News of the Week (3/8/2015)
Social Issues
A hidden weapon in the armoury – will the government beat the breast?
weapon是「武器」，armoury是儲存武器的地方，即是「軍火庫」。breast是「胸部」，beat the breast一詞多義，首先是比喻用法 (metaphorical use)，解作「捶胸頓足」，例如為自己做的事感到悔疚、或者因為悲傷而用拳打自己的心口。另外，beat the breast直譯時beat便是解作「打」，看似沒有甚麼特別，但配合上半句的a hidden weapon in the armoury，其實帶出了政府認為胸部是武器。因此，這個標題有兩個解法，一是「政府會否為自己做的事感到悔疚呢？」，二是「政府會否『對付』這些『武器』呢？」。由此可見，這篇文章沒有既定立場，只是從社會的大小事情中談英語運用。
The Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong last year received widespread media coverage around the world. In general, the campaign had a good press because of the surprisingly peaceful and civilised sit-in. The media commented that if it had taken place in another country, the odds are that it would have evolved into a riot which might have spiralled out of control. At the opposite extreme, however, the government do not seem to appreciate how civilised Hongkongers are and accused a woman of assaulting a police officer with her breasts during another protest.
Floored by the absurdity of the conviction, a host of Hongkongers expressed dissatisfaction and disappointment over the way the government govern Hong Kong and, probably more importantly, how they view Hongkongers. A police officer was captured in a video where he brandished his much-more-potent-than-breasts truncheon, but he later explained in court that the truncheon was only an extension of his arm and was just used to pat a citizen. If a truncheon could be regarded as the extension of a body part, it would stretch belief that breasts are seen as weapons which could land a citizen in court.
Glossary:
1. weapon [n.] 武器
2. armoury [n.] 軍火庫; 武器庫
3. widespread [adj.] 廣泛的
4. coverage [n.] 新聞報道
5. have a good press [ph.] 受到新聞界的好評
6. peaceful [adj.] 和平的
7. civilised [adj.] 文明的
8. sit-in [n.] 靜坐示威
9. odds [n.] 機會; 可能
10. evolve [v.] 演變
11. riot [nn.] 騷亂; 暴動
12. spiral out of control [ph.] 急劇地失控
13. at the opposite extreme [ph.] 截然不同; 完全相反
14. accuse [v.] 控告; 指責
15. assault [v.] 攻擊; 襲擊
16. protest [n.] 抗議
17. floor [v.] 令…驚訝
18. absurdity [n.] 荒謬
19. conviction [n.] 判訣
20. a host of [ph.] 大量; 很多
21. govern [v.] 管治
22. brandish [v.] 胡亂地揮動
23. truncheon [n.] 警棍
24. pat [v.] 輕拍
25. stretch belief [ph.] 難以置信
26. land [v.] 令…陷入…
*The picture shows that the police officer was, as he put it in his account, using a truncheon as the extension of his arm to touch and pat the pedestrians.
more importantly用法 在 [文法] I think it important 的用法- 看板Eng-Class - 批踢踢實業坊 的推薦與評價
之前在新聞中看過這段話，對其文法有點不明白：
https://youtu.be/4HpEUKrmKTY?hd=1
“I was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting, so I thought it really important to document.”
這是前 FBI 局長 James Comey 下台後在國會聽證會做出的陳述。
中國官媒新華社翻譯：「我真的擔心他（川普）會就我們會面的性質撒謊，所以我認為記錄下來非常重要。」（來源：https://goo.gl/SphV35）
我一直覺得 think it 跟 really important 中間少了 be 動詞 was，但查了朗文詞典也有類似的用法：https://goo.gl/CtYuNd
I thought it best to call first.
I thought it appropriate to invite her to speak at the meeting.
這裡為甚麼會少了 be 動詞呢？
我才疏學淺，看得懂文意搞不懂文法。
感謝各位幫忙解答！
PS.英國《衛報》跟美國《紐約時報》等網站多是寫 thought it really important，但美國 CNBC 則是寫為 thought it was really important。
The Guardian https://goo.gl/B6aycK
The New York Times https://goo.gl/4jwskG
CNBC https://goo.gl/Rtk5QB
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※ 編輯: yhli817 (220.142.129.237), 09/19/2017 00:43:06
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