elastic

elastic (from Cambridge)
His trousers were held up with a piece of elastic.

elastic band = rubber band (UK)

tumble

From living the high-flying lifestyle of property developer to the stars, former TEAC boss Gavin Muir has come tumbling down, writes Helen Westerman.

[ The House of Muir tumbles ]

vitality

1. 活力,生氣

Continual fevers weaken the vitality.

連續發燒會使人元氣大傷。

2. 生命力

3. 生動性

collapse

swelter n. 1. 熱得難受,熱得喘不過氣來 2. 熱得出汗

AT LEAST 80 people collapsed due to the extreme heat in Melbourne yesterday.

The Metropolitan Ambulance Service yesterday reported its busiest day so far this summer and there was little respite expected for emergency services overnight.

Ambulance service operations manager Paul Holman said he had heard of numerous incidents around Victoria, including the collapse of 13 people at the end of a fun run in Ocean Grove.
...
Mr Holman said 80 people had collapsed from heat exhaustion by 5pm yesterday, and there had been several further incidents reported since.

The ambulance service expected to be in for a busy night, and was bracing for further hot conditions later in the week.

[ Scores collapse as city bakes ]

boost

Hyundai has also fiddled with the other mechanicals to polish the Getz's road manners, and the addition of active front head restraints and, on 1.6 models, anti-lock brakes (ABS), give safety a boost. The cabin has been treated to a slight clean-up, and added features improve the already convincing value pitch.

[ Hyundai Getz 1.4 3-Door ]

threshold

n. doorstep, doorway, entrance; brink, verge, beginning

The State Government hopes its changes to land tax, introduced in the last budget, will take the political sting out of the issue. About 375,000 fewer people will pay the tax this year than last year because of the reintroduction of a threshold.

[ Land tax prices to go through the roof ]

perpendicular

noun or adj.

But with some drives now topping out at 500 gigabytes, the miniaturisation is nearly at its limit. Made any smaller, the particles can begin to interfere with the magnetism of their neighbours. The result is disastrous for data.

By storing bits in a vertical, or perpendicular, arrangement, engineers are able to boost capacity by taking advantage of the real estate that is freed up.

[ A boost to hard drive capacity ]

underprivileged

the underprivileged plural noun POLITE EXPRESSION FOR poor people from Cambridge

Senior Constable Olsen, 34, had been stationed in Moe for eight years and was a well-liked school resource officer for the LaTrobe Valley. She also worked with the underprivileged who lived in public housing in the area.

[ Dedicated policewoman's death shocks town ]

forensic

Qoro's lawyer David Barrow argued the prosecution case was weak and relied on as yet inconclusive forensic evidence.

[ Man refused bail over group sex assault ]

flock

to move or gather together in large numbers:

Figures from the Victorian Tertiary Admission Centre, obtained by The Age, show the number of first-preference applications for HECS or government places dropped by 2.5 per cent to 54,872.

In 2005, the number of applications dropped by 4 per cent.
...

Despite the overall fall in demand, students have flocked to the prestige institutions, Melbourne and Monash. These two and Deakin University have all recorded an increase in

Melbourne posted a 4.9 per cent increase in first-preference applications, Deakin a 5.2 per cent jump and Monash a 2.8 per cent rise.


[ Rising costs cut demand for uni places ]

correspondent

correspondent
n. reporter, journalist; person who exchanges letters with another

contagious

AUSTRALIA will have enough medication by next year to treat half of the nation's population in the event of a bird flu outbreak, and Melbourne researchers will know by the end of the month if they have developed the world's first bird flu vaccine.

The strain used in the Melbourne project was taken from a bird flu victim in Vietnam and neutralised to prevent it being contagious.

[ Melbourne at cutting edge of fight to find vaccine ]

muscle

(colloquial) squeeze through 使勁擠出(一條路)
- He muscled his way through the crowd.

(colloquial) power 力量,實力[U]
- The party's political muscle is growing.
- This magazine has considerable financial muscle and can afford to pay top journalists.
- The company lacks the marketing muscle to compete with drug giants.

patronage

OVERCROWDING on Melbourne's trains has worsened dramatically, resulting in contraventions of load limits and raising questions about how the State Government can achieve its goal of increasing public transport use.

High petrol prices and population growth along rail corridors have led to booming train patronage in the past year — and regular breaches of passenger limits on major suburban lines, Government figures have confirmed.

Public transport advocates have accused the Government of having no immediate plan to alleviate the crisis, and have called for urgent action to expand the suburban fleet.
According to the franchise agreement under which Connex runs the system, a six-carriage train should carry a maximum of 798 passengers.
...
On four lines — Broadmeadows, Dandenong, Pakenham and Sydenham, the average number of passengers per train during the peak hour is above the limit. On the Sydenham line it is 950.


[ Suburban train passenger limits breached ]

blister

SYDNEY started the new year with a near-record January temperature, 44.2 degrees, as soaring heat and strong wind fanned bushfires, but a change blew in about nine o'clock last night and offered a cooler night's sleep.
...
The mercury at Sydney's official weather station at Observatory Hill stopped rising at 4.24pm just short of the previous record, 45.3 degrees, registered on January 14, 1939.

The Bureau of Meteorology's senior forecaster, Bob Moore, said a report on average temperatures last year to be published tomorrow showed Sydney was enduring a hot spell, and nobody knew when it would end.

It was part of a warming trend that had become evident since 1988, Mr Moore said.

[ Welcome to 2006 - in a blistering 44 degrees ]