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）
ramp sth up
— phrasal verb with ramp verb (Cambridge)
If a business ramps up its activity, it increases it.
（公司）扩大，增加，增多（业务等）
The company announced plans to ramp up production to 10,000 units per month. 这家公司宣布了每月生产1万件的增产计划。
To stay competitive, they’ll have to ramp up product development as well as cut prices. 为保持竞争力，他们除了降价以外，还将不得不加大产品开发的力度
3M is ramping up production of its N95 respirator mask, hosting job fairs, making offers on the spot and expanding its assembly line with robots. In Aberdeen, South Dakota, more than 650 employees at one of 3M’s largest manufacturing facilities are working overtime to increase face mask production. “We immediately ramped up production in this facility,” Andy Rehder, plant manager at 3M, said. “We have capacity to do that and we did that immediately … really from a more standard five-day to a seven-day week.” —Mody CNBC Feb 28, 2020
virulent
adjective /ˈvɪr.jə.lənt/ （Cambridge）
A virulent disease or poison is dangerous and spreads or affects people very quickly.
剧毒的；致命的
A particularly virulent strain of flu has recently claimed a number of lives in the region. 一场有致命杀伤力的流感最近在这个地区夺去了许多人的生命。
President Donald Trump said Democrats are using the virulent coronavirus as a “hoax” to damage him and his administration. “The Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus,” he said from a campaign rally in North Charleston, South Carolina. “One of my people came up to me and said ‘Mr. President they tried to beat you on Russia, Russia, Russia. That didn’t work out too well.’ They couldn’t do it. They tried the impeachment hoax that was on a perfect conversation,” he continued. “This is their new hoax,” he said, referring to the coronavirus. —Franck CNBC Feb 28, 2020
muzzle
verb [T] /ˈmʌz.əl/ (STOP OPINIONS) (Cambridge)
to stop a person or organization from expressing independent opinions
使缄默；钳制…的言论
The new Secrecy Act will muzzle the media and the opposition. 新的保密法将会压制媒体及反对派的声音。
Democrats in the briefing said administration officials were short on facts. They’re also critical of Vice President Mike Pence, who they suspect might be trying to muzzle health officials. –CBS Feb 28, 2020
plumage
noun [ U ] /ˈpluː.mɪdʒ/
a bird’s covering of feathers
（鸟的）全身羽毛
Male peacocks have beautiful plumage. 雄孔雀有美丽的羽毛。
An egret is a type of heron, a bird of the Ardeidae family. While there is no biological difference between egrets and other herons, egrets are typically white or buff, and many have distinctive plumage. Most egrets belong to either the Egretta or the Ardea genus.
ramble
verb (TALK/WRITE) [ I ] disapproving
to talk or write in a confused way, often for a long time
语无伦次地闲扯；没完没了地胡乱说；信笔乱写
Sorry, I’m rambling (on) – let me get back to the point. 对不起，扯远了——我再回到要点上来。
At a town hall meeting, Joe Biden was asked about women’s empowerment and “rambled for 19 minutes, and wound up discussing how unfair it is for women’s outfits to be discussed in rape cases — a topic that wasn’t implied in the question,” Politico reports.