口语用法: 1. fancy: a. fancy 指高级的. fancy car, fancy-ass car. 但是 fancy dress指cosplay的衣服. fancy dress party. b. fancy someone指喜欢某人, 多某人有意思. 在一起以后就不能这么用了. I fancy you, can I have your number? c. fancy something or action是想要. fancy a drink? I fancy pizza指我现在想吃pizza. d. 认为会发生. Do you think China will win world cup this time? No, I fancy England. I fancy my chances of convincing you to like this video. 问价钱: How much does that come to? How much do I owe you? How much is that? How much for the food? 2. 很多皱折的, 皱巴巴的: your TShirt is very creased 皱皱巴巴的. 前后穿反: Your T Shirt is on back to front. back to front 前后反了, 前后颠倒了 (美国用backward): with the back part of something where the front should be: You've put your jumper on back to front. He was wearing his hat back to front. Do not hold the machine back to front and always use the safety guard. The building was back to front, with the main entrance at the rear. She was sitting back to front on a wooden chair. If you are wearing something back to front, you are wearing it with the back of it at the front of your body. If you do something back to front, you do it the wrong way around, starting with the part that should come last. He wears his baseball cap back to front. The picture was printed back to front. backward [bækwərd] adj. I. A backward movement or look is in the direction that your back is facing. Some people use backwards for this meaning. He did a fantastic backward somersault. She left the room without a backward glance. He turned and walked out without a backward glance 向后的. He did a backward flip. II. If someone takes a backward step, they do something that does not change or improve their situation, but causes them to go back a stage. He didn't want to take a backward step at this point in his career. III. A backward country or society 落后的 does not have modern industries and machines. When he was a child, his teachers thought he was backward (= unable to learn as much as most children). People still think of it as a backward country/region/area (= one without industry or modern machines). We need to accelerate the pace of change in our backward country. I was astonished at the backwardness of our country at the time. IV. [offensive] A backward child 学习困难的, 迟钝的, 脑子不好使的, 滞后的 has difficulty in learning. I was slow to walk and talk and my parents thought I was backward. V. not doing something immediately or quickly, because you are nervous or not certain about it: I usually find that my partner is not backward 毫不犹豫的 in suggesting different options. be backward in coming forward 躲躲藏藏的, 犹抱琵琶半遮面, 羞于表达意见, 羞羞答答的, 沉默寡言, 不爱说话 UK shy; reluctant to share one's views. To be reluctant or hesitant to voice one's opinion. to be shy and not often express wishes or opinions: I should have known that Josh would criticize my entire paper—he's not backward in coming forward. Patty tends to be backward in coming forward, so I don't think she'll say anything tonight. I'm sure Matt will tell you what he thinks of the idea - he's not usually backward in coming forward. without (so much as) a backward glance 毫无留恋的, 看都不多看一眼 If you leave without a backward glance, you are completely happy to leave and have no sad feelings about it: She left the city where she had lived all her life without a backward glance. backwards adv In American English, backward is usually used as an adverb instead of backwards. Backward is also sometimes used in this way in formal British English. I. If you move or look backwards, you move or look in the direction that your back is facing. The diver flipped over backwards into the water. He took two steps backward. Bess glanced backwards. Keeping your back straight, swing one leg backwards. Without so much as a backwards glance, he steered her towards the car. II. If you do something backwards, you do it in the opposite way to the usual way. He works backwards, building a house from the top downwards. III. You use backwards to indicate that something changes or develops in a way that is not an improvement, but is a return to old ideas or methods. Greater government intervention in businesses would represent a step backwards. ...the blaming that keeps us looking backward. backwards and forwards If someone or something moves backwards and forwards, they move repeatedly first in one direction and then in the opposite direction. Draw the floss backwards and forwards between the teeth. ...people travelling backwards and forwards to and from London. to know something backwards 知道的透透彻彻 In British English, if you say that someone knows something backwards, you are emphasizing that they know it very well. In American English, you say that someone knows something backward and forward. I asked about one or two things that interest me and she really did know it all backwards. to bend over backwards If you say that someone is bending over backwards to be helpful or kind, you are emphasizing that they are trying very hard to be helpful or kind. People are bending over backwards to please customers.
用法学习: 1. "I'm sorry I couldn't be more help". To be more grammatically correct, you would say, "I am sorry I couldn't be more helpful," or "I'm sorry I could not be of more help." (But that sounds awkward to a native speaker. You get to decide the balance between grammatical correctness and comfort sometimes. help I. something or someone that helps: Having a satnav would be a help. You know, we could be more help to one another if you just tell us why we're here. Sam Kader alerted you to the mission yesterday. Let me speak to him. help (to) He was a great help (to me) while my husband was away. II. UK old-fashioned someone who is employed to clean and do other small jobs: a home help. the help 帮手, 保姆 old-fashioned a person or the people employed to work in someone's home doing cleaning, cooking, caring for children, etc.: He was kind to the help. You needn't bother with that. The help will gather our dishes. III. workers who are employed for a short time during periods when there is a lot of work: We often take on help 帮佣 during the busy season. there's no help for it 没得选择, 没办法 mainly UK there is no other choice in this situation: If you catch them stealing again, there'll be no help for it but (= except) to call the police. 2. potholing [pɒthoʊlɪŋ] = caving, spelunking in US 山洞探险, 钻洞探险, 探洞 [mainly British] Potholing is the leisure activity of going into underground caves and tunnels. a sport that involves walking and climbing in underground caves They will be too busy getting stuck into the sailing or the potholing. She didn't aboard a hijacked plane, get stuck in a broken lift or wedged in a cave after a potholing mishap. spelunking [spɪlʌŋkɪŋ] Spelunking is the leisure activity of going into underground caves and tunnels. This program offers activities such as canoeing and spelunking. Let's go spelunking at the weekend. maudlin [mɔːdlɪn] 痛哭流涕的 adj. I. If you describe someone as maudlin, you mean that they are being sad and sentimental in a foolish way, perhaps because of drinking alcohol. feeling sad and sorry for yourself, especially after you have drunk a lot of alcohol Jimmy turned maudlin after three drinks. ...maudlin self-pity. II. [disapproval] If you describe a song, book, or film as maudlin, you are criticizing it for being very sentimental. ...the most maudlin song of all time. ...a hugely entertaining (if over-long and maudlin) movie. 3. alive I. If people or animals are alive, they are not dead. She does not know if he is alive or dead. They kept her alive on a life support machine. II. If you say that someone seems alive, you mean that they seem to be very lively and to enjoy everything that they do. Our relationship made me feel more alive. I never expected to feel so alive in my life again. III. If an activity, organization, or situation is alive, it continues to exist or function. The big factories are trying to stay alive by cutting costs. Both communities have a tradition of keeping history alive. IV. If a place is alive with something, there are a lot of people or things there and it seems busy or exciting. The river was alive with birds. The street was alive with the sounds of the soldiers. V. If you are alive to a situation or problem, you are aware of it and realize how important it is. You must be alive to opportunity He was alive to what he was doing. conscious I. 注意到, 意识到. If you are conscious of something, you notice it or realize that it is happening. My tooth doesn't exactly hurt, but I'm conscious of it (= I can feel it) all the time. He was conscious of the faint, musky aroma of aftershave. She was very conscious of Max studying her. Conscious that he was becoming light-headed again, he went over to the window. II. If you are conscious of something 在意, you think about it a lot, especially because you are unhappy about it or because you think it is important. I'm very conscious of my weight. He is acutely conscious that this transition will bring with it the risk of social unrest. III. A conscious decision or action 有意的 is made or done deliberately with you giving your full attention to it. determined and intentional: He's obviously making a conscious effort to be nice to me at the moment. It wasn't a conscious decision to lose weight. It just happened. I don't think we ever made a conscious decision to have a big family. Make a conscious effort to relax your muscles. Sophie was not consciously seeking a replacement after her father died. IV. Someone who is conscious 有意识的 is awake rather than asleep or unconscious. She was fully conscious all the time and knew what was going on. He's still conscious but he's very badly injured. fully conscious She's out of the operating theatre, but she's not fully conscious yet. "Can I speak to Isobel, please?" "She's still in bed. I'll go and see if she's conscious (= awake) 清醒 yet.". V. Conscious memories or thoughts are ones that you are aware of. He had no conscious memory of his four-week stay in hospital. Beneath the conscious mind there are many levels of the unconscious. Most people cannot consciously remember much before the ages of 5 to 7 years. Sometimes we are not consciously aware of these feelings. conscious mind the thoughts and feelings that a person is aware of having at any one time: Some memories come easily to the conscious mind while some remain deep in the subconscious and are rarely accessed. Our conscious minds only have access to a subset of the information that our brains process. -conscious used after nouns and adverbs to mean "knowing about and worried about a particular thing", or "thinking that something is important": fashion-conscious teenagers. the health-conscious consumer. He's never been especially politically conscious. self-conscious nervous or uncomfortable because you are worried about what people think about you or your actions. intentionally done, written, made, etc. in a particular way, especially in an effort to be impressive. uncomfortable about yourself and worried about disapproval from other people: She was self-conscious about her weight. To be effective, charm must not be self-conscious. This seems a self-conscious attempt to create "classic" architecture. He looked uncomfortable, like a self-conscious adolescent. 4. centipede [ˈsɛntɪpiːd] 蜈蚣 A centipede is a long, thin creature with a lot of legs. a predatory myriapod invertebrate with a flattened elongated body composed of many segments. Most segments bear a single pair of legs, the front pair being modified as poison fangs. The giant desert centipede was the only creature that has put him in hospital. cushy [ˈkʊʃi] 舒适的 I. (of a job or situation) undemanding, easy, or secure. A cushy job or situation is pleasant because it does not involve much work or effort. ...a cushy job in the civil service. He had a fairly cushy upbringing. "he doesn't have anything like the cushy life you professors have". a cushy number (= an easy job or situation). II. North American (of furniture) comfortable. "cushy chairs and couches". 5. brio [ˈbriːəʊ] 活力, 自信 liveliness or vigour; spirit. energy and confidence: She stepped into her new role with brio. Hathaway brims with brio, bringing a lightness to her nimble navigation of the space and the delivery of the dialogue. It's fast and funny, and Ian (Rafe Spall) is suitably dazzled. In the series, though, Emma just seems sour and sullen, an impression accentuated when Dex – at that stage a TV star – drops by with his chic new girlfriend. Feeling patronised and pitied, Em angrily accuses him of insensitivity, of lording his success – however brief and insubstantial it might be – over her humiliating failure. She might be right, but the tenor of the interaction is all wrong. Where she should appear smart and quippy, she's resentful and judgmental. con brio [kɒn ˈbriːəʊ] 欢快的 music (to be performed) with liveliness or spirit, as in the phrase allegro [əlegroʊ] con brio. allegro [əlegroʊ] An allegro is a piece of classical music that should be played quickly and in a lively way. 6. I hear you 我明白你说的 = I hear what you're saying I. I acknowledge what you have said and am sympathetic to it. The phrase is sometimes used as a prelude to disagreeing with what has been said. I hear you, honey. I know you're in a lot of pain right now. I hear you, but we just can't afford to make any big changes like that at this time. I hear what you're saying, honey. I know you're in a lot of pain right now. I hear what you're saying, but we just can't afford to make any big changes like that at this time. Yes, yes. I hear what you are saying, and I'm with you. II. I understand your position, but I am under no obligation to agree. (Can be used to avoid disagreeing and the resulting argument.) I hear you, but it doesn't matter. 6. landmark 标志性事件 I. an event or discovery marking an important stage or turning point in something. an important stage in something's development: The invention of the silicon chip was a landmark in the history of the computer. In a landmark case/decision, the governor pardoned a woman convicted of killing her husband, who had physically abused her. "the vaccine is a landmark in the history of preventive medicine". a landmark in sth The deal is a landmark in the company's rapid international expansion. a landmark deal/decision/settlement The landmark deal secures 6,000 jobs and ends more than a week of protests and strikes. ...a landmark arms control treaty. The baby was one of the big landmarks in our relationship. II. a building or place that is easily recognized, especially one that you can use to judge where you are. a building or place that is easily recognized, esp. one that you can use to judge where you are: I couldn’t pick out any familiar landmarks in the dark and got completely lost. a landmark skyscraper. The Rock of Gibraltar is one of Europe's most famous landmarks. 7. swoon [swuːn] 让人头晕目眩, 让人(兴奋到)晕倒 verb I. to be extremely excited and impressed by someone who you like or admire. If you swoon, you are strongly affected by your feelings for someone you love or admire very much. The entire audience seemed to swoon when he appeared on stage. Virtually every woman in the '20s swooned over Valentino. The crowd shriek and swoon at his every word. II. old-fashioned to become unconscious and fall to the ground. vocabulary: To swoon is to faint, due to lack of blood to the brain. Illness, fear, stress, and even happiness can cause people to swoon. Swoon is an old-fashioned way to say "pass out": back in the day, ladies in corsets were always swooning at the slightest stress or smallest nod from a handsome man. Although this word technically means "to faint," today it has more of a positive connotation and isn't used so literally — people say they swoon when they encounter something so wonderful it makes them dizzy with joy. Chocolate cupcakes, the perfect dress, or a stellar home run could make you swoon.
lock-in VS escalating commitment VS sunk cost fallacy: sunk cost 收不回的成本
A sunk cost is an expense that you have already paid for or committed
to and which you cannot change. money that a business or organization
has already spent and cannot get back: The
sunk cost is the money that cannot be recovered by subsequent resale of
an asset. A sunk cost is money, time, or another resource that has been
irretrievably spent. A sunk cost is an expense that you have already
paid for or committed to and which you cannot change. From an economic perspective, the previous investments are sunk costs. If I abandon the project, I know that my advertising expenditure is a sunk cost. Most
investment expenditures are largely irreversible - sunk costs that
cannot be recovered if market conditions turn out to be worse than
expected. Lock-in 套牢 can be seen as the escalating commitment 进一步的投入, 逐步升级的投入 of decision-makers to an ineffective course of action ( 行动方针, 决策 the procedures or sequence of actions that someone will follow to accomplish a goal. I plan to follow a course of action that will produce the best results. The board planned a course of action that would reduce costs and eliminate employees. ). It concerns institutional lock-in as compared to technical lock-in of which the QWERTY keyboard is a famous example. The decision-making process is characterised by various informal and formal decision-making moments and decision-makers can become committed to the project before the formal decision to build was taken. More recently the term sunk cost fallacy(fallacy ['fæləsi] 假象, 骗局 an incorrect or misleading notion or opinion based on inaccurate facts or invalid reasoning. ), instead of Escalation of commitment, has been used to describe the phenomenon where people justify increased investment in a decision, based on the cumulative prior investment 越积越多的, 累积的, 前期累积投入( cumulative ['kju:mjulətiv] 积少成多的, 累积的, 日积月累的, 一点一滴的, 水滴石穿的 increasing by one addition after another. If a series of events have a cumulative effect, each event makes the effect greater. Simple pleasures, such as a walk on a sunny day, have a cumulative effect on our mood. The benefits from eating fish are cumulative. His administration was plagued by one petty scandal after another, cumulatively very damaging. cumulative effect 累积效应 The cumulative effect of using so many chemicals on the land could be disastrous. accumulative gradually increasing in number or amount. If something is accumulative, it becomes greater in amount, number, or intensity over a period of time. The consensus is that risk factors have an accumulative effect. the accumulative effect of many infections. Cumulative VS accumulative: Cumulative refers to amassing or building up over time; growing by successive additions. Accumulative refers to the result of accumulating. It also implies an acquisitiveness or penchant for acquiring or accumulating things. Cumulative refers to growth or increase by successive additions. That is, someone is adding more to something, one thing after another. This means, often, that the end result comes from having something build up over time, bit by bit. The word accumulative refers to a gradual increase or growth over time. A good example is gaining weight. We do not gain weight by suddenly adding 1 kilogram and then another 1 kilogram. We gain weight gradually, over time. The cumulative affects of 3 years of drought was a famine since there were no bountiful harvests. The snow kept falling for two days, so it accumulated over time and reached 2 meters. Warren Buffet's accumulative instincts and ability to pick winners and losers are factors in his being one of the wealthiest Americans. "students talk about cramming for their cumulative exams". Those exams that cover all the material that's accumulated in the course of a semester are cumulative not accumulative. The accumulative effect of not keeping up on the notes and assignments all semester may well necessitate a night of cramming. ), despite new evidence suggesting that the cost, starting today, of continuing the decision outweighs the expected benefit. Alternatively, irrational escalation 非理性升级 (sometimes referred to as irrational escalation of commitment or commitment bias.) is a term frequently used in psychology, philosophy, economics, and game theory to refer to a situation in which people can make irrational decisions based upon rational decisions in the past or to justify actions already taken. Examples are frequently seen when parties engage in a bidding war; the bidders can end up paying much more than the object is worth to justify the initial expenses associated with bidding (such as research), as well as part of a competitive instinct. In economics and business decision-making, sunk costs are retrospective (past) costs that have already been incurred 已经产生的成本 and cannot be recovered 收不回的成本. Sunk costs are sometimes contrasted with prospective costs 预期成本, which are future costs that may be incurred or changed if an action is taken. A sunk cost dilemma is a dilemma of having to choose between continuing a project of uncertain prospects already involving considerable sunk costs, or discontinuing the project. The process of escalating commitment is also known as "entrapment 套牢" , the "sunk-cost effect", the "knee-deep in the big muddy" effect, and the "too-much-invested-to-quit" effect. A grey market or gray market 灰市 also known as parallel market is the trade of a commodity through distribution channels which, while legal, are unofficial, unauthorized, or unintended by the original manufacturer. The term gray economy 灰色收入, 灰色经济, however, refers to workers being paid under the table, without paying income taxes or contributing to such public services as Social Security and Medicare. It is sometimes referred to as the underground economy or "hidden economy 地下经济, 隐形收入, 隐形经济." A black market 黑市 (非法交易渠道) is the trade of goods and services that are illegal in themselves and/or distributed through illegal channels, such as the selling of stolen goods, certain drugs or unregistered handguns. The two main types of grey market are imported manufactured goods that would normally be unavailable or more expensive in a certain country and unissued securities that are not yet traded in official markets. Sometimes the term dark market 暗市(秘密的, 私下里的但是合法的交易渠道) is used to describe secretive, unregulated (though often technically legal) trading in commodity futures, notably crude oil in 2008. This can be considered a third type of "grey market" since it is legal, yet unregulated, and probably not intended or explicitly authorized by oil producers. Grey import vehicles are new or used motor vehicles and motorcycles legally imported from another country through channels other than the maker's official distribution system. The synonymous term parallel import is sometimes substituted.
Vigil S2E5: 1. That's Simmonds getting hit. Hey, play that again. They've got the Air Marshal, Colonel Bilali, and Derek McCabe in their crosshairs. How are you not taking that sh*t? If you're t*rrorists, you don't leave the top brass standing there. They made it look like they're targeting the platform, and then make sure they miss. Why does Wes have this and nobody else? I don't know. Whoever took control during the att*ck must have stopped the video feed transmitting to the main network. So in order for Wes to have a copy of this, he had to have access to the pilot's video feed. 2. Can you see what I mean They missed on purpose. But close enough to make it look like they were being targeted. They k*lled soldiers on the ground. They didn't spare any of them. What are you thinking? This came from Sam Kader. 3. Look, who else stood to gain from 从中受益 Dundair? It gave Bilali the green-light to take out Jabhat Al'huriya. Yeah, but he didn't need an excuse for that. No, but we led them to uncover the entire network. Now look where we are. The UK and Wudyan have got a new shared enemy. There was a British MP apologising to Wudyan on the news. Exactly. And then there's the Alban-X deal. McCabe's lost all bargaining power, so he has to take worse terms now. Win-win for Wudyan. All they have to do is pay off 收买 Wes. Amy, you can't go around making claims like that without evidence. Yeah, well, they want me to go home. I think you should listen to that. I don't think I can. I think we're being sold a lie and I think they're going to execute Sam Kader for something that he hasn't done. 4. Paragraph two, can we replace "the t*rrorists hacked the R-PAS" with "stole the R-PAS"? Hacked makes our technology sound vulnerable. Stolen makes it sound like our security was lax. Look, Kader's in custody. It's been in the news. Shall we just tell it like it is? We can't name names. Not while the investigation is ongoing. It's time to draw a line. The Wudyanis are charging Mr Kader and what's left of his accomplices. 5. I'd also like to ask about Wes Harper and his employment at Alban-X. I'm going to suggest we side-bar that ( I. a box or narrow area on a newspaper or magazine page that contains a short news story or extra information relating to a longer main story. Accompanying the article are two sidebars, one showing the letter from the Justice Department. II. a narrow area at the side of a page on a website, giving extra information or links. Click on items in the sidebar to navigate to other pages. III. in a court of law, a private discussion between lawyers and the judge which the jury (= the group of people chosen to decide if someone is guilty) cannot hear, or the area at the front of the court where this discussion takes place: Mason said he had another separate matter to discuss in sidebar. After a 20 minute sidebar discussion, Jim was given 30 days by the judge to come up with new attorneys. ). We have a press conference. That is the sole agenda item for today. Anything you need, you'll get it. Today is about wording. So let's cr*ck on with that, yeah? 6. You know we asked Alban-X to share anything that might be relevant to the Dundair att*ck? Yeah. I know. And you feel like you've done that? Yeah. There's no data that you can think of that we might not have seen? No. OK. I'm going to need to take those hard drives. There'll be analysed by my colleagues. I don't think you can do that. I'm not debating it with you. This is millions of dollars' worth of classified data. You're going to need a court order and, until you get that, I'm going to keep on doing my job, thank you. You worried about what I might find? No. No, I'm not. I've seen the footage. I don't know what you're talking about... The recording that you have of the att*ck from the R-PAS, after it went to auto pilot. Do your colleagues at Alban-X know that you're sitting on it? 7. OK, wait, so if you can see all the activity an account has done, does that mean if we found the account that paid Wes, we'd be able to see all their other payments? Yeah, but, like I say, we still wouldn't know who was behind it. If Wes is getting paid off by the people who planned Dundair, isn't it likely that the same people paid Sutherland to k*ll Anthony Chapman? Right. Paid from the same account. I mean, we've got Sutherland's hard drive. That's already one piece of the puzzle. Right, you see what you can find on that. I'm going to go and speak to Firas, now we've got clearance. 8. We collected evidence to use in your courts. They're saying the case to ban the export licence is going to collapse. Because we're t*rrorists now. As soon as you were caught at Dundair, it made every one of your contacts a suspect. See, Sam should have known the risk. Do you know what he said to Mohammed Rajab about it? The prescriptions were code, OK, we know that. Mohammed's message said this test was important. He said I had to film it. When did you get his message? A week before the test. He posted the prescriptions a few days before that. A week and a half before the att*ck. Are you sure about that? I am. But he was already in custody. And could anyone else have sent you those messages apart from Mohammed? 9. The footage that I saw, it showed the people on the observation platform 观看台 being deliberately spared. You think it's Bilali? That's why you wanted me to call the police about Wes, instead of going to him. What's the relationship like between Wes and Bilali? 10. Check this out. Looks like you were bang on the money. Come on! My guys just linked this crypto account back to Sutherland. Look at what he got paid. £50,000, the day before the Chapman m*rder. I guess he's not an idiot on five grand, more like an idiot on £50k. Ha! Look, the same account that paid Sutherland transferred half a mill to a new account a few days ago. And another five mill... ...minutes ago. That's him, then. That's Wes, I'm sure of it. He's on the run. He's getting paid off. Well, if that is him, it's good news. He's currently trapped inside Wudyan, looking for a place to hole up... Yes. ...with the same account paid for rented office space in Zahra six months ago! OK, send me that address. I've got to get that to Amy now! Hey, still no sign of Wes, think he's gone to ground. Yeah, I've got good news for you on that. 11. relative noun. I. Your relatives are the members of your family. Do relatives of yours still live in Siberia? Get a relative to look after the children. blood relative I don't have many blood relatives (= people related to me by birth rather than by marriage). close/distant relative All her close/distant relatives came to the wedding. II. If one animal, plant, language, or invention is a relative of another, they have both developed from the same type of animal, plant, language, or invention. The pheasant is a close relative of the Guinea hen. adj. I. You use relative to say that something is true to a certain degree, especially when compared with other things of the same kind. The fighting resumed after a period of relative 相对的 calm. It is a cancer that can be cured with relative ease. Pedestrian zones mean that children can play in relative safety. Since I got a job, I've been living in relative comfort (= more comfort than before). The Chancellor of the Exchequer talked about the UK's relative growth performance compared with "core" Europe. relative importance/strength/size. relative cost/price. International borrowers have seen the relative cost of their loans rise slightly in the past six months. a relative newcomer/unknown. The firm is a relative newcomer to the world of futures trading. II. You use relative when you are comparing the quality or size of two things. as judged or measured in comparison with something else: We considered the relative merits of flying to Washington or taking the train. Relative to (= Considering) birthweight, the newborns were doing well. They chatted about the relative merits of London and Paris as places to live. I reflected on the relative importance of education in 50 countries. ...the relative 相对应的 strength of the central and state governments. relative to sth If something is relative to something else, it changes according to the speed or level of the other thing: The amount of petrol a car uses is relative to 相关的 its speed. If something is relative to a particular subject, it is connected with it Are these documents relative to the discussion? Relative to something means with reference to it or in comparison with it. Japanese interest rates rose relative to America's. House prices now look cheap relative to earnings. The satellite remains in one spot relative to the earth's surface. relative to earnings/income/sales Motoring costs are forecast to increase even further over the next ten years relative to income. relative to sb's competitors/peers Steps taken now to address climate change can improve a company's competitive position relative to its peers. III. If you say that something is relative, you mean that it needs to be considered and judged in relation to other things. Fitness is relative 相对的, 非绝对的; one must always ask 'Fit for what?' Truth is relative. I hear you're flying out any minute now? So I'm told. You're welcome to visit any time. His Highness is truly grateful for the work you've done here. I take it relations between Wudyan and the UK have improved? Very much. It's what Anthony would have wanted. He loved this country. Firas Zaman also claims to love his country. Well, I suppose he might well believe that. Things are relative 事无绝对, 事情是相对的, after all. We want to extradite him. I'm confident your government will be minded to help with that. 12. The highest value targets they could possibly have. They missed them on purpose? They k*lled seven ordinary squaddies, but left the top brass untouched. Did they tell you that you'd be helping them stop t*rrorists? 'Cos this isn't terrorism. It's an excuse to send in troops and sell more weapons. Parliament vote on it tomorrow. That's what they've used you for. I trust my guy. Why are you protecting people who you know have manipulated you? Well, if he's lied, I'll k*ll him. If he's who you say he is... ...then I'll do what I do and I'll hand myself in tomorrow. 13. I'm still trying to figure out who sent Sabi those messages. Well, presumably, it was Kader. No, it wasn't him. It had to be someone who knew where she was vulnerable. Someone who could manipulate her emotionally. Well, half the squadron knew her mum was dead. I don't see how that would help eliminate Kader. I don't remember telling you that that was in the messages. No, that... I'm just saying using her mum's death is the obvious thing that anyone would try. 13. You know what this is, don't you? This is Russell and McCabe working with the Intelligence Services. Dundair was a false flag 幌子 to build a case for escalation. They had me running after Jabhat Al'huriya. And they certainly didn't put Ramsay here to help us, did they? They are going to w*r. Grainger admitted as much to me earlier. I hear you, but where is your proof for all of this? I don't have it yet. 14. So, where is Russell, then? She's helping us put the picture together. Actually, she's under arrest. We're just going over the small print. I'm not contesting there are grounds for an arrest. But we have precedence 优先级( If one thing takes precedence over another, it is regarded as more important than the other thing. Have as much fun as possible at college, but don't let it take precedence over work. ). You'll get Russell when we're done. I'm not sure I agree. I've spoken to both pilots, they have confirmed DCI Silva's account. So does the black box. Russell fired first, and then she lied about it. We're not disputing there's a case to answer. And who did she do it for? Derek McCabe! DCI Silva has got some things wrong, but on this, I think we have to... we have to back her. Go and get Russell. If you haven't charged her by the end of the day, we'll take her back. 15. What can I do to help? Well, whoever put this together knew that Jabhat Al'huriya was gathering evidence against Alban-X. Did your lot brief Grainger about that? I don't know. The thing is, as soon as you start requesting those files they'll be locked away. Then we can't work through official channels. You know what that means, don't you? You know my record was spotless before I met you lot. Right, when do we do this? Parliament votes on joining Wudyan's w*r tomorrow. 16. Listen, I need everything you have on the Dundair case. Take a while. Let's get to it. Start with briefings on Jabhat Al'huriya. Are you authorised for these? Yeah. Police warrant. Not on the system. I have it right here. OK? I need to take it to them now. Hey, and the, er, Air Force emails as well. You know, those only just came in. 17. When we first met, you told me that British politicians undervalued the relationship with Wudyan. There was a court case at the time, that threatened our ability to sell them weapons. That would put your operations in jeopardy. Not my operations. Britain's. Until last week, there was no appetite to get involved in a border conflict in Wudyan. Certainly not in Westminster. And yet, tomorrow they're going to vote on whether to send British troops there. Because the situation changed. You changed the situation. You and Derek McCabe and Eliza Russell. The three of you conspired 合谋 to push us into conflict. You needed a fall-guy, so you selected Jabhat Al'huriya. Well, that's absurd. They were nobodies. You told me that yourself. They weren't extremists. What they were doing was collecting evidence against Alban-X. Turning them into t*rrorists made their evidence useless. The trial falls apart and then an att*ck at Dundair gives you your rationale for escalation. It was you that spotted Firas Zaman on the radar, wasn't it? Are you saying that he didn't trespass? Oh, no, he did, but only because you made sure he'd be there. And... how did I manage that? Intelligence briefed you on the coded prescriptions sent to Firas Zaman. You exploited that to get him to Dundair. I'm hearing a lot of accusations and very little evidence. 18. His name's Ross Sutherland. I spoke to his ex-girlfriend. She says you do know each other. He was a wreck after he was thrown out of the Army. You helped him and he looked up to you. You manipulated him into k*lling Anthony Chapman. And then when you thought that he would be a problem, Derek McCabe m*rder*d him. You knew where Anthony Chapman was hiding. DCI, you've had your shot. Clearly you fell short. So, the prodigal son returns. In handcuffs. I came here of my own volition. Your actions have brought humiliation to this department. Grainger's going to go down for this. I've been with him and DCI Silva. She's got nothing substantial. I have, though. DCI Silva hears it first. Don't negotiate with me, you little sh*t! Is that your final decision, sir? Ian, what the hell is this? I have the same question. I'd like to hear it answered. You were briefed on Jabhat Al'huriya about seven months ago. Using information we got from bugging Firas Zaman. I'm briefed on all sorts of things. So what? The briefing was on October last year. The messages to Sabi began in November. 19. I didn't want anyone to die. But the bigger picture is hundreds of thousands of lives. That is the nature of defence. You make sacrifices but you do it because your eyes are on the fundamentals. You sound like Eliza. She's a good officer. She told me that intelligence were involved. Did she do that to protect you? Yes. She has guts. That's... one word for it. If you insist on taking this forward, you will do irreparable harm. We are a small, failing island. We need allies. We need friends and we need to show those friends some f*cking respect, instead of dragging them through the courts, wagging the finger( wag I. When a dog wags its tail, it repeatedly waves its tail from side to side. The dog was biting, growling and wagging its tail. II. If you wag your finger, you shake it repeatedly and quickly from side to side, usually because you are annoyed with someone. He wagged a disapproving finger. She wagged a finger under his nose in a taunting gesture. III. If you wag your head, you move it from side to side, often because you are unhappy about a situation. He wags his head unhappily. III. to be absent from school without permission: There were days I would wag school 翘课, 逃学 and go for a ride on my bike. I used to wag it a lot. I didn't like school. noun. [humorous, or old-fashioned] A wag is someone who makes jokes. He's a bit of a wag, his dad. As one wag observed, the only people completely free from stress are the dead. waggish I. (of a person) funny in a clever way. The piece, as one waggish writer put it, "begins like Bach and ends like Offenbach.". II. using or expressing humour in a clever way: The Beatles also appeared in two wildly successful and waggish films directed by Richard Lester. Behind the author's sometimes waggish prose is considerable scholarship. the tail is wagging the dog 本末倒置 If you say that the tail is wagging the dog, you mean that a small or unimportant part of something is becoming too important and is controlling the whole thing. Past TV deals have seen the tail wagging the dog. Now football clubs feel they are equal partners with TV. tongues wag If tongues are wagging, people are talking a lot about someone and their behaviour. What set tongues wagging was the age difference between the two partners. )! You know that's true. Back me up! I'm not sure that I can. If we ban exports of weapons to Wudyan, what do you think will happen? Peace on Earth? No! The Wudyanis will simply go to China and Russia to get what they need and we will have alienated one of the world's most important oil producers!
