Book 6 考察之词汇
Unit 1 Two words to Avoid, Two to Remember
1. insight: the capacity to gain an accurate and deep instinctive understanding of a situation
2. checkered tablecloth: table cloth that has a pattern consisting of alternating squares of
different colors
3. chew the cud: think reflectively
4. gnome: (in legends) a little old man who lives underground and guards the earth’s treasures; a
small ugly person
5. melancholy: sad; gloomy; depressed 6. berate: scold or criticize angrily
7. a perverse streak: an obstinate quality 8. ruefully: regretfully
9. drag: a boring thing; nuisance
10. immortality: never-ending life or endless fame
Unit 2 The Fine Art of Putting Things Off 1. cool one’s heels: be forced to wait; be kept waiting
2. attest to: testify to; serve as an evidence to affirm/to be proof of 3. apocalyptic: foreboding imminent disaster or final doom
4. proconsul: an administrator in a colony usually with wide powers 5. ruminate: go over in the mind repeatedly and often slowly 6. nattering: chattering; hence, noisy 7. echelon: rank, level
8. fortify: encourage; support 9. reappraisal: re-evaluation
10.academe: the academic community; academics 11.shrink psychoanalyst or psychiatrist
12. subliminal: subconscious; existing or functioning outside the area of conscious awareness 13.truism: an undoubted or self-evident truth
14.mellow and marinate: to mellow is to become ripe or fully developed, and to marinate is to steep(meat, fish) in a savory sauce to enrich its flavor; here, ripen and mature Unit 4 A Red Light for Scofflaws
1. take liberties with: misinterpret; distort; violate 2. blithely: heedlessly; without thought or regard 3. dereliction: deliberate neglect; negligence
4. exempt from: free from; not subject to an obligation 5. flurry: profusion; abundance; great quantity 6. ordinance: authoritative law; command 7. flagrant: shameless; notorious
8. festering scandal: tormenting disgrace 9. statutes: laws
10. public nuisance: something offensive or annoying to the community, especially in violation of others’ legal rights
11.flouting: violating; treating with contemptuous disregard
12. dent: a depression in a surface, as from a blow; hence, damage 13. brazen: shameless; impudent
14. slug: hit hard, especially with the fist
15. skirt: avoid; keep distant from; go around the edge of
16. mandate: command from a superior official to an inferior one; authoritative command 17. constituent: voters
18. subvert: undermine the principle of 19. enact: institute; levy 20.puny: insignificant
21. nullify: declare legally void
22. desegregation rulings: official (court) decisions on desegregation 23. disquieting: upsetting 24. terminally: fatally
Unit 5 Straight-A Illiteracy
1. plight: an unfavorable condition, state or situation 2. as often as not: frequently
3. articulate: able to speak clearly and fluently 4. allegorically: figuratively
5. gibberish: meaningless or unintelligible talk or writing 6. providentially: fortunately; luckily 7. inexorably: Inescapably
8. profundity: profound or deep matters
9. grapple with: try to deal with; struggle with Unit 7 Beauty
1. lamely: weakly, unsatisfactorily
2. paradoxical: seemingly self-contradictory; incongruous; puzzling; 3.seductive: attractive; charming 4. pedagogical: teaching 5. wary: heedful; careful
6. on the defensive: prepared for disapproval or attack 7. demeaning overtones: implications of humiliation
8. vestiges: traces that have once existed but exist no more 9. to the detriment of : to the harm of
10. throes: a condition of agonizing struggle or effort; upheaval 11. narcissism: excessive admiration of oneself
12. obligation: duty; social requirement that compels one to follow a certain course of action 13. fretful: irritable, complaining
14. pass muster: be accepted as satisfactory
15. depreciation: devaluation; a disparaging or a belittling act or instance 16. censure: an expression of blame or disapproval 17. preen: dress, adorn or trim (oneself) carefully 18. interminable: endless
Unit 8 Appetite
1. multitudinous: very numerous, existing in great numbers 2. lust: overwhelming desire or craving
3. orgy: excessive indulgence in any activity; wild festivity 4. pitch: point, level, degree
5. texture: quality; structure of a substance
6. deliberate fasting: eating little or no food on purpose 7. bludgeon: force somebody into (doing something); beat 8. blow-out: (slang) a large, usually lavish, meal
9. indulgence: great satisfaction; gratification of desires 10. homage: honour or respect; reverence paid 11. gorge: stuff/fill oneself completely with food 12. impotence: powerlessness; ineffectualness Unit 9 Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrast
1.virtual: in essence or effect though not formally recognized or admitted 2.poignant: deeply moving or touching
3.chivalry: ideal qualities expected of a knight, such as courage, honour, courtesy and concern for the weak and helpless
4.obeisance: submission; obedience
5. to a fault:to an extreme degree; excessively
6. groove: a fixed routine, a set way of doing things 7.tenacity:perseverance
8.burgeoning: thriving; flourish 9.fidelity:loyalty; faithfulness
10.in one’ debt: under obligation to one Unit 10 Euphemism
1. auspicious:favorable; promising 2. exalted:dignified; elevated 3. phony: deceitful; counterfeit
4. expunge: erase; remove ; wipe out 5. amiss: improper; wrong; faulty 6. semantics:study of meaning
7. in the same vein:in the same manner
8. warrant: guarantee ; attest to; be worthy of
9. incongruous: inappropriate; incompatible; out of place 10. categorically:absolutely; unconditionally