draw a line AND gives the lie to many of the myths they foster

[Jiayun]

Any day now, the world will hear the guilty verdict handed down by a Chinese court on Gu Kailai, the wife of Bo Xilai, a disgraced Chinese politician. China’s rulers hope this will draw a line under an embarrassing, lurid murder trial. They may get away with it. But the episode gives the lie to many of the myths they foster: that, despite being unelected, they are “meritocrats”, in their jobs because they are good at them; that they are, if not entirely honest, then at least corrupt within forgivable bounds; and that the way a new generation of leaders is chosen every ten years is orderly and consensual.

(1) I checked the dictionary and found the definition of "draw the line" as follows:

to never do something because you think it is wrong
I swear quite a lot but even I draw the line at saying certain words.

Does "draw a line" means the same as "draw the line" and can be used with the preposition "under" instead of "at" as shown in the above sample sentence?

(2) I do not understand what is meant by "But the episode gives the lie to many of the myths they foster". Does anyone know?

Thanks!

JY

 

[TheParser]

(2) I do not understand what is meant by "But the episode gives the lie to many of the myths they foster". Does anyone know?

NOT A TEACHER


Hello, Jiayun:

This is how I interpret it:


The episode [the conviction of Ms. Gu] shows that the myths [claims made by that particular government]

are not truthful.

a. The false myths are listed after the colon that follows the word "foster."

*****

I respectfully suggest that you check your bilingual dictionary for the verb "belie." I believe that it would be a

very helpful addition to your English vocabulary.

For example:

"Tom says that he loves his wife, but his actions belie his words." (His actions -- he has a girlfriend, he doesn't

help his wife with the children, he never remembers his wife's birthday, etc. -- show that his words are a "lie.")


Sincerely yours,


James

 

[Tdol]

If you draw a line, you end the episode and move on- they hope that the discussion and rumours will stop now.

 

[Barb_D]

Note that "to draw THE lines AT" and "to draw A line UNDER" are completley different idioms.