VOA慢速英语2021--The “Burn Everything' Polic”y

The 'Burn Everything' Policy

And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning¹ English.

Today, we talk about burning and the effects of extreme heat. There is a special word for this. Scorch² is a damaged area or mark that is caused by burning.

Scorch is also a verb. When we scorch something, we burn it. But scorch sounds more serious than a burn. For example, I would not say I scorched³ dinner. I would say I burned it.

Sometimes we use it to describe a verb meaning to produce extreme heat. For example, the sun scorched the bare earth.

And that brings us to today's expression – scorched-earth.

Scorched-earth describes a kind of policy or way of doing something. For example, it is a kind of military policy. This policy makes sure that all resources – houses, food crops, factories, vehicles – are destroyed before an enemy can use them. You destroy all things of value so that they cannot be used against you.

A scorched-earth approach is also used in the world of business. It is similar to the military policy. A scorched-earth approach is when a company gets rid of the best parts of its business during a hostile⁴ takeover. This is to make it less appealing to another company that might want to buy it.

In both military and business, a scorched-earth approach is often a last-ditch effort. We turn to a last-ditch effort when everything else has failed. Everything. Once everything is destroyed ... there is no going back. It is a "point of no return."

Burning bridges is a related⁵ expression. We wrote about this in an earlier Words and Their Stories. This expression is often used in personal relationships. If you burn your bridges, you destroy your relationships. Again, there is no going back and saying you are sorry.

However, when you burn bridges, relationships with others is the only thing you are destroying. So, these two expressions – burning bridges and scorched-earth are not interchangeable.

But they have a similar goal -- destruction⁶.

Let's say a friend of mine, Georgina, was a talent agent. She represented many successful writers, artists and musicians in a large city. When the business got too big, she opened an agency⁷ with her friend, Stephanie. They grew the company, and it was very profitable⁸. Georgina had all the contacts, but Stephanie knew how to oversee⁹ a company -- maybe too well.

One day, Georgina arrived to the office to find herself locked out! Her "friend" had tricked her into signing away her rights to the company.

Georgina was out. She found that legally there was nothing she could do. So, she did the only thing she could do. She took a scorched-earth approach.

Georgina knew the most valuable things the company owned were the contacts she had. So, she burned all her bridges and destroyed the relationships with all those contacts. It took her awhile. But, in time, the agency failed.

Stephanie is still looking for work. But Georgina moved to a beautiful island and opened a restaurant.

Words in This Story

bare – adj. having no covering

approach – n. a way of dealing¹⁰ with something : a way of doing or thinking about something

last-ditch – adj. made as a final effort especially to avert¹¹ disaster

effort – n. energy used to do something : a serious attempt

talent – n. a special ability that allows someone to do something well

agent – n. a person who acts or does business for another

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 scorch   

v.烧焦，烤焦；高速疾驶；n.烧焦处，焦痕

参考例句：

• I could not wash away the mark of the scorch.我洗不掉这焦痕。
• This material will scorch easily if it is too near the fire.这种材料如果太靠近炉火很容易烤焦。

3 scorched   

烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦

参考例句：

• I scorched my dress when I was ironing it. 我把自己的连衣裙熨焦了。
• The hot iron scorched the tablecloth. 热熨斗把桌布烫焦了。

4 hostile   

adj.不友好的，敌对的；敌方的，敌人的

参考例句：

• The local people are hostile to outsiders.当地人敌视外地人。
• Their hostile looks showed that he was unwelcome.他们怀敌意的表情说明他不受欢迎。

5 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

6 destruction   

n.破坏，毁灭，消灭

参考例句：

• The enemy bombs caused widespread destruction.敌人的炸弹造成大面积的破坏。
• Overconfidence was his destruction.自负是他垮台的原因。

7 agency   

n.经办；代理；代理处

参考例句：

• This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
• He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。

8 profitable   

adj.有益的，能带来利益的，有利可图的

参考例句：

• That business became profitable last year.那项生意去年变得很赚钱。
• The convention business is very profitable for the hotel industry.承办会议业务能给旅馆业带来很高的利润。

9 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。