As hopeful as the pamphlets try to be everyone knows that these land Banks are a last gasp at preserving something about (to be lost).

虽然小册子尽显美好希望，但所有的人都知道这些土地储备是保护那些即将消失的最后一搏。

youdao

Senator John McCain, the Republicans' 2008 candidate, and Sarah Palin, his running-mate, voiced similar misgivings: better to have helped the rebels clinch their victory when they appeared to be on a roll than come to their defence when they were at their last gasp on the edge of defeat.

ECONOMIST: Lexington