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以下段落全部选自经济学人。 Voluptuous [vəˈləp(t)ʃ(u)əs] adj. 撩人的，艳丽的, 奢侈逸乐的。Volu-其实就是will，v换成w，o换成i，是不是很像？will是乐意的，所以Voluptuous是撩人的。 Replies to a directive on “being overweight” were equally candid. Everybody, it seemed, was unhappy with her or his appearance. “R2247”, a 49-year-old Londoner who admitted to being overweight despite her boyfriend’s insistence she was “voluptuous”, complained that “'fatism’ is as pernicious in Britain as racism and sexism”. “I know all about being overweight,” a 57-year-old from Aberystwyth replied. “I have struggled since I was 18 and it is a perpetual battle.” Another wrote that she was “self-conscious about being too thin, but you never see that in women’s magazines!” 对“肥胖”指示的回复同样坦率。似乎每个人都对她自己的外表不满意。编号为R2247的是一位49岁的伦敦人，她承认自己太胖了，但她的男朋友坚持说她“很性感”。她抱怨说“'肥胖歧视’在英国就像种族主义和性别歧视一样有害”。“我非常了解肥胖问题，”一位来自Aberystwyth的57岁男子回答道。“我从18岁开始就一直在减肥，这是一场持久的战斗。”另一个人写道，她“对自己太瘦感到不安，但女性杂志上永远不会发布这种文章！” Prick [prɪk] n./v. 刺伤，刺痛，刺孔。源于古英语词汇“prician”，意思是“刺痛、刺伤”，可能和pick同源，pick除了表示动词挑选，还可以表示名词尖镐、鹤嘴锄。同根词有很多，如peck, compunction, pugnacious, puncture, punctuation, pungent，意思分别是啄、内疚、好斗、穿刺、标点符号、刺鼻。这些词汇在字面或隐喻中都有刺的感觉。 Japanese executives are no more culturally predisposed to be cuddly than American ones are to be prickly. Before the second world war the economy saw brutal merger-and-acquisition activity, brittle labour relations and dispersed ownership. It was only afterwards that corporate Japan started to rediscover its inner Shibusawa. Industrial policy supported businesses, while the private sector became part of the safety net, offering job security, often for life. A high-quality, stable labour force and strong ties with suppliers proved a successful mix in manufacturing, and enabled Japan’s economy to catch up with Western ones. “The workers wouldn’t strike and employers wouldn’t fire, and it worked out pretty well for everyone,” says Steven Vogel of the University of California, Berkeley. 日本高管并不总是显得亲昵，就像美国高管也没有总是显得刻薄一样。二战前，美国经济经历了残酷的并购活动、脆弱的劳资关系和分散的所有权结构。直到后来，日本企业界才开始重新发现自己的涩泽荣一。产业政策支持企业，而私营部门成为安全网的一部分，提供工作保障，且通常是终身保障。高质量、稳定的劳动力以及与供应商的紧密联系被证明早就了制造业的成功，并使日本经济赶上了西方。加州大学伯克利分校的Steven Vogel说:“工人不会罢工，雇主也不会解雇员工，这对每个人来说都很好。” Profane [prəˈfeɪn] adj. 世俗的，亵渎的。v.亵渎。-fane意思是...... |
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