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）
live on borrowed time
to continue living after a point at which you might easily have died
靠借来的时间活着的；苟延残喘；活得比人们预计的时间要长
Hong Kong has been living on borrowed time ever since the British made it a colony nearly 180 years ago, and all the more so after Beijing took control in 1997 and granted it autonomous status. （AP）
dust sth off
— phrasal verb with dust verb (UK also dust down)
to prepare something for use, especially after it has not been used for a long time
（尤指长时间不用后拿出来）备好待用，整理 (Cambridge)
The order is a grab-bag of regulatory half-measures and legal Hail Mary passes that the White House weighed and then shelved last summer, only to dust them off again. (Axios)
half measures
noun [ plural ] disapproving
actions that only achieve part of what they are intended to achieve
不彻底的行动
I’m not interested in half measures. 我对折中的办法不感兴趣。
We’re still tackling COVID-19, which means it’s no time for half-measures or abandoning the fight. We have to stop deluding ourselves into thinking this pandemic is only going to have a substantial impact on China, Italy or the U.S., or that Canada’s outbreak is just about snowbirds returning from Florida or backpackers coming back from Italy. (theglobeandmail)
hone in on
1） to find and go directly toward (someone or something)
找到并直接抵达向(某人或某事)
The missile was honing in on its target.
2）usually used figuratively
通常用来比喻：瞄准；针对
Researchers are honing in on the cause of the disease.
Note: Although hone in on is widely used, many people regard it as an error for home in on.
@realDonaldTrump super PAC takes aim at @JoeBiden, hones in on economic policies in Midwest battlegrounds. President Trump’s designated super PAC is unloading a $7.5 million advertising buy that targets presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden on the economy as polls show voters are more concerned about jobs than any other issue.
bring sb to heel
to force someone to obey you
逼迫（某人）服从
Trump’s problem, as laid out by Axios’ Jonathan Swan: He knows how essential Twitter (along with Facebook) is to his political success. He’s mad at Twitter for fact-checking and placing a warning label on some of his messages. And he’s frustrated that he can’t bring Twitter to heel by executive fiat. （Axios）
grab bag
noun [ C ] a lucky dip （同 lucky dip）
any mixed collection of things
（各种东西的）混杂，聚合
The order is a grab-bag of regulatory half-measures and legal Hail Mary passes that the White House weighed and then shelved last summer, only to dust them off again. (Axios)
split screen
noun
a movie, television, or computer screen on which two or more separate images are displayed. 多画面; 分屏
Biden’s Split-Screen Opportunity. If ever there were an opportunity in this frenzied, crowded, loud and confused media climate for Biden to sear a split-screen image into the minds of Americans, it is today, May 29, 2020 — 158 days before Election Day. Biden will speak about the unrest in Minneapolis from his home in Delaware sometime early this afternoon, and President Trump will hold a news conference in the White House Rose Garden at 2 p.m.
recalcitrance
noun [ U ] formal /rɪˈkæl.sɪ.trəns/
the quality of being determined not to do what other people, especially people in authority, want or expect to be done
固执; 反抗; 抗拒; 顽拗性; 顽抗
But – whether one ascribes the shortcoming to Democrats’ haste in their investigation or Trump’s recalcitrance – it yielded little direct evidence of what happened inside the Oval Office itself. (Reuters)
objectionable
adjective formal/əbˈdʒek.ʃən.ə.bəl/
used to describe people or things that you dislike or oppose because they are so unpleasant or wrong
令人反感的，使人不快的；令人讨厌的
an objectionable smell 难闻的味道
I found the violence in that film really objectionable. 我觉得那部电影中的暴力场面实在令人厌恶。（Cambridge）
The big picture: Twitter has said it’s in the public interest to have political figures’ speech on its platform, even if some find that speech objectionable.（Axios）
