Rank high是排得很靠前,rank low是排得很靠后。美国人一度曾是世界上身材最高的。但是如今,"American men rank ninth and women 15th in average height," 美国男性的平均身高在世界上只排在第九位,女性排在第15位。
与此同时,虽然美国人的寿命越来越长,但却还是排在另外41个国家的后面。"The U.S. life expectancy ranks 42nd in the world, down from 11th two decades ago," 意思是美国人的平均寿命20年前在世界上排名11,如今却跌到了第42位。
Confirm是证实的意思。印度尼西亚巴厘岛的卫生部门证实,一名29岁的妇女确实死于禽流感病毒。媒体报道说,"Health officials in Bali have confirmed that a 29-year old woman died from bird flu." 这是巴厘岛发生的第一起禽流感死亡病例。
朝鲜半岛南北双方不久前证实,准备八月底召开首脑峰会, "North and South Korea confirmed that leaders of the two countries would hold a summit at the end of the month
Drop out是退出的意思。美国威斯康辛州前州长汤普森在上星期六爱奥华州举行的共和党总统参选人假想选举中位居第六,汤普森因此宣布退出争取共和党总统候选人提名的角逐。媒体报道说,"Thompson said that he is dropping out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination."
Drop out 还常用于退学。"Many students drop out of school because of financial constraints," 意思是很多学生因为经济困难被迫辍学
Resign是辞职的意思。美国总统布什多年的政治顾问卡尔.罗夫宣布月底辞职。"President Bush's longtime political advisor Karl Rove said that he will resign at the end of the month," 有些人是自己主动提出辞职,有些人则是被别人要求辞职。
日本首相安倍晋三前一段时间就不太顺利。"Members of his own party called Abe to resign after his party's defeat in the Upper House elections," 意思是安倍领导的自民党在参议院选举中落败后,自民党里有些人提出,要求安倍引咎辞职。
Disaster是灾难的意思。Natural disaster是天灾,disaster area是灾区。美国明尼阿波利斯公路桥发生坍塌事件后,引发了美国各界对交通基础设施的关注。媒体报道说,"The bridge disaster suddenly became a symbol of the nation's crumbling infrastructure," 意思是这起桥梁坍塌的灾难性事故突然间成了美国年久失修的基础设施的象征。
Disaster还可能用来指彻底失败。比如说, "The party last night was a disaster," 意思是昨天晚上的派对简直糟透了。
Glitch是小的故障或是瑕疵。A technical glitch, 是指技术上的故障,a security glitch, 是指安全方面的漏洞。"The developers postponed the release of the new software due to a technical glitch," 意思是由于技术上的故障,编程人员被迫推迟了软件上市的时间。
就在上星期,电脑故障再次扰乱了美国国会的正常工作。媒体报导说,"A computer glitch brought the House to a halt," 意思是电脑故障一度让国会众议院的工作陷入了停顿
为了增加国会的透明和廉洁度,美国国会众议院星期二通过了一项综合性道德和游说改革法案,众议院议长佩洛西表示,"with passage of the lobby reform, we draw back the curtains, throw up the windows, and let the sunshine in." 意思是游说改革法案的通过,让我们拉开窗帘、打开窗户,让阳光照进来。