标签（空格分隔）： 经济学人
Part 1
Homosexuality and the law
Gay prospects
The government finds surprising support for same-sex marriage
That was a bombshell. The official did not say what kind of opinions had been raised, but many people were surprised that he even mentioned the topic. They saw it as a hint that the government might be prepared to discuss it. Netizens flooded social media with comment, much of it supporting marriage equality. In the 24 hours after the publication of the spokesman’s remarks, messages containing a related hashtag were viewed nearly 600m times on Weibo, a Twitter-like service. The legalisation of same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland on January 13th also prompted an outpouring of messages on China’s social media, many hailing the news.
同性恋婚姻法
同性恋者的曙光
同性恋婚姻合法化得到意想不到的支持
那简直是个重磅炸弹。尽管立法工作者没有详细说明具体意见，但这议题能被提出已经足够让人惊讶了。这至少意味着政府开始准备认真探讨此议题了。网民纷纷在社交媒体发表评论，其中很大一部分是支持婚姻平等的。发言人发表讲话后的24小时内，微博上(中国版推特)该热门话题浏览量高达6亿。北爱尔兰于1月13日通过同性婚姻平权法案，也一度在中国社交媒体上引发一片支持的声音。
- homosexual [ˌhəʊməʊˈseksjuəl] 同性恋的，同性恋者
heterosexual [ˌhetərəʊˈseksjʊəl]前缀hetero-表示“异类，相异的”因此heterosexual指“异性恋的，异性恋者”
bisexual [baɪˈseksjuəl]双性恋的，双性恋
homophobia n.a strong dislike and fear of homosexual people 恐同(对同性恋者的厌恶和恐惧)
paranoia [ˌpærəˈnɔɪə]义为“多疑，妄想症，偏执狂”(If you say that someone suffersfrom paranoia, you think that they are too suspicious and afraid of other people)。词尾-ia常涉及某种症状和疾病，比如acrophobia恐高症
“在中国，同性恋依旧不被认同”怎么说？In China, homosexuality is still frowned upon. [这里推荐一个生动的表达：sth is frowned on/upon.表示“某事不被赞成”，比如“很多餐馆里都禁止吸烟”Smoking is frowned upon in many restaurants. ]
- prospects n.[复数] ~(for/of sth) the chances of being successful前景；前途
good job/employment/career prospects 美好的工作 / 就业 / 事业前途
no prospects前途渺茫，看不到未来
At 25 he was an unemployed musician with no prospects. 25岁的他是个没有工作、前途渺茫的乐师。
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a distant prospect for sb.\ the prospect of sth is distant对...来说遥不可及
The prospect of a reliable human longevity pill is still distant. 研制出可以延长人类寿命的有效药物仍然是个遥不可及的挑战.【写作推荐】 -
bombshell n.an event or a piece of news which is unexpected and usually unpleasant 出乎意料的事情，意外消息（常指不幸）
She dropped a bombshell at the meeting and announced that she was leaving.她在会上宣布了令人吃惊的消息，说她将要离开。 -
hint v./n. 暗示；透露；示意
They hinted (that) there might be more job losses.他们暗示说可能会有更多人失业。
【电影赏析】电影《怦然心动Flipped》中，男主Brice初见女主July时说：this girl could not take a hint这妹子真不识趣儿。 -
take a hint 领会某人的暗示（也就是平常说的“ 会看眼色， 识趣儿”）
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hint作名词还可意为“一点，微量”
a hint of sth指一个整体中的“少量；一点儿”，比如：一丝笑意a hint of a smile
【类似表达】 a trace of sth, a fraction of sth, a shred of sth, a grain of sth，后两个表达一般用于否定句，表示“一点也不；一点也没有”，比如There is not a shred of evidence to support his claim.没有丝毫证据支持他的说法。
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Netizens 网民
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flood sb/sth with sth 挤满；拥满；大量送至
The office was flooded with applications for the job.办公室堆满了应征该职的求职信。
类似形式还有一个高频短语：bombard sb/sth with sth 大量提问；大肆抨击；提供过多信息
We have been bombarded with letters of complaint.我们接二连三收到了大批的投诉信件。
a flood of sth a very large number of things or people that appear at the same time 大批，大量（的人或事物）
a flood of complaints大量投诉
【地道表达】stem the flood/ flow/tide of sth遏制…的势头；抵制…潮，比如
The measures are meant to stem the tide of illegal immigration. 这些措施旨在遏制非法移民潮。
stem [stem] v.to stop sth that is flowing from spreading or increasing 阻止；封堵
The cut was bandaged to stem the bleeding. 伤口进行了包扎止血。【熟词僻义】
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remarks n. 摘要；附注；评论
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hashtag就是我们看到的微博话题两边的井号，比如：#肖战好帅#
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比如《经济学人》中国专栏曾刊登一篇关于热剧《都挺好》的文章，文章第一句话是这样写的：It is no mean feat to be one of the top-ten trending hashtags on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, for 20 consecutive days and counting.连续20天登上微博十大热搜还能势头不减绝非易事。
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legalisation 合法化
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outpouring n.涌现；喷涌 pour本身是动词“倾泻，倾倒”比如pouring rain意为大雨瓢泼，那么to pour out sth即outpouring“涌现，喷涌”比如：a remarkable outpouring of new ideas新思想的大量涌现
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hail [heɪl]动词，常见用法是hail sb / sth as sth，指“把…称赞为，把…誉为”(to describe someone or something as being very good)，常用作被动语态，比如The Wandering Earthis hailed as China's biggest sci-fi movie to date.
hail 还有“呼喊，大声招呼”的意思(to call to someone in order to greet them or try to attract their attention)，“打的，打出租车”即hail a taxi，而滴滴这样的叫车服务称作ride-hailing/taxi-hailing service。比如《经济学人》一篇谈交通拥堵的文章提到：Ride-hailing services might introduce multi-passenger vehicles and split travel costs across riders (they could call them “buses”).幸运的是，历史也提供了一个解决方案：公共交通。叫车服务可能会引入多乘客车辆，并在乘客之间分摊费用（可以称之为“巴士”）。
Part 2
Such open debate is progress for a country where homosexuality was, in effect, illegal before 1997 and classified as a mental illness until 2001. But a survey in 2014, cited by Chinese media, found about one- fifth of respondents supported same-sex marriage. Two years later a man in the southern city of Changsha, Sun Wenlin, sued the government for blocking his marriage to his male partner. The case was eventually dismissed, but the court’s consideration of it was a milestone. In 2017 the law was amended to allow adults to nominate a legal guardian. Officials turned a blind eye when some same-sex couples decided to nominate each other, thus forming a limited kind of civil partnership. Taiwan’s legalisation of gay marriage last year further encouraged China’s activists.
对同性恋婚姻立法的公开辩论是一大进步,毕竟1997年前同性恋行为属违法，2001年前，同性恋被视为一种“精神疾病”。但到了2014年中国媒体的一项调查发现“大约有五分之一的受访者支持同性婚姻”。两年后，中国南方城市长沙一名男子孙文林起诉民政局，因为他与男伴侣的登记结婚受阻。虽说该案最终被驳回，但法院对此事的审议是一个里程碑。2017年, 中国修改《民法总则》，允许成年人指定定其法定监护人。如果同性伴侣互相将对方认定为自己的监护人，签订监护协议，公证人睁一只眼闭。由此双方形成一种有限的伴侣关系。去年台湾将同性婚姻合法化，这进一步鼓舞了中国同性恋婚姻合法化的支持者。
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in effect 实际上；
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classified 将…分类; 将…归类; 划分; 界定;
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cite v. to speak or write the exact words from a book, an author, etc. 引用；引述；援引= quote
She cites a favourite poem by George Herbert.她引用了自己最喜爱的一首乔治·赫伯特的诗。
frequently-cited adj.经常被引用的 frequent adj.频繁的；经常发生的
【语法拓展】副词加过去分词构成形容词，用来代替从句，更简洁。
比如：deeply-offended 深受伤害的/deeply-perturbed 深感不安的/ deeply-indebted 深表感激的
newly-invented 新发明的/ newly-issued 刚出版的
well-known 著名的/ highly-developed 高度发达的/ badly-lighted 光线不好的
slowly-declined 缓慢下降的
completely-transformed 完全改变的
so-called 所谓的
- respondent n. 回答问题的人；（尤指）调查对象，受访者，比如《纽约时报》一篇探讨金钱是否能买来幸福的文章提到：And they found that respondents who willingly swap funds for free time also report feeling more content regardless of their income or how many hours they work each week.他们发现，那些愿意用金钱来换取空闲时间的受访者同时也是生活满意度更高的人——无论他们的收入有多少或者每周工作多长时间。
correspondent则是名词“记者”, 记者还可以是journalist或the press
A meeting was promised, but the Press was not admitted. 承诺将召开一次会议，但是不允许记者到场。
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sue vt. & vi. (为要求赔偿损失而)起诉, 控告, 和…打官司
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dismiss 义为“拒绝考虑，否定”(to refuse to consider someone's idea, opinion etc, because you think it is not serious, true, or important）在法庭上指“驳回”
dismiss sth as sth/adj表示“认为…是…样的”，带有强烈的否定意味，比如He just laughed and dismissed my proposal as unrealistic.他只是笑了笑，认为我的建议不切实际，拒绝考虑。
此外dismiss还有解散的意思，比如国外老师说“下课啦”就是“class dismissed”。
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milestone n.[ˈmaɪlstəʊn] a very important stage or event in the development of sth 重要事件；重要阶段；转折点；里程碑
Starting school is a milestone for both children and parents. 对于孩子和家长而言，开始上学是一件大事。 -
to nominate a legal guardian 指定一个监护人，这里指“意定监护权”
意 定 监 护 权
指成年人在有完全判断能力时, 按照自己的意愿预先选择监护人, 并与其签订意定监护协议, 在其丧失全部或部分民事行为能力后, 由其确定的监护人履行对其人身、财产和其他合法权益的照顾和管理职责的一种法律制度。
该法制一开始是针对人口老龄化问题，后来灵活变通后明确适用于于同性恋群体。2017年3月15日通过的《民法总则》创新性地把意定监护适用的主体范围由老年人扩大到全体具有完全民事行为能力的成年人, 这是《民法总则》的一大亮点。
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amended
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blind 除了“盲的”还有“视而不见的；没有意识到的”的意思
be blind to sth 对某事）视而不见的，未察觉的
She is blind to her husband's faults. 她对丈夫的过错毫无察觉。
I must have been blind not to realize the danger we were in. 当时我一定是眼瞎了，竟然没有意识到我们所处的危险。
be deaf to sth 不愿听；不去注意
He was deaf to my requests for help.他对我的求助充耳不闻
turn a deaf ear (to sb/sth) （对…）置之不理，充耳不闻
turn a blind eye (to sth) （对某坏事）佯装不见，睁一只眼闭一只眼
blind/ unquestioning/ complete obedience 盲目的/无条件的/完全的服从
Part 3
Since the spokesman’s announcement, another round of public consultation has been under way. It will end on January 26th. Officials have not revealed whether the 100,000-plus proposals raised include ones for gay marriage. Even if many of them do, the legislature is unlikely to add provisions for gay people when it revises family-related law at its annual plenary session in March. But activists say it would be a step forward if the idea were even to be raised at the meeting. They are hopeful. For them, there may be at least the prospect of change.
自发言人宣布以来，下一轮征求意见环节正在进行，截止1月26日结束。官员们尚未透露提出的10万多个提议是否包括同性婚姻提议。即使其中许多人这样做，立法机关在3月的年度全体会议上修订与家庭有关的法律时，也不太可能增加对同性恋者的规定。但是支持者们说只要在会议上提出这个想法，就是朝前进了一大步。他们充满希望，因为对于他们来说，至少看到了改变的可能性。
-consultation n. 磋商(会议),咨询,专家会诊
- sth. be under way已经开始；在进行中【写作推荐】
Preparations are well under way for a week of special events in May.五月份特别活动周的准备工作已经顺利开展。
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revealed v. 透露
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annual plenary session年度全体会议
annual [ˈænjuəl] adj.relating to a period of one year一年的
an annual income/subscription/budget年收入；年度订阅费；年度预算
【词根词缀】 ann, enn = year
perennial adj.终年不断的；长期的 per(through) + enn(year)）
anniversary n.周年纪念日；结婚周年
biennial adj.两年一次的，每两年的 bi(two)+enn (year)
millennium n.一千年，千禧年. mill(thousand)+enn (year)
centennial n.一百周年；一百周年纪念日 adj.一百年一次；一百周年的；一百岁的 cent(hundred)+ enn (year)
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legislature n. 立法机关；立法机构
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provisions n. 规定, 条款
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revises v. 修正；改订
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session [ˈsɛʃən] n.a formal meeting or series of meetings of a court, a parliament, etc.; a period of time when such meetings are held（法庭的）开庭，开庭期；（议会等的）会议，会期
a session of the UN General Assembly一届联合国大会
我国每年的全国人民代表大会和中国人民政治协商会议都会同期召开，简称“两会”the Two Sessions, 两会的完整名称：National People's Congress中国人民代表大会和Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference 中国人民政治协商会议; 简称NPC &CPPCC。
parliament [ˈpɑrləmənt] n.the group of people who are elected to make and change the laws of a country 议会；国会
The German parliament is called the ‘Bundestag ’.德国的议会称为Bundestag。
【同源词】parliamentary adj.议会的；国会的