fresh activists(new force)

juggle(be full of guile; play tricks and wiles)

plot against

calamity

touchstone

pickpocket(light-fingered gentleman)

Jack of all trades and master of none(jack-of-all-trades)

blind alley(dead end)

display showy movement in wushuts

spoil the fun(be a blot on the landscape; be a wet blanket)

doggerel

bookful blockhead(glutton of books)

solid and truthful

a person bringing bad luck to others

snobbish manner(snob; respecter of persons)

having a one-track mind(a person with a one-track mind)

try to shirk work or responsibility

be set in one's ways(a single-track mind)

scamper

at the end of one's rope