English Collection

  1. Sometimes it is not the content of the stories themselves but just knowing you have control by choosing to read or listen that provides the calming effect.

  2. universality and timelessness

  3. make believe 假装

  4. strand of = part of

  5. a tremendous appetite（a strong desire for sth…） for…

  6. Even photojournalist are experimenting cell phones because their near invisibility makes it easier to capture unguarded moment.[^①]

  7. the course of history

  8. Amid such geographic disarray ,the Grimms believed that shared language and cultural traditions could be the connective yarn[^②] of a people,their people.

[^①]:Something done in an unguarded moment is done when you think no one is watching.

[^②]:yarn 除了有（棉、毛等的）纱，纱线，纺线；（尤指难以置信的）还有故事，奇谈的意思，而Grimms 兄弟正好就是用故事来唤醒人们的民族意识，这个词在这里特别准确且双关。

  1. trivially == easily

  2. genie out of the bottle

    The idiom "the genie is out of the bottle" means that something has been done, said, revealed, or initiated that cannot be undone, taken back, or contained. Once the "genie" (which represents a force, idea, secret, technology, or action) is released, its effects are irreversible, and the situation cannot be returned to how it was before.

  3. bent on doing 一意孤行

  4. resolutely oppose 坚决反对

  5. The Chinese people do not provoke trouble, but they will not flinch from trouble either.

  6. It is one of the secrets in that change of mental poise which has been fitly named conversion, that to many among us neither heaven nor earth has any revelation till some personality touches theirs with a peculiar influence, subduing them into receptiveness.
    ——George Eliot, Daniel Deronda

  7. hop into/out of bed 一头钻进被窝，猛然起床

  8. Their mass transit system is unparalleled, especially their high speed trains, which are affordable, comfortable, and plentiful.

  9. I will be highly obliged if the undersigned could be informed about the outcome.

  10. Since I was competing with a global pool of applicants, I was forced to up my game.