[英文 單字集]繼世界盃後迎辦奧運的巴西、馬戲團起源地Baraboo

Top 3 words and 1 differentiation this week

1. 到最後一刻(才揭曉或完成): down the wire = come to the last minute
Ex: Preparations for the 2004 Olympics in Athens went down the wire.

2. 緊迫的；迫切的: pressing =urgent
Ex: Let's begin with the obvious and most pressing question

3. mind-boggling: 難以置信的、驚人的 = hard to imagine
Ex: It is home to a mind-boggling amount of history.

4. Spectator和audience的差別: 
spectators for sports event; audience for concerts

下面是這周的單字集，點選標題可以看原文報導
藍色單字是我喜歡或覺得常用的單字，
標在中文表示可以直接翻譯和中文做連結
標在英文表示從英文記會比較好


After World Cup, Rio de Janeiro shifts focus to Olympics

1. stadium: 體育場

Ex: Brazil's World Cup was supposed to be a disaster, because stadiums were not finished.

2. get off the ground: 開始進行、啟動某項計畫 = begin= start

Ex: Many infrastructure projects never got off the ground

3. fall into place: (按計畫)順利進行 = everything fits together

Ex: Once the games started most everything fell into place.

4. in rear view mirror: (某事)過去了、成為往事

Ex: With the World Cup in the rearview mirror, Brazil is turning its attention to 2016.

5. spiraling: 螺旋式的上升；攀升

Ex: There is the spiraling cost of the Games.

6. tense: 讓人緊張的(局勢)

Ex: Felli has described the situation as "very tense."

7. unity: 團結

Ex: I like the unity of different countries in Olympics game.

8. ill-fitting: 不合身的

9. construction helmet: 施工安全帽

10. rubber boots: 橡膠靴、雨鞋

Ex: He wears an ill-fitting plastic construction helmet and rubber boots.

11. misguided: 誤導的

Ex: Comparisons between the World Cup and the Olympics are misguided.

12. accommodate: 容納

Ex: The city must accommodate more than 10500 athletes.

13. flood: 湧入、蜂擁而至

Ex: That doesn't include the foreign tourists expected to flood the city.

14. mobility: (交通上的)流動性

Ex: For the services of the city, there are a lot of things that are the same. Transports, airports, mobility.

15. around the clock: 不眠不休、日以繼夜的

Ex: Work around the clock

16. sprawling: 佔地甚廣、雜亂延伸的、廣闊的 = have big area

Ex: Much of the Rio Games will be centered on the sprawling Olympic park.

17. borough: 市鎮、行政區 = area

18. upscale: 高檔的、高級的

Ex: upscale borough

19. shift: 班、輪班

20. venue: 會場、活動地點

Ex: 3000 men, split into double shifts, are working 22 hours per day on 12 venues.

21. When there is a will, there is a way: 有志者事竟成

22. cut corners:抄捷徑 = take a short cut

Ex: They always find a way to get something done, even if it involves ignoring rules or cutting corners

23. approach: (處理問題的)態度、方法

Ex: That approach troubles IOC members.

24. down the wire: 到最後一刻(才揭曉或完成) = come to the last minute

Ex: Preparations for the 2004 Olympics in Athens went down the wire.

25. working-class: 勞動階級、藍領階級

26. fencing: 西洋劍術

Ex: It's a former Army base in working-class North Rio that will play host to fencing, shooting and mountain biking events.

26. disrupt: 打斷、中斷

27. stoppage: 停工、罷工

Ex: Construction could be disrupted by work stoppages.

28. metro: 地鐵

Ex: A key metro line isn't scheduled to be completed until May 2016.

29. consecutively: 連續的 = one right after the other

Ex: Brazil is only the fourth country to play host to (主辦) a World Cup and the Summer Olympics consecutively.

30. beat the odds: 排除萬難

Ex: Brazil's World Cup has beaten long odds to finish successfully.

31. 觀眾：spectators for sports event; audience for concerts

(Reading articles and example sentences are from Brazil Preps for 2016, Advanced magazine, Jan. 26-28, 2015)

In Baraboo, the circus is always in town

1. pressing: 緊迫的；迫切的 = urgent

Ex: Let's begin with the obvious and most pressing question

2. knack: 本事、訣竅 =talent = gift

3. skit: 幽默短劇

Ex: They had a knack for (在行、拿手= talented) juggling, and performing skits.

4. hilarity: 哄堂大笑的場合

Ex: They are good at engaging in hilarity (搞笑).

5. sketch sth out: 草擬、概述

6. pitch a tent: 搭帳篷、紮營 = put up a tent

Ex: They had sketched out a routine and pitched a tent to create a show.

7. on the road: 巡迴演出

8. wagon: 四輪貨運馬車

Ex: The brothers bought covered wagons to take their show on the road.

9. punchy: 有感染力的

Ex: They toured much of Illinois with a shorter, punchier game

10. horde: (人)群

Ex: They returned home to Baraboo with their horde of tigers, elephants, and the rest.

11. lark: 嬉戲、玩笑的活動；雜耍 = carefree adventure

12. live and breathe sth: 視為重要的事情

Ex: Little did the brothers know that their lark would turn their hometown into a place that continues to live and breathe circus 130 years later.

13. rolling hills: 綿延起伏的山丘

14. down the road: 不遠處

Ex: Just down the road is another important marker (標示牌).

15. innocuous: 無害的、不起眼的

16. plaque: 招牌，匾額

17. proclaim: 宣稱、表明、表示

Ex: In the front yard of otherwise innocuous small-town bank, a plaque proclaims it is the site of the first Ringling Brothers performance

18. clown around: 扮丑、出洋相

19. big top: 馬戲大帳棚

Ex: big top performance 馬戲團表演

20. courthouse: 法院

21. crown (v.): 覆蓋於頂部

Ex: An old courthouse, crowned by a clock tower, sits at the heart of the downtown.

22. ring (v.): 圍繞、包圍

Ex: The courthouse is ringed by the usual small-town business.

23. in storage: 封存、閒置

Ex: After three years in storage, it reopened in Baraboo in 2010.

24. community: 社區

Ex: The whole community has been so overwhelmingly supportive.

25. inductee: (名人堂)的成員

26. strong: 共有、多達

Ex: The International Clown Hall of Fame (名人堂) is 72 inductees strong.

27. memorabilia: 紀念品、收藏品

Ex: The museum boasts a fascinating swath of memorabilia

28. skunk: 臭鼬

29. pal around: 打成一片、友好

Ex: He palled around with Charlie Chaplin.

30. artifacts: 手工藝品、文物

Ex: I think we have the largest collection of clown artifacts in the world.

31. stately: 莊嚴的、隆重的

32. mansion: 豪宅

Ex: His stately stone mansion sits around the corner

33. draw: 吸引人的地方或人

Ex: The biggest draw sits just south of downtown.

34. twisting: 蜿蜒的

Ex: twisting Baraboo River

35. be housed on: 座落於

36. living and breathing: 活生生的

Ex: housed on the Ringlings' original winter quarters, Circus World is both a museum and a living, breathing circus.

37. mind-boggling: 難以置信的、驚人的 = hard to imagine

Ex: It is home to a mind-boggling amount of history.

38. ornate: 裝飾華麗的 = beautifully decorated

39. across the decades and the globe: 歷經數十年且來自各地的

Ex: wonderfully ornate wagons from across the decades and the globe

40. honk: 發出喇叭聲

41. clang: 叮噹作響

42. clatter: 鏗鏘作響

Ex: a room full of honking, clanging, clattering musical instruments

43. dazzling: 眼花撩亂的

Ex: Visits begin in a museum just as dazzling to adults as to children.

44. master of ceremonies (MC): 司儀、儀式主持人

45. chime (v.): 敲 ； chime (n.): 排鐘

46. blast: 突然的巨響

47. organ: 風琴

Ex: He chimes out musical blasts of noise.

48. illusionist: 魔術師

49. a bevy of: 一群(鳥、女人、小東西)

Ex: The illusionist executed a bevy of familiar and entertaining tricks.

50. brisk: 輕快的、生氣勃勃的 = fast-paced

Ex: a brisk, amusing hour of what you'd expect from a big top

51. contortionist: 柔體雜耍表演者

52. disturbingly: 令人不安的

Ex: A contortionist fit himself into a disturbingly small clear box.

53. stool: 小凳子

Ex: an elephant that sat on a tiny stool

54. open-minded: 開放的、能接受新事物的

Ex: The children seemed far more open-minded about the possibility than I.

55. acrobatics: 雜技；雜耍

56. chime in: 插話

(Reading articles and example sentences are from The Circus is in Town, Advanced magazine, Jan. 29-31, 2015)

   by  Teddy Kwok