英语角-圆桌会议 RoundTable0117 - 春节至少花掉一月工资

 Topic1 Party Secretary Cleans ToiletZhu Zhongzhi, party secretary of Dali, cleaned a dirty squat¹ public toilet during a campaign to call for the public to take part in city hygiene². High officials are often seen doing basic job in front of the public, thus becoming a source of news. Some officials receive good comments, while others are criticized badly.

In this case, should we commend the party secretary or criticize him?

Topic2 College library opens to publicStudents will begin their winter vacation of 2014 as early as this weekend. Since most students will go back home and leave college campus empty, curious citizens wonder whether they can be allowed to use college libraries.

Should college libraries be open to the public?

Topic3 Spring Festival Spending and SyndromeThe year end is always the busiest season for most of us. There are so many things to wrap up and so many new plans to make. At this moment, we need to take care of both our health and wallet.

First of all, let's look at the wallet side of things. This is a big source of complaint. Really how much do people need to spend or have to spend on Spring Festival?

Topic4 China cut spring festival galasChina has cut three out of four widely watched Spring Festival galas sponsored by ministries³ and state media, as the ruling party has stepped up efforts to cut pomp and fight corruption⁴.

The three galas to be hosted by the ministries of public security, culture, and civil affairs respectively have been canceled, leaving only the Spring Festival Gala of China Central Television (CCTV) to be aired during the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year.

Is it good?

Topic5 Chinese Mom Puts Up Ads Begging Son to Come HomeChinese dama successfully catches attention overseas once again. This week, a Chinese mother publishes a letter on a newspaper in Melbourne, in which she begs her son to come home for the Spring Festival after her repeated attempts to force him into marriage scared him away.

Do you sympathize with the mother for having a disloyal son or the son for having a pushy⁵ mother?

Topic6 Spring Festival homecomingWhile many complain about failing to bag a ticket home, a female teacher has decided⁶ to stop whining⁷ and start a detoured⁸ trip to reunite with the family for the Lunar Chinese New Year.

Since Sun and her daughter aren't able to go home on the through train from Shenzhen in southern China to Shenyang in the Northeast, the mother thought she might as well take her 7 year-old girl to see the world along a route that will eventually take them home.

Instead of just one and half days' direct train trip, the two will spend 11 days traveling and sightseeing in Xiamen, Hanzhou, Shanghai, Qingdao, Yantai and Dalian before finally arriving in Shenyang.

It seems Sun is not the only one thinking outside of the box when it comes to the ways of homecoming for the Spring Festival.

1 squat   

v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的

参考例句：

• For this exercise you need to get into a squat.在这次练习中你需要蹲下来。
• He is a squat man.他是一个矮胖的男人。

2 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。

3 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

4 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

5 pushy   

adj.固执己见的，一意孤行的

参考例句：

• But she insisted and was very pushy.但她一直坚持,而且很急于求成。
• He made himself unpopular by being so pushy.他特别喜欢出风头，所以人缘不好。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 whining   

n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚

参考例句：

• That's the way with you whining, puny, pitiful players. 你们这种又爱哭、又软弱、又可怜的赌棍就是这样。
• The dog sat outside the door whining (to be let in). 那条狗坐在门外狺狺叫着（要进来）。

8 detoured   

绕道( detour的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The car detoured round the bomb pits. 汽车绕过了弹坑。
• The police detoured them around the scene of the accident. 警察使他们绕过事故现场行驶。