Vocabulary

person of lofty virtue and great wisdom

operation (working) of the mind

rated for "adults only"

moral (spiritual) improvement; practice mental training; cultivate one's mind (soul)

the spiritual climate

rise and fall; ups and downs; waxing and waning; prosperity and decline; vicissitudes

poor (academic) performance; poor (business) results (showing)

novel of formation (education); novel of character development; novel which traces the intellectual, moral, spiritual or social development of a young person; Bildungsroman

sexual deviation; sexual anomaly

refreshing breeze and the bright moon; a beautiful nocturnal scene with a full moon

exquisite and elaborate

unidentified; name unknown

keeping things tidy and in order

reorganizing an industry or enterprise and weeding out redundant workers; readjustment and retrenchment

expansion of one's sphere of influence; increase in one's power (strength, influence)

power relations; balance of power (between)

within the sphere of influence (of)

the respective (relative) strength of political parties; distribution of the number of parliamentary seats held by each of the political parties

main currents (the trend) of thinking in the world

barehanded; having no wealth or position to rely on (aside from one's own resourcefulness) (when embarking on something)

avoidance of responsibility; shirking (one's) responsibility

question of where responsibility lies; issue of where liability lies; question of who is responsible

all the worldly (mundane) matters; everything in this world

corrective action (measure); rectification

(contemporary) customs and behavior; the picture of people's life in the contemporary world

trouble caused by a slip of the tongue

customer relations; serving (helping, attending to, waiting on) customers

preaching burglar; burglar who preaches at the victim about the methods of preventing similar crimes

tub-thumping preacher; preacher (priest) who is good at delivering a sermon; pulpiteer

aggressive; active and bold (daring); resolute determination

expansionary fiscal policy

complete bed rest; complete rest and quiet

absolute obedience; complete submission

lousy carpenter

theft; act of larceny

persuasiveness; skilled in the art of persuasion

Critically Endangered (conservation status); CE

legendary literature; narrative literature

(public) morals and sentiments

discrimination of right and wrong; distinguishing between right and wrong