中國網站品牌欄目（頻道）
My comments:
A catch-22 situation is a situation where you find that nothing works. Basically, it’s a catch – you’ll lose one way or the other.
It’s like saying you’re caught between a rock and a hard place. You’re in a quandary, a dilemma.
The catch-22 situation was first described by Joseph Heller, in his wonderful war-satire book of the same title – Catch 22. In the book, Heller explains the classic catch-22 situation:
There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, that specified that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane, he had to fly them.
Related stories:
Making knee-jerk changes is not in our DNA
Bury the hatchet& have an ax to grind
本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發布一切違反國家現行法律法規的內容。
About the author:
Zhang Xin（張欣） 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.
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I can't get a job in that I have nowhere to live but I can't afford a place to live until I get a job --- it's a catch -22 situation.
