moribund, coed, mold, tasselled, mortarboard, approval ratings

Prime Minister Taro Aso, facing a plunge in approval ratings, has unveiled a series of economic stimulus plans since October to prop up a moribund economy. The government yesterday released a budget proposal that will increase spending next year to a record 88.5 trillion yen ($991 billion) and expand the industrialized world’s largest deficit.

It is said that the Fukuda Cabinet is meant to put the nation at rest. But when people have tons of things to worry about, a conceited and ill-spoken Cabinet that lacks any sense of crisis will only turn off voters.
I smell a whiff of a moribund administration in the autumn breezes.

IT was 2 in the morning as I padded down the dormitory’s hall in my flip-flops拖鞋, catching a whiff of stale beer and moldy carpet in the air. In the brightly lit coed bathroom, a classmate wearing boxers and little else was brushing his teeth. It was an awkward moment. Not because of his state of undress, but because it was 20 years since we’d turned our tassels to the left side of the mortarboard, and he wasn’t wearing his name tag. I was at a loss.

mortarboard 

noun [C] (AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH trencher)方帽

a black hat with a square flat top, worn on formal occasions by some teachers and students at college or university, and in the past by some school teachers

tassel

noun [C]

a group of short threads or cords held together at one end, which is used as a hanging decoration on hats, curtains, furniture, etc.

tasselled, US USUALLY tasseled 

adjective

mould (GROWTH) UK, US mold 

noun [U]

a soft green or grey growth which develops on old food or on objects that have been left for too long in warm wet air:

There was mould on the cheese.

mouldy UK, US moldy

adjective

1 covered with mould:

mouldy bread/cheese

2 not modern or interesting:

The city's museums are filled with mouldy old collections.

coed

(kō'ĕd')  Informal.

or co-ed n.

A woman who attends a coeducational college or university.

adj.

1. Of or relating to an education system in which both men and women attend the same institution or classes; coeducational: a coed university.
2. Open to both sexes: a coed dorm; a coed pool.

[Short for coeducational.]

coed n. - 男女同校中的女生

adj. - 男女同校的

IN BRIEF: A term that indicates a school has both male and female students.

Tutor's tip: A "coda" is a summarizing part that is somehow separate from the whole, a "code" is a set of symbols, while a "coed" is either a female student or a term that indicates a school has both make and female students.

moribund Show phonetics
adjective FORMAL DISAPPROVING
(especially of an organization or business) not active or successful:
How can the Trade Department be revived from its present moribund state?

KK: []
DJ: []

a. (形容詞 adjective)

1. 垂死的
2. 即將滅亡的