每日一词学英语(2): lead the charge

英国的银行业看来是要重振雄风了(但愿这话没说的太早)，先是昨天HSBC talks up UK banks，汇丰唱多英国三家银行，苏格兰皇家银行今天也对前景表示乐观，于是：

Banks lead the charge，股市全线飘红，银行业一马当先。

"Lead the charge" is a military concept: one person leads the rest of the soldiers into the particular battle. To "lead the charge" means to be the first or be the majority.
Lead the charge本来是军事用语，指一个士兵带领其他人冲锋陷阵，引申意为第一个或大多数。

看另一个新闻标题：Czechs lead the charge to British universities

From the article it is clear that many Eastern Europeans go to the UK to study and the Czechs are the most numerous.
这是06年的一则旧闻了，说是当时东欧学生蜂拥来英国留学，其中捷克人最多。

每日一词学英语(1): in place

没必要那么拘泥，可以是一个词或一个语言点，也可以两个三个甚至更多。

先来一个短语：in place。是从一个门口塞进来的宣传单上看到的，讲一个即将开工的市政建设项目，原文如下：
Most of the funding is now in place and the designs have been approved by the Government Office......

如果不是先从英语看到汉语，还真不知道资金到位该怎么说。