每日速度越障学习帖 - 精读+背词

SarahOrange

补：20120714  <第四期4-13经营>  Young, and Training for a Good Job -- at Sea

cadet [k?'det] n. 幼子，次子；实习生；军官学校学生
Two hundred eighty-eight cadets recently sailed on a two-month international training cruise.

downturn ['da?nt??n] n. 衰退（经济方面）；低迷时期
Instructor Bill Schmid says the situation for marine transportation students is not as bright as it was before the economic downturn, but it is recovering.

zero tolerance 零容忍
You do not want them to be right only seventy percent of the time. We pretty much have to be right all the time, so that is a hard thing to teach young people, that there is zero tolerance for mistakes.

job placement rate 就业安置率
The California Maritime Academy has a ninety-four percent job placement rate. Still, only about nine hundred students are currently studying there. Cadet Andrew Di Tucci says he understands why.

paramilitary [,pær?'m?l?t(?)r?] adj. 准军事的；辅助军事的 n. 准军事部队
The school, it is not like your normal college experience would be. We are a paramilitary school.

buckle ['b?k(?)l] vt. 扣住；使弯曲
We have uniforms. We have formations. Just disciplining yourself to show up and keep grooming standards and be where you need to be, sit down, buckle your belt and study."

marine [m?'ri?n] adj. 船舶的；海生的；海产的；航海的，海运的
Andrew Di Tucci is majoring in marine transportation. He says when he was growing up, he was always told it takes a special person to want to go to sea for a living.

preterm ['prit?m] n. 早产，早产婴儿
respiratory [r?'sp?r?t(?)r?;] adj. 呼吸的
We told you last week about a study which found that more than ten percent of all babies worldwide are born too early. One common problem in preterm babies is respiratory disease.

pulmonary edema 肺水肿
She had been doing research at the Harvard School of Public Health. She was asked to find out more about the foam that forms in the lungs of people with a condition called pulmonary edema.

ante up 预下(或先下)赌注
To take part in a card game such as poker, my friend would have to ante up. He would have to pay a small amount of money at the beginning of the game.

have sticky fingers 有偷窃习惯，是小偷
I never thought Bob would have sticky fingers. He did not seem like a thief who would steal money. But, some people will do anything for love of money.

cash in 兑现；收到……货款
This time, he cashed in. He made a lot of money.

SarahOrange

20120715  <第四期4-14文史哲>  How the Heat Wave Could Bust Your Grocery Budget

swelter ['swelt?] vt. 使闷热；使中暑
triple-digit a.三位数的
As if sweltering in triple-digit temperatures around the country weren't bad enough, consumers could face more pain in coming months, this time in the check-out line at the grocery store.

scorch [sk??t?] vt. 烧焦；使枯萎；挖苦
Scarce rainfall coupled with record-high temperatures has scorched crops in many of the nation's major corn-producing regions, with as much as 60 percent of corn grown in the United States experiencing drought conditions in June, according to the United States Drought Monitor.

haul [h??l] n.努力得到的结果
scale back相应缩减；按比例缩减
Though this year's haul could still be one of the largest on record according to some estimates, the Department of Agriculture is still scaling back its forecasts, noting that this year's crop conditions are the worst since 1988.

scenario [s?'nɑ?r???] n. 方案；情节；剧本
The best case scenario at this point is [a harvest] on par with 2002 or 2003, meaning now we're looking at one of the worst harvests we've had in 10 years.

bottom line 底线
Bottom line: A smaller harvest of corn could translate into higher prices for everything from cereal to soda pop by this fall—unfortunate, especially since food prices had been slowing down in recent months.

take a hit遭受打击；受到影响
Here are a few other ways your wallet could take a hit thanks to the hot weather:

rancher ['rɑ?n(t)??] n. 大农场经营者；大农场工人
fork over 付钱
livestock ['la?vst?k] n. 牲畜；家畜
If farmers and ranchers have to fork over more money to feed their livestock, it costs more to produce things like milk and cheese.

poultry ['p??ltr?] n. 家禽
Beef, pork, poultry.

slaughterhouse ['sl??t?ha?s] n. 屠宰场（等于abattoir）；屠杀场
With the price to feed cattle and other livestock inching up and the amount of water it takes to keep large animals hydrated, it could end up being more cost efficient in the near term for farmers to send cattle, hogs, and chickens to the slaughterhouse instead of keeping—and feeding—them on the range.

exacerbate [?g'zæs?be?t; ek'sæs-] vt. 使加剧；使恶化；激怒
There may very well be a dip in the short term as the market is flooded, but [in the] long run this will exacerbate the problem in terms of beef prices.

bolster['b??lst?] vt. 支持；支撑
bona fides n. 真诚；善意；诚实信用
One senior Republican source says Rice would bolster Romney in an area where he lacks major bona fides: national security and foreign policy.

charismatic [kær?z'mæt?k] adj. 超凡魅力的；神赐能力的
But, more importantly, she's extremely charismatic and an extremely nice human, which she manages to convey. People like that."

Utopia [ju:'t?upi?] n. 乌托邦（理想中最美好的社会）；理想国
nitty-gritty ['niti'ɡriti] n. 事实真相；本质
For her part, Rice has said publicly that her utopia lies in the nitty-gritty of the policy realm, not in presidential politics.

ironically [a?'rɑn?kli] adv. 讽刺地；说反话地
prescription [pr?'skr?p?(?)n] n.指示；惯例
realm [relm] n. 领域，范围
Yet, ironically, it is Rice's own policy prescriptions and performance as a senior official in the national security policymaking realm that could hurt Romney's chances of becoming president if he chooses her, Republican and Democratic officials and sources say in interviews and their own writings.

lieutenant [lef'ten?nt] n. 中尉；副官；助理人员
The 2003-launched Iraq conflict didn't exactly go as Bush and his senior-most lieutenants promised.

ill-fated ['il'feitid] adj. 不幸的；恶运的
splash [splæ?]n. 飞溅的水；污点；卖弄
sarcasm ['sɑ?kæz(?)m] n. 讽刺；挖苦；嘲笑
Asked how he would write an Obama ad criticizing Rice's role in the ill-fated Iraq war, Adams was quick to reply with more than one splash of sarcasm: "Did you like Iraq? You're going to love Iran."

fiddling ['f?dl??] adj. 无用的；无足轻重的；微不足道的（等于fiddly）
"While the Bushes were fiddling in Iraq, Kabul was burning," says Adams.

小妤儿

加油，支持

SarahOrange

加油，支持

-- by 会员 小妤儿 (2012/7/16 1:20:10)

恩共勉之！

SarahOrange

20120716  <第四期4-15文史哲> Senior Citizens Sing for Health and Fifteen-Year-Old Kyla Ross Heads to the Olympics

National Endowment for the Arts   (美国)全国艺术基金会
Over ten years ago, America's National Endowment for the Arts began to study creativity and aging.

participatory [pɑr't?s?p?t?ri] adj. 供人分享的；吸引参与的
It examined the effect of participatory art programs on the physical and mental health of older individuals.

gymnastics [d??m'næst?ks] n. 体操；体育；体操运动    pl. gymnastics
Fifteen-year-old Kyla Ross of California is the youngest member of the American Olympic gymnastics team.

gymnast ['d??mnæst] n. 体操运动员
She says the biggest issue at the Olympic Games will be in the young gymnast's own mind.

gratifying ['ɡræt?fa???] adj. 悦人的；令人满足的
You just recollect on all the times, you dropped her off (at) practices, (the) to struggles she's had, also the time she's invested into (gymnastics), and just the gratifying feeling that she achieved her goal and really put a lot of work into it, and it's actually happened...

SarahOrange

补：20120717  <第四期4-16科技> The Higgs boson   Science’s great leap forward

recede [r?'si?d] vi. 后退
HISTORICAL events recede in importance with every passing decade.

blip [bl?p] n. （在雷达屏幕显示出的）物体光点
Crises, political and financial, can be seen for the blips on the path of progress that they usually are.

patina ['pæt?n?] n. [材] 铜绿；光泽；神态；圣餐盘
Even the horrors of war acquire a patina of unreality.
如何理解？

elucidate [?'l(j)u?s?de?t] vt. 阐明；说明
triumphant [tra?'?mf(?)nt] adj. 成功的；得意洋洋的；狂欢的
Elucidating them is one of the triumphs of mankind. And this week has seen just such a triumphant elucidation.

incomprehensible [,?nk?mpr?'hens?b(?)l] adj. 费解的；不可思议的；无限的
Like the uncovering of DNA’s structure by Francis Crick and James Watson in 1953, the discovery of the Higgs makes sense of what would otherwise be incomprehensible.

massless ['mæsl?s] adj. 无质量的
Massless particles are doomed by Einstein’s theory of relativity to travel at the speed of light.

niggle ['n?g(?)l] n. 无关紧要的事
quantum ['kw?nt?m] n.量子论
guise [ga?z] n. 伪装；装束；外观
It was predicted in 1964 by Peter Higgs, a British physicist who was trying to fix a niggle in quantum theory, and independently, in various guises, by five other researchers.

haystack ['he?stæk] n.干草堆
Finding the Higgs, though, made looking for needles in haystacks seem simple.

aperitif [?'per?ti?f; ?,per?'ti?f] n. 开胃酒
For physicists, the Higgs is merely the LHC’s aperitif.

astronomers [?'str?n?m?]n.天文学家
Astronomers know dark matter abounds in the universe, but cannot yet explain it.

decipher [d?'sa?f?] v. 解码
The deciphering of DNA has led directly to many of the benefits of modern medicine and agriculture.

fragile ['fræd?a?l] adj. 脆的；易碎的
This helps explain why, even at this moment of triumph, particle physics is a fragile endeavour.

strode [str??d] v. 大步走；跨越
Gone are the days when physicists, having given politicians the atom bomb, strode confidently around the corridors of power.

consortium [k?n's??t??m] n. 财团；联合；合伙
The LHC, sustained by a consortium that was originally European but is now global, cost about $10 billion to build.

铁板神猴

好样的 继续坚持 sarah橙

LS的sustain是不是圈错了……

SarahOrange

好样的 继续坚持 sarah橙

LS的sustain是不是圈错了……

-- by 会员 铁板神猴 (2012/7/18 20:50:19)

patina ['pæt?n?] n. [材] 铜绿；光泽；神态；圣餐盘
Even the horrors of war acquire a patina of unreality.
如何理解？

SarahOrange

20120718  <第四期4-17科技>  Why Is Earth So Dry? Planet Formed from Rocky Debris in Hotter Region, Inside of Solar System's 'Snow Line'

swath[sw?θ] n. 细长的列
behemoth [b?'hi?m?θ; 'bi?h?,m??θ] adj. 巨大的；高大的
glacier['glæs??; 'gle?s??] n. 冰河，冰川
With large swaths of oceans, rivers that snake for hundreds of miles, and behemoth glaciers near the north and south poles, Earth doesn't seem to have a water shortage.

lock up把…锁起来；关起来
comet ['k?m?t] n. [天] 彗星
asteroid ['æst?r??d] n. [天] 小行星
And yet, less than one percent of our planet's mass is locked up in water, and even that may have been delivered by comets and asteroids after Earth's initial formation.

deficiency [d?'f??(?)ns?] n. 缺陷，缺点；缺乏
Astronomers have been puzzled by Earth's water deficiency.

protoplanetary disk 原行星盘
swirling [sw?:li?] n. 漩涡；涡流adj. 打旋的
The standard model explaining how the solar system formed from a protoplanetary disk, a swirling disk of gas and dust surrounding our Sun, billions of years ago suggests that our planet should be a water world.

condense [k?n'dens] vi. 浓缩；凝结
Earth should have formed from icy material in a zone around the Sun where temperatures were cold enough for ices to condense out of the disk.

debris ['debri?; 'de?bri?] n. 碎片，残骸
A new analysis of the common accretion-disk model explaining how planets form in a debris disk around our Sun uncovered a possible reason for Earth's comparative dryness.

innermost ['?n?m??st] adj. 内心的；最里面的，最深处的；秘密的
In fact, our model predicts that the other innermost planets, Mercury, Venus, and Mars, are also relatively dry. "

Ionized ['ai?,naiz] adj. [化学][物] 电离的；已电离的
funnel ['f?n(?)l] n. 漏斗；烟囱
In the conventional model, the protoplanetary disk around our Sun is fully ionized (a process where electrons are stripped off of atoms) and is funneling material onto our star, which heats up the disk.

infall['?nf??l] vi. 陨落
But young stars don't have enough radiation or enough infalling material to provide the necessary energetic punch to ionize the disks."

astronomical [æstr?'n?m?k(?)l] adj. 天文的，天文学的；极大的
The dead zone typically extends from about 0.1 astronomical unit to a few astronomical units beyond the star. (An astronomical unit is the distance between Earth and the Sun, which is roughly 93 million miles.)

dense [dens] adj. 稠密的；浓厚的；愚钝的
gravitational [,ɡræv?'te??nl] adj. [力] 重力的，[力] 引力的
compression [k?m'pre?(?)n] n. 压缩
The dense matter begins to heat up by gravitational compression.

vaporize ['ve?p?ra?z] v. 蒸发
This process, in turn, heats the area outside the plug, vaporizing the icy material and turning it into dry matter.

sophisticated [s?'f?st?ke?t?d] adj. 复杂的
The ability of infants to recognize speech is more sophisticated than previously known, researchers in New York University's Department of Psychology have found.

perception [p?'sep?(?)n] n. 知觉；[生理] 感觉
resilient [r?'z?l??nt] adj. 弹回的，有弹力的
refined [r?'fa?nd] a. 精确的
"Our results show that infant speech perception is resilient and flexible," explained Athena Vouloumanos, an assistant professor at NYU and the study's lead author. "This means that our recognition of speech is more refined at an earlier age than we'd thought."

ambiguous [æm'b?ɡju?s] adj. 模糊不清的；引起歧义的
It is well-known that adults' speech perception is fine-tuned -- they can detect speech among a range of ambiguous sounds.

gauge [ge?d?] vt. 测量；估计
aptitude ['æpt?tju?d] n. 天资
perceive [p?'si?v] v. 察觉，感觉；理解；认知
In order to gauge the aptitude to perceive speech at any early age, the researchers examined the responses of infants, approximately nine months in age, to recorded human and parrot speech and non-speech sounds.

checkerboard ['t?ek?b??d] n. 棋盘；西洋跳棋棋盘
In this study, sounds were paired with a series of visuals: a checkerboard-like image, adult female faces, and a cup.

nuanced ['nju:ɑ:nst, nju:'ɑ:nst] adj. 微妙的；具有细微差别的
Their findings on non-human speech were more nuanced.

babybearmm

好样的 继续坚持 sarah橙

LS的sustain是不是圈错了……

-- by 会员 铁板神猴 (2012/7/18 20:50:19)

patina ['pæt?n?] n. [材] 铜绿；光泽；神态；圣餐盘
Even the horrors of war acquire a patina of unreality.
如何理解？

-- by 会员 SarahOrange (2012/7/18 23:14:40)

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/patina
a thin layer of something such as dirt that covers an object or a surfacepatina of: a patina of dirt/dust/grime




PHRASE

• a patina of success/respectability/sophistication etc
  if someone or something has a patina of some quality such as success, they appear to besuccessful, but they are not
  
  
  http://www.thefreedictionary.com/patina
  any fine layer on a surface a patina of frost
  
  我的理解：“a patina of"就是指表面的一层，可以是真实形象的，比如dust, frost。也可以是比喻的用法，作为比喻的用法，就是强调“表面看上去”是一片什么模样。