It will be a poor lookout for the boats if the storm strikes now. 如果现在暴风雨袭来，那这些小船可就惨了。

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难以接受。

You opened a real can of worms with that last question. 你提出的最后一个问题很棘手。

He saved me from a fate worse than death. 他帮助我摆脱了比死亡更糟的厄运。

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

She can usually talk her way out of tight corners. 她总能凭着自己的三寸不烂之舌摆脱困境。

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

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

The truth about her husband had been a bitter pill to swallow. 有关她丈夫的真相让人难以接受。

the psychological black hole of long-term unemployment 长期失业造成的心理上的绝望

There was economic carnage on the stock exchange yesterday. 昨天的股票交易中出现了惨跌局面。

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. 政府在税收问题上陷入了困境。

a credit/budget crunch 信用/预算危机

The government has backed itself into another ideological cul-de-sac. 政府已倒退到另一个意识形态的死胡同。

the curse of unemployment 失业之灾

Negotiations are finally due to begin after months of political deadlock. 几个月的政治僵局之后谈判终于在预定时间开始。

She was in the depths of despair. 她处于绝望的深渊。

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

In some regions of our country, people are in genuine economic distress. 在我们国家的一些地区，人们确实面临经济困境。

He's just the player the team needs to lift it out of the doldrums. 他正是该队重整旗鼓所需要的运动员。

The opposition aren't going to give the new government an easy ride. 反对派不会让新政府顺利地开展工作。

a meeting that would decide the fate of thousands of employees 将决定数千员工命运的一次会议

I can get you out of this fix. 我能使你摆脱这一困境。

Even slight rent increases would cause considerable hardship. 即使房租只抬高一点点都会引起相当程度的拮据。

The peace talks have reached an impasse. 和谈已陷入僵局。

Expecting employees to work longer hours for the same pay is a huge imposition. 希望员工延长工作时间却不加薪是极不合理的要求。

This city is a jungle. 这城市是个弱肉强食的地方。

The recent riots are just the tip of the iceberg. 最近发生的暴乱只是冰山一角而已。

Life is full of hard knocks. 生活充满了磨难。

They need to break the logjam that has held up the talks for weeks. 他们需要打破使会谈耽搁了数周的僵局。

He's experienced all the highs and lows of an actor's life. 一个演员一生中的起起落落他都经历过了。

an economic mess 经济困境

the dark night of the soul 心灵的伤痛期

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. 迪米特里处于绝望之中。

the plight of the poor/homeless/unemployed 穷人/无家可归者/失业者的困境

the pressure cooker atmosphere of the bank's currency dealing office 银行货币交易办公室凝重的氛围

Cooking was always purgatory for her. 做饭对她来说一直是种折磨。

kids who learn to survive in the school of hard knocks 学会在艰难困苦的磨炼中生存的孩子

She's always getting into scrapes. 她总是陷入窘境。

The country is on the slippery slope to revolution. 这个国家局势恶化，可能会发生巨大的变革。

the endless spiral of violence and hatred 暴力和仇恨无休止的恶性循环

The bad weather had put us in a bit of a spot. 恶劣的天气使我们困难重重。

The fourth round of talks ended in a stalemate. 第四轮会谈以僵局告终。

The embargo has caused a lot of suffering to ordinary people. 禁运给普通百姓造成了许多痛苦。

Our financial affairs are in a complete tangle. 我们的财务状况一片混乱。

There is bound to be a certain tension between the freedom of individuals and the need for public safety. 个人自由和公共安全需求之间必定存在着某种对立。

These elections are seen as a test of party strength. 这些选举被看作是对政党实力的考验。

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. 他陷入了贫困的窘境。

She writes about the trials of life on the American frontier. 她描述了美国边远地区生活的种种磨难。

Top investors expect a financial tsunami in the next year.

a whirlpool of conflicting emotions 矛盾情绪的失控

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