Reader question:
What does this headline – A sea change on immigration? – mean?
My comments:
It means a major change in immigration policy.
Sea change is an idiom, referring to drastic change, fundamental change, a total about turn, a radical, dramatic, even mythical change, or in Chinese parley, 沧海桑田般的改变.
I don't usually explain English idioms with Chinese, as I see that as a poor habit (preventing one from thinking in terms of English when communicating in that language). But sea change is an exception. You see, it matches perfectly with the Chinese idiom, in both meaning and in terms of the mythical.
The English idiom is said to have been first used by none other than William Shakespeare.
In The Tempest, published in 1610, Shakespeare wrote:
Full fathom five thy father lies
Of his bones are coral made
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell
Ding-dong
Hark! Now I hear them – Ding-dong, bell.
The Chinese idiom 沧海桑田
"It must have been five- or six-hundred years since I saw you last," says one, a woman known as Ma Gu. "As a matter of fact, since I became a fairy, I've seen the sea morph into mulberry fields and vice versa no less than three times. In fact, the last time I visited Penglai (a celestial mountain off the coast of Qingdao, where Olympic yachting events are to be held next month) I did not fail to notice that the waters were shallower than before. I won't be surprised if the East Sea turns into dry land once again."
"Indeed, impossible is nothing", echoes the other by the name of Wang Yuan, adding with a chuckle, "No wonder ancients often talk of whipping up a dust while riding horses in the sea. Now I see what it means."
Anyways, that's sea change. I told the stories, by the way, just for the sake of telling them, to show that I can tell tales (vain, I know). I am not suggesting that you put "sea change" into 沧海桑田 any time you see it. You'll risking sounding silly if you do. And if you do, don't blame me for not having warned you first.
Now that I've satisfied my own vanity and warned you over translations, let's see a few more examples of "sea change" in the news:
1. A sea change for swimming
In the wake of Michael Phelps' success, his sport has entered the era of the 'professional' swimmer.
2. In the not-so-distant past, every summer blockbuster had to have its own chartbusting theme song...
But, musicals like Mamma Mia! aside, recent blockbusters have been bereft of big-name ballads. From X-Men to Pirates of the Caribbean, there isn't a power chord in sight.
Most striking of all is the complete absence of rock music in the rebooted Batman franchise.
Hans Zimmer, who co-wrote the soundtrack for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, says his vision of Gotham City has no room for the likes of U2, Prince and R Kelly.
"There was never any doubt that we were going to be songless," says the Oscar-winning composer.
"And, trust me, we were flooded with requests from every band in the world. I actually had to say no to some really interesting people."
Zimmer's decision, taken in collaboration with director Chris Nolan and co-composer James Newton-Howard, reflects asea-change in the way film-makers approach soundtracks.
3. Nowadays, people write to Ehrenreich with their workplace horror stories. The most shocking in the new book came from an ex-employee of one large retailer, who told Ehrenreich that in 2003 the company held him captive for six hours and interrogated him for giving a colleague a discount on a videogame, before getting him to write a false confession and firing him. A former colleague alleged that such incidents were not unusual.
With Obama ascending there is hope of a sea change, although Ehrenreich remains characteristically cautious. She sees him "tacking to the right" and was disheartened by his choice of economic adviser, Jason Furman, "who was to the far right of the Democratic Party and made his reputation as a defender of Wal-Mart [one of her principal targets in Nickel and Dimed]. And so in a way, I thought, OK, I'm not going to pay [Obama] any attention for a while."
一年级英语上册Unit1 My classroom第三课时教案
一年级英语上册教案 Unit1My classroom 第三课时
一年级英语下册Unit2 Small animals教案2
上海牛津版一年级英语Unit 9 Revision单元分析教案
一年级英语上册Unit8 Playtime 第三课时教案
一年级英语上册教案Unit1 My classroom第一课时教案
沪教牛津版小学英语一年级上册 unit9 教案
苏教版小学一年级英语下册Unit5 On the road教案
上海牛津版一年级英语Unit2 Small animals第四课时教案
上海牛津版一年级英语Unit7 My family教案
上海牛津版一年级英语下册Unit9 Revision第一课时教案
沪教牛津版小学英语一年级上册 Unit 8 教案
沪教牛津版小学英语一年级上册 Unit3 period2教案
上海牛津版一年级英语下册教案Unit9 Revision(3)
沪教版小学英语一年级下册教案unit1课时6
沪教版小学英语一年级下册教案unit1课时4
牛津版一年级英语上册教案Unit4 My bag第一课时
一年级英语教案Module1 unit6 Mid-Autumn Festival
上海牛津版一年级英语下册Unit9 Revision第二课时教案
新课标小学英语第一册期末考试百词范围
沪教版小学英语一年级下册教案unit1单元分析
牛津小学一年级英语Unit5 Fruit教案(五个课时)
上海牛津版一年级英语下册Unit3 Colours教案(1)
新起点小学一年级英语下册Unit11 Toys教案
牛津版一年级英语上册unit5 Fruit教案(3)
沪教版小学英语一年级下册教案unit1课时2
上海牛津版一年级英语下册Unit2 Small animals第五课时教案
上海版牛津一年级英语教案Unit8 Playtime(总五课时)
沪教牛津版小学英语一年级上册 Unit 3 第二课时教案
新起点小学一年级英语教案Unit7 Fruit
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |