Gd9 Flashcards
An A-list
celebrity
Mainland developers loosen purse strings to
snap up prime real estate in Hong Kong
Yuan makes beeline
for the exit into HK’s insurance policies
He is a jumped-up
vulgarian
She became an instant Internet
darling
The press agents were () when asked to explain the rules and the legal implications
stumped
Commentators were left stumped when the Ukrainian national gymnastics team
willingly took scores of zero
Switzerland would understandably have been
peeved to see Ukraine’s actions in the final
Ethiopian swimmer displays a very unathletic
paunch for 100 metres
I need a
breather
That’s world is not yet an
offer
Campaign
bluster
In a sport where hundredths of a second matter, every tiny bit of drag can be the difference between a medal and
a good-job, good-effort
Their English proficiency put further pressure on
their performance
Their online research skill could use
some improvement
There were about a dozen students who sat at the back of the classrooms and seemed
at best uninterested from Day 1
This compares
unfavourably with
The Professor’s verbal directive to me had been to
stretch the students
Cantonese TV coverage of Olympics is yet another display of
ill-formed, nauseating amateurism
As an Olympic Games couch potato, I am bitterly
disappointed, once again, with Hong Kong’s Cantonese TV coverage
We talk grandiosely about
being part of the Olympic movement
Filled with non-stop
chatter from people who know little about the events
Aided and abetted by an outsized panel of eight talking
heads, each vying for air time
Let’s face it, there is no Olympic fever in this city, however hard they pretend otherwise. I squirm at the
jibber-jabber night after night. I know I am not alone in frequently muting the babbling commentators
Giving us more than just pretty faces with loud outfits. I apologise for this
uncharitable characterisation
Sports writing, as a consequence, has become a separate and specialised genre,
producing its own galaxies of stars
By contrast, in money-mad Hong Kong, sports is only an
afterthought
A simmering
feud with
Anyone is qualified as long as they have a well-exercised tongue and
no Frankenstein features
The viewer experience is no less
painful if you happen to be unilingual Chinese
The difference between English and Chinese commentaries is like
night and day
The commentators milk their
words for their economy, humour and rich imagery
Our media outlets should raise the
bar when hiring sports writers
We should stop embarrassing ourselves further with
subpar broadcasts
This marks the city as the
backwater of international sports
Malaysian superstar stays on course for his first Olympic gold as he overcomes his
nemesis in three hard-fought games
He dropped to his
knees after hitting the winning drop shot against the defending medalist
The pair, in a symbol of their long
rivalry and friendship, exchanged shirts
Lee prevailed in a match full of twists and turns, with the final game providing the vocal
crowd of around 2,000 edge-of-the-seat action
Despite a brief comeback by the Malaysian, Lin
eased to a 1-0 lead
Lee took a firm grip on the second game, rushing to a 9-2 lead before
Lin knew what had hit him
Lee then gave himself three match points, but forever the
fighter, Lin hauled back with some incredible defensive and attaching play to make it 20-20 and force deuce
He drew
strength from his family
Helped him get
back on his feet
He was given a provisional suspension, which was ratified as an eight-month ban in April last year and
backdated so he could resume playing almost immediately
Lee is seeded to meet Lin in the semi-finals and if he can get that far and overcome his long-time nemesis, he could have overcome a major
obstacle in his quest for gold
Science is getting to grips with
ways to slow aging
He had the whip hand
over other members of the cabinet
A slinky black
evening dress
The dumbest bell that
ever rang
As time takes
its toll
Will bosses cling on, stymying the careers of their
underlings, or will they get bored, quit and do something else entirely
The pension pots would have to be
enormous to support their extended lifespans
The promise of a longer life, well lived, would
round a person out
Biological understanding is advancing
apace
Be sure to draw up a very long
bucket list
The detective trained his
gun on the side door
He laid into the
character of Mr Trump
Mr Trump is not as saintly as
he makes out
He would have to make
do with an old car
To swing the
axe at acquired firms
You were hard
up
A sore
loser
I decided to go for broke and
turn professional and see how I got on
Youths involved in drug
peddling
To allow him time to take up the much expanded portfolio, the Panel recommended a 12-month acting period, after
which he could be confirmed in that position subject to the performance review by the Panel
To heap more on
the plate
Step up to
the plate
Bonus holidays, free tolls and tickets
galore: how Hangzhou residents are being lured out of town for G20
Business owners will feel the
pinch
He was stockpiling food and planning
trips outside the city
It might stop you getting a couple of scuffs, scratches and
bumps but that’s about it
Fortunately my shoulder and cheek took the brunt of the
impact, and I was wearing a helmet that saved my life
It is his latest brush
with danger
He was pictured wearing a
neck brace
The 26-year-old felt Barlow had not won the ball cleanly and complained to the referee only
for his protest to be waved away
He decided to take matters into his own
hands by going for the middle of Barlow’s shin with a studs-up tackle
We will vigorously pursue
offenders and bring them to justice
Italy’s wobbly lenders teeter
on the brink of a banking crisis
The economy has been moribund for years, suffocated
by over-regulation and feeble productivity
Renege on
its promises
To shake any
complacency
The high mark available for participation
subsidised poor performance in the three tests
They passed on account of a reasonable to
high level of attendance
To draw greater
focus on the final test
Now come reports of a truck driver in Japan who,
distracted while playing Pokemon Go, crashed into two pedestrians
Its preferred approach will be to delay and let “time” take its course, rather than tinker
with the contentious colonial-era relic
The widening schism between Church leaders
and politicians
Earlier, the firm ramped up its push for new drivers and
passengers with an advertising blitz
Investor odds of a lift-off are
hovering near 70 per cent for December
The temptation might be to opt for a weaker currency to shore up
their competitive position
An anaemic
recovery
China arguably has more wiggle
room, if it so desires, to weaken the yuan given that Beijing now targets the yuan’s value against a basket of currencies rather than just the dollar
The euro zone’s
taped-together single currency
But if sheer size is your
yardstick, nothing beats America’s housing market
Gu could have run
afoul of mainland authorities over that
The newspaper raised eyebrow in Tuesday with a full-page
commentary accusing Leung of indirectly encouraging Hong Kong independent talk
Hong Kong Legco candidates go down to
the wire
The actress flaunts her enviably peachy
posterior in thong-style bikini bottoms
Lean on a
railing
Wearing her long locks loose and
tousled, her only accessory was a white cap that tamed her damp tresses
The prince looked glum but
later cheered up
He will tell us in the
fullness of time
They made political
hay out of the issue
Better to have loved and
lost
I took a shine to Liz straight away but
didn’t fancy any chances
The two candidates share many strongholds, with their biggest voting
clusters from polling stations in Hung Hom
Her strongest support base
netted her 829 votes
He took a swipe
at his critics
A feast to celebrate a son
cutting his first tooth
A lone battle that he cut his
political teeth on
Rigged
elections for village heads
Hongkongers are too
docile
A concept gaining
currency in Europe
The parties have declared their
support for the cause
To utter a
yelp
Not for the faint
hearted
US
lackeys
Hold victory
parades to thank supporters
It has earned him a
following in rural regions
It is about time I came
clean and admitted it
Localists who sloganeer about independence or shredding the Basic Law are a dime
a dozen. But Chu has bigger and more dangerous fish to fry
To take on powerful vested interests that have profited
mightily from the dysfunctional development
He is about to kick the hornet’s nest, but he cannot win this fight alone. Already
he has been followed and threatened
Apple is no stranger to killing things people use all the time — and even love. The headphone jack predates
not only Apple, but computers themselves. And it is ubiquitous
It is up to Apple to make the
case that this is a worthwhile exchange
For 25 years, the country has seen falling fertility rates coincide with widespread aging, a worrisome
trend that has now reached a critical mass known as a demographic time bomb
They seem to be quite content in their plain
vanilla domestic life
I can’t wait to party and have a
blast at your restaurant
The party had been a
blast, but the cleaning up was no fun
I went there last night for the first time - what a
blast
The rank-and-file
street sellers
Marathon runners found they often hit the
wall after 17 or 18 miles
I think the teaching plan may
slip, as we are put more effort into interactivity
Question, if I may - having no time to consider
the answer myself yet
Loan commercials are dragging young people into a
morass of debt
This is a mix
blessing
I hesitate to use the incendiary words of censorship, freedom of speech and intellectual freedom. However, it has become increasingly
clear to me, as events have unfolded, that these are precisely the issues
The summit bears
testament to the legacy of the peaceful settlement and reconciliation of a little known war between two of ASEAN’s founding members
The police notified the next
of kin
China is about to lift a ban on its state-owned enterprises buying terminals from Bloomberg as a
goodwill gesture to foreign investors
Pay workers only a
subsistence wage
The failure was a consequence of many factors, a full accounting of which would
require more space than we can dedicate here
Don’t stretch yourself
too thin
With world-leader London compromised by Brexit, the Asian tigers sniff
blood in the arena of financial technology
Perennial frenemies Singapore and Hong Kong have never shield
away from an opportunity to slug it out
HKT entered the
fray with nifty mobile apps and internet-based services
Usurp London’s throne as it reels over
question marks on whether investment will still flow into Britain
This is a sledgehammer
approach to hitting a pesky mosquito - don’t get me wrong, the mosquito is carrying malaria, but this is not the way to fight it
He was desperate not to slight
a guest
Leung and his top officials took
pains to explain their roles as they denied bowing to pressure from rural leaders with vested interests
Ironclad
evidence
Ironclad
guarantee
There was a moment of comic
relief - but fully open to further interpretation
Leung mouthed
a “no”
Tsang dallied before leaving the room with housing minister Cheung good-naturally
pushing him from behind
I may succumb to bouts of
coughing as I have a cold, but let’s hope not
You got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, and
latch on to the affirmative
He always was too
clever by half
They sent him to America, just to get him
out of their hair
Hong Kong
divas
She is much more the dedicated maverick than
the petulant diva
Love is a bastion
against loneliness
Reportorial tag
teams
Armrest
hoggers
A milk
run
Hong Kong markets fall on
weak yuan, and as oil drops on glut concerns
The home removal and storage company arrives next Monday and I am busy beyond
words, but I hope my offering is nonetheless reasonable
It enables the brightest to
stand out
I am inclined to leave this one, but I am very
willing to be outvoted
We don’t want to inadvertently
induce a higher failure rate
I wouldn’t be seen (caught)
dead in a navy suit
I wouldn’t be seen
dead with these guys on my bookshelf
Hong Kong leadership rivals trade
blows
Failing to see the wood
for the trees
If his wife wasn’t around, he had
roving eye
Call it
kinship
Let no one be fooled by the defendant’s superficial
charm. He has not shown a shred of remorse
There are insufficient superlatives to
describe the cruelty he has done
She could put up no resistance even
to his most depraved acts
Festering
pustules
During this trial we have been made to dredge the very
depths of the depravity during the three days of torture he subjected the victims to
He showed no emotions as the judge recounted the details of his crimes, his head
tipped slightly to one side, eyes staring at the floor
There is no
telling how that’s going to affect the confidence of investors in Hong Kong
We have to plug the
dyke, but there is nothing Hong Kong people can do
A history of chafing
under Beijing’s yoke
This polarizing election will leave a deep scar and racial
divide in the US for years to come
Not that there is any
point to
An educated
guess
She broke off,
stifling a sob
Stupidity of the highest
order
I will reserve judgement on whether your post is a
troll
Just keep in mind that hateful comments and
trolls will be deleted
To put up with such treatment you must be either a saint or
a doormat
It’s a factual account of the
nonsense our police face every day
Water in the boat sloshed
about under our feet
We can give her a figurative
kick later
That would give him a bit of a
knock
She started to blush despite
herself
Can you drive
stick?
For the first time in years we had a game that went down
to the wire and was actually exciting
The existing law is riddled
with loopholes
I just couldn’t be
arsed to read this article
His witty comeback to the professor’s stern comment earned
him a complimentary “Touche”
Shut up
already
She pushed a morsel of
toast into her mouth
Not a moment to
lose
The financial secretary has come in for a
pasting from his boss
No light yet at the end of
retail tunnel: Esprit
It sets its sight on dethroning the turbocharged car that had come into
prominence in various car touring championships
People will have to dig in their heels and grit
their teeth
Vehicles parked where they cause an obstruction will be
impounded
Secondary home buyers, sellers in Mexican
standoff
Frugality goes out of fashion in China. China’s savers, who sock
away cash like almost no one else in the world, are racking up more debt as borrowing options proliferate
The argument goes that a one-off devaluation would end the
drip-feed pressure on outflows
Eyes were glued to television screens and mouth hung open in shock as a grim-faced Leung Chun-ying told Hong Kong that he was calling it
quits in a hastily arranged press conference at 3:30pm, an hour after the government gave the media a heads-up
His announcement upended every
expectation that his re-election bid for March was a done deal
To take the bull by the
horns
He was desperate not to slight
a guest
Put word out.
I hire the clown
His unique brand of
droll self-mockery
You got a little fight
in you
I gotta take a
leak
Keep an eye
out for me
The present study is a foray
into uncharted territory
Public confidence collapsed, pulling the rug from
under the financial institutions and the economy
Moving home could hardly have
come at a worse time
Stop jerking
me around
Taxing a woman
up
Interest rates will only have a marginal impact on prices. All the pent-up
demand will put the breaks on a precipitous fall in prices
I put forward the
case against the said placement
I categorically
requested that
To say that the relocation work this morning, without our prior consent, has
dismayed us is an understatement
I appreciate that he doesn’t want to raise taxes, but sooner or later you
have to stop kicking the can down the road
No one can easily pull the
plug in its financial system
Curse
you!
I shed my
mortal shell
He behaves, acts and
conduct himself like a real actor
I allow myself some
latitude
