Abbreviate v.缩减

　　同shorten, reduce, condense, abridge

　　Scott abbreviated his speech, so he would not bore anyone.

　　斯科特缩减了他的演讲，以免让人感到厌烦。

　　adjacent adj.邻接的

　　同adjoining, bordering, neighboring, contiguous

　　Nick's house is adjacent to a large park.

　　尼克的家与一个大公园毗邻。

　　alternative n.选择

　　同choice, option, selection, substitute

　　Fred felt he had very few alternatives in choosing a career.

　　弗瑞德觉得他在职业上的选择余地很小。

　　arbitrary adj.①武断的；专制的②随意的

　　同1.dictatorial, subjective, domineering 2.random, capricious

　　The boss' arbitrary demands on his staff were unbearable.

　　老板专制的命令让职员无法忍受。

　　avocation n.副业；嗜好

　　同diversion, hobby, occupation, pastime

　　Louis' avocation as a ski instructor gradually became his full-time employment.

　　滑雪教练一职已从路易斯的副业逐渐变成他的全职了。

　　candidate n.候选人

　　同nominee, office-seeker, applicant, aspirant

　　Teresa has decided to become a candidate for mayor of our town.

　　特雷萨已决定作为候选人参加本镇镇长的竞选。

　　coagulate v.凝结

　　同solidify, jell, congeal, clot, curdle

　　The blood around the wound began to coagulate, slowing the loss of blood.伤口边的血开始凝结，减缓了血液的流失。

　　conceal v.隐藏

　　同hide, cover, secrete, stow

　　The brothers tried to conceal the puppy from their parents, but it was soon discovered.

　　这几个兄弟试图把小狗藏起来不让父母看到，但不久小狗就被发现了。

　　contiguity n.邻接

　　同juxtaposition, abutment, union, meeting

　　Our apartment building's contiguity to a supermarket is very convenient.

　　我们的公寓和超级市场相邻，购物相当方便。

　　daze v.使晕眩；使困惑

　　同dazzle, confuse, stum

　　The math problem dazed all of the students in the class.

　　这道数学题难倒了全班学生。

　　deprive v.剥夺

　　同strip, dispossess, divest, bereave, denude

　　The prisoners were deprived of any communication with the outside world.这些囚犯被剥夺了与外界进行沟通的自由。

　　discrepancy n.差异；不符

　　同inconsistency, disagreement, divergence, discordance

　　The manager found a discrepancy between the company's records and what actually sold.

　　经理发现公司的纪录与实际的销售不符。

　　Efface v.消除

　　同erase, eradicate, expunge, delete

　　The wind had effaced the deer's hoofprints from the snow.

　　风吹散了雪地上鹿留下的蹄印。*hoofprint n.蹄印

　　engross v.全神贯注

　　同absorb, preoccupy, engage

　　Richard engrossed himself in the study of marine biology.

　　理查德在全神贯注地研究海洋生物。

　　ethnic adj.种族的；人种的

　　同racial, national, native

　　Our school has students from different ethnic backgrounds.

　　我们学校的学生有着不同的种族背景。

　　facilitate v.使容易；促进

　　同smooth, ease, promote, speed up

　　Melissa's help facilitated our work to clean up the garage.

　　梅利莎的帮助加快了我们打扫车库的工作。

　　Exercise: Fill in the blanks.

　　1. Eating more grains is a healthy _____ to eating a lot of meat.

　　2. Three of the presidential _____ participated in the televised debate.

　　3. Jenny was _____ by the breathtaking scenery of the waterfall.

　　4. Diane was _____ in reading a book when I entered the room.

　　5. The fax machine has _____ communication between offices and homes considerably.

　　解答：1. Alternative 2. Candidates 3. Dazed 4. Engrossed 5. facilitated

　　foamy adj.起泡沫的

　　同bubbling, sparkling

　　The storm had made the ocean waves hitting the shore rough and foamy.暴风雨使得海浪大力地冲击着岸边，激起了层层泡沫。

　　garment n.衣服

　　同clothing, robe, costume, attire, dress

　　Charles decided to have several garments made by a local tailor.

　　查尔斯决定让本地的裁缝做几件衣服。

　　handicap v.妨碍

　　同penalize, hamper, encumber

　　A sore right arm handicapped Laura's tennis playing.

　　酸痛的右臂妨碍了劳拉打网球。

　　ignite v.①点燃②煽动

　　同1.kindle, catch, fire 2.agitate, stir, excite

　　A carelessly thrown, lit cigarette ignited the house fire.

　　一个随意丢弃的烟蒂使这座房子起火了。

　　ingenuous adj.率直的

　　同frank, trustful, plain, innocent

　　It was his ingenuous smile that won Deborah's heart.

　　是他率直的微笑赢得了黛博拉的芳心。

　　inquiry n.查询；调查

　　同search, research, quest, investigation, inspection

　　The police led an inquiry to try to find the stolen paintings.

　　警方展开调查，试图找出被盗的画。

　　jocular adj.滑稽的；诙谐的

　　同joking, funny, jocose, humorous, jesting

　　William's jocular personality makes him a very popular person.

　　威廉风趣的个性使他成为广受欢迎的人。

　　landscape n.风景

　　同vista, view

　　Bernard's art class took a trip to the country to learn how to paint landscapes.

　　伯纳德到乡下去上美术课，学习如何画风景画。

　　lure v.诱惑

　　同entice, decoy, tempt, coax

　　Patricia was lured by the glamour of Hollywood to become an actress.帕特丽夏被好莱坞的魅力所吸引，想要成为一名演员。

　　*glamour n.魅力

　　martyr n.牺牲者

　　同victim, sacrifice

　　When the police shot the young student, she became a martyr for the democracy movement.

　　被警察射杀的这名年轻学生成了民主运动的牺牲者。

　　meticulous adj.小心翼翼的

　　同careful

　　We were meticulous in cleaning the car, washing and polishing every inch of it.

　　我们小心翼翼地清洗汽车，将每一寸都冲洗和打蜡。

　　nebulous adj.模糊的

　　同ambiguous, hazy

　　The company only had a nebulous idea of the next model of car they would manufacture.

　　该公司对他们下次要制造的车型只有模糊的概念。

　　oblivious adj.忘记的；不注意的

　　同forgetful, unaware of

　　Warren was oblivious to the yelling and fighting in the apartment next door, and continued reading his book.

　　沃伦对公寓内邻居的叫喊与吵闹浑然不觉，继续读他的书。

　　Ostensible adj.表面上的；假装的

　　同seeming

　　The ostensible reason for his trip to Greece was business, but we thought it was a vacation.

　　他去希腊表面的理由是出差，但我们认为那是度假。

　　Pallid adj.苍白的；无光泽的

　　同pale, bloodless, wan, sallow, white

　　After being sick in bed for a week, Jane still looked pallid.

　　卧病在床一星期后，简的脸色看起来仍然有些苍白。

　　perpetual adj.永久的

　　同everlasting, unceasing, constant, unending

　　The seemingly perpetual rain made us all depressed.

　　看上去下个不停的雨让大家都感到沮丧。

　　plunge v.跳进

　　同submerge, dive, descend, dip, sink

　　On a hot summer day, I like nothing better than plungingsintosa cool swimming pool.

　　在炎热的夏日里，我最喜欢的事莫过于跳进凉爽的游泳池里。

　　Exercise: Fill in the blanks.

　　1. That exclusive boutique is filled with beautiful _____ that I could never afford.

　　2. The government began an _____sintospossible vote fraud in the election.

　　3. The dentist _____ the child to sit in the examining chair with promises of a free toy.

　　4. Through _____ research, scientists found a drug that would treat the disease.

　　5. Doug's _____ lying has made us distrust everything he says.

　　解答：1. Garments 2. Inquiry 3. Lured 4. Meticulous 5. perpetual

　　principal adj.主要的

　　同chief, foremost, prime, main, leading

　　The principal aim of this plan is to find a way to help students improve their study habits.

　　这项计划的主要目标是找出一种帮助学生改善读书习惯的方法。

　　quibble n.遁辞

　　同evasion, equivocation, sophism

　　David has a quibble with my idea of buying new computers for the office.对我提出为办公室购买新电脑一事，戴维避而不答。

　　rampant adj.蔓延的；猖獗的；猛烈的

　　同widespread, rife, uncontrollable, excessive

　　You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.

　　你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

　　reluctant adj.不情愿的

　　同unwilling, loath, averse, hesitant

　　Bert was reluctant to tell his mother the washing machine was broken again.伯特不愿告诉母亲洗衣机又坏了。

　　retreat v.撤退

　　同withdraw, recede, draw back

　　The soldiers retreated back to their camp in the hills.

　　士兵们撤回到山上的营地中。

　　sanction n.①批准②制裁

　　同1.confirmation, permission 2.boycott, penalty

　　The city government gave its sanction to the library to build a new wing.市政府批准图书馆兴建新的分馆。

　　setback n.挫折；后退

　　同backslide, defeat

　　Our building plans suffered a setback when a strong typhoon destroyed our building site.

　　强劲的台风摧毁了工地，使我们兴建大楼的计划停滞。

　　smear v.涂脏；中伤

　　同stain, besmirch, smudge

　　The children playing outside had smeared mud all over their clothes, faces and hands.

　　孩子们在屋外玩耍，用泥巴把衣服、脸和手都弄得脏兮兮的。

　　spur v.刺激

　　同incite, arouse, instigate, stir up

　　Her coach's encouragement helped spur Heather to run faster and win the race.

　　教练的鼓励刺激了希瑟，使她跑得更快并赢得了比赛。

　　stringent adj.严厉的

　　同strict, exacting, severe, forceful, rigorous

　　The military is famous for its stringent regulations of dress and behavior.军队以其严格的着装要求和行为规范而著称。

　　surpass v.凌驾

　　同excel, outdo, exceed

　　Tommy studied so hard that he surpassed all the other students in his class.

　　汤米非常用功，因此成绩比班上的其他同学都好。

　　thrall n.奴隶

　　同slave, serf, bondsman

　　The peasant farmers were the thralls of the lord of the castle.

　　这些农夫是这个城堡的主人的奴隶。

　　timid adj.胆怯的

　　同fearful, cowardly, shy

　　The tiny kitten was very timid, and too afraid to approach us.

　　这只小猫非常胆小，不敢靠近我们。

　　unassuming adj.谦虚的

　　同modest, retiring, reversed, humble

　　Don't be fooled by his unassuming manner; he is really a very proud man.别被他谦虚的态度骗了，其实他是个很骄傲的人。

　　valiant adj.勇敢的

　　同dauntless, brave, courageous, gallant, valorous

　　The doctor's valiant efforts finally saved the child's life.

　　医生无畏的努力终于挽救了孩子的生命。

　　wan adj.苍白的

　　同pale, pallid, colorless, bloodless, ashen

　　Tony looked so wan and tired that I knew something must be wrong.

　　托尼看起来是如此的苍白与疲惫，我知道一定出事了。

　　yoke n.轭；束缚

　　同bond, chain, link, tie, union

　　The farmer put a yoke on the oxen's necks and began to plow his fields.农夫把轭套在牛的脖子上，开始耕田。

　　Exercise: Fill in the blanks.

　　1. The _____ spread of the disease caused panic among the people of the country.

　　2. Although she was _____ to go, Tina came to the Assassin concert with me.

　　3. There were many _____ in organizing the business conference, but we finally succeeded.

　　4. Allan, who is anything but _____, often strikes up conversations with complete strangers.

　　5. Although she is a very accomplished pianist, she has a very _____ personality.

　　解答：1. Rampant 2. Reluctant 3. Setbacks 4. Timid 5. unassuming