bail

为了记住bail的几个词义，我们看个半真半假的故事。bail的词源是'container for liquids'(from Old French baille). 小船有点漏水，不断拿桶(容器)往外舀水，最终侥幸上岸，安全了。
1. If you bail, you use a container to remove water from a boat or from a place which is flooded.
2. If a pilot bails out of an aircraft that is crashing, he or she jumps from it, using a parachute to land safely.
3. 美剧老友记里，Monica的帮手bailed out，她只好请Phoebe帮忙。 [escape from a situation that you do not want to be in any more]

监狱里有尿桶(也是container for liquids)。不要犯法，不要当老赖，新犯人要睡尿桶旁边。再加上前文的意思(LDOCE):
4. If someone is bailed, they are let out of prison to wait for their trial after they have left a sum of money with the court.
5. bail sb out - leave a large sum of money with a court so that someone can be let out of prison while waiting for their trial.
6. bail/bale sb/sth out - do something to help someone out of trouble, especially financial problems

COLLOCATES [搭配]

• (out) on bail
• release somebody on bail
• grant somebody bail
• refuse somebody bail
• post bail [bail之后]
• hold somebody without bail (=make someone stay in prison until their trial)
• stand bail/put up bail BrE (=pay someone's bail) [BrE - British English]
• jump bail also skip bail BrE (=not return to trial as you promised)
• set somebody's bail at something (=say how much bail they must pay)
• conditional bail BrE (=bail given if someone agrees to do something)
• unconditional bail BrE (=bail given without having to agree to do something)

用Bing国际版搜"The Five Highest Bail Amounts in U.S. History"

Wealthy New York real estate heir Robert Durst holds the record for highest bail amount set in the U.S. with a stunning $3 billion. Durst was accused in 2003 murder of his wife, with bail set at $1 billion. However, after skipping bail and tampering with evidence, Durst was re-arrested and his bail increased to $3 billion.

[百度翻译] 富有的纽约房地产继承人罗伯特·德斯特以惊人的30亿美元保释金创下美国保释金最高纪录。2003年，德斯特被控谋杀妻子，保释金定为10亿美元。然而，在跳过保释期并篡改证据后，德斯特再次被捕，保释金增至30亿美元。skip bail: to intentionally not appear in court after having been released on bail. [我也没有又短又准的译文]

再搜4 Infamous Crimes and Their Bail Amounts:
During the Baltimore Riots that followed the police killing of Freddie Gray, Jr., Bullock was photographed damaging a police car. Baltimore PD arrested the 18 year old, and his bail was set at half a million dollars — twice the amount that Gray's actual killers received. 在警方杀害小弗雷迪·格雷之后的巴尔的摩骚乱中，布洛克被拍到损坏一辆警车。巴尔的摩警察局逮捕了这名18岁的男子，他的保释金被定为50万美元——是(杀害)格雷的实际凶手的保释金的两倍。

六级/考研单词: bail, liquid, crash, parachute, situate, jail, skip, heir, stun, billion

首先“道义放两边，把利字摆中间”不对。其次有些人做事(比如宣扬我国也该允许保释)有目的，有些人瞎起哄。