词汇学习

● Word Study

Word list:

Appalling / assent / cessation / decay / decrease / destined / dreadful / eliminate / epoch / extravagant / insane / plunge / stagnation / upright

1. appalling

a. a. shocking; extremely bad

b. (informal) very bad

Examples:

● The prisoners were living in appalling conditions.

● The bus service is appalling now.

2. Assent

n. official agreement to or approval of sth.

v. to agree to a request, an idea or a suggestion

Collocation

assent to sth.

Examples:

● The director has given her assent to the proposals.

● He nodded (his) assent.

● There were murmurs of both assent and dissent from the crowd.

● The bill passed in Parliament has now received the Royal Assent.

● Nobody would assent to the terms they proposed.

3. cessation

n. (formal) the stopping of sth.; a pause in sth.

Examples:

● Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities.

● Therefore, Eta has decided the definitive cessation of its armed activity.

4. decay

n. a. the process or result of being destroyed by natural causes or by not being cared for(=of decaying)

b. the gradual destruction of a society, an institution, a system, etc.

v. a. to be destroyed gradually by natural processes; to destroy sth. in this way.

b. if a building or an area decays, its condition slowly becomes worse.

c. to become less powerful and lose influence over people, society, etc.

Examples:

● The landlord had let the building fall into decay.

● The smell of death and decay hung over the town.

● the decay of the old industries

● decaying leaves/teeth/food

● decaying standards of morality

● economic/moral/urban decay

5. decrease

Synonym

v. to become or make sth. become smaller in size, number, etc.

n. the process of reducing sth. or the amount that sth. is reduced by

Examples:

●The number of new students decreased from 210 to 160 this year.

●The price of wheat has decreased by 15%.

●There has been some decrease in military spending this year.

Examples:

●The number of new students decreased from 210 to 160 this year.

●The price of wheat has decreased by 15%.

●This species of bird is decreasing in numbers every year.

●There has been some decrease in military spending this year.

●a decrease of nearly 6% in the number of visitors to the museum

6. destined

Collocation

a. a. having a future which had been decided or planned at an earlier time; especially by fate.

b. on the way to or intended for a place

Examples:

● He was destined for a military career, like his father before him.

● We seem destined never to meet.

● goods destined for Poland

7. dreadful

Synonym

a. a. very bad or unpleasant

b. used to emphasize how bad sth. Is

c. causing fear or suffering

Example:

●What dreadful weather!

●It's dreadful the way they treat their staff.

●He's a dreadful snob.

●She's making a dreadful mess of things.

●They suffered dreadful injuries.

8. eliminate

Synonym

v. a. to remove or get rid of sth. / sb.

b. to defeat a person or a team so that they no longer take part in a competition, etc.

c. to kill sb., especially an enemy or opponent

Examples:

● The police have eliminated two suspects from their investigation.

● This diet claims to eliminate toxins from the body.

● All the English teams were eliminated in the early stages of the competitions.

● She was eliminated from the tournament in the first round.

9.epoch

n. a. a period of time in history, especially one during which important events or changes happen

b. a long period of time in the world's history or in the earth's development

Examples:

● The death of the emperor marked the end of an epoch in the country's history.

● geological epoch

10. extravagant

Synonym

a. a. spending a lot more money or using a lot more of sth.

b. costing a lot more money than you can afford or than is necessary

c. (of ideas, speech or behavior) very extreme or impressive but not reasonable or practical.

Examples:

●I felt very extravagant spending $100 on a dress.

●Residents were warned not to be extravagant with water, in view of the low rainfall this year.

I was embarrassed by all the extravagant praise I was getting.

11. insane

a. a. seriously mentally ill and unable to live in normal society

b. (the insane) people who are insane

c. stupid, crazy or dangerous

Examples:

● Doctors certified him as insane.

● The prisoners were slowly going insane.

● a hospital for the insane

● I must have been insane to agree with the idea.

12. plunge

v. a. to move or make sb./sth. Move suddenly forwards and/or downwards

b. (of prices, temperatures, etc.) to decrease suddenly and quickly

c. (of a road, surface ,etc.)to slope steeply

d. to move up and down suddenly and violently

n. a. a sudden movement downwards or away from sth.

b. a sudden decrease in an amount or the value of sth.

c. the act of becoming involved in a situation or activity

d. an act of jumping or diving into water

Examples:

●She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death.

●Stock markets plunged at the news of the coup.

●The track plunged down into the valley.

●His heart plunged.

●The calm water ends there and the river begins a headlong plunge.

●a dramatic plunge in profits

●She went for a plunge.

13. stagnation

n. a. a state of inactivity (in business or art etc.)

b. inactivity of liquids; being stagnant; standing still; without current or circulation

Example:

● Yet in doing so, they are condemning their economy to years of stagnation.

● Moving feet in this manner encourages blood flow in the calf muscle veins, thus reducing blood stagnation.

14. upright

a. a. not lying down, and with the back straight rather than bent

b. placed in a vertical position

c. (of a person) behaving in a moral and honest way

n. a. a long piece of wood, metal or plastic that is placed in a vertical position, especially in order to support sth.

Examples:

●She sat upright in bed.

●He managed to pull himself upright.

●an upright bar

●an upright citizen