hunger strike	refusing to eat to protest about something
be at death's door	about to die
authorities	the people in power, e.g. in governement
sacred	very important, to be treated with great respect
go on to	continue
growing	getting bigger
surrender	give up, stop fighting
cherish	formal to love sth very much
if needs to	formal if necessary
stand	resist
cynic	a person who doesn't belive that anything good can happen
a reality check	when you have to think about how things really are, not how you would like them to be
hope	belief