Reader's question:  

For now, the district will have to do more with less. "We are going to have to do that, and we will," Marlow said.

Could you explain "to do more with less"?

My comments:

More? More work. Less? Less resources to do the work with.

For example, after the recent tsunami devastated Japan, many organizations found themselves in this situation. Massive rebuilding means more work, which is obvious. However, people who want to undertake rebuilding jobs have less resources to work with, what with losses of life, properties and damaged roads, etc, all of which makes jobs more difficult than before.

Nevertheless, the Japanese are going to do it. There’s no alternative. Japan, as the district sited in the above example, will be doing more with less.

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Go to Zhang Xin's column

本文仅代表作者本人观点，与本网立场无关。欢迎大家讨论学术问题，尊重他人，禁止人身攻击和发布一切违反国家现行法律法规的内容。

Zhang Xin（张欣） has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.