讲解：

rebellion (against sb / sth)
谋反；叛乱；反叛
The north of the country rose in rebellion against the government.
这个国家的北方地区发生了反对政府的叛乱。

have your back to the wall
处于背水一战的境地；没有退路
With his chairman shot,and his workers rebelling,Andrew Carnegie's back is against the wall.主席被枪击，以及工人的反抗，让安德鲁·卡内基无路可退。

threat (to do sth)
威胁；恐吓:
She is prepared to carry out her threat to resign.
对于将辞职的要挟付诸行动,她已做好了思想准备。

on / to the verge of sth / of doing sth
濒于；接近于；行将:
He was on the verge of tears.
他差点儿哭了出来。

salvage sth
挽救；挽回:
What can I do to salvage my reputation? (= get a good reputation again)
我怎样才能挽回我的名声呢？

be stabbed
被(用刀等锐器)刺,戳,捅:
He was stabbed to death in a racist attack.
他遭到种族主义者的袭击,被刺死了。

deteriorate (into sth)
变坏；恶化；退化:
Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards.
她的健康状况急剧恶化,不久便去世了。

brush (against / by / past) sb / sth
轻擦,掠过(某人/某物):
She brushed past him.
她和他擦肩而过。

resolve (to do sth)
决心；坚定的信念
The difficulties in her way merely strengthened her resolve.
她所遇到的困难只是让她更加坚定。

whisper to sb
私下说；秘密告诉；悄声暗示:
It was whispered that he would soon die and he did.
有人私下说他将不久于人世,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.
委员会的某些成员试图削弱主席的权力。