It will be a poor lookout for the boats if the storm strikes now. 如果現在暴風雨襲來，那這些小船可就慘了。

The new Prime Minister has had a baptism of fire.

The truth about her family had been a bitter pill to swallow. 她的家庭真相真的令人難以接受。

You opened a real can of worms with that last question. 你提出的最後一個問題很棘手。

He saved me from a fate worse than death. 他幫助我擺脫了比死亡更糟的厄運。

It was a nasty business firing those men. 解僱那些人是不公平的。

She can usually talk her way out of tight corners. 她總能憑着自己的三寸不爛之舌擺脫困境。

Reconciling the demands of work and family is quite a balancing act.

These milk cartons are a real bitch to open. 這些牛奶盒真不好開。

The truth about her husband had been a bitter pill to swallow. 有關她丈夫的真相讓人難以接受。

the psychological black hole of long-term unemployment 長期失業造成的心理上的絕望

There was economic carnage on the stock exchange yesterday. 昨天的股票交易中出現了慘跌局面。

Many of the consequences of the Brexit cliff edge are likely to come into focus well before the UK leaves the EU.

The government is in a corner on the subject of taxes. 政府在稅收問題上陷入了困境。

a credit/budget crunch 信用/預算危機

The government has backed itself into another ideological cul-de-sac. 政府已倒退到另一個意識形態的死胡同。

the curse of unemployment 失業之災

Negotiations are finally due to begin after months of political deadlock. 幾個月的政治僵局之後談判終於在預定時間開始。

She was in the depths of despair. 她處於絕望的深淵。

moral/ethical/political dilemmas 道德/倫理/政治困境

In some regions of our country, people are in genuine economic distress. 在我們國家的一些地區，人們確實面臨經濟困境。

He's just the player the team needs to lift it out of the doldrums. 他正是該隊重整旗鼓所需要的運動員。

The opposition aren't going to give the new government an easy ride. 反對派不會讓新政府順利地開展工作。

a meeting that would decide the fate of thousands of employees 將決定數千員工命運的一次會議

I can get you out of this fix. 我能使你擺脫這一困境。

Even slight rent increases would cause considerable hardship. 即使房租只擡高一點點都會引起相當程度的拮據。

The peace talks have reached an impasse. 和談已陷入僵局。

Expecting employees to work longer hours for the same pay is a huge imposition. 希望員工延長工作時間卻不加薪是極不合理的要求。

This city is a jungle. 這城市是個弱肉強食的地方。

The recent riots are just the tip of the iceberg. 最近發生的暴亂只是冰山一角而已。

Life is full of hard knocks. 生活充滿了磨難。

They need to break the logjam that has held up the talks for weeks. 他們需要打破使會談耽擱了數周的僵局。

He's experienced all the highs and lows of an actor's life. 一個演員一生中的起起落落他都經歷過了。

an economic mess 經濟困境

the dark night of the soul 心靈的傷痛期

Life is not exactly a barrel of laughs at the moment.

It looks like it's going to be one of those days.

This was the government's next attempt at reducing prison overcrowding.

Dimitri was in a pit of despair. 迪米特裏處於絕望之中。

the plight of the poor/homeless/unemployed 窮人/無家可歸者/失業者的困境

the pressure cooker atmosphere of the bank's currency dealing office 銀行貨幣交易辦公室凝重的氛圍

Cooking was always purgatory for her. 做飯對她來說一直是種折磨。

kids who learn to survive in the school of hard knocks 學會在艱難困苦的磨煉中生存的孩子

She's always getting into scrapes. 她總是陷入窘境。

The country is on the slippery slope to revolution. 這個國家局勢惡化，可能會發生巨大的變革。

the endless spiral of violence and hatred 暴力和仇恨無休止的惡性循環

The bad weather had put us in a bit of a spot. 惡劣的天氣使我們困難重重。

The fourth round of talks ended in a stalemate. 第四輪會談以僵局告終。

The embargo has caused a lot of suffering to ordinary people. 禁運給普通百姓造成了許多痛苦。

Our financial affairs are in a complete tangle. 我們的財務狀況一片混亂。

There is bound to be a certain tension between the freedom of individuals and the need for public safety. 個人自由和公共安全需求之間必定存在着某種對立。

These elections are seen as a test of party strength. 這些選舉被看作是對政黨實力的考驗。

Her eyes revealed the torment in her mind. 她的眼神流露出了她内心的痛苦。

He was caught in a trap of poverty. 他陷入了貧困的窘境。

She writes about the trials of life on the American frontier. 她描述了美國邊遠地區生活的種種磨難。

Top investors expect a financial tsunami in the next year.

a whirlpool of conflicting emotions 矛盾情緒的失控

We ended up with the worst of both worlds: an expensive solution that did not work.