Word	Chinese Definition
mute	沉默的
reckless	鲁莽的
ordeal	磨难
chronicle	编年史
warranty	担保
==eligibility==	资格
==surveillance==	监视，监控
==dissent==	异议
==conviction==	信念
turnout	投票人数，出席人数
==ammunition==	弹药
convoy	车队
sergeant	中士，警官
==verdict==	判决
==akin==	相似的，类似的
retarded	智力迟钝的
stipulate	规定
depreciate	贬值，贬低
whereabout	下落，行踪（复数形式whereabouts）
faction	派别，小集团
premium	保险费，额外费用，溢价
coup	政变，成功之举
trench	战壕，沟
motor	发动机，马达，机动车
cavity	洞，腔
consecutive	连续的，连贯的
cram	塞满，挤满，填塞，死记硬背
equitable	公平的，公正的
turnout	投票人数，出席人数
tangle	使缠结，使混乱，纠结
imminent	即将发生的，临近的
corporal	肉体的，身体的，下士
elaboration	精心制作，详尽阐述
grim	严峻的，冷酷的，糟糕的
arbitrate	仲裁，公断
venue	举办地点，会场，审判地
frantic	疯狂的，慌乱的
excerpt	摘录，节录
tropic	热带地区，回归线
anguish	痛苦，苦恼
detention	拘留，监禁，扣押
benevolence	仁慈，善举，仁爱
aspire	渴望，追求，有志于
bewilderment	困惑，迷惘
deportation	驱逐出境
beckon	招手，召唤，吸引
beetle	甲虫，甲壳虫，突出，用槌打
analogous	相似的，类似的
confide	吐露，倾诉，信赖
conceit	自负，骄傲自大，巧妙的构思
strangle	扼死，勒死，抑制，使窒息
bead	珠子，汗珠，有孔小珠
beak	鸟嘴，鹰钩鼻
bleach	漂白，使褪色，变白
deductive	演绎的，推论的
congregate	聚集，集合
bleak	荒凉的，萧瑟的，黯淡的
stagnant	停滞的，不流动的，不景气的
dub	给……起绰号，把……称为，配音，复制
uprising	起义，暴动，反抗
artifact	人工制品，手工艺品
tribe	部落，族（尤指同一语言的）
envisage	设想，想象，正视
stance	立场，态度，姿势
crunch	嘎吱嘎吱的声音， crunch 关键时刻，困境，紧缩
wholesome	有益健康的，健康的，有益的
denounce	谴责，指责，告发
constituency	选区，支持者，（一批）顾客
detain	拘留，扣押，耽搁
degeneration	退化，恶化，堕落
deterrent	威慑物，制止物
ensue	接着发生，因而产生
envoy	使者，使节，代表
alignment	队列，成直线，结盟，联合
unanimous	全体一致的，无异议的
counter	柜台，计数器，反对的，相反的，反击，反驳
assoddsrted	各种各样的，混杂的，什锦的
demographic	人口统计学的，特定人群的
clan	宗族，家族，氏族
vicious	恶毒的，恶意的，凶猛的，剧烈的
cloak	披风，斗篷，掩盖，掩饰
stun	使震惊，使昏迷，打昏
curfew	宵禁，宵禁令
disarm	解除武装，裁军，消除（敌意、疑虑等）
eloquence	口才，雄辩，说服力
ventilate	使通风，使空气流通，公开表达，发泄
stump	树桩，残肢，难住，使为难
temperament	气质，性情，性格
elapse	（时间）过去，消逝
clergy	神职人员，牧师，教士
esteem	尊重，敬重， esteem 认为，把……看作
enlist	入伍，参军，征募，谋取（帮助、支持等）
discourse	演讲，论述，谈话，话语
envelop	包围，笼罩，包住
discern	看出，觉察出，识别，辨别
flutter	飘动，挥动，颤动，flutter （心脏）快速跳动，flutter 不安，紧张
superintendent	主管人，负责人，监督人，警长
syndicate	企业联合，辛迪加， syndicate （通过报业联合组织）出售（稿件）
convene	召集，召开，集合
connotation	内涵，含义，隐含意义
counterfeit	伪造的，假冒的，赝品，伪造，仿造
complement	补充，补足，补充物，补足语
hop	跳跃，单足跳， hop 快速离开， hop （飞机、直升机等）起飞
stark	光秃秃的，荒凉的， stark 严酷的，赤裸裸的， stark 完全的，十足的
shatter	粉碎，破碎，使破灭，使震惊
emancipate	解放，使摆脱束缚
preside	主持，担任主席
tread	踩，踏， tread （小心）行事， tread （在……上）行走
turmoil	混乱，骚乱，动荡
humiliation	羞辱，耻辱
stalk	茎，梗， stalk 悄悄地跟踪，追踪， stalk 昂首阔步地走
indefinite	不确定的，无限期的，模糊的
infringe	侵犯，违反， infringe on/upon 侵犯（权利等），违反（规定等）
ingenious	有独创性的，别出心裁的， ingenious 精巧的，巧妙的
badge	徽章，证章，标志，象征
redundant	多余的，过剩的，被解雇的， redundant 冗余的（计算机用语）
integral	不可或缺的，重要的， integral 完整的，整体的
intuition	直觉
intricate	错综复杂的，复杂精细的
intrinsically	本质上，内在地
sanctuary	避难所，庇护所，圣堂，神殿
infliction	痛苦，折磨，施加
leverage	影响力，杠杆作用， leverage 利用， leverage 给（某物）用杠杆力量
grill	烤架，烧烤， grill 盘问，审问
breach	违反，违背， breach 缺口，裂缝， breach of 违反，违背
plight	困境，苦境， plight 宣誓，保证
lieutenant	陆军中尉，海军上尉，副职官员
concede	承认，让步， concede to 向……让步
certify	证明，证实， certify that 证明……， certify sb/sth as 证明某人/某物为……
salvage	打捞，营救， salvage 抢救出的财物， salvage 挽回，挽救
cholesterol	胆固醇
loot	抢劫，掠夺， loot 战利品，掠夺物
rein	缰绳， rein 控制，掌管， rein in 控制，约束
interrogation	审问，审讯， interrogation 讯问，质问
ponder	仔细考虑，琢磨， ponder on/over/about 思考，考虑
besiege	围攻，包围， besiege with 用……围攻， besiege with 被……困扰
reshuffle	重新洗牌，改组， reshuffle of 对……的改组
magistrate	地方法官，治安官
inventory	存货清单，财产清单，详细目录， inventory 盘点，清查
corridor	走廊，通道
chunk	大块，厚块， chunk of 大量的，一大块……
bust	半身像，胸部，胸围， bust 打破，打碎， bust 开除，解雇
renowned	著名的，有名的
solicit	征求，请求， solicit for 为……征求， solicit 勾引，招揽（生意）
ration	定量，配给量， ration 配给，定量供应， ration out 分配，分发
entail	需要，使承担， entail on/upon 使某人承担，使某人蒙受
midwife	助产士，接生婆
trillion	万亿，兆
oar	桨，橹
amass	积累，积聚， amass wealth/power 积累财富/权力
frantically	疯狂地，拼命地
logistics	后勤，物流
militia	民兵组织，民兵
loot	抢劫，掠夺， loot 战利品，掠夺物
destiny	命运，天命， destiny 注定， destiny to 注定要……
opaque	不透明的，晦涩的，难懂的
cape	披肩，披风，海角，岬
obscurity	默默无闻，无名， obscurity 晦涩，难懂
parish	教区， parish （英国）乡村的行政区域
pact	条约，协定， pact between/with 与……之间的条约/协定
overt	公开的，明显的
foe	敌人，仇敌
cardinal	基本的，主要的， cardinal 红衣主教
delicacy	佳肴，美味， delicacy 精致，细微， delicacy of 对……的敏感
patrol	巡逻，巡查， patrol of 在……巡逻， patrol 巡逻队，巡逻车
parole	假释， parole on 在……假释期间， parole 誓言，诺言
peddle	叫卖，兜售， peddle drugs/gossip 贩卖毒品/传播流言蜚语
partition	分隔物，隔墙， partition between/of 在……之间的分隔， partition 分割，划分
implement	实施，执行， implement plan/policy 实施计划/政策， implement 工具，器具
rear	后部，后面， rear of 在……的后部， rear 饲养，养育， rear 举起，抬起
whereas	然而，但是，鉴于
poise	保持（某种姿势），使平衡， poise 沉着，镇定， poise on 在……上保持平衡
indebted	感激的， indebted to 感激……， indebted for 因……而感激
slum	贫民窟， slum 去贫民窟， slum around （在贫民窟等贫困地区）闲逛
polytechnic	理工专科学校， polytechnic education 理工教育
plaintiff	原告
refute	驳斥，反驳， refute argument/theory 驳斥论点/理论
peg	钉子， peg 用钉子钉， peg 固定， peg 限定（价格、工资等）， peg at 把……限定在……
retort	反驳，回嘴， retort to 对……进行反驳， retort with 用……反驳
formulate	制定，规划， formulate policy/plan 制定政策/计划， formulate 确切表达，阐述
incur	引起，招致， incur cost/debt 引起费用/招致债务
reassure	使放心，使消除疑虑， reassure sb about/over 使某人对……放心
pending	待定的，未决的， pending on/upon 取决于……， pending 在……期间，直到……为止
excerpt	节选
whereabouts	下落
diesel	柴油机
toil	辛劳
antagonism	对抗情绪
batter	面糊
faction	派系
flank	侧翼
antonym	反义词
stoop	弯腰
premiuim	保险费
stipulate	规定
corporal	下士
forfeit	没收
formidable	强大的
wield	挥舞
trickle	涓涓细流
bout	拳击
anguish	痛苦
yacht	游艇
deplore	痛惜
secular	世俗的
deport	驱逐
astray	迷路
allude	暗指
stake	股份
brood	忧思
analogue	模拟
bloc	集团
aspire	渴望
atrocity	残忍
strangle	勒死
solidarity	团结一致
transcend	超越
detention	拘留
brigade	队列
agravate	恶化
bleak	暗淡的
stagnant	停滞不前的
tribute	贡品
doctrine	教条的
apprentice	学徒
wholesome	有益健康的
topple	颠覆
affiliation	附属
artery	动脉
slump	下跌
counter	反驳
conceive	设想
slack	懈怠的
clog	堵塞物
appraise	评估
eloquence	口才
subsidy	补贴
temperament	气质
elapse	流逝
deadlock	僵局
coalition	合作
trophy	奖杯
eccentric	古怪的
dissident	持不同意见的
divine	神圣的
vogue	时髦
elicit	引导
stipulation	契约
rigorous	严厉的
grill	烤架
grope	摸索
hitherto	目前为止
fringe	刘海
brink	边缘
advent	到来
inflict	加害于
infringe	侵害
interim	暂时的
jelly	果冻
ingenious	有独创性的
vicinity	附近
lawsuit	诉讼
majesty	帝王
indigenous	土生土长的
inmate	囚犯
lenient	宽容的
attentive	专心的
ascribe
maligant	恶性的
lyrical	感情丰富的
martyr	烈士
soothe	平静
medieval	中世纪的
reshuffle	重新洗牌
magistrate	地方执法官
menace	威胁
bust	打破
entail	继承
midwife	接生婆
frantically	疯狂的
wither	枯萎
obsess	迷恋
symposium	专题研讨会
peg	挂钩
rear	抚养
retort	反驳
nurture	培养
massacre	大屠杀
divert	转移
obstruct	妨碍
obscurity	默默无闻
delicacy	佳肴
disruptive	创新的
poultry	家禽
slum	贫民窟
plantiff	起诉
incur	引起
jack	千斤顶
quest	探索
pharmaceutical	制药的
compassionate	同情心的
premise	前提
counsel	律师
ratify	批准
endow	赋予
endorse	支持
prosecute	起诉
relentless	无情的
prone	易于
shrewd	精明的
disposition	排列
rigor	严谨
crouch	蹲
stray	迷失的
venue	发生地点
decree	法令
corporal	身体上的
corpse	尸体
wield	使用
deplore	惋惜
ascendance	优势
forfeit	丧失
appal	使震惊
solidarity	团结一致
asylum	庇护
detention	拘留
stigma	耻辱
enlist	应募
entrust	委托
discreet	谨慎的
counterfeit	仿制品
counteraction	反抗
amiable	和蔼的
discord	不和
subsistence	自给自足的，生存的
despise	轻蔑
dispatch	派送
wholesale	大规模的
stifle	憋笑
divine	神圣的
hound	猎狗
impetus	推动力
intrigue	引起兴趣
besiege	包围
frantically	疯狂的
entail	导致
poultry
trivial
sprawl
plaintiff
incur
pant
quest
ranch
verbal
reassure
whereby
wary
relish
relentless
orderly	有秩序的
magnanimous
quarry
conceive
crooked
undue
detest
bungalow
on the air
trifle	琐事
hard and fast
versed
uncalled-for
orientate oneself	确认方位
kin	亲属
get over	熬过
swarm	蜂群
ordor	气味
outweigh	比……重要
tacit	心照不宣的
latent	潜在的
delectable	美味的
set in	生效
petal	花瓣
tamper	篡改
swerve	急转弯
plantation	种植园
entangle	使缠绕
on no account	绝不
farewell	再见
semblance	相似
hatch	孵化
mesh	网
exasperate	激怒
bribe	贿赂
make sth. out
rip	撕
wretched	可怜的
shanty	简陋的
take stock of	估量
elated	兴高采烈的
melancholy	犹豫
navigable	可航行的
inert	迟钝的
persevere	坚持不懈的
susceptible	易受影响的
dispense	分配
tract	一片草地
almighty	全能的
split	分配
sensational	轰动性的
concede	承认
rein	控制
speculate	推测
plantiff	原告
prosecute	控告
frugal	节俭的
crevice	裂缝
quaint	古雅的
perspire	流汗
lax	松懈的
make up with sb.	与某人和解
rise to the occasion	应付自如
imminent	迫近的
puncture	刺穿
ponderous	笨重的
bookkeeper	会计员
conjunction	连接词
toddle	蹒跚学步
junior	三年级学生
say to oneself	自言自语
come to nothing	一无所获
mackintosh	寓意
cane	手掌
tinge	染色
bet	打赌
corps	兵团
set sth. back	把钟表回拨
ridge	山脊
get somewhere	有所成就
brood	一窝
dreary	乏味的
synchronize	使同步发生
set on sb.	攻击
misdeed	罪行

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Hot Animals Around the World: Chameleons

Every few months this program will ==feature== an animal which has caught the eye of the world’s public to become a favorite or “hot” animal. In the first of this unusual series, we will look at the chameleon, one of nature’s strangest creatures.

Perhaps no other group of animals has caught mankind’s imagination like ==reptiles== . Among the several ==subclasses== (or “orders” in biology) of reptiles are snakes and ==lizards== , ==turtles== and ==tortoises== , ==crocodiles== and ==alligators== , and the ==tuatara== , a marine lizard in New Zealand. The dinosaurs, too, belonged to the class of reptile. Was it a snake, lizard, or crocodile that caught the fancy of some Chinese in times gone by to create the dragon? A ==perennial== theme, reptiles have been featured over the past ten years in ==box-office== hits and bombs alike as dinosaurs (Jurassic Park and The lost World), crocodiles, and snakes (Anaconda). Though not nearly as large as these mighty reptiles, the lowly chameleon nonetheless has amazed countless generations with its special talents and skills.

What is a chameleon? Its unusual name fits this unusual animal perfectly, for it translates from the ancient Greek as “lion on the ground.’ This is unexpected, since chameleons spend most of their time in trees, and as for looking like a lion, a chameleon looks like a … well, a chameleon! No other animal in Nature’s zoo looks quite as bizarre as they do. Where do they live? True chameleons are found only in the tropical forests and jungles of the Old World, and nearly half of its species live on the African island of ==Madagascar==.

What’s special about the chameleon? Plenty! From its tongue to its tail the chameleon offers a ==storehouse== of specialties. The tongue of this ==modem-day== dinosaur look-alike can be extended more than twice the length of its body. This type of tongue, also present in frogs and ==toads== , is called an ==extensile== tongue. The eyes of the chameleon are even more remarkable. Its eyes are ==turreted== and can be moved independently so that it can view two different objects simultaneously! This comes in especially handy as it is tree dwelling. The chameleon can keep one eye on its prey and the other on its footing. Its head is often helmet-shaped, and some species have horn-like structures growing out of this ==scaly== helmet.

The feet and tail of the chameleon are also special. Both are ==prehensile== ; that is, they are both perfectly adapted to their ==sylvan== environment. The toes of the chameleon’s feet are bunched into inside and outside groups of two or three to enable this reptile to grasp tree branches tightly. The chameleon can thus climb extraordinarily well while using its tail to grab objects for further balance.

The above ==inventory== of natural selection specializations would be remarkable enough, but what really separates the chameleon from its fellow reptiles is the fact that its scales contain the ability to change color, Though many people think the chameleon can change its color at will and that it can blend into any color, these are misconceptions. In fact, chameleons can blend into many natural colors and even patterns, but they cannot do this at will. Instead, this happens naturally according to temperature, emotional state of the animal, and the triggering of certain hormones within its body.

It is hard to imagine an animal more interesting than the chameleon, with its weird appearance and special abilities. We should always remember, however, that these animals require their native habitat to flourish in, not zoos or individuals’ ==terrariums== . If you want your grandchildren to see this gift of nature, do not collect it as a pet. These natural treasures evolved over millions of years without mankind’s help; they will continue to survive better if left alone.

每隔几个月，这个节目就会 ==推出== 一种吸引了全球公众目光、成为人们喜爱的或 “热门” 的动物。在这个不同寻常的系列节目的第一期中，我们将介绍变色龙，自然界最奇特的生物之一。

也许没有其他动物群体能像 ==爬行动物== 那样激发人类的想象力。在爬行动物的几个 ==亚纲== （或生物学中的 “目”）中，有蛇和 ==蜥蜴== 、==龟== 和 ==鳖== 、==鳄鱼== 和 ==短吻鳄== ，还有新西兰的一种海蜥蜴 ==楔齿蜥== 。恐龙也属于爬行动物类。过去是哪种蛇、蜥蜴或鳄鱼引起了一些中国人的喜爱从而创造出了龙呢？作为一个 ==永恒的== 主题，爬行动物在过去十年里出现在了 ==票房== 大卖和惨败的影片中，比如恐龙题材的（《侏罗纪公园》和《失落的世界》）、鳄鱼题材的以及蛇题材的（《狂蟒之灾》）。尽管变色龙远没有这些强大的爬行动物那么大，但这种不起眼的动物却以其特殊的才能和技能让无数代人惊叹不已。

什么是变色龙？它不同寻常的名字与这种不同寻常的动物完美契合，因为它从古希腊语翻译过来是 “地上的狮子”。这很出人意料，因为变色龙大部分时间都待在树上，而且要说看起来像狮子，变色龙看起来像…… 嗯，一只变色龙！在大自然的动物园里，没有其他动物看起来像它们这么怪异。它们生活在哪里？真正的变色龙只在东半球的热带森林和丛林中被发现，而且几乎一半的变色龙物种生活在非洲的 ==马达加斯加== 岛上。

变色龙有什么特别之处？太多了！从它的舌头到尾巴，变色龙浑身都是特点。这种看起来像 ==现代== 恐龙的动物，它的舌头能伸出超过身体长度的两倍。这种舌头在青蛙和 ==蟾蜍== 身上也有，被称为 ==可伸展== 舌头。变色龙的眼睛更了不起。它的眼睛是 ==炮塔状== 的，可以独立移动，这样它就能同时看到两个不同的物体！这在它树栖生活时特别有用。变色龙可以一只眼睛盯着猎物，另一只眼睛留意脚下。它的头部通常呈头盔形状，有些物种在这个 ==有鳞片的== 头盔上还长有角状结构。

变色龙的脚和尾巴也很特别。它们都具有 ==抓握能力== ；也就是说，它们都完美地适应了它们的 ==森林== 环境。变色龙脚上的脚趾分成内侧和外侧两组，每组两三个，这样这种爬行动物就能紧紧抓住树枝。这样，变色龙就能非常出色地攀爬，同时用尾巴抓住物体以保持更好的平衡。

上述这些自然选择的特殊适应性已经足够引人注目了，但真正让变色龙与其他爬行动物区分开来的是，它的鳞片具有变色能力。尽管很多人认为变色龙可以随意改变颜色，并且能融入任何颜色，但这些都是误解。事实上，变色龙可以融入许多自然颜色甚至图案，但它们不能随意这样做。相反，这是根据温度、动物的情绪状态以及其体内某些激素的触发而自然发生的。

很难想象有比变色龙更有趣的动物了，它有着怪异的外表和特殊的能力。然而，我们应该始终记住，这些动物需要它们的原生栖息地才能繁荣，而不是动物园或个人的 ==玻璃容器== 。如果你想让你的孙辈看到这种大自然的馈赠，就不要把它当作宠物收集起来。这些自然宝藏在没有人类帮助的情况下经过数百万年的进化而来；如果不打扰它们，它们会继续更好地生存下去。 ## Vocabulary & Idioms

Word	Chinese Definition	Phonetic Symbol
feature	特征；特色；容貌	/ˈfiːtʃə(r)/
reptile	爬行动物	/ˈreptaɪl/
subclass	亚纲；子类	/ˈsʌbklɑːs/
lizard	蜥蜴	/ˈlɪzəd/
turtle	龟；海龟	/ˈtɜːtl/
tortoise	乌龟；陆龟	/ˈtɔːtəs/
crocodile	鳄鱼	/ˈkrɒkədaɪl/
alligator	短吻鳄	/ˈælɪɡeɪtə(r)/
tuatara	楔齿蜥	/ˌtuːəˈtɑːrə/
perennial	多年生植物；常年的	/pəˈreniəl/
box-office	票房	/ˈbɒks ɒfɪs/
Madagascar	马达加斯加	/ˌmædəˈɡæskə(r)/
storehouse	仓库；宝库	/ˈstɔːhaʊs/
modern-day	现代的	/ˈmɒdn deɪ/
toad	蟾蜍	/ˈtəʊd/
extensile	可伸展的	/ˈekstensl/
turret	炮塔；角楼	/ˈtʌrɪt/
scaly	有鳞的	/ˈskeɪli/
prehensile	能抓握的	/ˈpriːhensəl/
sylvan	森林的；树木繁茂的	/ˈsɪlvən/
inventory	清单；存货	/ˈɪnvəntri/
misconception	误解；错误观念	/ˌmɪskənˈsepʃn/
terrarium	玻璃容器；饲养箱	/ˈterəriəm/
catch the fancy of sb	吸引某人；使某人喜欢	/ˈkætʃ ðə ˈfænsɪ əv ˈsʌmbədi/
come in handy	迟早有用；派上用场	/ˈkʌm ɪn ˈhændi/
at will	随意；任意	/ˈæt wɪl/

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The Dark History of Zombies

Animated ==corpses== appear in stories all over the world throughout recorded history.

But zombies have a distinct lineage—one that traces back to ==Equatorial== and Central Africa.

The first clue is in the word “zombie” itself.

Its exact ==etymological== origins are unknown, but there are several candidates.

The ==Mitsogho== people of ==Gabon== , for example, use the word “ndzumbi” for corpse.

The ==Kikongo== word “nzambi” refers variously to the supreme being, an ancestor with ==superhuman== abilities, or another ==deity== .

And, in certain languages spoken in ==Angola== and the Congo, “zumbi” refers to an object ==inhabited== by a spirit, or someone returned from the dead.

There are also similarities in certain cultural beliefs.

For example, in Kongo tradition, it’s thought that once someone dies, their spirit can be housed in a physical object which might bring protection and good luck.

Similar beliefs about what might happen to someone’s soul after death are held in various parts of Africa.

Between 1517 and 1804, France and Spain enslaved hundreds of thousands of African people, taking them to the Caribbean island that now contains Haiti and the ==Dominican== Republic.

There, the religious beliefs of enslaved African people mixed with the Catholic traditions of colonial authorities, and a religion known as “vodou” developed.

According to some vodou beliefs, a person’s soul can be captured and stored, becoming a ==body-less== “zombi.”

Alternatively, if a body isn’t properly attended to soon after death, a ==sorcerer== called a “ ==bokor== ” can capture a corpse and turn it into a soulless zombi that will perform their ==bidding== .

Historically, these zombis were said to be put to work as laborers who needed neither food nor rest and would enrich their captor’s fortune.

In other words, zombification seemed to represent the horrors of enslavement that many Haitian people experienced.

It was the worst possible fate: a form of enslavement that not even death could free you from.

The zombi was ==deprived== of an ==afterlife== and trapped in eternal ==subjugation== .

Because of this, in Haitian culture, zombis are commonly seen as victims deserving of sympathy and care.

The zombie underwent a transformation after the US occupation of Haiti began in 1915—this time, through the lens of Western pop culture.

During the occupation, US citizens propagated many racist beliefs about Black Haitian people.

Among false accounts of devil worship and human sacrifice, zombie stories captured the American imagination.

And in 1932, zombies ==debuted== on the big screen in a film called “White Zombie.”

Set in Haiti, the film’s ==protagonist== must rescue his fiancée from an evil vodou master who runs a sugar ==mill== using zombi labor.

==Notably== , the film’s main object of sympathy isn’t the enslaved workforce, but the victimized white woman.

Over the following decades, zombies appeared in many American films, usually with loose references to Haitian culture, though some ==veered== off to involve aliens and Nazis.

Then came the wildly influential 1968 film “ ==Night of the Living Dead== ,” in which a group of strangers tries to survive an ==onslaught== of slow-moving, flesh-eating monsters.

The film’s director remarked that he never ==envisioned== his living dead as zombies.

Instead, it was the audience who recognized them as such.

But from then on, zombies became linked to an ==insatiable== craving for flesh—with a particular taste for brains added in 1985’s “The Return of the Living Dead.”

In these and many subsequent films, no sorcerer controls the zombies; they’re the monsters.

And in many ==iterations== , later ==fueled== by 2002’s “28 Days Later,” zombification became a ==contagious== phenomenon.

For decades now, artists around the world have used zombies to shine a light on the social ills and anxieties of their moment—from consumer culture to the global lack of disaster ==preparedness== .

But, in effect, American pop culture also initially erased the zombie’s origins— ==cannibalizing== its original significance and transforming the victim into the monster.

在有记录的历史中，世界各地的故事里都出现过会动的==尸体==。

但僵尸有着独特的渊源——可以追溯到==赤道地区==和中非。

第一条线索就藏在“僵尸”这个词本身。

其确切的==词源==尚不清楚，但有几种可能的来源。

例如，加蓬的==米佐戈人==用“ndzumbi”来表示尸体。

基孔戈语中的“nzambi”有多种含义，既指至高无上的神，也指具有==超人==能力的祖先，或是其他==神灵==。

在安哥拉和刚果使用的某些语言中，“zumbi”指被灵魂附身的物体，或是从死人复生的人。

某些文化信仰中也存在相似之处。

例如，在刚果的传统观念里，人们认为人死后，其灵魂可以寄居在某个实物中，这可能会带来保护和好运。

非洲各地对于人死后灵魂归宿有着类似的信仰。

1517年至1804年间，法国和西班牙奴役了数十万非洲人，并将他们带到了如今包含海地和==多米尼加==共和国的加勒比岛屿。

在那里，被奴役的非洲人的宗教信仰与殖民当局的天主教传统相融合，一种名为“伏都教”的宗教由此发展起来。

根据一些伏都教的信仰，人的灵魂可以被捕获并储存起来，成为一个没有身体的“僵尸”。

或者，如果尸体在死后不久没有得到妥善照料，一个被称为“==博科尔==”的==巫师==可以捕获尸体，并将其变成一个没有灵魂的僵尸，听从他们的==吩咐==。

从历史上看，这些僵尸据说会被当作劳工使用，他们既不需要食物也不需要休息，会为捕获者带来财富。

换句话说，僵尸化似乎代表了许多海地人所经历的奴役之恐怖。

这是最悲惨的命运：一种即使死亡也无法解脱的奴役形式。

僵尸被剥夺了==来世==，被困在永恒的==奴役==之中。

正因如此，在海地文化中，僵尸通常被视为值得同情和关爱的受害者。

1915年美国开始占领海地后，僵尸经历了一次转变——这一次，是通过西方流行文化的视角。

占领期间，美国公民传播了许多关于海地黑人的种族主义观念。

在关于崇拜恶魔和人祭的虚假描述中，僵尸故事激发了美国人的想象力。

1932年，僵尸在一部名为《白色僵尸》的电影中首次登上大银幕。

这部电影以海地为背景，主人公必须从一个邪恶的伏都教大师手中救出他的未婚妻，这个大师利用僵尸劳工经营一家糖厂。

==值得注意的是==，这部电影中主要的同情对象不是被奴役的劳动力，而是受害的白人女性。

在接下来的几十年里，僵尸出现在许多美国电影中，通常只是松散地提及海地文化，不过有些电影==偏离主题==，涉及到外星人和纳粹。

随后出现了极具影响力的1968年电影《==活死人之夜==》，一群陌生人试图在一群行动迟缓、食肉的怪物的==袭击==中求生。

这部电影的导演表示，他从未将自己塑造的活死人视为僵尸。

相反，是观众将它们认作僵尸。

但从那时起，僵尸就与对肉的==贪得无厌==的渴望联系在一起——1985年的《活死人归来》还特别加上了对大脑的嗜好。

在这些以及许多后续电影中，没有巫师控制僵尸；它们就是怪物。

在许多==版本==中，后来在2002年的《惊变28天》的推动下，僵尸化变成了一种==传染性==现象。

几十年来，世界各地的艺术家都用僵尸来揭示他们所处时代的社会弊病和焦虑——从消费文化到全球缺乏灾难==准备==。

但实际上，美国流行文化最初也抹去了僵尸的起源——==蚕食==了它原本的意义，将受害者变成了怪物。

Vocabulary, Phrases and Sentences

Word	Chinese Definition	Phonetic Symbol
corpse	尸体	/kɔːps/
equatorial	赤道的	/ˌekwəˈtɔːriəl/
etymological	词源的	/ˌetɪməˈlɒdʒɪkl/
mitsogho	（可能是特定语境下的词，无常见准确释义）
gabon	加蓬（非洲国家）
kikongo	金刚果语
superhuman	超人的；超乎常人的	/ˌsuːpəˈhjuːmən/
deity	神；女神	/ˈdeɪəti/
angola	安哥拉（非洲国家）
inhabit	居住于；栖息于	/ɪnˈhæbɪt/
dominican	多米尼加的；多米尼加人	/dəˈmɪnɪkən/
body-less	无身体的
sorcerer	巫师；魔法师	/ˈsɔːsərə(r)/
bokor	（伏都教中的）巫师
bidding	命令；请求；出价	/ˈbɪdɪŋ/
deprive	剥夺；使丧失	/dɪˈpraɪv/
afterlife	来世；死后的生活
subjugation	征服；镇压；克制	/ˌsʌbdʒuˈɡeɪʃn/
debut	首次亮相；初次登台，音标为	/ˈdeɪbjuː/
protagonist	主角；主人公	/ˌprəʊtəˈɡənɪst/
mill	磨坊；工厂；磨粉机	/mɪl/
notably	显著地；尤其	/ˈnəʊtəbli/
veer	转向；改变方向；偏离	/vɪə(r)/
night of the living dead	活死人之夜
onslaught	攻击；猛攻	/ˈɒnslɔːt/
envision	想象；预想	/ɪnˈvɪʒn/
insatiable	贪得无厌的；不知足的	/ɪnˈseɪʃəbl/
iteration	迭代；重复	/ˌɪtəˈreɪʃn/
fuel	燃料；给……提供燃料	/ˈfjuːəl/
contagious	传染性的；有感染力的	/kənˈteɪdʒəs/
preparedness	准备状态；预备
cannibalize	拆用……的零件；同类相食	/ˈkænɪbəlaɪz/

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WHY THE COVID DENIERS WON

Lessons from the pandemic and its aftermath(by David Frum, a staff writer at the Atlantic)

Five years ago, the coronavirus pandemic ==struck a bitterly divided society== .

Americans first ==diverged over== how dangerous the disease was: just a flu (as President Donald Trump repeatedly insisted) or something much deadlier.

Then they ==disputed== public-health measures such as ==lockdowns== and masking; a majority ==complied== while a passionate minority fiercely resisted.

Finally, they split—and have remained split—over the value and safety of COVID-19 vaccines. Anti-vaccine beliefs ==started on the fringe== , but they spread to the point where Ron DeSantis, the governor of the country’s third-most- ==populous== state, launched a campaign for president on an appeal to anti-vaccine ideology.

Five years later, one side has seemingly triumphed. The winner is not the side that initially prevailed, the side of public safety. The winner is the side that minimized the disease, then rejected publichealth measures to prevent its spread, and finally refused the vaccines designed to protect against its worst effects.

Ahead of COVID ’s fifth anniversary, Trump, as president-elect, nominated the country’s most ==outspoken== vaccination opponent to ==head== the Department of Health and Human Services. He chose a ==proponent== of the ==debunked== and ==discredited== vaccines-cause-autism claim to lead the CDC. He named a ==strident== critic of COVID-vaccine ==mandates== to lead the FDA. For surgeon general, he picked a believer in hydroxychloroquine, the ==disproven== COVID-19 remedy. His pick for director of the National Institutes of Health had advocated for letting COVID spread unchecked to encourage ==herd immunity== . Despite having ==fast-tracked== the develop ment of the vaccines as president, Trump has himself ==trafficked== in many forms of COVID-19 denial, and has expressed his own suspicions that childhood vaccination against ==measles== and ==mumps== is a cause of ==autism== .

The ==ascendancy== of the anti-vaxxers may ultimately prove ==fleeting== . But if the forces of science and health are to ==stage a comeback== , it’s important to understand why those forces have ==gone into eclipse==

From March 2020 to February 2022, about 1 million Americans died of COVID-19. Many of those deaths occurred after vaccines became available. If every adult in the United States had received two doses of a COVID vaccine by early 2022, rather than just the 64 percent of adults who had, nearly 320,000 lives would have been saved.

Why did so many Americans resist vaccines? Perhaps the biggest reason was that the pandemic ==coincided== with a presidential-election year, and Trump instantly recognized the crisis as a threat to his chances for re-election. He responded by denying the seriousness of the pandemic, promising that the disease would rapidly disappear on its own, and promoting ==quack== cures.

The COVID-19 vaccines were developed while Trump was president. They could have been advertised as a Trump achievement. But by the time they became widely available, Trump was out of office. His supporters had already made up their minds to distrust the public-health authorities that promoted the vaccines. Now they had an additional ==incentive== : Any benefit from vaccination would ==redound== to Trump’s successor, Joe Biden. Vaccine rejection became a badge of group loyalty, one that ultimately cost many lives.

A summer 2023 study by Yale researchers of voters in Florida and Ohio found that during the early phase of the pandemic, self-identified Republicans died at only a slightly higher rate than self-identified Democrats in the same age range. But once vaccines were introduced, Republicans became much more likely to die than Democrats. In the spring of 2021, the excess-death rate among Florida and Ohio Republicans was 43 percent higher than among Florida and Ohio Democrats in the same age range. By the late winter of 2023, the 300-odd most pro-Trump counties in the country had a COVID-19 death rate more than two and a half times higher than the 300 or so most anti-Trump counties.

In 2016, Trump had boasted that he could shoot a man on Fifth Avenue and not lose any votes. In 2021 and 2022, his most ==fervent== supporters risked death to prove their loyalty to Trump and his ==cause== .

Why did political ==fidelity== express itself in such selfharming ways?

The ==onset== of the pandemic was an unusually confusing and ==disorienting== event. Some people who got COVID died. Others lived. Some suffered only mild symptoms. Others spent weeks on ==ventilators== , or ==emerged== with long COVID and never fully recovered. Some lost businesses built over a lifetime. Others refinanced their homes with 2 percent interest rates and banked the savings.

We live in an ==impersonal== universe, indifferent to our hopes and wishes, subject to extreme randomness. We don’t like this at all. We crave satisfying explanations. We want to believe that somebody is ==in control== , even if it’s somebody we don’t like. At least that way, we can blame bad events on bad people. This is the eternal appeal of ==conspiracy theories== . How did this happen? Somebody must have done it— but who? And why?

==Compounding== the ==disorientation== , the coronavirus outbreak was a rapidly changing story. The scientists who researched COVID-19 knew more in April 2020 than they did in February; more in August than in April; more in 2021 than in 2020; more in 2022 than in 2021. The official advice kept changing: Stay inside—no, go outside. Wash your hands—no, mask your face. Some Americans appreciated and accepted that knowledge improves ==over time== , that more will be known about a new disease in ==month two== than in ==month one== . But not all Americans saw the world that way. They mistrusted the idea of knowledge as a developing process. Such Americans wondered: Were they lying before? Or are they lying now?

In a different era, Americans might have ==deferred== more to medical authority. The internet has upended old ideas of what should count as authority and who possesses it. The pandemic reduced normal human interactions. Severed from one another, Americans deepened their para social attachment to social-media platforms, which ==foment== alienation and rage. Hundreds of thousands of people plunged into ==an alternate mental universe== during COVID-19 lockdowns. When their doors reopened, the ==mania== did not ==recede== . Conspiracies and mistrust of the establishment—never strangers to the American mind—had been nourished, and they grew.

The experts themselves contributed to this loss of trust.

It’s now agreed that we had little to fear from going outside in dispersed groups. But that was not the state of knowledge in the spring of 2020. At the time, medical experts insisted that any kind of mass outdoor event must be sacrificed to the ==imperatives== of the emergency. In mid-March 2020, federal public-health authorities shut down some of Florida’s beaches. In California, surfers faced heavy fines for ==venturing== into the ocean. Even the COVID-skeptical Trump White House reluctantly canceled the April 2020 Easteregg roll.

And then the experts abruptly reversed themselves. When George Floyd was choked to death by a Minneapolis police officer on May 25, 2020, hundreds of thousands of Americans left their homes to protest, ==defying== three months of ==urgings== to avoid large gatherings of all kinds, outdoor as well as indoor.

On May 29, the American Public Health Association issued a statement that proclaimed racism a public-health crisis while ==conspicuously== refusing to condemn the sudden ==defiance== of public-safety rules.

The next few weeks saw the largest mass protests in recent U.S. history. Approximately 15 million to 26 million people attended outdoor Black Lives Matter events in June 2020, according to a series of reputable ==polls== . Few, if any, scientists or doctors scolded the attendences—and many politicians joined the protests, including future Vice President Kamala Harris. It all raised a suspicion: Maybe the authorities were making the rules based on politics, not science.

The ==politicization== of health advice became even more ==consequential== as the summer of 2020 ended. Most American public schools had closed in March. “At their peak,” Education Week reported, “the closures affected at least 55.1 million students in 124,000 U.S. public and private schools.” By September, it was already apparent that COVID-19 posed relatively little risk to children and teenagers, and that remote learning did not work. At the same time, returning to the classroom before vaccines were available could pose some risk to teachers’ health—and possibly also to the health of the adults to whom the children returned after school.

How to balance these concerns given the ==imperfect== information? Liberal states decided in favor of the teachers. In California, the majority of students did not return to in-person learning until the fall of 2021. New Jersey kept many of its public schools closed until then as well. Similar things happened in many other states: Illinois, Maryland, New York, and so on, through the states that voted Democratic in November 2020.

Florida, by contrast, reopened most schools in the fall of 2020. Texas soon followed, as did most other Republican-governed states. The COVID risk for students, it turned out, was minimal: According to a 2021 CDC study, less than 1 percent of Florida students ==contracted== COVID-19 in school settings from August to December 2020 after their state restarted in-person learning. Over the 2020–21 school year, students in states that voted for Trump in the 2020 election got an average of almost twice as much ==inperson== instruction as students in states that voted for Biden.

Any risks to teachers and school staff could have been ==mitigated== by the universal vaccination of those groups. But deep into the fall of 2021, thousands of blue-state teachers and staff resisted vaccine mandates— including more than 5,000 in Chicago alone. By then, another school year had been interrupted by closures.

BY DISPARAGING public-health methods and ==discrediting== vaccines, the COVID-19 ==minimizers== cost hundreds of thousands of people their lives. By keeping schools closed longer than absolutely necessary, the COVID maximizers hazarded the futures of young Americans.

Students from poor and troubled families, in particular, will continue to pay the cost of these learning losses for years to come. Even in liberal states, many private schools reopened for in-person instruction in the fall of 2020. The ==affluent== and ==the connected== could buy their children a continuing education unavailable to those who depended on public schools. Many lower-income students did not return to the classroom: Throughout the 2022–23 school year, poorer school districts reported much higher ==absenteeism== rates than were seen before the pandemic.

Teens absent from school typically get into trouble in ways that are even more damaging than the loss of math or reading skills. New York City arrested 25 percent more minors for serious crimes in 2024 than in 2018. The national trend was similar, if less stark. The FBI reports that although crime in general declined in 2023 compared with 2022, crimes by minors rose by nearly 10 percent.

People who finish schooling during a recession tend to do worse even into middle age than those who finish in times of prosperity. They are less likely to marry, less likely to have children, and more likely to die early. The ==disparity== between those who finish in lucky years and those who finish in unlucky years is greatest for people with the least formal education.

Will the harms of COVID prove equally enduring? We won’t know for some time. But if past experience holds, the COVID-19 years will mark their most ==vulnerable== victims for decades.

THE STORY OF COVID can be told as one of shocks and disturbances that wrecked two presidencies. In 2020 and 2024, ==incumbent== administrations lost elections back-to back, something that hadn’t happened since the deep economic depression of the late 1880s and early 1890s. The pandemic caused a recession as steep as any in U.S. history. The aftermath saw the worst inflation in half a century.

In the three years from January 2020 through December 2022, Trump and Biden both signed a series of major bills to revive and rebuild the U.S. economy. Altogether, they swelled the gross public debt from about $20 billion in January 2017 to nearly $36 billion today. The weight of that debt helped drive interest rates and mortgage rates higher. The burden of the pandemic debt, like learning losses, is likely to be with us for quite a long time.

Yet even while acknowledging all that went wrong, respecting all the lives lost or ruined, reckoning with all the lasting harms of the crisis , we do a dangerous ==injustice== if we remember the story of COVID solely as a story of American failure. In truth, the story is one of strength and ==resilience== .

Scientists did deliver vaccines to prevent the disease and treatments to recover from it. Economic policy did avert a global depression and did rapidly restore economic growth. Government assistance kept households afloat when the world shut down— and new remote-work practices enabled new patterns of freedom and happiness after the pandemic ended.

The virus was first detected in December 2019. Its ==genome== was sequenced within days by scientists collaborating across inter national borders. Clinical trials for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine began in April 2020, and the vaccine was authorized for emergency use by the FDA in December. Additional vaccines rapidly followed, and were universally available by the spring of 2021. The weekly death ==toll== fell by more than 90 percent from January 2021 to midsummer of that year.

The U.S. economy roared back with a strength and power that ==stunned== the world. The initial ==spike== of inflation has ==subsided== . Wages are again rising faster than prices. Growth in the United States in 2023 and 2024 was faster and broader than in any peer economy.

Even more ==startling== , the U.S. recovery ==outpaced== China’s. That nation’s ==bounceback== from COVID-19 has been slow and ==faltering== . America’s economic lead over China, once thought to be narrowing, has suddenly widened; the gap between the two countries’ GDPs grew from $5 trillion in 2021 to nearly $10 trillion in 2023. The U.S. share of world economic output is now slightly higher than it was in 1980, before China began any of its economic reforms. As he did in 2016, Trump ==inherits== a strong and healthy economy, to which his own ==reckless== policies— notably, his trade protectionism—are the only visible threat.

In public affairs, our bias is usually to pay most attention to disappointments and mistakes. In the pandemic, there were many errors: the partisan ==dogma== of the COVID minimizers; the ==capitulation== of states and ==municipalities== to favored interest groups; the hypo chondria and neuroticism of some COVID maximizers. Errors need to be studied and the lessons ==heeded== if we are to do better next time. But if we fail to acknowledge America’s successes—even partial and imperfect successes— we not only do an injustice to the American people. We also defeat in advance their confidence to collectively meet the crises of tomorrow.

Perhaps it’s time for some national self-forgiveness here. Perhaps it’s time to accept that despite all that went wrong, despite how much there was to learn about the disease and how little time there was to learn it, and despite polarized politics and an ==unruly== national character—despite all of that—Americans collectively met the COVID-19 emergency about as well as could reasonably have been hoped.

The wrong people have profited from the immediate aftermath. But if we remember the pandemic accurately, the future will belong to those who rose to the crisis when their country needed them

Vocabulary, Phrases and Sentences

Word	Chinese Definition	Phonetic Symbol
strike a bitterly divided society	引发一个严重分裂的社会
diverge over	在……上产生分歧
dispute	争论；争议	/dɪˈspjuːt/
lockdowns	封锁
comply	遵守	/kəmˈplaɪ/
start on the fringe	从边缘开始
populous	人口众多的	/ˈpɒpjələs/
outspoken	直言不讳的	/ˌaʊtˈspəʊkən/
proponent	支持者；拥护者	/prəˈpəʊnənt/
debunk	揭穿；揭露	/diːˈbʌŋk/
discredit	诋毁；使不可信	/dɪsˈkredɪt/
strident	尖锐的；刺耳的	/ˈstraɪdənt/
mandate	授权；命令	/ˈmændeɪt/
herd immunity	群体免疫
fast-tracked	快速推进的
traffick	非法交易；贩卖	/ˈtræfɪk/
disprove	证明……错误；反驳	/ˌdɪsˈpruːv/
measles	麻疹	/ˈmiːzlz/
mumps	腮腺炎	/ˈmʌmps/
autism	自闭症	/ˈɔːtɪzəm/
ascendancy	优势；支配地位	/əˈsendənsi/
fleeting	短暂的；飞逝的	/ˈfliːtɪŋ/
stage a comeback	卷土重来
go into eclipse	失势；黯然失色
coincide	同时发生；相符	/ˌkəʊɪnˈsaɪd/
quack	江湖郎中；庸医	/kwæk/
incentive	激励；动机	/ɪnˈsentɪv/
redound	产生某种结果；有助于	/rɪˈdaʊnd/
fervent	热烈的；热情的	/ˈfɜːvənt/
cause	原因；事业；使发生	/kɔːz/
fidelity	忠诚；忠实	/fɪˈdeləti/
onset	开始；发作	/ˈɒnset/
disorienting	使人迷失方向的
ventilator	呼吸机	/ˈventɪleɪtə(r)/
emerge with long COVID	出现长期新冠症状
impersonal	客观的；非个人的	/ɪmˈpɜːsənl/
somebody is in control	某人掌控着局面
conspiracy theory	阴谋论
compounding the disorientation	加剧迷失方向感
month two	第二个月
month one	第一个月
defer	推迟；延期	/dɪˈfɜː(r)/
foment	煽动；挑起	/fəʊˈment/
an alternative mental universe	另一个精神世界
mania	狂热；躁狂症	/ˈmeɪniə/
recede	后退；减弱	/rɪˈsiːd/
imperatives	必要的事；紧急的事	/ɪmˈperətɪvz/
defy	违抗；无视	/dɪˈfaɪ/
conspicuously	明显地；引人注目地	/kənˈspɪkjuəsli/
defiance	违抗；蔑视	/dɪˈfaɪəns/
poll	民意调查；投票	/pəʊl/
politicization	政治化
consequential	重要的；有重大影响的	/ˌkɒnsɪˈkwenʃl/
contract	合同；契约；感染；收缩	/ˈkɒntrækt/ /kənˈtrækt/
imperson	这个拼写有误，可能是intense（强烈的；紧张的），音标为/ɪnˈtens/
affluent	富裕的；富足的	/ˈæfluənt/
absenteesim	旷工；旷课
disparity	差异；悬殊	/dɪˈspærəti/
vulnerable	脆弱的；易受伤害的	/ˈvʌlnərəbl/
incumbent	在职者；现任者	/ɪnˈkʌmbənt/
injustice	不公正；不公平	/ɪnˈdʒʌstɪs/
resilience	适应力；复原力	/rɪˈzɪliəns/
genome	基因组	/ˈdʒiːnəʊm/
toll	伤亡人数；损失；钟声	/təʊl/
stun	使震惊；使昏迷	/stʌn/
spike	尖峰；激增；长钉	/spaɪk/
subside	平息；减退	/səbˈsaɪd/
startle	使惊吓；使吃惊	/ˈstɑːtl/
outpace	超过；比……快	/ˌaʊtˈpeɪs/
bounceback	反弹；恢复
falter	犹豫；蹒跚；衰退	/ˈfɔːltə(r)/
inherit	继承；遗传	/ɪnˈherɪt/
reckless	鲁莽的；不顾后果的	/ˈrekləs/
dogma	教条；教义	/ˈdɒgmə/
capitulation	投降；屈服	/kəˌpɪtʃuˈleɪʃn/
municipality	市政当局；自治市	/ˌmjuːnɪˈsɪpələti/
heed	注意；听从	/hiːd/
unruly	难以控制的；不守规矩的	/ʌnˈruːli/

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Indoor Pollution

So you think that by staying at home you are safe from all the terrible kinds of pollution present outdoors, such as in or near factories, roads, and garbage ==dumps== ? Do you think that by staying in your office you are breathing cleaner, safer air than when you go outside for lunch or are on the way back home from work? Think again. Recent research done at the University of Texas has shown that staying indoors may actually be more harmful to one’s health than being outdoors even in smoggy cities.

Apparently, we are safe neither at home nor in the business office. We use water in both places, but the above-mentioned research shows that chemicals added to our local water supply to kill harmful bacteria can have unwanted side effects. These chemicals can cause potential harm through drinking and in seemingly harmless activities as cleaning one’s house. These ==additives== are released from water by daily actions like water running out of ==faucets== , ==spraying== from garden ==hoses== , or ==splashing== in dishwashers and washing machines. As the water is ==agitated== , these chemicals are released into the air and then breathed in. Once inside our bodies, they start to affect our health ==adversely== .

Does this mean we should stop bathing? No, say the scientists, but we should put ==all pollution into perspective== . Activities at home such as the burning of propane, coal, cooking oil, or even candles and ==incense== release carbon monoxide and particulates such as ==soot== which have been proven as harmful to health as working or living near high density traffic. New ==rugs== , ==bedding== , and even clothing give off that “new smell“ which is a sure sign of chemicals. In the office, newly applied ==paint== , newly purchased telephones and other telecommunications equipment, and computers and their ==peripherals== release polluting chemicals, too. As offices and homes often have inadequate ==ventilation== , these chemicals can build up to become health ==nuisances== . Their toxic effects are only now being slowly recognized.

These facts suggest that, at a minimum, proper airing of newly purchased goods with an obvious chemical smell is a wise precaution. Home and office windows should be opened during good weather to allow a flushing of ==stale== air. Even one’s car need to be ventilated as well as the garage.

We need further research to understand better other potential health hazards, too. For example, the effect of overcrowding of schools (carbon dioxide build up), factory work environments (an endless list of potentially dangerous substances), and even home heating and cooling (the furnace and air conditioner may be our enemies, not our fiends) have only recently started to come to light. Until we understand the effects of our new technological environment better, we can only hope that ” there is no place like home”

那么你是否认为待在家里就能免受户外存在的各种可怕污染，比如工厂内或附近、道路以及垃圾场的污染呢？你是否觉得待在办公室里呼吸的空气比出去吃午饭或下班回家路上的空气更清洁、更安全呢？再好好想想吧。德克萨斯大学最近的研究表明，待在室内实际上可能比待在户外对健康更有害，即便在烟雾弥漫的城市也是如此。

显然，我们在家里和办公室都不安全。我们在这两个地方都用水，但上述研究表明，添加到当地供水系统中用以杀死有害细菌的化学物质可能会产生意想不到的副作用。这些化学物质会通过饮用以及诸如打扫房屋这类看似无害的活动造成潜在危害。这些添加剂会通过水龙头流水、花园水管喷水或者洗碗机和洗衣机的水花飞溅等日常行为从水中释放出来。随着水的搅动，这些化学物质被释放到空气中，然后被吸入体内。一旦进入我们的身体，它们就开始对我们的健康产生不利影响。

这是否意味着我们应该停止洗澡呢？科学家们说不，但我们应该正确看待所有污染。在家里，诸如燃烧丙烷、煤炭、食用油，甚至蜡烛和香等活动会释放一氧化碳和颗粒物，比如煤烟，这些已被证明与在高密度交通区域工作或生活一样对健康有害。新的地毯、床上用品，甚至衣服都会散发出“新气味”，这无疑是化学物质的迹象。在办公室里，新刷的油漆、新购置的电话和其他电信设备，以及电脑及其周边设备也会释放污染性化学物质。由于办公室和家庭通常通风不足，这些化学物质会积聚起来，成为健康隐患。它们的毒性作用直到现在才逐渐被认识到。

这些事实表明，至少，对有明显化学气味的新购置物品进行适当通风是明智的预防措施。天气好的时候，家里和办公室的窗户应该打开，让污浊的空气流通出去。甚至汽车和车库也需要通风。

我们还需要进一步研究，以便更好地了解其他潜在的健康危害。例如，学校过度拥挤的影响（二氧化碳积聚）、工厂工作环境（潜在危险物质数不胜数），甚至家庭供暖和制冷（炉子和空调可能是我们的敌人，而非朋友），这些直到最近才开始被发现。在我们更好地了解新技术环境的影响之前，我们只能寄希望于“没有地方比得上家”

Vocabulary & Idioms

• dump——倾倒
  • garbage dump——垃圾场
• additive——添加剂
• spray——喷
• hose——软管
• faucet——水龙头
• splash——泼洒，飞溅
• adversely——不利的
• incense——熏香
• rug——小地毯
• bedding——床上用品
• peripheral——外围设备
• ventilation——通风
  • Open the window so that we can ventilate this room we are painting
• nuisance——麻烦事
• stale——不新鲜的
• agitate——搅动
• put something in perspective——合理地看待某事
• particulate——微尘
• come to light——显露，被发现
• There is no place like home——世上无处比家好

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Pizza, Please!

One of the world’s most popular foods along with the hamburger, fried chicken, and ==milk shakes== is pizza. Although the origin of the first three foods is well understood, ==that== of pizza until recently, anyway was for along time an international controversy.

The word pizza has always been known to mean pie or cake, and is an Italian word. This ==fad== alone might suggest pizza’s origins. However, some years ago in New York City, a Chinese restaurateur challenged the Italian ==ethnicity== of pizza by declaring that pizza was originally a Chinese food. ==But was then taken along with pasta by Marco Polo back to Italy== . It seemed the question would never be solved.

The case actually made itself into court (only in America!). Italian ==restaurateur== challenged the Chinese businessman’s view, but when all the evidence was in, the result was announced by a judge, as early as the Roman Empire, pizza was baked in ovens there and eaten. Chinese normally steam or fry their foods, not bake them. Bread and other baked goods to which pizza belongs were developed from India through Europe where they are still enjoyed today. Besides, cheese is an essential element of pizza, and the Chinese traditionally did not produce cheese. The case was closed, and pizza’s ==paternity== has now been established.

For pizza lovers, of course, their favorite food might have been invented in Argentina or Indonesia. Who cares? Indeed, pizza has changed as it has spread around the globe, so that when ordering a pizza in Honolulu, New York, Paris, Istanbul, New Delhi, or Tokyo, you are sure to receive a slightly different version in each city or country. Pizza known to Italians and New Yorkers (Where pizza was first introduced into the United States by the many Italian Americans living there) is a round, thin ==crusted== baked dish covered with tomato ==sauce== and cheese. To improve the taste, pieces of Italian sausages such as ==pepperoni== and ==salami== , and vegetables like onions, green ==peppers== and olives are added. Occasionally, ==anchovies== , small, salty fish, are also used. However, Asians enjoy pizza with ==corn== , cucumbers, and other vegetables, not to mention assorted seafood. Hawaiians, perhaps predictably, developed a pizza with a ==pineapple== and ==ham topping== . Today, nearly every country has its favorite local variety of pizza. Worldwide, there must be more than 1000 varieties of pizza.

Some people are not so fond of pizza. They classify it as a junk food, along with greasy French fries, potato chips, and hamburgers. On the contrary, said defenders of pizza, it is indeed a healthful food. Carefully chosen fresh ingredients can ensure the quality of any food we eat, and pizza is no exception. Others protest that pizza is too fattening to be eaten regularly. Not true, respond those ==enamored== of pizza’s charms. It all depends on the ingredients and how well they are prepared. For example, the meats which are used as toppings on pizza are often first fried to remove excess fat. The cheeses used can be selected for their high protein but low milk fat. Sparse rather than generous addition of spices such as salt ensure that pizza need not be considered junk food. A well-made pizza not only looks, smells, and tastes great, but it is a wise choice for everyone as a regular food source. Indeed, It seems the only disadvantage to pizza is that when dropped, it causes a mess!

Children enjoy pizza because it’s fun to eat and delicious. Workers enjoy it because it is inexpensive and quick to order, too. Families enjoy the convenience of carrying home a whole meal from the many ==vendors== of this world famous food. With its many advantages, no one needs to resist the allure of one of the world’s most popular foods. Come to think of it, let’s have pizza for dinner tonight!

Vocabulary & Idioms

• milk shake——奶昔
• fad——狂热
• ethnicity——种族渊源，血统
• restaurateur——餐馆老板
• paternity——父亲的身份，身份起源
• crust——面包皮
• sauce——酱汁
• pepperoni——意大利腊肉肠
• salami——萨拉米香肠
• pepper——辣椒
• anchovy——鳀
• corn——玉米
• pineapple——菠萝
• ham topping——火腿配料
• be enamored of——迷恋的……
• vendor——小贩

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How Could so Many People Support Hitler

In ==Jerusalem== , on April 11th, 1961, Adolf Eichmann ==stood trial== for crimes against humanity.

Eichmann had been a Nazi official ==tasked== with organizing the transport of over 1.5 million European Jews to ==ghettos== and ==concentration camps== .

He was popularly described as an evil ==mastermind== who ==orchestrated== ==atrocities== from a ==cushy== German office, and many were eager to see the so-called “desk murderer” ==tried== for his crimes.

But the ==squeamish== man who took the ==stand== seemed more like a ==dull== ==bureaucrat== than a ==sadistic== killer.

The ==disparity== between Eichmann’s nature and his actions was unsettling for many viewers, but for philosopher Hannah Arendt, this ==contradiction== inspired a ==disturbing== ==revelation== .

Arendt was a German Jew who ==fled== her homeland in 1933 after being briefly imprisoned by the German secret police.

As a refugee in France and then the United States, she dedicated herself to understanding how the Nazi regime came to power, and more specifically, how it inspired so many atrocities.

A common opinion at the time was that the Third ==Reich== was a historical oddity: a perfect storm of uniquely evil leaders supported by German citizens looking for revenge after their ==defeat== in World War I.

But Arendt believed the true conditions behind this unprecedented rise of ==totalitarianism== weren’t specific to Germany.

Throughout the 1950s, Arendt developed a theory of the human condition that divided life into three facets: labor—in which we satisfy our material needs and desires; work—in which we build the world’s physical and cultural infrastructure; and action—in which we publicly ==articulate== our values to collectively shape the world around us.

It was this last facet, the life of action, that Arendt believed was under attack, both in Germany and many other industrialized societies.

She saw him as an age ruled by labor, where individuals mainly appear in the social world to produce and consume goods and services rather than share ideas and shape communities.

Arendt believed this had fostered societies and ideologies where individuals were seen only for their economic value, rather than their moral and political capacities.

She believed this isolated people from their neighbors and their sense of self.

And in her 1951 book, The Origins of Totalitarianism, Arendt argued these conditions provided ==fertile ground== for totalitarian regimes, which use fear and violence to increase isolation and make it dangerous to publicly ==engage as== ==freethinking== ==political agents== .

In this lonely state, participating in the regime becomes the only way to recover a sense of identity and community.

Arendt believed it was this kind of environment where Eichmann committed his crimes.

Most people expected the Jewish German philosopher to judge the ex-Nazi harshly.

But while she condemned his ==monstrous== actions, Arendt saw no evidence that Eichmann himself was ==uniquely== evil.

She saw him as ==a distinctly ordinary man== who considered diligent ==obedience== the highest form of civic duty.

And for Arendt, it was exactly this ordinariness that was most terrifying.

Her point wasn’t just that anyone could do what Eichmann did, but that his story suggested ordinary people could willingly accept their ==societal== role—even when it contributed to ==genocide== .

Arendt called this phenomenon “the ==banality== of evil,” and warned that it can emerge whenever society ==inhibits== our ability to think; or more specifically, to question our beliefs and actions in a self-reflective internal dialogue.

Arendt believed this kind of thinking is the only way to confront moral problems, and that our responsibility to self-reflect is especially important when independent thought is threatened.

She acknowledged that critical thinking in ==oppressive== spaces is a ==defiant== act that requires personal courage.

But it must be done regardless, which is why Arendt still held Eichmann accountable.

This thread runs throughout Arendt’s work, where she continually insisted that thinking was our greatest weapon against the threats of modernity.

Namely, a ==relentless== drive for economic and technological development which would increase social ==alienation== and inhibit human freedom.

To foster this essential value, Arendt believed we need to create formal and informal forums that allowed for open conversations about shaping our collective future.

These might include ==townhall== meetings, self-governing workplaces, or student unions.

But whatever shape they take, what’s most important to Arendt is that they value open dialogue and critical self-reflection.

1961年4月11日，阿道夫·艾希曼在耶路撒冷因反人类罪受审。

艾希曼曾是一名纳粹官员，负责组织将150多万欧洲犹太人运往犹太人聚居区和集中营。

他被普遍描述为一个邪恶的主谋，在德国舒适的办公室里策划了种种暴行，许多人急切地想看到这个所谓的“办公桌凶手”为其罪行受审。

但站在证人席上的这个神经质的男人，看起来更像一个乏味的官僚，而不是一个虐待狂杀手。

艾希曼的本性与他的行为之间的差异让许多观众感到不安，但对哲学家汉娜·阿伦特来说，这种矛盾引发了一个令人不安的启示。

阿伦特是一名德国犹太人，1933年她被德国秘密警察短暂监禁后逃离了祖国。

作为一名在法国和后来美国的难民，她致力于理解纳粹政权是如何掌权的，更具体地说，它是如何引发如此多暴行的。

当时的一种普遍观点是，第三帝国是一个历史怪胎：由一战战败后寻求复仇的德国公民支持的极端邪恶领导人的完美风暴。

但阿伦特认为，这种极权主义前所未有的崛起背后的真正情况并非德国所特有。

在整个20世纪50年代，阿伦特发展了一种关于人类状况的理论，将生活分为三个方面：劳动——在其中我们满足物质需求和欲望；工作——在其中我们构建世界的物质和文化基础设施；行动——在其中我们公开表达自己的价值观，以集体塑造我们周围的世界。

正是这最后一个方面，即行动的生活，阿伦特认为在德国和许多其他工业化社会中受到了攻击。

她将现代性视为一个由劳动统治的时代，在这个时代，个人主要在社会世界中出现是为了生产和消费商品及服务，而不是分享想法和塑造社区。

阿伦特认为，这催生了这样的社会和意识形态，在其中个人仅仅因其经济价值而被看待，而不是因其道德和政治能力。

她认为这使人们与邻居和自我意识隔绝。

在她1951年的著作《极权主义的起源》中，阿伦特认为这些情况为极权主义政权提供了肥沃的土壤，极权主义政权利用恐惧和暴力来加剧孤立，并使作为自由思考的政治主体公开参与变得危险。

在这种孤独的状态下，参与政权成为恢复身份感和社区感的唯一途径。

阿伦特认为，正是在这种环境下艾希曼犯下了他的罪行。

大多数人期望这位犹太裔德国哲学家严厉地评判这位前纳粹分子。

但尽管她谴责了他的暴行，阿伦特没有看到证据表明艾希曼本人是独特的邪恶。

她认为他是一个非常普通的人，认为勤奋服从是公民责任的最高形式。

对阿伦特来说，正是这种平凡最令人恐惧。

她的观点不仅仅是任何人都可能做出艾希曼所做的事情，而是他的故事表明普通人可以心甘情愿地接受他们在社会中的角色——即使这导致了种族灭绝。

阿伦特将这种现象称为“恶的平庸性”，并警告说，每当社会抑制我们思考的能力时，或者更具体地说，抑制我们在自我反思的内心对话中质疑自己的信仰和行为的能力时，这种现象就可能出现。

阿伦特认为这种思考是面对道德问题的唯一途径，并且当独立思考受到威胁时，我们进行自我反思的责任尤为重要。

她承认在压迫性环境中的批判性思考是一种需要个人勇气的反抗行为。

但无论如何都必须这样做，这就是为什么阿伦特仍然认为艾希曼负有责任。

这条线索贯穿阿伦特的作品，她在其中不断坚持认为思考是我们对抗现代性威胁的最强大武器。

也就是说，对经济和技术发展的不懈追求会加剧社会疏离并抑制人类自由。

为了培养这种至关重要的价值观，阿伦特认为我们需要创建正式和非正式的论坛，允许就塑造我们的集体未来进行公开对话。

这些可能包括市政厅会议、自治的工作场所或学生会。

但无论它们采取何种形式，对阿伦特来说最重要的是它们重视公开对话和批判性的自我反思。 # Vocabulary, Phrases and Sentences

Word	Chinese Definition	Phonetic Symbol
stand trial	受审判
task	拍给某人（工作）
ghetto	贫民窟	/ˈgɛtoʊz/
concentration camp	集中营
mastermind	策划者
orchestrate	策划
atrocity	暴行
cushy	安逸的
squeamish	诚实谨慎的	/ˈskwiːmɪʃ/
dull	迟钝的
bureaucrat	官僚主义
sadistic	虐待狂的
disparity	差距
contradiction	矛盾
disturbing revelation	令人不安的其实
fled	逃走
the third reich	第三帝国
defeat	失败
totalitarianism	极权主义	/toʊˌtæləˈteriənɪzəm/
articulate	表达
modernity	现代性
fertile ground	肥沃的土壤
engage as	作为
freethinking	自由思考
political agent	政治代理人
monstrous	野兽的
a distinctly ordinary man	一个非常普通的人
obedience	服从
societal	社会的
genocide	种族灭绝的
banality	平庸
inhibit	抑制
oppressive	压迫的
defiant	挑衅的
relentless	坚韧的
alienation	疏远
townhall	市政厅
Jerusalem	耶路撒冷

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The Warrior Who Defeated the Mighty Mughals - Stephanie Honchell Smith

In warfare, in command, in sound judgement, and in administration, he had no equal.——

In 1624, Mughal Emperor Jahangir received word of yet another defeat at the hands of his greatest enemy, Malik Ambar.

Despite coming to India as an enslaved youth, Ambar had risen to rule over the Indian sultanate of Ahmednagar.

His brilliant military ==tactics== had brought the Mughals’ march of conquest to a ==screeching== ==halt== .

Jahangir was so obsessed with defeating his rival that he ==commissioned== a painting of himself shooting an arrow at Ambar’s ==skull== .

Malik Ambar was born in the late 1540s in central Ethiopia as Chapu, a member of the Oromo people.

Every year, as part of ==ongoing== conflicts with their neighbors, Oromo youth were among the thousands of Ethiopians captured and sold into the Indian Ocean slave trade.

In this part of the world, enslaved individuals retained some legal rights, and enslavers could be held accountable for severe ==mistreatment== .

There was also less legal discrimination against previously enslaved people, allowing some individuals who gained their freedom to acquire great wealth and power.

However, these circumstances shouldn’t ==overshadow== the trauma of enslavement, which violently severed individuals from their lives and loved ones.

Around the age of 12, Chapu was among those taken into ==bondage== .

==Captives== were typically shipped to the Middle East or South Asia.

Women were sold into sexual slavery as concubines or forced to become domestic servants, a position in which they often had to endure harassment and sexual violence.

Men were either purchased for dangerous physical labor or by wealthy individuals who trained them to become servants of the political and military elite.

Chapu was part of the latter group.

He was taken to Baghdad, where he was educated in ==Arabic== among other subjects and ==converted== to Islam before being resold to the chief minister of Ahmednagar.

The minister himself was a formerly enslaved African, but after being freed, he had risen through the ranks, becoming ==second in command to the sultan himself== .

Chapu, now known as Malik Ambar, became the chief minister’s ==protégé== , observing him advise the sultan, ==enact== policies, and navigate court politics.

After the minister’s death, his widow granted Ambar’s freedom.

Like many newly freed Africans in India at the time, Ambar became a ==mercenary== soldier.

Ahmednagar was frequently under attack from Mughal invaders, who were determined to expand their empire.

But Ambar’s daring ==guerrilla== tactics ==derailed the invaders’ plans== by interrupting supply lines.

Ambar’s military success earned him a ==following== , and in 1600, he used his influence to take advantage of a royal power vacuum.

After placing a young puppet ruler on the ==throne== , Ambar became the ==regent== and new chief minister.

He also married his daughter to the new sultan, creating a direct tie to the royal family.

Not all parties were pleased with Ambar’s power grab, and the new sultan eventually conspired to remove Ambar from power.

But before these plans could take form, both conspirators were mysteriously poisoned.

The sultan’s five-year-old son was then placed on the throne, giving Malik Ambar, a once-enslaved ex-soldier, complete political, economic, and military control over Ahmednagar.

Ambar remained in power for over 25 years, bringing long-term stability to the ==embattled== region.

He built a new capital city, negotiated trade deals with Indian and European merchants, and reformed the tax system to better protect ==peasants== .

But most importantly, he continued to ==foil== the Mughal invasion.

His ==ragtag== army of local Indians, enslaved and newly freed Africans, was religiously and ethnically diverse, yet they were united by Ambar’s leadership.

He ==made up== for his lack of numbers by launching lightning attacks that ==demoralized== and exhausted the Mughal troops long before they reached the ==battlefield== .

Jealous of Ambar’s success and popularity, some of his enemies accused him of maintaining power through ==sorcery== or ==devil== ==worship== .

Others ==begrudgingly== acknowledged his ==piety== , generosity, and military genius.

Regardless, very few ever ==outmaneuvered== him.

Malik Ambar died of natural causes in 1626, leaving Ahmednagar to his son, who was unable to maintain his father’s military record.

Just seven years later, the sultanate finally fell to the Mughal forces, ==heralding== the fall of the kingdom Ambar had risen to lead.

Who was behind this ==ferocious== and seemingly unstoppable Mughal Empire?

Trace the rise and fall of one of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful dynasties with this video).

在战争、指挥、明智的判断和行政管理方面，无人能与他匹敌。——

1624年，莫卧儿皇帝贾汉吉尔得知自己在最大的敌人马利克·安巴尔手中又一次战败。

尽管安巴尔年轻时作为奴隶来到印度，但他后来崛起，统治了印度的艾哈迈德纳加尔苏丹国。

他卓越的军事 ==战术== 使莫卧儿人的征服步伐 ==戛然而止== 。

贾汉吉尔如此痴迷于击败对手，以至于他 ==委托== 创作了一幅自己向安巴尔的 ==头骨== 射箭的画。

马利克·安巴尔于16世纪40年代末出生在埃塞俄比亚中部，原名查普，是奥罗莫族人。

每年，作为与邻国持续冲突的一部分，奥罗莫族青年是数千名被俘虏并被卖入印度洋奴隶贸易的埃塞俄比亚人之一。

在世界的这个地区，被奴役的个人保留了一些合法权利，奴隶主可能会因严重 ==虐待== 而被追究责任。

对以前被奴役的人也较少存在法律歧视，这使得一些获得自由的人能够积累巨大的财富和权力。

然而，这些情况不应 ==掩盖== 奴役带来的创伤，奴役暴力地将个人与他们的生活和亲人分离。

大约12岁时，查普被带入 ==奴役== 之中。

==俘虏== 通常被运往中东或南亚。

女性被卖为性奴隶成为妾，或被迫成为家庭佣人，在这个职位上她们常常不得不忍受骚扰和性暴力。

男性要么被购买去从事危险的体力劳动，要么被富有的人买走，训练他们成为政治和军事精英的仆人。

查普属于后者。

他被带到巴格达，在那里他学习了包括 ==阿拉伯语== 在内的多种科目，并 ==皈依== 了伊斯兰教，之后被转卖给艾哈迈德纳加尔的首席部长。

这位部长本人曾是一名被奴役的非洲人，但获得自由后，他一路晋升，成为 ==仅次于苏丹本人的二号人物== 。

查普，现在被称为马利克·安巴尔，成为了首席部长的 ==门徒== ，观察他为苏丹出谋划策、 ==制定== 政策以及在宫廷政治中周旋。

部长去世后，他的遗孀给了安巴尔自由。

和当时印度许多新获得自由的非洲人一样，安巴尔成为了一名 ==雇佣军== 士兵。

艾哈迈德纳加尔经常受到决心扩张帝国的莫卧儿侵略者的攻击。

但安巴尔大胆的 ==游击== 战术通过切断补给线 ==打乱了侵略者的计划== 。

安巴尔的军事成功为他赢得了一批 ==追随者== ，1600年，他利用自己的影响力趁王室权力真空之际。

在扶植了一位年轻的傀儡统治者登上 ==王位== 后，安巴尔成为了 ==摄政王== 和新的首席部长。

他还把女儿嫁给了新苏丹，与王室建立了直接联系。

并非所有各方都对安巴尔夺取权力感到满意，新苏丹最终密谋将安巴尔赶下台。

但在这些计划成形之前，两名阴谋者都神秘地被毒死了。

然后，苏丹五岁的儿子登上了王位，让曾经身为奴隶的前士兵马利克·安巴尔完全掌控了艾哈迈德纳加尔的政治、经济和军事。

安巴尔掌权超过25年，为这个 ==饱受战乱的== 地区带来了长期稳定。

他建造了一座新的都城，与印度和欧洲商人谈判贸易协定，并改革税收制度以更好地保护 ==农民== 。

但最重要的是，他继续 ==挫败== 莫卧儿人的入侵。

他那由当地印度人、被奴役的人和新获得自由的非洲人组成的 ==乌合之众== 的军队，在宗教和种族上是多样化的，但他们在安巴尔的领导下团结在一起。

他通过发动闪电袭击来弥补人数上的不足，这些袭击在莫卧儿军队到达 ==战场== 之前很久就使他们士气低落、疲惫不堪。

一些敌人嫉妒安巴尔的成功和声望，指责他通过 ==巫术== 或 ==崇拜魔鬼== 来维持权力。

另一些人则 ==勉强== 承认他的 ==虔诚== 、慷慨和军事天才。

无论如何，很少有人能 ==智胜== 他。

马利克·安巴尔于1626年自然死亡，将艾哈迈德纳加尔留给了他的儿子，而他的儿子无法维持他父亲的军事成就。

仅仅七年后，苏丹国最终落入莫卧儿军队之手， ==宣告== 了安巴尔所崛起领导的王国的覆灭。

这个 ==凶猛== 且看似势不可挡的莫卧儿帝国背后是谁呢？

通过这个视频)追溯世界上最富有、最强大的王朝之一的兴衰历程。

Vocabulary, Phrases and Sentences

Word	Chinese Definition	Phonetic Symbol
tactic	策略
screech	尖叫
halt	暂停
commission	委托
skull	头骨
ongoing	持续存在的
mistreatment	虐待
overshadow	遮盖
bondage	束缚
captive	俘虏
Arabic	阿拉伯的
second in command to the sultan	苏丹的二把手
protégé	门生	/ˈproʊtəʒeɪ/
enact	通过（法律）
mercenary	唯利是图的
mercenary soldier	雇佣兵
guerrilla	游击队员	/ɡəˈrɪlə/
following	追随者
throne	王座
regent	摄政王
embattle	四面楚歌
peasant	农民
foil	挫败
ragtag	组织散漫的
make up	弥补
demoralize	使泄气
battlefield	战场
sorcery	巫术
devil	邪恶的
worship	崇拜
begrudgingly	不情愿的	/bɪˈɡrʌdʒɪŋli/
piety	虔诚	/ˈpaɪəti/
outmaneuver	以谋略制胜
heralding	预示
ferocious	残暴的

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Why Does February Only Have 28 Days

Although February 2015 ==might fit perfectly on the page== , every year ==it’s the runt of the monthly litter== .

This deficit of days, this calendar ==craziness== , this ==oddity== of the annum, like so much of modern culture, is the Romans’ fault.

Here’s the crazy story of why February has 28 days… except when it doesn’t.

Romulus, the maybe-mythical, maybe-real founder and first king of Rome, had a problem.

With an increasing number of festivals, feasts, military ceremonies, and religious celebrations to keep track of, Romans needed a calendar to organize all of them.

Ancient astronomers already had accurate calculations for the time between two solar ==equinoxes== or ==solstices== , but nature had given people a nice, easy pie chart in the sky to track the passage of time, so early Rome, like many other cultures, worked off a lunar calendar.

The calendar of the Romulan republic had ten months of either 30 or 31 days, beginning in March and ending in December, and we can still see traces of that calendar today.

Problem was, that year was a few days short of four seasons.

Romans were too busy not dying during winter to count those 61 and a quarter extra days… they’d just start the next year on the new moon before the spring equinox.

It’s actually not a bad system, as long as you don’t have to figure out what day it is between December and March.

So the second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius, tried something else.

Even numbers were bad luck in Ancient Rome, so Numa started by removing a day from all the even-numbered months.

And being loony for Luna, Numa wanted his calendar to cover 12 cycles of the moon, but that would have been an even number, so he rounded his year up to 355.

Numa split the remaining days into two months and tacked them on to the end of the year.

And that’s how February got 28 days.

Yes, it’s an even number, but since the month was dedicated to spiritual purification, Romans let that one slide.

But, as powerful as Rome may have been, they couldn’t change the rules of the universe, and neither of these calendars add up anywhere close to the time it takes us to orbit the sun.

After a few years, the seasons are out of ==whack== with the months, dogs and cats, living together, mass hysteria!!

Did we already use that joke?

This is where it gets even ==weirder== .

See, February was actually split in two parts.

The first 23 days and… the rest.

Every year, Numa’s superstitious calendar would be out of line with the seasons by a little more than 10 days.

So every other year, the last few days of February were ignored and a 27-day leap month was added after February 23rd or 24th.

This way every four years would average out to 366 and a quarter days… which is still too many days, but hey, we’re getting there.

Confused?

You should be.

Numa!

This system could have worked, every 19 years, lunar and solar calendars tend to line up, so add enough leap months to keep the seasons in order and eventually everything will reset itself.

Except these leap months weren’t always added according to plan.

Politicians would ask for leap months to extend their terms, or “forget” them to get their opponents out of office.

And if Rome was at war, sometimes the leap month would be forgotten for years, and by the time Julius Caesar came to power, things had gotten pretty confusing.

Caesar had spent a lot of time in Egypt, where 365-day calendars were all the rage, so in 46 BC, he ==flushed== Rome’s lunar calendar down the ==aqueduct== and installed a solar calendar.

January and February had already been moved to the beginning of the year, and Caesar added 10 days to different months to get a total of 365.

And since a ==tropical== year is a ==tad== longer than 365 days, Julius added a leap day every four years, except they inserted it after February 23, right in the middle of the month.

Apparently February is the trash heap of the calendar, just do whatever feels good.

For all their work to reform the calendar and other stuff they did, the 7th and 8th months of the year were ==renamed== for Julius and his successor Augustus Caesar, despite the fact that Pope Gregory would have to adjust it again in 1500 years.

But that’s a story for a different day.

Or month.

I don’t even know anymore.

Stay curious.

尽管2015年2月 ==在日历上看起来很合适== ，但每年 ==它都是月份中的小可怜== 。

天数的不足、日历的 ==混乱== 、一年中的 ==古怪之处== ，就像现代文化的许多方面一样，都要归咎于罗马人。

下面就是关于为什么二月有28天…… 除非情况并非如此的疯狂故事。

罗慕路斯，这位可能是神话人物、也可能真实存在的罗马城创建者及首任国王，遇到了一个问题。

随着节日、盛宴、军事仪式和宗教庆典的数量不断增加，罗马人需要一个日历来安排所有这些活动。

古代天文学家已经精确计算出了两次 ==春分== 或 ==冬至== 之间的时间，但大自然在天空中给人们提供了一个简单易懂的图表来记录时间的流逝，所以早期的罗马和许多其他文化一样，采用的是阴历。

罗马共和国的日历有十个月，每个月有30天或31天，从三月开始，到十二月结束，我们今天仍然可以看到那个日历的痕迹。

问题是，那一年比四季的时间少了几天。

罗马人在冬天忙着保命，无暇顾及那多出来的61又四分之一天…… 他们就在春分前的新月时开始新的一年。

实际上这是个不错的系统，只要你不用弄清楚十二月和三月之间是几号就行。

于是罗马的第二位国王努马·庞皮利乌斯尝试了别的办法。

在古罗马，偶数被认为是不吉利的，所以努马首先从所有偶数月中去掉了一天。

而且由于痴迷于月亮，努马希望他的日历涵盖12个月亮周期，但那会是个偶数，所以他把一年的天数凑到了355天。

努马把剩下的天数分成两个月，加到了一年的末尾。

二月就是这样有了28天。

没错，这是个偶数，但由于这个月是用于精神净化的，罗马人就没计较。

但是，尽管罗马曾经很强大，他们却无法改变宇宙的规律，而且这两种日历都与我们绕太阳公转所需的时间相差甚远。

几年后，季节和月份就 ==乱套== 了，狗和猫都生活在一起了，简直是大混乱！！

我们是不是已经用过那个笑话了？

接下来事情变得更 ==怪异== 了。

看，二月实际上被分成了两部分。

前23天和…… 剩下的部分。

每年，努马那迷信的日历都会与季节相差10多天。

所以每隔一年，二月的最后几天就被忽略，在2月23日或24日之后会增加一个27天的闰月。

这样每四年平均就有366又四分之一天…… 还是多了点，但嘿，我们正在接近正确答案。

困惑了？

你应该感到困惑。

努马！

这个系统本可以行得通的，每19年，阴历和阳历往往会对齐，所以添加足够的闰月来让季节保持顺序，最终一切都会自行重置。

只是这些闰月并不总是按计划添加。

政治家们会要求增加闰月来延长他们的任期，或者 “忘记” 添加闰月来让对手下台。

而且如果罗马处于战争状态，有时闰月会被遗忘数年，到尤利乌斯·恺撒掌权时，情况已经变得相当混乱了。

恺撒在埃及待了很长时间，那里365天的日历很流行，所以在公元前46年，他把罗马的阴历 ==冲进了== ==水渠== 里，采用了阳历。

一月和二月已经被移到了一年的开头，恺撒在不同的月份增加了10天，使一年总共有365天。

而且由于一个 ==回归年== 比365天 ==稍长== 一点，尤利乌斯每四年增加一个闰日，只是他们把闰日加在了2月23日之后，正好在二月中旬。

显然二月是日历中的垃圾场，想怎么来就怎么来。

尽管他们为改革日历以及做了其他诸多事情，但一年中的第七个月和第八个月还是 ==被重新命名== 以纪念尤利乌斯和他的继任者奥古斯都·恺撒，尽管1500年后教皇格列高利还得再次调整它。

但那是另一天的故事了。

或者另一个月的故事。

我现在都搞不清了。

保持好奇心。 ## Vocabulary, Phrases and Sentences

Word	Chinese Definition	Phonetic Symbol
runt	小矮个	/rʌnt/
litter	垃圾
oddity	古怪
equinox	春分
solstice	夏/冬至
whack	重击
weirder	诡异的
flushed	脸红的
aqueduct	渡槽，水渠
tropical	热带的
tad	一点儿
out of whack	不正常的
tropical year	回归年

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The Science of Falling in Love

Love is often described as heartwarming,heart-wrenching and even heartbreaking.

So, what does the brain have to do with it?

Everything!

==The journey from first spark to last tear is guided by a symphony of neurochemicals and brain systems.==

As you begin to fall for someone, you may find yourself excessively daydreaming about them, and wanting to spend more and more time together.

This first stage of love is what psychologists call ==infatuation, or passionate love== .

Your new relationship can feel almost ==intoxicating== , and ==when it comes to the brain, that’s not far from the truth== .

Infatuated individuals show increased activation in the ventral tegmental area.

The VTA is the reward-processing and motivation hub of the brain, firing when you do things like ==eat a sweet treat== , ==quench your thirst== , or in more extreme cases, take drugs of abuse.

Activation releases the “feel good” neurotransmitter dopamine, ==teaching your brain to repeat behaviors in anticipation of receiving the same initial reward==.

This increased VTA activity is the reason love’s not only ==euphoric== , but also draws you towards your new partner.

At this first stage, it may be hard to see any ==faults== in your new perfect partner.

This ==haze== is thanks to love’s influence on higher cortical brain regions.

Some newly infatuated individuals show decreased activity in the brain’s ==cognitive== center, ==the prefrontal cortex== .

As activation of this region allows us to engage in critical thought and pass judgment, it’s not surprising we tend to see new relationships through rose-colored glasses.

While this first stage of love can be an intense ==rollercoaster== of emotions and brain activity, it typically only lasts a few months, ==making way== for the more long-lasting stage of love, known as attachment, or compassionate love.

As your relationship develops, you may feel more relaxed and committed to your partner thanks in large part to two hormones: oxytocin and vasopressin.

Known as pair-bonding hormones, they signal trust, feelings of social support and attachment.

In this way, romantic love is not unlike other forms of love, as these hormones also help bond families and friendships.

Further, oxytocin can inhibit the release of stress hormones, which is why spending time with a loved one can feel so relaxing.

As early love’s suspension of judgment fades, it can be replaced by a more honest understanding and deeper connection.

Alternatively, as your rose-colored glasses begin to lose their ==tint== , problems in your relationship may become more evident.

No matter the reason a relationship ends, we can blame the pain that accompanies heartbreak on the brain.

==The distress of a breakup== activates the ==insular== cortex, a region that processes pain—both physical, like ==spraining== your ankle, as well as social, like the feelings of ==rejection== .

As days pass, you may find yourself once again daydreaming about or ==craving== contact with your lost partner.

The drive to reach out may feel overwhelming, like an extreme hunger or thirst.

When looking at photos of a former partner, heartbroken individuals again show increased activity in the VTA, the motivation and reward center that drove feelings of longing during the initial stages of the relationship.

This emotional ==whirlwind== also likely activates your body’s alarm system, the stress axis, leaving you feeling shaken and restless.

As time goes on, higher cortical regions which ==oversee== reasoning and impulse control, can ==pump== the brakes on this distress and craving signaling.

Given that these regions are still maturing and making connections through adolescence, it’s no wonder that first heartbreak can feel particularly ==agonizing== .

Activities like exercise, spending time with friends, or even listening to your favorite song can ==tame== this heartbreak stress response, while also triggering the release of feel-good neurotransmitter dopamine.

And given time and support, most can heal and learn from even the most ==devastating== heartbreak.

爱常常被形容为温暖人心、令人心痛甚至心碎。

那么，大脑与爱有什么关系呢？

息息相关！

==从最初的心动到最后的泪水，这一旅程由一系列神经化学物质和大脑系统引导。==

当你开始爱上某人时，你可能会发现自己过度地幻想他们，并且想要花越来越多的时间在一起。

爱情的第一阶段就是心理学家所说的 ==迷恋，或激情之爱== 。

你新的恋情可能会让人感觉几乎 ==如痴如醉== ，而 ==就大脑而言，这并非言过其实== 。

处于迷恋状态的人腹侧被盖区的激活会增强。

腹侧被盖区是大脑处理奖励和产生动机的中枢，当你做诸如 ==吃甜食== 、==解渴== 之类的事情时，或者在更极端的情况下，吸食毒品时，它就会被激活。

这种激活会释放“感觉良好”的神经递质多巴胺，==促使你的大脑重复这些行为，期待获得同样的初始奖励== 。

腹侧被盖区活动的增强不仅是爱情让人 ==欣喜若狂== 的原因，也是它将你吸引到新伴侣身边的原因。

在这个第一阶段，你可能很难看到你完美新伴侣的任何 ==缺点== 。

这种 ==朦胧感== 要归功于爱情对大脑更高皮层区域的影响。

一些刚陷入迷恋的人，其大脑的 ==认知== 中枢，即前额叶皮层的活动会减少。

由于这个区域的激活使我们能够进行批判性思考和做出判断，所以我们倾向于戴着玫瑰色眼镜看待新恋情也就不足为奇了。

虽然爱情的第一阶段可能是情感和大脑活动的激烈 ==过山车== ，但它通常只持续几个月，==为更持久的爱情阶段让路== ，这个阶段被称为依恋，或深情之爱。

随着你们关系的发展，在很大程度上要归功于两种激素，你可能会对伴侣感到更放松和更有归属感： 催产素和加压素。

它们被称为伴侣关系激素，传递信任、社会支持感和依恋感。

这样一来，浪漫之爱与其他形式的爱并无不同，因为这些激素也有助于维系家庭和友谊。

此外，催产素可以抑制压力激素的释放，这就是为什么与爱人共度时光会让人感觉如此放松。

随着早期爱情中判断的暂停逐渐消失，它可能会被更真实的理解和更深层次的联系所取代。

或者，当你的玫瑰色眼镜开始失去 ==色彩== 时，你们关系中的问题可能会变得更加明显。

无论一段关系结束的原因是什么，我们都可以将心碎带来的痛苦归咎于大脑。

==分手的痛苦== 会激活脑岛皮层，这个区域处理身体疼痛，比如 ==扭伤== 脚踝，也处理社交疼痛，比如被 ==拒绝== 的感觉。

随着时间的推移，你可能会发现自己再次幻想或 ==渴望== 与失去的伴侣联系。

想要联系的冲动可能会让人感觉难以抗拒，就像极度的饥饿或口渴一样。

当看到前任伴侣的照片时，心碎的人腹侧被盖区的活动会再次增强，腹侧被盖区是在恋情最初阶段引发渴望感的动机和奖励中枢。

这种情感 ==旋风== 也可能会激活你身体的警报系统，即应激轴，让你感到震惊和不安。

随着时间的推移，负责 ==监督== 推理和冲动控制的更高皮层区域可以 ==踩下刹车== ，抑制这种痛苦和渴望信号。

鉴于这些区域在整个青春期仍在发育并建立联系，难怪第一次心碎会感觉格外 ==痛苦== 。

像锻炼、与朋友共度时光，甚至听你最喜欢的歌曲这样的活动可以 ==缓解== 这种心碎的应激反应，同时还会触发感觉良好的神经递质多巴胺的释放。

并且只要有时间和支持，大多数人即使经历了最 ==毁灭性== 的心碎也能痊愈并从中学习。

Vocabulary, Phrases and Sentences

Word	Chinese Definition	Phonetic Symbol
The journey from first spark to last tear is guided by a symphony of neurochemicals and brain systems	从最初的心动到最后的泪水，这段旅程由一系列神经化学物质和大脑系统共同引导
symphony	交响乐
infatuation	迷恋，热恋
passionate love	热烈的爱
intoxicating	令人陶醉的的
eat a sweet treat	吃甜食
quench your thirst	解渴
euphoric	兴高采烈地	/juːˈfɔːrɪk/
haze	薄雾
prefrontal	前额的
cortex	皮质
rollercoaster	过山车
make way for	让路
tint	色调
insular	岛屿的
sprain	扭伤
crave	渴望
whirlwind	旋风
oversee	监督
pump	抽水机
agonize	苦苦思索，焦虑不已
tame	驯服
devastate	摧毁

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