characterise['kærәktәraiz]:
- vt. 表示...的特性, 成为/是...的特性, 刻划/描述...的性格 - vi. 在文艺作品中塑造人物, 描绘性格
The Guardian 2021.01.27: Jeremy Hunt: 'This lockdown just isn't working quickly enough’
Would Hunt would characterise himself more as a Blairite than a Johnsonite? 'I think it’s too early to know what a Johnsonite is,' he says
practical man
实干家
The Atlantic 2020.06
These divergent byways are elemental to QAnon’s staying power—this is a very welcoming belief system, warm in its toler- ance for contradiction—and are also what makes it possible for a practical man like Hayes to play the role that he does.
had little education
my parents had little education 没接受过什么教育
dull vs unintelligent
二者都有点偏形容精神活动不咋样。unintelligent 程度更严重。
Dull and unintelligent are both used more objectively to describe people or behaviour revealing low mental ability.
Unintelligent, in fact, is almost completely devoid of emotional connotations: unintelligent answers to complex questions. Since mental ability is a matter of degree, the word may mask subjective judgement, except when used comparatively: gearing her lessons to the more unintelligent among her pupils. Dull can be used to express simple disapproval of the stupid and boring: The party was too dull for words; a dull-witted fool. The word is often used more objectively to refer to less than average mentality
The Economist 2021.02.20
the study’s finding—rulers who preside over setbacks tend to be relatively unintelligent—has timeless implications.
Yet the better comparison is with a more recent and less likely prime minister: Theresa May. Mr Johnson and Mrs May are different species. She was determinedly dull, while he is unstoppably jolly. She ascended to the highest office by careful management of a cabinet job, whereas he almost torpedoed his career with a dodgy stint as foreign secretary. Mrs May embodies a strand of curtain-twitching suburban Conservatism. Mr Johnson represents the party’s wing of cavalier public-school bons vivants. Yet these different political animals have strikingly similar strategies.
经济学人有几篇文章标题就列了 dull。。。
Who says utilities are cold-hearted and dull?
The EU celebrates an outbreak of dull stability by having petty rows
Church of England
是有固定说法的：
专有名词 英国国教会，英格兰圣公会(其最高统治者是英国女王，不承认教皇的权威) The Church of England is the main church in England. It has the Queen as its head and it does not recognize the authority of the Pope.
conform to:
satisfy a condition or restriction
JAPAN IS A country of conformity. As the saying goes, the nail that sticks up gets hammered down. For the most part, people obey rules without questioning their often flimsy or non-existent rationale. It was surprising, therefore, that two subway drivers in the city of Osaka refused to shave their beards to conform to the city’s “grooming standards”, despite receiving negative performance reviews and lower bonuses in punishment. It was even more surprising when, on January 16th, a court ordered the city to pay compensation to the pair for violating their “personal freedom”. Another court in Osaka is due to rule soon in a similar case brought by a female pupil against the city after her school obliged her to dye her naturally brown hair black to fit in with her classmates.
be close to 和 be closed to
前者是接近的意思，比如你找了个钱多事少离家近（close to home) 的工作, 后者是关闭的意思。
