The Economist: Obituary - George

Paragraph 6
①His forte, and first love, was foreign policy. He had been ambassador to the UN for Nixon, an envoy to China for Gerald Ford (he and Barbara riding round delightedly on bicycles) and head of the CIA, besides, as vice-president, a follower-of-the-hearse at dozens of state funerals. Instinctively, he thought in terms of global power games;fortuitously, his time as president coincided with the end of the cold war, a heady and fascinating moment. ②With Mikhail Gorbachev he struck up an easy working friendship, and in 1991, in the wake of the Gulf war, he even had a moment of comprehensive vision: a new world order, based not on force but on the rule of law, which America would strongly lead.

段落解析：

本段主旨就是老布什在外交方面的出色表现及想法。外交是老布什的长项，也是其事业上的初恋。由此，引申出老布什的丰功伟绩：尼克松任期担任常驻联合国代表，杰拉尔德·福特任期担任中国特使，美国中情局（CIA）局长，并在任职副总统期间常于国葬仪式中跟随灵车。他对全球的权力博弈判断精准，又在机缘之下成为冷战结束时期的总统。他与戈尔巴乔夫建立友谊（老布什逝世后，戈尔巴乔夫在表示深切哀悼的同时还提到老布什为结束冷战及核军备竞赛所做的贡献。），海湾战争后，他有了一个宏愿：由美国强力领导的以法治而非武力为基础的世界新秩序。

词句精读：

• forte：You can say that a particular activity is your forte if you are very good at it. 长处，特长
  这个词完美替换strength，advantage。比如你想说自己的长处就是能吃不胖，就可以说：My forte is that I can eat a lot of without getting fat.这真是每个小仙女都想要的长处了。

• in terms of：With respect to or in relation to. 依据；按照；在…方面；以…措词
  这是个非常实用的词组，和in accordance with相似，用起来更灵活。比如电视剧中女主对给自己开出百万支票的男主母亲表示自己是真爱无敌，就可以说：It can not be measured in terms of money.

• strike up： When you strike up a conversation or friendship with someone, you begin one. 开始(交谈);建立(友谊);开始(来往)
  struck是strike的过去式和过去分词，本意是打击，敲击；罢工；突然发生。strike除了可以如本文这样建立友谊，也可以开启一段交谈，毕竟有过交流，才可能产生友谊的小火花。比如旅行时和同行者聊聊天，就很不错。It’s so good to strike up a conversation with other travelers.

• in the wake of：Close behind and in the same path of travel.随着；效仿
  这个词组的起源就是传教士随征服者四处开枝散叶，因此什么灾难啊，金融危机啊，恐怖袭击啊这类恶性事件就特别喜欢用这个，但其实更类似于触底反弹，我们总是需要在这种事情中总结教训经验防止他们再次发生，因此其他情况下它也适用。比如科技发展使我们对自然了解的更多，就可以说：In the wake of developments in science and technology, man has become more knowledgeable of nature.
  再比如最近备受关注的基因组编辑婴儿事件，有人说贺建奎打开了潘多拉的魔盒，类似的事情很可能在生物学界再次发生，就可以说：Something similar will soon happen in biology in the wake of such things as the first genetically modified humans.

• A new world order, based not on force but on the rule of law, which America would strongly lead.
  提炼句型：based not on... but on...
  对于文章当中的新世界秩序...看看现在还在打仗的地方哪里没有美国老大哥的影子...我们就不多说了，但提炼出来的这个句型非常好用。上至科研论文，下至营销推广可谓走过路过不要错过。
  比如你对家论文写的漂亮，但其实实验数据特别少，你和他结论相反，想说他这论文不靠谱，就可以说：This consequence is based not on large randomized trials but on individual case reports.
  再比如你老大接了个面膜广告，你试用完发现肤感差到不行，翻来覆去这面膜也就成分表好看点，你就只能逮着这条说：My evaluation of a mask may be based not on personal feeling, but on the active ingredient.

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①Such grandiloquence, like eloquence, was rare in him. ②He was schooled in modesty, fond of the small behind-the-scenes gesture rather than the large public show. ③He belonged to a generation that had no patience for today’s blowhards who, putting self before nation, always push themselves forward. ④But when the times and events demanded he could, perhaps to his own surprise, find the right words and walk confidently ahead.

段落解析

这段描写了老布什的优良品格。老布什是一个不善言辞的人，而且非常谦虚低调，比起台上更喜欢幕后工作。他属于对今天这种将自己置身于国家之上、总爱画大饼的吹牛大王没有耐心的一代人。虽然如此，当需要挺身而出时，他总是知道该说什么鼓舞人心，并挑起大梁。

词句精读

• grandiloquence & eloquence：Pretentious, pompous speech or writing & The quality of effective speech.两者都有夸夸其谈的意思，eloquence仅用于形容口才好，雄辩，而grandiloquence不仅可以形容豪言壮语还可以描述华丽辞藻的文章。

• fond of：Having a like for. be interest in的同意替换，喜欢...，爱好...过年回家被灵魂拷问完找小伙伴吐槽xx亲戚的时候就可以说：He(or she) is fond of having a hand in everything.

• behind-the-scenes & public show：两个一组，一个幕后，一个台前公映，非常相得益彰了。