-
Speech on Hitler's Invasion of the U.S.S.R.
Winston S
.Churchill
When I awoke
on the morning of Sun
day, the 22nd, the
news was brought to me
of Hitler's
invasion of Russia. This changed
conviction
into certainty. I
had not the sligh
test doubt where our
duty and our policy lay.
Nor indeed
what to say. There only remain
ed the
task of composing it. I asked that
noti
ce should immediately be given that
I would
broad-cast at 9 o' clock that
night. Presently
General Dill, who had
hastened down from
London, came into my
bedroom with detaile
d news. The Germans
had invaded Russia on an enormous front,
ha
d surprised a large portion of the
Soviet Air Force grounded on the
air
fields, and seemed to be driving
forward with great rapidity and
violen
ce. The Chief of the Imperial
General Staff added,
l be rounded up
in
hordes
.
I spent the
day composing my statement. There was not time to
cons
ult the War Cabinet, nor was it
necessary. I knew that we all felt the
s
ame on this issue. Mr. Eden, Lord
Beaverbrook, and Sir Stafford Crip
ps
–
he had left Moscow on the
10th
–
were also with me
during the d
ay.
The following account of this Sunday at
Chequers by my Private Secr
etary, Mr.
Colville, who was on duty this weekend, may be of
interest:
Mr. and Mrs. Winant, Mr. and
Mrs. Eden, and Edward Bridges were
s
taying. During dinner Mr. Churchill
said that a German attack on Rus
sia was
now certain, and he thought that Hitler
was counting on
enli
sting
capitalist and Right Wing sympathies in
this country and the U.
S. A. Hitler
was, however, wrong and we should go all out to
help Ru
ssia. Winant said the same would
be true of the U. S. A.
After dinner, when I was walking on the
croquet
lawn with Mr.
Church
ill, he
reverted
to this theme, and I
asked whether for him, the arch an
ti-
Communist, this was not bowing down in the House
of Rimmon. Mr
. Churchill replied,
n of Hitler, and my life is much
simplified
thereby
. It
Hitler invaded H
ell I would make at
least a favourable
reference
to the Devil in the H
ouse of
Commons. '
I
was awoken at 4 a. m. the following morning by a
telephone messa
ge from the F. O. to the
effect that Germany had attacked Russia.
Th
e P. M. had always said that he was
never to be woken up for anythin
g but
Invasion (of England). I therefore postponed
telling him till 8 am
. His only comment
was, 'Tell the B.B.C. I will broadcast at 9 to
–
nigh
t. 'He
began to prepare the speech at 11a. m., and except
for lunche
on
（
=
lunch
）
, at which Sir
Stafford Cripps, Lord Cranborne, and Lord
Beaverbrook were present, he devoted
the whole day to
it…
The
spe
ech was only ready at twenty minutes
to nine.
In
this broadcast I said:
regime
is
indistinguishable
from the
worst features of Co
mmunism. It
is
devoid of
all
theme and principle except appetite and
racial domination. It
excels
all forms of human wickedness in the
effi
ciency of its cruelty and
ferocious
aggression. No one
has been a m
ore consistent
consistent
opponent of
Communism than I have for th
e last
twenty - five years. I will
unsay
no word that I have
spoken abo
ut it. But all this fades
away before the spectacle which is now
unfoldi
ng. The past, with its crimes,
its follies, and its tragedies, flashes
awa
y. I see the Russian soldiers
standing on the
threshold
of
their native
land, guarding the fields
which their fathers have
tilled
from time
im
memorial
. I
see them guarding their homes where mothers and
wive
s pray - ah, yes, for there are
times when all pray
–
for
the safety of t
heir loved ones, the
return of the bread-winner, of their champion, of
t
heir protector. I see the ten thousand
villages of Russia where the me
ans of
existence is
wrung
so
hardly
from the soil, but
where there ar
e still
primordial
human joys, where
maidens laugh and children play.
I see
advancing upon all this in
hideous
onslaught
the Nazi war ma
chine, with
its
clanking
, heel-
clicking,
dandified
Prussian officers, it
s
crafty
expert agents fresh
from the
cowing
and
tying down
of a
d
ozen countries. I see also the dull,
drilled,
docile
,
brutish
masses of
the Hun soldiery
plodding
on like a
swarm
of
crawling locusts. I see
the German
bombers and fighters in the sky, still
smarting
from
man
y a British whipping, delighted to
find what they believe is an easier a
nd
a safer prey.
v
illainous
men who plan, organise, and launch
this
cataract
of
horror
s upon mankind...
el sure it is a
decision in which
the great Dominions
will in due
conc
ur
–
for we must speak out now
at once, without a day's delay. I have
to make the declaration, but can you doubt what
our policy will be?
We have but one aim
and one single,
irrevocable
purpose. We are
re
solved to destroy Hitler and every
vestige
of the Nazi regime.
From t
his nothing will turn us
–
nothing. We will
never
parley
; we
will never
negotiate with Hitler or any
of his gang. We shall fight him by land,
w
e shall fight him by sea, we shall
fight him in the air, until, with God's
help, we have rid
the earth
of
his shadow and liberated its peoples
fr
om his
yoke
. Any man or state who
fights on against Nazidom will ha
ve our
aid. Any man or state who marches with Hitler is
our foe... Tha
t is our policy and that
is our declaration. It follows therefore that we
s
hall give whatever help we can to
Russia and the Russian people. W
e shall
appeal
to all our friends
and allies in every part of the world
to
take the same course and
pursue
it, as we shall
faithfully and
stead
fastly
to
the end....
Commonwealth of Nations is
engaged, without distinction of race,
cr
eed
, or party.
It is not for me to speak of the action of the
United Stat
es, but this I will
say
：
if Hitler imagines that
his attack on Soviet Russia will cause the
slight
est
divergence
of aims or
slackening
of effort in the
great democrac
ies who are resolved upon
his
doom
, he is
woefully
mistaken. On
th
e contrary, we shall be fortified and
encouraged in our efforts to rescu
e
mankind from his
tyranny
. We
shall be strengthened and not weak
ened
in determination and in resources.
ts which have
allowed themselves to be struck down one by one,
wh
en by united action they could have
saved themselves and saved the
world
from this
tyranny
. But when
I spoke a few minutes ago of
Hitle
r's
blood-
lust
and the hateful appetites which
have
impelled
or
lure
d
him on his
Russian adventure I said there was one deeper
motive b
ehind his
outrage
. He wishes to
destroy the Russian power because
he
hopes that if he succeeds in this he will be able
to bring back the
main strength of his
Army and Air Force from the East and hurl it
upo
n this Island, which he knows he
must conquer or suffer the
penalty
of his crimes. His invasion of Russia
is no more than a
penalty
to
an
attempted invasion of the British
Isles. He hopes, no doubt, that all
thi
s may be accomplished before the
winter comes, and that he can ove
rwhelm
Great Britain before the Fleet and air-power of
the United Sta
tes may
intervene
. He hopes that he
may once again repeat, upon a
greater
scale than ever before, that process of destroying
his enemie
s one by one by which he has
so long thrived and prospered, and tha
t
then the scene will be clear for the final act,
without which all his con
quests would
be in vain
–
namely, the
subjugation
P of the Western
Hemisphere to his will and to his
system.
United States, just as the
cause of any Russian fighting for his
heart
h
）
and home is the cause of
free men and free peoples in every quarter
of the globe. Let us learn the lessons
already taught by such cruel
ex
perience. Let us redouble our
exertions, and strike with united
strengt
h while life and power remain.
(from an American radio
program presented by Ed Kay)
NOTES
1) Sir Winston Spencer
Churchill (1874 - 1965): Prime
Ministe
r, First Lord of the Treasury,
and Minister of Defense (1940
–
45), led Britain from near
defeat to victory in World War
II;
Leader of the Opposition (1945
–
51); Prime Minister and
First Lord of the Treasury (Oct. 1951
–
April 1955);
retired
1955; his best known book, The
Second World War.
2) General Dill: Sir
John Green Dill (1881- 1944), British
fi
eld marshal, Chief of the Imperial
General Staff (1940 - 41),
a member of
the joint Anglo-American board of strategy
(1941
- 44)
3) Eden: Robert
Anthony Eden, Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs (1935
–
38, 1940
–
45), for Dominion
Affairs (1939
–
40), and for
War (1940). From 1942 to 1945 he was leader
o
f the House of Commons. He was Prime
Minister from 1955 to 19
57.
4) Lord Beaverbrook: In World War II,
he was Minister of Airc
raft Production
(1940 - 41), of State (1941), and of Supply
(
1941 - 42), British representative
(Feb. 1942) in America for
the
supervision of British supply agencies.
5) Sir Stafford Cripps: British
Ambassador to Moscow (1940 -
42)
6) Chequers: a historic Tudor mansion
in Buckinghamshire, 35
miles NW of
London; presented to the government by Lord and
L
ady Lee of Fareham 1917; the official
country seat of the pri
me minister of
Great Britain
7) Colville: Churchill's
private secretary
8) Winant: John
Gilbert Winant (1889 - 1947), American
govern
ment official and diplomat; U. S.
ambassador to Great Britain
(1941 - 46)
9) Edward Bridges: Secretary of the
Cabinet (1938-
–
46)
10) to bow down in the House of Rimmon:
outward conformity wi
th conventional
religion or custom, practised with mental
res
ervation for political purposes;
Rimmon, deity worshipped by
Syrians of
Damascus (Bible, II Kings, v. 18)
11)
F. O.: Foreign Office
12) P. M.: Prime
Minister
13) Lord Cranborne: 5th
Marquis of Salisbury, Secretary of
St
ate for Dominion Affairs
14) Hun: term of contempt applied to
German soldiers especial
ly in World War
I
15) Dominion: a self-governing member
of the British Commonwe
alth of Nations
16) British Empire: The United Kingdom
plus her colonies and
protectorates
17) Commonwealth of Nations: The United
Kingdom plus her form
er colonies but
now independent nations and a member of the
B
ritish Commonwealth of Nations
背景知识
Speech on Hitler's Invasion of the
U.S.S.R.
Background information
U.S.S.R.: the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics
World War II:
(1937 / 1939 -1945)
The conflict
resulted from the rise of totalitarian, fascism in
Germa
n, Japan and Italy
July 7. 1937
Japan invaded
Central China.
Sep. 1938
Munich Pact, which sacrificed much of
Czechoslovakia to Germany
Aug. 1939
Russia-Germany
non-aggression pact
Sept. 1, 1939
German invasion of Poland
Sept. 3, 1939
France and
Britain declared war on Germany, officially
beginning Worl
d War II
June 22, 1940
France
surrendered.
Aug-Oct. 1940
The Battle of Britain (2,300 to 900)
Jun 22. 1941
German
invasion of the Soviet Union.
Dec. 7, 1941
Pearl Harbour
Sept. 1943
the Allies
conquered Sicily and South Italy. Italy
surrendered.
May 7. 1945
Germany surrendered unconditionally.
Aug. 14, 1945
Japan
announced its surrender.
Background
Information:
Adolph Hitler, (1889 -
1945) founder and leader of the National
Socia
list German
Workers‘
Party, was born an
Austrian.
1920 the Nazi Party
1933 Chancellor
1934
the union of the
presidency and chancellorship in Hitler's person,
the
Führer
THE THIRD REICH
1944
an assassination
attempt
April 29, 1945
married his long-time mistress, Eva
Braun
April 30, 1945
committed suicide
MEIN KAMPT - My Struggle
Aryan's Superiority
Nazi:
National sozialist
the National
Socialist German Workers' Party
Elite
Corps, black guards
党卫军、黑衫党
GESTAPO: secret state police
BLITZ: lightning war
Swastika
CHURCHILL
Sir Winston
Leonard Spencer Churchill (Nov. 30, 1874 - Jan.
24, 1965)
May 1940
- May 1945 first tenure as P.M.
Oct.
1951 - Jan. 1955 second tenure as P.M.
1953 knighted
Sir Winston Churchill
1953
the Nobel Prize in Literature
1955
refusing the title of duke
Detailed Study of the Text
1. Speech,
address, oration, lecture, talk
speech:
a public speech irrespective (without regard) to
its quality
or its degree of
preparation or of the quality of its speaker or
au
dience or of its aim (as to
influence, instruct, or entertain)
address: It implies formality and
usually careful preparation, and o
ften
connotes distinction in the speaker or gives
emphasis to the im
portance of the
speech.
The president is
scheduled to deliver three addresses on his trip.
oration: formal and solemn
public speech. It suggests eloquence,
rhe
torical style, and usu. a dignified
but sometimes high-flown or long
-winded
appeal to the emotions of a large audience or
assembly.
lecture: It
often implies reading. It commonly designates a
carefull
y prepared speech on a special
topic intended to give information an
d
instruction to a group of students.
talk: It stresses informality. It may
be used to designate either a
lecture
or an address when the speaker wishes to emphasize
his desir
e to speak directly and simply
to his audience as individuals.
2. awaken
(awakened, awakened)
awake (awoke, awoke; awaked, awaked)
wake (waked,
waked; woke, woken)
waken (wakened, wakened)
The four words are very similar in
usage. All can be used as vt, and
vi.
I woke (up) / wakened / awoke /
awakened at 7 this morning.
Please wake
/ waken me (up) at seven.
The noise
awoke me.
A knock on the door awakened
her.
a. The most common and
the least formal is WAKE.
b. It may be better to use WAKEN,
AWAKEN as transitive verbs. Theref
ore
they are most likely to be used in the passive
voice. I was wake
ned by their shouts.
I was awakened by the song of the
birds.
c. AWAKE and AWAKEN
are used somewhat more frequently in a
figurativ
e sense.
This at
once awakened suspicion.
The national
spirit awoke / was awakened.
d. AWAKE can be used as an adj. meaning
Is he awake yet?
I lay awake
for about ten minutes.
3. conviction: a very firm
and sincere belief
certainty: clearly established fact
Conviction usu. implies
previous doubt or uncertainty. It stresses
o
ne's objective reaction to evidence
rather than the objective validi
ty of
evidence itself. Therefore it commonly applied to
the state of
mind of one who has been
in the process of being convinced.
I speak in the full conviction that our
cause is just.
It's my conviction that
you didn't try hard enough.
His
political convictions are radical.
It's a certainty that this horse will
win in the race.
After three days, our
victory became a certainty.
4. doubt:
1) to be
uncertain
2)to
mistrust
doubt + noun
(pron.)
I doubt the truth of it.
(1)
我怀疑这事是真还是假。
I
doubt his honesty.
(2)
我不相信他是诚实的。
I
am sorry that I doubted you before. (2)
doubt + clause
a. neg. / interrog. + that / what
clause
Can you doubt what our policy
will be? (1)
Can you doubt that he will
win? (2)
I never doubt that you are
honest. (1)
b. affirm. + if
/ whether clause
I doubt whether it is
true / the truth of it. (1)
I doubt if
he will come. (1)
3)to consider unlikely
affirm. + that (3)
I doubt
that he will come. (3)
suspect:
1)to feel doubtful about the truth or
value of, be uncertain
2)to believe to be true
3)to believe to be guilt
4)to guess,
suppose
I suspect his
motives. (1)
We suspected trouble. (2)
The mouse suspected danger and did not
touch the trap. (2)
We suspected that
he was lost before we were told. (2)
They suspect him of murder / him to be
the murder. (3)
He was suspected of
theft / stealing. (3)
I suspect that's
true / you may be right. (4)
DOUBT always implies uncertainty about
the truth of sth. or inabilit
y to make
a decision.
SUSPECT
stresses fear that someone has worked or is
working evil or
injury, but the fear is
accompanied by uncertainty.
cf: When meaning
wed by a
noun or, when the main clause is in the negative,
a that cl
ause.
I
doubt the truth of it. (1)
I doubt his
honesty. (2)
I never doubt that you are
honest. (1)
Everybody
suspected the truth of the story. (1)
I
suspect her motives / sincerity. (1)
We
did not suspect that Mary could sing so well. (1)
But:
I doubt
that he is honest. (consider unlikely)
I suspect that's true / you may be
right. (guess, suppose)
I am sorry that
I doubted you before. (mistrust)
The
police don't know who committed the crime, but
they suspect Jone
s. (believe to be
guilty)
suspicious: a. not
trusting b. causing suspect c. likely to suspect
She is always suspicious of
us / our intention.
The policeman
became suspicious of the man.
He shot a
suspicious look at me.
He is a
suspicious character.
If you see
anything suspicious, call the police at once.
be suspicious of sb.:
The dog is suspicious of strangers.
doubtful: a. not trusting
b. questionable c. uncertain
She was
doubtful of his good intentions.
He
seems to me a doubtful fellow.
She has
a doubtful look on her face.
doubtful +
clause:
I am doubtful whether he is
still alive.
If you are suspicious of
sb. you feel or show that you do not trust
them. If sth. is suspicious, it causes
people to feel that sth. is w
rong in
some way.
If you are doubtful about
sth., you are unsure or uncertain about it.
5.
lie: exist, be found, reside
6. presently:
before long, shortly, soon
7. hasten: move
fast (
急忙
)
cf: hurry (
慌忙
):
confused, panic
Hasten implies urgent
quickness while Hurry implies haste that
cause
s confusion or prevents
concentrated attention. Hurry implies a
stro
ng implication of confusion,
agitation.
Whoever is in a
hurry, shows that the thing he is doing is too big
f
or him.
You must hasten and
publish your result.
She hastened to
explain the situation which now confronted her.
8.
detailed: marked by thoroughness in treating small
parts, fully d
escribed
9. invade: to
attack and spread into so as to take control of a
coun
try, to enter a country with armed
forces in order to attack
10. surprise: attack
suddenly and without warning, come upon
suddenl
y and unexpectedly They
surprised the enemy from the rear.
11. ground: (of
pilot or plane) to stay on the ground
The ship grounded on a hidden sandbank
in the shallow water.
The kite grounded
because the wind stopped.
grounded on the airfield: lying
stationary, not moving, standing sti
ll
on the airfield
12. driving forward:
advancing, making advancement
13. violence:
uncontrollable fierceness, very rough
14. round up:
to gather together scattered things, people,
animals,
to herd together, collect
together animals that are scattered
A
cowboy rounds up the cattle.
15. horde: a
large number or crowd, throng
a horde
of locusts, children
When a
contemptuous term is desired, it is preferred to
crowd, and t
hrong, esp, when implying
rude, rough or savage character
16. consult: to
go to a person, a book for advice, information or
op
inion,
The Prime Minister
consulted his Cabinet on a variety of questions.
Have you consulted you doctor about
your illness?
to consult a dictionary.
17. issue: a
matter that is in dispute between two or more
parties,
the point at which an
unsettled matter is ready for a decision
We must draw clear distinctions
concerning cardinal issues of right
and
wrong.
major issues of principle
the act of publishing or
officially giving out or making available
Have you seen the latest issue of the
magazine?
His article was published on
the fourth issue of...
be
at issue: of importance, under consideration
That is not the point at issue.
to bring out sth. printed,
or sth. official
to issue an order / a
statement
to issue a commemorative set
of 10-fen stamps
to supply
or provide officially
to issue winter
clothing to troops
18. count on: depend on,
expect, take into account
If there is
anything I can do, count on me.
You can
always count on Fred in any emergency.
I think we can count on Mr White to
support us.
to count on one's help /
co-operation / sympathy
19. enlist: win the support
of, get the help or services of, obtain
help, or sympathy, to persuade sb. to
help, to gain help sympathy et
c.
Can I enlist your help in collecting
the money for the Asian Games?
To try
to enlist sympathy of sb is to win over his / her
sympathy.
20. sympathy: feeling of support, pity
and tenderness, feeling of ap
proval of,
or agreement with an idea
21. go all out: to spare no
effort, to make one's utmost effort
Go
all out, aim high and achieve greater, faster,
better and more ec
onomical results in
building socialism.
The United States
was likely to go all out to support Kuwait on
this
issue.
22. be true of: be the same
case, be suitable to
The same is true
of all other cases.
What he says of
women is true of men.
That is the rule
true of all cases.
The same is true of
the living condition in the countryside.
23.
croquet: (
门
球
) an
outdoor game played on grass in which players
knock wooden ba
lls through a number of
small metal arches with a long-handed
wooden
hammer
24. revert to: to go back
to a former subject, talk about again
The pressure made him revert to his old
habit of smoking.
Shall we revert to
our previous topic?
25. arch: principal, chief
arch- angel, bishop, criminal, enemy,
rebel, rival, villain, etc.
26. not bowing
down in the House of Rimmon
Q: You are
not doing sth. against your own beliefs, are you?
A: No, not at all.
Rimmon was a deity worshipped by
Syrians of Damascus. Syrian Captain
Naaman / ei / had leprosy. His Israeli servant
told E'lisha / ai /,
a prophet of God.
E told N to wash in the Jordan River 7 times and
thus he was cured. Naaman therefore had
faith in God and convert to
Christianity. But being a Syrian, he
has to following his King to wo
rship in
the House of Rimmon. Elisha granted him permission
to do so.
27. thereby: by that means, by doing or
saying that
He finished first in the
race and thereby winning $$50,000.
He
was rude to her last year and thereby lost her
friendship.
He wished to travel and
thereby study the customs of other countries.
He became a citizen, thereby gaining
the right to vote.
cf:
therefore: as a result; for that reason, so
I have never been to Africa and
therefore I don't know much about it.
It rained; therefore the game was
called off.
He had gone; she therefore
gave the money to me.
28. Devil - Satan, most
powerful evil spirit, the leader of the
ange
ls who rebelled against God and who
were cast out of heaven. He and
his
followers are seen as tempter of man and the
source of evil in t
he world.
29.
reference: a piece of written information about
sb.'s character,
ability, esp. when he
is looking for employment (also) a person
wil
ling to make a statement about sb.'s
character or abilities
make
a favourable reference: to write a recommendation
for
Did you hear all those bad
reference to me that Jones kept making?
cf:
recommendation: a letter or statement
that speaks in favour of or pr
aise sb.
esp, when he is looking for a job
testimonial: a formal written statement
of a
person’s
character,
ab
ility, willing to work, etc.
A testimonial is kinder
than a reference because it is shown to the
person it describes while a reference
is truer because it is not sho
wn to
him.
30. House of Commons: Lower House.
House of Lords: Upper House
31. to the
effect: with the information that, meaning that
He has had a telegram to the effect
that his mother is dead.
A rumour was
in the air to the effect that the firm was in
financial
difficulties.
32. comment:
remark expressing an opinion, judgement (written
or spo
ken)
33. regime: a type or form
of government, often derog.
a
revolutionary regime
Under the old
regime women could not vote.
34. feature:
quality which holds the attention by reason of its
impo
rtance, characteristic, sth. that
set apart one thing / person from
others
Monopoly is the key
feature of imperialism.
Racial
discrimination is the key feature of South African
white regi
me.
The story has
some unusual features.
any
of the noticeable parts of the face
a
man with an oriental feature
He could
recall her features very distinctly.
The dominant feature on his face is the
brandy nose.
35. devoid of: (fml) lacking in,
complete without, empty of
The house is
totally devoid of furniture.
He is
complete devoid of humour / human feelings.
The word vacuum refers to space
entirely devoid of matter.
36. theme: distinctive
concern, ideal, fixed aim
Here in the text: basic good value,
virtue, ideal, unifying idea
37. appetite: a
desire or wish, esp. for food, a desire to satisfy
a
ny bodily longing
Here: strong desire to conquer
38.
racial domination: the state of having or
exercising controlling
influence or
power over the other races by the Aryan nation,
which
is considered by Hitler as the
most superior in the world. In
concen
tration camps more than 6 million
Jews and Poles were killed in gas
chambers.
racial
equality / apartheid / relations / prejudice /
discrimination
/ domination / racism /
racist
dominate: have
controlling influence or power over, have the most
im
portant place or position
She complete dominates the family and
makes all the decisions.
Sports, and
not learning, seems to dominate in the school.
dominant:
The
dominant influence in her life was her father.
She has a very dominant nature.
The dominant political party of the
country is socialist.
39. excel: surpass, be
superior to, outdo, exceed (having the same
r
oot of excellent, from Latin)
He excels in music and art / courage /
at football / as a orator.
Beethoven
excelled all other composers of his period.
He excels all his classmates in
intelligence.
40. wickedness: badness, evil
41.
ferocious: fierce, cruel, and violent
The Nazi regime is extremely cruel and
it has invaded other countrie
s in a
most savage way. It can carry out its cruel
invasions so effe
ctively that it beats
/ surpasses any action of this kind in human
h
istory.
The Nazi regime is
very effective in cruel suppression of and
savage
attack on other countries, in
this respect it is worse than any oth
er
known form of evil.
42. consistent: constant,
faithful, unwavering, having a regular
pat
tern (of a person, behaviour,
beliefs, etc.), continually keeping to
the same principles or course of action, marked by
steady continuit
y, regularity, showing
no significant change or contradiction
He is not consistent in his action.
When you make a sentence, the subject
and the verb should be consist
ent.
He reaffirmed the government's
consistent policy of opposing racial
discrimination.
43. opponent: person who
takes the opposite side, esp, in playing
or
fighting
An
opponent is one who is on the opposite side in a
contest, as an a
rgument, a disputation,
an election or in a conflict
Since opposition is never considered to
be legitimate, the governmen
t has no
opponents.
It's his conviction that the
president will beat any opponent and be
re-elected.
a bitter / political /
worthy / powerful
44. fade away: disappear
45.
spectacle: sight, sth. seen, sth. taking place
before the eyes,
esp. sth. fine,
remarkable,
The rather
arresting spectacle of little old Japan adrift
amid beige
concrete
skyscrapers...(Hiroshima)
Here: the painful / deplorable sight
which is now opening out to our
view.
46.
unfolding:
Folded into the shape of
tiny birds.
to fold one's hands in
prayer
to fold one's arms
a
folding bed / chair / fan / bridge / ruler / money
(paper money)
unfold:
(lit.) to become clear, more fully known
He gradually unfolded her plan to them.
As the investigation goes on, the
intrigue behind the dirty deal slo
wly
unfold
47. folly: (fml) foolishness, unwise
act, habit
The old man smiled sadly as
he remembered the follies of his youth.
48.
threshold: a piece of wood or stone fixed beneath
the door into
a house or building
49.
till: to cultivate the ground
50. immemorial:
going beck beyond the reach of memory
51. champion:
person who fights for, supports strongly, or
defends a
principle, a movement,
person, etc.
52. means of existence: way, method
Here: food and clothing to keep people
alive, things for people to s
urvive
53.
wring / wrung: (not often used, partly poetic,
partly archaic, s
lightly old fashion)
to press hard on, squeeze, to get by force
This word basically applies
to a compressive twisting together,
ofte
n to extract. It implies a forcing
that suggests a physical wringing.
to
wring water from the wet clothes
His
sad story wrung our hearts.
54. hardly:
(rare) with effort or difficulty, with force, in a
sever
e manner
55. primordial: fundamental
and primitive, basic, existing at or
fro
m the beginning, esp of the world or
the universe;
The universe was created
out of a primordial ball of matter.
primordial joys: pleasures shared
commonly by all human beings
56. maiden:
virgin, suggest heightened purity and freedom from
sexua
l intercourse
maiden
voyage / flight
57. hideous: offensive to
the senses and esp. to sight, exceedingly
ugly, morally offensive, shocking,
frightful, filling the mind with
horror
a hideous crime, face, noise, creature
heinous: very wicked
a heinous crime, criminal
58. clank:
metallic sound made by the swords and 'sabres / ei
/ (
军
刀
)
The
prisoner’s
ankle chains clanked.
clicking: the sound of spurs and the
metal piece underneath the sole
s
59.
dandy: (derog.) a person who spends too much time
and money on h
is clothing and personal
appearance
dandified:
dressed like a dandy
Here: officers in
uniforms with shoulder boards, insignias and
decor
ations
60. crafty: cleverly
deceitful, clever in a negative way, cunning,
f
oxy,
craft: a
job needing skill, esp. esp. with one's hand
arts and crafts
(
工艺美术
)
handicraft
articles (
手工艺品
)
craft: skill in deceiving people for a
bad purpose
a man full of craft
craft: boat, ship,
aeroplane, vessel
61. fresh from: recently
arrived, returned
The new teacher is
fresh from university.
They are mostly
young people fresh from school.
62. cow: to
intimidate, threaten, to conquer or bring under
control
by violence or threats
He cowed his wife into obedience.
She has a cowed look.
The
gang of beggars were suddenly cowed by the sight
of a cop.
63. tie down: (obsolete, out-of-date)
to enslave
The SS agents
who specialize in genocide have just accomplished
the
task of crushing and enslaving a
dozen countries
literal
meaning:
There was such a gale blowing
that we had to tie the caravan down to
prevent it overturning.
Prisoners were
tied down hand and foot to the nails in the
ground.
extended meaning:
restrict to certain conditions
I’d
like to go with you, but
there are too many things tying me dow
n
here.
Ritual formula ties down our
mind.
The navy tied the
enemy down with big gun fire while the marines
lan
ded on the beach.
64. dull:
stupid, not clever
dull speech / city /
life / person
65. docile: easily taught or led,
obedient, easy to manage
66. brutish: brutal, beast-
like,
Brutish, like brutal
/ brute, is usu. applied to men or their acts,
their minds, and their passions; it
differs from brutal in that it r
arely
suggests cruelty and inhumanity but stresses
likeness to an an
imal in stupidity, in
lack of control over appetites, or in
governme
nt by instinct.
Brutal is almost exclusively applied to
men or their acts, character
s, or
words; it implies qualities ( as sensuality, lack
of intellige
nce of feeling, or
inhumanity) that relate them to the lower
animals
.
67. Hun: member of one of
the Asiatic peoples who ravaged Europe in
the 4th and 5th centuries AD
(derog offensive) German (derog) German
soldier
68. plod: to continue to walk slowly
along a road, with difficulty a
nd great
effort
cf: treading cautiously
(Hiroshima)
69. swarm: a large group (of insects
moving in a mass), throng
70. crawl: move slowly with
the body close to the ground or on the
h
ands and knees
高英
lesson5 Speech on Hitler's
Invasion of the study
课文详解
2<
/p>
、文章结构及修辞学
2007
年
01
月
01
日
星期一
下午
10:13
71.
smart: to be hurt in one's feelings, suffer in
mind, feeling pai
nful in one part of
the body
The place where he had cut his
knee was smarting.
He was still
smarting under / over her unkind words.
He is still smarting from your remark.
72.
prey: victim, a person or animal killed or hunted
73.
glare: a rather vague term here. referring perhaps
to hostility,
hatred etc.
74. villain:
(in old plays) a man who is the main bad character
(fml) a low, mean person utterly
lacking in principles, completely g
iven
to crime, evil, a thoroughly wicked man who harms
others. a rog
ue, gangster, knave,
criminal, thug, etc.
75. cataract: large steep
waterfall, overwhelming downpour
cataract of horrors: unparalleled
miseries
76. dominion: a self-governing nation
of the British Commonwealth th
e
Dominion of Canada
77. in due course = in due time: in, at
the suitable / proper time
I will
answer all your questions in due course.
Spring and summer will arrive in due
time.
After they were engaged, the
wedding followed in due course.
In due
course, you will realize all this.
due: proper, suitable, fitting
concur:
1) agree, express agreement
She has expressed her opposition to the
plan, and I fully concur wit
h her in
this matter.
2) (of events, etc) happen together;
coincide
It does happen that
everything concurs to produce a successful
resul
t.
78. irrevocable: that
cannot be changed once started
The
decision to close the business is irrevocable.
revoke: (fml) withdraw or
cancel (a decree, permit, etc)
revoke
orders, promises
His driving licence
was revoked after the crash.
79. resolved:
be firm and fixed in purpose
resolve: to decide
We should
resolve to safeguard the hard-won stability and
unity.
They cannot resolve the
dispute.
Notice: Once you
resolve, you are resolved
She was
resolved to become a ballet dancer.
He
is resolved upon his future course in life.
The government is resolved upon / on
the 10-year programme.
cf:
decide, determine
Resolve implies a clear decision or
determination to do sth.
Decide suggests previous consideration
of a matter causing doubt, de
bate or
controversy and implies arriving at a more or less
logical c
onclusion that brings the
doubt or debate to an end.
Determine means to set limits to. It
implies fixing the identity, ch
aracter
of something.
One decides
to give a dinner party but determines the guests
to be i
nvited.
A
legislature decides that the state constitution
should be revised
and appoints a
committee with power to determine what change
shall b
e made.
80. vestige: trace, mark or
sign of sth. that once existed but has
p
assed away or disappeared, any sign /
mark / trace that shows the pr
evious
existence of sth.
After the explosion,
not a vestige of the building remained.
81.
parley:
Parley stresses the talk
involving the discussion of terms, while
Ne
gotiate implies compromise or
bargaining.
82. rid of: make free of, free from a
burden or sth. undesirable
We wish to
rid the country of corruption.
The
dentist rid him of his pain by taking out the
tooth.
How could we rid the house of
mosquitoes / rats?
You must rid
yourself of those old-fashion ideas.
83. shadow: a.
great darkness where direct light is blocked
b. (fig.) the very strong power or
influence of sb.
Here: the darkness
cast on us by the Nazi regime
84. yoke: a
wooden bar used for joining two animals together
in orde
r to pull heavy loads
Here: power, control, crushing burden
85.
foe (fml or dated): adversary, enemy, opponent,
rival
86. appeal: a. to make a strong request
for help, support, mercy, et
c.
The prisoner appealed to the judge for
mercy.
He appeals me for help.
The Bangladesh government is appealing
to the world to rescue its pe
ople from
the cyclone
（旋风）
disaster.
b. to please, attract, to
move the feelings
words appealing to
the senses
His oration does not appeal
to the conscience (head) so much as to
t
he emotion (heart) of the audience.
It is not their songs but their
appearances that appeal to the young
girls.
c. call on the
higher court to change the decision of a lower
court.
I will appeal against being
found guilty.
He will appeal to a
higher court.
87. pursue: to follow closely, show
continual attention to, to chase
in
order to catch
Wherever she goes, she
feels eyes pursuing her.
The beggars
pursued the travellers.
The
plainclothesmen are pursuing an escaped prisoner.
88. steadfast:
faithful, firm, unfailing, unwavering, consistent
89.
creed: religious belief
90. divergence (also divergency):
turning or branching away,
disagre
ement, difference, splitting.
Divergence is a difference between two
or more things, attitudes, op
inions,
etc that are usu. expected to be similar to each
other.
There has been much divergence
on how to handle the economic crisis.
Should we devaluate RMB?
diverge: to go out in different
directions
I'm afraid our opinions
diverge from each other (from a common
start
ing point).
Divergence applies to a difference
between things or less often pers
ons
having the same origin, the same background or
belonging to the
same type of class.
There is usu. an implication of a difference
tha
t makes for increasing unlikeness
Distinction implies want of
resemblance in detail. It commonly
appli
es to a difference that is brought
out by close
observation, study or
analysis or difference that marks the line of
division between two like things
There is a distinction between asking
and begging.
Can you draw a distinction
between these ideas?
Difference suggest notice of a quality
or feature which marks one th
ing as
apart from another, or a disagreement which
separates individ
uals or makes them
hostile to each other.
There are many
differences between the two languages.
91. slack: not
tight, not firm, weak, loose, slow
She
was shocked at the slack discipline in the school.
A slack person is one who does things
carelessly.
Business becomes slack
after Xmas.
The horse was moving at a
slack pace.
slacken: to
make or become slack, to reduce in activity,
force, or i
n tightness
Don't
slacken your efforts till the work is done.
92.
doom: terrible fate, unavoidable destruction or
death
to meet / to go to / to be sent
to one's doom
The Battle of Stalingrad
sealed Hitler's doom.
be doomed to
failure / to fail
93. woeful: heartbroken,
tragic, sorrowful, mournful, pitiful
94. fortify: to
strengthen against possible attack, to give vigour
o
r physical strength or endurance to,
strengthen mentally or morally
The
Great Wall fortified China against invasion.
to fortify a dam against flood
to fortify one's theory with facts
95.
rescue: to save from harm or danger, to set free
Rescue and Save are comparable when
they mean to free a person or th
ing
from confinement, danger of death, destruction or
a serious evil
.
One rescues a person who is in urgent
danger (as of death, of captur
e, or of
assault) by prompt or vigorous action. Rescue
implies savin
g from immediate harm or
danger by direct action.
to rescue the
crew of a sinking ship.
One
saves a person when one rescues him and enables
him not only to
be free from the evil
that involves or threatens but also to
continu
e in existence to enjoy security
or happiness.
96. tyranny: oppressive power, the use
of cruel or unjust power to r
ule a
country
tyrant:
97.
resources: available money or property, wealth,
sth. that a coun
try has and can use to
its advantage.
98. moralize: to express one's thoughts
(often not welcome to the li
steners or
readers on the rightness or, more usu. the
wrongness of b
ehaviour, actions, etc.
to moralize upon the failings of the
young generation
Do stop moralizing!
99.
folly: foolishness, stupidity
100.
catastrophe: a sudden unexpected and terrible
event that causes
great suffering,
misfortune or ruin
Catastrophe, Cataclysm, Disaster, and
Calamity are comparable whey t
hey
denote an event or situation that is regarded as a
terrible misf
ortune
Disaster is a piece of unforeseen bad
luck (as a shipwreck, a seriou
s railway
accident, or the failure of a great enterprise)
which happ
ens either through lack of
far sight or through external agency and
brings with it destruction (as of life
and property) or ruin (as of
projects,
careers or great hopes).
Such a war
would be the final and supreme disaster to the
world.
Calamity is a
grievous misfortune, particularly one which
involves a
great or far-reaching
personal or public loss. thus the wreck of
th
e Don Juan was a disaster and as
involving the loss of Shelley, it w
as a
calamity.
Cataclysm is
often used of an event or situation that brings
with it
a violent social change.
Catastrophe is used of a
disastrous conclusion. It often emphasizes
the idea of finality.
101. lust:
strong evil desire, eagerness to possess, strong
sexual d
esire, esp. when uncontrolled
or considered wrong lust for gold /
po
wer / life / flesh / battle
(
穷兵黜武
)
Lust implies domination by emotion, or
appetite that can never be sa
tisfied.
Appetite specifically
applies to the longs which arise out of many
p
hysical nature.
102. impel:
force, drive, push, implying an inner prompting,
great u
rgency in the desire or motive
force: make a person or
thing yield to the will of a person or to
th
e strength or power of a thing.
to force a woman is to rape her, to
force a door is to break it open
, to
force a laughter is to make oneself to laugh
against one's will
103. lure: to attract,
tempt
The cheap prices lure passers-by.
Tempt implies an attracting
that is morally neutral.
Lure implies
the action of strong, irresistible influence which
may
be bad.
the lure of
women / the opposite sex
Keep him away
from the lure of alcohol.
Lust first means pleasure, desire or
wish. It often refers intense o
r
unbridled sexual desire.
Lure first means an object usu. of
leather or feathers attached to a
long
cord and used by a falconer
(
以鹰狩猎
者
) to recall
a hawk. Or a
decoy(
圈
套
) for
attracting animals to capture, such as a bait used
for catch
ing fish or a luminous
structure on the head of certain fishes that
is used to attract prey.
104. outrage: a
very wrong or cruel act which causes great anger
The use of H-bombs would be an outrage
against humanity.
Demolishing the
church was an outrage.
105. hurl: to throw with
force, to throw out violently
Hurl
implies covering a long distance and with great
force and speed
.
hurl a
spear at the enemy
hurl a brick through
the window
hurl criticism / abuse /
insults at the opponent
106. penalty: punishment
for breaking a law, rule, or agreement
Fishing in this pond is forbidden,
penalty $$5.
107. prelude: introductory movement,
Here: an event that serves as an
introduction, that paves the way fo
r
his planned invasion.
Prelude originally refers to the music
played extemporaneously / ik,
stemp
'reini sli / (without preparation) for making the
one's finger
s flexible. Later it became
the first movement of a long
composition
.
Overture originally refers to the
opening melody of an opera. Later
on
the symphonies were based on them. It can be
played as an individ
ual composition.
108. accomplish: to bring to
completion, to fulfil, to succeed in
re
aching a stage in a progression. It
stresses the successful completi
on of a
process rather than the means of carrying it out.
Sometimes
it implies the fruitfulness
of effort or the value of the results
ob
tained.
Achieve adds to Accomplish the
implication of conquered difficulties
.
One achieves a work, a task or an enterprise that
is of great impo
rtance and that makes
usu. demands.
Fulfil
implies a full realization of what exists
potentially.
The task will not be
accomplished in one generation.
to
accomplish one's purpose
He knew that
he had accomplished something after all.
Only practice can achieve mastery.
He has achieved no fame, no success.
If you make a promise, you should
fulfil it.
It's a great happiness to
her to fulfil her father's desire.
109. intervene:
to come in between, to step in to halt or settle a
q
uarrel or conflict the argument
between the two boys became so fierc
e
that Dad had to intervene.
armed
intervention (
干预
)
interfere: come into
opposition, hinder or prevent, get in the way
If you had not interfered I should have
finished my work by now.
to interfere
in other country's internal affairs
armed interference
(
干涉
)
110. thrive and prosper:
thrive: to succeed, to grow strong and
healthy, to prosper
The word implicates
vigorous growth
Children thrive on milk
/ in the country air.
His business is
thriving.
prosper: to
succeed, to do well. This word carries an
implication of
continued or long
continuing success. usu. increasing success.
The rural area in our country has been
prospering ever since the ado
ption of
the contracted responsibility system.
111.
conquer
：
take possession of
(sth) by force
The Normans conquered
England in 1066.
defeat (an
enemy, a rival, etc)
England conquered
their main rivals in the first round of the
compet
ition.
(fig) overcome
(an obstacle, emotion, etc)
The
mountain was not conquered until 1953.
Smallpox has finally been conquered.