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“底特律三大汽車(chē)巨頭”極力要求通過(guò)的一項(xiàng)250億美元的汽車(chē)業(yè)援助計(jì)劃遭到擱置,美國(guó)國(guó)會(huì)已于本周四對(duì)這項(xiàng)追加的救援計(jì)劃加以限制,民主黨方面稱(chēng)在這些公司制訂出能夠重振昔日輝煌的汽車(chē)工業(yè)的可信計(jì)劃之前,他們將對(duì)此援助計(jì)劃不予考慮。這種用法最早來(lái)源于網(wǎng)球以及類(lèi)似的球類(lèi)運(yùn)動(dòng),這些活動(dòng)需要在場(chǎng)地中央劃線,將場(chǎng)地分成兩塊,后來(lái)演變成“劃定界限”的意思。)我們常說(shuō)的“忍耐也得有個(gè)度”常用One must draw the line somewhere來(lái)表示。有消息人士透露,在“面試”完希拉里與比爾?理查森兩名國(guó)務(wù)卿熱門(mén)人選后,奧巴馬也傾向于讓希拉里擔(dān)當(dāng)重任。在上面的報(bào)道中,trump card就是指“王牌,絕招”。王牌在手,即勝券在握。如:The coach saved his star player for a trump card.(教練保留他的明星選手,作為他的王牌)。如:Finally she played her trump card and threatened to resign.(最后她使出了絕招,揚(yáng)言要辭職)。s hand(hold some trumps)則表示“胸有成竹,有必勝把握”,但如果你put someone to his trumps那可就要“把某人逼入絕境,迫使他使出最后的招數(shù)”了。該法案一出臺(tái)就引發(fā)了很大爭(zhēng)議。請(qǐng)看外電的報(bào)道:Nebraska lawmakers gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a new 30day age limit for children who can be legally abandoned under the state39。在上面的報(bào)道中,safe haven law就是指《安全港法案》。父母不必留下姓名,不必辦理送養(yǎng)手續(xù),更不會(huì)遭到起訴,當(dāng)然,他們可能會(huì)失去監(jiān)護(hù)權(quán)。但各州對(duì)孩子的年齡有不同規(guī)定,例如威斯康星州規(guī)定在嬰兒出生72小時(shí)內(nèi)才適用該法。Safe haven原意是指“安全港、安身之處”,如:He will not find a safe haven here.(他在這里找不到安身之處)。此外,在經(jīng)濟(jì)領(lǐng)域,它用來(lái)指沒(méi)有金融、財(cái)務(wù)危機(jī)的地點(diǎn)或投資。 空頭支票美國(guó)當(dāng)選總統(tǒng)奧巴馬日前再度向聯(lián)邦政府發(fā)出呼吁,要求其確保支持陷入困境的本國(guó)汽車(chē)行業(yè)。奧巴馬解釋說(shuō),在目前的環(huán)境下,汽車(chē)業(yè)崩潰對(duì)于美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)將是一場(chǎng)災(zāi)難。在上面的報(bào)道中,blank check就是指我們經(jīng)常提到的a signed check with no amount to be paid filled in(空白支票),即“未填金額的簽名支票,可支取任何數(shù)目的支票”。此外,它還可以表示“自由處理權(quán),全權(quán)”。平時(shí)我們常把blank check理解成“空頭支票”,但實(shí)際上它的意思與“空頭支票”正好相反。出現(xiàn)這種情況的原因可能是賬戶(hù)已經(jīng)終止,或者賬戶(hù)資金不足以支付支票金額,也可轉(zhuǎn)意為empty promise or lip service(空洞的許諾).如:Many voters know that the promises of different parties before an election are all just bad checks.(許多選民都知道各黨派在選舉前的承諾只不過(guò)是空頭支票,不會(huì)兌現(xiàn)的)。人們期待這次峰會(huì)有助于解決此次全球金融危機(jī)。他稱(chēng)此次峰會(huì)的目標(biāo)是“理解全球金融危機(jī)的起因,并為財(cái)政及監(jiān)管體制改革制定規(guī)則。如:Her friendly opening speech set the tone for the whole conference.(她友好的開(kāi)幕詞確定了整個(gè)會(huì)議的基調(diào)。如果你想形容一個(gè)人的“聲調(diào)很悅耳”,就可以說(shuō)Her voice has a pleasant “搭配、協(xié)調(diào)”,朋友家新買(mǎi)了窗簾,The new curtains tone in beautifully with the carpet.(與地毯的顏色非常協(xié)調(diào)),但是她今天心情可不太好,上班的時(shí)候took an angry tone with her colleagues.(帶著怒氣與同事說(shuō)話),因?yàn)樽罱捎诮鹑谖C(jī),公司的市場(chǎng)狀況(tone of the market)不太好。代表們?cè)跒槠趦商斓拈]門(mén)會(huì)議中就金融危機(jī)產(chǎn)生的原因及應(yīng)對(duì)措施進(jìn)行了深入探討,并為本月中旬在華盛頓舉行的G20金融峰會(huì)奠定共識(shí)基礎(chǔ)。s call for the founding of a G20 treaty similar to the EU39。他認(rèn)為俄羅斯呼吁建立G20條約是個(gè)“有趣”的選擇。在上面的報(bào)道中,rotating presidency就是指“輪值主席(國(guó))”。擔(dān)任者就被稱(chēng)為“輪值主席”,其所在國(guó)家就是“輪值主席國(guó)”。)Rotating做形容詞最常用的意思是turn on or around an axis or a center(圍繞軸或中心旋轉(zhuǎn)的),如rotating view就是指“旋轉(zhuǎn)視圖”,不過(guò)各大酒店頂層的“旋轉(zhuǎn)餐廳”一般都用revolving restaurant來(lái)表示。面臨日趨嚴(yán)重的金融危機(jī)和對(duì)伊拉克及阿富汗作戰(zhàn),奧巴馬希望能盡快確定政府主要成員,力爭(zhēng)順利完成政權(quán)交接。請(qǐng)看外電的報(bào)道: has conferred with Congressional leaders about passing a $100 billion economic stimulus package in a lameduck session the week of to pay for public works projects, aid to cities and states, and unemployment, food stamp and heating ,他希望該方案可以在本月17日舉行的“跛腳鴨”國(guó)會(huì)會(huì)議上獲得通過(guò)。上面的報(bào)道中,lameduck session就是指“跛腳鴨國(guó)會(huì)會(huì)議”,即新舊總統(tǒng)交接之間的國(guó)會(huì)會(huì)議。Lame duck字面上看是“跛腳鴨”,它做名詞常用來(lái)指“無(wú)用的人”,帶有貶義,如:The government should not waste money supporting lame ducks.(政府不應(yīng)浪費(fèi)資金去扶持那些無(wú)望的企業(yè)。如:The governor of our state ended up as a lame duck when he lost the election.(我們州的州長(zhǎng)競(jìng)選連任失敗,即將離任。他隨即在芝加哥發(fā)表了勝選演說(shuō)。他感謝自己的家庭和競(jìng)選團(tuán)隊(duì),并對(duì)對(duì)手麥凱恩表示敬意。上面的報(bào)道中,victory speech就是“勝選演說(shuō)”的意思。如:Bush delivers victory speech for 2nd term.(布什發(fā)表連任獲勝演說(shuō)),而競(jìng)選失利的一方發(fā)表的演說(shuō)則叫做concession speech,即“敗選演說(shuō)”??偨y(tǒng)任期期滿(mǎn)卸任時(shí),會(huì)發(fā)表farewell speech(告別演說(shuō))。那么,speech和address有什么區(qū)別呢?一般來(lái)說(shuō),演說(shuō)詞在英語(yǔ)里是speech,用address這個(gè)詞是比較少的。speech使用比較隨意,而address從風(fēng)格上來(lái)說(shuō)更為莊重,指“正式的致辭”,例如總統(tǒng)發(fā)表的“國(guó)情咨文演說(shuō)”,就要說(shuō)成是State of the Union Address。煤礦方面稱(chēng),領(lǐng)取“封口費(fèi)”的記者有四五十人,這其中不乏很多“假記者”,而且“封口費(fèi)”的發(fā)放持續(xù)了數(shù)日。請(qǐng)看《中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)》的報(bào)道:Journalists from various media organizations were paid a total of 125,700 yuan not to report on a mine accident in Shanxi province on Sept 20, the General Administration of Press and Publication said by the local government revealed that dozens of journalists, some genuine and some not, went to the mine not to report on the accident, but to receive hush ,國(guó)家新聞出版總署稱(chēng),9月20日山西礦難發(fā)生后,“封口費(fèi)”。Hush做動(dòng)詞可以解釋為“不要做聲,掩蓋”。這種做法由來(lái)已久,hush money這個(gè)習(xí)慣用語(yǔ)也至少有三百年的歷史了。我們還可以用hush up來(lái)表達(dá)“掩蓋”某事的意思,hush the scandal up就是指的“把丑聞掩蓋起來(lái)”。麥凱恩在接受電視采訪時(shí)說(shuō),他支持自己家鄉(xiāng)亞利桑那州政府和地方政府提出的禁止平權(quán)措施政策的主張。請(qǐng)看外電的報(bào)道:He has been instrumental in expanding voting rights, supporting affirmative action, passing the Violence Against Women Act, expanding the definition of hate crimes and working toward ending employment ,支持平權(quán)措施,支持通過(guò)《防止對(duì)婦女施暴法》,擴(kuò)大仇恨犯罪的定義范疇,并努力消除就業(yè)歧視。20世紀(jì)60年代,隨著美國(guó)黑人運(yùn)動(dòng)、婦女運(yùn)動(dòng)的興起,美國(guó)總統(tǒng)約翰遜在1965年發(fā)起平權(quán)運(yùn)動(dòng),主張?jiān)诖髮W(xué)錄取學(xué)生、公司招收或晉升雇員、政府招標(biāo)時(shí),應(yīng)當(dāng)照顧少數(shù)種族和女性。隨著時(shí)間的推移,它的概念范疇不斷擴(kuò)展。Affirmative做形容詞,表示“肯定的,贊成的,支持的”,如。我們平時(shí)數(shù)學(xué)中使用的“正號(hào)”,就是affirmative sign?!疤砑觿保篈dditive怎樣才能“吃”得更安全?這是現(xiàn)在人們最關(guān)心的一個(gè)話題?!叭鼓谭邸笔录谷珖?guó)人大常委會(huì)正在三審的食品安全法草案更受關(guān)注。請(qǐng)看《中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)》的報(bào)道:The latest draft of the food safety law has set stricter food quality standards and given greater responsibility to the government following the baby milk food scandal.“Only food additives proven safe, reliable and technically essential through risk assessments will be allowed,” says the draft, submitted Thursday to the fifth session of the National People39。該草案規(guī)定:只有經(jīng)過(guò)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)評(píng)估證明安全可靠、技術(shù)上確有必要的食品添加劑,才能被列入允許使用的范圍。那么什么是食品添加劑呢?食品添加劑是指食品健康當(dāng)中,為了改變食物的現(xiàn)狀,需要添加的一些可以食用的成分。添加食品添加劑是世界通用的做法。Additive在這里意思就是“添加劑”。除此之外,它還可以做形容詞,表示“附加的”,如:additive samples(附加樣本)。我們平時(shí)在食品外包裝上經(jīng)常看到This food is guaranteed additive free.(該食品保證不含添加劑)。經(jīng)日方檢測(cè),其食用的豆角中最高含有6900PPM的敵敵畏成分,其他未開(kāi)封豆角未檢出敵敵畏成分。請(qǐng)看《中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)》的報(bào)道:Tests conducted on samples of frozen green beans exported to Japan showed no evidence of pesticideresidue, Chinese authorities said here ,出口日本的冷凍青刀豆樣品檢測(cè)結(jié)果并未顯示有農(nóng)藥殘留痕跡。除此以外,residue還有“剩余財(cái)產(chǎn),余數(shù)”等意思,比如:The residue of his estate belongs to his son.(他的剩余財(cái)產(chǎn)都?xì)w他的兒子。自10月6日起,北京小型汽車(chē)可按照機(jī)動(dòng)車(chē)號(hào)牌編碼規(guī)則自行編排確定車(chē)牌號(hào)。上面的報(bào)道中,personalized license plate就是“個(gè)性化車(chē)牌”的英文表達(dá),有些報(bào)道中也用personal/personalized plate或者customized license plate來(lái)表示“個(gè)性化車(chē)牌”,這三種表達(dá)方式分別用personalize和customize等詞表達(dá)了“個(gè)性化”這個(gè)概念,即make according to personal requirements。:human flesh search engines因與原單位發(fā)生糾紛,離職后的嚴(yán)先生被原單位“人肉搜索”。日前北京市第一中級(jí)人民法院終審判決,要求該單位登報(bào)道歉,并賠償嚴(yán)先生經(jīng)濟(jì)損失1300余元、精神撫慰金1萬(wàn)元。請(qǐng)看外電的報(bào)道:Beijing court has issued what’s being treated as the first decision to award damages for emotional distress in a case involving human flesh search Beijing man surnamed Yan won 10,000 yuan in emotional damages from his former employer, along with 1,300 yuan for economic “人肉搜索引擎”案件。上面的報(bào)道中出現(xiàn)了近幾年網(wǎng)絡(luò)上很流行的一個(gè)術(shù)語(yǔ)“人肉搜索引擎”的英文表達(dá)方式:human flesh search engine,因?yàn)檫@個(gè)說(shuō)法是中國(guó)的網(wǎng)民自創(chuàng)的,所以有些地方直接用renrou search engine來(lái)表示。對(duì)于“人肉搜索”在網(wǎng)絡(luò)中