Vocabulary

* dumb a.

1) stupid 笨的；傻乎乎的

e.g.

1. You gave him your phone number? That’s a dumb thing to do. 你把你的电话号码给他了？真是做了一件蠢事。

2. “What is it?” I asked, playing dumb. “这是什么呀？”我装傻问道。

2) unable to speak, because you are angry, surprised, shocked etc. 哑口无言的

e.g. He stared at the burnt-out car in dumb disbelief.

他望着烧焦的汽车，满腹疑虑，说不出话来。

* eliminate vt.

1) decide that sb. or sth. is not responsible for sth. 排除

e.g. We’ve eliminated the possibility that the fire was set on purpose.

我们已经排除了蓄意纵火的可能性。

2) get rid of sth. that is not wanted or needed 消除；剔除

e.g. Children’s anxiety can be eliminated with more parental care. (CET4-2003-12)

父母多一些关爱就可以消除孩子的焦虑。

* scarcely ad.

1) only just 仅仅；才

e.g. We had scarcely begun the discussion when someone broke in.

2) almost not, or almost none 几乎不；几乎没有

e.g.

1. There was scarcely any traffic at this time of the day.

那天的这个时候路上没什么车。

2. His mother asked him questions to which she seemed scarcely interested in knowing the answers.

他的母亲问了他一些问题，但似乎对他如何回答没什么兴趣。

Word family: scarce a.

* manipulate vt.

1) skillfully handle, control, or use sth.（熟悉地）操作；使用

e.g. I watched the pilot expertly manipulating the controls in front of him.

我看着飞行员专业地操作他面前的控制装置。

2) influence sb., or control sth., in a clever or dishonest way 影响；操纵

e.g. A clever politician knows how to manipulate the public opinion.  

聪明的政客知道如何操纵公众舆论。

* isolated a.

1) happening only once, or existing only in one place 个别的；孤立的

e.g. This is not an isolated incident. 这不是个别事件。

2) feeling alone and unhappy, with no friends to support 孤单的，孤独的

e.g. Young mothers often feel isolated. 年轻的母亲总是感到孤立无援。

3) an isolated building, village etc. is far away from any others (建筑、村庄等)孤零零的，偏僻的

e.g. Not many people visit this isolated spot. 来这个偏远地区的人不多。

Word family: isolate v. isolation n.

* concede vt.

admit that sth. is true 承认

e.g.

1. We had to concede that the sales promotion was not as successful as expected.

我们必须承认促销没有预期那么成功。

2. The candidate conceded that he had lost the election.

这位候选人承认他已经在竞选中失败。

3. He reluctantly conceded that he was not fit enough to play in the match.

他不情愿地承认自己的状态不足以应付这场比赛。

Word family: concession n.