儒琴今日英语单词选自日常用语，欧美报刊文章, 以及英语原文小说。每天坚持学习今日英语单词，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；增强日常英语交流能力。
儒琴今日英语单词 Word of the Day
remdesivir(瑞德西韦) \ ˌrem-ˈde-sə-ˌvir
Remdesivir is an antiviral medication developed by the American biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences.
President Donald Trump said Wednesday he wants the Food and Drug Administration to move “as quickly as they can” to approve Gilead Sciences’ antiviral drug remdesivir as a treatment for the coronavirus. (CNBC)
moonshot
noun
1. the launching of a spacecraft, rocket, etc, to the moon
（火箭、航天飞船等的） 向月球发射
2. an extremely ambitious project or mission undertaken to achieve a monumental goal
为了达到一个不朽的目标而进行的极具雄心的项目或任务
He is leading biology’s moon shot; the Human Genome Project, a $3 billion, 15-year effort to pinpoint the location of all 100,000 human genes.— Paul Hoffman
Trump may spend billions to speed vaccine moonshot. Trump administration advisers are hinting at a willingness to spend billions and elevate their risk tolerance in the hope of getting coronavirus treatments out this year. (AXIOS)
stodgy
adjective (BORING) /ˈstɑː.dʒi/
boring, serious, and formal
古板的；枯燥乏味的
Neither company has succeeded in shedding its stodgy image. 两家公司都未能摆脱其刻板乏味的形象。
Younger consumers, it is said, regard their products as stodgy and unfashionable. 据说，年轻一些的消费者认为他们的产品古板落伍。（Cambridge）
The foreign policy establishment has seen better days. During the Obama administration, Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes derided it as “the Blob,” mocking its stodgy hawkishness. (Foreign Affairs)
cabal
noun [ C ] disapproving /kəˈbɑːl/
a small group of people who plan secretly to take action, especially political action
（尤指策划政治行动的）阴谋小集团，阴谋团伙
He was assassinated by a cabal of aides within his own regime. 他被自己政权内部的幕僚们所组成的阴谋集团暗杀了。(Cambridge)
American foreign policy, they contend, has been controlled by a privileged cabal bent on serving its own interests rather than those of the nation at large; one that protects its turf by shutting out alternative ideas and excluding dissenting voices. (Foreign Affairs)
statecraft
noun [ U ]/ˈsteɪt.kræft/
the skill of governing a country
治国才能 (Cambridge)
The only problem with this argument is that every component of it is wrong. The foreign policy establishment is not a closed cabal, American statecraft has not been a giant failure, and scrapping professionalism for amateurism would be a disaster. (Foreign Affairs)
eke sth out
— phrasal verb with eke verb /iːk/
to use something slowly or carefully because you only have a small amount of it
精打细算地维持；尽量节约使用
There wasn’t much food left, but we just managed to eke it out. 剩下的食物不多，但是我们省吃少餐设法挺了过来。
He managed to eke out a living (= earn just enough to live on) one summer by selling drinks on a beach. 他靠在海滩上卖饮料设法维持了一个夏天。（Cambridge）
Tesla rises as company ekes out a Q1 profit. esla reported first-quarter results on Wednesday, including a $16 million profit. Tesla shares rose more than 9% after hours as the company showed its third consecutive quarter with a profit.
heterogeneous
adjective formal /ˌhet̬.ə.roʊˈdʒiː.ni.əs/
consisting of parts or things that are very different from each other
各种各样的；混杂的
Switzerland is a heterogeneous confederation of 26 self-governing cantons. 瑞士是一个由26个不同的自治州组成的联邦。(Cambridge)
In both absolute and relative terms, the expert community dealing with foreign policy and national security in the United States is remarkably large and heterogeneous. (Foreign Affairs)
bifurcation / bifurcate
noun & verb formal /ˌbaɪ.fɚˈkeɪ.ʃən/ [ U ] /ˈbaɪ.fɚ.keɪt/
the fact that something is divided into two parts or the act of dividing something into two parts
分枝；分叉
Worsening tensions could push China to split from Silicon Valley, raising the specter of a completely bifurcated digital world. At a White House press briefing later in the day, Trump refused to say … we are witnessing a bifurcation of reality into two separate realms.
shirk
verb [ I or T ] disapproving /ʃɝːk/
to avoid work, duties, or responsibilities, especially if they are difficult or unpleasant
逃避（尤指困难或令人不快的工作、责任等）
If you shirk your responsibilities/duties now, the situation will be much harder to deal with next month. 如果你现在逃避责任的话，情况到了下个月只会变得更难处理。
I will not shirk from my obligations. 我不会逃避我的义务。(Cambridge)
Foreign ministry spokesman in Beijing says White House is trying to shirk responsibility for the spread of Covid-19. US president repeats threat to demand compensation as polls show Americans are increasingly likely to blame China. (scmp)