THE election date had been an open secret for so long that its announcement this week might have come as an anticlimax.

选举的日期成为一个公开的秘密如此之久以致于这星期正式通告可能没那么大的反响。

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The price of oil has been so high for so long that ConocoPhillips is planning to spin off its refining arm in 2012 and focus only on exploration and production.

目前，油价高企可谓旷日持久，因此康菲石油公司（ConocoPhillips）正打算2012年剥离其精炼部门，转而专事石油勘探和生产。

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Apple commands such a large portion of the market with its current stable of products, there's no reason to suggest any company can break in and change the way things have been done for so long.

凭借其发挥稳定的产品，Apple掌握着这个市场的大部分份额，没有任何迹象表明其他公司可以突出重围并改变固定已久的状况。

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And its stock has been a winner for so long, it defies reason.

FORBES: Connect

The merchandising team has been doing its job so well for so long that it can just look at an item and know it's going to be a winner with SkyMall's audience, O'Donnell said.

CNN: Need a garden zombie? SkyMall has it

In one editorial, Cleveland Clinic cardiologist Eric Topol , who was the first to raise the alarm about Vioxx three years ago, calls for a formal government investigation into how Merck (nyse: MRK - news - people ) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration left Vioxx on the market for so long after concerns about its possible heart risks had been raised.

FORBES: Top Doctor Calls For Vioxx Investigation