每日一词学英语(96): shambles

日本即将于8月30号举行大选，民主党、自民党鹿死谁手，不到最后一刻还不好说，不过两党竞争早就明里暗里展开了。(From The Economist, July 30, 2009: The opposition peers ahead)

The cartoon’s sponsor, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), may be a shambles, empty of ideas and brought low by in-fighting, but its ruthless political instincts have not deserted it after half a century of nearly unbroken rule. 自民党可能是个烂摊子，可政治斗争还是比较有经验的。

这个词是单数形式，noun [sing.] (informal) a situation in which there is a lot of confusion. 同义词：mess
*The press conference was a complete shambles.
*What a shambles!
*The government is in a shambles over Europe.
*He’s made an absolute shambles of his career.