Time 1000: part 2

ferocious
adj. 凶猛的
This puts Clinton in something of a no-win situation: he is unlikely to gain much credit if the bailout succeeds, but will catch ferocious flak if it fails.
紧急贷款如果成功，克林顿不会因此博得美名；如果失败，则会遭到猛烈的抨击；由此看来，克林顿有些像是两头不讨好。
flak n. 高射炮火；抨击，指责

flamboyant
adj. 显眼的，引人注目的；奢华的
He is probably the least flamboyant of the Republican contenders.
共和党各角逐者中，他大概是最不受瞩目的。

fledgling
adj. 初出茅庐的，羽毛刚羽的
Early in this century, a fledgling effort at behavioral genetics divided people into such classes as mesomorphs — physically robust, psychologically assertive — and ectomorphs—skinny, nervous, sky.
本世纪初，在行为遗传学方面的一项初步研究将人分为运动型体格（圣体壮硕，好坚持己见）以及清瘦型体格（身体瘦削，神经紧张，好害羞）。
assertive adj. 武断的，过分自信的

fluid
adj. 流动的，变化不定的 【同】changeable
Information … is now too fluid to control. It flows in over airways, via satellites, through microwave relays to cellular phones, faxes, televisions, radios, beepers, modems.
今日的咨询流动性太大，已经不可能管制。资讯传送方式很多，可以经由空中、卫星、微波转接，也可以通过移动电话、传真机、电视、收音机、传呼机与调制解调器。

formidable
adj. （敌人）但对付的。（工作）艰难的
“Perot as kingmaker, ” he says tactfully, “is a more formidable proposition than Perot as candate.”
他委婉地说道：“佩罗替人抬轿助选，要比他自己出来参选更难缠。”
kingmaker n. 有权使人当选者
proposition n. （口语）要对付或注意的事物

fragile
adj. （情势）脆弱的，禁不起外力冲击的 【同】unstable
A revenue-generating franchise is the most fragile thing in the world … No matter how good your product, you are only 18 months away from failure.
世界上最不可靠的，莫过于来自特许经销权的收入。产品再好，也只有18个月免于淘汰的安全期。

futile
adj. 徒劳无功的，白费力气的 【同】pointless
Indeed, for all the world’s governments, … attempts to control the global flow of electro-information are not only futile but counter productive as well.
试图控制电子资讯的全球流动，不仅枉然而且会带来副作用，对世界各国政府而言，这是毋庸置疑的事。

genuine
adj. 1.真的，非伪造的；2.真诚的，非伪装的 【同】1.real 2.sincere 【反】fake
It is a challenge to portray a forsaken woman in a way that evokes genuine sympathy; but Stevens manages.
把弃妇描写得令人由衷生起恻隐之心，不是件易事，但史蒂文斯做到了。

hefty
adj. 重大的，猛烈的
Chow Yun Fat is angling for Hollywood stardom; this time next year he could be in any of three hefty action films.
周润发正设法到好莱坞摘星，明年此时，他可能已在拍3部火爆动作片中的一部。
angle v. 钓鱼；
to angle for…指（用暗示、手段、诡计等）谋取，博取；
stardom n. 明星的地位或身份

hostile
adj. 带敌意的 【同】antagonistic 【反】receptive
Unlike most baseball-playing countries, Cuba has no professional league to cream off its top talent, and hostile relations with Washington keep its elite from migrating to the U.S. major league.
古巴与大部分棒球国家不同，它没有职业棒球联盟，所以不愁顶尖高手被挖角。它与华盛顿交恶，所以棒球精英也不会移民去打美国甲级联盟。
to cream off…挑出（最好的部分），提取（精华）

immense
adj. 巨大的 【同】enormous
His influence in the 1980s was so immense that Taiwanese distributors once asked a Hong Kong director if there was a role in a film for Chow Yun-fat, and if there wasn’t, they’d commit to a deal.
周润发在80年代的影响力非常大，过去台湾的片商曾问某香港导演，某部电影中有没有周润发的角色，如果没有，他们要求替他写一个角色进去，否则生意免谈。
to commit (oneself) to…答应，保证

imminent
adj. 迫近的，即将发生的
The time will come when the U.S. will subside to become but one of many Great Powers. It is inevitable, but it is not imminent.
美国终有一日会衰退成众多强权中的一员。那是必然的，可是却不会很快来临。
subside v. 消退

inaugural
adj. 就职的
After the oath, he gave an inaugural address designed to reach out to all Americans, to rally the nation to work together for a great common future.
宣誓后，他发表了以全体美国人为对象的就职演说，呼吁全体国人团结起来，为大家伟大的未来一起努力。

indifferent
adj. 漠不关心的 【反】concerned
Chechen militiamen hiding around the corner are indifferent to the Russian’s fate.
潜伏在附近的车臣民兵对俄罗斯人的命运一点也不关心。
around the corner 在近处的，即将发生的

intact
adj. 完好如初的 【同】in one piece
But psychologists, psychiatrists and other scientists are bitterly divided over the idea that the memory of repeated abuse can be completely wiped out and then recovered, virtually intact.
但一再受虐的遭遇是否可自记忆中完全排除，进而完全康复，与受害前几乎没有两样，对这一点在心理学家、精神学家和其他科学家中存在着巨大的分歧。

lingering
adj. 流连不去的
What remains largely unspoken is the lingering hope that such a mission might experience, somewhere beneath the desolate Martian surface, a close encounter with organisms that are alive today.
而尚未说出口的宿愿，就是希望这一项任务可以在火星荒芜的地表下，与现在还活着的生物进行近距离接触。

mean
adj. 卑劣的
This bill is mean. It is downright low-down. What does it profit a great nation to conquer the world, only to lose its soul?
这个提案太卑鄙了，简直是无耻透顶。这么打大的国家如果失去了灵魂，就算征服了全世界又有什么用？
downright adv. 十足地，彻头彻尾的；
low-down adj. （口语）低贱的，卑鄙的

mutual
adj. 相互的，共有的
“That audience was amazing,” he says. “They were so sweet. They were bathing us in affection.” To prove the feeling is mutual, he heads back out into the spotlight.
“那些观众真是令人惊讶。”他说道，“他们太可爱了，让我们沐浴在热情中。”为了表示这种热情是相互的，他转身走回聚光灯下。

namely
adv. 即，就是 【同】that is
Namely, he fails to take into account Quittner’s Law, which says: It is impossible to pay less than $3000 for this year’s computer.
这个错误就是，他没有把奎特纳定律考虑进去，这条定律就是：少于3000美元买不到今年生产的电脑。

obscure
adj. 默默无闻的 【同】unknown
He’d met Marc Andreessen, who as an undergraduate programmer had helped create the then obscure browsing software Mosaic, which made it easy to navigate the World Wide Web.
他和马克·安德里森见了面，安德里森在大学读电脑时，帮忙设计了当时尚默默无闻的“马赛克”浏览软件，可在万维网中轻松寻找资讯。

obsolete
adj. 落伍的，过时的 【同】outdated
Indeed, your average computer is virtually obsolete by the time it is skipped from the factory to the retail store.
实际上，一般的电脑从工厂送到零售店的时候，可以说已经过时了。

ominous
adj. 不吉祥的，不详的 【同】meanacing
Observers are not surprised that business is flourishing despite the ominous political situation.
尽管政治形势恶劣，观察家对经贸如此蓬勃发展并不意外。

ostensibly
adv. 表面上
At 3:33 a.m., it touched down at Marseilles, ostensibly for a refueling stop.
凌晨3点33分，这艘船停靠马赛港，表面上是为了添加燃料。

outspoken
adj. 率直的，不客气的 【同】forthright
When he (Magic Johnson) tried to make a comeback in the fall of ’92, the fears of some outspoken N.B.A. players forced him to call it off.
1992年秋季魔术师的约翰逊想重返N.B.A.，但由于一些直言不讳的球员（怕被染上艾滋病），使他打消了这个念头。 comeback n. 东山再起，卷土重来

pending
adj. 审理中的，悬而未决的；即将发生的
According the chairman, there are dozens of suits pending against the company.
根据该总裁的说法，该公司现有数十个正审理中的官司缠身。

perpetual
adj. 永久的 【同】permanent continual
California, locked in a perpetual automotive smog, requires that by 2003, 10% of the cars offered for sale in the state produce zero emissions…
为永久不散的汽车污染烟雾所苦的加利福尼亚州，强制要求在公元2003年前，在州内销售的汽车有10%完全不排放废气。

persistent
adj. 固执的，顽固的
A small but persistent group of critics, many of them supported by the oil and coal industries, still don’t buy it.
有一群人数不多但固执己见的批评者，还是不信这一套，这些人中有很多受到是由业主和煤矿业主的支持。

persuasive
adj. 有说服力的
Could it be that religious faith has some direct influence on physiology and health? Harvard’s Herbert Benson is probably the most persuasive proponent of this view.
宗教信仰可能对生理和健康有直接的影响？哈佛的赫伯特?本森大概是这理论最具说服力的提倡者。

pervasive
adj. 遍布的
The local U.S. attorney, Eddie Jordan, has called corruption in the (police) department “pervasive, rampant and systemic.”
当地的美国律师乔丹就曾说过，该警察局内“贪污成风，非常猖獗，而且整个警局已成贪污共同体。”
systemic adj. （毒物、疾病等）影响全身的

phony
adj. 伪造的
A police raid on a Tokyo trading company netted 2000 pieces of counterfeit Nike merchandise, including phony Air Maxes.
警方突袭东京一贸易公司，搜出2000件耐克产品的赝品，其中包括Air Maxes运动鞋的仿冒品。
net v. 捕获； counterfeit adj. 伪造的

poignant
adj. 尖刻的，切中要害的；辛酸感人的 【同】moving
That’s sort of a poignant irony.
那段话有点尖刻的讽刺味。
to be sort of 有几分，有点……

preliminary
adj. 初步的
The American Society of Travel Agents said in a preliminary estimate that as many as 10000 of its 25000 members could be put out of business.
美国旅行社协会初步判断，该协会2.5万家会员社中可能有1万家得关门。

previous
adj. 先前的
But it is known that Senator Kennedy gave a toast more poignant than the one the previous evening.
但听说肯尼迪参议员的敬酒词比前一晚的更加辛酸感人。

primary
adj. 最初的，原始的，主要的
Sigmund Freud dismissed religious mysticism as “infantile helplessness” and “regression to primary narcissism.”
弗洛伊德曾将宗教神秘主义斥为“幼稚的无能”和“退化到原始的自恋”。
regression n. 倒退、退化

profound
adj. 1. 重大的，深刻的 2. （理念、作品、人）深奥的，思想渊博的【同】 1. great 2. deep 【反】shallow
By creating breakthroughs in agriculture and disease-fighting, the manipulation of DNA should lead to profound improvements in human health.
通过在农业与疾病防治方面的突破，对DNA的控制应能大幅度改善人类健康状况。

prominent
adj. 著名的，杰出的 【同】well-known
Abe Lincoln was a prominent railroad lawyer in 1860, but he campaigned for the White House as the simple Midwestern rail-splitter.
1860年，林肯已是代理铁路诉讼案的名律师，却仅以中西部伐木工人的身份，出马竞选总统。

promising
adj. 前景看好的 【反】unpromising
On the horizon are the remedies that may prove more promising.
有一些可能更被看好的疗法即将问世。
on the horizon 即将来临的

radical
adj. 1. 彻底的； 2. 根本的，基本的；3. 基金的 【同】fundamental 【反】conservative reactionary
More than at any other time in the past 25 years, men are living in a state of radical disconnection from the women-and-children part of the human race.
过去25年来，男人完全脱离妇女儿童而独自居住的情形以目前最为严重。

rebel
adj. 背叛的 n. 叛军 v. 反叛
Yeltsin ruled out direct peace talks with rebel leader Jokhar Dudayev.
叶利钦决定不与叛军领袖杜达耶夫举行和平谈判。
to rule out 拒绝考虑，排除

仅供学习参考之用，转贴请注明出处。请勿用于商业及其它用途，否则责任自负。