Classical Music Isn’t Dead
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-fat-lady-is-still-singing

Day 20

Words and Phrases

Those words rang out across the Internet

ring out phrasal verb When a sound rings out, it is loud and clear

A shot rang out and the crowd became quite.

complete with a gravestone illustration and the hoary cliché of the singing fat lady.

complete with = including 这里的complete是形容词

The premium suite comes complete with all the accessories

gravestone 墓碑 =tombstone, headstone

hoary/ˈhɔː.ri/US/ˈhɔːr.i/ adjective 1 OLD-FASHIONED very old and familiar and therefore not interesting or amusing 2 LITERARY(of a person) very old and white- or grey-haired

We will not be fooled by such a hoary trick.

New York City Opera folded last fall

fold verb[I] (of a business) to close because of failure

Some argued that the folding of off-line shops were attributed to taobao.

announced energetic 2014-15 seasons

A season is a period in which a play or show, or a series of plays or shows, is performed in one place.

Eason Chan will be in Shanghai for a one-week season.

So what brought on this latest spasm of morbidity?

If something brings on an illness, pain, or feeling, especially one that you often suffer from, it causes you to have it.

The smog has brought on the rise of respiratory disease.

spasm/ˈspæz.əm/ of sth a short period of something, especially something uncontrollable 本来是抽筋的意思

A sight of the Korean star caused a spasm of applause in the crowd.

morbid/ˈmɔː.bɪd/US/ˈmɔːr-/ adjectiveDISAPPROVING too interested in unpleasant subjects, especially death morbidity noun[U] (精神之) 病态,不健康； [又作 a ~] (特定地区等之) 发病率

It was a morbidity that almost everyone went into the stock market last year.

the American media so fixated on the supposedly imminent demise of classical music

fixated/fɪkˈseɪ.tɪd/US/ˈfɪk.seɪ.ţɪd/ adjective[after verb] unable to stop thinking about something: ~ on/with sth

They had only met once, but became fixated on each other.

demise/dɪˈmaɪz/ 注意发音 noun[S]FORMAL 1 death 2 the end of something that was previously considered to be powerful, such as a business, industry or system

Wechat announces the demise of sms.

how superfluous it is to ...

superfluous/suːˈpɜː.flu.əs/ 注意重音在p US/-ˈpɝː-/ adjective more than is needed or wanted

One problem of modern society is that we have superfluous information.

superfluity/ˌsuː.pəˈfluː.ɪ.ti/US/-pɚˈfluː.ə.ţi/ noun[C]FORMAL

虽然剑桥词典上有superfluousness，但并没有在其他词典中找到。

There is a creepy bloodlust to the doom-mongering of classical music

creepy/ˈkriː.pi/ adjectiveINFORMAL strange or unnatural and making you feel frightened

Most people think snakes are creepy animals.

creeps/kriːps/ plural nounINFORMAL give sb the creeps to cause someone to have uncomfortable feelings of nervousness or fear

bloodlust lust欲望，bloodlust对血的欲望

new chamber ensemble

An ensemble/ɒns'ɒmbəl/ is a group of musicians, actors, or dancers who regularly perform together.

write a compelling profile of a discovery

A profile of someone is a short article or programme in which their life and character are described.

We read a profile of Angela Merkel last semester.

a purportedly comatose industry

If you say that something haspurportedlybeen done, you mean that you think that it has been done but you cannot be sure. (FORMAL) = supposedly

comatose/ˈkəʊ.mə.təʊs/US/ˈkoʊ.mə.toʊs/ adjective 1 SPECIALIZEDin a coma 2 INFORMAL very tired or in a deep sleep because of extreme tiredness, hard work or too much alcohol

classical-music concern-trolls toss poorly aimed barbs

concern-troll (Internet slang)Someone who posts to an internet forum or newsgroup, claiming to share its goals while deliberately working against those goals, typically, by claiming "concern" about group plans to engage in productive activity, urging members instead to attempt some activity that would damage the group's credibility, or alternatively to give up on group projects entirely. 号称关心，实际上还是喷子

barb a remark that is clever but cruel and hurtful

We accept constructive criticism but not barbs.

abstruse rules of conduct

abstruse/æbˈstruːs/ adjective FORMAL difficult to understand

This paper is too abstruse for me to understand.

one that maniacally insists that

maniacal/məˈnaɪə.kəl/ adjective describes a cry or laugh that is loud and wild

After having defeated the angels, the demon burst into a maniacal laughter.

opera intendants were oblivious to their own problems

intendant 管理者; 监督官

If you are oblivious to something or oblivious of it, you are not aware of it.

People criticize the intendants for being oblivious to the food safety problem.

the pundit demands

a person who knows a lot about a particular subject and is therefore often asked to give an opinion about it = expert

We shall consult a pundit for opinions.

jeremiads

/ˏdʒerɪˈmaɪæd/ n(fml文) long, sad and complaining story of troubles, misfortunes, etc 悲伤的长篇故事; 血泪史.

The recent Chinese history is a jeremiad.

classical music is an aberration in the United States

aberration/ˌæb.əˈreɪ.ʃən/ noun[C or U] FORMAL a temporary change from the typical or usual way of behaving

classical music has endured

If something endures, it continues to exist without any loss in quality or importance. =persist

Few scholars endured in the Culture Revolution.

what the historian Joseph Horowitz calls “moral fire,”

Joseph Horowitz wrote the book Moral Fire: Musical Portraits from America's Fin de Siècle (end of the century)

the blaze is palpable

so obvious that it can easily be seen or known, or (of a feeling) so strong that it seems as if it can be touched or physically felt

The young boy's eagerness to join the party is palpable.

It is not a profession for the apathetic.

adjective lacking interest or energy; unwilling to take action especially over a matter of importance

In China, people are apathetic about helping strangers.

naïve devotees without business acumen

devotee/ˌdev.əˈtiː/ noun[C] a person who strongly admires a particular person or is extremely interested in a subject

Sheldon is a devotee of trains.

acumen/ˈæk.jʊ.mən/ noun[U] FORMAL skill in making correct decisions and judgments in a particular subject, such as business or politics

Sadly, I lack the acumen of investment.

through the days of aristocratic patronage

aristocracy 1560s, "government by those who are the best citizens," from aristos "best of its kind, noblest, bravest, most virtuous" (see aristo-) + abstract noun from kratos "rule, power" (see -cracy).

democracy from Greek demokratia "popular government," from demos "common people," originally "district" (see demotic), +kratos "rule, strength" (see -cracy).

autocracy 1650s, "independent power, self-sustained power, self-government" (obsolete), from autos "self" (see auto-) +kratia "rule" (see -cracy). Meaning "absolute government, unlimited political power invested in a single person" is recorded from 1855.

Patronage /p'ætrənɪdʒ, p'eɪt-/ is the support and money given by someone to a person or a group such as a charity. =sponsorship

The writer in prison is said to receive foreign patronage.

Marx Brothers’ “A Night at the Opera.”

歌声俪影 A Night at the Opera(1935) 剧情描述三兄弟之中的老大想尽办法欺骗一名贵妇投资他的歌剧公司，不料两名调皮捣蛋的弟弟却在歌剧首演之夜在台前幕后大出洋相，但如此以来却让两名真正有天份的年轻歌唱家得到出头机会。

Classical music was for pretentious snobs in 1935

pretentious/prɪˈtent.ʃəs/ adjective DISAPPROVING trying to appear or sound more important or clever than you are, especially in matters of art and literature

If you call someone a snob, you disapprove of them because they admire upper-class people and have a low opinion of lower-class people.

Modern art is for pretentious snobs now.

penned “Appalachian Spring,”

If someone pens a letter, article, or book, they write it. (FORMAL)

The Three Body, penned by Liu Cixin, is a bestseller of Chinese science fiction.

Granted, classical music has lost the central position

You use granted or granted that at the beginning of a clause to say that something is true, before you make a comment on it.

Granted, your anger is reasonable, but retaliation will not make things better.

when the NBC Symphony Orchestra blared through home radios

If something such as a siren or radio blares or if you blare it, it makes a loud, unpleasant noise.

Some people hate radio because it blares ads of sterility.

exalted status

To exalt someone or something means to praise them very highly. (FORMAL)

Someone or something that is at an exalted level is at a very high level, especially with regard to rank or importance. (FORMAL) =lofty

His father being a senior official, he enjoys an exalted status among his peers.

cultural prowess

prow|ess/pr'aʊɪs/ [N-UNCOUNT] Someone's prowess is their great skill at doing something. (FORMAL)

He's always boasting about his sexual prowess.

flex soft power

If you flex your muscles or parts of your body, you bend, move, or stretch them for a short time in order to exercise them.

flex one's muscles show one's strength and power, esp as a warning or to display pride in oneself

China tries to export TV series to neighbouring countries so as to flex soft power.

the wide expanse of the American cultural landscape

An expanse of something, usually sea, sky, or land, is a very large amount of it.

整句话都很好

Mo Yan's winning the Nobel prize for literature is a manifestation of the progress made within the wide expanse of the Chinese cultural landscape.

A cursory glance at

A cursory glance or examination is a brief one in which you do not pay much attention to detail. =perfunctory

Holmes could deduce the guest's occupation at a cursory glance.

it’s a niche market

A niche is a hollow area in a wall which has been made to hold a statue, or a natural hollow part in a hill or cliff. 

Your niche is the job or activity which is exactly suitable for you.

Niche marketing is the practice of dividing the market into specialized areas for which particular products are made. A niche market is one of these specialized areas. (BUSINESS)

The niche market is highly specialized, and aiming to survive among the competition from numerous super companies. Even established companies create products for different niches, for example, Hewlett-Packard has all-in-one machines for printing, scanning and faxing targeted for the home office niche while at the same time having separate machines with one of these functions for big businesses.

polyglot society

Polyglot is used to describe something such as a book or society in which several different languages are used. (FORMAL)

A polyglot is a person who speaks or understands many languages.

not reigning supreme

Someone or something that reigns supreme is the most important or powerful element in a situation or period of time.

Stability reigning supreme for our government.

cherry-pick a few crisis-ridden institutions

If someone cherry-picks people or things, they choose the best ones from a group of them, often in a way that other people consider unfair.

Your should not cherry-pick the experiment results to support your proposition.

a thousand-year-old cultural lineage

lin|eage/l'ɪniɪdʒ/(lineages) [N-VAR] Someone'slineageis the series of families from which they are directly descended. (FORMAL)

原来文化传承可以这么说。

The leadership decided that we had a history lineage of 10 thousand years.

it can’t be snuffed out

To snuff out something such as a disagreement means to stop it, usually in a forceful or sudden way.

Every time a new flicker of resistance appeared, the government snuffed it out...

remains relatively vibrant in the face of ...

Someone or something that is vibrant is full of life, energy, and enthusiasm.

He recovered from the illness and is vibrant again.

in the face of despite having to deal with a difficult situation or problem    不顾（困难等）

Our troop managed to capture the hill in the face of the enemy's violent attack.

fly in the face of sth ■not to obey something, or not to act in a way that agrees with something    违抗；违背

The classical-music declinists 看来是自创的词

civic pride

You use civic to describe the duties or feelings that people have because they belong to a particular community.

...a sense of civic pride, ie citizens' pride in their town 市民的自豪（市民对自己城市的自豪）

the uncanny thrill of hearing Mahler live

If you describe something as uncanny, you mean that it is strange and difficult to explain.

Love is uncanny.

American classical music launched in earnest on Christmas Day of 1815.

If something is done or happens in earnest, it happens to a much greater extent and more seriously than before. =seriously

The Olympics will start in earnest tomorrow.

unveiled excerpts from European oratorios

An oratorio is a long piece of music with a religious theme which is written for singers and an orchestra. （通常以《圣经》内容为主题的）清唱剧, 神剧。同义词cantata

a rousing “Hallelujah” chorus

If something or someone rouses you, they make you very emotional or excited.

sounds of death throes

If someone is experiencing something very unpleasant or emotionally painful, you can say that they are in the throes of it, especially when it is in its final stages. (FORMAL)

The death throes of something are its final stages, just before it fails completely or ends. (LITERARY)

Day 21

Mind Map

Day 22

Sum up

本文主要功效是一瞥美国打脸文。针对欲驳斥的论调，作者指出了其以偏概全、玩弄数字以及太想当然等问题。其中还运用到很多妙趣横生的比喻和脑补，比如“砖家”揪着古典音乐业内人士说你们需要检讨，我可是有数据的；以及活体解剖的“血腥画面”…… 但是做逻辑图还是花了好大功夫，结果还不甚满意。对于逻辑图1，想总结批判对象犯的错误，例如Sweeping generalization，再将具体的例子归入其下一级，但发现很难归结出几个顶层的问题。应该是概括能力不行。再者逻辑图2，本来是设想按照三条线：文章结构，反方观点和举例及正方观点和举例，但真的罗列起来，又觉得难以区分是反方的表现还是正方的评价。总之构想是好的，实现起来就困难重重。但有鸡汤说得好，人还是不能老待在自己的舒适域内。还是改对比安妮的图找差距。