“胖猫”事件引发关注

近日，21岁男子“胖猫”（游戏ID）在重庆大桥跳江结束生命，引发关注。
🤔️小作业： 1. What does the Regime of Choice in the United States emphasize according to the article? A) The importance of enduring the upheavals that love brings. B) The necessity of self-sacrifice and suffering in love. C) The need for practical decision-making and individual needs fulfillment in relationships. D) The belief in love as a divine force that dictates destiny. 2. What does the Regime of Covenants prioritize according to the article? A) Individual freedom and personal choice in relationships. B) The wellbeing of the relationship and mutual dependency over individual needs. C) The importance of maintaining personal boundaries at all times. D) The concept of relationships as financial agreements.

无注 释原文： What Romantic Regime Are You In?
From: The New York Times
Polina Aronson spent her first 16 years in Russia. There, people tend to regard love as a sort of divine madness that descends from the heavens. Love is regarded, as the sociologist Julia Lerner put it, as “a destiny, a moral act and a value; it is irresistible, it requires sacrifice and implies suffering and pain.” Russians measure one another by how well they are able to bear the upheaval love brings, sometimes to an absurd degree.
But when she was in high school, Aronson moved to America, and stumbled across an issue of Seventeen magazine. She was astounded. In America she noticed that people tended to ask: Does a partner fulfill your needs? Do you feel comfortable asserting your rights in the relationship? Does your partner check the right boxes?
Aronson concluded that she had moved from the Russian Regime of Fate to the American Regime of Choice.
“The most important requirement for choice is not the availability of multiple options,” she writes in Aeon magazine. “It is the existence of a savvy, sovereign chooser who is well aware of his needs and who acts on the basis of self-interest.”
The Regime of Choice encourages a certain worldly pragmatism. It nurtures emotionally cool, semi-isolated individuals. If the Russian model is too reckless, the American model involves too much calculation and gamesmanship. “The greatest problem with the Regime of Choice stems from its misconception of maturity as absolute self-sufficiency,” Aronson writes. “Attachment is infantilized. The desire for recognition is rendered as ‘neediness.’ Intimacy must never challenge ‘personal boundaries.’”
Indeed, a lot of our social fragmentation grows out of the detached, utilitarian individualism that this regime embodies.
The dating market becomes a true market, where people carefully appraise each other, looking for red flags. The emphasis is on the prudential choice, selecting the right person who satisfies your desires. But somehow as people pragmatically “select” each other, marriage as an institution has gone into crisis. Marriage rates have plummeted at every age level. Most children born to women under 30 are born outside of wedlock. The choice mind-set seems to be self-defeating.
Even those of us who have had humbling experiences in this realm can look at those who seem to have this lifelong thing figured out and see a different set of attitudes and presuppositions, which you might call a Regime of Covenants. A covenant is not a choice, but a life-altering promise and all the binding the promise entails.
The Regime of Covenants acknowledges the fact that we don’t really choose our most important attachments the way you choose a toaster. In the flux of life you meet some breathtakingly amazing people, usually in the swirl of complex circumstances. There is a sense of being blown around by currents more astounding than you can predict and control. Mostly you’re bumblingly trying to figure out the right response to the moments you’re in.
When you are drawn together and make a pledge with a person, the swirl doesn’t end; it’s just that you’ll ride it together. In the Regime of Covenants, making the right one-time selection is less important than the ongoing action to serve the relationship.
The Covenant people tend to have a “we” consciousness. The good of the relationship itself comes first and the needs of the partner are second and the individual needs are third. The covenant only works if each partner, as best as possible, puts the other’s needs above his or her own, with the understanding that the other will reciprocate.
The underlying truth of a Covenantal Regime is that you have to close off choice if you want to get to the promised land. The people one sees in long, successful marriages have walked the stations of vulnerability. They’ve overthrown the proud ego and learned to be utterly dependent on the other. They’ve faced the ways they are difficult to be with and tried to address them. They’ve gone through all the normal episodes of confession, apology, defensiveness, forgiveness and loving the other most when there’s nothing lovely about them.
You only do all this if you’ve set up a framework in which exit is not an easy option, in which you’re assured the other person’s love is not going away, and in which the only way to survive the crises is to go deeper into the relationship itself.
The final feature of a covenant is that the relationship is not just about itself; it serves some larger purpose. The obvious one in many cases is raising children. But the deeper one is transformation. People in such a covenant try to love the other in a way that brings out their loveliness. They hope that through this service they’ll become a slightly less selfish version of themselves.
The Covenant Regime is based on the idea that our current formula is a conspiracy to make people unhappy. Love is realistically a stronger force than self-interest. Detached calculation in such matters is self-strangulating. The deepest joy sneaks in the back door when you are surrendering to some sacred promise.
- ◆ - 注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为纽约时报官方译文，仅供参考 含注释全 文：
What Romantic Regime Are You In? 爱情是命运安排还是你的选择？ From: The New York Times
Polina Aronson spent her first 16 years in Russia. There, people tend to regard love as a sort of divine madness that descends from the heavens. Love is regarded, as the sociologist Julia Lerner put it, as “a destiny, a moral act and a value; it is irresistible , it requires sacrifice and implies suffering and pain.” Russians measure one another by how well they are able to bear the upheaval love brings, sometimes to an absurd degree.
波莉娜·阿伦森(Polina Aronson)在俄罗斯度过了人生最初的16年。在那里，人们倾向于把爱看作一种从天而降的神性的疯狂。正如社会学家朱莉娅·勒纳(Julia Lerner)所说，爱情被认为是“一种命运，一种道德行为和一种价值；它是不可抗拒的，它要求牺牲，意味着折磨和痛苦”。俄罗斯人通过承受爱情带来的动荡的能力来衡量彼此，有时达到荒谬的程度。

divine
divine /dɪˈvaɪn/ 作形容词 1）表示“神的；像神一样的”，英文解释为“connected with a god, or like a god”举个🌰：Some fans seem to regard the players as divine beings. 有些球迷似乎把球员神化了。
2）表示“极好的，美妙的，美好的”，英文解释为“extremely good, pleasant, or enjoyable”举个🌰：We had a perfectly divine time in Shanghai. 我们在上海度过了一段非常美好的时光。
作名词，表示牧师，神学家；天意，上帝（the Divine）。
作动词，表示“猜，猜测；估计”，英文解释为“to guess something”举个🌰：I divined from his grim expression that the news was not good. 他的表情很严肃，我猜不是什么好消息。

descend
descend /dɪˈsend/ 1）表示“（暮色）降临；（天幕）落下”，英文解释为“If darkness or night descends, it becomes dark and day changes to night.”
2）表示“下来；下去；下降”，英文解释为“to come or go down from a higher to a lower level”举个例子：The plane began to descend. 飞机开始降落。
3）表示“（不好的感觉）遍布，蔓延；（通常指不好的情形）笼罩”，英文解释为“If a negative or bad feeling descends, it is felt everywhere in a place or by everyone at the same time.”举个🌰：A feeling of despair descended (on us) as we realized that we were lost. 当我们发现自己迷了路的时候，一种绝望的情绪（在我们中间）弥漫开来。

sociologist
sociologist /ˌsəʊ.siˈɒl.ə.dʒɪst/ 表示“社会学家，社会关系研究者”，英文解释为“someone who studies or is an expert in sociology”

irresistible
irresistible /ˌɪr.ɪˈzɪs.tə.bəl/ 1）表示“无法抗拒的；非常诱人的”，英文解释为“so attractive, desirable etc that you cannot prevent yourself from wanting it”举个🌰：Tax-cutting proposals could prove irresistible to lawmakers. 减税议案可能最终会让立法者无法抗拒其诱惑。
2）表示“（力量太强大而）不可遏止的；不可避免的”，英文解释为“too strong or powerful to be stopped or prevented ”举个🌰：I was overcome by an irresistible urge to cry. 我控制不住想大哭一场。

sacrifice
sacrifice /ˈsæk.rɪ.faɪs/ 表示“牺牲；献出”，英文解释为“the act of giving up something that is valuable to you in order to help someone else”举个🌰：We had to make sacrifices in order to pay for our children's education. 为了支付孩子们的教育费用，我们不得不作出牺牲。

upheaval
upheaval /ʌpˈhiː.vəl/ 表示“剧变；激变；动乱；动荡”，英文解释为“a big change that causes a lot of confusion, worry and problems”如：a period of emotional upheaval 情绪波动很大的时期。
📍2020年8月《经济学人》（The Economist）一篇讲述卡车业文章的标题就叫：The trucking industry is in the midst of upheaval—and hype 卡车运输业正在经历剧变，以及炒作。

absurd
absurd /əbˈsɜːd, -ˈzɜːd/ 表示“荒谬的；荒唐的；怪诞不经的”，英文解释为“completely ridiculous; not logical and sensible ”举个🌰：Of course it's not true, what an absurd idea. 那当然不合乎事实，这个想法太荒唐了！

But when she was in high school, Aronson moved to America, and stumbled across an issue of Seventeen magazine. She was astounded . In America she noticed that people tended to ask: Does a partner fulfill your needs? Do you feel comfortable asserting your rights in the relationship? Does your partner check the right boxes?
但是，上高中后，阿伦森搬到了美国，她偶然翻看《十七妙龄》杂志(Seventeen)的某一期。她感到震惊。她注意到，在美国，人们经常会问：你的伴侣能满足你的需求吗？你赞成在恋爱中主张自己的权利吗？你的伴侣具备你想要的东西吗？

stumble
stumble /ˈstʌm.bəl/ 1）作名词，表示“犯错；失足”，英文解释为“a false step, trip, or blunder / the act of stumbling”。
2）更多情况用作动词表示“踉跄；绊脚”，英文解释为“If you stumble, you put your foot down awkwardly while you are walking or running and nearly fall over.”举个🌰：He stumbled and almost fell. 他绊了一下，差点儿摔倒。
3）表示“跌跌撞撞地走，蹒跚而行”，英文解释为“to walk in a way that does not seem controlled”举个🌰：We could hear her stumbling about/around the bedroom in the dark. 我们可以听到她摸黑在卧室里跌跌撞撞地走动。
4）固定搭配：stumble on / across / upon sth，表示“偶然发现（碰见）”，英文解释为“to find or discover something by chance and unexpectedly”，举个🌰：Researchers have stumbled across a drug that may help patients with Parkinson's disease. 研究人员偶然发现了一种药物，也许可以治疗帕金森病。

astound
astound /əˈstaʊnd/ 表示“使震惊；使惊骇”，英文解释为“to surprise or shock someone very much”举个🌰：The news astounded me. 听到这个消息，我非常震惊。

assert
assert /əˈsɜːt/ 1）表示“（坚决）主张；断言”，英文解释为“to state firmly that something is true”举个🌰：French cooking, she asserted, is the best in the world. 她坚称法国菜是世界上最好的。
2）表示“维护自己的权利（或权威）”，英文解释为“to make other people recognize your right or authority to do sth, by behaving firmly and confidently”，如：to assert your rights 维护你的权利。
📍《经济学人》（The Economist）一篇讲述疫情带来的影响的文章中提到：That will make it harder for strong firms to assert their advantage. 这将使大公司更难发挥优势。

Aronson concluded that she had moved from the Russian Regime of Fate to the American Regime of Choice.
阿伦森认定，她已经从俄罗斯的“命运制”转向了美国的“选择制”。

regime
regime /reɪˈʒiːm/ 1）表示“政府；政权；政体”，英文解释为“a particular government or a system or method of government”
2）表示“组织方法；管理体制；体系”，英文解释为“a particular way of operating or organizing a business, etc.”举个🌰：The regime in this office is hard work and more hard work. 该事务所的管理方式是让人努力再努力。
区分： 📍regimen /ˈredʒ.ɪ.mən/ 表示“（尤指为了增进健康的）生活规则，养生之道，养生法”，英文解释为“any set of rules about food and exercise that someone follows, especially in order to improve their health”举个🌰：After his heart attack the doctor put him on a strict regimen. 他的心脏病发作后，医生给他制订了严格的生活规则。

“The most important requirement for choice is not the availability of multiple options,” she writes in Aeon magazine. “It is the existence of a savvy , sovereign chooser who is well aware of his needs and who acts on the basis of self-interest.”
“选择最重要的要求不是有多个选项，”她在《万古》网络杂志(Aeon)上写道，“而是有一个精明的、有主权的选择者，他/她非常了解自己的需求，根据自我利益行事。”

savvy
作名词，savvy /ˈsæv.i/ 表示“常识；实际能力”，英文解释为“practical knowledge and ability”如：business savvy 专业知识。
savvy 作形容词，表示“有见识的；懂实际知识的；通情达理的”，英文解释为“having practical knowledge and understanding of sth; having common sense”，如tech-savvy指的就是懂技术，精通技术/科技的（knowing a lot about modern technology, especially computers），trend-savvy的意思是对当前流行趋势具有敏锐的洞察力和理解能力，紧跟潮流的。
🎬电影《爱情、婚礼和婚姻》（Love, Wedding, Marriage）中的台词提到：if you're gonna be gone for six months, you need to be internet email savvy. 如果你要离开半年 你得精通互联网电子邮件。

sovereign
sovereign /ˈsɒv.ər.ɪn/ 作名词， 表示“君主； 元首； 最高统治者”，英文解释为“a king or queen”
作形容词，sovereign /ˈsɒv.ər.ɪn/ 表示“至高无上的；完全独立的”，英文解释为“having the highest power or being completely independent”

The Regime of Choice encourages a certain worldly pragmatism . It nurtures emotionally cool, semi-isolated individuals. If the Russian model is too reckless , the American model involves too much calculation and gamesmanship . “The greatest problem with the Regime of Choice stems from its misconception of maturity as absolute self-sufficiency,” Aronson writes. “ Attachment is infantilized . The desire for recognition is rendered as ‘neediness.’ Intimacy must never challenge ‘personal boundaries.’”
选择制鼓励某种世俗的实用主义。它培养情感冷静、半孤立的个人。如果说俄罗斯的模式太鲁莽，那么美国的模式涉及太多的计算和招数。“选择制的最大问题源于它错误地认为成熟就是绝对自立，”阿伦森写道。“依恋被认为是幼稚的表现。对承认的渴望被视为‘缠人’。亲密永远不能挑战‘个人底线’。”

pragmatism
pragmatism /ˈpræɡ.mə.tɪ.zəm/ 表示“实用主义；务实思想”，英文解释为“the quality of dealing with a problem in a sensible way that suits the conditions that really exist, rather than following fixed theories, ideas, or rules”

reckless
reckless /ˈrek.ləs/ 表示“鲁莽的；轻率的；不顾后果的”，英文解释为“showing a lack of care about danger and the possible results of your actions”举个🌰：He showed a reckless disregard for his own safety. 他对个人安危全然无所顾忌。

gamesmanship
gamesmanship /ˈɡeɪmz.mən.ʃɪp/ 表示“比赛战术，比赛策略”，英文解释为“the activity of trying to win a game by doing things that are not really breaking the rules but are intended to destroy the confidence of the other player”

stem
stem /stem/ 作动词，表示“阻挡；阻止；遏制”，英文解释为“to stop something unwanted from spreading or increasing”举个🌰：These measures are designed to stem the rise of violent crime. 这些措施旨在遏制暴力犯罪的增加。
stem from sth 表示“源自；由…造成”，英文解释为“to start or develop as the result of something”举个🌰：Her problems stem from her difficult childhood. 她的问题主要是由艰难的童年生活造成的。
作名词，表示“（植物的）干，茎，梗，柄”，英文解释为“the stick-like central part of a plant that grows above the ground and from which leaves and flowers grow, or a smaller thin part that grows from the central part and supports the leaves and flowers”如：flower stems 花茎。

maturity
maturity /məˈtʃʊə.rə.ti/ 1）表示“发育成熟，长成”，英文解释为“the state of being completely grown physically”举个🌰：How long does it take for the chicks to grow to maturity? 小鸡多长时间才能长大？
2）表示“（心智）成熟；成熟阶段；完善的状态”，英文解释为“the quality of behaving mentally and emotionally like an adult；a very advanced or developed form or state”
3）表示“（保险合同或投资）到期，开始有回报”，英文解释为“the time when an insurance agreement or investment becomes ready to be paid”举个🌰：The investment reaches maturity after ten years. 这项投资10年后开始获得回报。

attachment
attachment /əˈtætʃ.mənt/ 1）表示“深厚的感情；喜爱，爱慕”，英文解释为“a feeling of love or strong connection to someone or something”举个🌰：At university I formed a strong attachment to one of my tutors. 上大学时，我和一位导师建立了很深厚的感情。
2）表示“依恋”，英文解释为“a feeling of love and need for another person, for example for a mother by her child”举个🌰：Secure attachment is believed to be important for healthy development. 安全感据信是改善健康的重要因素。
3）表示“附件；附属物；附加设备”，英文解释为“an extra piece of equipment that can be added to a machine”举个🌰：This food processor has a special attachment for grinding coffee. 这个食品加工器附有一个专门用来研磨咖啡的装置。

infantilize
infantilize /ɪnˈfæn.tɪ.laɪz/ 表示“将…当作小孩对待”，英文解释为“to treat someone as if that person were a child, with the result that they start behaving like one”

intimacy
intimacy /ˈɪn.tɪ.mə.si/ 表示“亲密；密切；关系密切；暧昧关系”，英文解释为“the state of having a close personal relationship with sb”。也可以表示“亲昵的言行；性关系”，英文解释为“things that are said or done only by people who have a close relationship with each other”。

Indeed, a lot of our social fragmentation grows out of the detached , utilitarian individualism that this regime embodies .
事实上，我们的很多社会分裂源于这个体系所体现的分离的、追求功利的个人主义。

fragmentation
fragmentation /ˌfræɡ.menˈteɪ.ʃən/ 表示“碎片化”，英文解释为“the action or process of breaking something into small parts or of being broken up in this way”举个🌰：He claimed that social fragmentation was a by-product of the internet. 他声称，社会分裂是互联网的副产品。

detached
detached /dɪˈtætʃt/ 1）表示“分离的，分开的；拆下的”，英文解释为“separated”举个🌰：The label became detached from your parcel. 标签已经从你的包裹上掉下来了。
2）表示“认为与己无关的；毫不关心的，心不在焉的”，英文解释为“A detached person does not show any emotional involvement or interest in a situation.”举个🌰：She seemed a bit detached, as if her mind were on other things. 她似乎有些心不在焉，好像心思在别的事情上。

utilitarian
utilitarian /juːˌtɪlɪˈtɛərɪən/ 1）表示“功利主义者”，英文解释为“A utilitarian is someone with utilitarian views.”举个🌰：One of the greatest utilitarians was Claude Helvetius. 最伟大的功利主义者之一是克劳德·爱尔维修。
2）表示“（物体、建筑等）实用的”，英文解释为“Utilitarian objects and buildings are designed to be useful rather than attractive.”举个🌰：His office is utilitarian and unglamorous. 他的办公室实用而素淡。
3）表示“功利主义的”，英文解释为“Utilitarian means based on the idea that the morally correct course of action is the one that produces benefit for the greatest number of people.”举个🌰：It was Tom who was the best publicist for utilitarian ideas. 汤姆才是功利主义思想的最佳宣传家。

embody
embody /ɪmˈbɒd.i/ 1）表示“体现（思想或品质）；具体象征；代表”，英文解释为“To embody an idea or quality means to be a symbol or expression of that idea or quality.”举个🌰：Jack Kennedy embodied all the hopes of the 1960s. 杰克·肯尼迪体现了20世纪60年代的全部希望。
2）表示“包含；收录”，英文解释为“If something is embodied in a particular thing, the second thing contains or consists of the first.”举个🌰：The proposal has been embodied in a draft resolution. 这项提议已经被包含在一份决议草案中。

The dating market becomes a true market, where people carefully appraise each other, looking for red flags. The emphasis is on the prudential choice, selecting the right person who satisfies your desires. But somehow as people pragmatically “select” each other, marriage as an institution has gone into crisis. Marriage rates have plummeted at every age level. Most children born to women under 30 are born outside of wedlock . The choice mind-set seems to be self-defeating.

约会市场成了真正的市场，人们仔细地互相评价，留意对方的不良表现。重点是审慎地选择，挑选满足你愿望的合适的人。但不知为何，当人们从实用主义的角度“选择”彼此时，婚姻作为一种体制就陷入危机了。所有年龄层的结婚率都暴跌。30岁以下的女性所生的孩子大多是非婚生的。选择心态似乎在自我毁灭。

appraise
appraise /əˈpreɪz/ 表示“评定;鉴定;评价”，英文解释为“to examine someone or something in order to judge their qualities, success, or needs”举个🌰：At the end of each teaching practice, trainee teachers are asked to appraise their own performance. 在每次教学实习结束时，都要求实习教师对自己的表现作自我评定。

pragmatically
pragmatically /præɡˈmæt.ɪ.kəl.i/ 表示“讲究实际地，重实效地;实用主义地”，英文解释为“in a pragmatic way”举个🌰：It is intended that these guidelines should be applied flexibly and pragmatically. 这些指导原则在执行时应灵活运用，讲究实效。

prudential
prudential /pruːˈdən.ʃəl/ 表示“谨慎的，慎重的；精明的”，英文解释为“careful and avoiding risks”如：a prudential approach 谨慎的方式。

plummet
plummet /ˈplʌmɪt/ 此前在《纽约时报》这头版，“爆表”了...文中提到过，表示“（数量、比率、价格）暴跌”，英文解释为“If an amount, rate, or price plummets, it decreases quickly by a large amount.”举个🌰：In Tokyo share prices have plummeted for the sixth successive day. 在东京，股价已经是连续第6天暴跌了。
瑞幸咖啡怎么了？ 文中也出现过，CNBC的标题Shares of China’s Luckin Coffee plummet 80% after investigation finds COO fabricated sales就用到了plummet这个词。

📍类似的表达「暴跌」的词有：plummet，tank，sink，plunge和slump，欢迎补充。

wedlock
wedlock /ˈwed.lɒk/ 表示“已婚状态”，英文解释为“the state of being married”

Even those of us who have had humbling experiences in this realm can look at those who seem to have this lifelong thing figured out and see a different set of attitudes and presuppositions , which you might call a Regime of Covenants . A covenant is not a choice, but a life-altering promise and all the binding the promise entails .
就连我们这些在该领域经验不多的人，也可以在那些似乎已搞定这件终身大事的人身上看到一套不同的态度和假设，你可以称之为“契约制”。契约不是选择，而是改变生活的承诺以及这个承诺所带来的束缚。

humbling
humbling /ˈhʌm.bəl.ɪŋ/ 表示“使人谦逊的，羞辱人的”，英文解释为“causing someone to understand that they are not as important or special as they thought”举个🌰：I find his heroism humbling. 我觉得他的英雄主义令人谦卑。

realm
realm /rɛlm/ 1）表示“领域；场所”，英文解释为“an area of activity, interest, or knowledge”举个🌰：At the end of the speech he seemed to be moving  into the realms of  fantasy. 讲话的最后，他似乎进入了虚幻的境地。
2）表示“王国”（a country ruled by a king or queen）
📍beyond the realm of possibility 表示“超出范围，不可能”（not possible），相反的说法：within the realm of possibility 意思就是“在可能的范围”（possible）举个🌰：A successful outcome is not beyond the realms of possibility. 最后取得成功并非没有可能。
🎬电影《复仇者联盟2：奥创纪元》（Avengers: Age of Ultron）中的台词提到：In every realm, there's a reflection. 每个国度都有倒影。

presupposition
presupposition /ˌpriː.sʌp.əˈzɪʃ.ən/ 表示“推定，推测，假定”，英文解释为“something that you believe is true without having any proof”举个🌰：Your actions are based on some false presuppositions. 你的行动是基于一些错误的假设。

covenant
covenant /ˈkʌv.ən.ənt/ 表示“盟约；契约；协定；承诺”，英文解释为“a formal agreement or promise between two or more people”举个🌰：The contract contained a restrictive covenant against building on the land. 该合同包含严格的限制条款，禁止在这块土地上建筑施工。

entail
entail /ɪnˈteɪl/ 表示“使必要；牵涉”，英文解释为“to make something necessary, or to involve something”举个🌰：Such a large investment inevitably entails some risk. 这样的巨额投资必然会有一定的风险。

The Regime of Covenants acknowledges the fact that we don’t really choose our most important attachments the way you choose a toaster . In the flux of life you meet some breathtakingly amazing people, usually in the swirl of complex circumstances. There is a sense of being blown around by currents more astounding than you can predict and control. Mostly you’re bumblingly trying to figure out the right response to the moments you’re in.
契约制承认这样一个事实：我们选择最重要伴侣的方式与选择烤面包机的方式并不相同。在人生的洪流中，你会遇到一些让你心潮澎湃的了不起的人——通常是在复杂的漩涡中。你会有一种被电击的感觉，超出了你的预期和可控范围。大多数情况下，你在慌乱地试图弄清这种时候你的正确反应该是什么。

toaster
toaster /ˈtəʊ.stər/ 表示“电烤箱”，英文解释为“an electric device for making toast”

flux
flux /flʌks/ 表示“不断的变动，不停的变化”，英文解释为“continuous change”举个🌰：Our plans are in a state of flux at the moment. 我们的计划目前处在不断变化之中。

swirl
swirl /swɜːl/ 原意表示“使（液态、流动的物质）快速旋流；（液态、流动的物质）快速旋流”，英文解释为“If you swirl something liquid or flowing, or if it swirls, it moves around and around quickly.”
可以引申为“流传，传播”的意思，类似于spread或者是circulate，举个🌰：Rumours have swirled for years that he is on the point of retiring. 多年来一直有传言说他快要退休了。

📍circulate有“传播；流传；散布”的含义（if a story, an idea, information, etc. circulates or if you circulate it, it spreads or it is passed from one person to another），举个🌰：Rumours began to circulate about his financial problems. 有关他财务困难的谣言开始流传开来。

current
current作名词，熟词僻义，表示“水流；气流；电流”，英文解释为“a movement of water, air, or electricity in a particular direction”如：to swim against/with the current 逆流/顺流而游。

bumblingly
bumbling /ˈbʌm.blɪŋ/ 形容词性，表示“糊涂的；笨手笨脚的”，英文解释为“confused and showing no skill”举个🌰：I've never seen such bumbling incompetence! 我从未见过这样的糊涂和无能！

When you are drawn together and make a pledge with a person, the swirl doesn’t end; it’s just that you’ll ride it together. In the Regime of Covenants, making the right one-time selection is less important than the ongoing action to serve the relationship.
当你们被拉到一起，共同做出承诺时，那个漩涡并没有停止，你们只是要一起驾驭它。在契约制中，比做出一次正确选择更重要的是不断努力为这段关系服务。

pledge
pledge /pledʒ/ 1）作动词，表示“承诺，保证（做某事）；保证给予（某物）”，英文解释为“When someone pledges to do something, they promise in a serious way to do it. When they pledge something, they promise to give it.”举个🌰：He pledges support and offers to help in any way that he can. 他承诺给予支持并提供力所能及的帮助。
2）表示“抵押”，英文解释为“If you pledge something such as a valuable possession or a sum of money, you leave it with someone as a guarantee that you will repay money that you have borrowed.”举个🌰：He asked her to pledge the house as security for a loan. 他要她抵押房子作为贷款担保。
3）作名词，表示“誓言；诺言；保证”，英文解释为“When someone makes a pledge, they make a serious promise that they will do something.”举个🌰：The meeting ended with a pledge to step up cooperation between the states of the region. 会议以加快该地区州之间合作的承诺结束。

The Covenant people tend to have a “we” consciousness . The good of the relationship itself comes first and the needs of the partner are second and the individual needs are third. The covenant only works if each partner, as best as possible, puts the other’s needs above his or her own, with the understanding that the other will reciprocate .
订立契约的人往往具有“我们”的意识。关系本身的良好状态是第一位的，伴侣的需求是第二位的，个人的需求排在第三位。只有每个伴侣都尽可能地把对方的需求置于个人需求之上、知道对方会做出回报，契约才能成立。

consciousness
consciousness /ˈkɒn.ʃəs.nəs/ 表示“意识；感觉；觉悟”，英文解释为“the state of understanding and realizing something”举个🌰：Her consciousness that she's different makes her feel uneasy. 意识到自已与众不同，她感到很不自在。

reciprocate
reciprocate /rɪˈsɪp.rə.keɪt/ 表示“回报，报答，酬答”，英文解释为“to share the same feelings as someone else, or to behave in the same way as someone else”举个🌰：Sadly, my feelings for her were not reciprocated. 很不幸，我为她付出的感情没有得到回报。

The underlying truth of a Covenantal Regime is that you have to close off choice if you want to get to the promised land. The people one sees in long, successful marriages have walked the stations of vulnerability. They’ve overthrown the proud ego and learned to be utterly dependent on the other. They’ve faced the ways they are difficult to be with and tried to address them. They’ve gone through all the normal episodes of confession , apology, defensiveness, forgiveness and loving the other most when there’s nothing lovely about them.
契约制的根本真理是，如果你想到达承诺之地，你必须停止选择。长久成功的婚姻中的人已经走过了那些脆弱的站点。他们克服了自负，学会了完全依赖对方。他们遇到过难以应对的情况，努力克服了它们。他们经历了所有正常的表白、道歉、辩解和宽恕，在对方毫无可爱之处的时候给予他/她最多的爱。

ego
ego /ˈiːɡəʊ, ˈɛgəʊ/ 表示“自我价值感；自我，自我意识；自我评价；自我中心；自负；自尊心”，英文解释为“Someone's ego is their sense of their own worth. For example, if someone has a large ego, they think they are very important and valuable.”举个🌰：He had a massive ego, never would he admit he was wrong. 他有极强的自我价值感，从来不会承认他错了。

episode
在电视/电影节目中，episode /ˈep.ɪ.səʊd/ 表示“一集，一节，片断”（one of the single parts into which a story is divided, especially when it is broadcast on the television or radio），也可以指“事件；（相关的）一连串事件；一段经历”，英文解释为“a single event or group of related events”举个🌰：This latest episode in the fraud scandal has shocked a lot of people. 诈骗丑闻最新爆出的这一事件让很多人瞠目结舌。
还可以指「疾病的发作，发病」，英文解释为：a finite period in which someone is affected by a specified illness.
补充： 📍第几集用的是Episode，第几季则为Season. 你下载美剧时可能就会看到S01E02，就是指的第1季第2集。最后一集 finale：the last part of a piece of music or of a show, event etc （演出的）终场，最后一幕；（音乐的）终曲；（事件等的）结尾。
🎬还有，看剧时新一集开头通常会有的一个说法：previously on ...，...的前情提要，前情回顾。

confession
confession /kənˈfeʃ.ən/ 1）表示“坦白；供认，招认；承认”，英文解释为“the act of admitting that you have done something wrong or illegal”举个🌰：I have a confession to make - I've lost that book you lent me. 我有件事要坦白——我把你借给我的那本书丢了。
2）表示“忏悔，告罪”，英文解释为“an occasion when a Christian tells God or, especially in the Roman Catholic Church, tells a priest formally and privately, what they have done wrong so that they can be forgiven”

You only do all this if you’ve set up a framework in which exit is not an easy option, in which you’re assured the other person’s love is not going away, and in which the only way to survive the crises is to go deeper into the relationship itself.
只有在你知道退出不是一个容易的选择时，在你确定对方的爱不会消失时，在你知道化解危机的唯一方式是更加深入这份感情时，你才会做所有这些。

assure
assure /əˈʃɔːr/ 表示“（尤指为消除其忧虑而）确定地对…说，向…保证，使确信；让…放心”，英文解释为“to tell someone confidently that something is true, especially so that they do not worry”举个🌰：She assured him (that) the car would be ready the next day. 她向他保证说他的车第二天就能修好。

The final feature of a covenant is that the relationship is not just about itself; it serves some larger purpose. The obvious one in many cases is raising children. But the deeper one is transformation . People in such a covenant try to love the other in a way that brings out their loveliness. They hope that through this service they’ll become a slightly less selfish version of themselves.
契约的最后一个特性是，这段恋情不只是关于它本身，而是服务于一些更大的目标。在很多情况下，最明显的目标是养育孩子。但更深的目标是实现自我转变。订立契约的人努力去爱对方，在这个过程中激发了自己的可爱之处。他们希望因此变得不像从前那么自私。

transformation
transformation /ˌtræns.fəˈmeɪ.ʃən/ 表示“转换；彻底改观；大变样”，英文解释为“a complete change in the appearance or character of something or someone, especially so that that thing or person is improved”

The Covenant Regime is based on the idea that our current formula is a conspiracy to make people unhappy. Love is realistically a stronger force than self-interest. Detached calculation in such matters is self- strangulating . The deepest joy sneaks in the back door when you are surrendering to some sacred promise.
契约制基于这样一个想法：我们现在的恋爱方式是一个让人不快乐的阴谋。爱情实际上是一种比自我利益更强大的力量。在这种事情上，冷漠的计算是自我扼杀。当你屈服于某种神圣的承诺时，最深的快乐会从后门偷偷溜进来。

formula
ormula /ˈfɔː.mjə.lə/ 1）表示“惯例；配方；处方”，英文解释为“a standard or accepted way of doing or making something”举个🌰：There's no magic formula for success. 成功没有窍门儿。
2）表示“公式，方程式”，英文解释为“a mathematical rule expressed in a set of numbers and letters”举个🌰：He developed a formula for calculating the area of a triangle. 他发明了计算三角形面积的公式。

conspiracy
conspiracy /kənˈspɪr.ə.si/ 表示“合谋；密谋策划；阴谋”，英文解释为“Conspiracy is secret planning by a group of people to do something illegal.”举个🌰：Seven men, all from France, admitted conspiracy to commit arson. 全都来自于法国的七名男子承认了合谋纵火。
📍conspiracy theories 阴谋论。

strangulate
strangulate /ˈstræŋ.ɡjə.leɪt/ 表示“扼杀，掐死人”，英文解释为“to kill someone by pressing their throat so that they cannot breathe; strangle”

sneak
sneak /sniːk/ 表示“偷偷地走，潜行；偷带，偷拿”，英文解释为“to go somewhere secretly, or to take someone or something somewhere secretly”举个🌰：I managed to sneak in through the back door while he wasn't looking. 我趁他不注意从后门偷偷溜了进来。
作形容词，表示“突然的；出其不意的”，英文解释为“done without any warning”如：a sneak attack 偷袭。
- 词汇盘点 - divine、descend、sociologist、irresistible、sacrifice、upheaval、absurd、stumble、astound、assert、regime、savvy、sovereign、pragmatism、reckless、gamesmanship、stem、maturity、attachment、infantilize、intimacy、fragmentation、detached、utilitarian、embody、appraise、pragmatically、prudential、plummet、wedlock、humbling、realm、presupposition、covenant、entail、toaster、flux、swirl、current、bumblingly、pledge、consciousness、reciprocate、ego、episode、confession、assure、transformation、formula、conspiracy、strangulate、sneak
- 词汇助记 By ChatGPT - A sociologist stumbles upon a divine covenant, astounded by its blend of pragmatism and recklessness. Amid societal upheaval, the sovereign asserts a new regime, pledging intimacy without sacrificing maturity. Swirling currents of consciousness and utilitarian values dictate wedlock's transformation. Detached yet astutely appraising the flux, he embodies a pragmatic shift, reciprocating collective ego with humility and prudential gamesmanship. - 推荐阅读 - 写在九周年的话
为了这个合集，准备了40个月
「LearnAndRecord」2023年度盘点
有人听写吗？推荐练听力小程序 「合集」2024政府工作报告笔记 - END - LearnAndRecord 2015年2月8日
2024年5月4日 第3374天 每天持续行动学外语