英语小站,学英语,过四级.

1) take a rain check

　　2) lost count 弄不清楚

　　3) be in another world 精神恍惚；魂不守舍

　　4) make yourself at home 随意，随便

　　5) save your breath 省口气吧；别白费口舌了

　　6) make sense 有意义，理解

　　7) cost sb. an arm and a leg 非常昂贵

　　8) burn a hole in one's pocket 很快地被花光

　　9)fill one's shoes 很好地顶替；令人满意地替代

　　10)is ice cold 表示理所当然

　　11)like apples and oranges 用来表示无法相比的事物

　　13)lose one's train of 忘记

　　14)meet each other half way 相互妥协，让步

　　15)on the dot 准时；正点

　　16)once and for all 最后一次；干脆

　　17)out of earshot 不在听力所及范围

　　18)out of this world 非常好

　　19)play by ear 随机应变，视情形而定

　　20) ring a bell 令人想起某件事；听起来耳熟

　　21)share a common outlook 有共同的观点

　　22)six of one and half-a-dozen of the other 半斤八两；没什么区别

　　23)stick around 在附近逗留或等待

　　24)stick with 继续做，坚持

　　25)straighten out 扯平；结清

　　26)toss and turn (身体)翻来覆去(通常表示难以入睡)

　　27)turn one's back (在别人遇到困难时)不愿帮助

　　28)under the weather 身体不适，生病

　　29)bite off more than one can chew

　　贪多嚼不烂；心有余而力不足；不自量力；力不从心

　　30)break new ground 创新

　　31)do the trick 做成功；达到理想的结果

　　32)drag one's feet 行动缓慢；磨磨蹭蹭不情愿

　　33)draw the line 拒绝，拒不容忍

　　34)feel down in the dumps 心情不好；情绪低落

　　35)few and far between 不多；少而分散的；不常碰到或发现的；稀少的

　　36)fit as a fiddle 身体很健康

　　37)grin and bear 任劳任怨；毫无怨言地忍受

　　38)hit the spot

　　(特指吃了食物，喝了饮料之后)精神完全恢复过来或感到满足；恢复精力；提精神

　　39)keep between the two of us 不让第三者知道，保密

　　40)know a thing or two about 略知一二

一般说来，短文听力备考训练必须抓住竖听和横听两点结合来进行。所谓竖听，是指一套题目从头听到尾，从第一题听到最后一题。所谓横听，是指把相同题材和体裁的文章放在一块对照比较着听，从而迅速抓住同类型文章的规律，真正做到以不变应万变。例如，有关人物传记的文章在近几年的考题中共出现过两篇， 1999年1月的passage1和1996年1月的passage1，把这两篇文章放在一起听，可以发现这类型文章都以介绍式写法开头，将记叙人物的姓名、出生年月、出生地点以及社会评价置于开头，以引起注意。这些内容往往会考到。而文章结尾部分则通常会提到该人物的重大成绩，评论其功过是非。文章一般用记叙的语言讲述人物的经历，较少有情节的描写或人物对话。通过这样反复对比听，可以使我们很快掌握人物传记题材文章的模式和考题思路，在短时间内抓住考点，做到举一反三。

　　笔者在此提供一套具体的短文听力训练办法：

　　考生可以在历年考题中选取10-20篇不同题材和不同体裁的文章，依据以下几个步骤，横竖结合来进行精听训练。

　　Step 1：第一遍听磁带时认真做题，对所选取的每段文章都认真仔细，注意时间，模拟考场氛围。做完以后还需注意统计对错个数，并分析选项设置特点，练习快速扫描选项的能力。

　　Step 2：脱离文字材料再听4-5遍磁带。此时绝对不允许照着文字材料听，应该反复使用录音机上的重复键，尽最大努力听懂全文内容。听第5遍或第6遍的时候，可以一边听一边将全文笔录下来，然后对照文字材料，看看笔录有什么问题，分析听不懂的原因，是语音、词汇还是语法？然后有的放矢地加以解决。

　　Step 3：在足够熟悉此段落中的内容后，打开文字材料，一边听录音一边看，并在段落中相应考点和问题答案，仔细体会，分析自己为什么被某些干扰项误导。

　　Step 4：跟着磁带大声朗读，以提高自己的语速。如果自己的语速能基本跟上听力材料的语速，再做同类型题目，困难就不大了。

　　另外，练习过程中有一些事项值得我们注意，请大家养成良好的习惯，尽量避免：

　　1.鸵鸟式听法。很多同学听力过程中没有动手的习惯，听就是听，在做题时才努力回忆与该题有关的信息。甚至有同学喜欢闭着眼睛听或者把头低下来，伏在桌子上听，并认为这样注意力更集中，但这样往往容易走神，听的效率非常低。

　　2.多而不精。对于已经听过的材料，很多同学都很少再听，这是一个错误的观念。片面追求练习的量，并不能有效提高做听力题时的悟性，必须用心去感受才能收到显著的效果。

　　3.不愿对着文字材料大声朗读，认为听力就是听力，没有必要和朗读口语联系起来。其实听力考的是口头语言，口语提高了，听力也就自然而然上去了。同时朗读可以培养正确的语音语调，可以加强我们对文章的领悟力。

　　4.训练时间安排不得当。听力训练需要思想高度集中，故时间安排以每天精神最佳时候为宜。时间不宜过长,每次连续听半小时到一小时就可。另外，由于听力是一种习惯成自然的技巧训练，所以最好每天安排一段时间，切忌三天打鱼，两天晒网。

　　总之，四级短文听力并不可怕，如果我们能够宏观把握，平时坚持“用心去听”，我们肯定能够从不同角度、不同层次提高自己的英语语言能力。

Liu Yonghao, who started out selling pig feed and later became one of the mainland's richest, sees recent pork price hikes as a call to go back to his old business.

The price of pork is now 60 percent higher from the same time last year, according to official figures. The price rises since last May have been mainly attributed to a decrease in supply and rising feed costs.

But Liu thinks there is a fundamental cause behind the price hike. "Individual farming households are quickly quitting pig raising but large producers haven't stepped in to fill the breach, hence supply cannot meet demand," says the 56 year-old who started his business as a street vendor in the 1980s.

"As the largest consumer and producer of agricultural products, China needs a bunch of large agricultural companies," said Liu.

His company, New Hope Group, whose interests range from high-tech to chemicals, is on the way to become one of the first and biggest such giants.

From 2005, through a series of mergers and acquisitions, Liu - a Sichuan native - now controls nearly 10 leading agricultural companies in various regions, including Kinghey, the pork supplier for the Beijing Olympic Games.

Liu is trying to build the whole supply chain of agricultural products from animal feed and pig and poultry raising to meat processing.

Liu and his three brothers were among the earliest and most famous private entrepreneurs back in the 1980s. After raising chicken and quail, they turned to making pig feed as pork production boomed.

The Liu brothers then became the largest animal feed makers in the country, with a market share of nearly 10 percent at the peak.

Only 450,000 tickets for this summer's Olympic Games have been successfully allocated, accounting for about a quarter of the tickets available for sale in the second phase, the Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee (BOCOG) said on Sunday.

More than 700,000 orders for 4.2 million tickets were received by BOCOG, but only 123,000 bookings were confirmed after a computerized random draw, BOCOG said in a notice posted on its website.

Though BOCOG didn't give a reason why about 75 percent of the tickets remain unsold, it is

believed that it resulted from the fact that some popular events were extremely over-subscribed while the rest events had much less bookings.

The deputy head of BOCOG's ticketing center, said earlier that the demand was "extremely high but too centralized on several hot events".

A total of 1.8 million tickets to the sports events of the August 8-24 Games, together with 21,000 tickets for the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games and 26,000 tickets for the closing ceremony, were put on sale in December.

More than 1.5 million tickets were allocated in the first stage of ticket sales last year.

Thailand's newly elected House of Representatives or Lower House on Monday voted People Power Party (PPP) leader Samak Sundaravej as the country's new Prime Minister.

Samak, 72, were backed with 310 votes at the balloting in the 480-seat House of Representatives meeting Monday chaired by newly elected House Speaker Yongyuth Tiyapairat, former deputy leader of PPP.

His only rival was the 43-year-old Abhisit Vejjajiva, leader of the opposition Democrat Party, who got 163 votes.

477 Members of Parliament, whose victory in the December 23 general election had been endorsed by the Election Commission (EC), took part in the voting. One was absent while voting and three abstained, including Samak, Abhisit and the House Speaker.

The roll call voting was held after MPs disputed for 2 hours and 40 minutes as to whether a debate should be held before the voting.

According to the Constitution, an MP who officially names a candidate for the post must be supported by at least one-fifth of House members in the session. The supporting votes for an elected premier must be at least half of the total MPs in the forum.

The Constitution also requires a prime minister to be an elected MP. His tenure at the helm is four years with the maximum of eight years in office.

During Monday's voting, the votes for Samak came from the PPP MPs and fellow lawmakers from the other five smaller parties that had announced a coalition with the PPP to form a new government. The coalition has left the Democrat Party, which was second runner in the general election with 165 seats, the sole opposition party in the House.

The voting for prime minister was originally scheduled on Friday but later put off to Monday.

The new prime minister is expected to be sworn in after the appointment is endorsed by a Royal Decree from the King, while the cabinet line-up to be unveiled in early February.

Samak, an outspoken veteran politician, will become Thailand's 25th prime minister after the military top brass toppled the former elected government led by Thaksin Shinawatra in a military coup on September 19, 2006 and appointed an interim government led by a retired general Surayud Chulanont.

Earlier, the PPP's deputy-secretary general Noppadol Pattama said the party has completed drafting its 45-page national policy to be announced to Parliament.

The PPP will discuss its policies with the coalition partners on January 30 and the final draft will be completed in February, he said, adding "our policies will get first priority even though there might be some alterations."

In the national policy draft, the party has maintained all policies of the now-disbanded Thai Rak Thai Party that brought it to the height of its popularity. They would include the village fund, education loan, two-and three-digit lottery, CEO governor, debt moratorium, village bank, million cattle plan and declaring war on drug.

China's Ministry of Railways issued an urgent announcement on Monday ordering all local railway bureaus to step up concentrated efforts in coal transport to ensure the operation of the nation's key electric power plants.

It warned the shutting of some coal mines during the Spring Festival, which falls next month, tended to exacerbate supply tensions in the dry season when hydropower output declines. Thermal power plants also consume large quantities of coal, reducing the stock sharply.

To ensure fuel supply during the upcoming Lunar New Year and the National People's Congress session, the ministry said policies would favor coal transport. Coal heading for power plants in the country's economic hubs - the eastern and central regions - would be transported first.
In addition, the Ministry of Communications asked shipping companies to halt exports and transfer coal more swiftly to the big cities.

China is heavily dependent on coal as it is considered an affordable energy resource at a time when oil and natural gas prices rise steadily in the international market.

The country currently faces a 69.63 million kilowatt electricity supply shortfall. At present, 13 power grids at the provincial level have been temporarily switched off to limit power usage.

Railway transport has also been disrupted by the inclement weather of late. Unusually heavy snowfalls have hit large parts of the country since mid-January, leaving homes collapsed, power blackouts, highways closed and crops destroyed.

Weather forecasts this morning said snow was falling on Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces. Many of them supply large migrant populations that come to work in the country's biggest cities.

Chinese share prices ended around seven percent lower on Monday, as investors dumped stocks after Friday's sell-off on Wall Street amid lingering fears over a US recession.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index plunged 342.39 points, or 7.19 percent, to 4,419.29. It was its lowest in nearly six months.

Monday's decline in the Shanghai index matched that of January 22, when the Shanghai benchmark fell 7.2 percent before recovering ground later in the week.

Analysts said fears that a US economic slump will hurt demand for Chinese-made products was hurting sentiment. Worries over the potential impact of a prolonged bout of severe winter weather also took a toll.

"There's a lot of uncertainty out there: uncertainty over the U.S. economy, uncertainty over Chinese economy," said Rob Hart, an analyst with Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong.

An investment note to its clients issued by the China Merchants Bank Monday said the stunning 160 billion yuan refinancing plan on the stock market by China's Ping'an Insurance Co last week would continue to dampen investors mood. Ping'an shares, together with China Life, tumbled by 10 per cent on Monday.

The bank called for more caution in buying new holdings during this volatile time of trading.