U4 listeningfrat houseshoot oneself in the footTo act against one's own interests If you anger your boss, you're really just shooting yo

urself in the foot. Chinese?

And one piece of advice for financial health. “If you were unguarded, don't get it, never mind the credit cards.”

对经济状况稳定的一项建议：如果你没有那么多钱，就不要使用信用卡。

U4 listening

Well, of course, the US is gonna be turning to the same usual suspects who have been buying US debt in the past.

the usual suspects: the people you would expect to be present somewhere or doing a particular thing

"Who was at Mary's party?" "Oh, Paula, Lucy and Ruth - the usual suspects."

And the problem for them is that they are already on the hook for a lot of US debt they have purchased in the past.

(involved)

U4 readingOppenheimer Funds (U4 reading)奥本海默基金

After all, college funds should be well protected because unlike retirement, you don’t have 30 years or more to build up a kitty.

kitty-- [C usually singular] an amount of money which consists of small amounts given by different people and which is used by them for an agreed purpose

We all put £20 in/into the kitty to cover the cost of food.

Safety wasn’t part of the curriculum, though, in far too many 529 savings plans …

If the market tanks…tank– suffer from decline Plain-English disclosure and oversight would have ke

pt investors out of the riskiest funds.

In what has become the poster child for wretched 529 fund management, OppenheimerFunds is under investigation by five states for its management of two bond funds that were part of plans in Illinois, Maine, New Mexico, Oregon and Texas.

a child afflicted by some disease or deformity whose picture is used on posters or other media as part of a campaign to raise money or enlist volunteers for a cause or organization.

… although you wouldn’t reap any state tax breaks.

Break --advantageous financial situation

an advantageous financial situation in which somebody is repaid or makes a reduced payment

a tax break

As an agony aunt, I am used to people telling me that their jobs are meaningless.

An advice column is a column at a magazine or newspaper written by an advice columnist (colloquially known as an agony aunt, or agony uncle if the columnist is a male). The image presented was originally of an older woman providing comforting advice and maternal wisdom, hence the name "aunt". An advice columnist can also be someone who gives advice to people who send in problems to the newspaper.

When government ministers join City professionals in fretting that their work doesn't amount to a row of beans, we are really in trouble.

In fact, whoever coined the phrase “making a difference” has made a difference, though not a positive one. The phrase gestures towards grandiose achievement that is out of reach for almost everybody.

(use a gesture to emphasize something)

there are 30m workers

U3 listening

don't even get near situations where your resolve could be tested.

Unit 3 A television commercial for Nabisco's Fig

Newton （费格 · 纽顿：糕点类食品品牌名 ） bars that debuted Friday preys on a wide range of innate human weaknesses, from greed and gluttony to the compulsive need for self-gratification in an otherwise cold and uncaring world.

周五首播的纳贝斯克公司费格 · 纽顿条电视广告瞄准众多内在的人性弱点，从贪心和贪吃，直到无法抑制的个人需求，即在冷漠无情的世界中满足自己。

Although the first 10 seconds alone employ enough psychological gambits to sway even the most emotionally secure viewer, Nabisco's latest ad leaves little to chance, tapping into bedrock human faults like susceptibility to guilt and the slavish desire for acceptance to push the sale of its fig-filled treats.

尽管广告的头十秒钟就已用足心理战术，以期动摇情感最稳固的观众，但是纳贝斯克的这则最新广告毫不松懈，为了扩大其无花果馅小甜点的销量，广告更是触及一些基本的人性缺陷，如易有负罪感和渴望被接纳的奴性感情。

"leaves little to chance“ --- "takes care of everything" or "plans e

verything out carefully".

"leave something to chance" -- to ignore it and let luck or fate deal wi

th it.

Unit 3

"Flattery, pride, self-aggrandizement, fear of rejection: This latest Fig Newtons ad campaign fires on all cylinders,"

work/fire on all cylinders – use all your energy to do sth.

Though the mise-en-scène of the 20-second spot is simple enough

French: “put in stage”

"So chewy! So delicious! So completely irresistible!" "Fig Newtons are ooey-gooey great!“

1. The mixture of cornstarch and water that seems to be half solid and half liquid.

2. Any substance that makes you think "Cooool! It's all goooooey!“

"Go on, you deserve it!" the psychologically manipulative onslaught persists, at once addressing, encouraging, and currying feelings of inferiority and self-doubt that have been a mainstay of the human condition for the past 6,000 years.

U3 reading

As stated in the introduction to The Museum of Bad Art: Masterworks, the primary attribute of an objet d’art to be acquired by MOBA is that it must have been seriously attempted by someone making an artistic statement.

French – object with artistic value

In 1995 the display space was moved to the basement of the Dedham Community Theatre, a building with an aesthetic described in 2004 as "ramshackle". The museum in Dedham has no fixed operating hours, instead opening when the theater upstairs was open.

Ramshackle: in deplorable condition

1 Name some criteria for the inclusion of a piece of art in MOBA.

Key: ?? a lack of artistic skill; a compelling image; not boring. As stated in the introduction to The Museum of Bad Art:

Masterworks, the primary attribute of an objet d'art to be acquired by MOBA is that it must have been seriously attempted by someone making an artistic statement. A lack of artistic skill is not essential for a work to be included; a prospective painting or sculpture for the collection ideally should "[result] in a compelling image", or as honorary curator Ollie Hallowell stated, the art must have an "Oh my God" quality.

maintain a uniform humidity