Word: aback
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...defying spring of a pole vaulter, even the twirling toes of a flock of synchronized swimmers. So when Mongolia's sole female marathoner, Luvsanlkhundeg Otgonbayar, appeared at the entrance of a massive marble stadium unveiled in 1896 for Athens' first modern Olympics, it was impossible not to be taken aback by her almost imperceptible pace. More than an hour had passed since Japan's Mizuki Noguchi, a 40-kg wisp, had fluttered into the stadium, vomited and smoothed back her hair to accept the gold with a time of 2:26:20. Even earlier, 16 competitors, including British world-record...
...economic, in the form of subsidizing a Manhattan Project to end our dependence on oil. We can start now and lead the world, or wait for the oil to run out and watch other countries take advantage. Bill Zawacki Beaverton, Oregon, U.S. Fantasy and Reality I was taken aback by Richard Schickel's rather brusque film review of King Arthur [July 26]. Schickel seems to think that director Antoine Fuqua's vision, with its emphasis on realism, is the film's downfall. Instead, Schickel believes that "what these movies really need are cheeky athletes as their heroes" and in addition...
...mutually hostile--constituencies. The divestment was backed by the liberal Presbyterian majority, which traditionally tempers its affirmation of Israel's right to exist with concern for Palestinian welfare. The margin for continuing Messianic funding was provided by an increasingly powerful evangelical minority. Some church activists seem honestly taken aback by the two measures being linked in controversy. It is, says conservative leader the Rev. Parker Williamson, "a disjunction, almost like frying ice." But apparently even fried ice can exert a chill. --By David Van Biema
Though the situation in Sudan has been widely condemned by foreign governments and international human rights organizations, Leaning was taken aback by the extent of the crisis “despite months of warning.” She cited “the seriousness of the humanitarian crisis, especially in the Northeastern area of the Chad/Darfur border” as one of the most pressing concerns in the region...
...March 21, 1790, Thomas Jefferson belatedly arrived in New York City to assume his duties as the first Secretary of State after a five-year ministerial stint in Paris. Tall and lanky, with a freckled complexion and auburn hair, Jefferson, 46, was taken aback by the adulation being heaped upon the new Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton, who had streaked to prominence in his absence. Few people knew that Jefferson had authored the Declaration of Independence, which had yet to become holy writ for Americans. Instead, the Virginian was eclipsed by the 35-year-old wunderkind from the Caribbean...