Time Picture of the Day 2009/050 评论Maze: An employee inspects skids(货盘) of Coca-Cola ready for dispatch from a bottling plant in Sydney, Australia. Buzy: A young Pakistani potter works on a vase at a Karachi workshop. Rage: On the day before World Labour Day, Palestinian workers protest the lack of job opportunities in Gaza City. Storm: A Palestinian protests the construction of the controversial Israeli separation barrier as Israeli security forces respond with tear gas and rubber bullets. Off-target: A small helicopter crashed into a parked tour bus while landing at the former Kai Tak airport in Kowloon, leaving 3 injured. Wild load: Despite a rescue attempt, this wild Indian elephant died from wounds sustained from being hit by a train. Go piggy: Tourists wear masks made with scarves(丝巾) as they watch a pig race at the Sriracha Tiger Zoo in Thailand. Far from home: This young Pakistani girl waits at a camp for people displaced by fighting between the Taliban and the government. Preparation: Members of the Philippine Coast Guard train to respond in case of a deadly supertyphoon in the Philippines. Go dog, go: A dog injured in the Sichuan earthquake walks with its "wheelchair" at the Home of Love Little Animal Protection Center in Chengdu, China. Psalms from the Big Chair: Israeli carpenter Waheed Abu Alkhir pushes a chair he is constructing for Pope Benedict XVI to use when the Holy Father celebrates mass in Nazareth next week. Just in case: A commuter wears a face mask as a precaution against swine flu while riding the metro(subway) in Mexico City. Feast Day: A Kosovo Albanian woman looks out a window in the village of Babaj Bokes after sheep were slaughtered in celebration of Saint George's Day. Peek: One of 300 tourists and staff quarantined(检疫，隔离) at a Hong Kong hotel due to swine flu takes a look at the outside world. Inside angle: A journalist passes in front of plastinated slices of a female body created by anatomist Gunther von Hagens for his new 'Body Worlds' exhibition. Rally: Labor union workers of South Korea's Ssangyong Motor take part in a candlelight rally to protest the company's layoff plan at its main plant. Rescue: A member of the Montgomery, Alabama Fire Department Heavy Rescue Squad climbs to a car to check for signs of life after it was swept into a drainage ditch by flash floods. Democracy: A woman leaves after casting her vote at a polling center during India's general elections in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan. Tasty: A zookeeper feeds a newborn white-eared night heron at a zoo in Nanning, China. The species is one of the world's most endangered species(濒于灭绝的物种). Lit Way: Thai Buddhists with candles circle Buddha Monthon as monks pray at its base during religious merit making to celebrate Visakha Bucha or Buddha Day in Nakon Pathom. Why did the rhino(犀牛, informal)cross the road: A one-horned rhinoceros(犀牛, formal) is seen during the rhino census in the Pobitora wildlife sanctuary, 34 miles east of Gauhati, India. Rock and a hard place: The Russian production ship 'Petrozavodsk' find itself in a precarious(不稳定的) situation after running aground(搁浅) close to Bjoernoeya (Bear Island) in the Norwegian Sea. Guest of honor: Pope Benedict XVI meets with Israeli President Shimon Peres during a eight-day trip to the Middle East. Moment's notice: A US soldier is wearing 'I Love NY(New York)' boxer shorts after rushing from his sleeping quarters(军营) to join his fellow platoon(排) members after they received fire from Taliban positions in the Korengal Valley. Desert snow: Saudis enjoy a rare snowfall in Al Baha, a city south-west of Riyadh. Word of the Day-castigate0 评论
castigate \KAS-tuh-gayt\, transitive verb:
To punish severely; also, to chastise verbally; to rebuke; to criticize severely. It was not good enough to castigate him for his sins.-- Frank Deford, "Knight is too easy a target", Sports Illustrated, May 25, 2000 Out in the world they marvelled that they were found acceptable to others, after years of being castigated as unsatisfactory, disappointing.-- Anita Brookner, Falling Slowly Though castigated by the Catholic Church, illegitimacy was scarcely an unusual feature of Austrian country life.-- Ian Kershaw, Hitler: 1889-1936: Hubris For my lack of missionary zeal, I have been castigated by a few militant atheists, who are irritated by my disinclination to try persuading people to abandon their faith that God exists (while some religious people regard me as a militant atheist intent on promoting worship of unspecified "secular idols").-- Wendy Kaminer, Sleeping With Extra-Terrestrials Word of the Day-captious0 评论
Part of Speech: adjective
Pronunciation: [ 'kæp-shês] Definition: (1) Not merely deceptive but designed to (mis)lead you to the wrong conclusion, e.g. a sign, argument, or advertisement; sophistical. (2) Having an ill-natured inclination to find faults and raise objections; caviling, carping. Usage: "Have you stopped beating your husband?" is a captious question in the first sense of the word. That sense also brings to mind advertisements like, "Super Eldopé Extra with BMX-43 helps stop tough headache pain according to studies by a respected east coast research institution." This ad is designed to make you think Eldopé is a wonder drug for stopping headaches. But "BMX-43" could be evaporated water and the studies could have been conducted in the company's own laboratories (not Harvard). People who are captious in the second sense could even find fault with the Word of the Day. We hope none of these ever cross your (or our) path. Suggested Usage: Captious is a well-behaved adjective that belongs to a small family: "captiously" is the adverb and "captiousness" is the noun. Etymology: From Old French captieux, from Latin captisus, the adjective from captio "seizure, sophism," the noun of capere "to seize." Related words from Latin include "capture" and "captain." The English word "catch" comes from Old North French cachier "to chase" from the same Latin word. The original root, *kap, came down to English as "have" (from Old English "habban"; cf. German "haben") and "heavy" (from Old English "hefig"). In German it became Haft "arrest" but also the suffix –haft "like, having," as in lebhaft "lively, spirited" from leb-en "live" + -haft. captious \KAP-shuhs\, adjective: 1. Marked by a disposition to find fault or raise objections. 2. Calculated to entrap or confuse, as in an argument. The most common among those are captious individuals who can find nothing wrong with their own actions but everything wrong with the actions of everybody else.-- "In-Closet Hypocrites", Atlanta Inquirer, August 15, 1998 Mr Bowman had, I think, been keeping Christmas Eve, and was a little inclined to be captious: at least, he was not on foot very early, and to judge from what I could hear, neither men nor maids could do anything to please him.-- M. R. James, The Haunted Dolls' House and Other Stories Most authors would prefer readers such as Roiphe over captious academic critics.-- Steven Moore, "Old Flames", Washington Post, November 26, 2000 With the imperturbablest bland clearness, he, for five hours long, keeps answering the incessant volley of fiery captious questions.-- Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution Word of the Day-capricious0 评论
capricious \kuh-PRISH-us; -PREE-shus\, adjective:
Apt to change suddenly; whimsical; changeable. Molly was a capricious woman. Her moods were unpredictable, her anger petty and vicious.-- Rand Roberts and James Olson, John Wayne: American The Countess was a capricious minx, by turns seductive and aloof.-- Saul David, Prince of Pleasure: The Prince of Wales and the Making of the Regency Mathematics is logical; people are erratic, capricious, and barely comprehensible.-- Bruce Schneier, Secrets and Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World Word of the Day-carapace0 评论
Part of Speech: noun
Pronunciation: ['kæ-rê-peys] Definition: (1) A hard outer covering or exoskeleton, such as the shell of a turtle or lobster; (2) any protective covering like a turtle shell, literal or figurative. Usage: The word "shell" is so broad in its meaning that it can lead to confusion. In referring to an animal encased in a shell, use today's word with its more focused meaning: "The only evidence of the clambake the night before was a beach strewn with corncobs and empty lobster carapaces." Since this word is associated with turtles, however, it lends itself comfortably to an image of figurative withdrawal, "When life becomes too complicated for Ethylene, she pulls her head into her carapace and shuts out the world." Suggested Usage: "Carapace" comes with a rarely used adjective "carapacial," which automatically entails an adverb, "carapacially." Remember that the accent falls on the first syllable and you will have no trouble with today's word. Etymology: English slipped a copy of today's word out of French, who had it on loan from Spanish, where it was carapacho "tortoise shell." It may be a victim of metathesis (switching places), a reduction of "?carapazon" by metathesis from caparazon "caparison, body-armor or parade trappings of a horse." This word is the augmentative of Medieval Latin capara "a hood coming over the shoulders." This word is an extension of Medieval Latin capa "cape." Unfortunately, we have no evidence of the metathesis. carapace \KAIR-uh-pace\, noun: 1. The thick shell that covers the back of the turtle, the crab, and other animals. 2. Something likened to a shell that serves to protect or isolate from external influence. . . .a gauge for measuring the length of a lobster's carapace from the thorax to the eye socket.-- Richard Adams Carey, Against the Tide Hannah Jelkes, . . . who wears an air of cool reserve like a carapace.-- Howard Taubman, "Theatre: 'Night of the Iguana' Opens", New York Times, December 29, 1961 Desperate to win his father's attention and respect, Kennedy became a hard man for a long while, covering over his sensitivity and capacity for empathy with a carapace of arrogance.-- Evan Thomas, Robert Kennedy: His Life Eisenman, who is Meier's second cousin, was so neurotically insecure about his abilities that he sought to hide them within the dense carapace of arcane theory.-- Martin Filler, "The Spirit of '76", New Republic, July 9, 2001 Almost all the vivid, eyewitness accounts we have . . . date from a quarter of a century later, when Degas, celebrated and successful, had developed a crusty, cantankerous carapace, from which he emerged occasionally to deliver his famously caustic and enigmatic mots.-- Christopher E. G. Benfey, Degas in New Orleans Word of the Day-capitulate0 评论
capitulate \kuh-PICH-uh-layt\, intransitive verb:
To surrender under agreed conditions. Just before peace talks on Kosovo are due to resume, the United States and its allies are sending contradictory signals to Belgrade, making it less likely that President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia will capitulate on American terms.-- Steven Erlanger, "West's Bosnia Move May Hurt Kosovo Bid", New York Times, March 7, 1999 Word of the Day-capacious0 评论
capacious \kuh-PAY-shuhs\, adjective:
Able to contain much; roomy; spacious. Litter was picked up non stop during the week (mostly by that nice governor with the capacious pockets).-- Faysal Mikdadi, "'Why shouldn't it be like this all the time?'", The Guardian, September 2, 2002 Out of those capacious receptacles he brought forth a small bottle of Scotch whiskey, a lemon, and some lump sugar.-- Ellen M. Calder, "Personal Recollections of Walt Whitman", The Atlantic, June 1907 Is it worth pointing out that the boot seems remarkably capacious for a little car?-- Giles Smith, "Er what's the sixth gear for?", The Guardian, January 8, 2002 Capacious is derived from Latin capax, capac-, "able to hold or contain."
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