Thoughts for a New Year
英语课
Most of us look away when we pass strangers. It is the expectional person who stops to help the woman maneuvering 1 her kids and groceries up the staircase. We rarely give up in line or on the subway or bus. Locked into our automobiles 2, we prefer gridlock to giving way.
These daily encounters, when they are angry or alien, diminish our lives. When they are pleasant, we feel buoyed 3. Yet when we sit at home and make resolutions, we think about what we can accomplish in private spaces：home, work. Too many have given up the belief that they control the shared, the public world.
As individuals we can change the contour of a day, the mood of a moment, the way people feel. The demolition 4 and reconstruction 5 of public life is the result of personal decisions made every day：the decision to give up a seat on the bus；the decision to be patient or pleasant against all odds；the decision to let that jerk take a left－hand turn from a right－hand lane without rolling down the window and calling him a jerk.
It's the resolution to be a civil, social creature. This may be a peak period for the battle against the spread of a waistline and creeping cholesterol 6. But it is also within our will power to fight the spread of urban rudeness and creeping hostility 7. Civility doesn't stop nuclear holocaust 8 and doesn't put a roof over the head of the homeless. But it makes a difference in the shape of a community, as surely as lifting weights can make a difference in the shape of a human torso.
v.移动，用策略( maneuver的现在分词 )；操纵
- This Manstein did, with some brilliant maneuvering under the worse winter conditions. 曼施坦因在最恶劣的严冬条件下，出色地施展了灵活机动的战术，终于完成了任务。 来自辞典例句
- In short, large goals required farsighted policies, not tactical maneuvering. 一句话，大的目标需要有高瞻远瞩的政策，玩弄策略是不行的。 来自辞典例句
n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )
- When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后，就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上，汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
v.使浮起( buoy的过去式和过去分词 )；支持；为…设浮标；振奋…的精神
- Buoyed by their win yesterday the team feel confident of further success. 在昨天胜利的鼓舞下，该队有信心再次获胜。
- His encouragement buoyed her up during that difficult period. 他的鼓励使她在那段困难时期恢复了乐观的情绪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.破坏,毁坏,毁坏之遗迹
- The church has been threatened with demolition for years. 这座教堂多年来一直面临拆毀的威胁。
- The project required the total demolition of the old bridge. 该项目要求将老桥完全拆毁。
n.重建，再现，复原
- The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
- In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。
n.（U）胆固醇
- There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
- They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。
n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争
- There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
- His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。
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