1.Dismal instruction in the countryside has made it easier for city slickers from posh?college?to paint their?political?opponents as pliable bumpkins.

Dismal: bad and?unsuccessful

a city slicker: is slicked by comparison with a person from the country

posh: elegant or?luxurious

pliable : easily bend ? bumpkin: awkward or simple person from the country

試翻：落后的鄉鎮教育使得村民不夠開化，接受過精英教育的城里人很容易將他們洗腦，灌輸自己的政治主張。

2. In June the government restarted a long-stalled plan to merge small schools, authorities say they hope to subsume more than 10,000 schools over four years.

stall: to stop making progress or developing

subsume: to include something into a particular group

政府6月重啟了一項已擱置許久的合并計劃，希望通過此舉，能夠在未來的四年內合并超過10000所學校。

雜談：經濟學人確實適合精讀，有些用詞雖不常用，但不得不令人拍手稱贊。從語法上看也無可挑剔。3月先繼續這種方式精讀一篇到兩篇。目標先熟悉句子結構和用詞后，逐漸再看整體框架。 One at a time.