[scode type="green"]throes
n.(尤指最后阶段的)困境,痛苦[/scode]
音标：
/θrəuz/
英文释义：
If someone is experiencing something very unpleasant or emotionally painful, you can say that they are in the throes of it, especially when it is in its final stages.
例句：
①The northerners stumbled away from the animal's death throes .
北方人脚步踉跄地闪避这只动物的垂死挣扎。
②But I was aware that my death throes had begun.
但我意识到我临死的痛苦开始了。
《经济学人》一篇关于死刑是否应该被废止的文章 Final throes 也出现了这个表达：
拓展：
这里再补充一个高频短语：
in the throes of 正忙于…;处于…困境之中【If you are in the throes of doing or experiencing something, especially something difficult, you are busy doing it or are deeply involved in it.】
举个栗子：
The country is in the throes of a general election.
该国正忙于大选。
Despite being in the throes of school exams, Tamsin made the long trek from Liverpool.
虽然还要忙着准备学校的考试，塔姆辛还是完成了从利物浦出发的漫长而艰辛的跋涉。
同时，关于“很忙”，我们之前在 还拓展过一个短语：in the thick of 表示“忙得不可开交”【If you are in the thick of an activity or situation, you are very involved in it.】
例如：
He was in the thick of preparing the food for the party, so I didn’t interrupt.
他在忙着准备聚会的食物，所以我没有打扰他。
[scode type="green"]a spate of
大批，一连串，一阵(尤指令人不快之物)[/scode]
英英释义：
A spate of things, especially unpleasant things, is a large number of them that happen or appear within a short period of time.
例句：
①Doctors have suffered a loss of prestige following a spate of scandals.
接二连三的丑闻使医生名誉扫地。
②At least thirty people have been killed in a spate of attacks across Afghanistan.
阿富汗发生一连串袭击事件，造成至少30人死亡。
和上面的“throes”一样，这里的摘要也出现了这个表达：
同时，如果“spate”不加“of”，意思就不一样了。
短语 in spate 表示 (河水)猛涨，泛滥【When a river is in spate it contains a lot more water than usual and is flowing very fast.】**
例如：
The Thames was in spate , with flocks of Canada geese speeding downriver.
泰晤士河河水暴涨，成群的加拿大雁迅速游向下游。
