2021年終於要到尾聲了，今年可以說是起起伏伏又動盪不安，用「 a mixed bag」 來形容再適合不過了。一袋糖果總是有你喜歡的，也有你想要「讓」給別人吃的口味。 今天我們精選了每個月的國際新聞頭條，帶大家回顧今年發生的國際大事，同時也要學實用的英文單字，看別人怎麼用這些字讓新聞標題精確又生動。 —— 實用單字和片語： To gloat 幸災樂禍 The winning soccer team gloated over their rivals' lack of skill after the game. To fret 煩躁不安 Mary fretted and worried about his safety after Tom went missing for two days. Narrative 陳述 The police officer did not believe the suspect's narrative because of his questionable alibi. To snarl 糾結 It took me one hour to drive home after work yesterday because the traffic was terribly snarled during rush hour. To scrap 丟棄 The impurity was scrapped after gold was extracted. To undermine 破壞、削弱某樣東西的基礎 The bribery scandal was fabricated to undermine the public image of the presidential candidate. Complacency 自滿、安於現狀而缺乏警覺性 The Benz autopilot system is a remarkable achievement, but there is no room for complacency because Tesla’s system is promising to be even more advanced. Money grabbing 用不公平的或是違法的方式來獲取金錢 The company has a state sanctioned monopoly and is notoriously known for its unethical money grabbing. To sequester 隔離 The two suspects were sequestered and interrogated separately to avoid collusion. Standstill 停滯不前 The economy of the country was at a standstill once the war began. Bustling 繁華的 Detroit, which was once famous for being the ‘Motor City’, was once a bustling metropolis until Japanese automobiles overtook American cars in the global market. Gimmick 吸引人注意力或是引誘人購買的花招、把戲 Real estate agencies tend to use gimmicks to make the market seemingly popular in order to sell more houses at a higher price. To cast shadow over something 讓某樣東西蒙上陰影 The sudden death of the CEO casted a shadow over the company causing the share price to collapse because the company did not have a clear succession plan in place. To tread a fine line 小心翼翼避免犯錯 The presidential candidate was treading a fine line during the debate to avoid upsetting gun rights supporters and those who want to curb sales of firearms. To spur 激勵或是鼓勵某人 Anytime Nadal faced off against Federer they always spurred each other to play with the highest level of intensity. Full tilt 全速地、盡快地 When Mary received a call from the hospital that her dad had been in a car accident, she drove full tilt to the hospital. ---- Apex Language | 擎宇英文：https://www.apex-lang.com.tw Facebook 搜尋：ApexLanguage IG: @apexlang.podcast