abate v.减弱

　　同diminish, lessen, subside, reduce, curtail

　　The rain did not abate the crowd's enthusiasm for the baseball game.

　　下雨并没有消减观众看棒球比赛的热情。

　　adhere v.粘附；附着

　　同stick, cling, cleave, attach, cohere

　　If the surface is wet, the tape will not adhere to it.

　　如果表面是湿的，胶带就粘不住。

　　alternate v.交替；轮流

　　同rotate, reciprocate, interchange, take turns

　　Dan and Mike alternated washing the dishes every night.

　　丹和迈克每天晚上轮流洗碗。

　　aptly adv.适当地

　　同appropriately, properly, suitably, fittingly

　　The breathtaking green valley below was aptly named Beautiful Valley.

　　下面那令人赞叹的翠绿色山谷的名字取得很贴切，叫美丽山谷。

　　banal adj.陈腐的

　　同common, trite, stereotyped, stale, hackneyed, cliched

　　Chris' banal advice was no help to us in solving our problem.

　　克里斯陈腐的劝告对于解决我们的问题完全没有帮助。

　　campaign n.活动；战役

　　同operation, movement, battle, fight, combat

　　The campaign to end poverty in the country is far from over.

　　该国想要消灭贫困的行动远没有结束。

　　cluster n.聚集同clump, bunch, batch

　　The tree had clusters of white flowers at the end of each branch.

　　那棵树的每根树枝的末端都长着一丛白花。

　　Compute v.计算

　　同count, estimate, calculate, measure, reckon, figure

　　Darla had to compute exactly how many chairs and tables would be needed for all the dinner guests.

　　达拉必须准确计算出所有晚餐宾客所需的桌椅数目。

　　contention n.争论；争斗

　　同competition, struggle, argument, conflict

　　There was much contention about the proposed city subway system.

　　市区地铁系统的提议引起了许多争论。

　　dawn n.黎明

　　同sunrise, daybreak

　　Jane awoke at dawn, while everyone else in the house was still sleeping.

　　简天亮就醒了，而屋子里的其他人仍在睡梦中。

　　deplore v.感到遗憾

　　同mourn, grieve, sorrow

　　Ms. Adams deplored the lack of money in education and made a large donation to her local school.

　　亚当斯女士对缺乏教育经费感到很遗憾，因此捐了一大笔钱给当地的学校。

　　discreet adj.谨慎的

　　同prudent, cautious, judicious, careful, wary

　　Pauline was discreet about handing me a note in English class.

　　上英语课时，波琳很谨慎地递给我一张纸条。

　　eerie adj.阴森的；可怕的

　　同weird, awesome, fearful, ghastly, spooky

　　That night we heard an eerie sound as we were playing cards.

　　那晚我们玩牌时听到了奇怪的声音。

　　egotistic adj.自负的

　　同self-centered, egocentric, narcissistic, self-important

　　As he began to earn more and more money, his personality became more and more egotistic.

　　他的钱越赚越多时，他的个性也变得越来越自负。

　　endure v.忍耐；持久n. endurance

　　同bear, abide, tolerate, stand

　　I cannot endure the noise and dirt from the construction site next to my house.

　　我无法忍受从我家隔壁工地传来的噪音和尘土。

　　facile adj.轻易的；灵巧的

　　同easy, skillful, adroit, effortless, simple

　　Her facile reply to the problem with the computer was to turn it off.

　　对于电脑发生的问题，她的简单回应就是关机。

　　Exercise: Fill in the blanks.

　　1. We compromised and _____ between watching the drama series Joe liked and my favorite sports show.

　　2. A _____ to end corruption in the government has just begun.

　　3. The teachers' only _____ to ending the strike was the schoolshavingssmaller class sizes.

　　4. After all they had _____ during the war, anything seemed possible to them.

　　5. The _____ movement of her hands over the keyboard showed her years of practice on the piano.

　　解答：1. Alternated 2. Campaign 3. Contention 4. Endured 5. facile

　　flush v.①脸红②逐出

　　同1.blush, redden 2.eject, expel

　　When she smiled at him, his face flushed bright red.

　　当她对他微笑时，他的脸涨得通红。

　　gallant adj.勇敢的

　　同brave, daring, courageous

　　A gallant man jumpedsintosthe river to save the drowning child.

　　一名勇敢的男子跳进河里搭救那个溺水的小孩。

　　halt v.停止

　　同pull up, stop, pause

　　The soldiers at the border halted the travelers to check their passports.

　　驻守边界的士兵把游客拦下来，检查他们的护照。

　　idolize v.崇拜

　　同admire, worship, adore

　　Jackie idolizes her math teacher and wants to be just like her.杰姬崇拜她的数学老师，想成为和她一样的人。

　　incessant adj.不断的同continuous, constant, ceaseless, continual, everlasting

　　The incessant barking of my neighbor's dog kept me awake at night.

　　邻居的狗不停地叫，使我整夜无法入睡。

　　inordinate adj.不节制的；过度的

　　同excessive, immoderate, intemperate, exorbitant

　　Doctors have reported an inordinate number of patients with the flu this winter.

　　医生们报告说今年冬天有很多人罹患流行性感冒。

　　jettison v.丢弃；放弃

　　同cast, throw, hurl, abandon, give up

　　The ship's captain ordered that all extra cargo be jettisoned to prevent the ship from sinking.

　　船长下令把所有多余的货物都扔掉，以免船只沉没。

　　lament v.哀悼同deplore, bemoan, bewail

　　Everyone in the neighborhood lamented the death of my Uncle Robert.

　　附近的每个人都对罗伯特叔叔的死表示哀悼。

　　luminous adj.发光的

　　同bright, radiant, shining

　　We looked up in the night sky and saw something luminous, which we thought was a UFO.

　　我们仰望夜空，看见一个发光体，我们认为那是飞碟。

　　magnitude n.强度

　　同extent, immensity, great size, enormity

　　The magnitude of the budget deficit is growing every day.

　　预算赤字的情形日益恶化。*deficit n.赤字

　　merit①n.优点；价值②v.应得

　　同1.credit, virtue, worth 2.deserve, be entitled to

　　The city government's efforts to improve traffic safety deserve merit.

　　市政府在改善交通安全上所做的努力值得赞扬。

　　navigate v.驾驶；航行

　　同sail, cruise, steer

　　We navigated the ship across the channel to return home.

　　我们驾船穿越海峡回家。

　　oblique adj.①歪斜的②闪烁其辞的

　　同1.slanting, inclined, sloping, tilted 2.evasive, roundabout

　　James planted his flower garden with oblique rows of tulips.

　　詹姆斯在花园里种了斜斜的几排郁金香。

　　ostracize v.排斥；放逐

　　同shun, banish, expel, exile, expatriate

　　After telling the teacher about their plans to cheat on the test, Billy was ostracized from the group.

　　比利把他们打算考试作弊的计划告诉老师后，受到同组人的排斥。

　　palatable adj.美味的；合口味的

　　同delicious, savory, tasty, dainty

　　This cake Albert baked is quite palatable.

　　艾伯特烤的这个蛋糕非常好吃。

　　Perpetrate v.犯(罪)；作(恶)

　　同commit, perform, execute, inflict

　　The police have not been able to find out who perpetrated the crime.

　　警方还没有找到罪犯。

　　plunder v.掠夺

　　同rob, pillage, ravage, harry, sack, loot

　　After the battle, the victorious soldiers plundered the villagers property.

　　战斗结束后，胜利的官兵大肆掠夺村民的财物。

　　Exercise: Fill in the blanks.

　　1. His _____ effort to save the drowning child led to his own death.

　　2. All the people _____ the death of their president.

　　3. Walter responded to my question with an _____ answer which only confused me more.

　　4. When traveling abroad, we always worry how _____ the local cuisine will be.

　　5. During the riot, many nearby stores were brokensintosand _____.

　　解答：1. Gallant 2. Lamented 3. Oblique 4. Palatable 5. plundered

　　prorogue v.休会

　　同adjourn, postpone

　　The legislature moved to prorogue the present session.

　　立法机关提议停止目前的会议。

　　quest n.探求同search, expedition, pursuit

　　Many explorers' quests to find the source of the Mekong River were unsuccessful.

　　许多探险家想探寻湄公河的源头，但都没有成功。

　　raid n.袭击

　　同attack, invasion, assault, inroad, incursion

　　The general led a raid on the enemy's camp.

　　将军率军袭击敌营。

　　relish①v.喜欢；享受②n.美味；喜爱

　　同1.enjoy, appreciate 2.taste, flavor, gusto, savor

　　Paul and Wanda relished the time they had off from work.

　　保罗和旺达喜欢休假不用上班的日子。

　　retort v.反驳同respond, reply, answer, retaliate

　　Amy retorted that she was not the one who left the dirty dishes in the sink.

　　艾米反驳说，不是她把脏盘子留在水池里的。

　　salutary adj.有益健康的；有益的

　　同wholesome, helpful, salubrious, healthful

　　Tina's losing the long distance race was actually salutary because it made her practice harder.

　　蒂娜输掉这场长跑比赛也有好处，因为这会使她更加努力练习。

　　serene adj.宁静的

　　同calm, peaceful, composed, tranquil, pacific

　　David finds the sound of ocean waves very serene.

　　戴维发现海浪的声音非常宁静。

　　sluggish adj.迟缓的；怠惰的

　　同idle, indolent, lazy, inactive, lethargic

　　The medicine Gary took for his cold made him feel sluggish.

　　加里吃了感冒药，变得有点反应迟钝。

　　sporadic adj.零星的

　　同occasional, irregular

　　Sporadic loss of memory is common in old age.

　　人老后偶尔忘东忘西是常有的事。

　　strident adj.粗糙的；尖锐的

　　同harsh, shrill, rough, sharp

　　Larry's strident voice was difficult to listen to for more than five minutes.

　　拉里粗哑的声音让人听五分钟就受不了。

　　surmount v.克服；超越

　　同exceed, overcome, conquer, vanquish, surpass

　　Ada was able to surmount her fear of heights by learning to rock climb.

　　学会攀岩后，艾达终于克服了恐高症。

　　tally①n.计算②v.符合

　　同1.count, reckoning, score 2.accord, match, conform

　　The final tally in the soccer match was 7:3.

　　足球比赛的最后比分是7∶3。

　　tilt v.倾斜

　　同incline, lean, slant, cant

　　Don't put your glass of tea on that table; it tilts to the left and your drink might spill.

　　别把你的茶放在那张桌子上，那张桌子往左倾，茶可能会洒出来。

　　Unanimous adj.全体一致的

　　同harmonious, united, accordant, agreeing

　　It was our office's unanimous decision to take the day off.

　　我们办公室的人一致决定那一天休假。

　　vague adj.模糊的；暧昧的

　　同dim, obscure, ambiguous, indistinct, unclear

　　Janet's answer to my question was vague and did not help me understand my problem any better.

　　珍妮特给我的回答模棱两可，无法帮助我更好地理解我的问题。

　　wallow v.打滚

　　同toss, tumble, roll, flounder

　　Because the weather was so hot, the pigs were wallowing in the mud trying to cool off.

　　天气太热了，猪都跑到泥沼里打滚，让自己能凉爽一点。

　　yield v.①让步；屈服②生产

　　同1.succumb, give in, submit, surrender 2.produce, bear

　　Carl finally yielded to his son's demands for a new toy.

　　卡尔终于妥协，答应给他儿子买新玩具。

　　Exercise: Fill in the blanks.

　　1. Mark is _____ his long-deserved vacation from the office.

　　2. The magazine article I just read tells of the _____ effects of regular exercise for older women.

　　3. The pain in her arm was _____; it always seemed to disappear when she went to the doctor.

　　4. Gary and Amy are _____ the results of the class elections.

　　5. Sergeant Ames was a cruel man who would not _____ to his civilians' pleas for mercy.

　解答：1. Relishing 2. Salutary 3. Sporadic 4. Tallying 5. Yield