英語學習筆記 Fifty shades of blue

✸✸ A CHEER goes up as Jens Maier takes the podium at a packed sports club in Dresden. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) candidate for the Bundestag, Germany』s parliament, rails againstAngela Merkel』s refugee policies: 「Who has to live with these 『new citizens』? Whose children have to go to school with their children? Who produces the wealth they feed off?」 Germany, he concludes, needs MPs 「imbued with a sense of responsibility towards their own people」 who can 「show up the incompetent establishment」.

1） go up 英 [ɡəu ʌp] 美 [ɡo ʌp] 上升;響起;（幕布）升起;破產

I fancy Leicester to go up.

我認為萊斯特隊會晉級。

短語：go up to 英 [ɡəu ʌp tu:] 美 [ɡo ʌp tu] 入…， 進…

go up and down 英 [ɡəu ʌp ænd daun] 美 [ɡo ʌp ənd daʊn] 升降

go up in flames 毀於大火;突然地和完全的結束，破滅，毀於一旦

go up the ladder 英 [ɡəu ʌp ðə ˈlædə] 美 [ɡo ʌp ði ˈlædɚ] 爬得很高，飛黃騰達，官運亨通

2） rail against 英 [reil əˈɡenst] 美 [rel əˈɡenst] 反對…，嚴厲責罵…

Both rail against oil companies, drug companies, credit-card companies& the usual suspects.

他們都抱怨石油公司、藥品公司和銀行&這是免不了的。

3） feed off 英 [fi:d ɔf] 美 [fid ɔf] 依靠…提供的東西維持（生活），從…中取食

When fresh food and water are not available, the camel can feed off its hump.

在缺乏新鮮食物和水時，駱駝能以自己的駝峰為營養來源。

4） imbue with 英 [ɪmˈbju: wið] 美 [ɪmˈbju wɪð] 灌輸

About the Image-his image was a personal project, I wanted to paint an exotic open desertlandscape and imbue with a sense of mystery.

這是張個人作品，我想繪製一副帶有異國情調的開闊沙漠景觀，並融入強烈的神秘感。

✸✸ At the federal election in 2013 the just founded AfD narrowly missed the 5% vote share required to make it into the Bundestag. Since then it has ditched free-market Euroscepticism for anti-Islam nationalism as its guiding ideology. Though it has fallen back from highs of around 15% in polls following the refugee crisis, its strategy of polarisation and provocation has allowed it to reach popularity ratings of around 9% today. If that holds, the AfD would win more than 60 of the Bundestag』s 600-odd seats at the election on September 24th.

✸✸ Candidate lists suggest that members of such a Bundestag group will be 「very loud and mostly from the right wing of the party」, observes Melanie Amann, a journalist and expert on the party. It would probably be dominated by Alexander Gauland (pictured), the traditionalist whose vision of the AfD as a pure-protest outfit prevailed over more conciliatory alternatives at its annual conference in April.

1） prevail over 英 [priˈveil ˈəuvə] 美 [prɪˈvel ˈovɚ] 戰勝; 壓倒;打敗;覆蓋

Political and personal ambitions are starting to prevail over economic interests.

政治抱負和個人野心開始壓倒經濟利益。

2） conciliatory 英 [kənˈsɪliətəri] 美 [kənˈsɪliətɔ:ri] adj.調和的;安撫的;說服的;調解的

The next time he spoke he used a more conciliatory tone

他再次開口時使用了更具安撫性的語氣。

✸✸ The party』s record in state parliaments is another indicator. It now has seats in 13 of Germany』s 16 states. According to a study by the Otto Brenner Stiftung, a thinktank, AfD MPs are typically noisy and fractious, but legislatively active. In SaxonyAnhalt they are so volatile that the speaker has had a button installed enabling him to switch off their microphones. The AfD』s legislators in Baden-Württemberg fell out and split into two rival parliamentary groups, an illustration of the furious battles over ideology and power that rage between different wings. The researchers found that the party』s MPs submit motions at a relatively high rate, most often on matters like crime and migration.

1） fractious 英 [ˈfrækʃəs] 美 [ˈfrækʃəs] adj.易怒的，急躁的

Nancy was in a fractious mood

南希情緒煩躁。

2） volatile 英 [ˈvɒlətaɪl] 美 [ˈvɑ:lətl] adj.易變的，不穩定的;（液體或油）易揮發的;爆炸性的;快活的，輕快的

There have been riots before and the situation is volatile

以前曾發生過暴亂，現在局勢不太穩定。

短語：volatile matter 英 [ˈvɔlətail ˈmætə] 美 [ˈvɑlətl ˈmætɚ] 揮發物

volatile content 英 [ˈvɔlətail ˈkɔntent] 美 [ˈvɑlətl ˈkɑnˌtɛnt] 揮發物含量

volatile market 英 [ˈvɔlətail ˈmɑ:kit] 美 [ˈvɑlətl ˈmɑrkɪt] 不穩定的行情

volatile memory 英 [ˈvɔlətail ˈmeməri] 美 [ˈvɑlətl ˈmɛməri] 非永久性存儲器，易失存儲器

3） switch off 英 [switʃ ɔf] 美 [swɪtʃ ɔf] 關閉;切斷;（使）沒興趣;使停止談話

She switched off the coffee-machine

她關掉了咖啡機。

4） fell out 英 [fel aut] 美 [fɛl aʊt] 爭吵，發生

She fell out with her husband

她與丈夫鬧翻了。

✸✸ Most mainstream members of the Bundestag will shun their new AfD colleagues. In some state parliaments some MPs even refuse to shake hands with the party』s representatives. In March the Bundestag moved to pre-emptively block Wilhelm von Gottberg, a 77-year-old AfD candidate, from assuming the honorary title of 「father of the house」 by changing the definition of the term from 「oldest member」 to 「longest-serving member」. Whether being spurned by the establishment will hinder or help the party is debatable.

✸✸ Will the AfD change Germany once it is in the Bundestag? Fully 93% of Germans (and 64% of the party』s voters) say they have not noticed its impact in state parliaments. Yet its presence may require the next federal government to build broader coalitions of mainstream legislators to pass contentious laws. And ministers might word legislation on sensitive topics more loosely to avoid conflict, suggests Ms Amann. That Mrs Merkel』s Christian Democrats (CDU) are now talking tough on security and decking out their campaign with the national flag is an early hint of the AfD』s indirect influence.

1） deck out 英 [dek aut] 美 [dɛk aʊt] 妝飾；打扮；裝扮

The cab was decked out with multi-coloured lights

計程車上裝飾了五顏六色的彩燈。

✸✸ It is not unthinkable that the AfD might one day enter government. (The equivalent of a CDU-AfD coalition may run Austria from October.) But to get to that point the AfD must reconcileits big internal differences, marginalise its hardliners and find a balance between provocationand respectability. Joining the Bundestag may make those tasks harder, not easier.

1） reconcile 英 [ˈrekənsaɪl] 美 [ˈrɛkənˌsaɪl] vt.使和好，使和解;調停，排解（爭端等）;[宗]使（場所等）潔凈;[船]使（木板）接縫平滑

It's difficult to reconcile the demands of my job and the desire to be a good father

我很難做到既兼顧工作，又達成做個好父親的願望。

2） rovocation 英 [ˌprɒvəˈkeɪʃn] 美 [ˌprɑ:vəˈkeɪʃn] n.挑釁，挑撥;激怒，刺激;憤怒;憤怒的原因

He denies murder on the grounds of provocation

他否認激情殺人。