名人教英文：日揆为何「乱舞」？
四月《经济学人》有篇题为flailing的文章，谈论日本灾后的政治状况，其中许多用语可以套用于现今生活各方面。文章第一段这样说：
as japan copes with its worst crisis since the second world war, the prime minister, naoto kan, is calling for a new politics. in particular, he wants collaboration with opposition parties mostly bent on ousting him. "many ways of doing things in this country have come to the end of the road," he said on april 11th. "to rebuild this country, we need a new mindset. i hope for — and expect — a new direction."
各地政府不时要应付大大小小的危机（crisis，复数crises），「应付」英译cope with (something)，cope和with是固定的组合。
politics在此解作政治风气，可以当作单数词或复数词，politics解作政治学时，则必定为不可数名词。
be bent on意谓一心想做某事，oust即驱逐。在野党老是想把执政党赶下台，这种情况并非日本独有。
come to the end of the road比喻不能持续下去。当一套办事模式已走到尽头，就需要有新的思维 — a new mindset。可惜空前危机未能改变日本的政治风气：
the quake and tsunami that devastated north-eastern japan, and the nuclear disaster that followed, have disrupted the economy, with power shortages and stricken factories. ordinary japanese have cut back on inessential spending, in a mood of sacrificial restraint. much has changed. yet one constant remains: petty political bickering.
灾难导致能源和物资短缺，日本国民节衣缩食，牺牲小我，共渡时艰。不过，政客仍然互相倾轧。狭隘的政治争拗（petty political bickering）似乎是恒久不变的事情（constant）。
as the government has attempted to deal with the mess, the opposition liberal democratic party (ldp) has picked on minor gaffes to justify exaggerated displays of outrage. mr kan's offer to the ldp's leader, sadakazu tanigaki, to form a "grand coalition" with his democratic party of japan (dpj) was rebuffed. the opposition thinks mr kan is flailing and his prime ministership, which was in trouble well before the earthquake, is in danger.
首相菅直人提出和自民党组成联盟（coalition），但自民党断然拒绝（rebuff），并且挑出（pick on）菅直人政府的小过失（minor gaffes）来大做文章。flail原指胡乱挥动手脚，说菅直人is flailing，也就是说他已经手忙脚乱，处境岌岌可危！
英语单词词汇学习：
cope with……应付
bickering……争吵
gaffe……失言、失态
flail……胡乱挥动
petty……琐碎的
sacrificial restraint……自我牺牲的克制