It's (a) quarter to four now—I'll meet you at (a) quarter past.

现在是差一刻四点，我会在四点一刻和你碰面。

《牛津词典》

But there've been times in the past when monsoon rains soaked the Empty Quarter and turned it from a desert into grassland that was dotted with lakes and home to various animals.

但过去也有过一些时候，雨季的雨水浸透了这片“空白之地”，把它从沙漠变成点缀着湖泊的草原，成为各种动物的家园。

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In the first quarter oil firms drilled the same number of Wells to delineate past discoveries as they had a year before, according to Deloitte, an accounting firm.

据德勤会计师事务所的统计，第一季度石油企业按照以前发现的石油储藏而钻探的油井数量与去年持平。

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But it seems likely that government policy, which has pushed up the proportion of youngsters going to university by nearly a quarter over the past ten years, and plans to increase it from its current 43% to 50% by 2010, has also had an effect.

ECONOMIST: Education economics

The shortfall is projected to climb past a quarter of a million teachers in the next five years -- and that gap is most pronounced in predominately poor and minority schools.

WHITEHOUSE: Honoring Educators in Math and Science

Additionally, Nvidia acquired Icera in the past quarter which will give it a chance to strengthen its position in the chipset market (see Nvidia Acquires Icera as Baseband Chipset Market Heats Up).

FORBES: Qualcomm Earnings: What To Watch Before Wednesday