【clover】ECO analysis by 七七夕夕

七七夕夕UID: 2753801

eco analysis 5

loom vi. to take shape as an impending occurrence
simmer vi. to stew gently below or just at the boiling point
police vt. to supervise the operation, execution, or administration of to prevent or detect and prosecute violations of rules and regulations
surf vi.vt to scan the offerings of (as television or the Internet) for something of interest
crunch v  iPROCESS especially : to perform mathematical computations on
spectacular adj.: of, relating to, or being a spectacle : STRIKING, SENSATIONAL
leverage vt to use for gain : EXPLOIT
watchdog n.one that guards against loss, waste, theft, or undesirable practices
in the way   挡道
shortcoming n.an imperfection or lack that detracts from the whole also : the quality or state of being flawed or lacking
champion n. a militant advocate or defender
whereabouts n.about where : near what place
open up 1 : to make available 2 : to make plain or visible : DISCLOSE 3 : to open by cutting into
prospect n.a mental picture of something to come
bid n.an attempt or effort to win, achieve, or attract
in a bid to 为达到,,,目的
among other things  除了别的以外
roll out  展出，出台
no doubt 无疑地
in place adj.established, instituted, or operational
body n.a group of individuals organized for some purpose <a legislative body>
due用法1
表示“到期的”、“应付(给)的”、“到期应付的”，通常只用作表语。如：
The bill is due. 这张票据已到期。
My salary is due tomorrow. 我明天领薪。
表示应付给或应给予某人，通常与介词 to 连用。如：
A great deal of money is due to you. 要付给你一大笔钱。
Respect is due to older people. 年长者应受到尊重。
Our grateful thanks are due to you. 我们衷心感谢你。
due用法2
 表示“预定的”、“约定的”、“预定要到达或发生的”，也通常用作表语。如：
When is the train due? 火车什么时候到?
I’m due for a pay rise soon. 我不久就要加薪了。
其后可接不定式。如(from www.yywords.com)：
The guests are due to arrive very soon. 客人很快就会到。
The meeting isn’t due to start until four. 会议预定要到四点才召开。
due用法3
表示“适当的”、“合适的”、“应得的”，通常只放在名词前作定语。如：
We should pay due attention to this problem. 我们应对这个问题给予适当的注意。
You must put these things in due order. 你必须把这些东西按适当的顺序放好。
due用法4
用于 due to(由于，因为)。按照传统语法 due to 主要引导表语，一般不引导状语。如：
His absence was due to the storm. 他因暴风雨而缺席。
Her success was due to her hard work. 她成功是因为她努力工作。
但是在现代英语中，due to 也可用来引导状语。如(from www.yywords.com)：
He was late due to the very heavy traffic. 由于交通拥挤他迟到了。

七七夕夕UID: 2753801

Facing up to China
Making room for a new superpower should not be confused(=indistinguishable) with giving way to it
Feb 4th 2010 | From The Economist print edition

FOR six decades now, Taiwan has been where the simmering distrust between China and America most risks boiling over. In 1986 Deng Xiaoping called it the “one obstacle in Sino-US relations”. So there was something almost ritualistic about the Chinese government’s protestations this week that it was shocked, shocked and angered by America’s decision to sell Taiwan $6 billion-worth of weaponry(weapons). Under the Taiwan Relations Act, passed in 1979, all American administrations must help arm Taiwan so that it can defend itself. And China, which has never renounced what it says is its right to “reunify” Taiwan by force, feels just as bound to(sure to) protest when arms deals go through(carry out ,perform). After a squall briefly roils the waters, relations revert to their usual choppy but unthreatening passage.

With luck, this will happen again. But the squalls are increasing in number, and the world’s most important bilateral relationship is getting stormy. If it goes wrong, historians will no doubt heap much of the blame on China’s aggression; but they will also measure Barack Obama on this issue, perhaps more than any other.
The China ascendancy(domination)

As if to highlight the underlying dangers, China has this time gone further than the usual blood-and-thunder warnings and suspension of military contacts (see [url=%22http://www.economist.co]article[/url]). It has threatened sanctions against American firms and the withdrawal of co-operation on international issues. Those threats, if carried out, would damage China’s interests seriously, so its use of them suggests that it hopes it can persuade Mr Obama to buckle—if not on this sale then perhaps on Taiwan’s mooted future purchases of advanced jet-fighters. But the unusual ferocity(extreme intensity) of the Chinese regime’s response also points to(indicate) three dangerous undercurrents.

The first is the failure of China’s Taiwan policy. Under the presidency of Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan’s relations with the mainland have been better than ever before. Travel, trade and tourist links have strengthened. A free-trade agreement is under negotiation. Yet there is little sign of progress towards China’s main goal of “peaceful reunification”. Most Taiwanese want both economic co-operation and de facto independence. A similar failure haunts policy in Tibet, where our correspondent, on a rarely permitted trip to the region, found the attempt to buy Tibetans’ loyalty through the fruits of development apparently futile. As talks between China and the emissaries of the Dalai Lama ended in the usual stalemate this week, China warned Mr Obama against his planned meeting with Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader.

Again, nothing new in that. There is, however, a new self-confidence these days in China’s familiar harangues about anything it deems sovereign. That is the second trend: China, after its successful passage through the financial crisis of late 2008, is more assertive and less tolerant of being thwarted—and not just over its “internal affairs”. From its perceived position of growing economic strength, China has been throwing its weight around. It played a central and largely unhelpful role at the climate-change talks in Copenhagen; it looks as if it will wreck(ruin) a big-power consensus over Iran’s nuclear programme; it has picked fights in territorial disputes with India, Japan and Vietnam. At gatherings of all sorts, Chinese officials now want to have their say, and expect to be heeded.(minded)

This suggests a dangerous third trend. As China has opened its economy since 1978, it has been frantically engaged in catching up with the rich West. That has led to the idea, even among many Chinese, that it would gradually become more “Western”. The slump in the West, however, has undermined that assumption. Many Chinese now feel they have little to learn from the rich world. On the contrary, a “Beijing consensus” has been gaining ground(gain ground=to make progress), extolling the virtues of decisive authoritarianism over shilly-shallying democratic debate. In the margins of international conferences such as the recent Davos forum, even American officials mutter despairingly about their own “dysfunctional” political system.

A swing not a seesaw

Two dangers arise from this loss of Western self-confidence. One is of trying to placate China. The delay in Mr Obama’s meeting with the Dalai Lama in order to smooth his visit to China in November gave too much ground, as well as turning an issue of principle into a bargaining chip. America needs to stand firmer. Beefing up the deterrent capacity of Taiwan, which China continues to threaten with hundreds of missiles, is in the interests of (=for)peace. Mr Obama should therefore proceed with (continue) the arms sales and European governments should back him. If American companies, such as Boeing, lose Chinese custom for political reasons, European firms should not be allowed supplant(replace) them.


On the other hand the West should not be panicked (v.panic) into unnecessary confrontation. Rather than ganging up on China in an effort to “contain” it, the West would do better to get China to take up its share of the burden of global governance. Too often China wants the power due a global giant while shrugging off the responsibilities, saying that it is still a poor country. It must be encouraged to play its part—for instance, on climate change, on Iran and by allowing its currency to appreciate. As the world’s largest exporter, China’s own self-interest lies in a harmonious world order and robust trading system.

It is in the economic field that perhaps the biggest danger lies. Already the Obama administration has shown itself too ready to resort to trade sanctions against China. If China now does the same using a political pretext, while the cheapness of its currency keeps its trade surplus large, it is easy to imagine a clamour in Congress for retaliation(reciprocation) met by a further Chinese nationalist backlash(这句话不大理解). That is why the administration and China’s government need to work together to pre-empt(preclude) trouble.

Some see confrontation as inevitable when a rising power elbows its way to the top table. But America and China are not just rivals for global influence, they are also mutually dependent economies with everything to gain from co-operation. Nobody will prosper if disagreements become conflicts.


内容就不解析了，有些地方看得比较堵。不过背背词汇还是可以滴！

七七夕夕UID: 2753801

eco analysis 6

face up :   to confront or deal directly with someone or something previously avoided ― usually used with to <faced up to my fears>
distrust: the lack or absence of trust
boil over 1 : to overflow while boiling or during boiling 2 : to become so incensed as to lose one's temper
protestation n.: the act of protesting : a solemn declaration or avowal
renounce : to give up, refuse, or resign usually by formal declaration
bound to :very likely : SURE <bound to rain soon>
roil: to make turbid by stirring up the sediment or dregs of
squall :a sudden violent wind often with rain or snow
choppy:being roughened:rough with small waves
stormy:marked by turmoil or fury
heap: to accord or bestow lavishly or in large quantities <heaped honors upon them>
accord:to grant or give especially as appropriate, due, or earned
thunder:a loud utterance or threat
buckle vt : to cause to bend, give way, or crumple
moot vt archaic : to discuss from a legal standpoint : ARGUE : to bring up for discussion :BROACH b : DEBATE
undercurrent n.a hidden opinion, feeling, or tendency often contrary to the one publicly shown
de fac to: ACTUAL especially : being such in effect though not formally recognized
haunt:to stay around or persist : LINGER
exile n. 1 a : the state or a period of forced absence from one's country or home b : the state or a period of voluntary absence from one's country or home
harangue:a speech addressed to a public assembly
sovereign:enjoying autonomy : INDEPENDENT <sovereign states>
thwart vt to run counter to so as to effectively oppose or baffle : CONTRAVENE b : to oppose successfully : defeat the hopes or aspirations of
heed vt to give consideration or attention to
slump n. a marked or sustained decline especially in economic activity or prices <a post-election slump>
shilly-shallying adj.to show hesitation or lack of decisiveness or resolution
seesaw n.an alternating up-and-down or backward-and-forward motion or movement also : a contest or struggle in which now one side now the other has the lead
swing n.a trend toward a high or low point in a fluctuating cycle (as of business activity)
give ground :to withdraw before superior force : RETREAT
chip n. something valuable that can be used for advantage in negotiation or trade <a bargaining chip>
beef v.to increase or add substance, strength, or power to ― usually used with up <money to beef up its staff of professional economists ― John Fischer
custom n.business patronage
supplant v to supersede (another) especially by force or treachery
gang up : to make a joint assault <ganged up on him and beat him up>
appreciate v.to increase the value of
clamor n.insistent public expression (as of support or protest)
backlash n.a strong adverse reaction (as to a recent political or social development)
elbow  :to force (as one's way) by pushing with or as if with the elbow <elbowing our way through the crowd> <elbows her way into the best social circles>

七七夕夕UID: 2753801

Sounds wonderful
Feb 4th 2010 | From The Economist print edition

The Music Instinct: How Music Works and Why We Can’t Do Without It.

MUSIC is a mystery. It is unique to the human race: no other species produces elaborate sound for no particular reason. It has been, and remains, part of every known civilisation on Earth. Lengths(=sections) of bone fashioned(=mold) into flutes were in use 40,000 years ago. And it engages people’s attention more comprehensively than almost anything else: scans show that when people listen to music, virtually every area of their brain becomes more active.

Yet it serves no obvious adaptive purpose. Charles Darwin, in “The Descent of Man" noted(=indicated) that “neither the enjoyment nor the capacity of producing musical notes are faculties of the least direct use to man in reference to his ordinary habits of life.” Unwilling to believe that music was altogether(=completely) useless, Darwin concluded that it may have made man’s ancestors more successful at mating. Yet if that were so, you might expect one gender to be musically more gifted than the other, and there is no evidence of that. So what is the point of music?

Steven Pinker, a cognitive psychologist best known for his book “The Language Instinct”, has called music “auditory cheesecake, an exquisite confection crafted to tickle(=please) the sensitive spots of at least six of our mental faculties.” If it vanished(=disappeared) from our species, he said, “the rest of our lifestyle would be virtually unchanged.” Others have argued that, on the contrary, music, along with art and literature, is part of what makes people human; its absence would have a brutalising effect. Philip Ball, a British science writer and an avid music enthusiast, comes down somewhere(=approximately) in the middle. He says that music is ingrained in our auditory, cognitive and motor functions. We have a music instinct as much as a language instinct, and could not rid ourselves of it if we tried.

Music can mean different things in different cultures. But although it is culturally specific, some of its building blocks are universal: melody, harmony, rhythm, the timbre produced by a variety of instruments and the distinctive style added by particular composers. Almost all musical systems are based on scales spanning an octave—the note that sounds the same as the one you started off with, but at a higher or lower pitch. Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher who lived around 500BC, is said to have discovered that notes that sound harmonious together have simple ratios between their frequencies: for example, one that is an octave higher than another has double the frequency. The Pythagorean “diatonic” scale, still the basis of most Western music, is made up from seven notes. But it is far from the only one. Javanese gamelan uses two scales with different numbers of notes; North Indian music has 32 different scales. Arnold Schoenberg devised a 12-tone scheme of atonal music about a century ago.

Mr Ball goes through(=thoroughly study ) each component of music in turn to explain how and why it works, using plentiful examples drawn from a refreshingly wide range of different kinds of music, from Bach to the Beatles, and from nursery rhymes(童谣) to jazz. If you can read music, you will find yourself humming aloud to see what he means. If you can’t, you might occasionally get lost among the technicalities. But before things get too rarefied, Mr Ball’s facility for conveying complex facts in simple language comes to the rescue.

His basic message is encouraging and uplifting: people know much more about music than they think. They start picking up the rules from the day they are born, perhaps even before, by hearing it all around them. Very young children can tell if a tune or harmony is not quite right. One of the joys of listening to music is a general familiarity with the way it is put together: to know roughly what to expect, then to see in what particular ways your expectations will be met or exceeded. Most adults can differentiate between kinds of music even if they have had no training.

Music is completely sui generis(=unique, peculiar). It should not tell a non-musical story; the listener will decode it for himself. Many, perhaps most, people have experienced a sudden rush of emotion on hearing a particular piece of music; a thrill or chill, a sense of excitement or exhilaration, a feeling of being swept away by it. They may even be moved to tears, without being able to tell why. Musical analysts have tried hard to find out how this happens, but with little success. Perhaps some mysteries are best preserved.

七七夕夕UID: 2753801

eco analysis 7

fashion:to give shape or form to : MOLD
least adv.in the smallest or lowest degree
reference:a bearing on a matter : RELATION <in reference to your recent letter>
expect vt to consider reasonable, due, or necessary
craft vt to make or produce with care, skill, or ingenuity <is crafting a new sculpture> <a carefully crafted story>
come down :to pass by tradition <a story that has come down from medieval times>
as much as: 差不多
harmony n.the structure of music with respect to the composition and progression of chord
octave n.a musical interval embracing eight diatonic degrees
                       a group of eight
diatonic adj.of, relating to, or being a musical scale (as a major or minor scale) comprising intervals of five whole steps and two half steps
gamelan n: an Indonesian orchestra made up especially of percussion instruments (as gongs, xylophones, and drums)
Javanese adj.a member of an Indonesian people inhabiting the island of Java
go through v. to subject to thorough examination, consideration, or study
in turn adv in due order of succession
hum v.to sing with the lips closed and without articulation
technicality n.something technical especially : a detail meaningful only to a specialist <a legal technicality>
rarefied adj.of, relating to, or interesting to a select group : ESOTERIC
uplift v.to improve the spiritual, social, or intellectual condition of
message n.an underlying theme or idea
sui generis adj. constituting a class alone : UNIQUE, PECULIAR
rush n.a surging of emotion
thrill v.to experience a sudden sharp excitement
chill n.a check to enthusiasm or warmth of feeling

七七夕夕UID: 2753801

Clash of generations
Britain will be rent, not by class warfare, but by an age divide, a newbook argues
Feb 11th2010 | From The Economist print edition

GettyImages

The Pinch: How the Baby Boomers Took their Children’s Future—and Why TheyShould Give it Back. By David Willetts. Atlantic; 314 pages;￡18.99. Buy from Amazon.co.uk
WITH a general election just a few months away, the class-war trumpets are sounding loudand clear in Britain. From theLabour ranks come tired jibes about Conservative policiesdesigned on the playing fields of Eton. From the Conservative benches a moreinteresting proposition (=proposal) has appeared.(倒装)


In the worry about the shift of resources from theincreasingly workless working classto the increasingly unleisured leisureclass something new and important is being missed, says David Willetts, aTory MP and one of his party’srelatively few acknowledged Deep Thinkers. It is the massive and cripplingshift in resources to retiring baby-boomersfrom the slimmer generation comingafter them. Britain is ever more divided by age.


Altogether Britishpeople are worth about ￡7 trillion ($10.9 trillion). This can be dividedroughly into ￡1.6 trillion in personal financial assets (shares, savings), ￡3.7trillion in housing (￡2.5 trillion if you subtract mortgages) and ￡1.8 trillionin personal and company pension schemes. It is logical that(让步)older people should have accumulated more wealth than younger ones. But(转折) theproportions seem to be shifting sharply in favour of the older cohorts, especially those aged 55 to 65.


Half the populationare under 40 years old but they hold only about 15% of all financial assets.People under 44 own, again, just 15% of owner-occupied housing. Comparing thefinancial and housing wealth of different age groups in 1995 and 2005 the Bankof England found that those aged 25 to 34 had seen their wealth fall, whereasthose aged 55 to 64 had seen theirs triple. It helped that inflation was galloping whenthe older group was borrowing to buy homes, but slowed thereafter (after that).


If pensions are counted, the situation is even more skewed (＝asymmetrical)(引导下文). Lushly(=plentifully) funded final- salary schemes are now broadlyclosed to new members, in the privatesector at least. Baby-boomers can chuck(=giveup) the day job at 60 or 65 and head off(=prevent,block) into the perma-tanned(a symbol ofwealth?) sunset(old age)(they will probably prove freakishly long-lived), borrowing against theinflated value of their houses as they do so. Their children must slog(plod) on towards an infinitely receding retirement age, squirrelling away money for their meagre defined-contribution pensions as a growing proportion ofstate spending is devoted to the needsof a massive generation of the elderly.


Young people havelittle chance of building up similar wealth. They are struggling to get on the housing ladder, thoughclose to a fifth of people between 50 and 59 years old own a second home. Jobsfor the young were getting scarcer even before the crash. Yet more and moreolder people are working and earning more, relative to young workers, thanbefore.


Ontop of this(=in addition to), older baby-boomers have dodged two speedingbullets, leaving their descendants squarely(=exactly) in the line of fire. Thefirst is the bill for bailing outthe financial sector; the second, the effect of climate change on the cost ofenergy, water, flood-prevention and thelike. Other countries have ageing populations, but the problem in Britainis especially acute. British baby-boomers tended to believe their houses wereall the piggy bank they needed. They neglectedto make other comparable savings or they borrowed against property to financetheir old age. (One result of rock-bottomsavings rates was that British banks, which did not have the same access to retail depositsas banks in other, more provident (=frugal, saving) countries, gotinto trouble leaning heavily on(=relyon) the volatile wholesale marketsfor their cash.)


Mr Willetts is not theonly writer to worry about baby-boomers crashingthrough society like a flash flood. Nor is this his first take on it. But two things distinguish this book from otherofferings.
The first is theattempt to construct a logically compelling theory of self-interested altruism and reciprocity, enlistinganthropologists, Enlightenment philosophers and today’s game theorists to doso. There is an unvoiced contractthat binds the generations. Parents look after their children, with a view to helping them do at leastas well as they themselves have done, and grown-up children look after theirparents, in the hope that theirchildren will do the same for them one day. But there is now “a breakdown (=disintegration) in the balance between thegenerations”, thanks to (=because of)the colossal(=enormous) size of oneof them. And it has brought social consequences as well as economic ones, includingthe disappearance of trust between unrelated adults and children and a long,messy transition(=change) toindependence for young people today.


The second reason toread this well-written book is the wealth of social detail that Mr Willetts,with his wonderful magpie mind, spreads before the reader. He looks, for example, to(=rely upon) England’s historicallysmallish (=small), nuclear families foran explanation of the country’s early adoption of markets and the rule of law.


Weaving together(=considering both)birth rates and immigration policy, he has an ingenious explanation for why workers from Lodz flock to London,where housing costs are higher than almost anywhere else in the world, whereasworkers from Liverpool on the whole do not. As society becomes more segregated (=seperated) by age, hepoints out, some council estates nowhave ratios of adults to hormone-heavyadolescent males more (typical of violent Yemen or Somalia 插入语？) than of developed Westerncountries. He turns up statisticsshowing that most women, employed or not, spend more time caring for theiryoung children now than they used to, and suggests that most people have become better parents (doing more fortheir own children) but worse citizens (doing less for others). The end notes alone are a feast.


This is not a party-political book. It is, however, apolemic(=disputant). Mr Willetts places a big bet on demography,giving short shrift to otherfactors affecting behaviour, such as technology and religion. This allows himto touch plausibly on(=related to)many hot- button (=controversial) themes—theerosion of social capital, entrenched inequalityand social immobility—but it stops short of a full explanation of them. He is also a little hard(=strict) on theboomers, who have, after all, presidedover economic growth, cloned sheep, become gay-friendly, spent a lot oftime and money looking after their children and grandchildren, and who will notescape the current financial storm unscathed.


Inthe end we are left with a question. Are the baby-boomers a luckygeneration or a selfish one? Mr Willetts, born in 1956, is too prudent toanswer categorically (=absolutely), buthis arguments suggest that if nothing else theyare certainly a careless(=unconcerned)one. Prolonged(=continued) economic growth tends to make people assume that(用在argument里) future generations too will grow richer, andhence to make less provision forthem. Yet the Victorians built railways and city halls for their descendants in what was one of
Britain’s mostoptimistic eras. And the boomers’ descendants may have more cash but they arealso likely to face far highercosts. Mr Willetts cites, approvingly, the waysome American Indian tribal councils used to take decisions in the light of how they would affectthe next seven generations. In Britain, alas, it is painfully hard(=difficult) to see beyond the nextelection.

七七夕夕UID: 2753801

eco analysis 8

Pinch: An emergency situation
Cripping:damaging or injurious
perma-tan n. a permanent year-round suntan(a brown color especially by exposure to sun)
rend:to divide (as a nation) into contesting factions
class warfare
age divide
tired adj. drained of strength and energy : fatigued often to the point of exhaustion
MP n.an elected member of a parliament
Tory n. a member or supporter of a major British political group of the 18th and early 19th centuries favoring at first the Stuarts and later royal authority and the established church and seeking to preserve the traditional political structure and defeat parliamentary reform ― compare WHIG b : CONSERVATIVE
slimmer n.a person dieting to lose weight
cohort n.a group of individuals having a statistical factor (as age or class membership) in common in a demographic study <a cohort of premedical students>
inflation n.a continuing rise in the general price level usually attributed to an increase in the volume of money and credit relative to available goods and services
gallop v. to progress or ride at a gallop(a bounding gait of a quadruped specifically : a fast natural 3-beat gait of the horse ― compare
)
slow vi.to go or become slower <production of new cars slowed sharply>
thereafter (after that)
skewed (＝asymmetrical)
Lushly(=plentifully)
private sector  私营成分; 私营部门
head off (=prevent,block)
sunset n. a period of decline especially : old age
freakish adj. markedly strange or abnormal
squirrel vi. to store up for future use ― often used with away <squirrel away some money>
meagre adj. deficient in quality or quantity <a meager diet>
devote v.1 : to commit by a solemn act <devoted herself to serving God>
2 : to give over or direct (as time, money, or effort) to a cause, enterprise, or activity(is devoted to the needs of )
ladder n.a series of usually ascending steps or stages : SCALE <climbing up the corporate ladder,  to get on the housing ladder>
On top of this(=in addition to)
dodge a bullet also dodge the bullet : to narrowly avoid an unwelcome, harmful, or disastrous outcome or occurrence <coastal towns dodged a bullet when the hurricane veered out to sea>
squarely(=exactly)
and the like
bail out :to abandon a harmful or difficult situation
rock-bottom adj. being the very lowest <rock-bottom prices> also : FUNDAMENTAL <the rock-bottom question>
volatile adj. characterized by or subject to rapid or unexpected change <a volatile market>
wholesale adj. of, relating to, or engaged in the sale of commodities in quantity for resale <a wholesale grocer>
reciprocity n.the quality or state of being reciprocal : mutual dependence, action, or influence
self-interest  n. 1.a concern for one's own advantage and well-being <acted out of self-interest and fear>  2.one's own interest or advantage <self-interest requires that we be generous in foreign aid>
enlist v.1 to secure the support and aid of : employ in advancing an interest <enlist all the available resources> <enlisted our help> 2 to win over : ATTRACT <trying to enlist my sympathies>
with a view to  :with the object of <studied hard with a view to getting an A>
breakdown (=disintegration)
thanks to (=because of)
colossal(=enormous)
consequence n.something produced by a cause or necessarily following from a set of conditions <the economic consequences of the war>
messy adj. extremely unpleasant or trying <messy lawsuits>
transition(=change)
magpie n. one who collects indiscriminately
spread vi. to become known or disseminated <panic spread rapidly>
look to  1 : to direct one's attention to <looking to the future>  2 : to rely upon <looks to reading for relaxation>
adopt vt. to accept formally and put into effect <adopt a constitutional amendment

weave vt. to unite in a coherent whole
Weaving together(=considering both)
ingenious adj. marked by originality, resourcefulness, and cleverness in conception or execution <an ingenious contraption>
flock  v.: to gather or move in a flock <they flocked to the beach>
segregated (=seperated)
council adj.British : built, maintained, or operated by a local governing agency <council housing> <council flats>
turn up  British a : to look up (as a word or fact) in a book b : to refer to or consult (a book)
feast n. ABUNDANCE, PROFUSION <an unprecedented feast of corruption, gargantuan in scale ― Neil Sheehan>
note n. something (as an emotion or disposition) like a note in tone or resonance <a note of sadness> <end on a high note>
polemic(=disputant)
short shrift n. little or no attention or consideration <gave the problem short shrift>
touch  on(=related to)
hot button n.an emotional and usually controversial issue or concern that triggers immediate intense reaction
hot- button (=controversial)
short of: OTHER THAN especially : of a lesser degree than <had few options short of replacing the motor>
stop vi.chiefly British : REMAIN
hard(=strict)
preside v.to exercise guidance, direction, or control<preside over>
unscathed adj. wholly unharmed : not injured
categorically (=absolutely)
careless(=unconcerned)
Prolonged(=continued)
provision n.a measure taken beforehand to deal with a need or contingency : PREPARATION <made provision for replacements>
city hall  n. : the chief administrative building of a city
tribal adj. of, relating to, or characteristic of a tribe <tribal customs
tribe n.a social group comprising numerous families, clans, or generations together with slaves, dependents, or adopted strangers
in the light of :from the point of view of
alas interj. used to express unhappiness, pity, or concern
painful adj. requiring effort or exertion <a long painful trip>
hard(=difficult)