litmus tests

full moons like this are litmus tests for the future.

这种满月是未来的试金石。

"we hadn't reckoned with the way people in washington set up litmus tests, " mr. bader said. "maybe we should have. "

“我们没有预料到华盛顿政界人士会以那种方式设置关键考验，”贝德说。“或许我们应该预料到。”

these will be key litmus tests for investor sentiment towards southern european debt.

这些都将考验投资者对南欧债务的信心。

when making decisions about the future, we naturally use events from the past as litmus tests.

当我们做出有关未来的决定时，自然地我们用过去的事件作为”试金石“。

but the real litmus tests for mr obama are still to come.

但对奥巴马的真正考验还未到来。

great, but before you commit the rest of the year to executing it, make sure you pass these five litmus tests.

好极了，但在你决定在全年贯彻落实该规划之前，先看看你能否通过下述5项考验。