cobble together

我们先看外交部官网上这句：And none of the so-called evidence Washington and Ottawa cobbled together has ever held any water. 在美国和加拿大拼凑的所谓证据中，没有一个是站得住脚的。

1. 这句的主干是none of the so-called evidence has ever held any water，其中Washington and Ottawa cobbled together是evidence的定语从句。在完成时中ever表强调。

2. 借代修辞：以首都名称代指政府或国家, 这属于以部分代替整体的借代修辞。比如最新纽约时报中这句：The resolution of the criminal charges against Ms. Meng, the daughter of Huawei’s founder, came in the midst of a downward spiral in military, technological and trade competition between Washington and Beijing. 华为创始人之女孟晚舟的刑事指控得以解决，是在美国与中国之间的军事、技术和贸易竞争日益陷入恶性循环之际做出的。

3. 固定表达：not hold water表示站不住脚，如柯林斯和汉英大词典中这两句：This argument simply cannot hold water in Europe. 这个论点在欧洲根本就站不住脚。His account of the robbery won't hold water. 他对抢劫案经过的陈述漏洞百出。

还比如CATTI和MTI翻硕备考报告中这句：脱离实际，抽象地、绝对地来谈论公民权利和义务，不仅在中国站不住脚，在任何国家都是站不住脚的。To talk about citizens' rights and duties out of reality in an abstract and absolute way does not hold water either in China or in any other country.

4. 一词多义：今天这里重点讲下cobble吧，这个单词有很多意思，总结如下：

A. 作名词表示鹅卵石。同 cobblestone，如They found Trish sitting on the cobbles of the stable yard. 他们发现翠茜坐在场院的鹅卵石地上。

B. 作动词，表示铺鹅卵石，那cobbled自然就表示铺鹅卵石的，如MTI翻硕备考资料张培基散文中这两句：

说到这里，我们两人都不约而同地站了起来。沿着草坪旁用卵石铺成的小径，走到“北海”跟前。Thereupon, we rose to our feet simultaneously and walked along a cobbled footpath beside the lawn towards the miniature Beihai.

经过这一带森林，前面有一条鹅卵石堆成的斜坡路，两旁种着整齐的冬青树，只有肩膀高，一阵阵的青草香，从微风里荡过来，我们慢步的走着，陡觉神气清爽，一尘不染。Leaving the woods behind, we came to a cobbled slope, on either side of which stood a neat row of shoulder-high evergreens. The aroma of green grass carried over fitfully by the breeze made us instantly feel refreshed.

2014年11月CATTI三级笔译实务真题中这句：Redesigning congested traffic systems to add bike lanes to overcrowded roads is fiendishly difficult, especially in historic cities with narrow cobbled streets like Copenhagen. 为了在拥挤的道路上新增自行车道，需要重新规划原本就拥堵不堪的交通网络，这相当有难度，尤其是在诸如哥本哈根这样的历史名城（到处都是狭窄的鹅卵石街道）。

C. 作动词，是 (old-fashioned) 制（鞋）；修补（鞋）to make or repair shoes，对应的名词是 cobbler，表示鞋匠。当然cobbler还可以表示胡说，废话，同义词是nonsense，如柯林斯词典中这句：He said it was all a load of cobblers. 他说那完全是一派胡言。

D. 作动词，表示匆匆拼凑、粗制滥造，经常表示贬义，如牛津词典中这句：The essay was cobbled together from some old notes. 这篇文章是用以前的一些笔记胡乱拼凑而成的。

当然，这个单词本身是中性词，如纽约时报中这两句：

Emma, whose mom died when she was 8, says that she “cobbles together” an image of her mother from other people’s memories. 爱玛的母亲在她八岁时就去世了，她说自己是根据别人的回忆 “拼凑”了母亲的形象。

By Feb. 14, they had cobbled together a new supply chain. It was enough to offer a reduced menu of ready-to-cook noodles and dumplings for delivery, complete with instructions for people to finish the dish at home. (Noodles, she said, are best eaten immediately after being cooked and would suffer unconscionably from the time it would take to deliver them.)

到2月14日，他们凑出了一条新的供应链，可以提供一个简化的菜单——送货上门的面条和饺子，还配有指导，让人们在家里完成这道菜。（她说，面条最好在煮出来马上就吃，送面时间它就慢慢变坨了。）

turn sth upside down

我们再看孟晚舟获释后发表的这段英文演讲：

Over the past three years, my life has been turned upside down. It was a disruptive time for me as a mother, a wife, and a company executive.

过去三年我的生活天翻地覆，作为一名母亲、妻子和公司主管，这对我来说是一段灰暗的时间，

1. 固定表达：turn sth upside down表示把……颠倒过来，如汉英词典中这句：If you turn the envelope upside down, the key will fall out. 你如果把信封倒过来，钥匙就会掉出。

被动是sth be turned upside down，表示把……翻过来、颠倒过来，如汉英词典中这句：The lid, turned upside down, served as a coffee table. 那个盖子被翻过来当作咖啡桌。

也可以引申为打乱……，让……一团糟。如His entire world was turned upside down. 他的整个生活变得一塌糊涂。He felt too shocked to move. His world had been turned upside down. 他惊呆了。他的世界已经完全被打乱了。

注意这个短语和overturn的区别，overturn一般表示打翻、弄翻、翻倒、推翻，如牛津词典中这句：He stood up quickly, overturning his chair. 他猛然站起来，弄翻了椅子。

2. disruptive美 [dɪsˈrʌptɪv] ：形容词，可以表示积极意义，即开拓性的、创新的，也可以表示消极意义，即颠覆性的、破坏性的。如柯林斯词典中这句：The process of implementing these changes can be very disruptive to a small company. 对于小公司来说，实行这些变革可能会带来灭顶之灾。动词是disrupt，如下图：

every cloud has a silver lining

我们继续看孟晚舟获释后发表的这段英文演讲：

But I believe every cloud has a silver lining. It really was an invaluable experience in my life. I will never forget all the good wishes I’ve received from people around the world. As the saying goes, “the greater the difficulty, the greater the growth.” 

但我相信乌云之后必有彩虹。这是一次珍贵的人生经历，我永远不会忘记我从世界各地的人们那里收到的所有美好祝愿。俗话说得好：“困难越大，成长越大。”

1. As the saying goes, “the greater the difficulty, the greater the growth.” ：as a/the saying goes很常见，如之前进博会开幕式演讲上，大大就提到了“一花独放不是春，百花齐放春满园。”英文翻译就是As a Chinese saying goes, “All flowers in full blossom make a beautiful spring.” 

注意两点：一是引号里面的首字母大小写都可以。二是最后的标点符号在双引号内。还比如《“热闹”英语怎么说？经济学人精彩表达！》中这句：Still,  China is quicker to embrace change than outsiders might suppose. Ms Li recalls the traditional line: " Raise children to care for you when you get old." 其中Raise children to care for you when you get old表示养儿防老。

2. 英语写作句型：every cloud has a silver lining表示“黑暗中总有一线光明”或“情况总会好转”。今天重点讲这个，silver lining在外刊中很常见，表示转折，引出好的一方面，大概有以下几种句型：A. sth be a silver lining表示……成了一线希望，如金融时报中这个：

Its operating income dropped 8 per cent year-over-year to $466m. Disney+, the company’s streaming service to rival Netflix, has been a silver lining: with people stuck at home, consumers have flocked to online video to bide their time. Disney had signed up 54.5m subscribers as of May 4, less than six months after launching — having initially predicted it would take four years to reach 60m subscribers. 

去年迪士尼营业利润同比下降8%，跌至4.66亿美元。迪士尼旗下与Netflix竞争的流媒体服务Disney+成了一线希望，因为人们困在家中，消费者纷纷涌向在线视频打发时间。截至5月4日，迪斯尼的注册用户已达5450万，距离该服务上线还不到6个月。此前迪斯尼预测要达到6000万注册用户将需要4年时间。

B. there are silver linings表示困境中也有一线希望。比如金融时报中这个：

“We are in one of the most densely populated cities in the world so we expect that we could appeal to a lot of those people who want to study close to home because of travel restrictions,” Ms Sharpe says. “We believe that there are silver linings.”

夏普表示：“我们位于世界上人口最稠密的城市之一，因此我们预计，由于旅行限制我们可以吸引很多希望在离家近的地方学习的人。我们相信困境中也有一线希望。”

常见的还有there is a silver lining in/to sth表示……里还有一线希望、……还会带来希望，如纽约时报中这句：There is a silver lining to rock-bottom oil prices: The resulting cheap fuel will be a boon to consumers and to industries like trucking and airlines. 油价触底的困境里还有一线希望：由此带来的廉价燃料将会给消费者、卡车运输和航空等行业带来福音。

如果后面跟sb，就是for sb，如纽约时报中这句：

But there is a silver lining for those who are working in languages other than their native one. Research has recently shown that people who can speak a foreign language are likely to be more analytical. Other studies have suggested that people who are bilingual make decisions in different ways from those with one language. 

但对于我们在非母语环境里工作的人来说，也有一些好处。研究表明会说外语的人通常具有更强的分析能力。其他一些研究还指出，具备双语能力的人做决策的方式与仅会母语的人也大有不同。

C. sb see a silver lining/silver linings in/to，比如纽约时报上这两句：Mr. Mullenweg, whose company’s work force is fully distributed, sees a silver lining in the coronavirus. In his blog post last week, he wrote that it “might also offer an opportunity for many companies to finally build a culture that allows long-overdue work flexibility.”马伦韦格的公司员工完全不用集中办公，他看到了疫情中的一线光明。他上周在博客中写道：“许多公司可以趁这次疫情最终建立一种备受期待的灵活工作文化。

One group of students that could see a silver lining is high school juniors. Despite disruptions to testing and the admissions process, it could be easier for them to get into their stretch schools if overall enrollment declines — especially for those who can afford to pay full tuition, if fewer international students apply to U.S. schools. 

有一群学生看到了一点困境中的好处，他们是高三学生。尽管考试和录取过程受到干扰，但如果整体入学人数下降，他们可能更容易进入自己心仪的学校——如果申请美国学校的国际学生减少，能负担得起全额学费的学生就更能从中受益。

考研英语真题中也有这个用法：Many folks see silver linings to this slowdown. Potential home buyers would cheer for lower interest rates. 许多人看到了经济放缓的一线希望。潜在购房者会为利率降低而欢呼。《绝望主妇》第八季中这句：I started to see the silver lining in even the worst situations. 我甚至在最不堪的情景中也能看到希望。

这个的同义表达是sb see an upside，刚好考研英语真题中就有这个：Diners might see an upside, too. Getting a table at Manhattan’s hot new Alain Ducasse restaurant used to be impossible. Not anymore. 用餐者可能也看到了好处。要想在曼哈顿新开业的阿兰·杜卡斯餐厅（Alain Ducasse）找到一张空桌过去往往是不可能的，而现在可以了。