儒琴英语词汇选自欧美报刊文章以及英语原文小说。坚持学习英语今日词汇，有助于阅读和理解当今欧美主流媒体的新闻时事报道和英语文学作品。
儒琴英语词汇（English Words and Phrases of the Day）
cap
verb 使具有…的结局; 使…结束 (Collins)
If someone says that a good or bad event caps a series of events, they mean it is the final event in the series, and the other events were also good or bad.
The unrest capped a weekend of right-wing attacks on foreigners.周末右翼分子对外国人的攻击最终演变成了这场骚乱。
The vote capped a frenetic four-month push by House Democrats to investigate and impeach Trump for allegedly withholding U.S. military aid from Ukraine to pressure its leaders to investigate his Democratic rivals, including former Vice President Joe Biden. The impeachment articles also charged Trump with obstructing the House’s investigation into the matter.
— Politico Europe Feb 05, 2020
close ranks
When the members of a group or organization close ranks, they make an effort to stay united, especially in order to defend themselves from severe criticism.
（尤指团体或组织成员为免受批评而）紧密团结，携手合作，抱团 (Cambridge)
The impeachment saga served primarily to accelerate an already-dysfunctional Congress’ slide into permanent political warfare. Democrats amassed a roster of evidence that Trump withheld military aid from Ukraine, a foreign ally at war with Russia, in order to coerce its government to investigate his political adversaries. But Republicans responded by closing ranks around Trump, attacking the House’s impeachment process as a primary defense and asserting that Democrats did not prove their case and were seeking to overturn the results of the 2016 election.
— Politico Europe Feb 05, 2020
bookend
verb
to serve as or mark the beginning and ending of (something) : to be the first and last parts or events of (something)
作为或标记（某物）的开始和结束：作为（某物）的开始和结束部分或事件
Trump’s acquittal bookended the September 24 launch of the House’s impeachment investigation by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which was followed by a breakneck flurry of depositions and public hearings that featured senior State Department, Pentagon and White House officials defying Trump’s orders and testifying on the alleged scheme.
— Politico Europe Feb 05, 2020
speed bump / speedbump
noun [ C or ]
(UK also speed hump); (sleeping policeman)
a small raised area built across a road to force people to drive more slowly
（设在路面上的）减速垄
Local residents are asking for speed bumps to be installed in their street. 当地居民要求在街道上安装减速垄。(Cambridge)
As Roberts read the final vote tally, it fell upon a starkly silent chamber in a scandal-weary Washington, which has buckled under the constant strain of the Trump era. And unlike the conclusions of Watergate and the 1999 Clinton impeachment trial, the end of Trump’s three-week trial appeared poised to be interpreted as just another political speedbump on the road to a bruising 2020 election season.
— Politico Europe Feb 05, 2020
contemptuous (Cambridge)
adjective /kənˈtemp.tʃu.əs/ us
expressing contempt
轻蔑的，轻视的，鄙视的
a contemptuous manner/laugh 轻蔑的态度／大笑
He was very contemptuous of “popular” writers, whom he described as having no talent. 他很瞧不起“当红”作家，认为他们缺少才华。
“Our nation was founded on the idea of truth,” Schumer continued. “But this president is such a menace, so contemptuous of every virtue, so dishonorable, so dishonest, that you must ignore — indeed sacrifice — the truth to maintain his favor.”
— Politico Europe Feb 05, 2020
debunk
verb [ T ] informal /ˌdiːˈbʌŋk/ us
to show that something is less important, less good, or less true than it has been made to appear
驳斥；揭穿，揭露…的真相
The day after Mueller appeared on Capitol Hill, Trump spoke by phone with the newly elected president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and asked him to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden on corruption charges that sworn witnesses and contemporaneous evidence have largely discredited. Trump also pressed Zelenskiy to look into a debunked, Kremlin-promoted conspiracy theory that Ukraine — not Russia — hacked a Democratic Party server in 2016 and then absconded with it.
— Politico Europe Feb 05, 2020
dangle (Cambridge)
verb /ˈdæŋ.ɡəl/
to offer someone something that they want in order to persuade that person to do something
（为了说服某人去做某事而）用…作为许诺，答应用…作为回报
I’ve tried dangling all kinds of offers in front of him to get him to work harder at school, but nothing works. 为了让他学习用心点儿，我曾试过种种许诺，可是根本不起任何作用。
Throughout the pressure campaign, Trump repeatedly dangled but withheld a White House meeting for Zelenskiy, which the new leader coveted in order to show a united front with the West against Russian aggression. And in late June, Trump also ordered a hold on $391 million in military aid to Ukraine over the objections of the State Department, Pentagon and National Security Council.
— Politico Europe Feb 05, 2020
