cluster a group of
defunct cease to function
itinerary a planned traveling route
steely determined
spawn cause to happen
wrath anger
mantra a Buddist chant for calming
swamp flood
chronic severe for a long duration
dyke thick flood prevention wall/substitute for 'lesbian'
fare well perform well
ramification unseen consequences
muster gather
wield in possession of power
garner collect
vicious circle bad things that trigger each other
ensue happen immediately after
promulgate constitute something important
suffice be enough
token gesture deed that is done just for showing sincerity
absurd ridiculous and nonsense
subvention assistance and support
knock-on effect effect that follows immediately afterwards
wail painful cry
Band-Aid superficially curing method
Friday, June 13, 2003
Brazil
In Rio, government is family affair
【 明 �� �� �� 】 RIO DE JANEIRO - For Anthony Garotinho, 43, and Rosinha Matheus, 40, governing Rio is a family affair.
When Garotinho quit as Rio de Janeiro state governor to run for president last year, he surprised everyone by choosing his wife as the candidate for his seat. Matheus, in her first election, won in a landslide ( 一 面 倒 的 �� 利 ).
And when Governor Matheus needed a new secretary of public security to deal with a crime wave, the answer was right at home.
"I am naming ( 任 命 ) as secretary the most important thing in my life - my husband," she said on announcing the appointment in April.
Today, the two wield ( �\ 用 ) influence as a couple unparalleled ( �� 一 �o 二 的 ) in Brazilian politics. And how they govern Brazil's second-richest state will probably be a key to the 2006 presidential succession ( �^ 承 ).
Brazilians half-jokingly ( 半 �_ 玩 笑 地 ) compare the two to Juan and Evita Peron, the Argentine leader and charismatic ( 富 魅 力 的 ) first lady in the 1940s and 50s.
Like the Perons, Rio's first couple are unabashed ( 不 加 掩 �� 的 ) populists ( 平 民 主 �x 者 ), revered ( 崇 敬 ) by some voters, reviled ( 痛 斥 ) by others.
As governor, Garotinho built swimming pools in slum districts, opened 35-cent-a-meal "People's Restaurants" and handed out ( �l ) a monthly "Citizen's Check" to low-income families and the elderly. Campaigning for president, he promised to raise the minimum wage and cut taxes.
Critics scoffed at ( �I 笑 ) his chances, but Garotinho struck a chord with1 poor voters. He finished a surprisingly strong third, while Matheus cruised ( 航 �[ ) to a first-ballot win in the governor's race.
Political commentator and movie director Arnaldo Jabor said that the country's intellectuals, academics ( �W 者 ), artists and opinion shapers should have been able to defeat the man and wife politicians, calling them a "grave ( �� 重 的 ) sociological abnormality ( 不 正 常 的 事 物 )".
Matheus, who once sold cosmetics door-to-door ( 挨 家 逐 �� 地 ), has struggled since taking office ( 上 任 ) in January. Civil servants protested loudly when the state couldn't pay mandatory ( �� 制 的 ) Christmas bonuses - in part a legacy of Garotinho's administration.
Many also questioned her fitness for the job when drug gangs burned city buses and machine-gunned ( 用 �C �� 射 �� ) police posts and a tourist hotel, placing her authority in check2. The violence got so bad ( �� 重 ) that the federal government sent tanks and soldiers into the streets to keep the peace during the city's famous Carnival.
Born in 1960, Anthony William Matheus de Oliveira was a soccer commentator ( �u 述 �T ) who changed his name to Garotinho - Portuguese for "little boy" - after the success of his radio programme, the Garotinho Show.
At 19, he met 16-year-old Rosangela Barros Assed at a play rehearsal ( �� �� 排 演 ) in his home town of Campos, a sugar cane-growing centre 275 kilometres east of Rio. Two years later they were married.
With his silky voice and media savvy ( 熟 �R �� 媒 �\ 作 ), Garotinho was a natural ( 天 生 的 料 子 ) for politics. He was elected state legislator and mayor of Campos, while Matheus took his place behind the microphone with the Rosinha Show.
Following a near-fatal ( �U 死 的 ) car crash in 1994, Garotinho converted to evangelical Protestantism, and his speeches took on the fervour ( �� 情 ) of the pulpit ( �� 道 �� ). With support from the politically influential evangelical community, Garotinho was elected governor in 1998 - with 58% of the vote.
Matheus at first was known mostly as the governor's wife and mother of their nine children, five of them adopted ( �I �B ), but slowly she moved out of the shadows. Garotinho named her to head the government's Social Action and Citizenship secretariat, implementing the Popular Restaurants and the Citizen's Check programme.
AP
(1)To strike a chord with someone 指 「 引 起 某 人 的 共 �Q 」 。
(2)To place something in check 指 「 抑 制 某 事 物 」 。
Peter Muello
In Rio, government is family affair
【 明 �� �� �� 】 RIO DE JANEIRO - For Anthony Garotinho, 43, and Rosinha Matheus, 40, governing Rio is a family affair.
When Garotinho quit as Rio de Janeiro state governor to run for president last year, he surprised everyone by choosing his wife as the candidate for his seat. Matheus, in her first election, won in a landslide ( 一 面 倒 的 �� 利 ).
And when Governor Matheus needed a new secretary of public security to deal with a crime wave, the answer was right at home.
"I am naming ( 任 命 ) as secretary the most important thing in my life - my husband," she said on announcing the appointment in April.
Today, the two wield ( �\ 用 ) influence as a couple unparalleled ( �� 一 �o 二 的 ) in Brazilian politics. And how they govern Brazil's second-richest state will probably be a key to the 2006 presidential succession ( �^ 承 ).
Brazilians half-jokingly ( 半 �_ 玩 笑 地 ) compare the two to Juan and Evita Peron, the Argentine leader and charismatic ( 富 魅 力 的 ) first lady in the 1940s and 50s.
Like the Perons, Rio's first couple are unabashed ( 不 加 掩 �� 的 ) populists ( 平 民 主 �x 者 ), revered ( 崇 敬 ) by some voters, reviled ( 痛 斥 ) by others.
As governor, Garotinho built swimming pools in slum districts, opened 35-cent-a-meal "People's Restaurants" and handed out ( �l ) a monthly "Citizen's Check" to low-income families and the elderly. Campaigning for president, he promised to raise the minimum wage and cut taxes.
Critics scoffed at ( �I 笑 ) his chances, but Garotinho struck a chord with1 poor voters. He finished a surprisingly strong third, while Matheus cruised ( 航 �[ ) to a first-ballot win in the governor's race.
Political commentator and movie director Arnaldo Jabor said that the country's intellectuals, academics ( �W 者 ), artists and opinion shapers should have been able to defeat the man and wife politicians, calling them a "grave ( �� 重 的 ) sociological abnormality ( 不 正 常 的 事 物 )".
Matheus, who once sold cosmetics door-to-door ( 挨 家 逐 �� 地 ), has struggled since taking office ( 上 任 ) in January. Civil servants protested loudly when the state couldn't pay mandatory ( �� 制 的 ) Christmas bonuses - in part a legacy of Garotinho's administration.
Many also questioned her fitness for the job when drug gangs burned city buses and machine-gunned ( 用 �C �� 射 �� ) police posts and a tourist hotel, placing her authority in check2. The violence got so bad ( �� 重 ) that the federal government sent tanks and soldiers into the streets to keep the peace during the city's famous Carnival.
Born in 1960, Anthony William Matheus de Oliveira was a soccer commentator ( �u 述 �T ) who changed his name to Garotinho - Portuguese for "little boy" - after the success of his radio programme, the Garotinho Show.
At 19, he met 16-year-old Rosangela Barros Assed at a play rehearsal ( �� �� 排 演 ) in his home town of Campos, a sugar cane-growing centre 275 kilometres east of Rio. Two years later they were married.
With his silky voice and media savvy ( 熟 �R �� 媒 �\ 作 ), Garotinho was a natural ( 天 生 的 料 子 ) for politics. He was elected state legislator and mayor of Campos, while Matheus took his place behind the microphone with the Rosinha Show.
Following a near-fatal ( �U 死 的 ) car crash in 1994, Garotinho converted to evangelical Protestantism, and his speeches took on the fervour ( �� 情 ) of the pulpit ( �� 道 �� ). With support from the politically influential evangelical community, Garotinho was elected governor in 1998 - with 58% of the vote.
Matheus at first was known mostly as the governor's wife and mother of their nine children, five of them adopted ( �I �B ), but slowly she moved out of the shadows. Garotinho named her to head the government's Social Action and Citizenship secretariat, implementing the Popular Restaurants and the Citizen's Check programme.
AP
(1)To strike a chord with someone 指 「 引 起 某 人 的 共 �Q 」 。
(2)To place something in check 指 「 抑 制 某 事 物 」 。
Peter Muello
Talk English
The vegetarian viewpoint
【 明 �� �� �� 】 1. Drama Focus:
Alan This steak is delicious...
Rita: That steak was once part of a living animal.
Alan: Really tender and juicy.
Rita: Do you know how they kill the animals that end up as steak on your table?
Alan: Can we change the subject Rita?
Rita: The cattle are given electric shocks and then battered to death in the abattoir.
2. Language Focus
a) Vocabulary: Similes
Similes are adjectives that have a similar meaning such as `tender' and `juicy.' Their meanings are not exactly the same but overlap sufficiently for the two words to be similes. Tender meat is soft meat that is easy to chew. For meat to be juicy is should also be tender and soft. These similes are also related to the adjective `delicious' which mean that that the steak tastes good as well as being soft and moist.
b) Grammar: Passive voice
The passive voice omits the `doer'. When Rita says that, `The cattle are given electric shocks and then battered to death...' she does not say who gives them the shocks or who batters them to death.
Dino Mahoney
The vegetarian viewpoint
【 明 �� �� �� 】 1. Drama Focus:
Alan This steak is delicious...
Rita: That steak was once part of a living animal.
Alan: Really tender and juicy.
Rita: Do you know how they kill the animals that end up as steak on your table?
Alan: Can we change the subject Rita?
Rita: The cattle are given electric shocks and then battered to death in the abattoir.
2. Language Focus
a) Vocabulary: Similes
Similes are adjectives that have a similar meaning such as `tender' and `juicy.' Their meanings are not exactly the same but overlap sufficiently for the two words to be similes. Tender meat is soft meat that is easy to chew. For meat to be juicy is should also be tender and soft. These similes are also related to the adjective `delicious' which mean that that the steak tastes good as well as being soft and moist.
b) Grammar: Passive voice
The passive voice omits the `doer'. When Rita says that, `The cattle are given electric shocks and then battered to death...' she does not say who gives them the shocks or who batters them to death.
Dino Mahoney
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