Reader question:
What does “take stock” mean in “we must take stock of history”?
My comments:
To take stock of history means to assess what happened before making a decision accordingly – presumably making sure that mistakes made in the past won’t be repeated. “Taking stock of history” reminds me of the saying: those who ignore history are bound to repeat it.
“Take stock” is a phrasal verb and we know phrasal verbs are the weak spot of Chinese English learners, as are idioms and colloquialisms in general.
First, definitions. If you look up the dictionary, the first meaning of stock is the supply of things you keep and can use when you need them.
If you “take stock”, you store up or using a business term you take an inventory. And when you take an inventory of, say, wine, you count the bottles before putting them away. That’s taking stock of countable items. To take stock of something uncountable, such as history, on the other hand is you to think carefully about it, before taking action accordingly.
Likewise, we often talk of taking stock of situations. That means to think carefully about current affairs and decide what to do next. I recall Rowan Atkinson the British standup comedian, better known here as Mr. Bean, once mimicking a politician addressing an election gathering, who is obviously taking stock of Britain’s whole past and present, plus with an eye for its future:
【Taking stock?】相关文章:
★ How to Learn English Well 英语学习经验
最新
2020-09-15
2020-08-28
2020-08-21
2020-08-19
2020-08-14
2020-08-12