by AFP in Beijing and Staff Reporter
SCMP, page A1 November 19, 2009
1. For the great communicator [Obama], China has been an uphill trip
- difficult -
2. It was the week the Obama juggernaut ran into an icy great wall
- a massive and inexorable force -
3. The charisma and mastery of [Obama] was stifled, and his rhetoric corralled into diplo-speak
- restrained, choked back -
- confined, limited to -
4. His isolation was epitomised yesterday when...
- embodied, portrayed, exemplified -
5. The site was at once majectic and eerie
- strange and a little bit frightening, unearthly -
6. Standing alone on the ancient barrier, Obama appeared overawed
- intimidated -
7. The US leader has sent inspiring words winging across the...
- soaring, flying -
8. His audience was handed-picked and drilled by...
- well prepared and heavily supervised
usually used in a military context, to be drilled means to undergo a military training -
9. which made [it] all the more unfathomable
- impossible to understand -
10. a bureaucracy so finely attuned to every nuance of protocol...
- sensitive to-