Thought Provoking Essays: For the Rational and Curious Mind

Lyons and Nissen agree that Americans are now sharing many things. In contrast to the nation's past emphasis on owning as much as possible.
Lyons cites the Internet is one reason why, saying people have grown a custom, for example, to sharing things on social networking sites.
Nissen adds that the economic downturn is discouraging young people from purchasing expensive items like cars and houses.

 NHK CD ラジオ 実践ビジネス英語 2013年5月号  

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  • thought-provoking [形] 深く考えさせられる、示唆に富む
We often use provoke to mean give rise to, induce. You'll hear things that provoke fear, tension, debate. But as far as I know, thought is the only one we commonly use in this hyphenated style. Thought-provoking.

We also have the noun provocation, which refers to incitement, something that provokes or stimulates some feeling or behavior.
"He gets angry at the least provocation." 
means someone will get angry with just a little incitement to do so.

  • go against  ・・・に反する、・・・に逆らう
This means to act in opposition to, to be contrary to something. As in:
Company X's sales strategy goes against conventional wisdom about marketing.
Punishment without trial goes against the principles of democracy.

It can also mean that something doesn't develop favourably for someone. For example, an election might go against the liberal candidate.

  • the more, the better 多ければ多いほどいい。
似たような表現にthe more, the merrierがある。たくさん人が集まれば集まるほど楽しい。

  • go for
In this case "go for" means be true of, apply to. I read an article the other day that said,

"Business people should be very cautious what they say."

And according to the article, that goes for communication of any kind, including email and social media networks.

この文脈では「〜にも当てはまる、〜に対しても言える」

  • trump [動] ・・・に勝る、・・・を負かす
This means to defeat, to win out over a competing thing or a person. You could say,
Company A has trumped Company B in annual sales.
This new hybrid model trumps all of its competitors in terms of milage.
  • as opposed to ・・・とは対照的に、・・・より(むしろ)、・・・ではなく
This means "in contrast to" or "rather than."
Company A sold 250,000 units in December as opposed to 200,000 in November.
John's very outgoing as opposed to Mary, who's quite introverted.
何かを比較する場合の言葉。

  • take something as a given ・・・を当然のことだと見なす[思う]
If something is taken as a given, it's seen as a fact, as certain to happen or be.
Hot, muggy weather is a given during Tokyo summers, for example.

  • weigh someone down (人) を悩ませる、(人)の重荷になる、(人)に重くのしかかる
Be a burden to someone, in this case financially, as if there's a weight on their shoulders, dragging them down, hindering them.
It can also refer to an emotional burdne. You might say,
Peter is weighed down by anxiety over the company's future.

  • give up on ・・・に見切りをつける、・・・を断念する
Garcia is using this to mean abandon something, to stop trying or hoping because we feel there's no chance for success.
I've tried to keep a diary several times over the years, but I finally gave up on the idea. I don't have the time or dedication.