flunk, perseverance, flicker, flickering, figurehead, flutter, indelibly, voluptuous. InSight, Curiosity

The citizenship test is flawed. But it does capture one quintessentially English quality—irony. That is because most native-born Britons would probably flunk it

土生土長的公民可能無法通過“移民者入籍資格考試”

 

十年來，美國已有三部無人探測器Curiosity（好奇號）、InSight（洞察號）、Perseverance（毅力號）成功登陸火星。

這三部Robotic lander的命名，我覺得相當勵志，在此介紹分享一下。

#Curiosity：好奇是想要知道或學習事物的渴望，這是探索知識的開端。在生活上，對世界不要習以為常，好奇會發現萬物更多的色彩和趣味。

佛法的修行境界「開悟」，日本禪師鈴木大拙將之解釋成在日常生活中「開拓視野」。人生的功課，就是不斷增加深度、擴大眼光。

#Insight：InSight本是”The Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations,Geodesy and Heat Transport”的首字母縮略字，中文維基譯為「運用地震調查、測地學與熱傳導對火星內部進行探測」。

Insight指擁有清楚、深刻甚至迅速理解複雜問題或情況的能力，常譯為洞察力。洞察力不同於智力，而是經由知識、經驗累積的智慧，可以權衡輕重、利害的判斷力。

#Perseverance：持續的努力和決心，堅忍不拔的毅力。先要行動，再以毅力承擔困難、實踐理想。曹銘宗

2020

China’s Powerful Propaganda Machine Is No Match for Coronavirus

Beijing is pushing tales of perseverance, but many young people are openly questioning the Communist Party’s message.中國宣傳堅忍力道雖強，人民的眼睛雪亮

"Every time we have a rover like this, a wave of discoveries follows. It's a very exciting time." Stanford scholars on NASA's Perseverance: http://stanford.io/3px5Icx

 NASA “恆心號”登陸火星。這是繼來自阿聯酋和中國的訪客後，本月抵達火星的第三個航天器，也是美國第六次成功登陸火星。造價27億美元的“恆心號”攜帶了一系列複雜的科學工具，將幫助人類進一步探索外太空生命。


Scientific American
25分鐘 ·

At long last, NASA’s Perseverance Rover has arrived.
Humanity’s on-again, off-again exploration of Mars appears to have lived through its latest make-or-break moment, and scientists around the world are beginning to breathe sighs of relief.

"Yes, it’s that Kelvin MacKenzie of the glorious Sun, breaking into your Guardian. What’s more, I am sounding off about immigration. Don’t all rush to the doors. You expect me to be Nigel Farage’s lieutenant, don’t you? Wrong. I believe immigration has been good and necessary for this nation, that we should thank the people who came for keeping our economy strong. How daft do you have to be not to realise we would not have defeated the recession without labour?"

Luring Tourists Back to Greece
By LIZ ALDERMAN
A country still grappling with economic woes sees a flicker of optimism as travelers return.
In a world of flickering images, Elizabeth Taylor was a constant star. First appearing on screen at age 9, she grew up there, never passing through an awkward age. It was one quick leap from “National Velvet” to “A Place in the Sun” and from there to “Cleopatra,” as she was indelibly transformed from a vulnerable child actress into a voluptuous film queen.




Make directors work
National Post - Toronto,Ontario,Canada
Likewise, Peter Drucker — the guru of business management — referred to outside directors as “figureheads.” While regulatory requirements for such “outside” ...

A Light in the Attic

There's a light on in the attic.
Though the house is dark and shuttered,
I can see a flickin' flutter,
And I know what it's about.
Ther's a light on in the attic.
I can see it from the outside,
And I know you're on the inside...looking out.

by Shel Silverstein

Last night while I lay thinking here
Some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
And pranced and partied all night long
And sang their same old Whatif song:
Whatif I flunk that test?
Whatif green hair grows on my chest?
Whatif nobody likes me?
Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?...

Here in the attic of Shel Silverstein you will find Backward Bill, Sour Face Ann, the Meehoo with an Exactlywatt, and the Polar Bear in the Frigidaire. You will talk with Broiled Face, and find out what happens when Somebody steals your knees, you get caught by the Quick-Digesting Gink, a Mountain snores, and They Put a Brassiere on the Camel.
From the creator of the beloved poetry collections Where the Sidewalk Ends and Falling Up, here is another wondrous book of poems and drawings.

Yazoo Pumps: They’re Back!
The Yazoo Pumps may well be the most daft in a long line of environmentally destructive schemes undertaken by the Army Corps of Engineers at Congress’s request.The Nobel peace-prize-winner's undoubted moral authority and courageous perseverance give her stance considerable weight. So does her huge electoral mandate. It may be old, but no one has a better one. Some Western policymakers now see Miss Suu Kyi as part of the problem. But that is daft. Without her, the opposition would lose not just a figurehead, but perhaps the last flicker of hope in Myanmar's political darkness.

daft

(dăft)
adj., daft·er, daft·est.

1. Mad; crazy.
2. Foolish; stupid.
3. Scots. Frolicsome.

[Middle English dafte, foolish, from Old English gedæfte, meek.]

daftly daft'ly adv.
daftness daft'ness n.
British informal

1Silly; foolish:don’t ask such daft questions

MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCESSYNONYMS

1.1(daft about) Infatuated with:I was daft about him

perseverance

(pûr'sə-vîr'əns)

n.

1. Steady persistence in adhering to a course of action, a belief, or a purpose; steadfastness.
2. Christianity. The Calvinistic doctrine that those who have been chosen by God will continue in a state of grace to the end and will finally be saved.

figurehead (PERSON) Show phonetics
noun [C]
someone who has the position of leader in an organization but who has no real power:
The President of this company is just a figurehead - the Chief Executive has day-to-day control.

flicker Show phonetics
verb
1 [I] to shine with a light that is sometimes bright and sometimes weak:
I felt a cold draft and the candle started to flicker.

2 [I or T] to appear for a short time or to make a sudden movement:
A smile flickered across her face.
He'd been in a coma for weeks, when all of a sudden he flickered an eyelid.

flicker
noun [C usually singular]
1 when a light is sometimes bright and sometimes weak:
the soft flicker of candlelight

2 a brief feeling or expression of an emotion or quality:
There was a flicker of hope in his eyes.

flickering
adjective
a flickering candle/fire
a flickering hope




voluptuous

• [vəlʌ'ptʃuəs]

[形]

1 〈女性が〉豊満な体をした, グラマーな；官能的［肉感的］な；好色な；みだらな

a man of voluptuous tastes
好色な人

a voluptuous dance
官能的な踊り.

2 ((文))感覚に快い, なまめかしい, 色っぽい

voluptuous grace
なまめかしいしとやかさ.

3 〈人・生活などが〉ぜいたくな, 享楽的な.



indelibly 無法抹滅

[形]

1 〈よごれ・印象・思い出が〉消すことのできない, ぬぐいきれない

an indelible impression
忘れられない印象.

2 〈ペン・鉛筆・インクが〉消えない跡を残す

indelible ink
消えないインキ.