1. bring sth. to a close 终结……
例句:A domestic robot which can be left indoors to clean carpets could bring to a close nearly a century of manual vacuum cleaning.
一种可留在家里自行清洁地毯的家用机器人的发明或将终结长达百年的手动真空吸尘器的清洁历史 。
2. gain an/the upper hand 在……占上风
例句:China made that promise as part of efforts to gain the upper hand in global climate-change negotiations.
中国的这一承诺在一定程度上是为了争取在全球气候变化谈判中占据上风 。
3. call for 呼吁
例句:He was one of the first Western politicians to call for an end to apartheid.
他是第一批呼吁终止种族隔离的西方政治家之一 。
4. in vain 徒劳
例句:We have tried to solve the problem in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain.
我们已经从每一个可能的角度去尝试解决这个问题了,到头来却都是竹篮打水一场空 。