Part 3 Flashcards
dicey
The safety of kids and the quality of care get a little more dicey if you have more than four infants to one teacher.
dicey adjective informal
dicier | diciest
slightly dangerous or uncertain
有風險的；不確定的
The company’s finances look a little dicey.
該公司的財務狀況似乎有些風險。
on their plate
Sure, could we maybe take some more kids? Yeah. But are our staff going to have even more on their plate in a low-paying job? Yes.
on one’s plate phrase of plate
occupying one’s time or energy.
“you’ve got a lot on your plate at the moment”
theoretically
Theoretically, the supply problem should kind of solve itself.
theoretically adverb
in a way that obeys some rules but is not likely
理論上
It is theoretically possible.
它在理論上是可能的。
plop
Yeah. If the price of day care goes past a certain point, some families will say, well, no, I’m not going to quit my job, so I’ll just have to find a cheaper option like my neighbor who might just plop my kid in front of a TV all day.
1. plop verb (PUT DOWN)
[ I or T, + adv/prep ]
to sit down or land heavily or without taking care, or to put something down without taking care
重重地坐下；隨便地放下
He came and plopped down next to me.
他走過來，在我旁邊重重坐下。
Lynn plopped a paper cup down beside her.
琳恩把一個紙杯隨手放在她身邊。
2. plop verb (FALL)
[ I usually + adv/prep ] informal
to fall with a soft sound
咚地落下
I noticed drops of water plopping onto the carpet.
我注意到水正滴滴答答往地毯上滴。
necessity
Because day cares can’t raise prices, the waitlist has kind of become a necessity for them because day cares cannot afford to have any vacancies.
necessity noun
1. the need for something
必要，需要
You can come early if you want to, but there’s no necessity for it.
如果你願意，可以早點兒來，但不是非早來不可。
[ + to infinitive ] Is there any necessity to reply to her letter?
有必要給她回信嗎?
The report stresses the necessity of eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.
這份報告強調大量食用新鮮水果及蔬菜的必要性。
With a personal fortune of sixty million dollars, she certainly doesn’t work out of necessity (= because she needs to).
她有6000萬美元的身家，當然不是為了生計而工作。
We’ll employ extra staff to help out as and when the necessity arises (= when we need to).
需要的時候我們會另聘僱員工幫忙。
2. something that you need, especially in order to live
必需的東西；（尤指）生活必需品
We brought only the bare necessities with us.
我們只帶了基本的必需品。
He regarded music as one of life’s necessities.
他把音樂視作生活中不可缺少的東西之一。
loss leaders
The infants are what we would call loss leaders. They kind of get you in the door, and then, you stick around.
loss leader noun [ C ]
an article that is sold cheaply in order to attract the public and make them buy other, more expensive, things
（用來招攬顧客的）低價商品
box in
So, yeah, day cares are just kind of boxed in on what they can do.
box sb in — phrasal verb with box verb
to prevent someone from doing what they want to do
限制…，約束…
She did not want to send her son to a school where he would be boxed in by so many rules and regulations.
她不想把兒子送到一所被規章制度束手束腳的學校。
externalities
Society gets all these benefits, what economists call positive externalities.
externality noun [ C, usually plural ]
plural externalities
ECONOMICS
damage caused by a company’s activities for which it does not pay, or something positive created by it for which it does not receive payment:
個體經濟單位的行為對社會或者其他個人部門造成了影響（例如環境污染）卻沒有承擔相應的義務或獲得回報
Governments, through laws and regulations, attempt to transfer the costs of externalities such as pollution back to the responsible parties.
on the back end
And actually, technically, we do end up paying when we don’t provide good child care, just on the back end when the kids grow up.
1. back end noun (BACK PART)
the part of an object or place that is furthest from the front
（物體的）尾部，（地方的）最遠處
He made the car’s back end blunter and more aerodynamic.
他讓汽車尾部變得粗短一些，更符合空氣動力學原理。
2. back end noun (BACK PART)
a person’s or animal’s bottom
（人或動物的）屁股
A cow will always turn around and smell the back end of a calf.
母牛總是會轉過身去聞小牛的屁股。
3. back end noun (LAST PART)
the last part of a process, series of events, or period of time
（過程、活動或時間段的）後期，結尾處
We’re not willing to spend on the front end - education for these kids - so we pay at the back end, for problems with crime and violence.
我們不願意在前期花錢，也就是教育這些孩子，所以就得在後期為犯罪和暴力問題買單。
更多範例
4. back end noun (COMPUTING)
[ C ] COMPUTING specialized
the part of a computer system, piece of software, etc., where data is stored or processed rather than the parts that are seen and directly used by the user
（電腦系統的）後端
Two of the most popular SQL back ends are MySQL and SQL Server.
其中最流行的兩個SQL後端是MySQL和SQL 伺服器。
maternity
So the infant care problem is one that’s more unique to the United States because we don’t have as long maternity and paternity leave.
1. maternity noun [ U ] formal
the state of being a mother
母親身分
2. maternity adjective [ before noun ]
related to pregnancy and birth
懷孕的；產婦的
maternity clothes
孕婦裝
paternity
So the infant care problem is one that’s more unique to the United States because we don’t have as long maternity and paternity leave.
1. paternity noun [ U ]
the fact of being a father
父親的身分
Increasingly, the unmarried father of a child in Europe registers his paternity at the baby’s birth.
歐洲有越來越多的未婚爸爸在嬰兒出生時登記自己的父親身分。
2. paternity formal
the origin of an idea or new product
（想法或發明的）來源，出處
whole nother
Oof, parental leave - that’s a whole nother show.
whole nother
idiom
US, informal
: completely different
That’s a whole nother story/issue.
He has taken his performance to a whole nother level.
