鐵穹
The radical Islamic Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip has fired barrages of rockets at populated areas in Israel. But Israel's advanced 'Iron Dome' missile defense system has intercepted most of them.
Admittedly, that old dual-headed structure had been a work in progress: for the first 127 years of its life HSBC had no chief executive at all. But it had served the bank well enough since 1992, when the takeover of Midland in the UK meant HSBC had to kowtow to local rules.
无可否认，过去的双重领导结构一直处于日臻完善的过程中。在最初的127年历史中，汇丰根本没有行政总裁这个职位。但自1992年以来，这种结构在汇丰发挥了良好的效用。当时，汇丰为了收购英国的米德兰银行(Midland)，不得不向当地法规低头。
上文 work in progress的翻譯是錯誤
此處似宜說成是試驗中的方式
work in progress
n., pl., works in progress.
A yet incomplete artistic, theatrical, or musical work, often made available for public viewing or listening.
To kowtow to
Meaning
To accept the authority of another; to act in a subservient
manner.
Origin
I've
understood the meaning of 'to kowtow to' for as long as I can remember but it is
only recently that I came to wonder how the expression originated. 'Kowtow'
(and, in case you've not come across it before, kowtow is pronounced to rhyme
with 'cow' + 'how') is an odd word and, for no better reason than the sound of
it, I thought it might have something to do with cows. Apparently
not.
'Kowtow' sounds odd to our ears because it is a Chinese
word. To kowtow is to kneel and touch the ground with the forehead as an act of
worship or submission. The practice first came to the attention of the
English-speaking world late in the 18th century, when westerners began to visit
China. The word is an Anglicised version of the Chinese 'kētóu', which derives
from 'kē' (knock')+ 'tóu' (head).
The British explorer Sir John Barrow was well placed to
observe kowtowing at first hand. In 1792 he was appointed as an aide to Viscount
Macartney, the British ambassador in Peking. Barrow subsequently
wroteTravels in China, 1804, in which he was the first to explain
kowtowing to the west:
The Chinese were determined they should be kept in the constant practice of the koo-too, or ceremony of genuflexion and prostration.
There were several degrees of kowtowing, depending on the
difference in rank of the participants, the highest level requiring a full face
down prostrate pose with arms held wide.
Macartney was given his
£15,000 a year job as ambassador to head a trade mission to negotiate a deal
between Britain and China. In 1793 he was presented to Emperor Qianlong, or 'son
of heaven' as he preferred to be called, but the viscount pointedly refused to
perform the obligatory kowtow. To the disbelief of the aghast Chinese court,
Macartney would only go down on one knee, as he would to the British ruler. This
event was recorded by the satirical cartoonist Gillray. Qianlong left in a huff,
the trade mission was abandoned and Macartney was sacked.
Prices in the UK have increased about 500 times since 1793.
Macartney might have felt that he had retained his dignity but, had he known it
was going to cost him a £7.5 million a year job, he might have thought that a
quick kowtow would have been prudent.
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prostrate
- 音節
- pros • trate
- prostrateの変化形
- prostrating (現在分詞) • prostrates (三人称単数現在)
- [動] 〔prɑ'streit | prɔstréit〕 (他)
- 1 ((～ -self))ひれ伏す，平伏する.
- 2 〈人などを〉（地面などに）横たえる；…を地面にたたきつける，倒す.
- 3 ((通例受身))((形式))〈人を〉屈服させる，めいらせる，〈人を〉衰弱させる
- prostrated
- 悲しみで打ちひしがれる.
- ━━[形] 〔prɑ'streit | prɔ's-〕
- 1 〈人などが〉（うつぶせに）倒れた；長々と横たわった；〈樹木などが〉打ち倒された.
- 2 ひれ伏した，平伏した.
- 3 打ちひしがれた；屈服した；疲れ果れた
- prostrate
- 暑さで疲れ果てた.
- 4 《植物》〈植物・茎が〉地をはう，ほふく性の.
- ［ラテン語prōstrātus （prō-前に＋sternere広げる，伸ばす＋-tus過去分詞語尾＝前に身を投げる）. △STRATUM, STREET］
genuflect
- 音節
- gen • u • flect
- 発音
- dʒénjuflèkt
- genuflectの変化形
- genuflecting (現在分詞) • genuflects (三人称単数現在)
- [動](自)
- 1 （敬意を表したり礼拝のために）片ひざを折る；うやうやしくひざまずく.
- 2 卑屈な態度をとる.
- gèn・u・fléc・tion
- [名]
- gén・u・flèc・tor
- [名]
- gèn・u・fléx・ion
kowtow,
- 〔káutáu〕
[動](自)
1 （旧中国式の）叩頭(こうとう)の礼を行う.
2 ((略式))（…に）へつらう((to ...)).
━━[名]叩頭の礼.《哈利波特－混血王子的背叛》（ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince）
half-blood
━━ a., n. 腹違いの（兄・弟・姉・妹）; ＝half-breed.
half-blooded a. ＝half-blood; 混血の.
also n.
- The relationship existing between persons having only one parent in common.
- A person existing in such a relationship.
- Offensive. A person of mixed racial descent, especially a person of Native American and white parentage.
- A half-blooded domestic animal.
dome
- 発音
- dóum
- レベル
- 大学入試程度
- domeの変化形
- domes (複数形) • domed (過去形) • domed (過去分詞) • doming (現在分詞) • domes (三人称単数現在)
[名]
1 ドーム, 円蓋(えんがい)；丸屋根［天井］；方形屋根［天井］；((the D-))（ロンドンの）Millennium Dome
3 《結晶》ドーム, 庇面(ひめん).
4 ((俗))（人の）頭, はげ頭.
5 ((古))壮麗な建物.
━━[動](他)
1 …にドームをつける.
2 …を半球形にする.
━━(自)半球形に隆起する［ふくれる］.
［中フランス語←教会ラテン語domus（教会, 神の家）］
dome・lìke
[形]
