:::Rain::::

＊ custom house

Definition:

a government building or office, as at a seaport, for collecting customs, clearing vessels, etc.

Example:

Foreigners were happy to accept, becauseforeigners themselves ran the custom house.

＊ execute

Definition:

1.to carry out; accomplish: to execute a plan or order.

2.to perform or do: to execute a maneuver; to execute a gymnastic feat.

3.to inflict capital punishment on; put to death according to law.

4.to murder; assassinate.

5.to produce in accordance with a plan or design: a painting executed by an unknown artist.

Example:

1.      You have to be able to work as a team, thinktactically, and execute plans efficiently.

2.      To execute  this guard a fighter must be veryathletic and experienced.

＊ seamstree 縫衣服的人

＊ Pontius Pilate

Pontius Pilatus , known in the English-speaking world as Pontius Pilate, was the fifth Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, from AD 26–36. He is best known as the judge at thetrial of Jesus and the man who authorized the crucifixion of Jesus. As prefect, he served under Emperor Tiberius.

The sources for Pilate's life are the four canonical gospels, Philo of Alexandria, Josephus, a brief mention by Tacitus, and an inscription known as the Pilate Stone, which confirms his historicity and establishes his title as prefect. Based on these sources, it appears that Pilate was an equestrian of the Pontii family, and succeeded Valerius Gratus as prefect of Judaea in AD 26. Once in his post he offended the religious sensibilities of his subjects, leading to harsh criticism from Philo and Josephus. According to Josephus, he was ordered back to Rome after harshly suppressing a Samaritan uprising, arriving just after the death of Tiberius, which occurred on 16 March in 37 AD. He was replaced by Marcellus.

＊  Is America Still the Land of Opportunity?

Millions of immigrants head to the United States each year. And millions more would if they could get a visa. Yet, more and more Americans complain of a sense that the cards are stacked against the middle class — and, more devastatingly, its children.

It’s not just sky-high college costs, especially compared with Western European universities, or the substantial difference between the amount of state support in Europe and the United States of everything from health care to child care to education — whether Europe’s social generosity is sustainable over the long term or not.

From: http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/01/is-america-still-the-land-of-opportunity/?_r=0

＊ Make Way for Duckling

Make Way for Ducklings is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey. First published in 1941, the book tells the story of a pair of mallard ducks who decide to raise their family on an island in the lagoon in Boston Public Garden, a park in the center of Boston,Massachusetts.

＊ Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is an absurdist, existentialist tragicomedy by Tom Stoppard, first staged at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1966. The play expands upon the exploits of two minor characters from Shakespeare's Hamlet, the courtiers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The action of Stoppard's play takes place mainly "in the wings" of Shakespeare's, with brief appearances of major characters fromHamlet who enact fragments of the original's scenes. Between these episodes the two protagonists voice their confusion at the progress of events of which—occurring onstage without them in Hamlet—they have no direct knowledge.

＊ man à hand

ex: manipulate, manual

＊ en à put

ex: enlightment, entertain, enlarge

＊e à out

 ex: erupt, extra

＊ac à take

 ex: accept, acquire, acknowledge

＊il à negative

ex: illegal, illustrate, illogical