or something seem less important than they really are. If you diminish someone or something, you talk about them or treat them in a way that makes them appear less important than they really are. He never put her down or diminished her. He could no longer cope; he relied on me, and felt diminished by it. I did not intend to diminish the importance of her work. trivialize ['triviElaiz]大事化小, 小事化了, 淡化, 轻视 ( [disapproval] If you say that someone trivializes something important, you disapprove of them because they make it seem less important, serious, and complex than it is. People continue to trivialize the world's environmental problems. The church also said allowing gxy marriage would trivialise the meaning and dignity of motherhood and fatherhood. All silly responses that help the trivialise comments. discount a. To leave out of account as being untrustworthy or exaggerated; disregard: discount a rumor. b. 低估 To underestimate the significance or effectiveness of; minimize: took care not to discount his wife's accomplishments. c. To regard with doubt or disbelief. I immediately tried to put the incident out of my mind, discounting it as an unfortunate happenstance不幸事件. ). "It's well meaning, but I feel it disrespects what my boys went through," she says. "As a mother, all I could think about at first was their mental health, discrimination, HIV, the party, alcohol and drug scene and the difficulty of finding a partner in a diminished dating pool. Anne Considine says that when her second son Anthony came out, it ultimately wasn't a huge stretch for her because she'd already "been through the process" with Chris. But she admits she experienced a kind of grief: "Purely selfishly, I'd always envisaged grandchildren. Those odds immediately reduced. envisage 憧憬, 向往 [ɪnˈvɪzɪdʒ] If you envisage something, you imagine that it is true, real, or likely to happen. He envisages the possibility of establishing direct diplomatic relations in the future. He had never envisaged spending the whole of his working life in that particular job. Personally, I envisage them staying together." bristle with something to have a lot of something. If you say that a place or thing bristles with people or with other things, you are emphasizing that it contains a great number of them. The country bristles with armed groups. The idea fairly bristles with controversy. Their vocabulary bristles fashionably with talk of federalism. The project was bristling with difficulties. a rooftop bristling with antennas. noun. I. 鬃毛. Bristles are the short hairs that grow on someone's body, especially after they have shaved. The hairs on the top of the head can also be called bristles when they are cut very short. ...two days' growth of bristles. He rubbed his hands over the soft bristles of his crew cut. II. The bristles of a brush are the thick hairs or hair-like pieces of plastic which are attached to it. As soon as the bristles on your toothbrush begin to wear, throw it out. III. Bristles are thick, strong animal hairs that feel hard and rough. It has a short stumpy tail covered with bristles. 3. blowback 负面效果, 负面结果 negative reactions or results that were not intended, such as criticism, protest, or anger: If he tried to control immigration, there would be blowback from farmers who could not get workers to pick produce. blowout I. [informal] A blowout is a large meal, often a celebration with family or friends, at which people may eat too much. Once in a while we had a major blowout. II. If you have a blowout while you are driving a car, one of the tyres suddenly bursts. A lorry travelling south had a blow-out and crashed. III. [Australian, journalism] A blowout in an amount or a price is a sudden increase in it. ...a blowout in surgery costs. ...a blow-out in the balance of payments. dictatorial [ˌdɪktəˈtɔːriəl] adj. I. Dictatorial means controlled or used by a dictator. He suspended the constitution and assumed dictatorial powers. II. [disapproval] If you describe someone's behaviour as dictatorial 独裁似的, you do not like the fact that they tell people what to do in a forceful and unfair way. If you are too strict with them, your children will see you as dictatorial. ...his dictatorial management style. dictation I. 听写. Dictation is the speaking or reading aloud of words for someone else to write down. the act of saying something that someone else then writes or types for you, for example a letter. Jane is taking dictation in Ms Gordon’s office. ...taking dictation from the dean of the Faculty. He had had an arm amputated and relied on her to take down his books from dictation. a. the activity in which a teacher reads something to students that they write down in order to see how well they understand and write a language My worst mark was in French dictation. II. Dictation is the giving of orders in a forceful and commanding way. She was unwilling to accept dictation from anyone. dictate verb. I. If you dictate something, you say or read it aloud for someone else to write down. Sheldon writes every day of the week, dictating his novels in the morning. Everything he dictated was signed and sent out the same day. II. If someone dictates to someone else, they tell them what they should do or can do. We don't want to dictate to anyone how to live their lives. What right has one country to dictate the environmental standards of another? He cannot be allowed to dictate what can and cannot be inspected. What gives them the right to dictate to us what we should eat? The officers were more or less able to dictate terms to successive governments. The rules of court dictate that a defendant is entitled to all evidence which may help his case. III. If one thing dictates another, the first thing causes or influences the second thing. The film's budget dictated a tough schedule. The way in which they dress is dictated by very rigid fashion rules. Of course, a number of factors will dictate how long an apple tree can survive. Circumstances dictated that they played a defensive rather than attacking game. IV. You say that reason or common sense dictates that a particular thing is the case when you believe strongly that it is the case and that reason or common sense will cause other people to agree. Commonsense now dictates that it would be wise to sell a few shares. noun. I. A dictate is an order which you have to obey. Their job is to ensure that the dictates of the Party are followed. II. Dictates are principles or rules which you consider to be extremely important. We have followed the dictates of our consciences and have done our duty. 4. repel verb I. When an army repels an attack 挫败进攻, 击退进攻, 打退, they successfully fight and drive back soldiers from another army who have attacked them. to force someone who is attacking to move back or to stop attacking. Using water cannons and tear gas, police repelled protesters outside the U.S. embassy. They have fifty thousand troops along the border ready to repel any attack. We stand with the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people in their heroic efforts to resist 抗争, 抵抗侵略 Russia's invasion. II. When a magnetic pole repels another magnetic pole, it gives out a force that pushes the other pole away. You can also say that two magnetic poles repel each other or that they repel 互斥, 排斥. Like poles repel, unlike poles attract. As these electrons are negatively charged they will attempt to repel each other. III. if something repels you, you think that it is extremely unpleasant and you want to avoid it. If something repels you, you find it horrible and disgusting. ...a violent excitement that frightened and repelled her. She was very striking but in some way I felt repelled. a. to keep something away, or to prevent it from entering something. The wheat is genetically engineered to repel insects. boots that have been specially treated to repel驱赶 moisture. b. to be unwilling to accept something a very private woman, who unconsciously repelled any attempts at intimacy. 5. TBBT: Raj: Hang on a sec. Why do you get first crack at her? Howard: Um, well, let's see, couple reasons. One, I saw her first. Raj: No, you didn't. I did. Howard: Fair enough. But then let me move on to number two, unlike you, I can actually talk to women when I'm sober. Raj: You fail to take into account that even mute 哑巴, 不能讲话, I am foreign and exotic, while you, on the other hand, are frail and pasty. Howard: Well, you know the old saying, pasty and frail never fail. Leonard: Excuse me, but what about me? Why don't I get a shot? Howard: Fine, go ahead. Take a shot. Leonard: You know, I've already got a gorgeous blonde back home at I can't score with 追不到手, 搞不到手( score with (someone or something) I. To make straight cuts or incisions (into some surface) with the use of some tool. You'll want to score the fat of the duck with a sharp blade, as it will make rendering the fat much easier. First we have to score the sheet with this glass cutter so that it creates a clean, even break. II. To gain or achieve acclaim, praise, appreciation, or credit with someone or some group. The government is aiming to score with environmental groups with its newest policy. You scored major brownie points with my parents for all the work you did around their back yard. brownie point informal humorous an imaginary award given to someone who does good deeds or attempts to please. If someone does something to score brownie points, they do it because they think they will be praised for it. "his policy will win brownie points with voters". III. slang To engage in sexual activity with someone. A: "I heard you scored with Dave last night! How was it?" B: "Oh my god, Mary, that's none of your business!" He's more interested in trying to score with chicks when we go out than he is with actually spending time with his friends. score I. to succeed in an activity or to achieve something: She has certainly scored (a success) with her latest novel. Nearly every bomb scored a hit. You have a lot of patience - that's where you score over (= are better than) your opponents. II. to get something: I managed to score a couple of tickets to the World Cup final. III. to get illegal drugs: She tried to score some dope in a nightclub. IV. to have sex with someone that you have usually just met: Did you score last night, then? ). I think I'll let you two take this one. 6. soundly I. If someone is soundly defeated or beaten, they are severely defeated or beaten. Duke was soundly defeated 输得很惨 in this month's Louisiana governor's race. Zelensky, 44, was a comedian and actor before soundly defeating former President Petro Poroshenko with more than 70% of the vote in 2019. II. If a decision, opinion, or statement is soundly based, there are sensible or reliable reasons behind it. Are today's hopes more soundly based than the false ones of 1990? Changes must be soundly based in economic reality. III. If you sleep soundly, you sleep deeply and do not wake during your sleep. How can he sleep soundly at night? She was too soundly asleep to hear Stefano's return. props [prɒps] 致敬 noun INFORMAL due respect. "certain sectors of the music fraternity still refuse to give him props". (nuff = enough) props to someone used to praise someone for something they have done Nuff props to the crew for a fantastic gig! kudos 认可, 敬仰 the public admiration that a person receives as a result of a particular achievement or position in society: Being an actor has a certain amount of kudos attached to it. Kudos is admiration or recognition that someone or something gets as a result of a particular action or achievement. ...a new hotel chain that has won kudos for the way it treats guests. scab 草草完成, 曹就 I. to do something for the sake of completing it; to get something covered, but barely. She scabbed the project due in the morning. He didn’t study for the history test, so he ended up scabbing the essay. II. UK, Australia, New Zealand, informal To beg (for), to cadge or bum. I scabbed some money off a friend. I'm the scab 白要. 白吃白占 I scab everything. measured 小心的, 当心的, 步步当心的 slow, careful, and deliberate. You use measured to describe something that is careful and deliberate. The men spoke in soft, measured tones. Her more measured response will appeal to voters. They have to proceed at a measured pace. We are taking a careful and measured approach to the problem. You were very measured 不莽撞的, 心里有数的 when you played the game. kick/stick the boot in 落井下石, 致命一击 (deliver the blow) to criticize or unfairly attack someone who is already in a difficult position That’s just like him to put the boot in when I'm down. to kick someone hard, especially when they are on the ground. a kick/boot in the/your backside = UK very informal a boot/kick up the/your backside 踢一脚, 在屁股上踢一脚, 踢屁股 the act of telling someone forcefully to start doing something more quickly or actively: She's so lazy - she needs a good kick in the backside. 7. TBBT: Howard: So here's my question, do you realistically 实事求是的说 see any conversational path that would take me from where we are right now to a place where I could ask you out and you'd say yes? Summer: No. TBBT: Sheldon: Your questionnaire, very disappointing. Leonard: I answered every question Sheldon. Sheldon: You answered the multiple choice questions 选择题 in a pattern. A B B A C. A B B A C. Leonard: Aw, you picked up on that 看出来, 被你看到, 注意到 huh? Sheldon: How could I not? Leonard: Come on! There's over 200 questions. And look at some of these things. Sheldon is to camaraderie, as the space shuttle is to blank? Sheldon: There are a number of acceptable answers, for example, C: near earth transport, but certainly not B: avocado rancher. And your essay, suggesting that I'd have better luck making friends if I wait 'til the Cylons take over? Please. Leonard: Hold on. I put some real work into that! Sheldon: Yes, well it's better than what Wolowitz did. He drew a raccoon with what appears to be, a distended ( [dɪˈstendəd] swollen. ) scrotum. Leonard: It's kinda cute, until you get to the scrotum. Sheldon: What hope do I have for establishing new relationships given that my current friends apparently cannot take a few hours out of their lives to help me? Leonard: Sheldon, I'm not going to defend a big-balled raccoon. Sheldon: I don't see how you could. Leonard: What I'm trying to say is that, maybe you can't approach this as a purely intellectual exercise. Sheldon: What do you mean!? Leonard: Well, remember when you tried to learn how to swim using the internet? Sheldon: I did learn how to swim. Leonard: On the floor. Sheldon: The skills are transferrable. I just have no interest in going in the water. Leonard: Then why learn how to swim? Sheldon: The ice caps are melting Leonard. In the future, swimming isn't going to be optional. But you do bring up an interesting point. I don't have to break new ground 开发新领域 here( break new ground to do something that has not been done before. If you break new ground, you do something completely different or you do something in a completely different way. ), I'm sure much of the research already exists. Leonard: No! no, my point is, if you want to learn how to make friends, then just go out to a coffee shop or a museum. Meet people. Talk to them. Take an interest in their lives. Sheldon: That's insane on the face of it 听上去, 看起来, 听起来( You say on the face of it when you are describing how something seems when it is first considered, in order to suggest that people's opinion may change when they know or think more about the subject. On the face of it that seems to make sense. But the figures don't add up. It is, on the face of it, a difficult point to grasp. ). Come on. Leonard: Where are we going? Sheldon: You're driving me to the mall. I'm going to acquire a book that summarizes the current theories in the field of friendmaking. Leonard: Why don't you just lie down on the floor and swim there? TBBT: Penny: Look, look, look! I started a business. Sheldon: Obviously, not a cleaning business. Penny: No, I'm making flower barrettes ( barrette [bəˈret] 发卡 a slide that a woman wears in her hair. A barrette (American English), also known as a hair slide (British English), or a hair clip (bobbie pin 是黑色的两根棍的老式卡子), is a clasp for holding hair in place. They are often made from metal or plastic and sometimes feature decorative fabric. In one type of barrette, a clasp is used to secure the barrette in place; the clasp opens when the two metal pieces at either side are pressed together. ). See? I call them Penny Blossoms. I made one for myself, then all the girls at work wanted one. Then I showed some to this lady who runs a shop in Old Town. She sells cards and homemade jewellery. She said she wanted to sell them. I said okay, and in one week, I made a $156. Leonard: Wait, what's going on? Sheldon: I assume you're referring to 说的是, 是指 the sea shanty. It's a rhythmic work song designed to increase productivity. Penny: Yeah, it's crazy, but it totally works. Look, we made this Penny Blossom in under three minutes. Leonard: Terrific, but that kind of raises more questions than it answers. Sheldon: Penny's making hair accessories 头发饰品. I'm helping her optimize her manufacturing process. TBBT: Sheldon: Coping with the death of a loved one. My condolences. Woman in queue: Thank you. Sheldon: Family or friend? Woman: Family. Sheldon: Too bad. If it'd been a friend, I'm available to fill the void. (Woman moves away) It's just as well 正好啦, 正好呢. 正合我意. 也是一样啦, 没差, 无所谓啦, 我不在乎, 我不当回事, 对我也没差 ( a good or fortunate thing. used for saying that a situation or result is good, even though it is not what you planned or expected. If you say that something that has happened is just as well, you mean that it is fortunate that it happened in the way it did. Blue asbestos is far less common than white, which is just as well because it's more dangerous. Judging from everything you've said, it was just as well she wasn't there. We cancelled the trip, which was just as well, because it rained. "it was just as well I didn't know at the time"), she smelled like moth balls. Leonard: Okay, if you're gonna start sniffing people, I'm gonna go get a hot pretzel. TBBT: Penny: What is this? Sheldon: It's a questionnaire I devised 设计的. I'm having some difficulty bonding with a colleague at work, so I'm doing a little research to better understand why my current friends like me. Penny: Yes. Well, that is a good question. But is this really the best way to figure it out? Sheldon: Yeah, I agree, the social sciences are largely hokum ( [ˈhoʊkəm] I. false things that someone says to impress people. II. nonsense. Thelma and Louise could not have blown up the rude trucker's tanker by merely shooting holes into it with a handgun, this is pure Hollywood hokum. ). But, short of 除了 putting electrodes in your brain and monitoring your response to my companionship, this is the best I can do. Penny: Okay, question 1. Rank the following aspects of Sheldon Cooper in order of appeal. Intelligence. Ruthless attention to hygiene. Playfulness. Java applet writing? Sheldon: I know, I may have started off with a fairly obvious one. You did an aspect of my most appealing trait, playfulness. Why don't you just go ahead and write that number 1. I'm afraid you're on your own for the rest. It should take you no more than 3 hours. Penny: Wait! How many questions are on this thing? Sheldon: Only 211. Don't worry, in deference to ( in deference to [ˈdef(ə)rəns] out of regard or respect for (a person or the person's position or wishes). ) you, I've kept them on a high school graduate reading level. Penny: Thanks pal. Sheldon: You got it, buddy. Penny: Sheldon honey, did you ever consider making friends by being, I don't know, pleasant? Sheldon: Well that's certainly a thought-provoking hypothesis. May I suggest it as the topic for your essay. TBBT: Sheldon: Of course, but before we set up a marketing and distribution infrastructure, we should finish optimizing the manufacturing process. To start with, she has a terrible problem with moisture-induced glitter clump ( noun. I. A clump of things such as trees or plants is a small group of them growing together. ...a clump of trees bordering a side road. ...a sweetly scented perennial that grows in clumps 丛生. II. A clump of things such as wires or hair is a group of them collected together in one place. I was combing my hair and it was just falling out in clumps 一把一把的. verb. I. If someone clumps somewhere, they walk there with heavy, clumsy steps. They went clumping up the stairs. Men in big construction boots were clumping in and out with plans in their hands. II. If things clump together, they gather together and form small groups or lumps. Brown rice takes longer to cook but it doesn't clump together as easily as white rice. ). Penny: Yeah, it's a bitch. Howard: Uh, I've seen this before. Leonard: Where? Howard: It's a common stripper problem. They dance, they sweat, they clump. TBBT: Penny: Wait, wait, wait, why does it say one-day rush? Since when do we offer a one-day rush? Leonard: Amazon offers one-day rush. Penny: Yeah, but they don't have to glue the books together. How the hell are we going to make a thousand Penny Blossoms in one day? Leonard: Don't yell at me. I'm not manufacturing. I'm just Web design. Penny: Okay, well, I'm gonna have to call them and cancel the order. Sheldon: Excuse me, but was this not your goal? Financial independence through entrepreneurial brilliance and innovation? My brilliance and innovation, of course, but still. Penny: I just don't see how we can pull this off. Sheldon: Okay, that, right there, that equivocation ( equivocate [ɪˈkwɪvəˌkeɪt] 逃避, 躲避, 含糊其辞 to avoid making a clear statement by saying something that has more than one possible meaning. When someone equivocates, they deliberately use vague language in order to deceive people or to avoid speaking the truth. He is equivocating a lot about what is going to happen if and when there are elections. He had asked her once again about her finances. And again she had equivocated. Why doesn't the President say so without equivocation? ) and self-doubt, that is not the American spirit. Did Davy Crockett quit at the Alamo? Did Jim Bowie? Howard: They didn't quit. They were massacred by, like, a gazillion angry Mexicans. Sheldon: Alright, let me put it this way. Your gross receipts on this one order will be over $3,000 for one night's work. Penny: You guys get started. Leonard: What are you doing? Penny: Going online to buy shoes! TBBT: Leonard: How are we doing? Raj: We have 128 assorted Penny Blossoms ready to ship. Howard: Oh, God, we're never gonna finish in time. Who made Sheldon the boss anyway? Sheldon: I believe I'm hearing some negativity ( 消极怠工. [ˌneɡəˈtɪvəti] the attitude of someone who always sees the bad aspects of a situation. negativity bias the tendency of human beings not only to register negative stimuli more readily but also to dwell on these events. A new book reveals how the negativity bias operates in our lives and what we can do about it. The negativity bias can even cause you to dwell on something negative even if something positive is equally or more present.) on the factory floor. Penny: So? Sheldon: Penny, the labour force is a living organism that must be carefully nurtured. Any counterproductive 影响生产力的 grumbling must be skilfully headed off by management. Observe. Hey! Less talk, more work!
想暖和点的话: turn down the air-conditioning = turn up the temperature (thermostat, heater) = turn down the fan = turn up the heat. I pulled him up on that 指出来了, 说出来了, when he got it wrong. If you turn up an air conditioner, the temperature would drop (it would get colder). If you turn down an air conditioner, it's because you think the room is too cold. On the other hand, if you turn up a thermostat or a heater, it's because you want to be warmer. If you turn it down, you want to "turn the head down." We are sure about heating. 'Turn up the heat' means to make the room warmer, while 'turn down the heat' means to make it cooler. In this case, both the temperature and the thermostat are going in the same direction, up or down.
A pergola 后院搭的凉棚 is an outdoor garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway, or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars 立柱 that usually support cross-beams 横梁 and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are trained 藤缠树, 攀爬, 爬满( train noun. I. A train of vehicles, people, or animals is a long line of them travelling slowly in the same direction. In the old days this used to be done with a baggage train of camels. ...a long train of oil tankers. II. A train of thought or a train of events 一连串的 is a connected sequence, in which each thought or event seems to occur naturally or logically as a result of the previous one. He lost his train of thought for a moment, then recovered it. Giles set in motion a train of events which would culminate in tragedy. in its train 后续的 If something brings problems or difficulties in its train 带来无穷无尽的麻烦, 惹无穷尽的祸, the problems or difficulties occur as a natural or logical result of it. The cars have brought in their train 后续的 a host of 一连串的 other problems. in train = in motion in US If a process or event is in train or has been set in train, it is happening or starting to happen. In a moment the ceremony was in train. He praised the economic reforms set in train by the government. verb. I. To train a natural quality or talent that someone has, for example their voice or musical ability, means to help them to develop it. I see my degree as something which will train my mind and improve my chances of getting a job. Some children come to school with more finely trained perceptual skills than others. II. If an animal or bird is trained to do particular things, it is taught to do them, for example in order to be able to work for someone or to be a good pet. Sniffer dogs could be trained to track them down. ...a man who trained hundreds of dogs. She had brought her trained sheepdog to help in the rescue. The horse made a winning start for his new trainer. III. If you train something such as a gun, a camera, or a light 对准, 瞄准, 对着 on a person or thing, you aim it at them and keep it towards them. She trained her binoculars on the horizon. Police cameras had been specifically trained on that area. IV. If you train a tree, bush, or plant in a particular direction, you tie it and cut it so that it grows in that direction. Instead of training the shoots up the fence, lay them flat in both directions alongside it. You could even put a trellis on your walls and train plants to grow up it. ). The origin of the word is the Late Latin pergula, referring to a projecting eave. As a type of gazebo, it also may be an extension of a building or serve as protection for an open terrace or a link between pavilions. They are different from green tunnels, with a green tunnel being a type of road under a canopy of trees. Pergolas are sometimes confused with "arbors," as the terms are used interchangeably. Generally, an "arbor" is regarded as wooden bench seats with a roof, usually enclosed by lattice panels forming a framework for climbing plants; in evangelical Christianity, brush arbor revivals occur under such structures. A pergola, on the other hand, is a much larger and more open structure. Normally, a pergola does not include integral 自带的 seating.
Russia's Ukraine invasion is not just about borders or power. For Putin, it's about identity: This is the sort of war the West does not know how to fight. It is not just about territory, or borders, or resources, or power. It is existential ( [ˌeɡzɪˈstenʃ(ə)l] I. an existential danger threatens the very existence of something. You use existential to describe fear, anxiety, and other feelings that are caused by thinking about human existence and death. 'What if there's nothing left at all?' he cries, lost in some intense existential angst. The existential threat of climate change has given rise to many new security worries. Europe is in the midst of an existential crisis, but it cannot and will not fail. II. relating to human existence and experience. Existential questions requiring religious answers still persist. existential angst/despair. ) — it is about identity. Vladimir Putin has made it clear Ukraine is part of the soul of Russia. And he is prepared to crush the souls of Ukrainians to achieve his ends. Yes, Putin has made security demands, he wants the West out of what he sees as Russia's sphere of influence 势力范围. He wants a cast-iron guarantee Ukraine can never join NATO. But it is the "why" that is more important than the "what" here. Why? Because to Putin, there is no Ukraine without Russia. They are one. Putin said so: there is no Ukrainian sovereignty. Putin sees Ukraine as Russian land essential to Putin's idea of Russkiy Mir (Russian World). It is about Russian language, culture; it is blood and soil. It is mythological. Russkiy Mir is holy; central is Russian orthodox faith. To Russian nationalists like Putin, Ukraine's capital Kyiv is the mother of all Russian cities. This is why Putin famously called the collapse of the Soviet Union "the greatest geo-political catastrophe of the twentieth century". It is oft repeated, not as often understood. Putin doesn't want communism back, he wants Russia back. The catastrophe wasn't the collapse of Marxist-Leninism, it was the suffering of the people. Russian-speaking Slavic people were cut adrift 漂泊异乡 — as Putin sees it — from mother Russia. Why can't the West fight this? Because the West doesn't even understand it. The West is meant to be a place beyond identity. This is everything the West is not. The modern West grew out of Reformation and Enlightenment. It was about liberation. In the West we change citizenship, we move countries, we swap or abandon religions. Pluralism and multiculturalism have been hallmarks of progress. We celebrate diversity as a strength. But the success of the West poses harder and harder questions. Liberal democracy is staggering 步履维艰, 步履艰难 under the weight 重压之下 of growing inequality, contested rights and political tribalism ( Tribalism 派系纷争 is the state of being organized by, or advocating for, tribes or tribal lifestyles. Human evolution has primarily occurred in small hunter-gatherer groups, as opposed to in larger and more recently settled agricultural societies or civilizations. With a negative connotation and in a political context, tribalism can also mean discriminatory behavior or attitudes towards out-groups, based on in-group loyalty. ). What binds us? We appear ever rootless, not rooted. Not everyone, of course. Roots matter to some, but liberal democracy can leave us unmoored: it hollows out 挖空, 掏空 our communities, it mocks tradition, banishes faith from the public square 公共场合. Liberalism elevates the individual to the point of alienation. The scholar, Patrick Deneen, charted this decline in his book, Why Liberalism Failed. It has lost its moral and political core, he argues: "Today's widespread yearning for a strong leader, one with the will to take back popular control over liberalism's forms of bureaucratized government and globalized economy, comes after decades of liberal dismantling of cultural norms and political habits essential to self-governance." The modern West is less village square than city centre. Yes, there are "somewheres", as the British writer David Goodhart put it, but inexorably ( inexorable [ɪnˈeksərəb(ə)l] 避无可避的, 不能停止的, 无可避免的 impossible to stop the inexorable growth of multinational companies. You use inexorable to describe a process which cannot be prevented from continuing or progressing. ...the seemingly inexorable rise in unemployment. ...his steady, inexorable decline. Spending on health is growing inexorably. The crisis is moving inexorably towards war. ) we seem to be on a journey to "anywhere". This is a demographic, economic and cultural fault line ( I. 裂缝. A fault line is a long crack in the surface of the earth. a crack on the Earth’s surface where layers of rock have become separated from the main layer of rock and where earthquakes sometimes happen. Earthquakes usually occur along fault lines. II. A fault line in a system or process is an area of it that seems weak and likely to cause problems or failure. These issues have created a stark fault line within the Peace Process. ) that runs through the liberal pluralist West and it is increasingly political. It is a battle over what the West is, and who is prepared to defend it. It cuts across religious freedom, LGTBQI rights, race, gender and class. It divides the rural from the urban. And Vladimir Putin sees it as a weakness. He has castigated ( castigate [ˈkæstɪˌɡeɪt] 批评, 指责 to criticize someone or something severely. If you castigate someone or something, you speak to them angrily or criticize them severely. Marx never lost an opportunity to castigate colonialism. She castigated him for having no intellectual interests. ...Bradley's public castigation of the police chief. He was castigated as a racist by his opponents. ) the West for its culture wars and its corrosive identity politics. Meanwhile, Putin himself plays identity writ large ( writ large 再明显不过的 I. If you say that something is writ large, you mean that it is very obvious. clear to almost anyone Surprise was writ large on her face. Musicals' successes or failures are writ large because of the money involved. II. in a stark or exaggerated form. "bribing people by way of tax allowances is the paternalistic state writ large". paternalism [pəˈtɜrn(ə)lˌɪzəm] a system in which someone in authority advises and helps people but also controls them by not letting them make their own decisions and choices. Someone who is paternalistic 家长式的 takes all the decisions for the people they govern, employ, or are responsible for. The doctor is being paternalistic. He's deciding what information the patient needs to know. ). He plays it hard. When it comes to national identity, when it comes to Russian civilisation, Putin shows none of the self-doubt he sees in the West. Putin is a product of our age. As globalisation has continued apace 快速地 ( [əˈpeɪs] very quickly. If something develops or continues apace, it is developing or continuing quickly. Land reclamation continues apace The plan is proceeding apace, with another 13 superstores opening this year. ), there has been a blowback, a return to borders, tradition, religion, race. The return of the tribe. And it has set the world ablaze. The Nobel prize winning economist Amartya Sen best summed this up with his phrase "solitarist identity". He means that our world turns toxic when we are reduced to one essential thing: our race or our religion or our nation. Then, we fail to see ourselves in each other. This, Sen says, is where identity meets violence. Solitarist identity, he says, "kills and kills with abandon". The West has been dragged into the wars of identity. Think of the last few decades. The ethnic cleansing of Rwanda, the conflict in the Balkans and the break-up 解体 of the old Yugoslavia; the blood feud of Shia versus Sunni Muslim, Hindu against Muslim, the persecution of Rohingya in Myanmar. "Who are you?" is the most dangerous question in the world. These are wars never won. After two decades in Afghanistan, the US fled, leaving the Taliban to return to a country lacerated by identity conflict. The West's War on Terror has not quelled the lure of radical Islam. A new generation of Muslims raised in the West, angry and disillusioned, have swelled the ranks of Al Qaeda and ISIS ( swell the ranks/numbers of something increase the number of people in a particular situation. Soldiers leave the army, only to end up swelling the ranks of the homeless. Large numbers of refugees have swollen the ranks of the unemployed. swell with pride/anger etc 满溢, 爆棚, 爆表 to feel very proud, angry etc His heart swelled with pride as he watched his daughter collect her prize.). The French philosopher Jacques Derrida spoke of those "who have bread of apocalypse in their mouths": those filled with vengeance and grievance( vengeance [ˈvendʒəns] the act of harming or killing someone because they have done something bad to you. He swore vengeance on everyone involved in the murder. She cried aloud to the gods for vengeance for the loss of her daughter. Both sides were locked in a cycle of violence and vengeance. take/wreak/inflict vengeance on someone: He was desperate to take vengeance on Marie's killer. Verbs: take vengeance on someone: exact, take, wreak. She escapes and wreaks terrible vengeance on the perpetrators of this crime. promise or want to take vengeance: seek, swear, vow, want. He seeks vengeance against the family who killed his father. with a vengeance 汹涌的, 气势汹汹的, 势不可挡的 used for emphasizing that something happens in an extreme way or with a lot of force. The disease came back with a vengeance. grievance [ˈɡrivəns] I. countable a complaint about being treated in an unfair way. If you have a grievance about something that has happened or been done, you believe that it was unfair. They had a legitimate grievance. The main grievance of the drivers is the imposition of higher fees for driving licences. ...a deep sense of grievance. Managers were presented with a long list of grievances. have a grievance: People know who to go to if they have a grievance. II. countable/ uncountable a feeling that you have been treated in an unfair way. nurse a grievance: For years he nursed a grievance against his former employer. grievance procedure a formal series of actions that an employee has to go through when they want to complain officially about the way that they have been treated at work. ), haunted by the past who see only unending catastrophe. Western modernity holds no allure 诱惑力, 吸引力 ( [əˈlʊr] a special, exciting, and attractive quality that someone or something has. The allure of something or someone is the pleasing or exciting quality that they have. It's a game that has really lost its allure. sexual allure. allure of: the allure of gambling. ) for them. Putin has Derrida's "bread of apocalypse" in his mouth. He has unleashed a war of identity on Ukraine to stop its drift to the West, break its will, and in no small part to exact revenge on Western nations he believes have humiliated Russia. Michel Eltchaninoff, the author of the book, Inside the Mind of Vladimir Putin, says vengeance explains much of his crackdown against dissidents inside Russia and his attacks on enemies outside Russia. After two decades in power, Eltchaninoff says, Putin was about "revenge — against those protesting his return to power and against the West". As the West has battled the wars of identity abroad, those same battles have exploded within the West itself. Nations like America face foes without and within 内外 内部, 外部. The most powerful country in the world is a nation unsure of itself. Certainly, it is unprepared at this point to fight Putin in Ukraine, and looking to redeem and rejuvenate a sense of its own identity. America was always an idea; as Abraham Lincoln said, a nation "dedicated" to a "proposition". But the idea of "out of many one people" struggles to speak to the souls of those who seek only the one. And watching this is Xi Jinping. The Chinese leader believes this is his time. His China Dream is within reach. He believes in one people, one China, one identity. He has Taiwan in his sights. Potentially the mother of all identity wars.
