I can't understand what sentence means. Hello! There is text. I can't understand the text which is highlighted with asterisks: Every few days, Edgar Paz, the head of Theranos’s security team, would come down with a mischievous look on his face, a badge hidden in his hand. At the sight of him, John and the logistics team would gather in excitement, knowing what was coming. As Paz drew closer, *he would slowly spin the badge from its necklace* and reveal the face on the front, eliciting gasps of surprise. If his badge in a hand, what 'spin the badge from its necklace' means? I've understood that he appeared quietly, without noise. Suddenly. But, What was he doing with his badge?

What does that mean? I can't understand the next sentence: "She wasn’t the biggest sharer in the world,” he recalls. “She played things close to the vest.” I think that "the biggest sharer" has a typo. Or I don't understand how to translate it.

What does term in the sentence mean? "But the mismatch between long-term assets that can’t be easily liquidated and shorter-term liabilities can easily bring on a crisis if the "credit cycle turns negative" so that maturing debt can’t be refinanced" I'm interested in the meaning of "credit cycle turns negative", negative cycle... Does it mean decline? I understand that it happens when credits aren't available. But what does the term mean above? UPDATE Here's another similar term: "credit markets froze up" - When the Global Financial Crisis began to build in 2007 and the credit markets froze up,...

Did I get the next sentence right? "Consider this: the ups and downs of economies are usually blamed for fluctuations in corporate profits, and fluctuations in profits for the rise and fall of securities markets." I understood that: 1. "the ups and downs of economies" are the cause of "fluctuations in corporate profits" 2. "fluctuations in profits" are the cause of "the rise and fall of securities markets"

What does mean sentence? "Many investors predicate their actions on forecasts that they make themselves" In particular, I have doubts about this part of the sentence: "predicate their actions on forecasts" I think it means: forecasts are the cause of the actions. People do a forecast and then act.

What's the meaning of the "secular trend"? Hello. I read a book about the Market Cycle. It has a term which is often used. Secular trend, secular uptrend, secular downtrend... Intuitively, I see its meaning, but I can't understand the exact meaning. All dictionaries give me a definition of secular as 'society', 'nonreligious' but it isn't right in this case. I think definition near with basic trend, general trend, main... Can you help me?

My second long message in Slowly app. Hello, everyone! Earlier I wrote here my message from Slowly app. But my partner is Russian too and I want to get a check my message here. I don't copy past my partner's message but my message is the answers for his questions. I think that the message will be understood without questions. Text of message: "These series of books have audio additional to books too. It's useful to listen to the audio after reading the text. Penguin Random House is obviously the same publisher as Penguin readers. Speaking can be practiced in so apps as Tandem with native speakers. But I don't have speaking practice now. It's extremely hard to learn the language by yourself. Therefore I haven't yet had speaking practice. It's hard to cover all aspects of self-learning: reading, writing, listening, speaking and grammar. Reading and grammar are the simplest things you can do. This is what we all did in school and university. You can listen to podcasts, audiobooks, watch a movie and TV-series, but you need to make yourself to try to understand what you heard. Writing. Slowly is a great app for it. When would I still write a lot of text at a time? But I think you need someone who can check your text sometimes. Lang-8 closed registration to new users. I'd like to register for Lang-8 but I can't do it. There is italki when you can try to check your text. Speaking, it seems to me, is the hardest part of self-learning. You need time, you need an idea for conversation, you need bravery to do it))) What to talk about with stranger? I don't know. You need to collect the ideas for the conversations to be prepared to speak. I don't have a tutor.)))"

How to write right Present Perfect sentences? I need to re-write two sentences from Past Simple to Present Perfect. 1. Michael and Clair last went out for dinner together four months ago. My Present Perfect: Michael and Clair haven't gone out for dinner together in four months. But Answer Key: Michael and Claire haven’t been out for dinner together in four months. 2. Michael's father and mother gave up work three years ago. My Present Perfect: Michael's father and mother haven't given up work in three years. But Answer Key: Michael’s father and mother haven’t worked in three years. My answers aren't right? Or I can write so?

My message in one app for training writing skills. Can you help me to check it? I have a conversation in an app is called Slowly. There I have written two long message that I want to check because my partner is Russian too. I hope what someone help me here with it. First of them: "Hi! Do you know the Penguin Readers series books? These are books for English learners. I read them. I haven't yet done activities from these books. I found that these activities will be useful. Example, I read "The Street Lawyer" and there are teacher's notes. There are invited to discuss some issues. I think this is a good idea for correspondence. During the reading, there are new activities with new questions for discuss."