On February 27, 1968, Walter Cronkite, the longtime anchorman of the CBS Evening News and the gruff but kindly voice of what was then called Middle America, signed off his broadcast on an unusual note. Freshly returned from Vietnam, where the Tet offensive had just ended, Cronkite offered what he called “an analysis that must be speculative, personal, subjective.” “We have too often been disappointed by the optimism of the American leaders, both in Vietnam and Washington, to have faith any longer in the silver linings they find in the darkest clouds,” he said. “To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic yet unsatisfactory conclusion.” Like the famous issue of Life devoted to photographs of a week’s worth of American dead, Cronkite’s polite demurral came to symbolize the long migration of opposition to the war in Vietnam from the fringe—the campus firebrands, the radical clerics, the flowers-in-gun-barrels hippies, the papier-mâché puppeteers—to the wide, upholstered center of American political life.

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snake eyes   n. <美俚> (掷骰子中的)两点

anchorman  n. (汇编各地采访人员的资料并进行综合评价的)新闻节目主持人 A man who narrates or coordinates a newscast in which several correspondents give reports

CBS  Columbia Broadcasting System

gruff  adj. (声音)粗哑的 Hoarse; harsh: a gruff voice

sign off  v. 停止广播, 停止活动 To announce the end of a communication; conclude.

Freshly  adv. 刚才 用在过去分词前面

Tet   n. (越南的)春节 The lunar New Year ascelebrated in Vietnam.

offensive  n. 进攻, 攻势

speculative:based on guessing, not on information or facts

silver lining:A hopeful or comforting prospect in the midst of difficulty.From the proverb "Every cloud has a silver lining"

mire  v. 陷入 To sink or become stuck in mire

stalemate  n. 僵局 a situation in which it seems impossible to settle an argument or disagreement, and neither side can get an advantage [= deadlock]

demurral  n. 异议,抗议,反对 The act of demurring, especially a mild, polite, or considered expression of opposition.

firebrand  n. 放火者, 煽动叛乱者

radical  adj. 根本的, 基本的, 激进的

upholstered:To supply (furniture) with stuffing, springs, cushions, and covering fabric.

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The center of American politics is no longer as roomy (or as comfy) as it was then. The fringe, now luxuriant only at the rightmost edge of the political prayer rug, has gone online and wired itself for AM radio and cable TV. And nowhere in the cacophonous, atomized “media environment” of today is there anyone capable of deploying the wall-to-wall avuncular authority that was Cronkite’s stock-in-trade. Even so, in this August of 2006 a palpable, ’68-like shift in sentiment is in the steamy air. Among foreign-policy élites and the broader public alike, it has become the preponderant conviction that George W. Bush’s war of choice in Iraq is a catastrophe.

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cacophonous:Having a harsh, unpleasant sound; discordant.

wall-to-wall:Found everywhere or including everything

avuncular:Regarded as characteristic of an uncle, especially in benevolence or tolerance.

stock-in-trade:The resources available to and habitually called on by a person in a given situation: A ready wit is her stock-in-trade.家当，行头

palpable  adj. 可触知的, 明显的

preponderant  adj. 占有优势的 Having superior weight, force, importance, or influence. See Synonyms at dominant

catastrophe  n. 大灾难, 大祸

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“It is now obvious that we are not midwifing democracy in Iraq,” Thomas L. Friedman wrote, in the August 4th edition of the Times. “We are baby-sitting a civil war.” Friedman may not be another Walter Lippmann (just as any number of Stewarts, Olbermanns, O’Reillys, and Coopers don’t quite add up to a Cronkite), but he is the most influential foreign-affairs columnist in the country, and from the beginning he has been a critical supporter of the war. His defection is a bellwether. “The Administration now has to admit what anyone—including myself—who believed in the importance of getting Iraq right has to admit,” he wrote. “Whether for Bush reasons or Arab reasons, it is not happening, and we can’t throw more good lives after good lives.” In a Washington Post column a day earlier, the relentlessly centrist David S. Broder, citing his colleague Thomas E. Ricks’s new book, “Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq,” admitted that “the hope for victory is gone” and deplored “the answer from Bush,” which he characterized this way: “Carry on. Do not waver. And do not question the logic of prolonging the agony.”

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midwife  n. 助产士, 产婆

baby-sit  vi. 担任临时保姆, 照顾婴儿

defection  n. 缺点, 背信, 背叛, 变节

bellwether  n. 前导, 领导者, 群众的首领 One that serves as a leader or as a leading indicator of future trends.

relentlessly  adv. 无情地, 残酷地  Unyielding in severity or strictness; unrelenting

centrist  n. 中间派议员, 中立派议员

victory  n. 胜利, 战胜, 克服

deplore  v. 表示悲痛

agony  n. 苦恼, 极大的痛苦 The suffering of intense physical or mental pain

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That same week, a summing-up confidential cable by William Patey, the departing British Ambassador to Iraq, found its way into the newspapers. “The prospect of a low intensity civil war and a de facto division of Iraq is probably more likely at this stage than a successful and substantial transition to a stable democracy,” Patey wrote to Prime Minister Tony Blair. “Even the lowered expectation of President Bush for Iraq—a government that can sustain itself, defend itself and govern itself and is an ally in the war on terror—must remain in doubt.” Asked about Patey’s assessment during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, General John P. Abizaid, the over-all American commander in the Middle East, replied carefully (Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was sitting next to him), “I believe that the sectarian violence is probably as bad as I’ve seen it, in Baghdad in particular, and that, if not stopped, it is possible that Iraq could move toward civil war.” Last Monday, in an interview with ABC News, General George Casey, the top commander in Iraq for the past two years, agreed, saying that “the six last weeks or so have been the highest levels of sectarian violence that I’ve seen since I’ve been here” and that “a countrywide civil war” is “the most significant threat right now.” (At a news conference that same day, President Bush himself weighed in on the subject: “You know, I hear people say, well, civil war this, civil war that.” Well, at least he’s listening. Or maybe just hearing.)

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summing-up  n. 结论, 总结, 证据的概述

confidential  adj. 秘密的, 机密的

prospect  n. 景色, 前景, 前途, 期望

de facto  adj. 事实上的, 实际的 really existing although not legally stated to exist

commander  n. 司令官, 指挥官

sectarian violence: violence etc that is related to the strong feelings of people who belong to different religious groups

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Three and a half years ago, on the eve of the invasion of Iraq, commentators across the board agreed that the coming war would be a gamble—“the greatest shake of the dice any President has voluntarily engaged in since Harry Truman dropped the bomb on Japan,” Thomas Friedman called it. The metaphor came up again and again as the war approached. “This is the biggest gamble any President has taken in my lifetime,” a foreign-policy specialist at the Heritage Foundation said. “By accident or design, President Bush has allowed Iraq to become the gamble of a lifetime,” the Washington Post noted. Some viewed the gamble with apprehension. “Whatever this war’s effect on the region, globally it may be an even bigger roll of the dice for the United States than either its proponents or critics have argued,” Charles W. Freeman, Jr., who was the first President Bush’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War, wrote. Others were thrilled by the audacity, the swagger, the sheer “High Noon” moral clarity of it all. “This is Texas poker, with the President putting everything on Iraq,” a Republican senator told the columnist Robert Novak, with relish.

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across the board  一致的

dice  n. 骰子

Friedman  犹太的姓

metaphor  n. [修辞]隐喻, 暗喻, 比喻说话

by accident or design  不管是凑巧的还是有意的

apprehension  n. 忧惧

Freeman  姓

with relish  说的吐沫横飞  relish: great enjoyment of something

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It is in the nature of gambling that the gamble may lose. The dice have now been well and truly rolled, and they have come up snake eyes. The war’s sole real gain—the overthrow of the murderous Saddam Hussein regime—is mocked by the chaos and suffering that have overwhelmed millions of Iraqis, whose country is again a republic of fear. The concrete losses are horrific: nearly three thousand American and “coalition” troops killed; thousands more maimed; scores of thousands of Iraqi civilians dead; a third of a trillion dollars burned through. So are the less tangible ones: the unprecedented levels of anti-Americanism throughout the Muslim world and Europe; the self-inflicted loss of America’s moral prestige; the neglect of real nuclear dangers, in Iran and North Korea, while chimeras were chased in Iraq. The neoconservative project of a friendly, democratic Middle East, with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace, is worse than a charred ruin—it is a flaming inferno.

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in the nature of   adv. 具有...性质

well and truly  已经，确实

come up snake eyes  赌输了

mock  v. 嘲笑

The concrete losses  具体的损失

maim:to wound or injure someone very seriously and often permanently

trillion  num. 万亿

burn through  烧掉

unprecedented  adj. 史无前例

chimeras :something, especially an idea or hope, that is not really possible and can never exist

neoconservative  <美> n.新保守派

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After the defeat of Joseph Lieberman in last week’s senatorial primary in Connecticut, spokesmen for the Bush Administration and the Republican Party sought to portray the result as an expression of opposition to the struggle against Islamist terrorism. It was not. Virtually all those who voted against Lieberman, and many, probably most, of those who voted for him, oppose the Iraq war, as does a solid majority—sixty per cent, according to a CNN poll released last Wednesday—of the American public. But they oppose it because, among other reasons, they believe that it has harmed, not helped, that larger struggle. At the end of the week, after British authorities foiled what was evidently a large-scale plot to destroy transatlantic airliners and murder thousands of passengers, President Bush called the plot “a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom.” But the war in Iraq is wholly irrelevant to the means chosen by the London terrorists, and the means that thwarted them—dogged police work, lawful surveillance, international coöperation—are precisely those which have been gratuitously starved or stymied on account of the material, political, and human resources that have been, and continue to be, wasted in Iraq. Why not change the game to one that relies less on gambling and bluff and more on wisdom, planning, and (in every sense) intelligence?

— Hendrik Hertzberg

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Lieberman  犹太姓

It was not.  不对

dogged  adj. 顽固的, 顽强的

stymied :to prevent someone from doing what they have planned or want to do [= thwart]

on account of   因为，由于

Swiss bank releases its ranking of the costs of living worldwide, this time with a little spin: How long does a local have to work to earn enough to buy a tasty American icon?

By The Associated Press

Residents of Tokyo have the highest purchasing power in the world, edging out people in Los Angeles, Sydney, London and Toronto, according to a new survey by the Swiss banking giant UBS that uses the "Big Mac" as its benchmark.

Tokyo scored at the top of the survey, which aims to eliminate variables such as exchange rates, even though it is one of the most expensive cities in the world, UBS said in the "Prices and Earnings" report released Wednesday.

"Wages only become meaningful in relation to prices -- that is, what can be bought with the money earned," it said.

The bank calculated the "weighted net hourly wage in 14 professions" and divided it into the local price of "a globally available product," for which it chose McDonald's flagship hamburger. Prices across the U.S. vary but average about $2.50.

"On a global average, 35 minutes of work buys a Big Mac," it said. "But the disparities are huge: in Nairobi, 1.5 hours' work is needed to buy the burger with the net hourly wage there. In the U.S. cities of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Miami, a maximum of 13 minutes' labor is needed."

In Tokyo, it takes a mere 10 minutes. Bogota, Colombia, came in last among the 70 cities surveyed at 97 minutes.

Oslo world's costliest city

The UBS survey, conducted every three years, rated Oslo as the most expensive city on the basis of the cost of a basket of 122 goods and services, excluding rent. It was followed by London; Copenhagen, Denmark; Zurich, Switzerland; Tokyo; Geneva; New York; Dublin, Ireland; Stockholm, Sweden; and Helsinki, Finland.

The least expensive cities were Manila, Philippines; Delhi; Buenos Aires; Bombay and Kuala Lumpur.

UBS said that if the cost of housing was included, "life is particularly expensive in London and New York."

The bank also compared wages. In that contest Copenhagen was tops, with an index of 118.2. For that comparison, New York -- in fifth place -- was taken as the base with an index of 100. Second place went to Oslo, followed by Zurich and Geneva. London was in sixth, followed by Chicago, Dublin, Frankfurt and Brussels.

At the other end was Delhi, with an index of 6.1.

"In the cities of Western Europe and North America, workers in 14 representative professions earn a gross hourly wage averaging US$18 (euro14); in the Eastern European and Asian cities examined, the figure was only US$4-US$5 (euro3.10-euro3.90)."

But taxes and social security payments take a big bit in northern Europe, with Scandinavian and German cities losing ground.

Wages high, standards high in U.S.

Rankings were similar to the last survey in 2003, with changes resulting largely from shifts in foreign exchange rates, the study said. New York and Chicago dropped in the expensive cities ranking, mostly due to the weaker dollar.

"Shanghai and Beijing, meanwhile, remain comparatively inexpensive despite an economic boom because the national currency, the renminbi, has so far resisted pressures to appreciate."

Workers in Seoul, South Korea, work the longest. Those in Paris have the shortest work week.

"Based on a 42-hour work week, Asian workers labor about 50 days a year more than their peers in Paris," it said.

The study said a dollar earned in Los Angeles, after deducting taxes and Social Security contributions, is worth more than in Chicago, New York, Miami, Toronto and Montreal.

"Although the highest wages are paid in New York, it also has the highest cost of living anywhere in the Americas," it said. "Thanks to their much higher wages, after buying the basic basket of goods and services, workers in North American cities have far more left over for vacations, luxury items or savings than their counterparts in Latin America. The average purchasing power in Central and South America is just a third of the level in the North American cities."

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release  vt.  发表

spin:A distinctive point of view, emphasis, or interpretation  说法

American icon means Big Mac in here

purchasing power  购买力

edge out  v. <美> 微微胜过

survey  vt. 调查(收入,民意等)

benchmark  n. 基准

eliminate  vt. 排除, 消除

variable  n. [数]变数, 可变物, 变量    vary  vt. 改变, 变更, 使多样化

meaningful  adj. 意味深长的

in relation to  adv. 关于, 涉及, 与…相比

calculate  v. 计算

weighted  adj.有利的

net hourly wage  每小时净工资

globally  adv.世界上,全世界

disparity  n. (职位、数量、质量等)不一致, 不同, 不等

maximum  n. 最大量, 最大限度, 极大  adj. 最高的, 最多的, 最大极限的    [反] minimum

mere  adj. 仅仅的, 起码的

Oslo  n. 奥斯陆(挪威的首都)

follow by  vt.后面有,继之以

appreciate  vi. 增值, 涨价