講解：

rebellion (against sb / sth)
謀反；叛亂；反叛
The north of the country rose in rebellion against the government.
這個(gè)國(guó)家的北方地區(qū)發(fā)生了反對(duì)政府的叛亂。

have your back to the wall
處于背水一戰(zhàn)的境地；沒(méi)有退路
With his chairman shot,and his workers rebelling,Andrew Carnegie's back is against the wall.主席被槍擊，以及工人的反抗，讓安德魯·卡內(nèi)基無(wú)路可退。

threat (to do sth)
威脅；恐嚇:
She is prepared to carry out her threat to resign.
對(duì)于將辭職的要挾付諸行動(dòng),她已做好了思想準(zhǔn)備。

on / to the verge of sth / of doing sth
瀕于；接近于；行將:
He was on the verge of tears.
他差點(diǎn)兒哭了出來(lái)。

salvage sth
挽救；挽回:
What can I do to salvage my reputation? (= get a good reputation again)
我怎樣才能挽回我的名聲呢？

be stabbed
被(用刀等銳器)刺,戳,捅:
He was stabbed to death in a racist attack.
他遭到種族主義者的襲擊,被刺死了。

deteriorate (into sth)
變壞；惡化；退化:
Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards.
她的健康狀況急劇惡化,不久便去世了。

brush (against / by / past) sb / sth
輕擦,掠過(guò)(某人/某物):
She brushed past him.
她和他擦肩而過(guò)。

resolve (to do sth)
決心；堅(jiān)定的信念
The difficulties in her way merely strengthened her resolve.
她所遇到的困難只是讓她更加堅(jiān)定。

whisper to sb
私下說(shuō)；秘密告訴；悄聲暗示:
It was whispered that he would soon die and he did.
有人私下說(shuō)他將不久于人世,他果然死了。

undercut sth
削弱；使降低效率
Some members of the board were trying to undercut the chairman's authority.
委員會(huì)的某些成員試圖削弱主席的權(quán)力。