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）
be sitting pretty
to be in a good situation, usually because you have a lot of money
（通常因为有很多钱而）处境好，生活优裕
They bought their house while prices were low, so now they’re sitting pretty. 他们在房价很低时买下了自己的房子，所以他们现在生活得很舒适。
Iran’s Hard-Liners Are Sitting Pretty. Maximum Pressure and Pandemic Pressure Have Consolidated Their Power. Now is a time of soul-sickening worry for many Iranians, but perhaps not for the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The leader’s insouciance may seem perplexing, with Iran reeling from the novel coronavirus, U.S. sanctions, the assassination of Major General Qasem Soleimani, and the specter of war with the world’s leading superpower. But Khamenei and his worldview are on the ascent in both domestic and foreign policy.
insouciance
noun [ U ] literary /ɪnˈsuː.si.əns/
a relaxed and happy way of behaving without feeling worried or guilty
无忧无虑；满不在乎
I admired his youthful insouciance. 我羡慕他那充满朝气、无忧无虑的样子 (Cambridge)
Yet the threat of recidivism hovers over the presidency. At any moment, the wrong CEO or Fox News personality might get Trump’s ear and persuade him to toggle back to insouciance.(nymag.com)
knock-on effect
noun plural noun: knock-on effects
a secondary, indirect, or cumulative effect. 连锁效应
“a decline in butterflies would have a knock-on effect on other British species” (aspistrategist.org.au)
The knock-on effects of impeachment. The impeachment process instigated by the US House of Representatives has the potential to produce significant international consequences. As the administration’s attentions and energies are absorbed by the process, there’s a real danger that the US government’s focus will narrow onto the president’s domestic crisis
rumour mill 谣言四起
noun (US English rumor mill)
used to refer to the process by which rumours and gossip are started and spread among a group of people (oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com)
The rumour mill has been churning out (= producing) reports that they’re getting a divorce. According to the rumour mill, Jennifer Lawrence will play the leading role in the film. Rumour mills are already speculating on the tech company’s next move.
vegetative
adjective medical specialized /ˈvedʒ.ɪ.te.tɪv/
alive but showing no brain activity
植物人的
Depending on the news outlet or social media post, Mr. Kim, believed to be 36, is recuperating after a minor health issue like a sprained ankle, or he is ‘in grave danger’ after a heart surgery. Or he has become ‘brain dead’ or is in a ‘vegetative state’ after a heart-valve surgery gone wrong at the hands of a nervous North Korean surgeon or one of the doctors China dispatched to treat him.（The New York Times）
piggyback
noun [ C ] /ˈpɪɡ.i.bæk/
(also piggyback ride)
a ride on someone’s back with your arms round the person’s neck and your legs round their waist
背，驮
I gave her a piggyback ride. 我背着她。(Cambridge)
Kind police officer gives a piggyback ride to an old man struggling to cross the road. A police officer hoisted an old man who was struggling to cross the street onto his back and gave him a piggyback across several lanes of traffic.
come to a head
(also bring sth to a head)
If something comes to a head or someone brings something to a head, a situation reaches a point where something must be done about it.
到紧要关头
Things hadn’t been good between us for a while and this incident just brought it to a head. 我们之间的关系恶化有一段时间了，而这件事更是雪上加霜。（Cambridge）
Those concerns came to a head on Thursday, when the president floated the idea that ingesting disinfectants could work as a coronavirus treatment. Trump’s unfounded medical advice was met with near-universal outcry — he faced criticism from medical professionals and even the manufacturers of cleaning products. (Politico）
cloistered
adjective /ˈklɔɪ.stɚd/
cloistered adjective (SEPARATE)
separated from and communicating little with the outside world
与世隔绝的，隐居的，避世的
These academics lead such a cloistered life/existence. 这些学者们过着与世隔绝的隐居生活。(Cambridge)
Inside Biden’s Cloistered Campaign. Joe Biden usually rises before 8 a.m. at his home in Wilmington, Del., and starts his day with a workout in an upstairs gym that contains a Peloton bike, weights and a treadmill. He often enjoys a protein shake for breakfast and puts on a suit or blazer much of the time. In the evenings, he and his wife, Jill, sit down together for dinner, a ritual that was absent for much of the last frenzied year on the campaign trail. (New York Times)
peripheral
adjective/pəˈrɪf.ɚ.əl/
Something that is peripheral is not as important as something else.
次要的，附带的
The book contains a great deal of peripheral detail. 该书包含了大量无关紧要的细节。(Cambridge)
America was and remains an exceptional nation in terms of the spirit of its people, creativity of its economic system, and ability to adapt to new circumstances. But exceptionalism is not a mandate for the reckless pursuit of peripheral objectives at the expense of real global priorities, nor for championing short-term gains over America’s long-term interest without anticipating predictable consequences.
on the fly
informal
If you do something on the fly, you do it quickly, often while you are doing something else, without preparing and without thinking too much about how it should be done. 仓促做事….; 匆忙地; 赶紧地
This new rule seems to have been created on the fly.
Thousands of Candidates Reinvent Politics On the Fly. Washington Post: “Local candidates and name-brand leaders alike have been forced to abandon rallies, community centers and campaign offices. Volunteers, organizers and operatives have been quarantined into virtual meetings, letter-writing campaigns and mobile-texting blitzes.” (The Washington Post)
