As Guomindang military morale collapsed, accompanied by civilian revulsion with the financial chaos caused by rampant inflation, and the continued harsh repression of all dissent, the Communists consolidated their gains and advanced with incredible rapidity, entering Beijing in January 1949, Nanjing in April, Shanghai in May, and Changsha in August. (Mao by Jonathan Spence)
就在國民黨部隊士氣全面潰散之際，通膨高漲造成的金融混亂讓老百姓感到深惡痛絕，而政府對異己的嚴厲鎮壓卻並未曾稍歇。共產黨趁機鞏固戰果，並且以驚人的速度向前推進，於1949年元月進北京，四月取南京，五月下上海，八月奪長沙。（毛/史景遷）
箇中奧妙
歷史時空何其巨大龐雜，要在三言兩語間就精準地重現某個特定重大時刻與場景，自非易事。寥寥數句，史景遷十分鮮活地幫助讀者想像國共內戰進入尾聲之際，勝負將分，該是何等一種氛圍。列出一連迭相隔甚短的時間與理當堅守的各處要津，讀者當更能輕易體會國府在大陸兵敗如山倒之速。
關鍵字詞
1. Guomindang: 這是國際通用、中國大陸全面採用的漢語拼音法。回到國人更為熟悉的韋氏拼音法則是Kuomintang，簡稱KMT。
2. morale: 別把意為士氣的morale和moral弄混了。moral作形容詞時，意為（關乎、合乎）道德的，作名詞時則指故事或寓言中的教訓，道德的名詞是morality或morals。
We consider it a moral obligation to help them.
The moral of the movie is that honesty is the best policy.
Don't make enemies by imposing morality on others.
John is seen as a man of loose morals.
3. accompany: 一般作及物動詞用，意思是伴隨或伴奏。相關的名詞是company（陪伴）與companion（同伴），請特別注意keep (someone) company的用法。
David agreed to accompany him on a trip to Timbuktu.
She accompanied her husband on the violin.
I’m glad to have you keep me company.
A book is man’s best companion.
4. civilian: 作名詞（平民）與形容詞（民間的）均可。容易弄混的單字包括形容詞civic （城市的、市民的），形容詞civil （公民的、禮貌的、文明的），名詞civilization（文明）。
In war, civilian casualties and collateral damage are often inevitable.
There is no excuse for killing unarmed civilians.
All citizens are supposed to fulfill their civic duties.
The government is considering a pay raise for civil servants.
Their request deserves a civil reply.
With records dating back over 5,000 years, China is one of the oldest continuous major world civilizations.
5. revulsion: 一個字母之差卻不影響revulsion與repulsion 表達大致相同的意思，嫌惡是也。信手再列幾個同樣有re-字首的名詞︰repugnance（嫌惡），revolution（革命），rebellion（反抗）。
“The sight of him brought back to me all the horror which I was not unwilling to forget, and I felt in me a sudden repulsion for the cause of it.” (The Moon and Sixpence by Maugham W. Somerset)
I feel a strong repugnance to his smoking in the room.
The French Revolution began in 1789.
We’re familiar with their rebellion against tyranny and oppression.
6. repression: 同樣地，在此列舉幾個相似度極高的單字，提供諸君參考︰repression與suppression都可用來表達鎮壓、制止之意，oppression則意為壓迫，depression意指憂鬱、蕭條。
Brutal repression alone does not seem enough to contain the upheaval.
The bloody suppression of the riot is questionable.
Oppression of the minorities is to blame for the conflict.
Depression is a mental disorder that often takes the form of extreme gloom.
The Great Depression of the early 1930s was characterized by mass unemployment.
7. dissent: 作不及物動詞與名詞均可，意思是（持）不同的意見、反對，同義字包括dissension, objection, opposition，而dissident則意指異議人士。
A few people dissent from the near consensus of the committee.
We will not support any regime that relies on force to quell dissent.
Dissension within the ruling party is getting worse by the day.
“Objection, your Honor!”
The opposition parties plan to stage a protest march this coming Sunday.
The dissident has been in exile for 15 years.
8. consolidate: 這個（及物或不及物）動詞意指（加以）整合或加強、變強，同義字包括merge, combine, strengthen。
The bank plans to consolidate its five branches in Shanghai into two.
The firms needs time to consolidate after a recent string of mergers and acquisitions.
The president was preoccupied with consolidating his power in the first few months after taking office.
Merging the three separate divisions under a unified management is not going to be easy.
Hard work and a bit of luck often combine to make things work.
Regular exercise will strengthen your physical fitness. In other words, your physical fitness will strengthen if you exercise regularly.
9. incredible: 這個形容詞的意思是令人無法置信的，甚至到了令人吃驚的地步，同義字是unbelievable，而反義字理所當然是credible, believable。另外，incredulous意指不輕易相信的、懷疑的。
Unbelievable luck is the only explanation for John’s passing the exam.
The plot of the movie does not appear credible to me.
The prosecution needs a believable witness to have a case.
He is always incredulous of stories about afterlife.
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