Barron's 3000 ISEE Words

largess

N. /赠送；赠礼/generous gift. Lady Bountiful distributed largess to the poor.

impasse

N. /走投无路；僵局/predicament from which there is no escape; deadlock. In this impasse, all turned to prayer as their last hope.

diversion

N. /转移；解闷/act of turning aside; pastime. After studying for several hours, he needed a diversion from work. divert,V.

bombardment

N. /轰击（导弹）/attack with missiles. The enemy bom¬bardment demolished the town. Members of the opposition party bombarded the prime minister with questions about the enemy attack.

levity

N. /轻佻，轻浮/lack of seriousness; lightness. Stop giggling and wriggling around in the pew: such levity is improper in church.

flick

N. /轻弹；轻打/light stroke as with a whip. The horse needed no encouragement; one flick of the whip was all the jockey had to apply to get the animal to run at top speed.

indiscretion

N. /轻率；莽撞/lack of tactfulness or sound judgment. Ter¬rified that the least indiscretion could jeopardize his political career, the novice politician never uttered an unguarded word. indiscreet,ADJ.

misdemeanor

N. /轻罪/minor crime. The culprit pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor rather than face trial for a felony.

oblivion

N. /遗忘；赦免/obscurity; forgetfulness. After a decade of pop¬ularity, Hurston's works had fallen into oblivion; no one bothered to read them any more.

legacy

N. /遗赠/a gift made by a will. Part of my legacy from my parents is an album of family photographs.

gravity

N. /重力；严重，庄严，严肃/seriousness. We could tell we were in serious trouble from the gravity of the principal's expression. (sec¬ondary meaning) grave,ADJ.

felon

N. /重罪犯/person convicted of a grave crime. A convicted felon loses the right to vote.

bullion

N. /金条，银条/gold and silver in the form of bars. Much bullion is stored in the vaults at Fort Knox.

clapper

N. /铃舌，钟舌/striker (tongue) of a bell. Wishing to be undis¬turbed by the bell, Dale wound his scarf around the clapper to muffle the noise of its striking.

delusion

N. /错觉/false belief; hallucination. Don suffers from delusions of grandeur: he thinks he's a world-famous author when he's published just one paperback book.

blunder

N. /错误/error. The criminal's fatal blunder led to his capture. alsoV.

mock

V. /嘲弄，嘲笑/ridicule; imitate, often in derision. It is unkind to mock anyone; it is stupid to mock anyone significantly big¬ger than you. mockery, N.

gibe

V. /嘲笑/mock. As you gibe at their superstitious beliefs, do you realize that you, too, are guilty of similarly foolish thoughts?

incarcerate

V. /囚禁/imprison. The civil rights workers were will¬ing to be arrested and even incarcerated if by their impris¬onment they could serve the cause.

beset

V. /困扰/harass or trouble; hem in. Many vexing problems beset the American public school system. Sleeping Beauty's castle was beset on all sides by dense thickets that hid it from view.

besiege

V. /围攻/surround with armed forces; harass (with requests). When the bandits besieged the village, the vil¬lagers holed up in the town hall and prepared to withstand a long siege. Members of the new administration were besieged with job applications from people who had worked on the campaign.

anchor

V. /固定；锚/secure or fasten firmly; be fixed in place. We set the post in concrete to anchor it in place. anchorage, N.

gloat

V. /垂涎；幸灾乐祸，洋洋得意/express evil satisfaction; view malevolently. As you gloat over your ill-gotten wealth, do you think of the many victims you have defrauded?

inter

V. /埋/bury. They are going to inter the body tomorrow at Broadlawn Cemetery.

lurk

V. /埋伏/stealthily lie in waiting; slink; exist unperceived. "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows."

fundamental

V. /基本的，基础的/basic; primary; essential. The committee discussed all sorts of side issues without ever getting down to addressing the fundamental problem.

debauch

V. /堕落，放荡/corrupt; seduce from virtue. Did Socrates' teachings lead the young men of Athens to be virtuous citi¬zens, or did they debauch the young men, causing them to question the customs of their fathers? Clearly, Socrates' philosophical talks were nothing like the wild debauchery of the toga parties in Animal House.

caulk

V. /填；补漏/make watertight by filling in cracks. Jack had to caulk the tiles in the shower stall to stop the leak into the basement below.

enhance

V. /增加；改进/increase; improve. You can enhance your chances of being admitted to the college of your choice by learning to write well; an excellent essay can enhance any application.

augment

V. /增长/increase; add to. Armies augment their forces by calling up reinforcements; teachers augment their salaries by taking odd jobs.

avenge

V. /复仇/take vengeance for something (or on behalf of someone). Hamlet vowed he would avenge his father's mur¬der and punish Claudius for his horrible crime.

diverge

V. /多样的；各异的/vary; go in different directions from the same point. The spokes of the wheel diverge from the hub.

nip

V. /夹，捏；剪断；阻止/stop something's growth or development; snip off; bite; make numb with cold. The twins were plotting mis¬chief, but Mother intervened and nipped that plan in the bud. The gardener nipped off a lovely rose and gave it to me. Last week a guard dog nipped the postman in the leg; this week the extreme chill nipped his fingers till he could barely hold the mail.

indenture

V. /契约/bind as servant or apprentice to master. Many immigrants could come to America only after they had indentured themselves for several years. also N.

coddle

V. /娇养，溺爱/to treat gently. Don't coddle the children so much; they need a taste of discipline.

alienate

V. /孤立，树敌/make hostile; separate. Her attempts to alien¬ate the two friends failed because they had complete faith in each other.

incubate

V. /孵卵/hatch; scheme. Inasmuch as our supply of electricity is cut off, we shall have to rely on the hens to incubate these eggs.

lull

V. /安抚，平静；换取信任，使其失去警惕/soothe; cause one to relax one's guard; subside. The mother's gentle song lulled the child to sleep. Malcolm tried to come up with a plausible story to lull his mother's suspicions, but she didn't believe a word he said.

pacify

V. /安抚；平静/soothe; make calm or quiet; subdue. Dentists criticize the practice of giving fussy children sweets to pacify them.

founder

V. /完全失败；沉默/fail completely; sink. After hitting the sub¬merged iceberg, the Titanic started taking in water rapidly and soon foundered.

interrogate

V. /审问；讯问/question closely; cross-examine. Knowing that the Nazis would interrogate him about his background, the secret agent invented a cover story that would help him meet their questions.

embed

V. /封装，嵌入，插入/enclose; place in something. Tales of actual his¬torical figures like King Alfred have become embedded in legends.

esteem

V. /尊重；估价/respect; value. Jill esteemed Jack's taste in music, but she deplored his taste in clothes.

deign

V. /屈服，屈尊/condescend; stoop. The celebrated fashion designer would not deign to speak to a mere seamstress; his overburdened assistant had to convey the master's wishes to the lowly workers assembling his great designs.

intervene

V. /干预；干涉/come between. When two close friends get into a fight, be careful if you try to intervene; they may join forces to gang up on you.

mollify

V. /平息；安抚/soothe. The airline customer service representa¬tive tried to mollify the angry passenger by offering her a seat in first class.

importune

V. /强求；不停的求/beg persistently. Democratic and Republi¬can phone solicitors importuned her for contributions so fre¬quently that she decided to give nothing to either party.

decry

V. /强烈反对/express strong disapproval of; disparage. The founder of the Children's Defense Fund, Marian Wright Edelman, strongly decries the lack of financial and moral support for children in America today.

exacerbate

V. /恶化，加剧/worsen; embitter. The latest bombing exac¬erbated England's already existing bitterness against the IRA, causing the prime minister to break off the peace talks abruptly.

deplore

V. /悔恨/regret; disapprove of. Although I deplore the vulgarity of your language, I defend your right to express yourself freely.

lament

V. /悲伤，恸哭/grieve; express sorrow. Even advocates of the war lamented the loss of so many lives in combat. lamenta¬tion, N.

daunt

V. /惊吓；胁迫/intimidate; frighten. "Boast all you like of your prowess. Mere words cannot daunt me," the hero answered the villain.

chastise

V. /惩罚/punish. I must chastise you for this offense.

gall

V. /惹恼；侮辱/annoy; chafe. Their taunts galled him.

fleece

V. /抢劫；诈骗/rob; plunder. The tricksters fleeced him of his inheritance.

boycott

V. /抵制/refrain from buying or using. To put pressure on grape growers to stop using pesticides that harmed the farm workers' health, Cesar Chavez called for consumers to boycott grapes.

efface

V. /抹掉/rub out. The coin had been handled so many times that its date had been effaced.

denigrate

V. /抹黑/blacken. All attempts to denigrate the charac¬ter of our late president have failed; the people still love him and cherish his memory.

defuse

V. /拆弹；化解（危机）/remove the fuse of a bomb; reduce or eliminate a threat. Police negotiators are trained to defuse danger¬ous situations by avoiding confrontational language and behavior.

dismantle

V. /拆除/take apart. When the show closed, they dis¬mantled the scenery before storing it.

palpitate

V. /拍动；跳动；搏动/throb; flutter. As he became excited, his heart began to palpitate more and more erratically.

negate

V. /拒绝，否定，取消/cancel out; nullify; deny. A sudden surge of adrenalin can negate the effects of fatigue: there's nothing like a good shock to wake you up.

dismiss

V. /拒绝；排除/put away from consideration; reject. Believing in John's love for her, she dismissed the notion that he might be unfaithful. (secondary meaning)

encumber

V. /拖累，负担/burden. Some people encumber themselves with too much luggage when they take short trips.

depict

V. /描述/portray. In this sensational exposé, the author depicts Beatle John Lennon as a drug-crazed neurotic. Do you question the accuracy of this depiction of Lennon?

divulge

V. /揭开，暴露/reveal. No lover of gossip, Charlotte would never divulge anything that a friend told her in confidence.

edify

V. /教导；启迪，陶冶/instruct; correct morally. Although his purpose was to edify and not to entertain his audience, many of his listeners were amused rather than enlightened.

indoctrinate

V. /教导；灌输/instruct in a doctrine or ideology. Cuban¬Americans resisted sending Elian Gonzalez back to Cuba because he would be indoctrinated there with Communist principles.

emanate

V. /散发，发出/issue forth. A strong odor of sulphur emanated from the spring.

disperse

V. /散开/scatter. The police fired tear gas into the crowd to disperse the protesters. dispersion, N.

dispel

V. /散开；分裂；消失/scatter; drive away; cause to vanish. The bright sunlight eventually dispelled the morning mist.

deploy

V. /散开；部署/spread out [troops] in an extended though shal¬low battle line. The general ordered the battalion to deploy in order to meet the enemy offensive.

extort

V. /敲诈，勒索/wring from; get money by threats, etc. The black¬mailer extorted money from his victim.

integrate

V. /整合，合并/make whole; combine; make into one unit. She tried to integrate all their activities into one program.

chide

V. /斥责/scold. Grandma began to chide Steven for his lying.

decapitate

V. /斩首，杀头/behead. They did not hang Lady Jane Grey; they decapitated her. "Off with her head!" cried the Duchess, eager to decapitate poor Alice.

decimate

V. /残杀（十个里面杀一个）/kill, usually one out of ten. We do more to decimate our population in automobile accidents than we do in war.

compound

V. /混合；组合；增加/combine; constitute; pay interest; increase. The makers of the popular cold remedy compounded a nasal decongestant with an antihistamine. also N.

ignite

V. /点燃/kindle; light. When Desi crooned, "Baby, light my fire," literal-minded Lucy looked around for some paper to ignite.

kindle

V. /点燃，照亮，激起/start a fire; inspire. One of the first things Ben learned in the Boy Scouts was how to kindle a fire by rub¬bing two dry sticks together. Her teacher's praise for her poetry kindled a spark of hope inside Maya.

harass

V. /烦恼/to annoy by repeated attacks. When he could not pay his bills as quickly as he had promised, he was harassed by his creditors.

aspire

V. /热望；热心于/seek to attain; long for. Because he aspired to a career in professional sports, Philip enrolled in a graduate program in sports management. aspiration, N.

illuminate

V. /照亮；明朗；澄清/brighten; clear up or make understandable; enlighten. Just as a lamp can illuminate a dark room, a per¬ceptive comment can illuminate a knotty problem.

chasten

V. /磨练/discipline; punish in order to correct. Whom God loves, God chastens.

deify

V. /神化/ turn into a god; idolize. Admire Elvis Presley all you want; just don't deify him.

intimate

V. /私下的，秘密的，亲密的；宣告/hint; suggest. Was Dick intimating that Jane had bad breath when he asked if she'd like a breath mint?

gruel

V. /稀粥；极度紧张/liquid food made by boiling oatmeal, etc., in milk or water. Our daily allotment of gruel made the meal not only monotonous but also unpalatable.

don

V. /穿上/put on. When Clark Kent has to don his Superman outfit, he changes clothes in a convenient phone booth.

lunge

V. /突进，刺，冲/quick forward dive or reach; thrust. The wide receiver lunged forward to grab the football. With his sword, Dartagnan lunged at his adversary.

lumber

V. /笨重的往前走/move heavily or clumsily. Still somewhat torpid after its long hibernation, the bear lumbered through the woods.

granulate

V. /粒化/form into grains. Sugar that has been granu¬lated dissolves more readily than lump sugar. granule, N.

maul

V. /粗手粗脚的处理/handle roughly. The rock star was mauled by his over-excited fans.

cohere

V. /粘住的/stick together. Solids have a greater tendency to cohere than liquids.

commemorate

V. /纪念/honor the memory of. The statue of the Minute Man commemorates the valiant soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War.

loom

V. /织布机/appear or take shape (usually in an enlarged or distorted form). The shadow of the gallows loomed threat¬eningly above the small boy.

bestow

V. /给予/give. He wished to bestow great honors upon the hero.

chronicle

V. /编年史/report; record (in chronological order). The gossip columnist was paid to chronicle the latest escapades of the socially prominent celebrities. also N.

encipher

V. /编码/encode; convert a message into code. One of Bond's first lessons was how to encipher the messages he sent to Miss Moneypenny so that none of his other lady friends could decipher them.

codify

V. /编纂/arrange (laws, rules) as a code; classify. We need to take the varying rules and regulations of the different health agencies and codify them into a national health code.

knit

V. /编织；结合/contract into wrinkles; grow together. Whenever David worries, his brow knits in a frown. When he broke his leg, he sat around the house all day waiting for the bones to knit.

dwindle

V. /缩水；减少/shrink; reduce. The food in the life boat gradu¬ally dwindled away to nothing; in the end, they ate the ship's cook.

cogitate

V. /考虑/think over. Cogitate on this problem; the solu¬tion will come.

deplete

V. /耗尽；减少/reduce; exhaust. We must wait until we deplete our present inventory before we order replacements.

converse

V. /聊天/chat; talk informally. Eva was all ears while Lulu and Lola conversed. Wasn't it rude of her to eavesdrop on their conversation? conversation, N.

converge

V. /聚合；接近/approach; tend to meet; come together. African-American men from all over the United States con¬verged on Washington to take part in the historic Million Men march.

compile

V. /聚集，积累，汇集/assemble; gather; accumulate. We planned to compile a list of the words most frequently used on SAT I examinations.

deviate

V. /背离/turn away from (a principle, norm); depart; diverge. Richard never deviated from his daily routine: every day he set off for work at eight o'clock, had his sack lunch (peanut butter on whole wheat) at 12:15, and headed home at the stroke of five.

blurt

V. /脱口而出/utter impulsively. Before she could stop him, he blurted out the news.

dehydrate

V. /脱水/remove water from; dry out. Running under a hot sun quickly dehydrates the body; joggers soon learn to carry water bottles and to drink from them frequently.

disengage

V. /脱离；分离/uncouple; separate; disconnect. A standard movie routine involves the hero's desperate attempt to dis¬engage a railroad car from a moving train.

corrode

V. /腐蚀/destroy by chemical action. The girders support¬ing the bridge corroded so gradually that no one suspected any danger until the bridge suddenly collapsed. corrosion, N.

mushroom

V. /膨胀，迅速生长/expand or grow rapidly. Between 1990 and 1999, the population of Silicon Valley mushroomed; with the rapidly increasing demand for housing, home prices sky-rocketed as well.

lap

V. /舔食，泼溅/take in food or drink with one's tongue; splash gen¬tly. The kitten neatly lapped up her milk. The waves softly lapped against the pier.

husband

V. /节约/use sparingly; conserve; save. Marathon run¬ners must husband their energy so that they can keep going for the entire distance.

attain

V. /获得；完成/achieve or accomplish; gain. The scarecrow sought to attain one goal: he wished to obtain a brain.

appropriate

V. /获得；挪用，据为己有/acquire; take possession of for one's own use. The ranch owners appropriated the lands that had originally been set aside for the Indians' use.

flag

V. /萎缩；衰退/droop; grow feeble. When the opposing hockey team scored its third goal only minutes into the first quarter, the home team's spirits flagged. flagging,ADJ.

defoliate

V. /落叶/destroy leaves. In Vietnam the army made extensive use of chemical agents to defoliate the woodlands.

distill

V. /蒸馏；萃取，提炼，提纯/extract the essence; purify; refine. A moonshiner distills mash into whiskey; an epigrammatist distills thoughts into quips.

disdain

V. /蔑视/view with scorn or contempt. In the film Funny Face, the bookish heroine disdained fashion models for their lack of intellectual interests. also N.

belittle

V. /蔑视，使渺小/disparage or depreciate; put down. Parents should not belittle their children's early attempts at drawing, but should encourage their efforts. Barry was a put-down artist: he was a genius at belittling people and making them feel small.

atone

V. /补偿；偿还/make amends for; pay for. He knew no way in which he could atone for his brutal crime.

complement

V. /补足；完善/complete; consummate; make perfect. The waiter recommended a glass of port to complement the cheese. also N.

evince

V. /表示/show clearly. When he tried to answer the ques¬tions, he evinced his ignorance of the subject matter.

ebb

V. /衰退/recede; lessen. Sitting on the beach, Mrs. Dalloway watched the tide ebb: the waters receded, drawing away from her as she sat there all alone. also N.

fret

V. /被激怒/to be annoyed or vexed. To fret over your poor grades is foolish; instead, decide to work harder in the future.

embellish

V. /装饰/adorn; ornament. The costume designer embellished the leading lady's ball gown with yards and yards of ribbon and lace.

garnish

V. /装饰/decorate. Parsley was used to garnish the boiled potato. also N.

entail

V. /要求，需要；牵涉到/require; necessitate; involve. Building a college¬level vocabulary will entail some work on your part.

frustrate

V. /阻碍；挫败/thwart; defeat. We must frustrate this dictator's plan to seize control of the government.

demean

V. /降级；贬低/degrade; humiliate. Standing on his dignity, he refused to demean himself by replying to the offensive letter. If you truly believed in the dignity of labor, you would not think it would demean you to work as a janitor.

circumscribe

V. /限制/limit; confine. Although I do not wish to cir¬cumscribe your activities, I must insist that you complete this assignment before you start anything else.

inhibit

V. /限制，防止；阻碍/restrain; retard or prevent. Only two things inhib¬ited him from taking a punch at Mike Tyson: Tyson's left hook, and Tyson's right jab. The protective undercoating on my car inhibits the formation of rust.

bate

V. /限制；抑制/let down; restrain. Until it was time to open the pre¬sents, the children had to bate their curiosity. bated,ADJ.

mire

V. /陷入（泥塘）；麻烦缠身/entangle; stick in swampy ground. Their rear wheels became mired in mud. also N.

depose

V. /革职/dethrone; remove from office. The army attempted to depose the king and set up a military govern¬ment.

bode

V. /预兆/foreshadow; portend. The gloomy skies and the sulphurous odors from the mineral springs seemed to bode evil to those who settled in the area.

betoken

V. /预示；表示/signify; indicate. The well-equipped docks, tall piles of cargo containers, and numerous vessels being loaded all betoken Oakland's importance as a port.

foreshadow

V. /预言；预测/give an indication beforehand; portend; pre¬figure. In retrospect, political analysts realized that Yeltsin's defiance of the attempted coup foreshadowed his emer¬gence as the dominant figure of the new Russian republic.

forestall

V. /预防/prevent by taking action in advance. By setting up a prenuptial agreement, the prospective bride and groom hoped to forestall any potential arguments about money in the event of a divorce.

fathom

V. /领会；调查，测量/comprehend; investigate. I find his motives impossible to fathom; in fact, I'm totally clueless about what goes on in his mind.

instigate

V. /驱使；激励，鼓动/urge; start; provoke. Rumors of police corrup¬tion led the mayor to instigate an investigation into the department's activities.

dissipate

V. /驱散，消散；浪费/squander; waste; scatter. He is a fine artist, but I fear he may dissipate his gifts if he keeps wasting his time playing games.

exorcise

V. /驱邪/drive out evil spirits. By incantation and prayer, the medicine man sought to exorcise the evil spirits which had taken possession of the young warrior.

bilk

V. /骗/swindle; cheat. The con man specialized in bilking insurance companies.

exult

V. /高兴，兴高采烈/rejoice. We exulted when our team won the victory.

foment

V. /鼓动，煽动/stir up; instigate. Cheryl's archenemy Heather spread some nasty rumors that fomented trouble in the club. Do you think Cheryl's foe meant to foment such discord?

energize

V. /鼓舞/invigorate; make forceful and active. Rather than exhausting Maggie, dancing energized her.

filibuster

V. /（发表长篇演讲来）阻挠法案通过/to block legislation by making long speeches. Even though we disapproved of Senator Foghorn's political goals, we were impressed by his ability to filibuster end¬lessly to keep an issue from coming to a vote.

acclimate

V. adjust to climate. One of the difficulties of our present air age is the need of travelers to acclimate them¬selves to their new and often strange environments.

accede

V. agree. If I accede to this demand for blackmail, I am afraid that I will be the victim of future demands.

abet

V. aid, usually in doing something wrong; encourage. She was unwilling to abet him in the swindle he had planned.

adapt

V. alter; modify. Some species of animals have become extinct because they could not adapt to a chang¬ing environment.

acclaim

V. applaud; announce with great approval. The NBC sportscasters acclaimed every American victory in the Olympics and decried every American defeat. also N.

accost

V. approach and speak first to a person. When the two young men accosted me, I was frightened because I thought they were going to attack me.

acquiesce

V. assent; agree without protesting. Although she appeared to acquiesce to her employer's suggestions, I could tell she had reservations about the changes he wanted made. acquiescence, N.; acquiescent,ADJ.

allocate

V. assign. Even though the Red Cross had allo¬cated a large sum for the relief of the sufferers of the disas¬ter, many people perished.

abrade

V. wear away by friction; scrape; erode. The sharp rocks abraded the skin on her legs, so she put iodine on her abrasions.

misnomer

N. /错误的名字；写错名字；用词不当/wrong name; incorrect designation. His tyrannical conduct proved to all that his nickname, King Eric the Just, was a misnomer.

misapprehension

N. /错误；误解/error; misunderstanding. To avoid misapprehension, I am going to ask all of you to repeat the instructions I have given.

composure

N. /镇定，沉着/mental calmness. Even the latest work crisis failed to shake her composure.

longevity

N. /长命不老/long life. When he reached ninety, the old man was proud of his longevity.

odyssey

N. /长期的冒险旅行/long, eventful journey. The refugee's journey from Cambodia was a terrifying odyssey.

mentor

N. /门特；顾问；导师/teacher. During this very trying period, she could not have had a better mentor, for the teacher was sympathetic and understanding.

bolt

N. /门闩；螺钉；布匹的长度/door bar; fastening pin or screw; length of fabric. The carpenter shut the workshop door, sliding the heavy metal bolt into place. He sorted through his toolbox for the nuts and bolts and nails he would need. Before he cut into the bolt of canvas, he measured how much fabric he would need.

drone

N. /闲人；雄蜂/idle person; male bee. Content to let his wife support him, the would-be writer was in reality nothing but a drone.

espionage

N. /间谍行为/Spying. In order to maintain its power, the government developed a system of espionage that pene¬trated every household.

moodiness

N. /闷闷不乐/fits of depression or gloom. Her recurrent moodiness left her feeling as if she had fallen into a black hole.

farce

N. /闹剧；嘲笑/broad comedy; mockery. Nothing went right; the entire interview degenerated into a farce. farcical,ADJ.

machinations

N. /阴谋，诡计/evil schemes or plots. Fortunately, Bat¬man saw through the wily machinations of the Riddler and saved Gotham City from destruction by the forces of evil.

cliché

N. /陈词滥调/phrase dulled in meaning by repetition. High school compositions are often marred by such clichés as "strong as an ox."

jollity

N. /高兴的；欢乐的/gaiety; cheerfulness. The festive Christmas dinner was a merry one, and old and young alike joined in the gen¬eral jollity.

apex

N. /高点，顶点，高潮/tip; summit; climax. He was at the apex of his career: he had climbed to the top of the heap.

apparition

N. /鬼，幽灵/ghost; phantom. On the castle battlements, an apparition materialized and spoke to Hamlet, warning him of his uncle's treachery. In Ghostbusters, hordes of apparitions materialized, only to be dematerialized by the specialized apparatus wielded by Bill Murray.

charisma

N. /魅力/divine gift; great popular charm or appeal of a political leader Political commentators have deplored the importance of a candidate's charisma in these days of tele¬vision campaigning.

barb

N. /鱼钩，钩状物/sharp projection from fishhook, etc.; openly cut¬ting remark. If you were a politician, which would you pre¬fer, being caught on the barb of a fishhook or being subjected to malicious verbal barbs? Who can blame the president if he's happier fishing than back in the capitol lis-tening to his critics' barbed remarks?

aviary

N. /鸟舍/enclosure for birds. The aviary at the zoo held nearly 300 birds.

alacrity

N. cheerful promptness. Phil and Dave were raring to get off to the mountains; they packed up their ski gear and climbed into the van with alacrity.

agglomeration

N. collection; heap. It took weeks to assort the agglomeration of miscellaneous items she had col¬lected on her trip.

addiction

N. compulsive, habitual need. His addiction to drugs caused his friends much grief.

anemia

N. condition in which blood lacks red corpuscles. The doctor ascribes her tiredness to anemia. anemic,ADJ.

aftermath

N. consequences; outcome; upshot. People around the world wondered what the aftermath of China's violent suppression of the student protests would be.

anonymity

N. state of being nameless; anonymousness. The donor of the gift asked the college not to mention him by name; the dean readily agreed to respect his anonymity.

affliction

N. state of distress; cause of suffering. Even in the midst of her affliction, Elizabeth tried to keep up the spirits of those around her.

allegory

N. story in which characters are used as symbols; fable. Pilgrim's Progress is an allegory of the temptations and victories of man's soul. allegorical,ADJ.

advocacy

N. support; active pleading on something's behalf. No threats could dissuade Bishop Desmond Tutu from his advocacy of the human rights of black South Africans.

adherent

N. supporter; follower. In the wake of the scan¬dal, the senator's one-time adherents quickly deserted him.

ambivalence

N. the state of having contradictory or con¬flicting emotional attitudes. Torn between loving her parents one minute and hating them the next, she was confused by the ambivalence of her feelings. ambivalent,ADJ.

acme

N. top; pinnacle. His success in this role marked the acme of his career as an actor.

admonition

N. warning. After the student protesters repeatedly rejected Chairman Deng's admonitions, the gov¬ernment issued an ultimatum: either the students would end the demonstration at once or the soldiers would fire on the crowd.

ablution

N. washing. His daily ablutions before praying

adage

N. wise saying; proverb. There is much truth in the old adage about fools and their money.

affidavit

N. written statement made under oath. The court refused to accept his statement unless he presented it in the form of an affidavit.

annuity

N. yearly allowance. The annuity he setup with the insurance company supplements his social security bene¬fits so that he can live very comfortably without working.

martyr

N./殉道者；殉教者；烈士/ one who voluntarily suffers death for his or her religion or cause; great sufferer. By burning her at the stake, the English made Joan of Arc a martyr for her faith. Mother played the martyr by staying home cleaning the house while the rest of the family went off to the beach.

camouflage

V. /伪装/disguise; conceal. In order to rescue Han Solo, Princess Leia camouflaged herself in the helmet and cloak of a space bandit.

dissemble

V. /伪装，做作，掩饰/disguise; pretend. Even though John tried to dissemble his motive for taking modern dance, we all knew he was there not to dance but to meet girls.

dissimulate

V. /伪装，做作，掩饰/pretend; conceal by feigning. She tried to dissimulate her grief by her exuberant attitude.

appraise

V. /估价/estimate value of. It is difficult to appraise the value of old paintings; it is easier to call them priceless. appraisal, N.

pander

V. /低级趣味的；拉皮条/cater to the low desires of others. The reviewer accused the makers of Lethal Weapon of pandering to the masses' taste for violence.

exemplify

V. /作为典型；具体化/serve as an example of; embody. For a gen¬eration of balletgoers, Rudolf Nureyev exemplified the ideal of masculine grace.

burlesque

V. /作秀，滑稽/give an imitation that ridicules. In Spaceballs, Rick Moranis burlesques Darth Vader of Star Wars, outra¬geously parodying Vader's stiff walk and hollow voice.

dumbfound

V. /使人惊讶/astonish. Egbert's perfect 1600 on his SAT I exam dumbfounded his classmates, who had always found him to be perfectly dumb.

incapacitate

V. /使其无能力/disable. During the winter, many people were incapacitated by respiratory ailments.

entrance

V. /使其着迷；使其神志恍惚/put under a spell; carry away with emotion. Shafts of sunlight on a wall could entrance her and leave her spellbound.

enervate

V. /使变弱/weaken. She was slow to recover from her ill¬ness; even a short walk to the window would enervate her.

intimidate

V. /使害怕/frighten. I'll learn karate and then those big bullies won't be able to intimidate me any more.

appall

V. /使惊慌，震惊/dismay; shock. We were appalled by the horrify¬ing conditions in the city's jails.

nullify

V. /使无效/to make invalid. Once the contract was nullified, it no longer had any legal force.

obscure

V. /使模糊；使暗淡/darken; make unclear. At times he seemed purposely to obscure his meaning, preferring mystery to clarity.

dismay

V. /使沮丧；使害怕/discourage; frighten. The huge amount of work she had left to do dismayed her. also N.

fluster

V. /使混乱，使迷惑/confuse. The teacher's sudden question flus¬tered him and he stammered his reply.

fester

V. /使溃烂，化脓/rankle; produce irritation or resentment. Joe's insult festered in Anne's mind for days, and made her too angry to speak to him.

disquiet

V. /使焦虑，使难受/make uneasy or anxious. Holmes's absence for a day, slightly disquieted Watson; after a week with no word, however, Watson's uneasiness about his missing friend had grown into a deep fear for his safety. disquietude, N.

dwarf

V. /使看上去矮小/cause to seem small. The giant redwoods and high cliffs dwarfed the elegant Ahwahnee Hotel, making it appear a modest lodge rather than an imposing hostelry.

debilitate

V. /使虚弱，衰弱/weaken; enfeeble. Michael's severe bout of the flu debilitated him so much that he was too tired to go to work for a week.

fleck

V. /使起斑点/spot. Her cheeks, flecked with tears, were testi¬mony to the hours of weeping.

disgruntle

V. /使郁闷/make discontented. The passengers were disgruntled by the numerous delays.

mortify

V. /侮辱；体罚/humiliate; punish the flesh. She was so mortified by her blunder that she ran to her room in tears.

erode

V. /侵蚀/eat away. The limestone was eroded by the drip¬ping water until only a thin shell remained. erosion, N.

facilitate

V. /促进；帮助；使变容易/help bring about; make less difficult. Rest and proper nourishment should facilitate the patient's recovery.

enthrall

V. /俘获/capture; enslave. From the moment he saw her picture, he was enthralled by her beauty.

amend

V. /修订，修改，变更/correct; change, generally for the better. Hoping to amend his condition, he left Vietnam for the United States.

invert

V. /倒转，翻转/turn upside down or inside out. When he inverted his body in a handstand, he felt the blood rush to his head. inveterate ADJ. deep-rooted; habitual. An inveterate smoker, Bob cannot seem to break the habit, no matter how hard he tries.

list

V. /倾斜/tilt; lean over. That flagpole should be absolutely vertical; instead, it lists to one side. (secondary meaning)

feign

V. /假装；捏造/pretend. Lady Macbeth feigned illness although she was actually healthy.

hoard

V. /储藏/stockpile; accumulate for future use. Whenever there are rumors of a food shortage, many people are tempted to hoard food. also N.

glut

V. /充斥；过量/overstock; fill to excess. The many manufacturers glutted the market and could not find purchasers for the excess articles they had produced. also N.

matriculate

V. /入学/enroll (in college or graduate school). Incoming students formally matriculate at our college in a special ceremony during which they sign the official regis¬ter of students.

descant

V. /全面而详细的讨论/discuss fully. He was willing to descant upon any topic of conversation, even when he knew very little about the subject under discussion. also N.

embody

V. /具体化；包含，收录/personify; make concrete; incorporate. Cheer¬ing on his rival Mark McGwire's efforts to break Roger Maris's home run record, Sammy Sosa embodied the spirit of true sportsmanship.

foster

V. /养育，培养；鼓励/rear; encourage. According to the legend, Romu¬lus and Remus were fostered by a she-wolf who raised the abandoned infants with her own cubs. alsoADJ.

nurture

V. /养育；教育/nourish; educate; foster. The Head Start pro¬gram attempts to nurture pre-kindergarten children so that they will do well when they enter public school. also N.

hibernate

V. /冬眠/sleep throughout the winter. Bears are one of the many species of animals that hibernate. hibernation, N.

hurtle

V. /冲击；碰撞；急冲/crash; rush. The runaway train hurtled toward dis¬aster.

decelerate

V. /减慢/slow down. Seeing the emergency blinkers in the road ahead, he decelerated quickly.

curtail

V. /减短；降低/shorten; reduce. When Herb asked Diane for a date, she said she was really sorry she couldn't go out with him, but her dad had ordered her to curtail her social life.

palliate

V. /减轻/lessen the violence of (a disease); alleviate; moderate intensity; gloss over with excuses. Not content merely to palliate the patient's sores and cankers, the researcher sought a means of wiping out the disease. pal¬liative,ADJ.

mitigate

V. /减轻；减缓；中和/appease; moderate. Nothing Jason did could mitigate Medea's anger; she refused to forgive him for betraying her.

coagulate

V. /凝结/thicken; congeal; clot. Even after you remove the pudding from the burner, it will continue to coagulate as it stands; therefore, do not overcook the pudding, lest it become too thick.

betray

V. /出卖；背叛/be unfaithful; reveal (unconsciously or unwill¬ingly). The spy betrayed his country by selling military secrets to the enemy. When he was taken in for question¬ing, the tightness of his lips betrayed his fear of being caught.

exhume

V. /出土，发掘/dig out of the ground; remove from the grave. Could evidence that might identify the serial killer have been buried with his victim? To answer this question, the police asked the authorities for permission to exhume the victim's body.

disseminate

V. /分发，扩散，散布/distribute; spread; scatter (like seeds). By their use of the Internet, propagandists have been able to disseminate their pet doctrines to new audiences around the globe.

assay

V. /分析；化验/analyze; evaluate. When they assayed the ore, they found that they had discovered a very rich vein. also N.

dismember

V. /分解，肢解/cut into small parts. When the Austrian Empire was dismembered, several new countries were established.

delete

V. /删除/erase; strike out. Less is more: if you delete this paragraph, your whole essay will have greater appeal.

fabricate

V. /制造；编造（谎言）/build; lie. If we fabricate the buildings in this project out of standardized sections, we can reduce construction costs considerably. Because of Jack's tendency to fabricate, Jill had trouble believing a word he said.

convoke

V. /召集/call together. Congress was convoked at the outbreak of the emergency. convocation, N.

convene

V. /召集，集合/assemble. Because much needed legislation had to be enacted, the governor ordered the legislature to convene in special session by January 15.

browse

V. /吃草；浏览/graze; skim or glance at casually. "How now, brown cow, browsing in the green, green grass." I remem¬ber lines of verse that I came across while browsing through the poetry section of the local bookstore.

chimerical

ADJ. /不现实，空想/fantastically improbable; highly unrealistic; imaginative. As everyone expected, Ted's chimerical scheme to make a fortune by raising ermines in his back yard proved a dismal failure.

deranged

ADJ. /不理智/insane. He had to be institutionalized because he was mentally deranged.

irrelevant

ADJ. /不相关的，不照号的/not applicable; unrelated. No matter how irrelevant the patient's mumblings may seem, they give us some indications of what he has on his mind.

irreconcilable

ADJ. /不相容的；矛盾的/incompatible; not able to be resolved. Because the separated couple were irreconcilable, the marriage counselor recommended a divorce.

impertinent

ADJ. /不相干的；鲁莽的/insolent; rude. His neighbors' impertinent curiosity about his lack of dates angered Ted. It was down¬right rude of them to ask him such personal questions.

inept

ADJ. /不相称的，不合适的，不称职的/lacking skill; unsuited; incompetent. The inept glovemaker was all thumbs.

indeterminate

ADJ. /不确定/uncertain; not clearly fixed; indefinite. That interest rates shall rise appears certain; when they will do so, however, remains indeterminate.

insurmountable

ADJ. /不能克服的，不能超越的/overwhelming; unbeatable; insupera¬ble. Faced by almost insurmountable obstacles, the mem¬bers of the underground maintained their courage and will to resist.

indissoluble

ADJ. /不能分解的；永久的/permanent. The indissoluble bonds of marriage are all too often being dissolved.

irrevocable

ADJ. /不能取消的；不能变更的/unalterable; irreversible. As Sue dropped the "Dear John" letter into the mailbox, she suddenly had second thoughts and wanted to take it back, but she could not: her action was irrevocable.

irretrievable

ADJ. /不能复原的；不能挽回的/impossible to recover or regain; irrepara¬ble. The left fielder tried to retrieve the ball, but it flew over the fence, bounced off a wall, and fell into the sewer: it was irretrievable.

implacable

ADJ. /不能平静的/incapable of being pacified. Madame Defarge was the implacable enemy of the Evremonde family.

irreparable

ADJ. /不能弥补的，不能修复的；无可挽救的/not able to be corrected or repaired. Your apology cannot atone for the irreparable damage you have done to her reputation.

irremediable

ADJ. /不能挽回的；不能治愈的/incurable; uncorrectable. The error she made was irremediable; she could see no way to repair it.

impermeable

ADJ. /不能渗透的/impervious; not permitting passage through its substance. This new material is impermeable to liquids.

disingenuous

ADJ. /不诚恳的/lacking genuine candor; insincere. Now that we know the mayor and his wife are engaged in a bitter divorce fight, we find their earlier remarks regretting their lack of time together remarkably disingenuous.

incongruous

ADJ. /不调和的；荒谬的/not fitting; absurd. Dave saw nothing incongruous about wearing sneakers with his tuxedo; he couldn't understand why his date took one look at him and started to laugh. incongruity, N.

amoral

ADJ. /不道德的/nonmoral. The amoral individual lacks a code of ethics; he cannot tell right from wrong. The immoral per¬son can tell right from wrong; he chooses to do something he knows is wrong.

licentious

ADJ. /不道德的；下流的；放纵的/amoral; lewd and lascivious; unrestrained. Unscrupulously seducing the daughter of his host, Don Juan felt no qualms about the immorality of his licentious behavior.

incidental

ADJ. /不重要的；少数的/not essential; minor. The scholarship cov¬ered his major expenses at college and some of his inci¬dental expenses as well.

apolitical

ADJ. /不问政治的/having an aversion or lack of concern for political affairs. It was hard to remain apolitical during the Vietnam War; even people who generally ignored public issues felt they had to take political stands.

ignoble

ADJ. /不高贵的；不光彩的/of lowly origin; unworthy. This plan is inspired by ignoble motives and I must, therefore, oppose it.

aquatic

ADJ. /与水有关系的/pertaining to water. Paul enjoyed aquatic sports such as scuba diving and snorkeling.

attentive

ADJ. /专心的，专注的；全神贯注/alert and watchful; considerate; thoughtful. Spellbound, the attentive audience watched the final game of the tennis match, never taking their eyes from the ball. A cold wind sprang up; Stan's attentive daughter slipped a sweater over his shoulders without distracting his attention from the game.

imperious

ADJ. /专横的/domineering; haughty. Jane rather liked a man to be masterful, but Mr. Rochester seemed so bent on getting his own way that he was actually imperious!

mundane

ADJ. /世俗的；日常的/worldly as opposed to spiritual; everyday. Uninterested in philosophical or spiritual discussions, Tom talked only of mundane matters such as the daily weather forecast or the latest basketball results.

cosmopolitan

ADJ. /世界主义/sophisticated. Her years in the capitol had transformed her into a cosmopolitan young woman highly aware of international affairs.

opportune

ADJ. /世纪恰巧的；刚好的/timely; well-chosen. Sally. looked at her father struggling to balance his checkbook; clearly this would not be an opportune moment to ask him for a raise in her allowance.

biennial

ADJ. /两年一度/every two years. Seeing no need to meet more frequently, the group held biennial meetings instead of annual ones. Plants that bear flowers biennially are known as biennials.

amphibian

ADJ. /两栖的/able to live both on land and in water. Frogs are classified as amphibian. also N.

austere

ADJ. /严厉的；朴素的/forbiddingly stern; severely simple and unor¬namented. The headmaster's austere demeanor tended to scare off the more timid students, who never visited his study willingly. The room reflected the man, austere and bare, like a monk's cell, with no touches of luxury to moder¬ate its austerity.

bourgeois

ADJ. /中产阶级；平庸的/middle class; selfishly materialistic; dully conventional. Technically, anyone who belongs to the mid¬dle class is bourgeois, but, given the word's connotations, most people resent it if you call them that.

neutral

ADJ. /中型的；自然的；中庸的，公允的/impartial; not supporting one side over another. Reluctant to get mixed up in someone else's quar¬rel, Bobby tried to remain neutral, but eventually he had to take sides.

diverse

ADJ. /丰富多样的/differing in some characteristics; various. The professor suggested diverse ways of approaching the assignment and recommended that we choose one of them. diversity, N.

Copious

ADJ. /丰富的，大量的/plentiful. She had copious reasons for reject¬ing the proposal.

ample

ADJ. /丰富的，富足的/abundant. Bond had ample opportunity to escape. Why did he let us catch him?

luxuriant

ADJ. /丰富的，富足的；丰富多彩；肥沃的/abundant; rich and splendid; fertile. Lady Godiva was completely covered by her luxuriant hair.

cardinal

ADJ. /主要的/chief. If you want to increase your word power, the cardinal rule of vocabulary-building is to read.

incumbent

ADJ. /义不容辞的，职责在身的/obligatory; currently holding an office. It is incumbent upon all incumbent elected officials to keep accurate records of expenses incurred in office. also N.

inured

ADJ. /习惯了的，适应了的/accustomed; hardened. She became inured to the Alaskan cold.

epistolary

ADJ. /书信的/consisting of letters. Mark Harris's Wake Up, Stupid! is a modern epistolary novel that uses letters, telegrams, and newspaper clippings to tell the hero's story. The movie You've Got Mail tells a story using e-mail; does that make it an e-pistolary movie? epistle, N.

inanimate

ADJ. /了无生气的，死气沉沉的/lifeless. She was asked to identify the still and inanimate body.

calorific

ADJ. /产热的/heat-producing. Coal is much more calorific than green wood.

cordial

ADJ. /亲切；衷心/gracious; heartfelt. Our hosts greeted us at the airport with a cordial welcome and a hearty hug.

anthropomorphic

ADJ. /人形的/having human form or characteris¬tics. Primitive religions often have deities with anthropomor¬phic characteristics. anthropomorphism, N.

erratic

ADJ. /奇怪的；不可预测的/odd; unpredictable. Investors become anxious when the stock market appears erratic.

fawning

ADJ. /奉承/courting favor by cringing and flattering. She was constantly surrounded by a group of fawning admirers who hoped to win some favor. fawn,V.

militant

ADJ. /好战的/combative; bellicose. Although at this time he was advocating a policy of neutrality, one could usually find him adopting a more militant attitude. also N.

martial

ADJ. /好战的；尚武的/warlike. The sound of martial music inspired the young cadet with dreams of military glory.

bellicose

ADJ. /好斗的，好战的/warlike. His bellicose disposition alienated his friends.

belligerent

ADJ. /好斗的，好斗嘴的/quarrelsome. Whenever he had too much to drink, he became belligerent and tried to pick fights with strangers. belligerence, N.

august

ADJ. /威严的；令人印象深刻的/impressive; majestic. Visiting the palace at Versailles, she was impressed by the august surroundings in which she found herself.

formidable

ADJ. /威胁的，险恶的/menacing; threatening. We must not treat the battle lightly for we are facing a formidable foe.

marital

ADJ. /婚姻的/pertaining to marriage. After the publication of his book on marital affairs, he was often consulted by mar¬ried people on the verge of divorce.

nuptial

ADJ. /婚姻的/related to marriage. Reluctant to be married in a traditional setting, they decided to hold their nuptial cere¬mony at the carousel in Golden Gate Park.

infantile

ADJ. /婴儿的，幼稚的/childish. When will he outgrow such infantile behavior?

filial

ADJ. /子女的/pertaining to a son or daughter. Many children forget their filial obligations and disregard the wishes of their parents.

forlorn

ADJ. /孤苦的，凄凉的/sad and lonely; wretched. Deserted by her big sisters and her friends, the forlorn child sat sadly on the steps awaiting their return.

inverse

ADJ. /倒转的/opposite. There is an inverse ratio between the strength of light and its distance.

listless

ADJ. /倦怠的，冷漠的/lacking in spirit or energy. We had expected him to be full of enthusiasm and were surprised by his list¬less attitude.

marked

ADJ. /值得注意的；报仇的目标/noticeable or pronounced; targeted for vengeance. He walked with a marked limp, a souvenir of an old I.R.A. attack. As British ambassador, he knew he was a marked man, for he knew the Irish Republican Army wanted him dead.

invasive

ADJ. /入侵的/tending to spread aggressively; intrusive. Giving up our war with the invasive blackberry vines that had taken over the back yard, we covered the lawn with concrete. invade,V.

panoramic

ADJ. /全景的/related to an unobstructed and compre¬hensive view. On a clear day, from the top of the World Trade Center you can get a panoramic view of New York City and parts of New Jersey and Long Island. panorama, N.

comprehensive

ADJ. /全面的/thorough; inclusive. This book pro¬vides a comprehensive review of verbal and math skills for the SAT.

disinterested

ADJ. /公允的/unprejudiced. Given the judge's political ambitions and the lawyers' financial interest in the case, the only disinterested person in the courtroom may have been the court reporter.

communal

ADJ. /公共的/held in common; of a group of people. When they were divorced, they had trouble dividing their communal property.

evenhanded

ADJ. /公平的/impartial; fair. Do men and women receive evenhanded treatment from their teachers, or, as recent studies suggest, do teachers pay more attention to male students than to females?

impartial

ADJ. /公平的/not biased; fair. Knowing she could not be impartial about her own child, Jo refused to judge any match in which Billy was competing.

judicious

ADJ. /公平的/sound in judgment; wise. At a key moment in his life, he made a judicious investment that was the foundation of his later wealth.

equitable

ADJ. /公平的，公允的/fair; impartial. I am seeking an equitable solution to this dispute, one that will be fair and acceptable to both sides.

astral

ADJ. /关于星的/relating to the stars. She was amazed at the number of astral bodies the new telescope revealed.

conventional

ADJ. /典型的；普通的/ordinary; typical. His conventional upbringing left him wholly unprepared for his wife's eccen¬tric family.

intrinsic

ADJ. /内在的；固有的/essential; inherent; built-in. Although my grandmother's china has little intrinsic value, I shall always cherish it for the memories it evokes.

introspective

ADJ. /内省的；反省的/looking within oneself. Though young Francis of Assisi led a wild and worldly life, even then he had introspective moments during which he examined his soul. introvert N. one who is introspective; inclined to think more about oneself. In his poetry, he reveals that he is an intro¬vert by his intense interest in his own problems. alsoV.

hibernal

ADJ. /冬天的/wintry. Bears prepare for their long hibernal sleep by overeating.

glacial

ADJ. /冰河的，冰川的/like a glacier; extremely cold. Never a warm person, when offended John could seem positively glacial.

impetuous

ADJ. /冲动的，鲁莽的/violent; hasty; rash. "Leap before you look" was the motto suggested by one particularly impetuous young man.

metallurgical

ADJ. /冶金的/pertaining to the art of removing metals from ores. During the course of his metallurgical research, the scientist developed a steel alloy of tremendous strength.

bleak

ADJ. /冷淡；凄凉/cold or cheerless; unlikely to be favorable. The frigid, inhospitable Aleutian Islands are bleak military out¬posts. It's no wonder that soldiers assigned there have a bleak attitude toward their posting.

impassive

ADJ. /冷漠的/without feeling; imperturbable; stoical. Refusing to let the enemy see how deeply shaken he was by his capture, the prisoner kept his face impassive.

distant

ADJ. /冷漠的；远离的/reserved or aloof; cold in manner. His distant greeting made me feel unwelcome from the start. (sec¬ondary meaning)

fell

ADJ. /凶猛的，致命的/cruel; deadly. The newspapers told of the tragic spread of the fell disease.

convex

ADJ. /凸的/curving outward. He polished the convex lens of his telescope.

exemplary

ADJ. /出色的；典范的；（杀鸡儆猴的）例子/serving as a model; outstanding. At com¬mencement the dean praised Ellen for her exemplary behavior as class president.

divergent

ADJ. /分歧的/differing; deviating. Since graduating from medical school, the two doctors have taken divergent paths, one going on to become a nationally prominent sur¬geon, the other dedicating himself to a small family practice in his home town. divergence, N.

detached

ADJ. /分离的/emotionally removed; calm and objective; physically unconnected. A psychoanalyst must maintain a detached point of view and stay uninvolved with his or her patients' personal lives. To a child growing up in an apart¬ment or a row house, to live in a detached house was an unattainable dream.

estranged

ADJ. /分离的；孤立的/separated; alienated. The estranged wife sought a divorce. estrangement, N.

discrete

ADJ. /分离；没有关系的/separate; unconnected. The universe is com¬posed of discrete bodies.

insulated

ADJ. /分离；隔离/set apart; isolated. A well-to-do bachelor, James spent his money freely, insulated from the cares of his friends, who had families to support.

graduated

ADJ. /分级；排序/arranged by degrees (of height, difficulty, etc.). Margaret loved her graduated set of Russian hollow wooden dolls; she spent hours happily putting the smaller dolls into their larger counterparts.

nascent

ADJ. /初生的/incipient; coming into being. If we could identify these revolutionary movements in their nascent state, we would be able to eliminate serious trouble in later years.

frigid

ADJ. /刺骨寒/intensely cold. Alaska is in the frigid zone.

arduous

ADJ. /努力；奋发/hard; strenuous. Her arduous efforts had sapped her energy.

Chivalrous

ADJ. /勇敢；诚实/courteous; faithful; brave. Chivalrous behavior involves noble words and good deeds.

assiduous

ADJ. /勤奋/diligent. He was assiduous, working at this task for weeks before he felt satisfied with his results. assiduity, N.

industrious

ADJ. /勤奋的，努力的/diligent; hard-working. Look busy when the boss walks by your desk; it never hurts to appear indus¬trious. industry, N.

inclusive

ADJ. /包揽一切的/tending to include all. The comedian turned down the invitation to join the Players' Club, saying any club that would let him in was too inclusive for him.

anonymous

ADJ. /匿名的/having no name. She tried to ascertain the identity of the writer of the anonymous letter.

nefarious

ADJ. /十恶不赦的/very wicked. The villain's crimes, though various, were one and all nefarious.

baroque

ADJ. /华丽的/highly ornate. Accustomed to the severe lines of contemporary buildings, the architecture students found the flamboyance of baroque architecture amusing. They simply didn't go for baroque.

flamboyant

ADJ. /华丽的/ornate. Modern architecture has dis¬carded the flamboyant trimming on buildings and empha¬sizes simplicity of line.

florid

ADJ. /华丽的；红润的/ruddy; reddish; flowery. If you go to Florida and get a sunburn, your complexion will look florid.

ornate

ADJ. /华丽的；过分装饰的/excessively or elaborately decorated. With its elaborately carved, convoluted lines, furniture of the Baroque period was highly ornate.

centigrade

ADJ. /华氏/measure of temperature used widely in Europe. On the centigrade thermometer, the freezing point of water is zero degrees.

gaudy

ADJ. /华而不实的/flashy; showy. The newest Trump skyscraper is typically gaudy, covered in gilded panels that gleam in the sun.

concerted

ADJ. /协调的/mutually agreed on; done together. All the Girl Scouts made a concerted effort to raise funds for their annual outing. When the movie star appeared, his fans let out a concerted sigh.

monolithic

ADJ. /单片的，单块的；一体不动摇的/solidly uniform; unyielding. Knowing the importance of appearing resolute, the patriots sought to present a monolithic front.

monochromatic

ADJ. /单色的/having only one color. Most people who are color blind actually can distinguish several colors; some, however, have a truly monochromatic view of a world all in shades of gray.

humdrum

ADJ. /单调的/dull; monotonous. After his years of adven¬ture, he could not settle down to a humdrum existence.

monosyllabic

ADJ. /单音节的/having only one syllable. No matter what he was asked, the taciturn New Englander answered with a monosyllabic "Yep" or "Nope." monosyllable, N.

ostentatious

ADJ. /卖弄的；企图惹人注意的；哗众取宠的/showy; pretentious; trying to attract attention. Donald Trump's latest casino in Atlantic City is the most ostentatious gambling palace in the East: it easily out¬glitters its competitors. ostentation, N.

erudite

ADJ. /博学的/learned; scholarly. Though his fellow students thought him erudite, Paul knew he would have to spend many years in serious study before he could consider him¬self a scholar.

imminent

ADJ. /即将到来，逼近的/near at hand; impending. Rosa was such a last-minute worker that she could never start writing a paper till the deadline was imminent.

offhand

ADJ. /即时的；随意的/casual; done without prior thought. Expecting to be treated with due propriety by her hosts, Great-Aunt Maud was offended by their offhand manner.

irrepressible

ADJ. /压不住的，抑制不住的/unable to be restrained or held back. My friend Kitty's curiosity was irrepressible: she poked her nose into everybody's business and just laughed when I warned her that curiosity killed the cat.

blasé

ADJ. /厌于享乐/bored with pleasure or dissipation. Although Beth was as thrilled with the idea of a trip to Paris as her classmates were, she tried to act super cool and blasé, as if she'd been abroad hundreds of times.

brazen

ADJ. /厚颜无耻；傲慢/insolent. Her brazen contempt for authority angered the officials.

indelible

ADJ. /去不掉的；不可磨灭的/not able to be erased. The indelible ink left a permanent mark on my shirt. Young Bill Clinton's meeting with President Kennedy made an indelible impression on the youth.

muggy

ADJ. /又热又潮的（天气）/warm and damp. August in New York City is often muggy.

egregious

ADJ. /及其令人痛恨的，声名狼藉；令人吃惊的/notorious; conspicuously bad or shocking. She was an egregious liar; we all knew better than to believe a word she said. Ed's housekeeping was egregious: he let his dirty dishes pile up so long that they were stuck together with last week's food.

hypercritical

ADJ. /及其夸张/excessively exacting. You are hypercriti¬cal in your demands for perfection; we all make mistakes.

imperative

ADJ. /及其重要，及其关键/absolutely necessary; critically important. It is imperative that you be extremely agreeable to Great¬Aunt Maud when she comes to tea: otherwise she might not leave you that million dollars in her will. also N.

capricious

ADJ. /反复无常的/unpredictable; fickle. The storm was capri¬cious: it changed course constantly. Jill was capricious, too: she changed boyfriends almost as often as she changed clothes.

palatable

ADJ. /可接受的；美味的/agreeable; pleasing to the taste. Neither Jack's underbaked opinions nor his overcooked casseroles were palatable to Jill.

deducible

ADJ. /可推导的，可推论的/derived by reasoning. If we accept your premise, your conclusions are easily deducible.

Cosmic

ADJ. /宇宙的；巨大的/pertaining to the universe; vast. Cosmic rays derive their name from the fact that they bombard the earth's atmosphere from outer space. COSMOS, N.

definitive

ADJ. /完全的；最终的/final; complete. Carl Sandburg's Abraham Lincoln may be regarded as the definitive work on the life of the Great Emancipator.

blighted

ADJ. /完蛋了的；生病了的/suffering from a disease; destroyed. The extent of the blighted areas could be seen only when viewed from the air.

fallible

ADJ. /容易犯错的/liable to err. I know I am fallible, but I feel con¬fident that I am right this time.

buoyant

ADJ. /可漂浮的，乐观的/able to float; cheerful and optimistic. When the boat capsized, her buoyant life jacket kept Jody afloat. Scrambling back on board, she was still in a buoyant mood, certain that despite the delay she'd win the race.

amiable

ADJ. /可爱的，友好的，惬意的/agreeable; lovable; warmly friendly. In Little Women, Beth is the amiable daughter whose loving disposi¬tion endears her to all who know her.

dubious

ADJ. /可疑的/questionable; filled with doubt. Many critics of SAT I contend the test is of dubious worth. Jay claimed he could get a perfect 1600 on SAT I, but Ellen was dubi¬ous: she knew he hadn't cracked a book in three years.

ludicrous

ADJ. /可笑的，滑稽的；不重要的/laughable; trifling. Let us be serious; this is not a ludicrous issue.

arable

ADJ. /可耕种的/fit for growing crops. The first settlers wrote home glowing reports of the New World, praising its vast acres of arable land ready for the plow.

feasible

ADJ. /可行的/practical. Is it feasible to build a new stadium for the Yankees on New York's West Side? Without addi¬tional funding, the project is clearly unrealistic.

optional

ADJ. /可选的/not obligatory; left to one's choice. Most col¬leges require applicants to submit SAT I scores; at some colleges, however, submitting SAT I scores is optional.

herbivorous

ADJ. /吃粮食的（动物）/grain-eating. Some herbivorous animals have two stomachs for digesting their food.

expedient

ADJ. /合适的，有利的；策略性的/suitable; practical; politic. A pragmatic politician, he was guided by what was expedient rather than by what was ethical. expediency, N.

concentric

ADJ. /同心/having a common center. The target was made of concentric circles.

kindred

ADJ. /同族的，同类的；血缘的/related; belonging to the same family. Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn were two kindred spirits. also N.

cognate

ADJ. /同源的/related linguistically: allied by blood: similar or akin in nature. The English word "mother" is cognate to the Latin word "mater," whose influence is visible in the words "maternal" and "maternity." also N.

homogeneous

ADJ. /同类的/of the same kind. Because the student body at Elite Prep was so homogeneous, Sara and James decided to send their daughter to a school that offered greater cultural diversity. homogenize,V.

celebrated

ADJ. /名人/famous; well-known. Thanks to their race to break Roger Maris's home-run record, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire are two of America's most celebrated base¬ball players. celebrity, N.

centripetal

ADJ. /向心/tending toward the center. Does cen¬tripetal force or the force of gravity bring orbiting bodies to the earth's surface?

aghast

ADJ. /吓坏了的/horrified. He was aghast at the nerve of the speaker who had insulted his host.

miserly

ADJ. /吝啬的；贪婪的；坏的/stingy; mean. Transformed by his vision on Christmas Eve, mean old Scrooge ceased being miserly and became a generous, kind old man.

auditory

ADJ. /听觉的/pertaining to the sense of hearing. Audrey suf¬fered from auditory hallucinations: she thought Elvis was speaking to her from the Great Beyond.

apocalyptic

ADJ. /启示的，启示录的/prophetic; pertaining to revelations. The crowd jeered at the street preacher's apocalyptic predictions of doom. The Apocalypse or Book of Revelations of Saint John prophesies the end of the world as we know it and fore¬tells marvels and prodigies that signal the coming doom.

gustatory

ADJ. /味觉的/affecting the sense of taste. The Thai restaurant offered an unusual gustatory experience for those used to a bland cuisine.

compatible

ADJ. /和谐的/harmonious; in harmony with. They were compatible neighbors, never quarreling over unimportant matters. compatibility, N.

brusque

ADJ. /唐图；直率；粗暴无礼/blunt; abrupt. Was Bruce too brusque when he brushed off Bob's request with a curt "Not now!"?

evocative

ADJ. /唤起的/tending to call up (emotions, memories). Scent can be remarkably evocative: the aroma of pipe tobacco evokes the memory of my father; a whiff of talcum powder calls up images of my daughter as a child.

mercenary

ADJ. /唯利是图/interested in money or gain. Andy's every act was prompted by mercenary motives: his first question was always "What's in it for me?"

mercurial

ADJ. /善变的；无常的/capricious; changing; fickle. Quick as quicksilver to change, he was mercurial in nature and there¬fore unreliable.

blatant

ADJ. /喧闹；俗丽/flagrant; conspicuously obvious; loudly offen¬sive. To the unemployed youth from Dublin, the "No Irish Need Apply" placard in the shop window was a blatant mark of prejudice.

olfactory

ADJ. /嗅觉的/concerning the sense of smell. A wine taster must have a discriminating palate and a keen olfactory sense, for a good wine appeals both to the taste buds and to the nose.

causal

ADJ. /因果关系的/implying a cause-and-effect relationship. The psychologist maintained there was a causal relationship between the nature of one's early childhood experiences and one's adult personality. causality, N.

horticultural

ADJ. /园艺的/pertaining to cultivation of gardens. When he bought his house, he began to look for flowers and decorative shrubs, and began to read books dealing with horticultural matters.

bemused

ADJ. /困惑的，发呆的/confused; lost in thought; preoccupied. Jill studied the garbled instructions with a bemused look on her face.

convoluted

ADJ. /围绕，卷绕；费解/coiled around; involved; intricate. His argument was so convoluted that few of us could follow it intelligently.

inherent

ADJ. /固有的，内在的；与生俱来的/firmly established by nature or habit. Katya's inherent love of justice caused her to champion anyone she considered treated unfairly by society.

graphic

ADJ. /图像的；图画的/pertaining to the art of delineating; vividly described. I was particularly impressed by the graphic pre¬sentation of the storm.

endemic

ADJ. /地方的；小范围内流行/prevailing among a specific group of people or in a specific area or country. This disease is endemic in this part of the world; more than 80 percent of the popula¬tion are at one time or another affected by it.

malevolent

ADJ. /坏心肠的/wishing evil. lago is a malevolent villain who takes pleasure in ruining Othello.

obstinate

ADJ. /坚定的，倔强的/stubborn; hard to control or treat. We tried to persuade him to give up smoking, but he was obstinate and refused to change. Blackberry stickers are the most obstinate weeds I know: once established in a yard, they're extremely hard to root out. obstinacy, N.

forthright

ADJ. /坦率的；豪爽的/outspoken; straightforward; frank. Never afraid to call a spade a spade, she was perhaps too forth¬rightto be a successful party politician.

outspoken

ADJ. /坦率直言的/candid; blunt. The candidate was too out¬spoken to be a successful politician; he had not yet learned to weigh his words carefully.

moribund

ADJ. /垂死的/dying. Hearst took a moribund, failing weekly newspaper and transformed it into one of the liveli¬est, most profitable daily papers around.

hypothetical

ADJ. /基于假设的，设想的，假想的/based on assumptions or hypotheses; supposed. Suppose you are accepted by Harvard, Stan¬ford, and Brown. Which one would you choose to attend? Remember, this is only a hypothetical situation. hypothe¬SiS, N.

knotty

ADJ. /复杂的，错综的；精细的/intricate; difficult; tangled. What to Watson had been a knotty problem, to Sherlock Holmes was simplicity itself.

intricate

ADJ. /复杂的；错综的/complex; knotty; tangled. Philip spent many hours designing mazes so intricate that none of his class¬mates could solve them. intricacy, N.

defeatist

ADJ. /失败主义者/attitude of one who is ready to accept defeat as a natural outcome. If you maintain your defeatist attitude, you will never succeed. also N.

bombastic

ADJ. /夸张的/pompous; using inflated language. Puffed up with conceit, the orator spoke in such a bombastic man¬ner that we longed to deflate him. bombast, N.

inflated

ADJ. /夸张的，虚华的，被放大的/exaggerated; pompous; enlarged (with air or gas). His claims about the new product were inflated, it did not work as well as he had promised.

outlandish

ADJ. /奇异的；偏僻的；前卫的/bizarre; peculiar; unconventional. The eccentric professor who engages in markedly outlandish behavior is a stock figure in novels with an academic setting.

hackneyed

ADJ. /常见的；不希罕，陈腐/commonplace; trite. When the reviewer criticized the movie for its hackneyed plot, we agreed; we had seen similar stories hundreds of times before.

dispassionate

ADJ. /平静的；公平的/calm; impartial. Known in the company for his cool judgment, Bill could impartially examine the causes of a problem, giving a dispassionate analysis of what had gone wrong, and go on to suggest how to correct the mess.

callow

ADJ. /年幼，稚嫩；无经验/youthful; immature; inexperienced. As a fresh¬man, Jack was sure he was a man of the world; as a sopho¬more, he made fun of freshmen as callow youths. In both cases, his judgment showed just how callow he was.

cynical

ADJ. /愤世嫉俗/skeptical or distrustful of human motives. Cyn¬ical from birth, Sidney was suspicious whenever anyone gave him a gift "with no strings attached." cynic, N.

irate

ADJ. /愤怒的；生气的/angry. When John's mother found out he had overdrawn his checking account for the third month in a row, she was so irate she could scarcely speak to him.

benevolent

ADJ. /慈善的/generous; charitable. Mr. Fezziwig was a benevolent employer, who wished to make Christmas mer¬rier for young Scrooge and his other employees.

circumspect

ADJ. /慎重；周到/prudent; cautious. Investigating before acting, she tried always to be circumspect.

chronic

ADJ. /慢性的/long established as a disease. The doctors were finally able to attribute his chronic headaches and nausea to traces of formaldehyde gas in his apartment.

desultory

ADJ. /慢无目的的；断断续续的/aimless; haphazard; digressing at random. In prison Malcolm X set himself the task of reading straight through the dictionary; to him, reading was purposeful, not desultory.

indolent

ADJ. /懒惰/lazy. Couch potatoes lead an indolent life lying back on their Lazyboy recliners watching Tv. indo-lence, N.

iconoclastic

ADJ. /打破旧习/attacking cherished traditions. Deeply iconoclastic, Jean Genet deliberately set out to shock con¬ventional theatergoers with his radical plays.

obdurate

ADJ. /执拗的；顽固的/stubborn. He was obdurate in his refusal to listen to our complaints.

impenitent

ADJ. /执迷不悟的/not repentant. We could see from his tough guy attitude that he was impenitent.

expansive

ADJ. /扩张的；爽快的；广阔的/outgoing and sociable; broad and exten¬sive; able to increase in size. Mr. Fezziwig was in an expan¬sive humor, cheerfully urging his guests to join in the Christmas feast. Looking down on his expansive paunch, he sighed: if his belly expanded any further, he'd need an expansive waistline for his pants.

censorious

ADJ. /批判的/critical. Censorious people delight in cast¬ing blame.

aseptic

ADJ. /抗菌的/preventing infection; having a cleansing effect. Hospitals succeeded in lowering the mortality rate as soon as they introduced aseptic conditions.

eclectic

ADJ. /折衷的/composed of elements drawn from dis¬parate sources. His style of interior decoration was eclec¬tic: bits and pieces of furnishings from widely divergent periods, strikingly juxtaposed to create a unique decor. eclecticism, N.

conciliatory

ADJ. /抚慰，调和/reconciling; soothing. She was still angry despite his conciliatory words. conciliate,V.

devious

ADJ. /拐弯抹角的；偏僻的/roundabout; erratic; not straightforward. The Joker's plan was so devious that it was only with great diffi¬culty we could follow its shifts and dodges.

dissident

ADJ. /持不同意见的；难于对付的/dissenting; rebellious. In the purge that fol¬lowed the student demonstrations at Tiananmen Square, the government hunted down the dissident students and their supporters. also N.

enduring

ADJ. /持久的；不朽的/lasting; surviving. Keats believed in the enduring power of great art, which would outlast its cre¬ators' brief lives.

carping

ADJ. /挑剔的，吹毛求疵/finding fault. A carping critic is a nit-picker: he loves to point out flaws. If you don't like this definition, feel free to carp.

fastidious

ADJ. /挑剔的；难伺候的/difficult to please; squeamish. Bobby was such a fastidious eater that he would eat a sandwich only if his mother first cut off every scrap of crust.

impending

ADJ. /接近的；附近的/nearing; approaching. The entire country was saddened by the news of his impending death.

belated

ADJ. /推迟的，延期的/delayed. He apologized for his belated note of condolence to the widow of his friend and explained that he had just learned of her husband's untimely death.

felicitous

ADJ. /措辞巧妙的；精巧的/apt; suitably expressed; well chosen. He was famous for his felicitous remarks and was called upon to serve as master-of-ceremonies at many a banquet. felicity, N.

figurative

ADJ. /比喻/not literal, but metaphorical; using a figure of speech. "To lose one's marbles" is a figurative expres¬sion; if you're told that Jack has lost his marbles, no one expects you to rush out to buy him a replacement set.

grisly

ADJ. /毛骨悚然的；恐怖的，可怕的/ghastly. She shuddered at the grisly sight.

Civil

ADJ. /民事的；国民的/having to do with citizens or the state; courteous and polite. Although Internal Revenue Service agents are civil servants, they are not always civil to suspected tax cheats.

malcontent

N. /不满的；不满现状的/person dissatisfied with existing state of affairs. One of the few malcontents in Congress, he con¬stantly voiced his objections to the presidential program. alsoADJ.

foreboding

N. /不详的预感/premonition of evil. Suspecting no conspira¬cies against him, Caesar gently ridiculed his wife's forebod¬ings about the Ides of March.

malaise

N. /不适，欠佳/uneasiness; vague feeling of ill health. Feeling slightly queasy before going onstage, Carol realized that this touch of malaise was merely stage fright.

insularity

N. /与外界隔绝；僵化；思想狭窄/narrow-mindedness; isolation. The insularity of the islanders manifested itself in their suspicion of anything foreign. insular,ADJ.

expertise

N. /专业知识，技能/specialized knowledge; expert skill. Although she was knowledgeable in a number of fields, she was hired for her particular expertise in computer programming.

ignominy

N. /丢脸；抹黑；耻辱/deep disgrace; shame or dishonor. To lose the Ping-Pong match to a trained chimpanzee! How could Rollo stand the ignominy of his defeat? ignominious,ADJ.

ordeal

N. /严酷的考验；折磨/severe trial or affliction. June was so painfully shy that it was an ordeal for her to speak up when the teacher called on her in class.

casualty

N. /严重的事故；伤亡/serious or fatal accident. The number of auto¬motive casualties on this holiday weekend was high.

bereavement

N. /丧亲/state of being deprived of something valuable or beloved. His friends gathered to console him upon his sudden bereavement.

fecundity

N. /丰饶/fertility; fruitfulness. The fecundity of his mind is illustrated by the many vivid images in his poems.

interim

N. /临时的；间歇的/meantime. The company will not consider our proposal until next week; in the interim, let us proceed as we have in the past.

motif

N. /主旨，本意；动机/theme. This simple motif runs throughout the entire score.

curator

N. /主管；经理/superintendent; manager. The members of the board of trustees of the museum expected the new curator to plan events and exhibitions that would make the museum more popular.

indignation

N. /义愤；愤慨/anger at an injustice. He felt indignation at the ill-treatment of helpless animals.

optimist

N. /乐观者/person who looks on the good side. The pes¬simist says the glass is half-empty; the optimist says it is half-full.

mendicant

N. /乞丐/beggar. "O noble sir, give alms to the poor," cried Aladdin, playing the mendicant.

convention

N. /习俗，惯例/social or moral custom; established prac¬tice. Flying in the face of convention, George Sand shocked society by taking lovers and wearing men's clothes.

idiom

N. /习语；成语/expression whose meaning as a whole differs from the meanings of its individual words; distinctive style. The phrase "to lose one's marbles" is an idiom: if I say that Joe's lost his marbles, I'm not asking you to find some for him. I'm telling you idiomatically that he's crazy.

fray

N. /争吵/brawl. The three musketeers were in the thick of the fray.

fracas

N. /争吵；混战/brawl, melee. The military police stopped the fra¬cas in the bar and arrested the belligerents.

barterer

N. /交易商/trader. The barterer exchanged trinkets for the natives' furs. It seemed smarter to barter than to pay cash.

hedonist

N. /享乐主义者/one who believes that pleasure is the sole aim in life. A thoroughgoing hedonist, he considered only his own pleasure and ignored any claims others had on his money or time.

fruition

N. /享用；成就；实现/bearing of fruit; fulfillment; realization. This building marks the fruition of all our aspirations and years of hard work.

geniality

N. /亲切；同情/cheerfulness; kindliness; sympathy. This restaurant is famous and popular because of the geniality of the proprietor who tries to make everyone happy.

intimacy

N. /亲密；隐私/closeness, often affectionate; privacy; familiar¬ity. In a moment of rare intimacy, the mayor allowed the reporters a glimpse of his personal feelings about his fam¬ily. intimate,ADJ.

blasphemy

N. /亵渎/irreverence; sacrilege; cursing. In my father's house, the Dodgers were the holiest of holies; to cheer for another team was to utter words of blasphemy. blasphemous,ADJ.

anthropologist

N. /人类学家/a student of the history and science of mankind. Anthropologists have discovered several relics of prehistoric man in this area.

artifact

N. /人造物品/object made by human beings, either hand¬made or mass-produced. Archaeologists debated the sig¬nificance of the artifacts discovered in the ruins of Asia Minor but came to no conclusion about the culture they rep¬resented.

emissary

N. /代理；信使，使者/agent; messenger. The secretary of state was sent as the president's special emissary to the conference on disarmament.

formality

N. /仪式；礼节/ceremonious quality; something done just for form's sake. The president received the visiting heads of state with due formality: flags waving, honor guards stand¬ing at attention, anthems sounding at full blast. Signing this petition is a mere formality; it does not obligate you in any way.

arbiter

N. /仲裁者/a person with power to decide a dispute; judge. As an arbiter in labor disputes, she has won the confidence of the workers and the employers.

kleptomaniac

N. /偷窃狂；盗窃癖/person who has a compulsive desire to steal. They discovered that the wealthy customer was a klep¬tomaniac when they caught her stealing some cheap trinkets.

embezzlement

N. /偷窃，侵占/stealing. The bank teller confessed his embezzlement of the funds.

catalyst

N. /催化剂/agent which brings about a chemical change while it remains unaffected and unchanged. Many chemical reactions cannot take place without the presence of a catalyst.

insolence

N. /傲慢/impudent disrespect; haughtiness. How dare you treat me so rudely! The manager will hear of your inso¬lence. insolent,ADJ.

arrogance

N. /傲慢，骄傲/pride; haughtiness. Convinced that Emma thought she was better than anyone else in the class, Ed rebuked her for her arrogance.

haughtiness

N. /傲慢；不逊/pride; arrogance. When she realized that Darcy believed himself too good to dance with his inferiors, Elizabeth took great offense at his haughtiness.

deadlock

N. /僵局/standstill; stalemate. Because negotiations had reached a deadlock, some of the delegates had begun to mutter about breaking off the talks. alsoV.

harbinger

N. /先驱/forerunner. The crocus is an early harbinger of spring.

egress

N. /出口/exit. Barnum's sign "To the Egress" fooled many people who thought they were going to see an animal and instead found themselves in the street.

distinction

N. /出名；出格/honor; contrast; discrimination. A holder of the Medal of Honor, George served with great distinction in World War II. He made a distinction, however, between World War II and Vietnam, which he considered an immoral conflict.

chisel

N. /凿子/wedgelike tool for cutting. With his hammer and chisel, the sculptor chipped away at the block of marble.

molecule

N. /分子/the smallest particle (one or more atoms) of a substance, having all the properties of that substance. In chemistry, we study how atoms and molecules react to form new substances.

dissection

N. /分析；解剖/analysis; cutting apart in order to examine. The dissection of frogs in the laboratory is particularly unpleasant to some students.

hierarchy

N. /分级，排序了的/arrangement by rank or standing; authoritar¬ian body divided into ranks. To be low man on the totem pole is to have an inferior place in the hierarchy.

founder

N. /创办人/person who establishes (an organization, busi¬ness). Among those drowned when the Titanic sank was the founder of the Abraham & Straus department store.

debutante

N. /初次参加社交活动的女孩/young woman making formal entrance into society. As a debutante, she was often mentioned in the society columns of the newspapers.

discretion

N. /判断力；审慎的/prudence; ability to adjust actions to circum¬stances. Use your discretion in this matter and do not dis¬cuss it with anyone. discreet,ADJ.

alias

N. /别名/an assumed name. John Smith's alias was Bob Jones. also ADV.

cartographer

N. /制图者，制地图的人/map-maker. Though not a professional cartographer, Tolkien was able to construct a map of his fictional world.

incentive

N. /刺激，驱动/spur; motive. Mike's strong desire to outshine his big sister was all the incentive he needed to do well in school.

forebears

N. /前人；祖先/ancestors. Reverence for one's forebears (sometimes referred to as ancestor worship) plays an important part in many Oriental cultures.

efficacy

N. /功效/power to produce desired effect. The efficacy of this drug depends on the regularity of the dosage. effica¬cious,ADJ.

coronation

N. /加冕/ceremony of crowning a queen or king. When the witches told Macbeth he would be king, they failed to warn him he would lose his crown soon after his coronation.

gesticulation

N. /动作；手势/motion; gesture. Operatic performers are trained to make exaggerated gesticulations because of the large auditoriums in which they appear.

impetus

N. /动力；动机/incentive; stimulus; moving force. A new fed¬eral highway program would create jobs and give added impetus to our economic recovery.

menagerie

N. /动物园/collection of wild animals. Whenever the children run wild around the house, Mom shouts, "Calm down! I'm not running a menagerie!"

fauna

N. /动物志/animals of a period or region. The scientist could visualize the fauna of the period by examining the skeletal remains and the fossils.

momentum

N. /动量；动力/quantity of motion of a moving body; impetus. The car lost momentum as it tried to ascend the steep hill.

exertion

N. /努力，尽力/effort; expenditure of much physical work. The exertion spent in unscrewing the rusty bolt left her exhausted.

fortitude

N. /勇敢的/bravery; courage. He was awarded the medal for his fortitude in the battle.

application

N. /勤奋的付出/diligent attention. Pleased with how well Tom had whitewashed the fence, Aunt Polly praised him for his application to the task. apply, V. (secondary meaning)

collusion

N. /勾结/Conspiring in a fraudulent scheme. The swindlers were found guilty of collusion.

panacea

N. /包治百病的药，灵丹妙药/cure-all; remedy for all diseases. The rich youth cynically declared that the panacea for all speeding tickets was a big enough bribe.

elixir

N. /包治百病，万能药/cure-all; something invigorating. The news of her chance to go abroad acted on her like an elixir.

incarnation

N. /化身；具人形/act of assuming a human body and human nature. The incarnation of Jesus Christ is a basic tenet of Christian theology.

monotony

N. /千篇一律的/sameness leading to boredom. What could be more deadly dull than the monotony of punching num¬bers into a computer hour after hour?

panache

N. /华丽/flair; flamboyance. Many performers imitate Noel Coward, but few have his panache and sense of style.

juncture

N. /危机，转折点；关键点/crisis; joining point. At this critical juncture, let us think carefully before determining the course we shall follow.

merger

N. /合并；吞并/combination (of two business corporations). When the firm's president married the director of financial planning, the office joke was that it wasn't a marriage, it was a merger.

compact

N. /合约，合同/agreement; contract. The signers of the Mayflower Compact were establishing a form of government.

approbation

N. /同意，批准/approval. She looked for some sign of approbation from her parents, hoping her good grades would please them.

apparatus

N. /器械，设备/equipment. Firefighters use specialized apparatus to fight fires.

bigotry

N. /固执/stubborn intolerance. Brought up in a democra¬tic atmosphere, the student was shocked by the bigotry and narrowness expressed by several of his classmates.

legend

N. /图例/explanatory list of symbols on a map. The leg¬end at the bottom of the map made it clear which symbols stood for rest areas along the highway and which stood for public camp sites. (secondary meaning)

anthem

N. /圣歌，赞美诗/song of praise or patriotism. Let us now all join in singing the national anthem.

ordination

N. /圣职授任；委任/ceremony making someone a minister. At the young priest's ordination, the members of the congregation presented him with a set of vestments. ordain,V.

chalice

N. /圣餐杯/goblet; consecrated cup. In a small room adjoin¬ing the cathedral, many ornately decorated chalices made by the most famous European goldsmiths were on display.

atlas

N. /地图集/a bound volume of maps, charts, or tables. Embar¬rassed at being unable to distinguish Slovenia from Slova¬kia, George W. finally consulted an atlas.

gnome

N. /地精；小矮人；土地公公/dwarf; underground spirit. In medieval mythol¬ogy, gnomes were the special guardians and inhabitants of subterranean mines.

euphemism

N. /委婉的表达/mild expression in place of an unpleasant one. The expression "he passed away" is a euphemism for "he died."

grievance

N. /委屈；冤情；不平/cause of complaint. When her supervisor ignored her complaint, she took her grievance to the union.

coercion

N. /威逼，强迫/use of force to get someone to obey. The inquisitors used both physical and psychological coercion to force Joan of Arc to deny that her visions were sent by God. coerce,V.

lexicon

N. /字典/dictionary. I cannot find this word in any lexicon in the library.

lexicographer

N. /字典编纂者/compiler of a dictionary. The new dictio¬nary is the work of many lexicographers who spent years compiling and editing the work.

apprenticeship

N. /学徒身份/time spent as a novice learning a trade from a skilled worker. As a child, Pip had thought it would be wonderful to work as Joe's apprentice; now he hated his apprenticeship and scorned the blacksmith's trade.

integrity

N. /完整性/uprightness; wholeness. Lincoln, whose per¬sonal integrity has inspired millions, fought a civil war to maintain the integrity of the Republic, that these United States might remain undivided for all time.

bureaucracy

N. /官僚机构/over-regulated administrative system marked by red tape. The Internal Revenue Service is the ultimate bureaucracy. taxpayers wasted so much paper fill¬ing out IRS forms that the IRS bureaucrats printed up a new set of rules requiring taxpayers to comply with the Paper¬work Reduction Act.

orientation

N. /定位（在社会上）/act of finding oneself in society. Freshman ori¬entation provides the incoming students with an opportunity to learn about their new environment and their place in it.

conviction

N. /定罪；深信/judgment that someone is guilty of a crime; strongly held belief. Even her conviction for murder did not shake Peter's conviction that Harriet was innocent of the crime.

entity

N. /实体/real being. As soon as the Charter was adopted, the United Nations became an entity and had to be consid¬ered as a factor in world diplomacy.

censor

N. /审查/overseer of morals; person who reads to elimi¬nate inappropriate remarks. Soldiers dislike having their mail read by a censor but understand the need for this pre¬caution. alsoV.

deposition

N. /宣言，誓言/testimony under oath. He made his deposi¬tion in the judge's chamber.

apprehension

N. /害怕/fear. His nervous glances at the passersby on the deserted street revealed his apprehension.

domicile

N. /家/home. Although his legal domicile was in New York City, his work kept him away from his residence for many years. alsoV.

genealogy

N. /家谱/record of descent; lineage. He was proud of his genealogy and constantly referred to the achievements of his ancestors.

breadth

N. /宽度/width; extent. We were impressed by the breadth of her knowledge.

fatalism

N. /宿命论/belief that events are determined by forces beyond one's control. With fatalism, he accepted the hard¬ships that beset him. fatalistic,ADJ.

bland

ADJ. /温和的/soothing or mild; agreeable. Jill tried a bland ointment for her sunburn. However, when Jack absent¬mindedly patted her on the sunburned shoulder, she couldn't maintain a bland disposition.

cipher

N. /密码/secret code. Lacking his code book, the spy was unable to decode the message sent to him in cipher.

grandeur

N. /庄严，伟大，威严/impressiveness; stateliness; majesty. No mat¬ter how often he hiked through the mountains, David never failed to be struck by the grandeur of the Sierra Nevada range.

debonair

ADJ. /温文尔雅；友好；殷勤/friendly; aiming to please. The debonair youth was liked by all who met him, because of his cheerful and obliging manner.

nomadic

ADJ. /游牧的/wandering. Several nomadic tribes of Indi¬ans would hunt in this area each year.

droll

ADJ. /滑稽可笑；离奇古怪，怪里怪气/queer and amusing. He was a popular guest because his droll anecdotes were always entertaining.

fraught

ADJ. /满的/filled. Since this enterprise is fraught with danger, I will ask for volunteers who are willing to assume the risks.

latent

ADJ. /潜在的/potential but undeveloped; dormant; hidden. Polaroid pictures are popular at parties, because you can see the latent photographic image gradually appear before your eyes.

humid

ADJ. /潮湿的/damp. She could not stand the humid climate and moved to a drier area.

effusive

ADJ. /激情澎湃的/pouring forth; gushing. Her effusive manner of greeting her friends finally began to irritate them. effu¬sion, N.

erotic

ADJ. /激情的/pertaining to passionate love. The erotic pas¬sages in this novel should be removed as they are merely pornographic.

ardent

ADJ. /激烈的；热心肠的；有激情的/intense; passionate; zealous. Katya's ardor was contagious; soon all her fellow demonstrators were busily making posters and handing out flyers, inspired by her ardent enthusiasm for the cause. ardor, N.

hoary

ADJ. /灰白的/white with age. The man was hoary and wrin¬kled when he was 70.

dexterous

ADJ. /灵巧的；右撇子/skillful. The magician was so dexterous that we could not follow him as he performed his tricks.

fervid

ADJ. /炙热的/ardent. Her fervid enthusiasm inspired all of us to undertake the dangerous mission.

fervent

ADJ. /炙热的/ardent; hot. She felt that the fervent praise was excessive and somewhat undeserved.

ebullient

ADJ. /热情的，激动的/showing excitement; overflowing with enthu¬siasm. Amy's ebullient nature could not be repressed; she' was always bubbling over with excitement. ebullience, N.

conversant

ADJ. /熟悉/familiar with. The lawyer is conversant with all the evidence.

lachrymose

ADJ. /爱哭的/producing tears. His voice has a lachry¬mose quality more appropriate to a funeral than a class reunion.

enamored

ADJ. /爱情的；坠入爱河的/in love. Narcissus became enamored of his own beauty.

meddlesome

ADJ. /爱管闲事的；好事的；好插手的/interfering. He felt his marriage was suf¬fering because of his meddlesome mother-in-law.

exhilarating

ADJ. /爽快的，使人愉快的/invigorating and refreshing; cheering. Though some of the hikers found tramping through the snow tiring, Jeffrey found the walk on the cold, crisp day exhilarating.

bovine

ADJ. /牛的；迟钝的；耐心的/cowlike; placid and dull. Nothing excites Esther; even when she won the state lottery, she still pre¬served her air of bovine calm.

ingrained

ADJ. /牢固的；深深扎根的；深入人心的/deeply established; firmly rooted. Try as they would, the missionaries were unable to uproot the ingrained superstitions of the natives.

material

ADJ. /物质的；重要的/made of physical matter; unspiritual; impor¬tant. Probing the mysteries of this material world has always fascinated physicist George Whitesides. Reporters nick¬named Madonna the Material Girl because, despite her name, she seemed wholly uninterested in spiritual values. Lexy's active participation made a material difference to the success of the fund-raiser.

irresolute

ADJ. /犹豫不决的/uncertain how to act; weak. Once you have made your decision, don't waver; a leader should never appear irresolute.

halting

ADJ. /犹豫的/hesitant; faltering. Novice extemporaneous speakers often talk in a halting fashion as they grope for the right words.

frantic

ADJ. /狂乱/wild. At the time of the collision, many people became frantic with fear.

frenzied

ADJ. /狂乱的/madly excited. As soon as they smelled smoke, the frenzied animals milled about in their cages.

boisterous

ADJ. /狂暴；喧嚣/violent; rough; noisy. The unruly crowd became even more boisterous when he tried to quiet them.

canine

ADJ. /狗的/related to dogs; dog-like. Some days the canine population of Berkeley seems almost to outnumber the human population,

inimitable

ADJ. /独一无二的，独特的；防伪的，难以模仿的/matchless; not able to be imitated. We admire Auden for his inimitable use of language; he is one of a kind.

dogmatic

ADJ. /独断的，教条的，固执的/opinionated; arbitrary; doctrinal. We tried to discourage Doug from being so dogmatic, but never could convince him that his opinions might be wrong.

autocratic

ADJ. /独裁/having absolute, unchecked power; dicta¬torial. Someone accustomed to exercising authority may become autocratic if his or her power is unchecked. Dicta¬tors by definition are autocrats. Bosses who dictate behav¬ior as well as letters can be autocrats too.

authoritarian

ADJ. /独裁/subordinating the individual to the state; completely dominating another's will. The leaders of the authoritarian regime ordered the suppression of the democ¬ratic protest movement. After years of submitting to the will of her authoritarian father, Elizabeth Barrett ran away from home with the poet Robert Browning.

dulcet

ADJ. /甜美的（声音）/sweet sounding. The dulcet sounds of the birds at dawn were soon drowned out by the roar of traffic passing our motel.

demented

ADJ. /疯狂的/insane. Doctor Demento was a lunatic radio personality who liked to act as if he were truly demented. If you're demented, your mental state is out of whack; in other words, you're wacky.

maniacal

ADJ. /疯狂的；无理智的/raging mad; insane. Though Mr. Rochester had locked his mad wife in the attic, he could still hear her maniacal laughter echoing throughout the house.

indefatigable

ADJ. /疲倦/tireless. Although the effort of taking out the garbage tired Wayne out for the entire morning, when it came to partying, he was indefatigable.

jaded

ADJ. /疲倦的/fatigued; surfeited. He looked for exotic foods to stimulate his jaded appetite.

morbid

ADJ. /病态的，恐怖的；喜怒无常的；不成熟的/given to unwholesome thought; moody; char¬acteristic of disease. People who come to disaster sites just to peer at the grisly wreckage are indulging their morbid curiosity.

harrowing

ADJ. /痛苦；悲怆/agonizing; distressing; traumatic. At first the former prisoner did not wish to discuss his harrowing months of captivity as a political hostage.

emaciated

ADJ. /瘦弱的，脆弱的/thin and wasted. His long period of starva¬tion had left him emaciated.

meager

ADJ. /瘦的；贫乏的，不足的/scanty; inadequate. Still hungry after his meager serving of porridge, Oliver Twist asked for a sec¬ond helping.

gaunt

ADJ. /瘦骨嶙峋，憔悴；荒芜/lean and angular; barren. His once round face looked surprisingly gaunt after he had lost weight.

incandescent

ADJ. /白炽的/strikingly bright; shining with intense heat. If you leave on an incandescent light bulb, it quickly grows too hot to touch.

corrugated

ADJ. /皱的/wrinkled; ridged. She wished she could smooth away the wrinkles from his corrugated brow.

bluff

ADJ. /直率的/rough but good-natured. Jack had a bluff and¬hearty manner that belied his actual sensitivity; he never let people know how thin-skinned he really was.

comparable

ADJ. /相似的/similar. People whose jobs are compara¬ble in difficulty should receive comparable pay.

commensurate

ADJ. /相当的，相称的/equal in extent. Your reward will be commensurate with your effort.

caustic

ADJ. /腐蚀；挖苦/burning; sarcastically biting. The critic's caus¬tic remarks angered the hapless actors who were the sub¬jects of his sarcasm.

grandiose

ADJ. /自命不凡；堂皇；夸张的/pretentious; high-flown; ridiculously exag¬gerated; impressive. The aged matinee idol still had grandiose notions of his supposed importance in the the¬atrical world.

autonomous

ADJ. /自治/self-governing. Although the University of California at Berkeley is just one part of the state univer¬sity system, in many ways Cal Berkeley is autonomous, for it runs several programs that are not subject to outside con¬trol. autonomy, N.

infamous

ADJ. /臭名昭著的，恶名远扬的/notoriously bad. Charles Manson and Jef¬frey Dahmer are both infamous killers.

lethal

ADJ. /致命的/deadly. It is unwise to leave lethal weapons where children may find them.

nautical

ADJ. /航海的/pertaining to ships or navigation. The Mar¬itime Museum contains many models of clipper ships, log¬books, anchors and many other items of a nautical nature.

benign

ADJ. /良性的，好的；和蔼可亲的/kindly; favorable; not malignant. Though her benign smile and gentle bearing made Miss Marple seem a sweet little old lady, in reality she was a tough-minded, shrewd observer of human nature. benignity, N.

laborious

ADJ. /艰苦的，勤劳的/demanding much work or care; tedious. In putting together his dictionary of the English language, Doctor Johnson undertook a laborious task.

hardy

ADJ. /艰苦的；勇敢的/sturdy; robust; able to stand inclement weather. We asked the gardening expert to recommend particularly hardy plants that could withstand our harsh New England winters.

aromatic

ADJ. /芬芳的/fragrant. Medieval sailing vessels brought aromatic herbs from China to Europe.

pallid

ADJ. /苍白的，惨淡的/pale; wan. Because his job required that he work at night and sleep during the day, he had an excep¬tionally pallid complexion.

exacting

ADJ. /苛刻的/extremely demanding. Cleaning the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was an exacting task, one that demanded extremely meticulous care on the part of the restorers. exaction, N.

ascetic

ADJ. /苦行；禁欲/practicing self-denial; austere. The wealthy, self-indulgent young man felt oddly drawn to the strict, ascetic life led by members of some monastic orders. also N.

onerous

ADJ. /范忠德/burdensome. He asked for an assistant because his work load was too onerous.

cursory

ADJ. /草率；匆忙/casual; hastily done. Because a cursory examination of the ruins indicates the possibility of arson, we believe the insurance agency should undertake a more extensive investigation of the fire's cause.

desolate

ADJ. /荒无人烟的/unpopulated. After six months in the crowded, bustling metropolis, David was so sick of people that he was ready to head for the most desolate patch of wilderness he could find.

arid

ADJ. /荒芜的/dry; barren. The cactus has adapted to survive in an arid environment.

barren

ADJ. /荒芜的，贫瘠的/desolate; fruitless and unproductive; lacking. Looking out at the trackless, barren desert, Indiana Jones feared that his search for the missing expedition would prove barren.

alimentary

ADJ. /营养的/supplying nourishment. The alimentary canal in our bodies is so named because digestion of foods occurs there. When asked for the name of the digestive tract, Sherlock Holmes replied, "Alimentary, my dear Watson."

jubilation

N. /庆祝/rejoicing. There was great jubilation when the armistice was announced. jubilant,ADJ.

asylum

N. /庇护所/place of refuge or shelter; protection. The refugees sought asylum from religious persecution in a new land.

chassis

N. /底盘/framework and working parts of an automobile. Examining the car after the accident, the owner discovered that the body had been ruined but that the chassis was unharmed.

moratorium

N. /延期偿还/legal delay of payment. If we declare a moratorium and delay collection of debts for six months, I am sure the farmers will be able to meet their bills.

marquee

N. /建筑物入口处的雨棚，遮蔽物/canopy above an entrance, under which one can take shelter; rooflike shelter above a theater entrance. On stormy days, the hotel doorman keeps dry by standing directly beneath the marquee. The title of Arthur Kopit's play Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Momma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad was too long to fit on the marquee.

onset

N. /开始，发作，肇端；攻击/beginning; attack. Caught unprepared by the sudden onset of the storm, we rushed around the house closing windows and bringing the garden furniture into shelter. Caught unprepared by the enemy onset, the troops scrambled to take shelter.

inception

N. /开始，开端/start; beginning. She was involved with the project from its inception.

conception

N. /开始，构思/beginning; forming of an idea. At the first conception of the work, he was consulted. conceive,V.

candor

N. /开诚布公；坦率/frankness; open honesty. Jack can carry can¬dor too far: when he told Jill his honest opinion of her, she nearly slapped his face. candid,ADJ.

infidel

N. /异教徒，异端；不信宗教的/unbeliever. The Saracens made war against the infidels.

gambit

N. /弃子抢先/opening in chess in which a piece is sacrificed. The player was afraid to accept his opponent's gambit because he feared a trap which as yet he could not see. gambol V. skip; leap playfully. Watching children gambol-ing in the park is a pleasant experience. also N.

extradition

N. /引渡/surrender of prisoner by one state to another. The lawyers opposed the extradition of their client on the grounds that for more than five years he had been a model citizen.

detonation

N. /引爆，爆炸/explosion. The detonation of the bomb could be heard miles away.

decoy

N. /引诱/lure or bait. The wild ducks were not fooled by the decoy. alsoV.

infirmity

N. /弱点/weakness. Her greatest infirmity was lack of willpower.

barrage

N. /弹幕，火力网/barrier laid down by artillery fire. The company was forced to retreat through the barrage of heavy cannons.

catapult

N. /弹弓；弹射器/slingshot; a hurling machine. Airplanes are sometimes launched from battleships by catapults. alsoV.

brawn

N. /强壮的肌肉/muscular strength; sturdiness. It takes brawn to become a champion weightlifter. brawny,ADJ.

forte

N. /强项，特殊才能/strong point or special talent. I am not eager to play this rather serious role, for my forte is comedy.

fiasco

N. /彻底失败/total failure. Our ambitious venture ended in a fiasco and we were forced to flee.

deciduous

ADJ. /落叶的/falling off as of leaves. The oak is a decid¬uous tree; in winter it looks quite bare.

doctrine

N. /教育；学说/teachings, in general; particular principle (reli¬gious, legal, etc.) taught. He was so committed to the doc¬trines of his faith that he was unable to evaluate them impartially.

astigmatism

N. /散光/eye defect that prevents proper focus. As soon as his parents discovered that the boy suffered from astigmatism, they took him to the optometrist for corrective glasses.

equivocal

ADJ. /蓄意误导；含混，模棱两可/ambiguous; intentionally misleading. Rejecting the candidate's equivocal comments on tax reform, the reporters pressed him to state clearly where he stood on the issue. equivocate,V.

devout

ADJ. /虔诚的；诚恳的/pious. The devout man prayed daily.

illusory

ADJ. /虚幻的，不真实的/deceptive; not real. Unfortunately, the costs of running the lemonade stand were so high that Tom's profits proved illusory.

iridescent

ADJ. /虹彩的/exhibiting rainbowlike colors. She admired the iridescent hues of the oil that floated on the surface of the water.

fractious

ADJ. /蛮横倔强的/unruly; disobedient; irritable. Bucking and kicking, the fractious horse unseated its rider.

molten

ADJ. /融化了的/melted. The city of Pompeii was destroyed by volcanic ash rather than by molten lava flowing from Mount Vesuvius.

gory

ADJ. /血腥的/bloody. The audience shuddered as they lis¬tened to the details of the gory massacre.

compensatory

ADJ. /补偿/making up for; repaying. Can a com¬pensatory education program make up for the inadequate schooling he received in earlier years?

complementary

ADJ. /补足的，完善的/serving to complete something. John and Lisa's skills are complementary. he's good at following a daily routine, while she's great at improvising and han¬dling emergencies. Together they make a great team.

exempt

ADJ. /被免除的/not subject to a duty, obligation. Because of his flat feet, Foster was exempt from serving in the armed forces. alsoV.

mincing

ADJ. /装腔作势的/affectedly dainty. Yum-Yum walked across the stage with mincing steps.

narrative

ADJ. /解说的/related to telling a story. A born teller of tales, Tillie Olsen used her impressive narrative skills to advantage in her story "I Stand Here Ironing." narrate,V.

expository

ADJ. /解释性的/explanatory; serving to explain. The man¬ual that came with my VCR was no masterpiece of exposi¬tory prose: its explanations were so garbled that I couldn't even figure out how to rewind a tape. exposition, N.

homage

N. /敬意/honor; tribute. In her speech she tried to pay homage to a great man.

awe

N. /敬畏/solemn wonder. The tourists gazed with awe at the tremendous expanse of the Grand Canyon.

obituary

ADJ. /讣告/death notice. I first learned of her death when I read the obituary column in the newspaper. also N.

cognitive

ADJ. /认知的/having to do with knowing or perceiving; related to the mental processes. Though Jack was emotion¬ally immature, his cognitive development was admirable; he was very advanced intellectually.

gamut

N. /整个领域/entire range. In this performance, the leading lady was able to demonstrate the complete gamut of her acting ability.

obnoxious

ADJ. /讨厌的；冒犯的/offensive. I find your behavior obnoxious; please mend your ways.

mnemonic

ADJ. /记忆的/pertaining to memory. He used mnemonic tricks to master new words.

ironic

ADJ. /讽刺性的/resulting in an unexpected and contrary out¬come. It is ironic that his success came when he least wanted it.

jocose

ADJ. /诙谐的/given to joking. The salesman was so jocose that many of his customers suggested that he become a .,stand-up" comic.

jocular

ADJ. /诙谐的/said or done in jest. Although Bill knew the boss hated jokes, he couldn't resist making one jocular remark.

guileless

ADJ. /诚实的/without deceit. He is naive, simple, and guileless; he cannot be guilty of fraud.

grandiloquent

ADJ. /语言夸张的；词藻浮华的/pompous; bombastic; using high¬sounding language. The politician could never speak sim¬ply; she was always grandiloquent.

linguistic

ADJ. /语言的/pertaining to language. The modern tourist will encounter very little linguistic difficulty as English has become an almost universal language.

obsequious

ADJ. /谄媚的；拍马屁的；奴性的/slavishly attentive; servile; sycophantic. Helen liked to be served by people who behaved as if they respected themselves; nothing irritated her more than an excessively obsequious waiter or a fawning salesclerk.

finicky

ADJ. /过分讲究；鸡毛蒜皮/too particular; fussy. The little girl was finicky about her food, leaving over anything that wasn't to her taste.

elated

ADJ. /过分高兴的；兴高采烈/overjoyed; in high spirits. Grinning from ear to ear, Bonnie Blair was clearly elated by her fifth Olympic gold medal. elation, N.

exorbitant

ADJ. /过度的/excessive. The people grumbled at his exor¬bitant prices but paid them because he had a monopoly.

intemperate

ADJ. /过度的；极端的；放纵的/immoderate; excessive; extreme. In a temper, Tony refused to tone down his intemperate remarks.

archaic

ADJ. /过时的/antiquated. "Methinks," "thee," and "thou" are archaic words that are no longer part of our normal vocabulary.

neophyte

N. /新入教者；新信徒/recent convert; beginner. This mountain slope contains slides that will challenge experts as well as neophytes.

novelty

N. /新奇/something new; newness. The computer is no longer a novelty at work; every desk in our office has one. novel,ADJ.

outmoded

ADJ. /过时的/longer stylish; old-fashioned. Uncon¬cerned about keeping in style, Lenore was perfectly happy to wear outmoded clothes as long as they were clean and unfrayed.

antiquated

ADJ. /过时的，陈旧的/old-fashioned; obsolete. Philip had grown so accustomed to editing his papers on word processors that he thought typewriters were too antiquated for him to use.

obsolete

ADJ. /过时的；无用的/no longer useful; outmoded; antiquated. The invention of the pocket calculator made the slide rule used by generations of engineers obsolete.

monetary

ADJ. /金融的/pertaining to money. Jane held the family purse strings: she made all monetary decisions affecting the household.

obtuse

ADJ. /钝的，迟钝的；愚蠢的/blunt; stupid. What can you do with somebody who's so obtuse that he can't even tell that you're insulting him?

livid

ADJ. /铅灰色的；青一块紫一块的；暴怒的/lead-colored; black and blue; enraged. His face was so livid with rage that we were afraid that he might have an attack of apoplexy.

inexorable

ADJ. /无情的；残酷的/relentless; unyielding; implacable. After listening to the pleas for clemency, the judge was inex¬orable and gave the convicted man the maximum punish¬ment allowed by law.

invulnerable

ADJ. /无懈可击的/incapable of injury. Achilles was invul¬nerable except in his heel.

omnivorous

ADJ. /无所不吃的；杂食的/eating both plant and animal food; devouring everything. Some animals, including man, are omnivorous and eat both meat and vegetables; others are either carnivorous or herbivorous.

omnipresent

ADJ. /无所不在的/universally present; ubiquitous. On Christmas Eve, Santa Claus is omnipresent.

omniscient

ADJ. /无所不知的/all-knowing. I do not pretend to be omni¬scient, but I am positive about this fact.

omnipotent

ADJ. /无所不能的；全能的/all-powerful. The monarch regarded him¬self as omnipotent and responsible to no one for his acts.

ineffectual

ADJ. /无效的，弱的/not effective; weak. Because the candi¬date failed to get across his message to the public, his campaign was ineffectual.

invincible

ADJ. /无敌的/unconquerable. Superman is invincible.

inviolable

ADJ. /无敌的；神圣不可亵渎的/secure from corruption, attack, or violation; unassailable. Batman considered his oath to keep the peo¬ple of Gotham City inviolable: nothing on earth could make him break this promise.

immaculate

ADJ. /无暇的/spotless; flawless; absolutely clean. Ken and Jessica were wonderful tenants and left the apartment in immaculate condition when they moved out.

gratuitous

ADJ. /无条件的；无理由的；免费的/given freely; unwarranted; uncalled for. Quit making gratuitous comments about my driving; no one asked you for your opinion.

categorical

ADJ. /无条件；直截了当/without exceptions; unqualified; absolute. Though the captain claimed he was never, never sick at sea, he finally had to qualify his categorical denial: he was "hardly ever" sick at sea.

irrational

ADJ. /无理的，缺乏逻辑的；不理智的/illogical; lacking reason; insane. Many peo¬ple have such an irrational fear of snakes that they panic at the sight of a harmless garter snake.

intrepid

ADJ. /无畏的/fearless. For her intrepid conduct nursing the wounded during the war, Florence Nightingale was honored by Queen Victoria.

incontrovertible

ADJ. /无疑的，无可争议的/indisputable; not open to question. Unless you find the evidence against my client absolutely incontrovertible, you must declare her not guilty of this charge.

atheistic

ADJ. /无神论/denying the existence of God. His atheistic remarks shocked the religious worshippers.

invidious

ADJ. /易招嫉妒的；不公平的/designed to create ill will or envy. We disre¬garded her invidious remarks because we realized how jealous she was.

combustible

ADJ. /易燃的/easily burned. After the recent outbreak of fires in private homes, the fire commissioner ordered that all combustible materials be kept in safe containers, also N.

brittle

ADJ. /易碎的；困难的/easily broken; difficult. My employer's self-con¬trol was as brittle as an egg-shell. Her brittle personality made it difficult for me to get along with her.

ostensible

ADJ. /显然的；虚假的/apparent; professed; pretended. Although the ostensible purpose of this expedition is to discover new lands, we are really interested in finding new markets for our products.

notable

ADJ. /显著的；值得注意的/conspicuous; important; distinguished. Nor¬mally notable for his calm in the kitchen, today the head cook was shaking, for the notable chef Julia Child was com¬ing to dinner.

generic

ADJ. /普通的/characteristic of an entire class or species. Sue knew so many computer programmers who spent their spare time playing fantasy games that she began to think that playing Dungeons & Dragons was a generic trait.

nondescript

ADJ. /普通的/undistinctive; ordinary. The private detec¬tive was a short, nondescript fellow with no outstanding fea¬tures, the sort of person one would never notice in a crowd.

mediocre

ADJ. /普通的，一般的/ordinary; commonplace. We were disap¬pointed because he gave a rather mediocre performance in this role.

indifferent

ADJ. /普通的，无关紧要的/unmoved or unconcerned by; mediocre. Because Ann felt no desire to marry, she was indifferent to Carl's constant proposals. Not only was she indifferent to him personally, but she felt that, given his general silliness, he would make an indifferent husband.

lackluster

ADJ. /暗淡的，无光的；单调的/dull. We were disappointed by the lacklus¬ter performance.

murky

ADJ. /暗的，模糊的，暧昧的/dark and gloomy; thick with fog; vague. The murky depths of the swamp were so dark that one couldn't tell the vines and branches from the snakes.

opaque

ADJ. /暗的；不透明的/dark; not transparent. The opaque window shade kept the sunlight out of the room. opacity, N.

nebulous

ADJ. /暧昧的，混浊不清的/vague; hazy; cloudy. After twenty years, she had only a nebulous memory of her grandmother's face.

auroral

ADJ. /曙光的，极光的/pertaining to the aurora borealis. The auroral display was particularly spectacular that evening.

optimum

ADJ. /最优的/most favorable. If you wait for the optimum moment to act, you may never begin your project. also N.

lunar

ADJ. /月亮的/pertaining to the moon. Lunar craters can plainly seen with the aid of a small telescope.

lucrative

ADJ. /有利润的/profitable. He turned his hobby into a lucra¬tive profession.

nominal

ADJ. /有名无实的，名存实亡的；名义上的/in name only; trifling. He offered to drive her to the airport for only a nominal fee.

ominous

ADJ. /有威胁的；恶兆的/threatening. Those clouds are ominous; they suggest a severe storm is on the way.

deleterious

ADJ. /有害的/harmful. If you believe that smoking is deleterious to your health (and the Surgeon General cer¬tainly does), then quit!

noxious

ADJ. /有害的/harmful. We must trace the source of these noxious gases before they asphyxiate us.

detrimental

ADJ. /有害的/harmful; damaging. The candidate's acceptance of major financial contributions from a well¬known racist ultimately proved detrimental to his campaign, for he lost the backing of many of his early grassroots sup¬porters. detriment, N.

insalubrious

ADJ. /有害的/unwholesome; not healthful. The mos¬quito-ridden swamp was an insalubrious place, a breeding ground for malarial contagion.

noisome

ADJ. /有害的，有毒的；恶臭的/foul-smelling; unwholesome. The noisome atmosphere downwind of the oil refinery not only stank, it damaged the lungs of everyone living in the area.

malleable

ADJ. /有延展性的；可锻的/capable of being shaped by pounding; impressionable. Gold is a malleable metal, easily shaped into bracelets and rings. Fagin hoped Oliver was a mal¬leable lad, easily shaped into a thief.

effectual

ADJ. /有效的/able to produce a desired effect; valid. Medical researchers are concerned because of the devel¬opment of drug-resistant strains of bacteria; many once useful antibiotics are no longer effectual in curing bacterial infections.

articulate

ADJ. /有效的；独特的/effective; distinct. Her articulate presentation of the advertising campaign impressed her employers. alsoV.

mottled

ADJ. /有斑点的；弄脏的/blotched in coloring; spotted. When old Fal¬staff blushed, his face was mottled with embarrassment, all pink and purple and red.

odorous

ADJ. /有气味的/having an odor. This variety of hybrid tea rose is more odorous than the one you have in your garden.

insightful

ADJ. /有洞察力的/discerning; perceptive. Sol thought he was very insightful about human behavior, but he was actually clueless as to why people acted the way they did.

beneficial

ADJ. /有用的/helpful; useful. Tiny Tim's cheerful good nature had a beneficial influence on Scrooge's once¬uncharitable disposition.

discriminating

ADJ. /有识别能力的；有偏见的/able to see differences; prejudiced. A superb interpreter of Picasso, she was sufficiently discrimi¬nating to judge the most complex works of modern art. (secondary meaning) discrimination, N.

cogent

ADJ. /有说服力的/convincing. It was inevitable that David chose to go to Harvard: he had several cogent reasons for doing so, including a full-tuition scholarship. Katya argued her case with such cogency that the jury had to decide in favor of her client.

enterprising

ADJ. /有魄力/full of initiative. By coming up with fresh ways to market the company's products, Mike proved him¬self to be an enterprising businessman.

engaging

ADJ. /有魅力的，有吸引力的/charming; attractive. Everyone liked Nancy's pleasant manners and engaging personality.

ephemeral

ADJ. /朝生暮死，短暂，短命/short-lived; fleeting. The mayfly is an ephemeral creature: its adult life lasts little more than a day.

hazy

ADJ. /朦胧的；模糊的/slightly obscure. In hazy weather, you cannot see the top of this mountain.

enigmatic

ADJ. /朦胧的；谜一样的/obscure; puzzling. Many have sought to fathom the enigmatic smile of the Mona Lisa.

celibate

ADJ. /未婚的，独身的/unmarried; abstaining from sexual inter¬course. The perennial bachelor vowed to remain celibate. celibacy, N.

germinal

ADJ. /未成熟的，幼芽的/pertaining to a germ; creative. Such an idea is germinal, I am certain that it will influence thinkers and philosophers for many generations.

leery

ADJ. /机敏的；狡猾的/suspicious; cautious. Don't eat the sushi at this restaurant; I'm a bit leery about how fresh the raw fish is.

authoritative

ADJ. /权威；独裁/having the weight of authority; peremp¬tory and dictatorial. Impressed by the young researcher's well-documented presentation, we accepted her analysis of the experiment as authoritative.

erroneous

ADJ. /错误/mistaken; wrong. I thought my answer was correct, but it was erroneous.

lustrous

ADJ. /闪耀的/shining. Her large and lustrous eyes lent a touch of beauty to an otherwise plain face.

oblique

ADJ. /间接的；倾斜的；无诚意的/indirect; slanting (deviating from the perpen¬dicular or from a straight line). Casting a quick, oblique glance at the reviewing stand, the sergeant ordered the company to march "Oblique Right."

intermittent

ADJ. /间歇的；断断续续的/periodic; on and off. The outdoor wed¬ding reception had to be moved indoors to avoid the inter¬mittent showers that fell on and off all afternoon.

insidious

ADJ. /阴险的，奸诈的，狡猾的；鬼鬼祟祟的/treacherous; stealthy; sly. The fifth column is insidious because it works secretly within our territory for our defeat.

musty

ADJ. /陈腐的，变质的；时间长损失品质的/stale; spoiled by age. The attic was dark and musty.

exotic

ADJ. /陌生的，外来的，奇异的，异国情调/not native; strange. Because of his exotic headdress, he was followed in the streets by small children who laughed at his strange appearance.

inclement

ADJ. /险恶的；严酷的/stormy; unkind. In inclement weather, I like to curl up on the sofa with a good book and listen to the storm blowing outside.

ceremonious

ADJ. /隆重的/marked by formality. Ordinary dress would be inappropriate at so ceremonious an affair.

cavalier

ADJ. /随便；傲慢/offhand or casual; haughty. The disguised prince resented the cavalier way in which the palace guards treated him. How dared they handle a member of the royal family so unceremoniously!

indiscriminate

ADJ. /随意的；不分青红皂白的/choosing at random; confused. She disapproved of her son's indiscriminate television viewing and decided to restrict him to educational programs.

haphazard

ADJ. /随机的/random; by chance. His haphazard read¬ing left him unacquainted with the authors of the books.

anachronistic

ADJ. having an error involving time in a story. The reference to clocks in Julius Caesar is anachronistic: clocks did not exist in Caesar's time. anachronism, N.

animated

ADJ. lively; spirited. Jim Carrey's facial expres¬sions are highly animated: when he played Ace Ventura, he looked practically rubber-faced.

amorous

ADJ. moved by sexual love; loving. "Love them and leave them" was the motto of the amorous Don Juan.

indigenous

ADJ. native. Cigarettes are made of tobacco, a plant indigenous to the New World.

agrarian

ADJ. pertaining to land or its cultivation. The country is gradually losing its agrarian occupation and turn¬ing more and more to an industrial point of view.

abundant

ADJ. plentiful; possessing riches or resources. At his immigration interview, Ivan listed his abundant rea¬sons for coming to America: the hope of religious freedom, the prospect of employment, the promise of a more abun¬dant life.

amicable

ADJ. politely friendly; not quarrelsome. Beth's sis¬ter Jo is the hot-tempered tomboy who has a hard time maintaining amicable relations with those around her. Jo's quarrel with her friend Laurie finally reaches an amicable settlement, but not because Jo turns amiable overnight.

acute

ADJ. quickly perceptive; keen; brief and severe. The acute young doctor realized immediately that the gradual deterioration of her patient's once acute hearing was due to a chronic illness, not an acute one.

amenable

ADJ. readily managed; willing to be led. He was amenable to any suggestions that came from those he looked up to; he resented advice from his inferiors.

academic

ADJ. related to a school; not practical or directly useful. The dean's talk about reforming the college admis¬sions system was only an academic discussion: we knew little, if anything, would change.

abrasive

ADJ. rubbing away; tending to grind down. Just as abrasive cleaning powders can wear away a shiny finish, abrasive remarks can wear away a listener's patience. abrade,V.

ancillary

ADJ. serving as an aid or accessory; auxiliary. In an ancillary capacity, Doctor Watson was helpful; however, Holmes could not trust the good doctor to solve a perplex¬ing case on his own. also N.

angular

ADJ. sharp-cornered; stiff in manner. Mr. Spock's features, though angular, were curiously attractive, in a Vul¬can way.

adroit

ADJ. skillful. His adroit handling of the delicate situa¬tion pleased his employers.

acidulous

ADJ. slightly sour; sharp, caustic. James was unpopular because of his sarcastic and acidulous remarks.

abstract

ADJ. theoretical; not concrete; nonrepresenta¬tional. To him, hunger was an abstract concept; he had never missed a meal.

adverse

ADJ. unfavorable; hostile. The recession had a highly adverse effect on Father's investment portfolio: he lost so much money that he could no longer afford the but¬ler and the upstairs maid. adversity, N.

altruistic

ADJ. unselfishly generous; concerned for others. In providing tutorial assistance and college scholarships for hundreds of economically disadvantaged youths, Eugene Lang performed a truly altruistic deed. altruism, N.

abortive

ADJ. unsuccessful; fruitless. Attacked by armed troops, the Chinese students had to abandon their abortive attempt to democratize Beijing peacefully. abort,V.

acetic

ADJ. vinegary. The salad had an exceedingly acetic flavor.

abject

ADJ. wretched; lacking pride. On the streets of New York the homeless live in abject poverty

amiss

ADJ. wrong; faulty. Seeing her frown, he wondered if anything were amiss. also ADV.

aboriginal

ADJ., N. being the first of its kind in a region; primitive; native. Her studies of the primitive art forms of the aboriginal Indians were widely reported in the scientific journals. aborigines, N.

injurious

ADJ./有害的/ harmful. Smoking cigarettes can be injurious to your health.

bent

ADJ; N. /先天的/determined; natural talent or inclination. Bent on advancing in the business world, the secretary-heroine of Working Girl has a true bent for high finance.

inadvertently

ADV. /不经意的/unintentionally; by oversight; care¬lessly. Judy's great fear was that she might inadvertently omit a question on the exam and mismark her whole answer sheet.

gamely

ADV. /勇敢的，有精神的/bravely; with spirit. Because he had fought gamely against a much superior boxer, the crowd gave him a standing ovation when he left the arena.

gingerly

ADV. /小心翼翼地/very carefully. To separate egg whites, first crack the egg gingerly.

awry

ADV. /扭曲的；歪曲的/distorted; crooked. He held his head awry, giv¬ing the impression that he had caught cold in his neck dur¬ing the night. alsoADJ.

berserk

ADV. /疯狂的，狂暴的/frenzied. Angered, he went berserk and began to wreck the room.

aloft

ADV. upward. To get into a loft bed, you have to climb aloft.

despot

N. /暴君/tyrant; harsh, authoritarian ruler. How could a benevolent king turn overnight into a despot?

atrocity

N. /暴行/brutal deed. In time of war, many atrocities are committed by invading armies.

glutton

N. /暴饮暴食者，饭桶/someone who eats too much. When Mother saw that Bobby had eaten all the cookies, she called him a little glutton. gluttonous,ADJ.

exposure

N. /曝光，揭露；暴露（于疾病、恶劣的环境等）的状态/risk, particularly of being exposed to disease or to the elements; unmasking; act of laying something open. Exposure to sun and wind had dried out her hair and weathered her face. She looked so changed that she no longer feared exposure as the notorious Irene Adler, one¬time antagonist of Sherlock Holmes.

mirage

N. /曲解；海市蜃楼；虚影 /unreal reflection; optical illusion. The lost prospector was fooled by a mirage in the desert.

aspirant

N. /有志者；有抱负的人/seeker after position or status. Although I am an aspirant for public office, I am not willing to accept the dictates of the party bosses. alsoADJ.

gentility

N. /有教养，文雅/those of gentle birth; refinement. Her family was proud of its gentility and elegance.

justification

N. /有理，正当；辩护；释罪/good or just reason; defense; excuse. The jury found him guilty of the more serious charge because they could see no possible justification for his actions,

marsupial

N. /有袋哺乳动物（袋鼠、袋熊、袋狼）/one of a family of mammals that nurse their offspring in a pouch. The most common marsupial in North America is the opossum.

memento

N. /有象征意义的物品；纪念品/token; reminder. Take this book as a memento of your visit.

opportunist

N. /机会主义者/individual who sacrifices principles for expediency by taking advantage of circumstances. Joe is such an opportunist that he tripled the price of bottled water at his store as soon as the earthquake struck. Because it can break water pipes, an earthquake is, to most people, a disaster; to Joe, it was an opportunity.

automaton

N. /机器人/mechanism that imitates actions of humans. Long before science fiction readers became aware of robots, writers were presenting stories of automatons who could outperform men.

miscellany

N. /杂记/mixture of writings on various subjects. This is an interesting miscellany of nineteenth-century prose and poetry.

mirth

N. /欢笑/merriment; laughter. Sober Malvolio found Sir Toby's mirth improper.

facade

N. /正面的；表面的，肤浅的/front (of building); superficial or false appearance. The ornate facade of the church was often photographed by tourists, who never bothered to walk around the building to view its other sides. Susan seemed super-confident, but that was just a facade she put on to hide her insecurity.

gait

N. /步态，步法；速度/manner of walking or running; speed. The lame man walked with an uneven gait.

caricature

N. /歪曲；漫画；讽刺画/distortion; burlesque. The caricatures he drew always emphasized a personal weakness of the peo¬ple he burlesqued. alsoV.

demise

N. /死/death. Upon the demise of the dictator, a bitter dispute about succession to power developed.

carnage

N. /残杀；大屠杀/destruction of life. The film The Killing Fields vividly depicts the carnage wreaked by Pol Pot's followers in Cambodia.

mortician

N. /殡仪业者/undertaker. The mortician prepared the corpse for burial.

ewe

N. /母羊/female sheep. The flock of sheep was made up of dozens of ewes, together with only a handful of rams.

cistern

N. /水塔；水库/reservoir or water tank. The farmers were able to withstand the dry season by using rainwater they had stored in an underground cistern.

meditation

N. /沉思冥想/reflection; thought. She reached her deci¬sion only after much meditation.

aplomb

N. /沉着，垂直/poise; assurance. Gwen's aplomb in handling potentially embarrassing moments was legendary around the office; when one of her clients broke a piece of her best crystal, she coolly picked up her own goblet and hurled it into the fireplace.

maverick

N. /没打烙印的动物；闹独立的人；非国教徒；造反者/rebel; nonconformist. To the masculine literary establishment, George Sand with her insistence on wearing trousers and smoking cigars was clearly a maverick who fought her proper womanly role.

edict

N. /法令，号令；布告/decree (especially issued by a sovereign); official command. The emperor issued an edict decreeing that everyone should come see him model his magnificent new clothes.

ordinance

N. /法令；政令/decree. Passing a red light is a violation of a city ordinance.

jurisprudence

N. /法学/science of law. He was more a student of jurisprudence than a practitioner of the law.

effervescence

N. /泡腾，沸腾；兴奋，活泼/inner excitement or exuberance; bub¬bling from fermentation or carbonation. Nothing depressed Sue for long; her natural effervescence soon reasserted itself. Soda that loses its effervescence goes flat. efferves¬cent, ADJ. effervesce,V.

influx

N. /注入，流入/flowing into. The influx of refugees into the coun¬try has taxed the relief agencies severely.

detergent

N. /洗洁精；洗涤剂/cleansing agent. Many new detergents have replaced soap.

foresight

N. /洞察力/ability to foresee future happenings; pru¬dence. A wise investor, she had the foresight to buy land just before the current real estate boom.

aperture

N. /洞，穴，孔/opening; hole. She discovered a small aper¬ture in the wall, through which the insects had entered the room.

ford

N. /津；浅滩/place where a river can be crossed on foot. Rather than risk using the shaky rope bridge, David walked a half¬mile downstream until he came to the nearest ford. alsoV.

faction

N. /派别；内讧；纠纷/party; clique; dissension. The quarrels and bick¬ering of the two small factions within the club disturbed the majority of the members.

buccaneer

N. /海盗/pirate. At Disneyland the Pirates of the Caribbean sing a song about their lives as bloody bucca¬neers.

nirvana

N. /涅磐/in Buddhist teachings, the ideal state in which the individual loses himself in the attainment of an imper¬sonal beatitude. Despite his desire to achieve nirvana, the young Buddhist found that even the buzzing of a fly could distract him from his meditation.

chasm

N. /深渊/abyss. They could not see the bottom of the chasm.

medley

N. /混合/mixture. To avoid boring dancers by playing any one tune for too long, bands may combine three or four tunes into a medley.

hybrid

N. /混合的，混血的/mongrel; mixed breed. Mendel's formula explains the appearance of hybrids and pure species in breeding. alsoADJ.

malfeasance

N. /渎职；不法行为/wrongdoing. The authorities did not dis¬cover the campaign manager's malfeasance until after he had spent most of the money he had embezzled.

clemency

N. /温和；仁慈/disposition to be lenient; mildness, as of the weather. The lawyer was pleased when the case was sent to Judge Smith's chambers because Smith was noted for her clemency toward first offenders.

leniency

N. /温和；宽大，仁慈/mildness; permissiveness. Considering the gravity of the offense, we were surprised by the leniency of the sentence.

buffoonery

N. /滑稽的/clowning. In the Ace Ventura movies, Jim Carrey's buffoonery was hilarious: like Bozo the Clown, he's a natural buffoon.

calligraphy

N. /漂亮的书法/beautiful writing; excellent penmanship. As we examine ancient manuscripts, we become impressed with the calligraphy of the scribes.

orator

N. /演讲者/public speaker. The abolitionist Frederick Dou¬glass was a brilliant orator whose speeches brought home to his audience the evils of slavery.

discourse

N. /演讲；谈话/formal discussion; conversation. The young Plato was drawn to the Agora to hear the philosophical dis¬course of Socrates and his followers. alsoV.

apathy

N. /漠不关心/lack of caring; indifference. A firm believer in democratic government, she could not understand the apathy of people who never bothered to vote. apathetic,ADJ.

eddy

N. /漩涡/swirling current of water, air, etc. The water in the tide pool was still, except for an occasional eddy.

ferment

N. /激怒；挑起骚动、暴乱/agitation; commotion. With the breakup of the Soviet Union, much of Eastern Europe was in a state of fer¬ment.

infusion

N. /灌输；浸泡；注入/act of introducing or instilling a quality; liquid solution. The rookie quarterback brought an infusion of new life and vigor to the tired team. infuse,V.

filament

N. /灯丝；精细的织物或线/fine thread or fiber; threadlike structure within a light bulb. A ray of sunlight illuminated the filaments of the spider web, turning the web into a net of gold.

catastrophe

N. /灾难/calamity; disaster. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake was a catastrophe that destroyed most of the city. A similar earthquake striking today could have even more catastrophic results.

calamity

N. /灾难，不幸/disaster; misery. As news of the calamity spread, offers of relief poured in to the stricken community.

alchemy

N. /炼金术士/medieval chemistry. The changing of baser metals into gold was the goal of the students of alchemy. alchemist, N.

foil

N. /烘托；衬托/contrast. In Star Wars, dark, evil Darth Vader is a perfect foil for fair-haired, naive Luke Skywalker.

devotee

N. /热心的追随者/enthusiastic follower. A devotee of the opera, he bought season tickets every year.

ovation

N. /热情洋溢的喝彩/enthusiastic applause. When the popular tenor Placido Domingo came on stage in the first act of La Boheme, he was greeted by a tremendous ovation.

fervor

N. /热情；激情/glowing ardor; intensity of feeling. At the protest rally, the students cheered the strikers and booed the dean with equal fervor.

demagogue

N. /煽动政治家/person who appeals to people's prejudice; false leader of people. He was accused of being a dema¬gogue because he made promises that aroused futile hopes in his listeners.

fusion

N. /熔合；熔接/union; coalition. The opponents of the political party in power organized a fusion of disgruntled groups and became an important element in the election.

fancy

N. /爱好；奇特；想象/notion; whim; inclination. Martin took a fancy to paint his toenails purple. Assuming he would outgrow such fanciful behavior, his parents ignored his fancy feet. alsoADJ.

endearment

N. /爱慕；爱的表示/fond statement. Your gifts and endear¬ments cannot make me forget your earlier insolence.

idiosyncrasy

N. /特性，特质；古怪的，离心的/individual trait, usually odd in nature; eccentricity. One of Richard Nixon's little idiosyncrasies was his liking for ketchup on cottage cheese. One of Hannibal Lecter's little idiosyncrasies was his liking for human flesh. idiosyncratic,ADJ.

malefactor

N. /犯罪分子/evildoer; criminal. Mighty Mouse will save the day, hunting down malefactors and rescuing innocent mice from peril.

fanaticism

N. /狂热的，盲目的/excessive zeal; extreme devotion to a belief or cause. When Islamic fundamentalists demanded the death of Salman Rushdie because his novel questioned their faith, world opinion condemned them for their fanati¬cism.

milieu

N. /环境；（社会）背景/environment; means of expression. Surrounded by smooth preppies and arty bohemians, the country boy from Smalltown, USA, felt out of his milieu. Although he has produced excellent oil paintings and lithographs, his proper milieu is watercolor.

novice

N. /新手/beginner. Even a novice at working with comput¬ers can install Barron's Computer Study Program for the SAT by following the easy steps outlined in the user's manual.

girth

N. /方圆；周围环境/distance around something; circumference. It took an extra-large cummerbund to fit around Andrew Carnegie's considerable girth.

agent

N. /方法，工具；代表/means or instrument; personal representative; per¬son acting in an official capacity. °I will be the agent of America's destruction," proclaimed the beady-eyed villain, whose agent had gotten him the role. With his face, he could never have played the part of the hero, a heroic F.B.I. agent.

itinerary

N. /旅行计划；路线/plan of a trip. Disliking sudden changes in plans when she traveled abroad, Ethel refused to make any alterations in her itinerary.

anarchy

N. /无政府主义/absence of governing body; state of disorder. The assassination of the leaders led to a period of anarchy.

myriad

N. /无数，非常多/very large number. Myriads of mosquitoes from the swamps invaded our village every twilight. alsoADJ.

immobility

N. /无法移动，不可移动的/state of being immovable. Modern armies cannot afford the luxury of immobility, as they are vulnera¬ble to attack while standing still.

hypochondriac

N. /无病呻吟；忧郁症/person unduly worried about his health; worrier without cause about illness. The doctor prescribed chocolate pills for his patient who was a hypochondriac.

impudence

N. /无礼；厚颜无耻/impertinence; insolence. Kissed on the cheek by a perfect stranger, Lady Catherine exclaimed, "Of all the nerve! Young man, I should have you horse-whipped for your impudence."

agnostic

N. /无神论者/one who is skeptical of the existence or knowability of a god or any ultimate reality. Agnostics say we can neither prove nor disprove the existence of god; we simply just can't know. alsoADJ.

log

N. /日志；圆木/record of a voyage or flight; record of day to day activities. "Flogged two seamen today for insubordination" wrote Captain Bligh in the Bounty's log. To see how much work I've accomplished recently, just take a look at the number of new files listed on my computer log.

eon

N. /时代/long period of time; an age. It has taken eons for our civilization to develop.

epoch

N. /时代/period of time. The glacial epoch lasted for thou¬sands of years.

mode

N. /时尚；方式；模式/prevailing style; manner; way of doing some¬thing. The rock star had to have her hair done in the latest mode: frizzed, with occasional moussed spikes for variety. Henry plans to adopt a simpler mode of life: he is going to become a mushroom hunter and live off the land.

dupe

N. /易被开涮的人/someone easily fooled. While the gullible Watson often was made a dupe by unscrupulous parties, Sherlock Holmes was far more difficult to fool. alsoV.

galaxy

N. /星系；一群显赫的人；一系列重要的人或物/large, isolated system of stars, such as the Milky Way; any collection of brilliant personalities. Science fiction stories speculate about the possible existence of life in other galaxies. The deaths of such famous actors as John Candy and George Burns tells us that the galaxy of Holly¬wood superstars is rapidly disappearing.

equinox

N. /昼夜平分点，春分，秋分/period of equal days and nights; the beginning of Spring and Autumn. The vernal equinox is usually marked by heavy rainstorms.

intellect

N. /智力/higher mental powers. He thought college would develop his intellect.

innuendo

N. /暗示，旁侧敲击；暗讽；讽刺，冷嘲热讽/hint; insinuation. I can defend myself against direct accusations; innuendos and oblique attacks on my character are what trouble me.

forum

N. /论坛/place of assembly to discuss public concerns; meeting for discussion. The film opens with a shot of the ancient Forum in Rome, where several senators are dis¬cussing the strange new sect known as Christians. At the end of the movie, its director presided over a forum examin¬ing new fashions in filmmaking.

dissertation

N. /论文（博士生）/formal essay. In order to earn a graduate degree from many of our universities, a candidate is fre¬quently required to prepare a dissertation on some schol¬arly subject.

assessment

N. /评价，评估；判断/evaluation; judgment. Your SAT I score plays a part in the admission committee's assessment of you as an applicant.

malediction

N. /诅咒/curse. When the magic mirror revealed that Snow White was still alive, the wicked queen cried out in rage and uttered dreadful maledictions.

litigation

N. /诉讼/lawsuit. Try to settle this amicably; I do not want to become involved in litigation. litigant, N.

diagnosis

N. /诊断/art of identifying a disease; analysis of a con¬dition. In medical school Margaret developed her skill at diagnosis, learning how to read volumes from a rapid pulse or a hacking cough. diagnose, V.; diagnostic,ADJ.

glossary

N. /词汇表/brief explanation of words used in the text. I have found the glossary in this book very useful; it has elim¬inated many trips to the dictionary.

etymology

N. /语源学/study of word parts. A knowledge of etymol¬ogy can help you on many English tests: if you know what the roots and prefixes mean, you can determine the mean¬ings of unfamiliar words.

misconception

N. /误解/mistaken idea. "Sir, you are suffering from a misconception. I do not wish to marry you in the least!"

detraction

N. /诽谤/slandering; aspersion. He is offended by your frequent detractions of his ability as a leader.

negligence

N. /疏忽，没能尽力的/neglect; failure to take reasonable care. Tommy failed to put back the cover on the well after he fetched his pail of water; because of his negligence, Kitty fell in.

lassitude

N. /疲乏/languor; weariness. After a massage and a long soak in the hot tub, I gave in to my growing lassitude and lay down for a nap.

malady

N. /疾病/illness. A mysterious malady swept the coun¬try, filling doctors' offices with feverish, purple-spotted patients.

gall

N. /痛苦；烦恼；恼怒/bitterness; nerve. The knowledge of his failure filled him with gall.

centurion

N. /百夫长/Roman army officer. Because he was in com¬mand of a company of one hundred soldiers, he was called a centurion.

pachyderm

N. /皮厚的动物（如大象）/thick-skinned animal. The elephant is prob¬ably the best-known pachyderm.

dermatologist

N. /皮肤病专家/one who studies the skin and its diseases. I advise you to consult a dermatologist about your acne.

larceny

N. /盗窃/theft. Because of the prisoner's record, the dis¬trict attorney refused to reduce the charge from grand lar¬ceny to petty larceny.

objective

N. /目标/goal; aim. A degree in medicine was her ulti¬mate objective.

chauvinist

N. /盲目爱国主义/blindly devoted patriot. A chauvinist cannot recognize any faults in his country, no matter how flagrant they may be. Likewise, a male chauvinist cannot recognize his bias in favor of his own sex, no matter how flagrant that may be. chauvinistic,ADJ.

intuition

N. /直觉/immediate insight; power of knowing without reasoning. Even though Tony denied that anything was wrong, Tina trusted her intuition that something was bother¬ing him. intuitive,ADJ.

correlation

N. /相互的关系/mutual relationship. He sought to determine the correlation that existed between ability in algebra and ability to interpret reading exercises. correlate, V., N.

converse

N. /相反的/opposite. The inevitable converse of peace is not war but annihilation.

discrepancy

N. /相差；缺乏一致/lack of consistency; difference. The police noticed some discrepancies in his description of the crime and did not believe him.

optician

N. /眼镜商/maker and seller of eyeglasses. The patient took the prescription given him by his oculist} o the optician.

brevity

N. /简短，短暂/conciseness. Brevity is essential when you send a telegram or cablegram; you are charged for every word.

fodder

N. /粗饲料；饲养/coarse food for cattle, horses, etc. One of Nancy's chores at the ranch was to put fresh supplies of fodder in the horses' stalls.

gist

N. /精华/essence. She was asked to give the gist of the essay in two sentences.

finesse

N. /精密的技巧/delicate skill. The finesse and adroitness with which the surgeon wielded her scalpel impressed all the observers in the operating room.

delirium

N. /精神错乱/mental disorder marked by confusion. In his delirium, the drunkard saw pink panthers and talking pigs. Perhaps he wasn't delirious: he might just have wandered into a movie.

exigency

N. /紧急情况/urgent situation. In this exigency, we must look for aid from our allies.

incendiary

N. /纵火者/arsonist. The fire spread in such an unusual manner that the fire department chiefs were certain that it had been set by an incendiary. alsoADJ.

papyrus

N. /纸草；草纸（古代的）/ancient paper made from stem of papyrus plant. The ancient Egyptians were among the first to write on papyrus.

nuance

N. /细微差别/shade of difference in meaning or color; subtle distinction. Jody gazed at the Monet landscape for an hour, appreciating every subtle nuance of color in the painting.

elaboration

N. /细节；复杂/addition of details; intricacy. Tell what hap¬pened simply, without any elaboration. elaborate,V.

minutiae

N. /细节；细微之处/petty details. She would have liked to ignore the minutiae of daily living.

denouement

N. /结局；结果/outcome; final development of the plot of a play. The play was childishly written; the denouement was obvious to sophisticated theatergoers as early as the mid¬dle of the first act.

complacency

N. /自满；装模作样/self-satisfaction; smugness. Full of com¬placency about his latest victories, he looked smugly at the row of trophies on his mantelpiece. complacent,ADJ.

cache

N. /藏身之处/hiding place. The detectives followed the sus¬pect until he led them to the cache where he had stored his loot. He had cached the cash in a bag for trash: it was a hefty sum.

cordon

N. /警戒线/extended line of men or fortifications to prevent access or egress. The police cordon was so tight that the criminals could not leave the area. alsoV.

concession

N. /让步/an act of yielding. Before they could reach an agreement, both sides had to make certain concessions.

decomposition

N. /瓦解；腐烂/decay. Despite the body's advanced state of decomposition, the police were able to identify the murdered man.

ecologist

N. /生态学家/a person concerned with the interrelationship between living organisms and their environment. The ecolo¬gist was concerned that the new dam would upset the nat¬ural balance of the creatures living in Glen Canyon.

agenda

N. /议程/items of business at a meeting. We had so much difficulty agreeing upon an agenda that there was very little time for the meeting.

delectable

ADJ. /使人愉快的/delightful; delicious. We thanked our host for a most delectable meal.

holster

N. /手枪套/pistol case. Even when he was not in uniform, he carried a holster and pistol under his arm.

abate

V. subside; decrease, lessen. They waited for the storm to abate. abate¬ment, N.

advocate

V. urge; plead for. The abolitionists advocated freedom for the slaves. also N.

admonish

V. warn; reprove. He admonished his listeners to change their wicked ways. admonition, N.

distraught

ADJ. /使悲伤；使焦虑/upset; distracted by anxiety. The dis¬traught parents frantically searched the ravine for their lost child.

lateral

ADJ. /侧面的，侧向的/coming from the side. In order to get good plant growth, the gardener must pinch off all lateral shoots.

garish

ADJ. /俗气；颜色太杂/over-bright in color; gaudy. She wore a gaudy rhinestone necklace with an excessively garish gold lame dress.

gratis

ADJ. /免费的/free. The company offered to give one package gratis to every purchaser of one of their products. alsoADJ.

asinine

ADJ. /愚蠢/stupid. Your asinine remarks prove that you have not given this problem any serious consideration.

maternal

ADJ. /母性的/motherly. Many animals display maternal instincts only while their offspring are young and helpless.

circuitous

ADJ. /迂回的/roundabout. To avoid the traffic congestion on the main highways, she took a circuitous route. circuit, N.

fulsome

ADJ. /过分的/disgustingly excessive. His fulsome praise of the dictator revolted his listeners.

flair

N. /才能/talent. She has an uncanny flair for discovering new artists before the public has become aware of their existence.

elegy

N. /挽歌，悲歌/poem or song expressing lamentation. On the death of Edward King, Milton composed the elegy "Lyci¬das." elegiacal,ADJ.

amulet

N. charm; talisman. Around her neck she wore the amulet that the witch doctor had given her.

acoustics

N. sound quality

grudging

ADJ. /不情愿；勉强/unwilling; reluctant; stingy. We received only grudging support from the mayor despite his earlier promises of aid.

impious

ADJ. /不敬的；不礼貌的/irreverent. The congregation was offended by her impious remarks.

engender

V. /产生，导致/cause; produce. To receive praise for real accomplishments engenders self-confidence in a child.

noncommittal

ADJ. /不明朗的，不表态的；中庸的，未决的/neutral; unpledged; undecided. We were annoyed by his noncommittal reply for we had been led to expect definite assurances of his approval.

paltry

ADJ. /不显著的；微小的/insignificant; petty; trifling. One hundred dollars for a genuine imitation Rolex watch! Lady, this is a paltry sum to pay for such a high-class piece of jewelry.

defer

/缓招/making plans until they hear from their draft boards. During the Vietnam War, many young men, hoping to be deferred, requested student deferments.

loath

ADJ. /不情愿的；勉强/reluctant; disinclined. Romeo and Juliet were both loath for him to go.

array

A large group of people or things

integral

ADJ. /一体的，完整的/complete; necessary for completeness. Phys¬ical education is an integral part of our curriculum; a sound mind and a sound body are complementary.

impromptu

ADJ. /一时冲动的；即兴的/without previous preparation; off the cuff; on the spur of the moment. The judges were amazed that she could make such a thorough, well-supported presenta¬tion in an impromptu speech.

catholic

ADJ. /一般的，普遍的；天主教/broadly sympathetic; liberal. He was extremely catholic in his taste and read everything he could find in the library.

destitute

ADJ. /一贫如洗/extremely poor. Because they had no health insurance, the father's costly illness left the family destitute.

infallible

ADJ. /一贯正确的/unerring. We must remember that none of us is infallible; we all make mistakes.

genteel

ADJ. /上流的/well-bred; elegant. We are looking for a man with a genteel appearance who can inspire confidence by his cultivated manner.

objective

ADJ. /不为情所动的；公平的/not influenced by emotions; fair. Even though he was her son, she tried to be objective about his behavior.

Impervious

ADJ. /不会被损的；不能渗透的/impenetrable; incapable of being dam¬aged or distressed. The carpet salesman told Simone that his most expensive brand of floor covering was warranted to be impervious to ordinary wear and tear. Having read so many negative reviews of his acting, the movie star had learned to ignore them, and was now impervious to criticism.

incessant

ADJ. /不停的/uninterrupted; unceasing. In a famous TV commercial, the frogs' incessant croaking goes on and on until eventually it turns into a single word: "Bud-weis-er."

impregnable

ADJ. /不受影响的；无敌的/invulnerable. Until the development of the airplane as a military weapon, the fort was considered impregnable.

immutable

ADJ. /不可动摇的，不能改变的/unchangeable. All things change over time; nothing is immutable.

irrefutable

ADJ. /不可否认的；不能驳倒的/indisputable; incontrovertible; undeniable. No matter how hard I tried to find a good comeback for her argument, I couldn't think of one: her logic was irrefutable.

incorrigible

ADJ. /不可救药/not correctable. Though Widow Douglass hoped to reform Huck, Miss Watson called him incorrigible and said he would come to no good end.

exceptionable

ADJ. /不可的，可反对的/objectionable. Do you find the punk rock band Green Day a highly exceptionable, thoroughly distasteful group, or do you think they are exceptionally tal¬ented performers?

ineffable

ADJ. /不可言喻的，无法用语言表达的；不能说的，避讳的/unutterable; cannot be expressed in speech. Such ineffable joy must be experienced; it cannot be described.

inevitable

ADJ. /不可避免地/unavoidable. Though death and taxes are both supposedly inevitable, some people avoid paying taxes for years.

bohemian

ADJ. /不合习俗；放荡不羁/unconventional (in an artistic way). Gertrude Stein ran off to Paris to live an eccentric, bohemian life with her writer friends. Oakland was not bohemian: it was too bourgeois, too middle-class.

inopportune

ADJ. /不合时宜的/untimely; poorly chosen. A rock concert is an inopportune setting for a quiet conversation.

facetious

ADJ. /不合时宜的玩笑；幽默/joking (often inappropriately); humorous. I'm serious about this project; I don't need any facetious, smart¬alecky cracks about do-gooder little rich girls.

inconsequential

ADJ. /不合理的，不重要的/insignificant; unimportant. Brushing off Ali's apologies for having broken the wineglass, Tamara said, "Don't worry about it; it's inconsequential."

cacophonous

ADJ. /不和谐/discordant; inharmonious. Do the stu¬dents in the orchestra enjoy the cacophonous sounds they make when they're tuning up? I don't know how they can stand the racket. cacophony, N.

discordant

ADJ. /不和谐的；冲突的/not harmonious; conflicting. Nothing is quite so discordant as the sound of a junior high school orchestra tuning up.

incompatible

ADJ. /不和谐；不兼容/inharmonious. The married couple argued incessantly and finally decided to separate because they were incompatible. incompatibility, N.

inarticulate

ADJ. /不善于表达的；口齿不清的/speechless; producing indistinct speech. He became inarticulate with rage and uttered sounds with¬out meaning.

insatiable

ADJ. /不容易伺候的；贪婪的/not easily satisfied; unquenchable; greedy. David's appetite for oysters was insatiable: he could easily eat four dozen at a single sitting.

asymmetric

ADJ. /不对称/not identical on both sides of a dividing central line. Because one eyebrow was set markedly higher than the other, William's face had a particularly asymmetric appearance.

indomitable

ADJ. /不屈服的；不可被征服的/unconquerable; unyielding. Focusing on her game despite all her personal problems, tennis cham¬pion Steffi Graf proved she had an indomitable will to win.

anthropocentric

ADJ. /人类中心说/regarding human beings as the cen¬ter of the universe. Without considering any evidence that might challenge his anthropocentric viewpoint, Hector cate¬gorically maintained that dolphins could not be as intelligent as men. anthropocentrism, N.

humane

ADJ. /仁慈/marked by kindness or consideration. It is ironic that the Humane Society sometimes must show its compassion toward mistreated animals by killing them to put them out of their misery.

menial

ADJ. /仆人的；卑贱的/suitable for servants; lowly; mean. Her wicked stepmother forced Cinderella to do menial tasks around the house while her ugly stepsisters lolled around painting their toenails.

irksome

ADJ. /令人厌恶的；冗长乏味的/annoying; tedious. He found working on the assembly line irksome because of the monotony of the operation he had to perform. irk,V.

fallow

ADJ. /休耕地；潜伏的；不活跃的/plowed but not sowed; uncultivated. Farmers have learned that it is advisable to permit land to lie fallow every few years.

implicit

ADJ. /会意的，意会而不言传；暗示的/understood but not stated. Jack never told Jill he adored her; he believed his love was implicit in his actions.

orthodox

ADJ. /传统的；保守的/traditional; conservative in belief. Faced with a problem, he preferred to take an orthodox approach rather than shock anyone. orthodoxy, N.

hypocritical

ADJ. /伪善；欺骗/pretending to be virtuous; deceiving. Believing Eddie to be interested only in his own advance¬ment, Greg resented his hypocritical posing as a friend. hypocrisy, N.

equine

ADJ. /似马的/resembling a horse. His long, bony face had an equine look to it.

inclined

ADJ. /倾向；倾向于，弯曲/tending or leaning toward; bent. Though I am inclined to be skeptical, the witness's manner inclines me to believe his story. alsoV.

fallacious

ADJ. /假的；误导的/false; misleading. Paradoxically, fallacious reasoning does not always yield erroneous results: even though your logic may be faulty, the answer you get may nevertheless be correct. fallacy, N.

biased

ADJ. /偏见的，偏差/slanted; prejudiced. Because the judge played golf regularly with the district attorney's father, we feared he might be biased in the prosecution's favor. bias, N.

mannered

ADJ. /做作的，矫饰的/affected; not natural. Attempting to copy the style of his wealthy neighbors, Gatsby adopted a man¬nered, artificial way of speech.

contrived

ADJ. /做作的；牵强的/forced; artificial; not spontaneous. Feeling ill at ease with his new in-laws, James made a few contrived attempts at conversation and then retreated into silence.

fortuitous

ADJ. /偶然的/accidental; by chance. Though he pre¬tended their encounter was fortuitous, he'd actually been hanging around her usual haunts for the past two weeks, hoping she'd turn up.

overbearing

ADJ. /傲慢专横的/bossy and arrogant; decisively impor¬tant. Certain of her own importance, and of the unimpor¬tance of everyone else, Lady Bracknell was intolerably overbearing in her manner. "In choosing a husband," she said, "good birth is of overbearing importance; compared to that, neither wealth nor talent signifies."

inane

ADJ. /傻；粗心/silly; senseless. There's no point to what you're saying. Why are you bothering to make such inane remarks?

monastic

ADJ. /僧侣的；遁入空门的，不问世事/related to monks or monasteries; removed from worldly concerns. Withdrawing from the world, Thomas Merton joined a contemplative religious order and adopted the monastic life.

dynamic

ADJ. /充满活力的/energetic; vigorously active. The dynamic aerobics instructor kept her students on the run; she was a little dynamo.

facile

ADJ. /充足的；容易完成的；肤浅的/easily accomplished; ready or fluent; superfi¬cial. Words came easily to Jonathan: he was a facile speaker and prided himself on being ready to make a speech at a moment's notice.

innate

ADJ. /先天的，天生的/inborn. Mozart's parents soon recognized young Wolfgang's innate talent for music.

glossy

ADJ. /光滑有光泽的/smooth and shining. I want this photograph printed on glossy paper, not matte.

glib

ADJ. /光滑，柔顺；口齿伶俐，圆滑/fluent; facile; slick. Keeping up a steady patter to entertain his customers, the kitchen gadget salesman was a glib speaker, never at a loss for a word.

immune

ADJ. /免疫；抵抗/resistant to; free or exempt from. Fortunately, Florence had contracted chicken pox as a child and was immune to it when her baby broke out in spots.

arbitrary

ADJ. /反复无常；残暴；随机的/capricious; randomly chosen; tyrannical. Tom's arbitrary dismissal angered him; his boss had no rea¬son to fire him. He threw an arbitrary assortment of clothes into his suitcase and headed off, not caring where he went.

averse

ADJ. /反对的/reluctant; disinclined. The reporter was averse to revealing the sources of his information.

mutinous

ADJ. /反抗的；暴动的/unruly; rebellious. The captain had to use force to quiet his mutinous crew. mutiny, N.

luminous

ADJ. /发光的，闪耀的/shining; issuing light. The sun is a luminous body.

frenetic

ADJ. /发狂的/frenzied; frantic. His frenetic activities con¬vinced us that he had no organized plan of operation.

marred

ADJ. /受损的/damaged; disfigured. She had to refinish the marred surface of the table. mar,V.

fickle

ADJ. /变化无常的；薄情的/changeable; faithless. As soon as Romeo saw Juliet, he forgot all about his old girlfriend Rosaline. Was Romeo fickle?

colloquial

ADJ. /口语的/pertaining to conversational or common speech. Some of the new, less formal reading passages on SAT I have a colloquial tone that is intended to make them more appealing to students.

eccentric

ADJ. /古怪的，奇怪的/irregular; odd; whimsical; bizarre. The comet veered dangerously close to the earth in its eccentric orbit. People came up with some eccentric ideas for deal¬ing with the emergency: someone even suggested tieing a knot in the comet's tail!

navigable

ADJ. /可以通航的/wide and deep enough to allow ships to pass through; able to be steered. So much sand had built up at the bottom of the canal that the waterway was barely navigable.

negligible

ADJ. /可忽略不计的/so small, trifling, or unimportant that it may be easily disregarded. Because the damage to his car had been negligible, Michael decided he wouldn't bother to report the matter to his insurance company.

gruesome

ADJ. /可怕的/grisly; horrible. His face was the stuff of nightmares: all the children in the audience screamed when Freddy Kruger's gruesome countenance was flashed on the screen.

odious

ADJ. /可恨的；可耻的/hateful; vile. Cinderella's ugly stepsisters had the odious habit of popping their zits in public.

heinous

ADJ. /可恶的，令人深恶痛绝/atrocious; hatefully bad. Hitler's heinous crimes will never be forgotten.

extrinsic

ADJ. /外围的，不重要的；外来的/external; not essential; extraneous. A criti¬cally acclaimed extrinsic feature of the Chrysler Building is its ornate spire. The judge would not admit the testimony, ruling that it was extrinsic to the matter at hand.

checkered

ADJ. /多变的；像国际象棋棋盘一样的方格/marked by changes in fortune. During his checkered career he had lived in palatial mansions and in dreary boardinghouses.

motley

ADJ. /多彩的，杂色的；混合的/multi-colored; mixed. The jester wore a motley tunic, red and green and blue and gold all patched together haphazardly. Captain Ahab had gathered a motley crew to sail the vessel: old sea dogs and runaway boys, pil¬lars of the church and drunkards, even a tattooed islander who terrified the rest of the crew.

multiform

ADJ. /多态的/having many forms. Snowflakes are multi¬form but always hexagonal.

maudlin

ADJ. /多愁善感/effusively sentimental. Whenever a particu¬larly maudlin tearjerker was playing at the movies, Marvin would embarrass himself by weeping copiously.

multilingual

ADJ. /多语种的/having many languages. Because they are bordered by so many countries, the Swiss people are multilingual.

multifaceted

ADJ. /多面的/having many aspects. A multifaceted composer, Roger Davidson has recorded original pieces that range from ragtime tangos to choral masses.

gusty

ADJ. /多风的/windy. The gusty weather made sailing precari¬ous.

nocturnal

ADJ. /夜的/done at night. Mr. Jones obtained a watch¬dog to prevent the nocturnal raids on his chicken coops.

flabbergasted

ADJ. /大吃一惊；目瞪口呆/astounded; astonished; overcome with surprise. In the film Flubber, the hero invents a remarkable substance whose amazing properties leave his coworkers flabbergasted. flabbergast,V.

audacious

ADJ. /大胆的；鲁莽的/daring; bold. Audiences cheered as Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia made their audacious, death¬defying leap to freedom, escaping Darth Vader's troops. audacity, N.

hulking

ADJ. /大量的，巨大的/massive; bulky; great in size. Despite his hulking build, the heavyweight boxing champion was sur¬prisingly light on his feet. hulk, N.

celestial

ADJ. /天体的/heavenly. She spoke of the celestial joys that awaited virtuous souls in the hereafter.

jovial

ADJ. /天性善良的；好的；高兴的，愉快的/good-natured; merry. A frown seemed out of place on his invariably jovial face.

azure

ADJ. /天蓝/sky blue. Azure skies are indicative of good weather.

magnanimous

ADJ. /宽宏大量的/generous; great-hearted. Philan¬thropists by definition are magnanimous; misers, by defini¬tion, are not. Cordelia was too magnanimous to resent her father's unkindness to her; instead, she generously forgave him. magnanimity, N.

munificent

ADJ. /宽宏大量的；慷慨大方的/very generous. Shamelessly fawning over a particularly generous donor, the dean kept on referring to her as "our munificent benefactor." munificence, N.

indulgent

ADJ. /宽容，纵容，溺爱/humoring; yielding; lenient. Jay's mom was excessively indulgent she bought him every Nintendo car¬tridge and video game on the market. She indulged Jay so much, she spoiled him rotten.

capacious

ADJ. /宽敞的/spacious. In the capacious rotunda of the railroad terminal, thousands of travelers lingered while waiting for their train.

germane

ADJ. /密切相关/pertinent; bearing upon the case at hand. The judge refused to allow the testimony to be heard by the jury because it was not germane to the case.

hermetic

ADJ. /密封的，气密的/sealed by fusion so as to be airtight. After you sterilize the bandages, place them in a container and seal it with a hermetic seal to protect them from contamina¬tion by airborne bacteria.

bountiful

ADJ. /富足的；慷慨的/abundant; graciously generous. Thanks to the good harvest, we had a bountiful supply of food and we could be as bountiful as we liked in distributing food to the needy.

imperceptible

ADJ. /察觉不到的/unnoticeable; undetectable. Fortu¬nately, the stain on the blouse was imperceptible after the blouse had gone through the wash.

meticulous

ADJ. /小心翼翼的/excessively careful; painstaking; scrupu¬lous. Martha Stewart was a meticulous housekeeper, fuss¬ing about each and every detail that went into making up her perfect home.

incisive

ADJ. /尖锐；深刻，激烈/cutting; sharp. His incisive remarks made us see the fallacy in our plans.

cadaverous

ADJ. /尸体似的，苍白的/like a corpse; pale. By his cadaverous appearance, we could see how the disease had ravaged him.

itinerant

ADJ. /巡回的/wandering; traveling. He was an itinerant peddler and traveled through Pennsylvania and Virginia selling his wares. also N.

colossal

ADJ. /巨大/huge. Radio City Music Hall has a colossal stage.

mammoth

ADJ. /巨大的/gigantic; enormous. To try to memorize every word on this vocabulary list would be a mammoth undertak¬ing; take on projects that are more manageable in size.

gargantuan

ADJ. /巨大的/huge; enormous. The gargantuan wrestler was terrified of mice.

astronomical

ADJ. /巨大，广阔/enormously large or extensive. The gov¬ernment seems willing to spend astronomical sums on weapons development.

imperial

ADJ. /帝王的；皇帝的/like an emperor; related to an empire. When hotel owner Leona Helmsley appeared in ads as Queen Leona standing guard over the Palace Hotel, her critics mocked her imperial fancies.

auspicious

ADJ. /幸运的，吉祥的/favoring success. With favorable weather conditions, it was an auspicious moment to set sail. Thomas, however, had doubts about sailing: a paranoid, he became suspicious whenever conditions seemed auspicious.

pandemic

ADJ. /广泛传播的，流行的/widespread; affecting the majority of peo¬ple. They feared the AIDS epidemic would soon reach pan¬demic proportions.

incipient

ADJ. /开始；早期的/beginning; in an early stage. I will go to sleep early for I want to break an incipient cold.

heterogeneous

ADJ. /异类，异种；不纯/dissimilar; mixed. This year's entering class is a remarkably heterogeneous body: it includes stu¬dents from forty different states and twenty-six foreign countries, some the children of billionaires, others the off¬spring of welfare families. heterogenity, N.

frail

ADJ. /弱的/weak. The delicate child seemed too frail to lift the heavy carton. frailty, N.

compelling

ADJ. /强制的/overpowering; irresistible in effect. The prosecutor presented a well-reasoned case, but the defense attorney's compelling arguments for leniency won over the jury.

mandatory

ADJ. /强制的，命令的；义不容辞的/obligatory. These instructions are manda¬tory, any violation will be severely punished.

obsessive

ADJ. /强迫性的，入迷的；出神的/related to thinking about something con¬stantly; preoccupying. Ballet, which had been a hobby, began to dominate his life: his love of dancing became obsessive. obsession, N.

metaphysical

ADJ. /形而上学的/pertaining to speculative philosophy. The modern poets have gone back to the fanciful poems of the metaphysical poets of the seventeenth century for many of their images. metaphysics, N.

complaisant

ADJ. /彬彬有礼；殷勤/trying to please; obliging. The courtier obeyed the king's orders in a complaisant manner.

exhaustive

ADJ. /彻底的，完全的/thorough; comprehensive. We have made an exhaustive study of all published SAT tests and are happy to share our research with you.

infinitesimal

ADJ. /微小的/very small. In the twentieth century, physi¬cists have made their greatest discoveries about the charac¬teristics of infinitesimal objects like the atom and its parts.

ingenuous

ADJ. /心无城府的；天真的；幼稚的；可信的/naive and trusting; young; unsophisti¬cated. The woodsman had not realized how ingenuous Lit¬tle Red Riding Hood was until he heard that she had gone off for a walk in the woods with the Big Bad Wolf.

obligatory

ADJ. /必须的/binding; required. It is obligatory that books borrowed from the library be returned within two weeks.

melancholy

ADJ. /忧郁/gloomy; morose; blue. To Eugene, stuck in his small town, a train whistle was a melancholy sound, for it made him think of all the places he would never get to see.

despondent

ADJ. /忧郁的；沮丧的/depressed; gloomy. To the dismay of his parents, William became seriously despondent after he broke up with Jan; they despaired of finding a cure for his gloom. despondency, N.

comely

ADJ. /清秀，美丽，漂亮；有吸引力的/attractive; agreeable. I would rather have a poor and comely wife than a rich and homely one.

booming

ADJ. /快速增长的，欣欣向荣；深刻的/deep and resonant; flourishing, thriving. "Who needs a microphone?" cried the mayor in his booming voice. Cheerfully he boomed out that, thanks to him, the city's economy was booming. boom,V.

incredulous

ADJ. /怀疑的/withholding belief; skeptical. When Jack claimed he hadn't eaten the jelly doughnut, Jill took an incredulous look at his smeared face and laughed. incredulity, N.

bizarre

ADJ. /怪异的/fantastic; violently contrasting. The plot of the novel was too bizarre to be believed.

eerie

ADJ. /怪异的/weird. In that eerie setting, it was easy to believe in ghosts and other supernatural beings.

ghastly

ADJ. /恐怖的/horrible. The murdered man was a ghastly sight.

dutiful

ADJ. /恭敬的；尊重的/respectful; obedient. When Mother told Billy to kiss Great-Aunt Hattie, the boy obediently gave the old woman a dutiful peck on her cheek.

malignant

ADJ. /恶性的，伤害的；致命的/injurious; tending to cause death; aggres¬sively malevolent. Though many tumors are benign, some are malignant, growing out of control and endangering the life of the patient.

malicious

ADJ. /恶毒的/hateful; spiteful. Jealous of Cinderella's beauty, her malicious stepsisters expressed their spite by forcing her to do menial tasks. malice, N.

malodorous

ADJ. /恶臭的/foul-smelling. The compost heap was most malodorous in summer.

fetid

ADJ. /恶臭的/malodorous. The neglected wound became fetid.

diabolical

ADJ. /恶魔的/devilish. "What a fiend I am, to devise such a diabolical scheme to destroy Gotham City," chortled the Joker gleefully.

jaundiced

ADJ. /患黄疸病的；有偏见的/prejudiced (envious, hostile or resentful); yellowed. Because Sue disliked Carolyn, she looked at Car¬olyn's paintings with a jaundiced eye, calling them formless smears. Newborn infants afflicted with jaundice look slightly yellow: they have jaundiced skin.

euphonious

ADJ. /悦耳的/pleasing in sound. Euphonious even when spoken, the Italian language is particularly pleasing to the ear when sung. euphony. N.

doleful

ADJ. /悲伤/sorrowful. He found the doleful lamentations of the bereaved family emotionally disturbing and he left as quickly as he could.

disconsolate

ADJ. /悲伤；沮丧/sad. The death of his wife left him dis¬consolate.

lugubrious

ADJ. /悲哀的/mournful. The lugubrious howling of the dogs added to our sadness.

inert

ADJ. /惰性的，不活跃的/inactive; lacking power to move. "Get up, you lazybones," she cried to her husband, who lay in bed inert. inertia, N.

fictitious

ADJ. /想象的/imaginary. Although this book purports to be a biography of George Washington, many of the incidents are fictitious.

foolhardy

ADJ. /愚勇的；傻大胆儿/rash. Don't be foolhardy. Get the advice of experienced people before undertaking this venture.

episodic

ADJ. /插曲式的/loosely connected; divided into incidents. Though he tried to follow the plot of Gravity's Rainbow, John found the novel too episodic; he enjoyed individual pas¬sages, but had trouble following the work as a whole.

maladroit

ADJ. /搞砸的；笨拙的/clumsy; bungling. How maladroit it was of me to mention seeing you out partying last night! From the look on his face, I take it that your boyfriend thought you were otherwise occupied.

mendacious

ADJ. /撒谎成性的；撒谎的，假的/lying; habitually dishonest. Distrusting Huck from the start, Miss Watson assumed he was menda¬cious and refused to believe a word he said.

astringent

ADJ. /收敛的/binding; causing contraction. The astrin¬gent quality of the unsweetened lemon juice made swallow¬ing difficult. also N.

offensive

ADJ. /攻击的；冒犯的/attacking; insulting; distasteful. Getting into street brawls is no minor matter for professional boxers, who are required by law to restrict their offensive impulses to the ring.

dissolute

ADJ. /放纵，挥霍/loose in morals. The dissolute life led by the ancient Romans is indeed shocking.

doctrinaire

ADJ. /教条的；顽固的/unable to compromise about points of doctrine; dogmatic; unyielding. Weng had hoped that the student-led democracy movement might bring about change in China, but the repressive response of the doctri¬naire hard-liners crushed his dreams of democracy.

discursive

ADJ. /散漫的；不得要领的/digressing; rambling. As the lecturer wan¬dered from topic to topic, we wondered what if any point there was to his discursive remarks.

disjointed

ADJ. /断开/disconnected. His remarks were so dis¬jointed that we could not follow his reasoning.

innovative

ADJ. /新奇的；创新的/novel; introducing a change. The estab¬lishment of our SAT I computer data base has enabled us to come up with some innovative tactics for doing well on the SAT.

methodical

ADJ. /方法论的；系统化的/systematic. An accountant must be methodical and maintain order among his financial records.

inalienable

ADJ. /无可取代的；不能给与的/not to be taken away; nontransferable. The Declaration of Independence mentions the inalienable rights that all of us possess.

irreproachable

ADJ. /无可指责的；没有缺点的/blameless; impeccable. Homer's con¬duct at the office party was irreproachable; even Marge didn't have anything bad to say about how he behaved.

insubstantial

ADJ. /无实体的，虚无的；脆弱的，不坚固的/lacking substance; insignificant; frail. His hopes for a career in acting proved insubstantial; no one would cast him, even in an insubstantial role.

innocuous

ADJ. /无害的，无辜的/harmless. An occasional glass of wine with dinner is relatively innocuous and should have no ill effect on you.

interminable

ADJ. /无尽的/endless. Although his speech lasted for only twenty minutes, it seemed interminable to his bored audience.

fledgling

ADJ. /无经验的/inexperienced. While it is necessary to pro¬vide these fledgling poets with an opportunity to present their work, it is not essential that we admire everything they write. also N.

inefficacious

ADJ. /无能的，无效的/not effective; unable to produce a desired result. All Lois's coaxing and urging was ineffica¬cious: Clark still refused to join her and Superman for din¬ner. inefficacy, N.

impotent

ADJ. /无能的；弱的/weak; ineffective. Although he wished to break the nicotine habit, he found himself impotent in resist¬ing the craving for a cigarette.

impassable

ADJ. /无路可通的；没法通行/not able to be traveled or crossed. A giant redwood had fallen across the highway, blocking all four lanes: the road was impassable.

illimitable

ADJ. /无限/infinite. Man, having explored the far corners of the earth, is now reaching out into illimitable space.

boundless

ADJ. /无限的/unlimited; vast. Mike's energy was bound¬less: the greater the challenge, the more vigorously he tack¬led the job.

diurnal

ADJ. /日常的/daily. A farmer cannot neglect his diurnal tasks at any time; cows, for example, must be milked regularly.

overt

ADJ. /明显的；公然的/open to view. According to the United States Constitution, a person must commit an overt act before he may be tried for treason.

lucid

ADJ. /明晰的；聪明的/easily understood; clear; intelligible. Ellen makes an excellent teacher: her explanations of technical points are lucid enough for a child to grasp.

manifest

ADJ. /明白的，显然的；证明，表现/evident; visible; obvious. Digby's embar¬rassment when he met Madonna was manifest: his ears turned bright pink, he kept scuffing one shoe in the dirt, and he couldn't look her in the eye.

lethargic

ADJ. /昏睡的；瞌睡的/drowsy; dull. The stuffy room made her lethargic: she felt as if she was about to nod off.

comatose

ADJ. /昏迷；熟睡/a coma; extremely sleepy. The long¬winded orator soon had his audience in a comatose state.

palpable

ADJ. /易于领会的；明显的/tangible; easily perceptible; unmistakable. The patient's enlarged spleen was palpable: even the first year medical student could feel it.

choleric

ADJ. /易发怒的；脾气坏/hot-tempered. His flushed, angry face indi¬cated a choleric nature.

gullible

ADJ. /易受骗的/easily deceived. Overly gullible people have only themselves to blame if they fall for con artists repeat¬edly. As the saying goes, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

irascible

ADJ. /易怒的；暴躁的/irritable; easily angered. Miss Minchin's iras¬cible temper intimidated the younger schoolgirls, who feared she'd burst into a rage at any moment.

draconian

ADJ. /极其严重/extremely severe. When the principal can¬celed the senior prom because some seniors had been late to school that week, we thought the draconian punish¬ment was far too harsh for such a minor violation of the rules.

paramount

ADJ. /极其重要的/foremost in importance; supreme. Proper nutrition and hygiene are of paramount importance in ado¬lescent development and growth.

minute

ADJ. /极小的/extremely small. The twins resembled one another closely; only minute differences set them apart.

minuscule

ADJ. /极小的/extremely small. Why should I involve myself with a project with so minuscule a chance for success?

egotistical

ADJ. /极度自我中心；自以为是，逞能/excessively self-centered; self-important; conceited. Typical egotistical remark: "But enough of this chit-chat about you and your little problems. Let's talk about what's really important: Me!"

haggard

ADJ. /枯槁的；憔悴的/wasted away; gaunt. After his long illness, he was pale and haggard.

balmy

ADJ. /柔和的；芳香的/mild; fragrant. A balmy breeze refreshed us after the sultry blast.

ductile

ADJ. /柔软的，有韧性/malleable; flexible; pliable. Copper is an extremely ductile material: you can stretch it into the thinnest of wires, bend it, even wind it into loops.

limber

ADJ. /柔韧的；可塑的/flexible. Hours of ballet classes kept him limber.

elliptical

ADJ. /椭圆的；有意模棱两可的/oval; ambiguous, either purposely or because key words have been left out. An elliptical billiard ball wobbles because it is not perfectly round; an elliptical remark baffles because it is not perfectly clear.

ambiguous

ADJ. /模棱两可/unclear or doubtful in meaning. His ambiguous instructions misled us; we did not know which road to take. ambiguity, N.

obscure

ADJ. /模糊的，不明了的，暗淡的/dark; vague; unclear. Even after I read the poem a fourth time, its meaning was still obscure. obscu¬rity, N.

blithe

ADJ. /欢乐，高兴/gay; joyous; heedless. Shelley called the sky¬lark a "blithe spirit" because of its happy song.

festive

ADJ. /欢乐；庆祝/joyous; celebratory. Their wedding in the park was a festive occasion.

convivial

ADJ. /欢乐；高兴/festive; gay; characterized by joviality. The convivial celebrators of the victory sang their college songs.

fraudulent

ADJ. /欺骗的/cheating; deceitful. The government seeks to prevent fraudulent and misleading advertising.

overwrought

ADJ. /歇斯底里的/extremely agitated; hysterical. When Kate heard the news of the sudden tragedy, she became too overwrought to work and had to leave the office early.

analgesic

ADJ. /止痛的/causing insensitivity to pain. The analgesic qualities of this lotion will provide temporary relief.

askew

ADJ. /歪斜/crookedly; slanted; at an angle. When he placed his hat askew upon his head, his observers laughed.

defunct

ADJ. /死的；不存在的，报废的/dead; no longer in use or existence. The lawyers sought to examine the books of the defunct corpo¬ration.

bestial

ADJ. /残忍的/beastlike; brutal. According to legend, the werewolf was able to abandon its human shape and take on a bestial form.

imperturbable

ADJ. /沉着冷静；平静/calm; placid; composed. In the midst of the battle, the Duke of Wellington remained imper¬turbable and in full command of the situation despite the hysteria and panic all around him. imperturbability, N.

futile

ADJ. /没出息；无望，没效果的/useless; hopeless; ineffectual. It is futile for me to try to get any work done around here while the telephone is ringing every thirty seconds. futility, N.

dispirited

ADJ. /没情绪的，沮丧的/lacking in spirit. The coach used all the tricks at his command to buoy up the enthusiasm of his team, which had become dispirited at the loss of the star player.

indisputable

ADJ. /没有争论余地；非常清楚的/too certain to be disputed. In the face of these indisputable statements, I withdraw my complaint.

impeccable

ADJ. /没有缺点/faultless. The uncrowned queen of the fashion industry, Diana was acclaimed for her impeccable taste.

deadpan

ADJ. /没有表情的；呆板的/wooden; impersonal. We wanted to see how long he could maintain his deadpan expression.

forensic

ADJ. /法院的；适于法庭的/suitable to debate or courts of law. In her best forensic manner, the lawyer addressed the jury. foren¬SiCS, N.

derivative

ADJ. /派生的/unoriginal; derived from another source. Although her early poetry was clearly derivative in nature,the critics thought she had promise and eventually would find her own voice.

cursive

ADJ. /流动的；连接的/flowing, running. In normal writing we run our letters together in cursive form; in printing, we separate the letters.

improvident

ADJ. /浪费的/thriftless. He was constantly being warned to mend his improvident ways and begin to "save for a rainy day." improvidence, N.

lavish

ADJ. /浪费的，大方的/liberal; wasteful. The actor's lavish gifts pleased her. alsoV.

bloated

ADJ. /浮肿/swollen or puffed as with water or air. Her bloated stomach came from drinking so much water.

maritime

ADJ. /海事的，海运的，海上的/bordering on the sea; nautical. The Maritime Provinces depend on the sea for their wealth.

bilious

ADJ. /消化不良，易怒/suffering from indigestion; irritable. His bilious temperament was apparent to all who heard him rant about his difficulties.

evanescent

ADJ. /消散的；凋零的/fleeting; vanishing. Brandon's satisfaction in his new job was evanescent, for he immediately began to notice its many drawbacks. evanescence, N.

lewd

ADJ. /淫荡的，下流的，好色的；猥亵的/lustful. They found his lewd stories objectionable.

Chaotic

ADJ. /混乱/in utter disorder. He tried to bring order into the chaotic state of affairs. chaos, N.

explicit

ADJ. /清晰的；坦率的/totally clear; definite; outspoken. Don't just hint around that you're dissatisfied: be explicit about what's bugging you.

limpid

ADJ. /清澈/clear. A limpid stream ran through his property.

dormant

ADJ. /睡着的；隐匿的/sleeping; lethargic; latent. At fifty her long¬dormant ambition to write flared up once more; within a year she had completed the first of her great historical novels.

fugitive

ADJ. /短暂的，易变的；流动的/fleeting or transitory; roving. The film brought a few fugitive images to her mind, but on the whole it made no lasting impression upon her.

insolvent

ADJ. /破产/bankrupt; unable to repay one's debts. Although young Lord Widgeon was insolvent, he had no fear of being thrown into debtors' prison, for he was sure that if his creditors pressed him for payment his wealthy parents would repay what he owed. insolvency, N.

callous

ADJ. /硬心肠的，无情的/hardened; unfeeling. He had worked in the hospital for so many years that he was callous to the suffer¬ing in the wards. callus, N.

headstrong

ADJ. /硬脖子；任性；不屈/stubborn; willful; unyielding. Because she refused to marry the man her parents had chosen for her, everyone scolded Minna and called her a foolish head¬strong girl.

gregarious

ADJ. /社交的；群居/sociable. Typically, partygoers are gregar¬ious; hermits are not.

beatific

ADJ. /祝福；幸福的/giving bliss; blissful. The beatific smile on the child's face made us very happy.

oracular

ADJ. /神一样的；谜一样的；超自然的，无法理解的/prophetic; uttered as if with divine authority; mysterious or ambiguous. Like many others who sought divine guidance from the oracle at Delphi, Oedipus could not understand the enigmatic oracularwarning he received.

hallowed

ADJ. /神圣化的/blessed; consecrated. Although the dead girl's parents had never been active churchgoers, they insisted that their daughter be buried in hallowed ground.

ecclesiastic

ADJ. /神职的/pertaining to the church. The minister donned his ecclesiastic garb and walked to the pulpit. also N.

centrifugal

ADJ. /离心；放射/radiating; departing from the center. Many automatic drying machines remove excess moisture from clothing by centrifugal force.

ethnic

ADJ. /种族的/relating to races. Intolerance between ethnic groups is deplorable and usually is based on lack of infor¬mation.

clandestine

ADJ. /秘密/secret. After avoiding their chaperon, the lovers had a clandestine meeting.

arcane

ADJ. /秘密；谜/secret; mysterious; known only to the initiated. Secret brotherhoods surround themselves with arcane ritu¬als and trappings to mystify outsiders. So do doctors. Con¬sider the arcane terminology they use and the impression they try to give that what is arcane to us is obvious to them.

mobile

ADJ. /移动的/movable; not fixed. The mobile blood bank operated by the Red Cross visited our neighborhood today. mobility, N.

migrant

ADJ. /移居的；候鸟的/changing its habitat; wandering. These migrant birds return every spring. also N.

grotesque

ADJ. /稀奇古怪的；怪异/fantastic; comically hideous. On Halloween people enjoy wearing grotesque costumes.

impoverished

ADJ. /穷/poor. The loss of their farm left the fam¬ily impoverished and without hope.

indigent

ADJ. /穷困的/poor; destitute. Someone who is truly indi¬gent can't even afford to buy a pack of cigarettes. [Don't mix up indigent and indigenous. See previous sentence.]

concave

ADJ. /空的/hollow. The back-packers found partial shel¬ter from the storm by huddling against the concave wall of the cliff.

laconic

ADJ. /简洁的/brief and to the point. Many of the characters portrayed by Clint Eastwood are laconic types: strong men of few words.

concise

ADJ. /简练/brief and compact. When you define a new word, be concise: the shorter the definition, the easier it is to remember.

anthropoid

ADJ. /类人的/manlike. The gorilla is the strongest of the anthropoid animals. also N.

analogous

ADJ. /类似的/comparable. She called our attention to the things that had been done in an analogous situation and recommended that we do the same.

lax

ADJ. /粗心/careless. We dislike restaurants where the service is lax and inattentive.

gauche

ADJ. /粗笨的，粗糙的/clumsy; coarse and uncouth. Compared to the sophisticated young ladies in their elegant gowns, tomboyish Jo felt gauche and out of place.

cumbersome

ADJ. /粗笨的；累赘/heavy; hard to manage. He was bur¬dened down with cumbersome parcels.

earthy

ADJ. /粗糙的；未加工的/unrefined; coarse. His earthy remarks often embarrassed the women in his audience.

gruff

ADJ. /粗糙的；粗暴的/rough-mannered. Although he was blunt and gruff with most people, he was always gentle with children.

churlish

ADJ. /粗鲁的/boorish; rude. Dismayed by his churlish map¬ners at the party, the girls vowed never to invite him again.

boorish

ADJ. /粗鲁；笨拙/rude; clumsy; ungentlemanly. Natasha was embarrassed by her fellow spy's boorish behavior. "If you cannot act like a gentleman, Boris, go back to Russia: espi¬onage is no job for clumsy boors." boor, N.

inordinate

ADJ. /紊乱的；不受限制的/unrestrained; excessive. She had an inor¬dinate fondness for candy, eating two or three boxes in a single day.

insipid

ADJ. /索然无味的；单调的/lacking in flavor; dull. Flat prose and flat gin¬ger ale are equally insipid: both lack sparkle.

compact

ADJ. /紧密的，结实的/tightly packed; firm; brief. His short, com¬pact body was better suited to wrestling than to basketball.

cumulative

ADJ. /累积/growing by addition. Vocabulary building is a cumulative process: as you go through your flash cards, you will add new words to your vocabulary, one by one.

chaste

ADJ. /纯的/pure. Her chaste and decorous garb was appropriately selected for the solemnity of the occasion. chastity, N.

empirical

ADJ. /经验主义/based on experience. He distrusted hunches and intuitive flashes; he placed his reliance entirely on empirical data.

laggard

ADJ. /缓慢的，迟缓的/slow; sluggish. The sailor had been taught not to be laggard in carrying out orders. lag, N.,V.

devoid

ADJ. /缺乏的/lacking. You may think her mind is a total void, but she's actually not devoid of intelligence. She just sounds like an airhead.

incontinent

ADJ. /缺乏自制力，放肆/lacking self-restraint; licentious. His incon¬tinent behavior off stage so shocked many people that they refused to attend the plays and movies in which he appeared.

incoherent

ADJ. /缺乏逻辑的，不聪明的；陈腐的/unintelligible; muddled; illogical. The excited fan blushed and stammered, her words becoming almost incoherent in the thrill of meeting her favorite rock star face to face. incoherence, N.

luscious

ADJ. /美味的，甜美的/pleasing to taste or smell. The ripe peach was luscious.

glaring

ADJ. /耀眼的/highly conspicuous; harshly bright. Glaring spelling or grammatical errors in your resume will unfavor¬ably impress potential employers.

ingenious

ADJ. /聪明的/clever; resourceful. Kit admired the inge¬nious way that her computer keyboard opened up to reveal the built-in CD-ROM below. ingenuity, N.

astute

ADJ. /聪明；敏锐/wise; shrewd; keen. The painter was an astute observer, noticing every tiny detail of her model's appear¬ance and knowing exactly how important each one was.

corporeal

ADJ. /肉体的，物质的/bodily; material. The doctor had no patience with spiritual matters: his job was to attend to his patients' corporeal problems, not to minister to their souls.

carnal

ADJ. /肉体的；欲望的/fleshly. Is the public more interested in carnal pleasures than in spiritual matters? Compare the number of people who read Playboy daily to the number of those who read the Bible or Koran every day.

extraneous

ADJ. /肤浅的，不重要的/not essential; superfluous. No wonder Ted can't think straight! His mind is so cluttered up with extraneous trivia, he can't concentrate on the essentials.

corpulent

ADJ. /肥胖/very fat. The corpulent man resolved to reduce. corpulence, N.

obese

ADJ. /肥胖的/fat. It is advisable that obese people try to lose weight.

dauntless

ADJ. /胆大的/bold. Despite the dangerous nature of the undertaking, the dauntless soldier volunteered for the assignment.

embryonic

ADJ. /胚胎的；未开发的，原始的/undeveloped; rudimentary. The evil of class and race hatred must be eliminated while it is still in an embry¬onic state; otherwise, it may grow to dangerous proportions. emend V. correct; correct by a critic. The critic emended the book by selecting the passages which he thought most appropriate to the text.

importunate

ADJ. /胡搅蛮缠的；苛刻的/urging; demanding. He tried to hide from his importunate creditors until his allowance arrived.

cerebral

ADJ. /脑的；智力的/pertaining to the brain or intellect. The con¬tent of philosophical works is cerebral in nature and requires much thought.

cantankerous

ADJ. /脾气坏；易发怒/ill humored; irritable. Constantly com¬plaining about his treatment and refusing to cooperate with the hospital staff, he was a cantankerous patient.

corrosive

ADJ. /腐蚀性的/eating away by chemicals or disease. Stain¬less steel is able to withstand the effects of corrosive chem¬icals. corrode,V.

meek

ADJ. /谦卑的，驯服的；温和的；顺从的/quiet and obedient; spiritless. Can Lois Lane see through Superman's disguise and spot the superhero hiding behind the guise of meek, timorous Clark Kent? Mr. Barrett never expected his meek daughter would dare to defy him by eloping with her suitor.

canny

ADJ. /谨慎的；节约的/shrewd; thrifty. The canny Scotsman was more than a match for the swindlers.

avid

ADJ. /贪婪/greedy; eager for. He was avid for learning and read everything he could get. avidity, N.

garrulous

ADJ. /贫嘴/loquacious; wordy; talkative. My Uncle Henry can out-talk any three people I know. He is the most garrulous person in Cayuga County. garrulity, N.

derogatory

ADJ. /贬低的，贬损的/expressing a low opinion. I resent your derogatory remarks.

bogus

ADJ. /赝品/counterfeit; not authentic. The police quickly found the distributors of the bogus twenty-dollar bills.

flaccid

ADJ. /软弱的；无活力的/flabby. His sedentary life had left him with flac¬cid muscles.

frivolous

ADJ. /轻佻的；嬉皮笑脸的/lacking in seriousness; self-indulgently care¬free; relatively unimportant. Though Nancy enjoyed Bill's frivolous, lighthearted companionship, she sometimes won¬dered whether he could ever be serious. frivolity, N.

headlong

ADJ. /轻率的/hasty; rash. The slave seized the unex¬pected chance to make a headlong dash across the border to freedom.

imprudent

ADJ. /轻率的，判断错误的/lacking caution; injudicious. It is imprudent to exercise vigorously and become overheated when you are unwell.

flippant

ADJ. /轻率的，没礼貌的，嬉皮笑脸的/lacking proper seriousness. When Mark told Mona he loved her, she dismissed his earnest declaration with a flippant "Oh, you say that to all the girls!" flippancy, N.

ethereal

ADJ. /轻的，空气的；像天堂的/light; heavenly; unusually refined. In Shake¬speare's The Tempest, the spirit Ariel is an ethereal crea¬ture, too airy and unearthly for our mortal world.

heedless

ADJ. /轻蔑的；不理睬的/not noticing; disregarding. He drove on, heedless of the danger warnings placed at the side of the road.

auxiliary

ADJ. /辅助的/helper, additional or subsidiary. To prepare for the emergency, they built an auxiliary power station. also N.

painstaking

ADJ. /辛勤的/showing hard work; taking-Dreat care. The new high-frequency word list is the result of painstaking efforts on the part of our research staff.

migratory

ADJ. /迁徙的；流浪的/wandering. The return of the migratory birds to the northern sections of this country is a harbinger of spring. migrate,V.

kinetic

ADJ. /运动的；运动学的/producing motion. Designers of the electric automobile find that their greatest obstacle lies in the devel¬opment of light and efficient storage batteries, the source of the kinetic energy needed to propel the vehicle.

insensible

ADJ. /迟钝的；硬心肠的/unconscious; unresponsive. Sherry and I are very different; at times when I would be covered with embarrassment, she seems insensible to shame.

evasive

ADJ. /逃避的/not frank; eluding. Your evasive answers con¬vinced the judge that you were withholding important evi¬dence. evade,V.

insurgent

ADJ. /造反的，起义的/rebellious. Because the insurgent forces had occupied the capital and had gained control of the rail¬way lines, several of the war correspondents covering the uprising predicted a rebel victory.

derelict

ADJ. /遗弃的；废弃的/abandoned; negligent. The derelict craft was a menace to navigation. Whoever abandoned it in the mid¬dle of the harbor was derelict in living up to his responsibili¬ties as a boat owner. also N.

oblivious

ADJ. /遗忘的；出神的/inattentive or unmindful; wholly absorbed. Deep in her book, Nancy was oblivious to the noisy squab¬bles of her brother and his friends.

dowdy

ADJ. /邋遢的；衣衫不整/slovenly; untidy. She tried to change her dowdy image by buying a new fashionable wardrobe.

morose

ADJ. /郁闷的；乖僻的/ill-humored; sullen; melancholy. Forced to take early retirement, Bill acted morose for months; then, all of a sudden, he shook off his sullen mood and was his usual cheerful self.

inebriated

ADJ. /醉的/habitually intoxicated; drunk. Abe was ine¬briated more often than he was sober. Because of his ine¬briety, he was discharged from his job as a bus driver.

grueling

ADJ. /重罚；使其筋疲力尽/exhausting. The marathon is a grueling race.

furtive

ADJ. /隐秘的；偷偷摸摸，鬼祟/stealthy; sneaky. Noticing the furtive glance the customer gave the diamond bracelet on the counter, the jeweler wondered whether he had a potential shoplifter on his hands.

intractable

ADJ. /难以处理的/unruly; stubborn; unyielding. Charlie Brown's friend Pigpen was intractable: he absolutely refused to take a bath.

intangible

ADJ. /难以明了的，无形的；暧昧的，模糊的/not able to be perceived by touch; vague. Though the financial benefits of his Oxford post were mea¬ger, Lewis was drawn to it by its intangible rewards: pres-tige, intellectual freedom, the fellowship of his peers.

impalpable

ADJ. /难以明了，难以觉察的/imperceptible; intangible. The ash is so fine that it is impalpable to the touch but it can be seen as a fine layer covering the window ledge.

esoteric

ADJ. /难以理解的，深奥的/hard to understand; known only to the cho¬sen few. The New Yorker short stories often include esoteric allusions to obscure people and events: the implication is, if you are in the in-crowd, you'll get the reference; if you come from Cleveland, you won't.

implausible

ADJ. /难以置信的；不像是真的/unlikely; unbelievable. Though her alibi seemed implausible, it in fact turned out to be true.

impenetrable

ADJ. /难以进入的；难以渗透的；不可理解的/not able to be pierced or entered; beyond understanding. How could the murderer have got¬ten into the locked room? To Watson, the mystery, like the room, was impenetrable.

elusive

ADJ. /难懂的，难捉摸的；令人困惑的/evasive; baffling; hard to grasp. Trying to pin down exactly when the contractors would be finished remodeling the house, Nancy was frustrated by their elusive replies. elude,V.

monumental

ADJ. /雄伟的；厚重的；结实的；纪念的/massive. Writing a dictionary is a monu¬mental task.

muted

ADJ. /静默的；静音的/silent; muffled; toned down. Thanks to the thick, sound-absorbing walls of the cathedral, only muted traffic noise reached the worshippers within.

flagrant

ADJ. /非常坏的；残忍的；恶名昭著的/conspicuously wicked; blatant; outrageous. The governor's appointment of his brother-in-law to the State Supreme Court was a flagrant violation of the state laws against nepotism (favoritism based on kinship).

execrable

ADJ. /非常糟糕的/very bad. The anecdote was in such exe¬crable taste that it revolted the audience.

momentous

ADJ. /非常重要的/very important. When Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium, they had no idea of the momen¬tous impact their discovery would have upon society.

atypical

ADJ. /非正常的，不正常/not normal. The child psychiatrist reassured Mrs. Keaton that playing doctor was not atypical behavior for a child of young Alex's age. "Yes," she replied, "but not charging for house calls!"

informal

ADJ. /非正式的；不拘礼节的/absence of ceremony; casual. The English teacher preferred informal discussions to prepared lectures.

illicit

ADJ. /非法的/illegal. The defense attorney maintained that his client had never performed any illicit action.

adamant

ADJ. hard; inflexible. Bronson played the part of a revenge-driven man, adamant in his determination to pun¬ish the criminals who destroyed his family. adamancy, N.

incorporeal

ADJ. /非物质的，无形的；无实体的/lacking a material body; insubstantial. While Casper the friendly ghost is an incorporeal being, nevertheless he and his fellow ghosts make quite an impact on the physical world.

climactic

ADJ. /顶点的，高潮的/relating to the highest point. When he reached the climactic portions of the book, he could not stop reading. climax, N.

compliant

ADJ. /顺从/yielding. Because Joel usually gave in and went along with whatever his friends desired, his mother worried that he might be too compliant.

dogged

ADJ. /顽固的；顽强的/determined; stubborn. Les Miserables tells of Inspector Javert's long, dogged pursuit of the criminal Jean Valjean.

calculated

ADJ. /预先计划好的，算好的；合适的/deliberately planned; likely. Lexy's choice of clothes to wear to the debate tournament was carefully calculated. Her conventional suit was one calculated to appeal to the conservative judges.

indicative

ADJ. /预示的/suggestive; implying. A lack of appetite may be indicative of a major mental or physical disorder.

carnivorous

ADJ. /食肉的/meat-eating. The lion's a carnivorous beast. A hunk of meat makes up his feast. A cow is not a carnivore. She likes the taste of grain, not gore.

docile

ADJ. /驯服的，听话的；善良的/obedient; easily managed. As docile as he seems today, that old lion was once a ferocious, snarling beast. docility, N.

eminent

ADJ. /高的/high; lofty. After his appointment to this emi¬nent position, he seldom had time for his former friends.

lofty

ADJ. /高高在上的/very high. Though Barbara Jordan's fellow stu¬dents used to tease her about her lofty ambitions, she rose to hold one of the highest positions in the land.

burly

ADJ. /魁伟，结实/husky; muscular. The burly mover lifted the packing crate with ease.

demoniac

ADJ. /魔鬼的/fiendish. The Spanish Inquisition devised many demoniac means of torture. demon, N.

infernal

ADJ. /魔鬼的，地狱的/pertaining to hell; devilish. Batman was baf¬fled: he could think of no way to hinder the Joker's infernal scheme to destroy the city.

musky

ADJ. /麝香味儿的/having the odor of musk. She left a trace of musky perfume behind her.

myopic

ADJ. /鼠目寸光；缺乏远见/nearsighted; lacking foresight. Stumbling into doors despite the coke bottle lenses on his glasses, the nearsighted Mr. Magoo is markedly myopic. In playing all summer long and ignoring to store up food for winter, the grasshopper in Aesop's fable was myopic as well.

clairvoyant

ADJ. N. /预知；预言者/having foresight; fortuneteller. Cassan¬dra's clairvoyant warning was not heeded by the Trojans. clairvoyance, N.

ambulatory

ADJ. able to walk; not bedridden. Juan was a highly ambulatory patient; not only did he refuse to be con¬fined to bed, but he insisted on riding his skateboard up and down the halls.

anomalous

ADJ. abnormal; irregular. He was placed in the anomalous position of seeming to approve procedures which he despised.

adventitious

ADJ. accidental; casual. He found this adven¬titious meeting with his friend extremely fortunate.

adjacent

ADJ. adjoining; neighboring; close by. Philip's best friend Jason lived only four houses down the block, close but not immediately adjacent.

antediluvian

ADJ. antiquated; extremely ancient. Looking at his great-aunt's antique furniture, which must have been clut¬tering up her attic since the time of Noah's flood, the young heir exclaimed, "Heavens! How positively antediluvian!"

aloof

ADJ. apart; reserved. Shy by nature, she remained aloof while all the rest conversed.

affected

ADJ. artificial; pretended; assumed in order to impress. His affected mannerisms-his "Harvard" accent, his air of boredom, his use of obscure foreign words¬bugged us: he acted as if he thought he was too good for his old high school friends. affectation, N.

abysmal

ADJ. bottomless. His arrogance is exceeded only by his abysmal ignorance.

actuarial

ADJ. calculating; pertaining to insurance statis¬tics. According to recent actuarial tables, life expectancy is greater today than it was a century ago.

ambidextrous

ADJ. capable of using either hand with equal ease. A switch-hitter in baseball should be naturally ambidextrous.

abusive

ADJ. coarsely insulting; physically harmful. An abusive parent damages a child both mentally and physi¬cally.

absolute

ADJ. complete; totally unlimited; certain. Although the King of Siam was an absolute monarch, he did not want to behead his unfaithful wife without absolute evidence of her infidelity.

hazardous

ADJ. d/危险/angerous. Your occupation is too haz¬ardous for insurance companies to consider your application.

abominable

ADJ. detestable; extremely unpleasant; very bad. abominable monster

affable

ADJ. easily approachable; warmly friendly. Accus¬tomed to cold, aloof supervisors, Nicholas was amazed at how affable his new employer was.

accessible

ADJ. easy to approach; obtainable. We asked our guide whether the ruins were accessible on foot.

adept

ADJ. expert at. She was adept at the fine art of irritat¬ing people. also N.

amorphous

ADJ. formless; lacking shape or definition. As soon as we have decided on our itinerary, we shall send you a copy; right now, our plans are still amorphous.

damp

Humid

disinclination

N. /不情愿，厌恶/unwillingness. Some mornings I feel a great disinclination to get out of bed

impiety

N. /不敬（对神）；不虔诚/irreverence; lack of respect for God. When members of the youth group draped the church in toilet paper one Halloween, the minister reprimanded them for their impiety.

fanfare

N. /号角声/call by bugles or trumpets. The exposition was opened with a fanfare of trumpets and the firing of cannon.

Clump

N. /一块，一团；沉重的脚步声；草丛，灌木丛/cluster or close group (of bushes, trees); mass; sound of heavy treading. Hiding behind the clump of bushes, the fugitives waited for the heavy clump of the sol¬diers' feet to fade away.

bevy

N. /一群（少女，小鸟）/large group. The movie actor was surrounded by a bevyof starlets.

generality

N. /一般性/vague statement. This report is filled with generalities; be more specific in your statements.

kaleidoscope

N. /万花筒/tube in which patterns made by the reflection in mirrors of colored pieces of glass, etc., pro¬duce interesting symmetrical effects. People found a new source of entertainment while peering through the kaleido¬scope; they found the ever-changing patterns fascinating.

inconsistency

N. /不一致的，自相矛盾的/state of being self-contradictory; lack of uniformity or steadiness. How are lawyers different from agricultural inspectors? While lawyers check inconsisten¬cies in witnesses' statements, agricultural inspectors check inconsistencies in Grade A eggs. inconsistent,ADJ.

default

N. /不作为，无动于衷/failure to act. When the visiting team failed to show up for the big game, they lost the game by default. When Jack failed to make the payments on his Jaguar, the dealership took back the car because he had defaulted on his debt.

inequity

N. /不公平/unfairness. In demanding equal pay for equal work, women protest the basic inequity of a system that gives greater financial rewards to men.

hostility

N. /不友好，敌意/unfriendliness; hatred. A child who has been the sole object of his parents' affection often feels hostility toward a new baby in the family, resenting the newcomer who has taken his place.

impropriety

N. /不合适，不恰当/improperness; unsuitableness. Because of the impropriety of the punk rocker's slashed T-shirt and jeans, the management refused to admit him to the hotel's very formal dining room.

disparity

N. /不同；差距/difference; condition of inequality. Their dis¬parity in rank made no difference at all to the prince and Cinderella.

dissonance

N. /不和谐的（声音）/discord. Composer Charles Ives often used dissonance-clashing or unresolved chords-for special effects in his musical works.

intransigence

N. /不妥协；不让步/refusal of any compromise; stubborn¬ness. The negotiating team had not expected such intransi¬gence from the striking workers, who rejected any hint of a compromise. intransigent,ADJ.

nonentity

N. /不存在/person of no importance; nonexistence. Because the two older princes dismissed their youngest brother as a nonentity, they did not realize that he was qui¬etly plotting to seize the throne.

irreverence

N. /不尊敬的/lack of proper respect. Some audience members were amused by the irreverence of the come¬dian's jokes about the Pope; others felt offended by his lack of respect for their faith. irreverent,ADJ.

imbalance

N. /不平衡，不成比例/lack of balance or symmetry; disproportion. To correct racial imbalance in the schools, school boards have bussed black children into white neighborhoods and white children into black ones.

arbitrator

N. /仲裁者/judge. Because the negotiating teams had been unable to reach a contract settlement, an outside arbi¬trator was called upon to mediate the dispute between union and management. arbitration, N.

hoax

N. /伎俩；小聪明/trick; practical joke. Embarrassed by the hoax, he reddened and left the room. alsoV.

coalition

N. /伙伴；同盟，集合/partnership; league; union. The Rainbow Coalition united people of all races in a common cause.

chagrin

N. /伤自尊；委屈/vexation (caused by humiliation or injured pride); disappointment. Embarrassed by his parents' shabby, working-class appearance, Doug felt their visit to his school would bring him nothing but chagrin. Someone filled with chagrin doesn't grin: he's too mortified.

opus

N. /作品/work. Although many critics hailed his Fifth Sym¬phony as his major work, he did not regard it as his major opus.

indignity

N. /侮辱/offensive or insulting treatment. Although he seemed to accept cheerfully the indignities heaped upon him, he was inwardly very angry.

encroachment

N. /侵蚀；"和平演变"/gradual intrusion. The encroachment of the factories upon the neighborhood lowered the value of the real estate.

frugality

N. /俭省节约/thrift; economy. In economically hard times, anyone who doesn't learn to practice frugality risks bank¬ruptcy. frugal,ADJ.

economy

N. /俭省节约的，经济的/efficiency or conciseness in using something. Reading the epigrams of Pope, I admire the economy of his verse: in few words he conveys worlds of meaning. (sec¬ondary meaning)

cloister

N. /修道院/monastery or convent. The nuns lived a secluded life in the cloister.

incline

N. /倾斜，斜面/slope; slant. The architect recommended that the nursing home's ramp be rebuilt because its incline was too steep for wheelchairs.

assumption

N. /假定，设想；采取/something taken for granted; taking over or taking possession of. The young princess made the foolish assumption that the regent would not object to her assump¬tion of power. assume,V.

feint

N. /假的，淡的，不鲜明的；佯攻/trick; shift; sham blow. The boxer was fooled by his opponent's feint and dropped his guard. alsoV.

nepotism

N. /偏袒的人（亲戚）/favoritism (to a relative). John left his position with the company because he felt that advancement was based on nepotism rather than ability.

cessation

N. /停止/stoppage. The airline's employees threat¬ened a cessation of all work if management failed to meet their demands. cease,V.

icon

N. /偶像，象征；图标/religious image; idol. The icons on the walls of the church were painted in the 13th century.

beam

N. /光束；铁梁，木梁；一束电波/ray of light; long piece of metal or wood; course of a radio signal. V. smile radiantly. If a beam of light falls on you, it illuminates you; if a beam of iron falls on you, it elimi¬nates you. (No one feels like beaming when crushed by an iron beam.)

luster

N. /光泽；光彩/shine; gloss. The soft luster of the silk in the dim light was pleasing.

carat

N. /克拉；开；K/unit of weight for precious stones; measure of fineness of gold. He gave her a three-carat diamond mounted in an eighteen-carat gold band.

impunity

N. /免受惩罚/freedom from punishment or harm. A 98¬pound weakling can't attack a beachfront bully with impunity. the poor, puny guy is sure to get mashed.

ensemble

N. /全体；歌舞团；套装/group of (supporting) players; organic unity; costume. As a dancer with the Oakland Ballet, Benjamin enjoyed being part of the ensemble. Having acted with one another for well over a decade, the cast members have developed a true sense of ensemble: They work together seamlessly. Mitzi wore a charming two-piece ensemble designed by Donna Karan.

ecstasy

N. /全神贯注，入迷，高兴/rapture; joy; any overpowering emotion. When Allison received her long-hoped-for letter of acceptance from Harvard, she was in ecstasy. ecstatic,ADJ.

equity

N. /公平，公正/fairness; justice. Our courts guarantee equity to all.

franchise

N. /公民权；营业执照/right granted by authority; right to vote; busi¬ness licensed to sell a product in a particular territory. The city issued a franchise to the company to operate surface transit lines on the streets for ninety-nine years. For most of American history women lacked the right to vote: not until the early twentieth century was the franchise granted to women. Stan owns a Carvel's ice cream franchise in Chinatown.

axiom

N. /公理，自明的道理/self-evident truth requiring no proof. Before a student can begin to think along the lines of Euclidean geometry, he must accept certain principles or axioms.

complicity

N. /共犯，共同/participation; involvement. You cannot keep your complicity in this affair secret very long; you would be wise to admit your involvement immediately.

linchpin

N. /关键/something that holds or links various parts together. The linchpin in the district attorney's case was a photograph showing the defendant shaking hands with the hired killer.

epitome

N. /典型，摘要/perfect example or embodiment. Singing "I am the very model of a modern Major-General," in The Pirates of Penzance, Major-General Stanley proclaimed himself the epitome of an officer and a gentleman.

paradigm

N. /典范；模式/model; example; pattern. Pavlov's experiment in which he trains a dog to salivate on hearing a bell is a paradigm of the conditioned-response experiment in behavioral psychology. Barron's How to Prepare for College Entrance Examinations was a paradigm for all the SAT-prep books that followed.

cohesion

N. /内聚力；黏度/tendency to keep together. A firm believer in the maxim "Divide and conquer," the evil emperor, by means of lies and trickery, sought to disrupt the cohesion of the federation of free nations.

impostor

N. /冒充者；冒名顶替的人/someone who assumes a false identity. Holmes exposed the doctor as an impostor.

arsenal

N. /军火库/storage place for military equipment. People are forbidden to smoke in the arsenal for fear that a stray spark might setoff the munitions stored there.

brunt

N. /冲击/main impact or shock. Tom Sawyer claimed credit for painting the fence, but the brunt of the work fell on oth¬ers. However, he bore the brunt of Aunt Polly's complaints when the paint began to peel.

discord

N. /冲突的；不和谐的/conflict; lack of harmony. Watching Tweedle¬dum battle Tweedledee, Alice wondered what had caused this pointless discord.

deluge

N. /冲（水）（刺）/flood; rush. When we advertised the position, we received a deluge of applications.

determination

N. /决定；测量，计算；解决/resolve; measurement or calculation; decision. Nothing could shake his determination that his children would get the best education that money could buy. Thanks to my pocket calculator, my determination of the answer to the problem took only seconds of my time.

nonchalance

N. /冷淡/indifference; lack of concern; composure. Cool, calm, and collected under fire, James Bond shows remarkable nonchalance in the face of danger.

ennui

N. /厌倦/boredom. The monotonous routine of hospital life induced a feeling of ennui that made him moody and irritable.

misanthrope

N. /厌恶人类的人；憎人者/one who hates mankind. In Gulliver's Travels, Swift portrays an image of humanity as vile, degraded beasts; for this reason, various critics consider him a misanthrope.

aversion

N. /厌恶，抵制/firm dislike. Bert had an aversion to yuppies; Alex had an aversion to punks. Their mutual aversion was so great that they refused to speak to one another.

archetype

N. /原形/prototype; primitive pattern. The Brooklyn Bridge was the archetype of the many spans that now con¬nect Manhattan with Long Island and New Jersey.

camaraderie

N. /友情/good-fellowship. What he loved best about his job was the sense of camaraderie he and his co¬workers shared.

caprice

N. /反复无常；一时幻想；奇怪的想法/sudden, unexpected fancy; whim. On a caprice, Jack tried drag-racing, but paid the price-his father took his Chevy Caprice away from him.

antipathy

N. /反对，厌恶/aversion; dislike. Tom's extreme antipathy for disputes keeps him from getting into arguments with his temperamental wife. Noise in any form is antipathetic to him. Among his other antipathies are honking cars, boom boxes, and heavy metal rock.

insubordination

N. /反抗，不屈/disobedience; rebelliousness. At the slightest hint of insubordination from the sailors of the Bounty, Captain Bligh had them flogged; finally, they mutinied.

irony

N. /反话；讽刺/hidden sarcasm or satire; use of words that seem to mean the opposite of what they actually mean. Gradually his listeners began to realize that the excessive praise he was lavishing on his opponent was actually irony, he was in fact ridiculing the poor fool.

anticlimax

N. /反高潮，突降/letdown in thought or emotion. After the fine performance in the first act, the rest of the play was an anti¬climax. anticlimactic,ADJ.

coiffure

N. /发型/hairstyle. You can make a statement with your choice of coiffure: in the sixties many African¬Americans affirmed their racial heritage by wearing their hair in Afros.

innovation

N. /发明；变革/change; introduction of something new. Although Richard liked to keep up with all the latest techno¬logical innovations, he didn't always abandon tried and true techniques in favor of something new. innovate,V.

figment

N. /发明；臆造的事务/invention; imaginary thing. That incident never took place; it is a figment of your imagination.

genesis

N. /发源，源头/beginning; origin. Tracing the genesis of a fam¬ily is the theme of Roots.

incidence

N. /发生；发生率；影响的范围、频度；入射角；关联，相结合，对接/rate of occurrence; particular occurrence. Health professionals expressed great concern over the high incidence of infant mortality in major urban areas.

masochist

N. /受虐狂/person who enjoys his own pain. The masochist begs, "Hit me." The sadist smiles and says, "I won't."

mutability

N. /变化能力/ability to change in form; fickleness. Going from rags to riches, and then back to rags again, the bank¬rupt financier was a victim of the mutability of fortune.

metamorphosis

N. /变形/change of form; major transformation. The metamorphosis of caterpillar to butterfly is typical of many such changes in animal life. metamorphose,V.

chameleon

N. /变色龙/lizard that changes color in different situa¬tions. Like the chameleon, he assumed the political thinking of every group he met.

apostate

N. /变节者，脱党者，叛徒/one who abandons his religious faith or politi¬cal beliefs. Because he switched from one party to another, his former friends shunned him as an apostate. apostasy, N.

flux

N. /变迁；流动/flowing; series of changes. While conditions are in such a state of flux, I do not wish to commit myself too deeply in this affair.

paleontology

N. /古生物学/study of prehistoric life. The paleontology instructor had a superb collection of fossils.

epic

N. /史诗；剧作/long heroic poem, or similar work of art. Kuro¬sawa's film Seven Samurai is an epic portraying the strug¬gle of seven warriors to destroy a band of robbers. alsoADJ.

appellation

N. /名字，标题/name; title. Macbeth was startled when the witches greeted him with an incorrect appellation. Why did they call him Thane of Cawdor, he wondered, when the holder of that title still lived?

kudos

N. /名望，声誉/honor; glory; praise. The singer complacently received kudos from his entourage on his performance.

luminary

N. /名气，尊严/celebrity; dignitary. A leading light of the American stage, Ethel Barrymore was a theatrical luminary whose name lives on.

monarchy

N. /君主制；君主整体/government under a single ruler. Though England today is a monarchy, there is some question whether it will be one in twenty years, given the present dis¬content at the prospect of Prince Charles as king.

implication

N. /含义；暗示/something hinted at or suggested. When Miss Watson said she hadn't seen her purse since the last time Jim was in the house, the implication was that she sus¬pected Jim had taken it. imply,V.

clamor

N. /吵闹声；噪音/noise. The clamor of the children at play outside made it impossible for her to take a nap. alsoV.

charlatan

N. /吹牛/quack; pretender to knowledge. When they realized that the Wizard didn't know how to get them back to Kansas, Dorothy and her companions were indignant that they'd been duped by a charlatan.

nomenclature

N. /命名法；术语学/terminology; system of names. Sharon found Latin word parts useful in translating medical nomen¬clature: when her son had to have a bilateral myringotomy, she figured out that he just needed a hole in each of his eardrums to end the earaches he had.

pacifist

N. /和平主义者/one opposed to force; antimilitarist. Shooting his way through the jungle, Rambo was clearly not a pacifist.

pact

N. /和约；条约/agreement; treaty. Tweedledum and Tweedledee made a pact not to quarrel anymore.

incantation

N. /咒语/singing or chanting of magic spells; magical formula. Uttering incantations to make the brew more potent, the witch doctor stirred the liquid in the caldron.

gourmet

N. /品尝家；美食比赛的评委/connoisseur of food and drink. The gourmet stated that this was the best onion soup she had ever tasted.

mammal

N. /哺乳动物/a vertebrate animal whose female suckles its young. Many people regard the whale as a fish and do not realize that it is a mammal.

materialism

N. /唯物主义/preoccupation with physical comforts and things. By its nature, materialism is opposed to idealism, for where the materialist emphasizes the needs of the body, the idealist emphasizes the needs of the soul.

entrepreneur

N. /商人，企业家，承包人/businessman; contractor. Opponents of our present tax program argue that it discourages entrepre¬neurs from trying new fields of business activity.

pandemonium

N. /喧嚣；混乱/wild tumult. When the ships collided in the harbor, pandemonium broke out among the passengers.

depravity

N. /堕落，腐坏/extreme corruption; wickedness. The deprav¬ity of Caligula's behavior came to sicken even those who had willingly participated in his earlier, comparatively inno¬cent orgies.

bastion

N. /堡垒；工事/fortress; defense. The villagers fortified the town hall, hoping this improvised bastion could protect them from the guerillas' raids. .

epitaph

N. /墓志铭，挽联/inscription in memory of a dead person. In his will, he dictated the epitaph he wanted placed on his tomb¬stone.

increment

N. /增加/increase. The new contract calls for a 10 percent increment in salary for each employee for the next two years.

fresco

N. /壁画/painting on plaster (usually fresh). The cathedral is visited by many tourists who wish to admire the frescoes by Giotto.

mural

N. /壁画/wall painting. The walls of the Chicano Commu¬nity Center are covered with murals painted in the style of Diego Rivera, the great Mexican artist.

exploit

N. /壮举/deed or action, particularly a brave deed. Raoul Wallenberg was noted for his exploits in rescuing Jews from Hitler's forces.

manifesto

N. /声明/declaration; statement of policy. The Com¬munist Manifesto by Marx and Engels proclaimed the prin¬ciples of modern communism.

nemesis

N. /复仇的人；寻衅者/someone seeking revenge. Abandoned at sea in a small boat, the vengeful Captain Bligh vowed to be the nemesis of Fletcher Christian and his fellow mutineers.

facsimile

N. /复制品/COPY. Many museums sell facsimiles of the works of art on display.

guise

N. /外观；装束/appearance; costume. In the guise of a plumber, the detective investigated the murder case.

multiplicity

N. /多样性/state of being numerous. He was appalled by the multiplicity of details he had to complete before set¬ting out on his mission.

diversity

N. /多样性/variety; dissimilitude. The diversity of colleges in this country indicates that many levels of ability are being cared for.

blare

N. /大声喊叫，令人眩晕的强光/loud, harsh roar or screech; dazzling blaze of light. I don't know which is worse: the steady blare of a boom box deafening your ears or a sudden blare of flash¬bulbs dazzling your eyes.

clangor

N. /大声喧哗；持续的铿锵声/loud, resounding noise. The blacksmith was accustomed to the clangor of hammers on steel.

galleon

N. /大帆船/large sailing ship. The Spaniards pinned their hopes on the galleon, the large warship; the British, on the smaller and faster pinnace.

citadel

N. /大本营/fortress. The citadel overlooked the city like a protecting angel.

cataract

N. /大瀑布；白内障/great waterfall; eye abnormality. She gazed with awe at the mighty cataract known as Niagara Falls.

metropolis

N. /大都会/large city. Every evening the terminal is filled with thousands of commuters going from this metropolis to their homes in the suburbs.

gale

N. /大风；一阵感情的爆发/windstorm; gust of wind; emotional outburst (laughter, tears). The Weather Channel warned viewers about a rising gale, with winds of up to sixty miles per hour.

ingenue

N. /天真无邪的少女；扮演天真无邪的少女的女演员/an artless girl; an actress who plays such parts. Although she was forty, she still insisted that she be cast as an ingenue and refused to play more mature roles.

naiveté

N. /天真烂漫的，简单的/quality of being unsophisticated; simplicity; art¬lessness; gullibility. Touched by the naivetd of sweet, con¬vent-trained Cosette, Marius pledges himself to protect her innocence. naive,ADJ.

dormer

N. /天窗/window projecting from roof. In remodeling the attic into a bedroom, we decided that we needed to put in dormers to provide sufficient ventilation for the new room.

aphasia

N. /失声/loss of speech due to injury or illness. After the automobile accident, the victim had periods of aphasia when he could not speak at all or could only mumble inco¬herently.

amnesia

N. /失忆，健忘/loss of memory. Because she was suffering from amnesia, the police could not get the young girl to identify herself.

gaffe

N. /失态；出丑/social blunder. According to Miss Manners, to call your husband by your lover's name is worse than a mere gaffe; it is a tactical mistake.

insomnia

N. /失眠/wakefulness; inability to sleep. He refused to join us in a midnight cup of coffee because he claimed it gave him insomnia.

harangue

N. /夸大的讲话/noisy speech. In her lengthy harangue, the principal berated the offenders. alsoV.

hyperbole

N. /夸张/exaggeration; overstatement. As far as I'm concerned, Apple's claims about the new computer are pure hyperbole: no machine is that good!

opulence

N. /奢华；巨富；富裕，富足/extreme wealth; luxuriousness; abundance. The glitter and opulence of the ballroom took Cinderella's breath away. opulent,ADJ.

matriarch

N. /女家长；掌管全家的老太婆/woman who rules a family or larger social group. The matriarch ruled her gypsy tribe with a firm hand.

guile

N. /奸诈狡猾；诡计/deceit; duplicity; wiliness; cunning. lago uses considerable guile to trick Othello into believing that Desde¬mona has been unfaithful.

duplicity

N. /奸诈，狡猾；伪善；两面三刀，两面派/double-dealing; hypocrisy. When Tanya learned that Mark had been two-timing her, she was furious at his duplicity.

paranoia

N. /妄想狂；偏执狂/psychosis marked by delusions of grandeur or persecution. Suffering from paranoia, Don claimed every¬one was out to get him; ironically, his claim was accurate: even paranoids have enemies.

obstetrician

N. /妇产科医师/physician specializing in delivery of babies. In modern times, the delivery of children has passed from the midwife to the more scientifically trained obstetrician,

impediment

N. /妨碍；障碍物/hindrance; stumbling-block. She had a speech impediment that prevented her speaking clearly.

mandate

N. /委任；命令/order; charge. In his inaugural address, the president stated that he had a mandate from the people to seek an end to social evils such as poverty. alsoV.

exuberance

N. /富得流油的；精力充沛；浪费，过度/overflowing abundance; joyful enthusiasm; flamboyance; lavishness. I was bowled over by the exuber¬ance of Amy's welcome. What an enthusiastic greeting!

magnate

N. /富豪，要人；突出的人物，XX大王/person of prominence or influence. Growing up in Pittsburgh, Annie Dillard was surrounded by the man¬sions of the great steel and coal magnates who set their mark on that city.

parable

N. /寓言/short, simple story teaching a moral. Let us apply to our own conduct the lesson that this parable teaches.

oligarchy

N. /寡头政治/government by a privileged few. One small clique ran the student council: what had been intended as a democratic governing body had turned into an oligarchy.

antithesis

N. /对立面/contrast; direct opposite of or to. This tyranny was the antithesis of all that he had hoped for, and he fought it with all his strength.

catharsis

N. /导泻，通便；疏泄/purging or cleansing of any passage of the body. Aristotle maintained that tragedy created a catharsis by purging the soul of base concepts.

deference

N. /尊重的，尊重他人的/courteous regard for another's wish. In defer¬ence to the minister's request, please do not take pho¬tographs during the wedding service.

brochure

N. /小册子/pamphlet. This brochure on farming was issued by the Department of Agriculture.

clique

N. /小圈子；同行/small exclusive group. Fitzgerald wished that he belonged to the clique of popular athletes and big men on campus who seemed to run Princeton's social life.

hovel

N. /小屋/shack; small, wretched house. He wondered how poor people could stand living in such a hovel.

knoll

N. /小山包/little round hill. Robert Louis Stevenson's grave is on a knoll in Samoa; to reach the grave site, you must climb uphill and walk a short distance along a marked path.

bungalow

N. /小平房/small cottage. Every summer we rent a bun¬galow on Cape Cod for our vacation home. The rent is high, the roof is low-it's a basic bungalow.

grove

N. /小树林/group of trees (smaller than a forest); orchard. To the child, the small grove of oaks was as vast as Sherwood Forest, in which he played that legendary hero, Robin Hood.

cascade

N. /小瀑布/small waterfall. We were too tired to appreci¬ate the beauty of the many cascades because we had to detour around them to avoid being drenched by the water cascading down.

asteroid

N. /小行星/small planet. Asteroids have become common¬place to the readers of interstellar travel stories in science fiction magazines.

alcove

N. /小隔间，壁橱/nook; small, recessed section of a room. Though their apartment lacked a full-scale dining room, an alcove adjacent to the living room made an adequate breakfast nook for the young couple.

junta

N. /小集团；政治团伙/group of men joined in political intrigue; cabal. As soon as he learned of its existence, the dictator ordered the execution of all of the members of the junta.

figurine

N. /小雕像/small ornamental statuette. In The Maltese Fal¬con, Sam Spade was hired to trace the missing figurine of a black bird.

heresy

N. /少数意见，异端/opinion contrary to popular belief; opinion con¬trary to accepted religion. Galileo's assertion that the earth moved around the sun directly contradicted the religious teachings of his day; as a result, he was tried for heresy. heretic, N.

cadaver

N. /尸体/corpse. In some states, it is illegal to dissect cadavers.

epilogue

N. /尾声；收场白/short speech at conclusion of dramatic work. The audience was so disappointed in the play that many did not remain to hear the epilogue.

barricade

N. /屏障；障碍物/hastily put together defensive barrier; obsta¬cle. Marius and his fellow students hurriedly improvised a rough barricade to block police access to the students' quarter. Malcolm and his brothers barricaded themselves in their bedroom to keep their mother from seeing the hole in the bedroom floor. alsoV.

attribute

N. /属性/essential quality. His outstanding attribute was his kindness.

gorge

N. /峡谷/small, steep-walled canyon. The white-water raft¬ing guide warned us about the rapids farther downstream, where the river cut through a narrow gorge.

debacle

N. /崩溃/sudden downfall; complete disaster. In the Air¬plane movies, every flight turns into a debacle, with passen¬gers and crew members collapsing, engines falling apart, and carry-on baggage popping out of the overhead bins.

artisan

N. /工匠/manually skilled worker; craftsman, as opposed to artist. A noted artisan, Arturo was known for the fine craftsmanship of his inlaid cabinets.

coincidence

N. /巧合/two or more things occurring at the same time by chance. Was it just a coincidence that John and she had chanced to meet at the market for three days run¬ning, or was he deliberately trying to seek her out? coinci¬dental,ADJ.

cataclysm

N. /巨变；剧变；灾难/upheaval; deluge. A cataclysm such as the French Revolution affects all countries. cataclysmic,ADJ.

Clout

N. /巨大的影响（政治\社会）/great influence (especially political or social). Gatsby wondered whether he had enough clout to be admitted to the exclusive club.

enormity

N. /巨大的，严重的，极恶劣/hugeness (in a bad sense). He did not realize the enormity of his crime until he saw what suffering he had caused.

magnitude

N. /巨大的，大数量级的/ greatness; extent. It is difficult to compre¬hend the magnitude of his crime.

clientele

N. /常客/body of customers. The rock club attracted a young, stylish clientele.

cadence

N. /平仄，重音/rhythmic rise and fall (of words or sounds); beat. Marching down the road, the troops sang out, follow¬ing the cadence set by the sergeant.

parallelism

N. /平行状态；相似的/state of being parallel; similarity. Although the twins were separated at birth and grew up in different adop¬tive families, a striking parallelism exists between their lives.

equilibrium

N. /平衡/balance. After the divorce, he needed some time to regain his equilibrium.

lull

N. /平静，安静，暂停，短暂的平息/moment of calm. Not wanting to get wet, they waited under the awning for a lull in the rain.

illusion

N. /幻觉/misleading vision. It is easy to create an optical illusion in which lines of equal length appear different.

hallucination

N. /幻觉，幻想/delusion. I think you were frightened by a hallucination you created in your own mind.

claustrophobia

N. /幽闭恐怖症/fear of being locked in. His fellow class¬mates laughed at his claustrophobia and often threatened to lock him in his room.

component

N. /成分/element; ingredient. I wish all the compo¬nents of my stereo system were working at the same time.

host

N. /很多；主人；宿主/great number; person entertaining guests; animal or plant from which a parasite gets its nourishment. You must attend to a host of details if you wish to succeed as host of a formal dinner party. Leeches are parasites that cling to their hosts and drink their hosts' blood.

microcosm

N. /微观世界/small world; the world in miniature. The small village community that Jane Austen depicts serves as a microcosm of English society in her time, for in this small world we see all the social classes meeting and mingling.

discomposure

N. /心乱；不安/agitation; loss of poise. Perpetually poised, Agent 007 never exhibited a moment's discompo¬sure.

cardiologist

N. /心脏病专家/doctor specializing in the heart. When the pediatrician noticed Philip had a slight heart murmur, she referred him to a cardiologist for further tests.

ingrate

N. /忘恩负义者；不领情的人/ungrateful person. That ingrate Bob sneered at the tie I gave him.

fidelity

N. /忠诚/loyalty. A dog's fidelity to its owner is one of the reasons why that animal is a favorite household pet.

doldrums

N. /忧郁，悲伤/blues; listlessness; slack period. Once the excitement of meeting her deadline was over, she found herself in the doldrums.

ire

N. /怒气/anger. The waiter tried unsuccessfully to placate the ire of the diner who had found a cockroach in her soup.

dispatch

N. /急速；急件/speediness; prompt execution; message sent with all due speed. Young Napoleon defeated the enemy with all possible dispatch; he then sent a dispatch to head¬quarters informing his commander of the great victory. alsoV.

extrovert

N. /性格外向的人/person interested mostly in external objects and actions. A good salesman is usually an extrovert, who likes to mingle with people.

eccentricity

N. /怪僻，古怪；特性/oddity; idiosyncrasy. Some of his friends tried to account for his rudeness to strangers as the eccen¬tricity of genius.

firebrand

N. /总惹麻烦的人，惹事生非者，捣乱人/hothead: troublemaker. The police tried to keep track of all the local firebrands when the President came to town.

hydrophobia

N. /恐水症；狂犬病/rabies; fear of water. A dog that bites a human being must be observed for symptoms of hydropho¬bia.

benefactor

N. /恩人，赞助人/gift giver; patron. Scrooge later became Tiny Tim's benefactor and gave him gifts.

boon

N. /恩惠，福利/blessing; benefit. The recent rains that filled our empty reservoirs were a boon to the whole community.

paradox

N. /悖论；佯谬/something apparently contradictory in nature; statement that looks false but is actually correct. Richard presents a bit of a paradox, for he is a card-carrying mem¬ber of both the National Rifle Association and the relatively pacifist American Civil Liberties Union.

nostalgia

N. /想家；乡愁/homesickness; longing for the past. My grandfather seldom spoke of life in the old country; he had little patience with nostalgia. nostalgic,ADJ.

mishap

N. /意外，灾难/accident. With a little care you could have avoided this mishap.

fluke

N. /意外；小概率事件/unlikely occurrence; stroke of fortune. When Dou- glas defeated Tyson for the heavyweight championship, some sportscasters dismissed his victory as a fluke.

ideology

N. /意识形态/system of ideas of a group. For people who had grown up believing in the communist ideology, it was hard to adjust to capitalism.

expletive

N. /感叹词；咒骂/interjection; profane oath. The sergeant's remarks were filled with expletives that offended the new recruits.

enmity

N. /憎恨；仇恨/ill will; hatred. At Camp David, President Carter labored to bring an end to the enmity that prevented the peaceful coexistence of Egypt and Israel.

faculty

N. /才能，教职员工/mental or bodily powers; teaching staff. As he grew old, Professor Twiggly feared he might lose his facul¬ties and become unfit to teach. However, he had tenure: whether or not he was in full possession of his faculties, the school couldn't kick him off the faculty.

doggerel

N. /打油诗/poor verse. Although we find occasional snatches of genuine poetry in her work, most of her writing is mere doggerel.

infraction

N. /打破（常规）/violation (of a rule or regulation); breach. When Dennis Rodman butted heads with that referee, he committed a clear infraction of NBA rules.

clasp

N. /扣合；紧密合作/fastening device; firm grip. When the clasp on Judy's bracelet broke, Fred repaired it, bending the hook back into shape. He then helped her slip on the bracelet, holding it firm in the sure clasp of his hand.

killjoy

N. /扫兴的人；煞风景/grouch; spoilsport. At breakfast we had all been enjoying our bacon and eggs until that killjoy John started talking about how bad animal fats were for our health.

grimace

N. /扭曲的脸；做鬼脸/a facial distortion to show feeling such as pain, disgust, etc. Even though he remained silent, his grimace indicated his displeasure. alsoV.

missile

N. /投掷物/object to be thrown or projected. After carefully folding his book report into a paper airplane, Beavis threw the missile across the classroom at Butthead. Rocket scien¬tists are building guided missiles; Beavis and Butthead can barely make unguided ones.

antiseptic

N. /抗菌物/substance that prevents infection. It is advis¬able to apply an antiseptic to any wound, no matter how slight or insignificant. alsoADJ.

defiance

N. /抵抗；不屈服/refusal to yield; resistance. When John reached the "terrible two's," he responded to every parental request with howls of defiance. defy,V.

collateral

N. /抵押品/security given for loan. The sum you wish to borrow is so large that it must be secured by collateral.

assurance

N. /担保，保证；确定；自信/promise or pledge; certainty; self-confi¬dence. When Guthrie gave Guinness his assurance that rehearsals were going well, he spoke with such assurance that Guinness felt relieved. assure,V.

misgivings

N. /担忧，疑虑/doubts. Hamlet described his misgivings to Horatio but decided to fence with Laertes despite his fore¬boding of evil.

demolition

N. /拆除/destruction. One of the major aims of the air force was the complete demolition of all means of trans¬portation by bombing of rail lines and terminals. demolish,V.

horde

N. /拥挤/crowd. Just before Christmas the stores are filled with hordes of shoppers.

arcade

N. /拱廊/a covered passageway, usually lined with shops. The arcade was popular with shoppers because it gave them protection from the summer sun and the winter rain.

collage

N. /拼贴画/work of art put together from fragments. Scraps of cloth, paper doilies, and old photographs all went into her collage.

duration

N. /持续时间/length of time something lasts. Because she wanted the children to make a good impression on the din¬ner guests, Mother promised them a treat if they'd behave for the duration of the meal.

denotation

N. /指示；根据名字区别/meaning; distinguishing by name. A dictio¬nary will always give us the denotation of a word; fre¬quently, it will also give us the connotations. denote,V.

deterrent

N. /挫败；使气馁/something that discourages; hindrance. Does the threat of capital punishment serve as a deterrent to potential killers? deter,V.

extrapolation

N. /推测，推断/projection; conjecture. Based on their extrapolation from the results of the primaries on Super Tuesday, the networks predicted that Bob Dole would be the Republican candidate for the presidency. extrapolate,V.

excerpt

N. /摘抄，摘录/selected passage (written or musical). The cin¬ematic equivalent of an excerpt from a novel is a clip from a film. alsoV.

friction

N. /摩擦/clash in opinion; rubbing against. At this time when harmony is essential, we cannot afford to have any friction in our group.

contusion

N. /擦伤；撞伤/bruise. Black and blue after her fall, Sue was treated for contusions and abrasions.

expenditure

N. /支出，花费/payment or expense; output. When you are operating on an expense account, you must keep receipts for all your expenditures. If you don't save your receipts, you won't get repaid without the expenditure of a lot of energy arguing with the firm's accountants.

convert

N. /改变；转换；皈依/one who has adopted a different religion or opinion. On his trip to Japan, though the President spoke at length about the virtues of American automobiles, he made few converts to his beliefs. alsoV.

aggressor

N. /攻击者/attacker. Before you punish both boys for fighting, see whether you can determine which one was the aggressor.

orgy

N. /放荡，旷野；纵酒狂欢/wild, drunken revelry; unrestrained indulgence in a tendency. The Roman emperor's orgies were far wilder than the toga party in the movie Animal House. When her income tax refund check finally arrived, Sally indulged in an orgy of shopping.

expatriate

N. /放逐；被放逐者/exile; someone who has withdrawn from his native land. Henry James was an American expatriate who settled in England.

agility

N. /敏捷/nimbleness. The agility of the acrobat amazed and thrilled the audience.

catechism

N. /教义问答手册；FAQ,Q&A/book for religious instruction; instruction by question and answer. He taught by engaging his pupils in a catechism until they gave him the correct answer.

entitlement

N. /权利/right to claim something; right to benefits. While Bill was entitled to use a company car while he worked for the firm, the company's lawyers questioned his entitlement to the vehicle once he'd quit his job.

iota

N. /极少量的/very small quantity. She hadn't an iota of common sense.

caption

N. /标题/title; chapter heading; text under illustration. The captions that accompany The Far Side cartoons are almost as funny as the pictures. alsoV.

foliage

N. /树叶/masses of leaves. Every autumn before the leaves fell he promised himself he would drive through New England to admire the colorful fall foliage.

caucus

N. /核心小组会议（秘密）/private meeting of members of a party to select officers or determine policy. At the opening of Congress, the members of the Democratic Party held a caucus to elect the Majority Leader of the House and the Party Whip.

kernel

N. /核心的/central or vital part; whole seed (as of corn). "Watson, buried within this tissue of lies there is a kernel of truth; when I find it, the mystery will be solved."

audit

N. /核算，稽核/examination of accounts. When the bank examin¬ers arrived to hold their annual audit, they discovered the embezzlements of the chief cashier. alsoV.

dossier

N. /档案，资料/file of documents on a subject. Ordered by J. Edgar Hoover to investigate the senator, the FBI compiled a complete dossieron him.

archives

N. /档案；档案馆/public records; place where public records are kept. These documents should be part of the archives so that historians may be able to evaluate them in the future.

gavel

N. /棒槌/hammerlike tool; mallet. "Sold!" cried the auction¬eer, banging her gavel on the table to indicate she'd accepted the final bid.

frond

N. /棕榈叶；蕨叶/fern leaf; palm or banana leaf. After the storm the beach was littered with the fronds of palm trees.

arboretum

N. /植物园/place where different tree varieties are exhibited. Walking along the tree-lined paths of the arbore¬tum, Rita noted poplars, firs, and some particularly fine sycamores.

flora

N. /植物志/plants of a region or era. Because she was a botanist, she spent most of her time studying the flora of the desert.

indentation

N. /槽；小开口/notch; deep recess. You can tell one tree from another by examining their leaves and noting the dif¬ferences in the indentations along the edges of the leaves. indent,V.

mimicry

N. /模仿/imitation. Her gift for mimicry was so great that her friends said that she should be in the theater.

paragon

N. /模范/model of perfection. Her fellow students dis¬liked Lavinia because Miss Minchin always pointed her out as a paragon of virtue.

arrears

N. /欠债/being in debt. He was in arrears with his pay¬ments on the car.

felicity

N. /欢乐；适当/happiness; appropriateness (of a remark, choice, etc.). She wrote a note to the newlyweds wishing them great felicity in their wedded life.

intelligentsia

N. /知识分子；知识界/the intelligent and educated classes [often used derogatorily]. She preferred discussions about sports and politics to the literary conversations of the intelligentsia.

laceration

N. /破口/torn, ragged wound. The stock car driver needed stitches to close up the lacerations he received in the car crash.

certitude

N. /确实/certainty. Though there was no certitude of his getting the job, Lou thought he had a good chance of doing so.

debris

N. /碎片；残骸/rubble. A full year after the earthquake in Mexico City, they were still carting away the debris.

decorum

N. /礼貌；温文尔雅/propriety; orderliness and good taste in man¬ners. Even the best-mannered students have trouble behav¬ing with decorum on the last day of school. decorous,ADJ.

ethos

N. /社会精神特质，思潮，风气；气质/underlying character of a culture, group, etc. Seeing how tenderly ordinary Spaniards treated her small daughter made author Barbara Kingsolver aware of how greatly children were valued in the Spanish ethos.

invocation

N. /祈祷/prayer for help; calling upon as a reference or support. The service of Morning Prayer opens with an invocation during which we ask God to hear our prayers.

beatitude

N. /祝福/blessedness; state of bliss. Growing closer to God each day, the mystic achieved a state of indescribable beatitude.

benediction

N. /祝福/blessing. The appearance of the sun after the many rainy days was like a benediction.

embargo

N. /禁运/ban on commerce or other activity. As a result of the embargo, trade with the colonies was at a standstill.

exodus

N. /离开，启程/departure. The exodus from the hot and stuffy city was particularly noticeable on Friday evenings.

empathy

N. /移情作用，心入/ability to identify with another's feelings, ideas, etc. What made Ann such a fine counselor was her empa¬thy, her ability to put herself in her client's place and feel his emotions as if they were her own. empathize,V.

graft

N. /移植；移植物；嫁接/piece of transplanted tissue; portion of plant inserted in another plant. After the fire, Greg required skin grafts to replace the badly damaged areas on his forearms. alsoV.

dearth

N. /稀缺；缺乏/scarcity. The dearth of skilled labor compelled the employers to open trade schools.

corollary

N. /结果，产物/consequence; accompaniment. Brotherly love is a complex emotion, with sibling rivalry its natural corollary.

finale

N. /结论，结尾，结局/conclusion. It is not until we reach the finale of this play that we can understand the author's message.

cession

N. /给与；割让/yielding to another; ceding. The cession of Alaska to the United States is discussed in this chapter.

ascendancy

N. /统治，控制/controlling influence; domination. Leaders of religious cults maintain ascendancy over their followers by methods that can verge on brainwashing.

epithet

N. /绰号/word or phrase characteristically used to describe a person or thing. So many kings of France were named Charles that you could tell them apart only by their epithets: Charles the Wise was someone far different from Charles the Fat.

emollient

N. /缓和，安抚/soothing or softening remedy. The nurse applied an emollient to the inflamed area. alsoADJ.

hiatus

N. /缝隙；短暂的空白/gap; interruption in duration or continuity; pause. During the summer hiatus, many students try to earn enough money to pay their tuition for the next school year.

foible

N. /缺点；弱点/weakness; slight fault. We can overlook the foibles of our friends; no one is perfect.

defection

N. /缺点；逃跑，叛逃/desertion. The children, who had made him an idol, were hurt most by his defection from our cause.

fleece

N. /羊毛外套/wool coat of a sheep. They shear sheep of their fleece, which they then comb into separate strands of wool.

archipelago

N. /群岛/group of closely located islands. When Gauguin looked at the map and saw the archipelagoes in the South Seas, he longed to visit them.

epicure

N. /老饕；享乐主义者/connoisseur of food and drink. Epicures fre¬quent this restaurant because it features exotic wines and dishes. epicurean,ADJ.

archaeology

N. /考古学/study of artifacts and relics of early mankind. The professor of archaeology headed an expedi¬tion to the Gobi Desert in search of ancient ruins.

forbearance

N. /耐心/patience. We must use forbearance in dealing with him because he is still weak from his illness.

liaison

N. /联络；连音/contact keeping parts of an organization in com¬munication; go-between; secret love affair. As the liaison between the American and British forces during World War II, the colonel had to ease tensions between the leaders of the two armies. Romeo's romantic liaison with Juliet ended in tragedy.

drivel

N. /胡言乱语；愚蠢/nonsense; foolishness. Why do I have to spend my days listening to such idiotic drivel? Drivel is related to dribble: think of a dribbling, driveling idiot.

gibberish

N. /胡话；嘟囔/nonsense; babbling. Did you hear that fool boy spouting gibberish about monsters from outer space? gibber,V.

escapade

N. /胡闹；奇怪、出格的行为/prank; flighty conduct. The headmaster could not regard this latest escapade as a boyish joke and expelled the young man.

brooch

N. /胸针/ornamental clasp. She treasured the brooch because it was an heirloom.

aptitude

N. /能力，才能/fitness; talent. The counselor gave him an apti¬tude test before advising him about the career he should follow.

caliber

N. /能力；品质/ability; quality. Einstein's cleaning the black¬boards again? Albert, quit it! A man of your caliber shouldn't have to do such menial tasks.

Capacity

N. /能力；角色/mental or physical ability; role; ability to accommodate. Mike had the capacity to handle several jobs at once. In his capacity as president of SelecTronics he marketed an electronic dictionary with a capacity of 200,000 words.

countenance

N. /脸/face. When Jose saw his newborn daugh¬ter, a proud smile spread across his countenance.

buffet

N. /自助餐/table with food set out for people to serve them¬selves; meal at which people help themselves to food that's been set out. Please convey the soufflé on the tray to the buffet. (Buffet rhymes with tray.)

braggart

N. /自夸，吹嘘/boaster. Modest by nature, she was no brag¬gart, preferring to let her accomplishments speak for them¬selves.

egoism

N. /自我中心，利己主义/excessive interest in one's self; belief that one should be interested in one's self rather than in others. His egoism prevented him from seeing the needs of his col¬leagues.

narcissist

N. /自我陶醉的人；逞能的人/conceited person; someone in love with his own image. A narcissist is her own best friend.

conceit

N. /自负，自大；离奇古怪的想法/vanity or self-love; whimsical idea; extravagant metaphor. Although Jack was smug and puffed up with conceit, he was an entertaining companion, always expressing himself in amusing conceits and witty turns of phrase.

notoriety

N. /臭名昭著的/disrepute; ill fame. To the starlet, any publicity was good publicity: if she couldn't have a good reputation, she'd settle for notoriety. notorious,ADJ.

maxim

N. /至理名言；格言/proverb; a truth pithily stated. Aesop's fables illustrate moral maxims.

choreography

N. /舞蹈术；舞蹈记谱/art of representing dances in written symbols; arrangement of dances. Merce Cunningham has begun to use a computer in designing choreography. a software program allows him to compose arrangements of possible moves and immediately view them onscreen.

armada

N. /舰队/fleet of warships. Queen Elizabeth's navy defeated the mighty armada that threatened the English coast.

hue

N. /色调/color; aspect. The aviary contained birds of every possible hue.

drudgery

N. /苦差事，苦工/menial work. Cinderella's fairy godmother res¬cued her from a life of drudgery.

latitude

N. /范围/freedom from narrow limitations. I think you have permitted your son too much latitude in this matter.

extent

N. /范围；程度/degree; magnitude; scope. What is the extentof the patient's injuries? If they are not too extensive, we can treat him on an outpatient basis.

liniment

N. /药膏；擦油/ointment; lotion; salve. The trainer carefully applied the liniment to the quarterback's bruise, gently rub¬bing it into the skin.

atrophy

N. /萎缩，变得没用/wasting away. Polio victims need physiother¬apy to prevent the atrophy of affected limbs. alsoV.

nutrient

N. /营养品/nourishing substance. As a budding nutrition¬ist, Kim has learned to design diets that contain foods rich in important basic nutrients.

diva

N. /著名女歌唱家，天后；歌剧女主角/operatic singer; prima donna. Although world famous as a diva, she did not indulge in fits of tempera¬ment. ..

montage

N. /蒙太奇/photographic composition combining ele¬ments from different sources. In one early montage, Beauchamp brought together pictures of broken man¬nequins and newspaper clippings about the Vietnam War.

bravado

N. /虚张声势/swagger; assumed air of defiance. The bravado of the young criminal disappeared when he was confronted by the victims of his brutal attack.

lineage

N. /血统/descent; ancestry. He traced his lineage back to Mayflower days.

languor

N. /衰弱，萧条/lassitude; depression. His friends tried to over¬come the languor into which he had fallen by taking him to parties and to the theater.

incursion

N. /袭击/temporary invasion. The nightly incursions and hit-and-run raids of our neighbors across the border tried the patience of the country to the point where we decided to retaliate in force.

attrition

N. /裁员；磨损/gradual decrease in numbers; reduction in the work force without firing employees; wearing away of opposition by means of harassment. In the 1960s urban churches suffered from attrition as members moved from the cities to the suburbs. Rather than fire staff members, church leaders followed a policy of attrition, allowing elderly workers to retire without replacing them.

fissure

N. /裂缝；分歧/crevice. The mountain climbers secured footholds in tiny fissures in the rock.

Cleft

N. /裂缝；开裂/split. Trying for a fresh handhold, the mountain¬climber grasped the edge of a cleft in the sheer rockface. alsoADJ.

malingerer

N. /装病的人；假病号/one who feigns illness to escape duty. The captain ordered the sergeant to punish all malingerers and force them to work. malinger,V.

arousal

N. /觉醒；激励/awakening; provocation (of a response). On arousal, Papa was always grumpy as a bear. The children tiptoed around the house, fearing they would arouse his anger by waking him up.

liberator

N. /解放者/one who sets free. Simon Bolivar, who led the South American colonies in their rebellion against Spanish rule, is known as the great liberator. liberate,V.

dissolution

N. /解散；终止；解体/breaking of a union; decay; termination. Which caused King Lear more suffering: the dissolution of his kingdom into warring factions, or the dissolution of his aged, failing body?

antidote

N. /解药/medicine to counteract a poison or disease. When Marge's child accidentally swallowed some cleaning fluid, the local poison control hotline instructed Marge how to administer the antidote.

exegesis

N. /解释，注解，通译/explanation; interpretation, especially of a bib¬lical text. The minister based her sermon on her exegesis of a difficult passage from the book of Job. exegetical,ADJ.

libel

N. /诽谤；中伤/defamatory statement; act of writing something that smears a person's character. If Batman wrote that the Joker was a dirty, 'rotten, mass-murdering criminal, could the Joker sue Batman for libel?

calumny

N. /诽谤；中伤/malicious misrepresentation; slander. He could endure his financial failure, but he could not bear the calumny that his foes heaped upon him.

inquisitor

N. /调查者；盘问者/questioner (especially harsh); investigator. Fearing being grilled ruthlessly by the secret police, Masha faced her inquisitors with trepidation.

palette

N. /调色板/board on which painter mixes pigments. At the present time, art supply stores are selling a paper palette that may be discarded after use.

insurrection

N. /谋反的，造反的/rebellion; uprising. In retrospect, given how badly the British treated the American colonists, the even¬tual insurrection seems inevitable.

enigma

N. /谜/puzzle; mystery. "What do women want?" asked Dr. Sigmund Freud. Their behavior was an enigma to him.

conundrum

N. /谜语/riddle. During the long car ride, she invented conundrums to entertain the children.

humility

N. /谦逊/humbleness of spirit. He spoke with a humility and lack of pride that impressed his listeners.

nadir

N. /谷底，最低点；天底/lowest point. Although few people realized it, the Dow-Jones averages had reached their nadir and would soon begin an upward surge.

cameo

N. /贝壳上的浮雕；特写（演员）/shell or jewel carved in relief; star's special appearance in a minor role in a film. Don't bother buying cameos from the street peddlers in Rome: the carvings they sell are clumsy jobs. Did you enjoy Bill Murray's cameo in Little Shop of Horrors? He was onscreen for only a minute, but he cracked me up.

liability

N. /责任；缺点；债/drawback; debts. Her lack of an extensive vocab¬ulary was a liability that she was eventually able to overcome.

heckler

N. /质问者/person who harasses others. The heckler kept interrupting the speaker with rude remarks. heckle,V.

cupidity

N. /贪婪/greed. The defeated people could not satisfy the cupidity of the conquerors, who demanded excessive tribute.

aristocracy

N. /贵族/hereditary nobility; privileged class. Ameri¬cans have mixed feelings about hereditary aristocracy. we say all men are created equal, but we describe particularly outstanding people as natural aristocrats.

gentry

N. /贵族/people of standing; class of people just below nobility. The local gentry did not welcome the visits of the summer tourists and tried to ignore their presence in the community.

apologist

N. /辩护者/one who writes in defense of a cause or insti¬tution. Rather than act as an apologist for the current regime in Beijing and defend its brutal actions, the young diplomat decided to defect to the West.

outskirts

N. /边界；郊区；外围/fringes; outer borders. We lived, not in central London, but in one of those peripheral suburbs that spring up on the outskirts of a great city.

idolatry

N. /过度崇拜/worship of idols; excessive admiration. Such idolatry of singers of country music is typical of the exces¬sive enthusiasm of youth.

conveyance

N. /运输；交通工具/vehicle; transfer. During the transit strike, commuters used various kinds of conveyances.

breach

N. /违约；突破；打破/breaking of contract or duty; fissure or gap. Jill sued Jack for breach of promise, claiming he had broken his promise to marry her. They found a breach in the enemy's fortifications and penetrated their lines. alsoV.

litany

N. /连续虔诚的祈祷/supplicatory prayer. On this solemn day, the con¬gregation responded to the prayers of the priest during the litany with fervor and intensity.

labyrinth

N. /迷宫/maze. Hiding from Indian Joe, Tom and Becky soon lost themselves in the labyrinth of secret underground caves. labyrinthine,ADJ.

ejaculation

N. /迸出；惊叹/exclamation. He could not repress an ejacu¬lation of surprise when he heard the news.

escapism

N. /逃避现实，纸醉金迷/avoiding reality by diverting oneself with amusements. Before you criticize her constant reading as mere escapism, note how greatly her vocabulary has improved since she began spending her days buried in books.

anthology

N. /选集/book of literary selections by various authors. This anthology of science fiction was compiled by the late Isaac Asimov. anthologize,V.

celerity

N. /速度/speed; rapidity. Hamlet resented his mother's celerity in remarrying within a month after his father's death.

degradation

N. /降级；降格；退化/humiliation; debasement; degeneration. Some secretaries object to fetching the boss a cup of cof¬fee because they resent the degradation of being made to do such lowly tasks. degrade,V.

entourage

N. /随从，随行人员/group of attendants; retinue. Surrounded by the members of his entourage, the mayor hurried into city hall, shouting a brusque "No comment!" to the reporters lin¬ing the steps.

metaphor

N. /隐喻/implied comparison. "He soared like an eagle" is an example of a simile; "He is an eagle in flight," a metaphor.

hermitage

N. /隐居的居所/home of a hermit. Even in his remote her¬mitage he could not escape completely from the world.

hindrance

N. /障碍物/block; obstacle. Stalled cars along the high¬way are a hindrance to traffic that tow trucks should remove without delay. hinder,V.

eloquence

N. /雄辩；修辞/expressiveness; persuasive speech. The crowds were stirred by Martin Luther King's eloquence. elo¬quent,ADJ.

avalanche

N. /雪崩/great mass of falling snow and ice. The park ranger warned the skiers to stay on the main trails, where they would be in no danger of being buried beneath a sud¬den avalanche.

mischance

N. /霉运；不幸/ill luck. By mischance, he lost his week's salary.

euphoria

N. /非常愉快；病态的愉快，愉悦症/feeling of great happiness and well-being (sometimes exaggerated). Delighted with her SAT scores, sure that the university would accept her, Allison was filled with euphoria. euphoric,ADJ.

furor

N. /非常激动/frenzy; great excitement. The story of her embez¬zlement of the funds created a furor on the Stock Exchange.

apogee

N. /顶点/highest point. When the moon in its orbit is far¬thest away from the earth, it is at its apogee.

compliance

N. /顺从/readiness to yield; conformity in fulfilling requirements. Bullheaded Bill was not noted for easy com¬pliance with the demands of others. As an architect, how¬ever, Bill recognized that his design for the new school had to be in compliance with the local building code.

eulogy

N. /颂词；赞美词/expression of praise, often on the occasion of someone's death. Instead of delivering a spoken eulogy at Genny's memorial service, Jeff sang a song he had written in her honor.

decadence

N. /颓废；腐坏/decay. The moral decadence of the people was reflected in the lewd literature of the period.

demeanor

N. /风度；行为/behavior; bearing. His sober demeanor qui¬eted the noisy revelers.

genre

N. /风格（文学、艺术）/particular variety of art or literature. Both a short story writer and a poet, Langston Hughes proved himself equally skilled in either genre.

enclave

N. /飞地/territory enclosed within an alien land. The Vati¬can is an independent enclave in Italy.

larder

N. /食品室；储藏室/pantry; place where food is kept. The first thing Bill did on returning home from school was to check what snacks his mother had in the larder.

mosaic

N. /马赛克/picture made of colorful small inlaid tiles. The mayor compared the city to a beautiful mosaic made up of people of every race and religion on earth.

incrustation

N. /驻扎/hard coating or crust. In dry dock, we scraped off the incrustation of dirt and barnacles that cov¬ered the hull of the ship.

autopsy

N. /验尸/examination of a dead body; post-mortem. The medical examiner ordered an autopsy to determine the cause of death. alsoV.

equestrian

N. /骑师/rider on horseback. These paths in the park are reserved for equestrians and their steeds. alsoADJ.

opiate

N. /鸦片剂；安眠的，止痛的/medicine to induce sleep or deaden pain; some¬thing that relieves emotions or causes inaction. To say that religion is the opiate of the people is to condemn religion as a drug that keeps the people quiet and submissive to those in power.

anesthetic

N. /麻醉药/substance that removes sensation with or with¬out loss of consciousness. His monotonous voice acted like an anesthetic; his audience was soon asleep. anesthesia, N.

jargon

N. /黑话，行话，胡话/language used by a special group; technical ter¬minology; gibberish. The computer salesmen at the store used a jargon of their own that we simply couldn't follow; we had no idea what they were jabbering about.

heyday

N. /鼎盛时期/time of greatest success; prime. In their hey¬day, the San Francisco Forty-Niners won the Super Bowl two years running.

membrane

N. /（动植物的）膜，薄膜/thin soft sheet of animal or vegetable tissue. Each individual section of an orange is covered with a thin, transparent membrane. membranous,ADJ.

bard

N. /（吟游）诗人/poet. The ancient bard Homer sang of the fall of Troy.

facet

N. /（宝石的）琢面；方面/small plane surface (of a gem); a side. The stone¬cutter decided to improve the rough diamond by providing it with several facets.

fulcrum

N. /（杠杆的）支点/support on which a lever rests. If we use this stone as a fulcrum and the crowbar as a lever, we may be able to move this boulder.

balm

N. /（止痛的）安慰物/something that relieves pain. Friendship is the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love.

alimony

N. /（离婚后的）生活费，抚养费/payment by a husband to his divorced wife (or vice versa). Mrs. Jones was awarded $200 monthly alimony by the court when she was divorced from her husband.

fluency

N. /（语言）流利/smoothness of speech. He spoke French with fluency and ease.

beneficiary

N. /（遗产）受益人/person entitled to benefits or proceeds of an insurance policy or will. In Scrooge's will, he made Tiny Tim his beneficiary. everything he left would go to young Tim.

duress

N. /（非法的）限制，关押/forcible restraint, especially unlawfully. The hostages were held under duress until the prisoners' demands were met.

alloy

N. a mixture as of metals. Alloys of gold are used more frequently than the pure metal.

aberrant

N. abnormal or deviant. Given the aberrant nature of the data, we doubted the validity of the entire experiment. also N.

affluence

N. abundance; wealth. Foreigners are amazed by the affluence and luxury of the American way of life.

animosity

N. active enmity. He incurred the animosity of the ruling class because he advocated limitations of their power.

anguish

N. acute pain; extreme suffering. Visiting the site of the explosion, the governor wept to see the anguish of the victims and their families.

accessory

N. additional object; useful but not essential thing. She bought an attractive handbag as an accessory for her dress. alsoADJ.

accord

N. agreement. She was in complete accord with the verdict.

addendum

N. an addition or supplement. As an adden¬dum to the minutes, let me point out that Susan moved to appoint Kathy and Arthur to the finance committee.

advent

N. arrival. Most Americans were unaware of the advent of the Nuclear Age until the news of Hiroshima reached them.

accolade

N. award of merit. In Hollywood, an "Oscar" is the highest accolade.

acerbity

N. bitterness of speech and temper. The meeting of the United Nations General Assembly was marked with such acerbity that informed sources held out little hope of reaching any useful settlement of the problem. acerbic,ADJ.

amenities

N. convenient features; courtesies. In addition to the customary amenities for the business traveler-fax machines, modems, a health club-the hotel offers the ser¬vices of a butler versed in the social amenities.

acquittal

N. deliverance from a charge. His acquittal by the jury surprised those who had thought him guilty. acquit,V.

abyss

N. enormous chasm; vast bottomless pit. Darth Vader seized the evil emperor and hurled him down into the abyss,

ambience

N. environment; atmosphere. She went to the restaurant not for the food but for the ambience.

ancestry

N. family descent. David can trace his ancestry as far back as the seventeenth century, when one of his ancestors was a court trumpeter somewhere in Germany. ancestral,ADJ.

acrophobia

N. fear of heights. A born salesman, he could convince someone with a bad case of acrophobia to sign up for a life membership in a sky-diving club.

adulation

N. flattery; admiration. The rock star thrived on the adulation of his groupies and yes men. adulate,V.

amity

N. friendship. Student exchange programs such as the Experiment in International Living were established to promote international amity.

accretion

N. growth; increase. The accretion of wealth marked the family's rise in power.

antagonism

N. hostility; active resistance. Barry showed his antagonism toward his new stepmother by ignoring her whenever she tried talking to him. antagonistic,ADJ.

circumlocution

N. indirect or roundabout expression. He was afraid to call a spade a spade and resorted to circum¬locutions to avoid direct reference to his subject.

allusion

N. indirect reference. When Amanda said to the ticket scalper, "One hundred bucks? What do you want, a pound of flesh?," she was making an allusion to Shake¬speare's Merchant of Venice.

affront

N. insult; offense; intentional act of disrespect. When Mrs. Proudie was not seated beside the Archdeacon at the head table, she took it as a personal affront and refused to speak to her hosts for a week. alsoV.

anomaly

N. irregularity. A bird that cannot fly is an anomaly.

affiliation

N. joining; associating with. His affiliation with the political party was of short duration for he soon disagreed with his colleagues.

abduction

N. kidnapping. The movie Ransom describes the attempts to rescue a multimillionaire's son after the child's abduction by kidnappers. abduct,V.

affinity

N. kinship. She felt an affinity with all who suffered; their pains were her pains.

allegiance

N. loyalty. Not even a term in prison could shake Lech Walesa's allegiance to Solidarity, the Polish trade union he had helped to found.

amble

N. moving at an easy pace. When she first mounted the horse, she was afraid to urge the animal to go faster than a gentle amble. alsoV.

altercation

N. noisy quarrel; heated dispute. In that hot¬tempered household, no meal ever came to a peaceful con¬clusion; the inevitable altercation might even end in blows.

adversary

N. opponent. The young wrestler struggled to defeat his adversary.

amphitheater

N. oval building with tiers of seats. The spec¬tators in the amphitheater cheered the gladiators.

amnesty

N. pardon. When his first child was born, the king granted amnesty to all in prison.

accomplice

N. partner in crime. Because he had provided the criminal with the lethal weapon, he was arrested as an accomplice in the murder.

anarchist

N. person who seeks to overturn the established government; advocate of abolishing authority. Denying she was an anarchist, Katya maintained she wished only to make changes in our government, not to destroy it entirely. anarchy, N.

affirmation

N. positive assertion; confirmation; solemn pledge by one who refuses to take an oath. Despite Tom's affirmations of innocence, Aunt Polly still suspected he had eaten the pie.

adversity

N. poverty; misfortune. We must learn to meet adversity gracefully.

antecedents

N. preceding events or circumstances that influence what comes later; ancestors or early background. Susi Bechhofer's ignorance of her Jewish background had its antecedents in the chaos of World War II. Smuggled out of Germany and adopted by a Christian family, she knew nothing of her birth and antecedents until she was reunited with her family in 1989.

annals

N. records; history. In the annals of this period, we find no mention of democratic movements.

alliteration

N. repetition of beginning sound in poetry. "The furrow followed free" is an example of alliteration.

abstinence

N. restraint from eating or drinking. The doctor recommended total abstinence from salted foods. abstain,V.

acuity

N. sharpness. In time his youthful acuity of vision failed him, and he needed glasses.

anecdote

N. short account of an amusing or interesting event. Rather than make concrete proposals for welfare reform, President Reagan told anecdotes about poor people who became wealthy despite their impoverished back¬grounds.

analogy

N. similarity; parallelism. A well-known analogy compares the body's immune system with an army whose defending troops are the lymphocytes or white blood cells.

adjunct

N. something added on or attached (generally nonessential or inferior). Although I don't absolutely need a second computer, I plan to buy a laptop to serve as an adjunct to my desktop model.

generate

V. /产生；创造/cause; produce; create. In his first days in office, President Clinton managed to generate a new mood of optimism; we just hoped he could generate some new jobs.

bask

V. /享受（温暖）；愉快，舒适/luxuriate; take pleasure in warmth. Basking on the beach, she relaxed so completely that she fell asleep.

desecrate

V. /亵渎/profane; violate the sanctity of. Shattering the altar and trampling the holy objects underfoot, the invaders desecrated the sanctuary.

nauseate

V. /令人作呕的/cause to become sick; fill with disgust. The foul smells began to nauseate him.

emulate

V. /仿效；抗衡/imitate; rival. In a brief essay, describe a person you admire, someone whose virtues you would like to emulate.

arraign

V. /传讯；责问/charge in court; indict. After his indictment by the Grand Jury, the accused man was arraigned in the County Criminal Court.

maim

V. /伤害/mutilate; injure. The hospital could not take care of all who had been wounded or maimed in the railroad accident.

discredit

V. /不信任；丢脸/defame; destroy confidence in; disbelieve. The campaign was highly negative in tone; each candidate tried to discredit the other.

deface

V. /丑化/mar; disfigure. If you deface a library book, you will have to pay a hefty fine.

defame

V. /丑化；诽谤/harm someone's reputation; malign; slander. If you try to defame my good name, my lawyers will see you in court. If rival candidates persist in defaming one another, the voters may conclude that all politicians are crooks. defamation, N.

impair

V. /伤害/injure; hurt. Drinking alcohol can impair your abil¬ity to drive safely; if you're going to drink, don't drive.

castigate

V. /严厉批评；惩罚/criticize severely; punish. When the teacher threatened that she would castigate the mischievous boys if they didn't behave, they shaped up in a hurry.

berate

V. /严厉指责，谴责/scold strongly. He feared she would berate him for his forgetfulness.

improvise

V. /临时准备；即席创作，现编/compose on the spur of the moment. She would sit at the piano and improvise for hours on themes from Bach and Handel.

document

V. /书面证明/provide written evidence. She kept all the receipts from her business trip in order to document her expenses for the firm. also N.

bicker

V. /争吵/quarrel. The children bickered morning, noon, and night, exasperating their parents.

glaze

V. /上釉/cover with a thin and shiny surface. The freezing rain glazed the streets and made driving hazardous. also N.

countermand

V. /取消；废除/cancel; revoke. The general counter¬manded the orders issued in his absence.

impale

V. /刺穿/Pierce. He was impaled by the spear hurled by his adversary.

attenuate

V. /削弱/make thin; weaken. By withdrawing their forces, the generals hoped to attenuate the enemy lines.

divest

V. /剥夺/strip; deprive. He was divested of his power to act and could no longer govern. divestiture, N.

disenfranchise

V. /剥夺（公民权）/deprive of a civil right. The imposition of the poll tax effectively disenfranchised poor Southern blacks, who lost their right to vote.

oust

V. /剥夺；驱逐/expel; drive out. The world wondered if Aquino would be able to oust Marcos from office. ouster, N.

pan

V. /剧烈批评；猛烈抨击/criticize harshly. Hoping for a rave review of his new show, the playwright was miserable when the critics panned it unanimously.

cleave

V. /劈开；黏着；忠于/split or sever; cling to; remain faithful to. With her heavy cleaver, Julia Child can cleave a whole roast duck in two. Soaked through, the soldier tugged at the uniform that cleaved annoyingly to his body. He would cleave to his post, come rain or shine.

exhort

V. /劝诫，忠告/urge. The evangelist exhorted all the sinners in his audience to reform. exhortation, N.

induce

V. /劝诱；导致，引起/persuade; bring about. After the quarrel, Tina said nothing could induce her to talk to Tony again. induce¬ment, N.

dissuade

V. /劝阻；使灰心/persuade not to do; discourage. Since Tom could not dissuade Huck from running away from home, he decided to run away with him. dissuasion, N.

expedite

V. /加速，催促/hasten. Because we are on a tight schedule, we hope you will be able to expedite the delivery of our order. The more expeditious your response is, the happier we'll be.

concede

V. /勉强，让步，屈从/admit; yield. Despite all the evidence Monica had assembled, Mark refused to concede that she was right.

encompass

V. /包围/surround. Although we were encompassed by enemy forces, we were cheerful for we were well stocked and could withstand a siege until our allies joined us.

comprise

V. /包括/include; consist of. If the District of Columbia were to be granted statehood, the United States of America would comprise fifty-one states, not just fifty.

levitate

V. /升空漂浮（魔法）/float in the air (especially by magical means). As the magician passed his hands over the recumbent body of his assistant, she appeared to rise and levitate about three feet above the table.

collaborate

V. /协作，合作/work together. Two writers collaborated in preparing this book.

compromise

V. /危害；妥协/adjust or settle by making mutual conces¬sions; endanger the interests or reputation of. Sometimes the presence of a neutral third party can help adversaries compromise their differences. Unfortunately, you're not neu¬tral; therefore, your presence here compromises our chances of reaching an agreement. also N.

exude

V. /卸下，流出/discharge; give forth. We get maple syrup from the sap that exudes from the trees in early spring. exudation, N.

compress

V. /压缩/close; squeeze; contract. She compressed the package under her arm.

loathe

V. /厌恶；增武/detest. Booing and hissing, the audience showed how much they loathed the wicked villain.

excise

V. /去除/cut away; cut out. When you excise the dead and dying limbs of a tree, you not only improve its appear¬ance but also enhance its chances of bearing fruit. exci¬sion. N.

fraternize

V. /友善/associate in a friendly way. After the game, the members of the two teams fraternized as cheerfully as if they had never been rivals.

dissent

V. /反对/disagree. In the recent Supreme Court decision, Justice O'Connor dissented from the majority opinion. also N.

balk

V. /反对；阻止/foil or thwart; stop short; refuse to go on. When the warden learned that several inmates were planning to escape, he took steps to balk their attempt. However, he balked at punishing them by shackling them to the walls of their cells.

deflect

V. /反射，偏转/turn aside. His life was saved when his cigarette case deflected the bullet.

germinate

V. /发芽/cause to sprout; sprout. After the seeds ger¬minate and develop their permanent leaves, the plants may be removed from the cold frames and transplanted to the garden.

burgeon

V. /发芽，成长/grow forth; send out buds. In the spring, the plants that burgeon are a promise of the beauty that is to come.

leaven

V. /发酵/cause to rise or grow lighter; enliven. As bread dough is leavened, it puffs up, expanding in volume.

gratify

V. /取悦/please. Lori's parents were gratified by her suc¬cessful performance on the SAT.

expunge

V. /取消，去除，排除/cancel; remove. If you behave, I will expunge this notation from your record.

incorporate

V. /合并，联合/introduce something into a larger whole; combine; unite. Breaking with precedent, President Truman ordered the military to incorporate blacks into every branch of the armed services. alsoADJ.

disgorge

V. /吐出，涌出，呕吐/surrender something; eject; vomit. Unwilling to disgorge the cash he had stolen from the pension fund, the embezzler tried to run away.

defer

V. /听从/give in respectfully; submit. When it comes to making decisions about purchasing software, we must defer to Michael, our computer guru; he gets the final word. Michael, however, can defer these questions to no one; only he can decide.

entice

V. /吸引；引诱/lure; attract; tempt. She always tried to entice her baby brother into mischief.

engage

V. /吸引；雇佣；答应；结合；订婚/attract; hire; pledge oneself; confront. "Your case has engaged my interest, my lord," said Holmes. "You may engage my services."

assimilate

V. /吸收；同化/absorb; cause to become homogeneous. The manner in which the United States was able to assimilate the hordes of immigrants during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries will always be a source of pride to Americans. The immigrants eagerly assimilated new ideas and customs; they soaked them up, the way plants soak up water.

exclaim

V. /呼喊，大叫/cry out suddenly. "Watson! Behind you!" Holmes exclaimed, seeing the assassin hurl himself on his friend.

denounce

V. /咒骂；批评/condemn; criticize. The reform candidate denounced the corrupt city officers for having betrayed the public's trust. denunciation, N.

bemoan

V. /哀叹，悲伤/lament; express disapproval of. The widow bemoaned the death of her beloved husband. Although critics bemoaned the serious flaws in the author's novels, each year his latest book topped the best-seller list.

cajole

V. /哄骗，勾引/coax; wheedle. Diane tried to cajole her father into letting her drive the family car. cajolery, N.

drone

V. /嗡嗡声；语气呆板的声音/talk dully; buzz or murmur like a bee. On a gor¬geous day, who wants to be stuck in a classroom listening to the teacher drone ?

babble

V. /嘟囔/chatter idly. The little girl babbled about her doll. also N.

appease

V. /平静，安抚/pacify or soothe; relieve. Tom and Jody tried to appease the crying baby by offering him one toy after another, but he would not calm down until they appeased his hunger by giving him a bottle.

harbor

V. /庇护；隐藏/provide a refuge for; hide. The church harbored illegal aliens who were political refugees.

exploit

V. /开发，开拓/make use of, sometimes unjustly. Cesar Chavez fought attempts to exploit migrant farmworkers in California. exploitation, N. exploitative,ADJ.

embark

V. /开始旅程，开始，登机，上船，上车/commence; go on board a boat or airplane; begin a journey. In devoting herself to the study of gorillas, Dian Fossey embarked on a course of action that was to cost her her life.

initiate

V. /开始，发源/begin; originate; receive into a group. The col¬lege is about to initiate a program in reducing math anxiety among students.

inaugurate

V. /开始；开幕；开幕式/start; initiate; install in office. The airline decided to inaugurate its new route to the Far East with a special reduced fare offer. inaugural,ADJ.

exonerate

V. /开脱，免罪/acquit; exculpate. The defense team fever¬ishly sought fresh evidence that might exonerate their client.

exculpate

V. /开脱，洗脱/clear from blame. He was exculpated of the crime when the real criminal confessed.

desiccate

V. /弄干/dry up. A tour of this smokehouse will give you an idea of how the pioneers used to desiccate food in order to preserve it.

cite

V. /引用；掌握/quote; command. She could cite passages in the Bible from memory. citation, N.

gawk

V. /张着嘴呆看/stare foolishly; look in open-mouthed awe. The country boy gawked at the skyscrapers and neon lights of the big city.

gape

V. /张着嘴呆看；裂缝/open widely; stare open-mouthed. The huge pit gaped before him; if he stumbled, he would fall in. Slack¬jawed in wonder, Huck gaped at the huge stalactites hang¬ing down from the ceiling of the limestone cavern.

meander

V. /弯曲；蜿蜒/wind or turn in its course. Needing to stay close to a source of water, he followed every twist and turn of the stream as it meandered through the countryside.

extenuate

V. /弱化；减轻/weaken; mitigate. It is easier for us to extenu¬ate our own shortcomings than those of others.

dislodge

V. /强制移除/remove (forcibly). Thrusting her fist up under the choking man's lower ribs, Margaret used the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the food caught in his throat.

intrude

V. /强挤入，侵入；强加于人/trespass; enter as an uninvited person. She hes¬itated to intrude on their conversation.

ascribe

V. /归因于；指派/refer; attribute; assign. I can ascribe no motive for her acts.

attribute

V. /归因于；解释/ascribe; explain. I attribute her success in sci¬ence to the encouragement she received from her parents.

obliterate

V. /彻底摧毁/destroy completely. The tidal wave obliterated several island villages,

levy

V. /征收/impose (a fine); collect (a payment). Crying "No taxation without representation," the colonists demonstrated against England's power to levy taxes.

commandeer

V. /征用，招募/to draft for military purposes; to take for public use. The policeman commandeered the first car that approached and ordered the driver to go to the nearest hospital.

elicit

V. /得出/draw out by discussion. The detectives tried to elicit where he had hidden his loot.

beget

V. /得子；产生/father; produce; give rise to. One good turn may deserve another; it does not necessarily beget another.

countenance

V. /忍受；接受/approve; tolerate. He refused to counte¬nance such rude behavior on their part.

jabber

V. /快速的说，含混不清的说/chatter rapidly or unintelligibly. Why does the fel¬low insist on jabbering away in French when I can't under¬stand a word he says?

disparage

V. /忽略，轻视/belittle. A doting mother, Emma was more likely to praise her son's crude attempts at art than to dis¬parage them.

implore

V. /恳求/beg. He implored her to give him a second chance.

entreat

V. /恳求/plead; ask earnestly. She entreated her father to let her stay out till midnight.

invoke

V. /恳请，借助于，找来，调用/call upon; ask for. She invoked her advisor's aid in filling out her financial aid forms.

degenerate

V. /恶化/become worse; deteriorate. As the fight dragged on, the champion's style degenerated until he could barely keep on his feet.

appreciate

V. /感激；增值；赏识/be thankful for; increase in worth; be thor¬oughly conscious of. Little Orphan Annie truly appreciated the stocks Daddy Warbucks gave her, which appreciated in value considerably over the years.

begrudge

V. /愤恨；嫉妒/resent. I begrudge every minute I have to spend attending meetings; they're a complete waste of time.

lope

V. /慢跑/gallop slowly. As the horses loped along, we had an opportunity to admire the ever-changing scenery. loquacious ADJ. talkative. Though our daughter barely says a word to us these days, put a phone in her hand and see how loquacious she can be: our phone bills are out of sight! loquacity, N.

amputate

V. /截肢，切除/cut off part of body; prune. When the doctors had to amputate the young man's leg to prevent the spread of cancer, he did not let the loss of a limb keep him from participating in sports.

foil

V. /打击；打败，挫败/defeat; frustrate. In the end, Skywalker is able to foil Vader's diabolical schemes.

deride

V. /打趣；取消/ridicule; make fun of. The critics derided his pre¬tentious dialogue and refused to consider his play seri¬ously. derision, N.

execute

V. /执行，完成/put into effect; carry out. The choreographer wanted to see how well she could execute a pirouette. (sec¬ondary meaning) execution, N.

distend

V. /扩大；扩张/expand; swell out. I can tell when he is under stress by the way the veins distend on his forehead.

distort

V. /扭曲，歪曲/twist out of shape. It is difficult to believe the newspaper accounts of the riots because of the way some reporters distort and exaggerate the actual events. distor¬tion, N.

jettison

V. /投弃货物/throw overboard. In order to enable the ship to ride safely through the storm, the captain had to jettison much of his cargo.

capitulate

V. /投降/surrender. The enemy was warned to capitu¬late or face annihilation.

depreciate

V. /折旧/lessen in value. If you neglect this property, it will depreciate.

faze

V. /折磨，打击/disconcert; dismay. No crisis could faze the resourceful hotel manager.

ogle

V. /抛媚眼；送秋波/look at amorously; make eyes at. At the coffee house, Walter was too shy to ogle the pretty girls openly; instead, he peeked out at them from behind a rubber plant.

flaunt

V. /招摇；炫耀/display ostentatiously. Mae West saw nothing wrong with showing off her considerable physical charms, saying, "Honey, if you've got it, flaunt it!"

incur

V. /招致/bring upon oneself. His parents refused to pay any future debts he might incur.

champion

V. /拥护/support militantly. Martin Luther King, Jr., won the Nobel Peace Prize because he championed the oppressed in their struggle for equality.

embrace

V. /拥抱；接受，包含/hug; adopt or espouse; accept readily; encir¬cle; include. Clasping Maid Marian in his arms, Robin Hood embraced her lovingly. In joining the outlaws in Sherwood Forest, she had openly embraced their cause.

ordain

V. /指定；规定；任命；命令/decree or command; grant holy orders; predes¬tine. The king ordained that no foreigner should be allowed to enter the city. The Bishop of Michigan ordained David a deacon in the Episcopal Church. The young lovers felt that fate had ordained their meeting.

gouge

V. /挖出；撕下/tear out. In that fight, all the rules were forgotten; the adversaries bit, kicked, and tried to gouge each other's eyes out.

delve

V. /挖掘；调查/dig; investigate. Delving into old books and man¬uscripts is part of a researcher's job.

flounder

V. /挣扎，辗转；困难地奋斗/struggle and thrash about; proceed clumsily or falter. Up to his knees in the bog, Floyd floundered about, trying to regain his footing. Bewildered by the new software, Flo floundered until Jan showed her how to get started.

extrude

V. /挤压，逼/force or push out. Much pressure is required to extrude these plastics.

brandish

V. /挥舞/wave around; flourish. Alarmed, Doctor Wat¬son wildly brandished his gun until Holmes told him to put the thing away before he shot himself.

dishearten

V. /挫败/discourage; cause to lose courage or hope. His failure to pass the bar exam disheartened him.

baffle

V. /挫败/frustrate; perplex. The new code baffled the enemy agents.

oscillate

V. /振荡/vibrate pendulumlike; waver. It is interesting to note how public opinion oscillates between the extremes of optimism and pessimism.

marshal

V. /排序；整理/put in order. At a debate tournament, extempo¬raneous speakers have only a minute or two to marshal their thoughts before they address their audience.

despoil

V. /掠夺/plunder. If you do not yield, I am afraid the enemy will despoil the countryside.

espouse

V. /接受，支持/adopt; support. She was always ready to espouse a worthy cause.

coalesce

V. /接合/combine; fuse. The brooks coalesce into one large river. When minor political parties coalesce, their coa¬lescence may create a major coalition.

modulate

V. /控制；调制到标准；调制（信号）/tone down in intensity; regulate; change from one key to another. Always singing at the top of her lungs, the budding Brunhilde never learned to modulate her voice.

check

V. /控制；阻止/stop motion; curb or restrain. Thrusting out her arm, Grandma checked Bobby's lunge at his sister. "Young man," she said, "you'd better check your temper." (sec¬ondary meaning)

incriminate

V. /控告/accuse. The evidence gathered against the racketeers incriminates some high public officials as well.

impeach

V. /控告，检举；弹劾/charge with crime in office; indict. The angry congressman wanted to impeach the president for his mis¬deeds.

indict

V. /控告；起诉/charge. The district attorney didn't want to indict the suspect until she was sure she had a strong enough case to convince a jury. indictment, N.

infer

V. /推导，总结/deduce; conclude. From the students' glazed looks, it was easy for me to infer that they were bored out of their minds. inference, N.

defer

V. /推迟，延期/delay till later; exempt temporarily. In wartime, some young men immediately volunteer to serve; others

gloss over

V. /掩盖/explain away. No matter how hard he tried to talk around the issue, President Bush could not gloss over the fact that he had raised taxes after all.

belie

V. /掩饰，造成假象；矛盾/contradict; give a false impression. His coarse, hard-bitten exterior belied his inner sensitivity.

delineate

V. /描绘；描述/portray; depict; sketch. Using only a few descriptive phrases, Austen delineates the character of Mr. Collins so well that we can predict his every move. delin¬eation, N.

debunk

V. /揭穿；奚落/expose as false, exaggerated, worthless, etc; ridicule. Pointing out that he consistently had voted against strengthening anti-pollution legislation, reporters debunked the candidate's claim that he was a fervent environmentalist.

bungle

V. /搞砸/mismanage; blunder. Don't botch this assign¬ment, Bumstead; if you bungle the job, you're fired!

invalidate

V. /摧毁；使无效；弱化/weaken; destroy. The relatives who received little or nothing sought to invalidate the will by claiming that the deceased had not been in his right mind when he had signed the document.

chafe

V. /摩擦；擦热/warm by rubbing; make sore (by rubbing). Chilled, he chafed his hands before the fire. The collar of his school uniform chafed Tom's neck, but not as much the school's strict rules chafed his spirit. also N.

equivocate

V. /撒谎；误导/lie; mislead; attempt to conceal the truth. The audience saw through his attempts to equivocate on the subject under discussion and ridiculed his remarks.

impinge

V. /撞击；碰撞/infringe; touch;. collide with. How could they be married without impinging on one another's freedom?

bolster

V. /支持，增援/support; reinforce. The debaters amassed file boxes full of evidence to bolstertheir arguments.

garner

V. /收集，储存/gather; store up. She hoped to garner the world's literature in one library.

aggregate

V. /收集，聚集/gather; accumulate. Before the Wall Street scandals, dealers in so-called junk bonds managed to aggregate great wealth in short periods of time. aggrega¬tion, N.

muster

V. /收集；集合/gather; assemble. Washington mustered his forces at Trenton. also N.

assail

V. /攻击/assault. He was assailed with questions after his lecture.

beleaguer

V. /攻击；使烦恼/besiege or attack; harassed. The babysitter was surrounded by a crowd of unmanageable brats who relentlessly beleaguered her.

fell

V. /放倒，打倒/cut or knock down; bring down (with a missile). Cry¬ing "Timber!" Paul Bunyan felled the mighty redwood tree. Robin Hood loosed his arrow and felled the king's deer.

amplify

V. /放大/broaden or clarify by expanding; intensify; make stronger. Charlie Brown tried to amplify his remarks, but he was drowned out by jeers from the audience. Lucy was smarter: she used a loudspeaker to amplify her voice.

forsake

V. /放弃/desert; abandon; renounce. No one expected Foster to forsake his wife and children and run off with another woman.

forgo

V. /放弃/give up; do without. Determined to lose weight for the summer, Ida decided to forgo dessert until she could fit into a size eight again.

desolate

V. /放弃/rob of joy; lay waste to; forsake. The bandits desolated the countryside, burning farms and carrying off the harvest.

cede

V. /放弃；屈服于；投降/yield (title, territory) to; surrender formally. Eventu¬ally the descendants of England's Henry II were forced to cede their French territories to the King of France.

ostracize

V. /放逐/exclude from public favor; ban. As soon as the newspapers carried the story of his connection with the criminals, his friends began to ostracize him. ostracism, N.

assert

V. /断言/declare or state with confidence; put oneself for¬ward boldly. Malcolm asserted that if Reese quit acting like a wimp and asserted himself a bit more, he'd improve his chances of getting a date. assertion, N.

mesmerize

V. /施催眠术/hypnotize. The incessant drone seemed to mesmerize him and place him in a trance.

languish

V. /无力的，憔悴的/lose animation; lose strength. Left at Miss Minchin's school for girls while her father went off to war, Sarah Crewe refused to languish; instead, she hid her grief and actively befriended her less fortunate classmates.

exalt

V. /晋升；赞扬/raise in rank or dignity; praise. The actor Alec Guinness was exalted to the rank of knighthood by the queen.

circumvent

V. /智取；包围/outwit; baffle. In order to circumvent the enemy, we will make two preliminary attacks in other sec¬tions before starting our major campaign.

insinuate

V. /暗示，含沙射影；慢慢的夺取，巧妙的迂回（进入）/hint; imply; creep in. When you said I looked robust, did you mean to insinuate that I'm getting fat?

imply

V. /暗示；表示/suggest a meaning not expressed; signify. When Aunt Millie said, "My! That's a big piece of pie, young man!" was she implying that Bobby was being a glutton in helping himself to such a huge piece?

domineer

V. /暴力压制/rule over tyrannically. Students prefer teach¬ers who guide, not ones who domineer.

misconstrue

V. /曲解/interpret incorrectly; misjudge. She took the passage seriously rather than humorously because she misconstrued the author's ironic tone.

enumerate

V. /枚举/list; mention one by one. Huck hung his head in shame as Miss Watson enumerated his many flaws.

collate

V. /校对，整理/examine in order to verify authenticity; arrange in order. They collated the newly found manuscripts to deter¬mine their age.

grapple

V. /格斗，摔跤/wrestle; come to grips with. He grappled with the burglar and overpowered him.

ape

V. /模仿/imitate or mimic. He was suspended for a week because he had aped the principal in front of the whole school.

bait

V. /欺负，玩弄，折磨/harass; tease. The school bully baited the smaller children, terrorizing them.

chisel

V. /欺骗/swindle or cheat; cut with a chisel. That crook chiseled me out of a hundred dollars when he sold me that "marble" statue he'd chiseled out of some cheap hunk of rock.

hoodwink

V. /欺骗，迷惑，蛊惑/deceive; delude. Having been hoodwinked once by the fast-talking salesman, he was extremely cau¬tious when he went to purchase a used car.

outwit

V. /欺骗；瞒骗/outsmart; trick. By disguising himself as an old woman, Holmes was able to outwit his pursuers and escape capture.

annihilate

V. /毁灭，破坏/destroy. The enemy in its revenge tried to annihilate the entire population.

malign

V. /毒辣的言语；诽谤/speak evil of; bad-mouth; defame. Putting her hands over her ears, Rose refused to listen to Betty malign her friend Susan.

muse

V. /沉思/ponder. For a moment he mused about the beauty of the scene, but his thoughts soon changed as he recalled his own personal problems. also N.

expropriate

V. /没收，剥夺，征用/take possession of. He questioned the gov¬ernment's right to expropriate his land to create a wildlife preserve.

fluctuate

V. /波动的；起伏的，摇摆不定的/waver; shift. The water pressure in our shower fluctuates wildly; you start rinsing yourself off with a trickle, and, two minutes later, a blast of water nearly knocks you down.

heed

V. /注意，关注，留意/pay attention to; consider. We hope you heed our advice and get a good night's sleep before the test. also N.

douse

V. /浸泡；弄湿；弄灭/plunge into water; drench; extinguish. They doused each other with hoses and water balloons.

doodle

V. /涂鸦；浪费时间/scribble or draw aimlessly; waste time. Art's teachers scolded him when he doodled all over the margins of his papers.

obviate

V. /消除；排除；避免/make unnecessary; get rid of. I hope this contri¬bution will obviate any need for further collections of funds.

dabble

V. /涉猎，尝试；溅/work at in a non-serious fashion; splash around. The amateur painter dabbled at art, but seldom produced a finished piece. The children dabbled their hands in the bird bath, splashing one another gleefully.

deliberate

V. /深思熟虑的；商讨/consider; ponder. Offered the new job, she asked for time to deliberate before she told them her decision,

flout

V. /轻视；嘲笑；愚弄/reject; mock. The headstrong youth flouted all authority; he refused to be curbed.

inundate

V. /淹没；吞并/overwhelm; flood; submerge. This semester I am inundated with work: You should see the piles of paper¬work flooding my desk. Until the great dam was built, the waters of the Nile used to inundate the river valley like clockwork every year.

liquidate

V. /清算/settle accounts; clearup. He was able to liqui¬date all his debts in a short period of time.

expurgate

V. /清除，净化/clean; remove offensive parts of a book. The editors felt that certain passages in the book had to be expurgated before it could be used in the classroom.

infiltrate

V. /渗透/pass into or through; penetrate (an organiza¬tion) sneakily. In order to be able to infiltrate enemy lines at night without being seen, the scouts darkened their faces and wore black coveralls. infiltrator, N.

blanch

V. /漂白/bleach; whiten. Although age had blanched his hair, he was still vigorous and energetic.

discount

V. /漠视；解散/disregard; dismiss. Be prepared to discount what he has to say about his ex-wife.

demystify

V. /澄清；揭秘/clarify; free from mystery or obscurity. Help¬ful doctors demystify medical procedures by describing them in everyday language, explaining that a myringotomy, for example, is an operation involving making a small hole in one's eardrum.

invigorate

V. /激发；鼓舞/energize; stimulate. A quick dip in the pool invigorated Meg, and with renewed energy she got back to work.

incense

V. /激怒/enrage; infuriate. Cruelty to defenseless ani¬mals incensed Kit: the very idea brought tears of anger to her eyes.

exasperate

V. /激怒/vex. Johnny often exasperates his mother with his pranks.

agitate

V. /激怒，打扰/stir up; disturb. Her fiery remarks agitated the already angry mob.

infuriate

V. /激怒，热火/enrage; anger. Her big brother's teasing always infuriated Margaret; no matter how hard she tried to keep her temper, he always got her goat.

badger

V. /激怒，纠缠/pester; annoy. She was forced to change her telephone number because she was badgered by obscene phone calls.

incite

V. /煽动，刺激，驱使/arouse to action; goad; motivate; induce to exist. In a fiery speech, Mario incited his fellow students to go out on strike to protest the university's anti-affirmative action stand.

low

V. /牛叫，哞/moo. From the hilltop, they could see the herd like ants in the distance; they could barely hear the cattle low.

clench

V. /牢牢抓住/close tightly; grasp. "Open wide," said the den¬tist, but Clint clenched his teeth even more tightly than before.

implicate

V. /牵连，牵扯（犯罪）；暗示/incriminate; show to be involved. Here's the deal: if you agree to take the witness stand and implicate your partners in crime, the prosecution will recommend that the judge go easy in sentencing you.

falter

V. /犹豫；踌躇/hesitate. When told to dive off the high board, she did not falter, but proceeded at once.

engross

V. /独占/occupy fully. John was so engrossed in his studies that he did not hear his mother call.

gorge

V. /狼吞虎咽/stuff oneself. The gluttonous guest gorged him¬self with food as though he had not eaten for days.

bolt

V. /猛冲，上门闩，囫囵吞下/dash or dart off; fasten (a door); gobble down. Jack was set to bolt out the front door, but Jill bolted the door. "Eat your breakfast," she said, "don't bolt your food."

flourish

V. /生长；繁荣；装饰/grow well; prosper; decorate with ornaments. The orange trees flourished in the sun.

galvanize

V. /电镀；刺激，激励/stimulate by shock; stir up; revitalize. News that the prince was almost at their door galvanized the ugly stepsisters into a frenzy of combing and primping.

flinch

V. /畏首畏尾，退缩；犹豫/hesitate, shrink. He did not flinch in the face of danger but fought back bravely.

disembark

V. /登陆；靠岸/go ashore; unload cargo from a ship. Before the passengers could disembark, they had to pick up their passports from the ship's purser.

delude

V. /盅惑/deceive. His mistress may have deluded herself into believing that he would leave his wife and marry her.

grill

V. /盘问/question severely. In violation of the Miranda law, the police grilled the suspect for several hours before read¬ing him his rights. (secondary meaning)

glower

V. /瞪着，愤怒的看着/scowl. The angry boy glowered at his father.

decipher

V. /破译，解密/interpret secret code. Lacking his code book, the spy was unable to decipher the scrambled message sent to him from the KGB.

ossify

V. /硬化；骨化；化石化/change or harden into bone. When he called his opponent a "bonehead," he implied that his adversary's brain had ossified to the point that he was incapable of clear thinking.

orient

V. /确定方向；校准/get one's bearings; adjust. Philip spent his first day in Denver orienting himself to the city.

ascertain

V. /确认，确证/find out for certain. Please ascertain her pre¬sent address.

corroborate

V. /确认；支持/confirm; support. Though Huck was quite willing to corroborate Tom's story, Aunt Polly knew better than to believe either of them.

hone

V. /磨尖/sharpen. To make shaving easier, he honed his razor with great care.

extricate

V. /解脱，放出，释放/free; disentangle. Icebreakers were needed to extricate the trapped whales from the icy floes that closed them in.

alleviate

V. /解脱，释放，释然/relieve. This should alleviate the pain; if it does not, we shall have to use stronger drugs.

explicate

V. /解释，澄清/explain; interpret; clarify. Harry Levin expli¬cated James Joyce's often bewildering novels with such clarity that even Finnegan's Wake seemed comprehensible to his students.

elucidate

V. /解释；启迪/explain; enlighten. He was called upon to elu¬cidate the disputed points in his article.

compute

V. /计算/reckon; calculate. He failed to compute the interest, so his bank balance was not accurate. computa¬tion, N.

endorse

V. /认可，默许；支持/approve; support. Everyone waited to see which one of the rival candidates for the city council the mayor would endorse. (secondary meaning) endorsement, N.

lampoon

V. /讽刺的/ridicule. This article lampoons the pretensions of some movie moguls. also N.

devise

V. /设计；发明/think up; invent; plan. How clever he must be to have devised such a devious plan! What ingenious inven¬tions might he have devised if he had turned his mind to science and not to crime.

attest

V. /证明/testify, bear witness. Having served as a member of the Grand Jury, I can attest that our system of indicting individuals is in need of improvement.

annotate

V. /评论，注释/comment; make explanatory notes. In the appendix to the novel, the editor sought to annotate many of the author's more esoteric references.

disfigure

V. /诬陷，抹黑，诽谤/mar in beauty; spoil. An ugly frown disfigured his normally pleasant face.

misrepresent

V. /误传；有意制造误解/give a false or incorrect impression, often deliberately; serve unsatisfactorily as a representative. In his job application, Milton misrepresented his academic background; he was fired when his employers discovered the truth. The reformers accused Senator Gunbucks of mis¬representing his constituents and claimed he took bribes from the NRA.

canvass

V. /调查；投票/determine votes, etc. After canvassing the senti¬ments of his constituents, the congressman was confident that he represented the majority opinion of his district. also N.

mediate

V. /调解；仲裁/settle a dispute through the services of an out¬sider. King Solomon was asked to mediate a dispute between two women, each of whom claimed to be the mother of the same child.

inculcate

V. /谆谆教导/teach; instill. In an effort to inculcate religious devotion, the officials ordered that the school day begin with the singing of a hymn.

censure

V. /责怪；批评/blame; criticize. The senator was censured for behavior inappropriate to a member of Congress. also N.

excoriate

V. /责难，挖苦，批判；揭露/scold with biting harshness; strip the skin off. Seeing the holes in Bill's new pants, his mother furiously excoriated him for ruining his good clothes. The tight, starched collar chafed and excoriated his neck, rubbing it raw.

debase

V. /贬低，降低/reduce in quality or value; lower in esteem; degrade. In The King and l, Anna refuses to kneel down and prostrate herself before the king, for she feels that to do so would debase her position, and she will not submit to such debasement.

implement

V. /贯彻，实现；用工具实现/put into effect; supply with tools. The mayor was unwilling to implement the plan until she was sure it had the governor's backing. also N.

enfranchise

V. /赋予公民权（投票权）/to admit to the rights of citizenship (espe¬cially the right to vote). Although Blacks were enfranchised shortly after the Civil War, women did not receive the right to vote until 1920.

impart

V. /赋予；告诉/reveal or tell; grant. Polly begged Grandma to impart her recipe for rugeleh, but her grandmother wouldn't say a word.

expiate

V. /赎罪/make amends for (a sin). He tried to expiate his crimes by a full confession to the authorities.

laud

V. /赞美/praise. The NFL lauded Boomer Esiason's efforts to raise money to combat cystic fibrosis. laudable, lauda¬tory,ADJ.

extol

V. /赞美/praise; glorify. The president extolled the astro¬nauts, calling them the pioneers of the Space Age.

eclipse

V. /超越；衰落；失色/darken; extinguish; surpass. The new stock market high eclipsed the previous record set in 1995.

outstrip

V. /超过/surpass; outdo. Jesse Owens easily out¬stripped his white competitors to win the gold medal at the Olympic Games.

grovel

V. /趴，匍匐/crawl or creep on ground; remain prostrate. Even though we have been defeated, we do not have to grovel before our conquerors.

avert

V. /转移；防止/prevent; turn away. She averted her eyes from the dead cat on the highway.

controvert

V. /辩论；反驳/oppose with arguments; attempt to refute; contradict. The witness's testimony was so clear and her reputation for honesty so well-established that the defense attorney decided it was wiser to make no attempt to contro¬vertwhat she said.

cater to

V. /迎合/supply something desired (whether good or bad). The chef was happy to cater to the tastes of his highly sophisticated clientele. Critics condemned the movie industry for catering to the public's ever-increasing appetite for violence.

divine

V. /运用直觉，超能力；预见/perceive intuitively; foresee the future. Nothing infuriated Tom more than Aunt Polly's ability to divine when he was telling the truth.

embroil

V. /连累，牵连；使其混乱，麻烦缠身/throw into confusion; involve in strife; entangle. He became embroiled in the heated discussion when he tried to arbitrate the dispute.

captivate

V. /迷住；迷惑/charm or enthrall. Bart and Lisa were capti¬vated by their new nanny's winning manner.

muddle

V. /迷惑的；搞乱了的，混淆了的/confuse; mix up. His thoughts were muddled and chaotic. also N.

obfuscate

V. /迷惑，困惑；增加不必要的复杂性/confuse; muddle; cause confusion; make needlessly complex. Was the president's spokesman trying to clarify the Whitewater mystery, or was he trying to obfus¬cate the issue so the voters would never figure out what went on?

mystify

V. /迷惑，蛊惑/bewilder purposely. When doctors speak in medical jargon, they often mystify their patients, who have little knowledge of medical terminology.

disconcert

V. /迷惑；扰乱；使难堪/confuse; upset; embarrass. The lawyer was disconcerted by the evidence produced by her adversary.

append

V. /追加，附上/attach. When you append a bibliography to a text, you have just created an appendix.

hover

V. /逗留；盘旋；等待/hang about; wait nearby. The police helicopter hovered above the accident.

linger

V. /逗留；闲逛；流连/loiter or dawdle; continue or persist. Hoping to see Juliet pass by, Romeo lingered outside the Capulet house for hours. Though Mother made stuffed cabbage on Monday, the smell lingered around the house for days.

apprehend

V. /逮捕；惧怕；领会/arrest (a criminal); dread; perceive. The police will apprehend the culprit and convict him before long.

bequeath

V. /遗赠，（代代）相传/leave to someone by a will; hand down. Though Maud had intended to bequeath the family home to her nephew, she died before changing her will. bequest, N.

eschew

V. /避免/avoid. Hoping to present himself to his girlfriend as a totally reformed character, he tried to eschew all the vices, especially chewing tobacco and drinking bathtub gin.

emancipate

V. /释放，解放/set free. At first, the attempts of the Aboli¬tionists to emancipate the slaves were unpopular in New England as well as in the South.

authenticate

V. /鉴别/prove genuine. An expert was needed to authenticate the original Van Gogh painting, distinguishing it from its imitation.

coin

V. /铸币；发明；杜撰/make coins; invent or fabricate. Mints coin good money; counterfeiters coin fakes. Slanderers coin nasty rumors; writers coin words. A neologism is an expression that's been newly-coined.

embroider

V. /镶边，绣花；添油加醋/decorate with needlework; ornament with fancy or fictitious details. For her mother's birthday, Beth embroidered a lovely design on a handkerchief. When asked what made her late getting home, Jo embroidered her account with tales of runaway horses and rescuing peo¬ple from a ditch. embroidery, N.

glimmer

V. /闪烁/shine erratically; twinkle. In the darkness of the cavern, the glowworms hanging from the cavern roof glim¬mered like distant stars,

loiter

V. /闲逛；徘徊/hang around; linger. The policeman told him not to loiter in the alley.

enunciate

V. /阐明/speak distinctly. Stop mumbling! How will people understand you if you do not enunciate?

hamper

V. /阻挡，牵制，妨碍/obstruct. The new mother didn't realize how much the effort of caring for an infant would hamper her ability to keep an immaculate house.

arrest

V. /阻止；引起注意；吸引/stop or slow down; catch someone's attention. Slipping, the trapeze artist plunged from the heights until a safety net luckily arrested his fall. This near-disaster arrested the crowd's attention.

impede

V. /阻止；拖延/hinder; block; delay. A series of accidents impeded the launching of the space shuttle.

absorb

V. assimilate or incorporate; suck or drink up; wholly engage. During the nineteenth century, America absorbed hordes of immigrants, turning them into productive citizens. Can Huggies diapers absorb more liquid than Pampers can? This question does not absorb me; instead, it bores me. absorption, N.

annex

V. attach; take possession of. Mexico objected to the United States' attempts to annex the territory that later became the state of Texas.

abut

V. border upon; adjoin. Where our estates abut, we must build a fence.

abolish

V. cancel; put an end to. The president of the col¬lege refused to abolish the physical education requirement. abolition, N.

amass

V. collect. The miser's aim is to amass and hoard as much gold as possible.

amalgamate

V. combine; unite in one body. The unions will attempt to amalgamate their groups into one national body.

accrue

V. come about by addition. You must pay the inter¬est that has accrued on your debt as well as the principal sum. accrual, N.

abridge

V. condense or shorten. Because the publishers felt the public wanted a shorter version of War and Peace, they proceeded to abridge the novel.

anoint

V. consecrate. The prophet Samuel anointed David with oil, crowning him king of Israel.

adorn

V. decorate. Wall paintings and carved statues adorned the temple. adornment, N.

abhor

V. detest; hate. She abhorred all forms of bigotry. abhorrence, N.

address

V. direct a speech to; deal with or discuss. Due to address the convention in July, Brown planned to address the issue of low-income housing in his speech.

assuage

V. ease or lessen (pain); satisfy (hunger); soothe (anger). Jilted by Jane, Dick tried to assuage his heartache by indulging in ice cream. One gallon later, he had assuaged his appetite but not his grief.

abash

V. embarrass. He was not at all abashed by her open admiration.

accentuate

V. emphasize; stress. If you accentuate the pos¬itive and eliminate the negative, you may wind up with an overoptimistic view of the world.

allure

V. entice; attract. Allured by the song of the sirens, the helmsman steered the ship toward the reef. also N.

affix

V. fasten; attach; add on. First the registrar had to affix her signature to the license; then she had to affix her official seal.

ameliorate

V. improve. Many social workers have attempted to ameliorate the conditions of people living in the slums.

aggrandize

V. increase or intensify. The history of the past quarter century illustrates how a President may aggrandize his power to act aggressively in international affairs without considering the wishes of Congress.

despise

V. look on with scorn; regard as worthless or distasteful. Mr. Bond, I despise spies; I look down on them as mean, despicable, honorless men, whom I would wipe from the face of the earth with as little con¬cern as I would scrape dog droppings from the bottom of my shoe.

abase

V. lower; humiliate. Defeated, Queen Zenobia was forced to abase herself before the conquering Romans, who made her march in chains before the emperor in the procession celebrating his triumph. abasement, N.

adulterate

V. make impure by adding inferior or tainted substances. It is a crime to adulterate foods without inform¬ing the buyer; when consumers learned that Beech-Nut had adulterated their apple juice by mixing it with water, they protested vigorously.

beguile

V. mislead or delude; pass time. With flattery and big talk of easy money, the con men beguiled Kyle into bet¬ting his allowance on the shell game. Broke, he beguiled himself during the long hours by playing solitaire.

accelerate

V. move faster. In our science class, we learn how falling bodies accelerate.

accommodate

V. oblige or help someone; adjust or bring into harmony; adapt. Mitch always did everything possible to accommodate his elderly relatives, from driving them to medical appointments to helping them with paperwork. (secondary meaning)

acquire

V. obtain; get. Frederick Douglass was deter¬mined to acquire an education despite his master's efforts to prevent his doing so.

absolve

V. pardon (an offense). The father confessor absolved him of his sins. absolution, N.

antecede

V. precede. The invention of the radiotelegraph anteceded the development of television by a quarter of a century.

acknowledge

V. recognize; admit. Although I acknowl¬edge that the Beatles' tunes sound pretty dated today, I still prefer them to the "gangsta rap" songs my brothers play.

allude

V. refer indirectly. Try not to mention divorce in Jack's presence because he will think you are alluding to his marital problems with Jill.

abstain

V. refrain; hold oneself back voluntarily from an action or practice. He decided to abstain from drink-ing while he trained for the race. abstinence, N.

abjure

V. renounce upon oath. He abjured his allegiance to the king. abjuration, N.

abdicate

V. renounce; give up throne

abbreviate

V. shorten. Because we were running out of time, the lecturer had to abbreviate her speech.

allege

V. state without proof. Although it is alleged that she has worked for the enemy, she denies the allegation and, legally, we can take no action against her without proof. allegation, N.

adhere