Language Study

●Word Study

Cloudburst / collapse / descend / doom / erupt / flee / graze / intact / perish / reverberate / shroud / summit / topple / volcanic

1. cloudburst

n. a sudden, very heavy fall of rain

Examples:

●A black cloudburst was drenching Siena at midday.

●These poured down as though there had been a sudden cloudburst.

●The bus was delayed by a cloudburst.

●A downpour of rain put out the children's bonfire .

●This little stream can become a deluge when it rains heavily.

●This artificial hurricane rushed like a waterspout through the air.

●After the winter rains, the stream becomes a raging torrent .

2. collapse

v. a. break down, literally or metaphorically

b. collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack

n. an abrupt failure of function or complete physical exhaustion

Examples:

●The roof collapsed under the weight of snow.

●If you work too hard, your health may collapse.

●A heavy flood caused the collapse of the bridge.

●The stock market was on the brink of collapse.

3. descend

v. a . move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way

b. come from; be connected by a relationship of blood, for example

Examples:

●I wish that the prices can descend.

●I didn't expect him to descend to personal abuse.

●He is descended from Confucius.

4. doom

v.a. decree or designate beforehand

b. make certain of the failure or destruction of

Examples:

●The plan was doomed by their refusal to give it any financial support.

●All wrong doers are doomed to come to grief.

●From the start, the plan was doomed to failure.

●The criminal was doomed to death.

n. an unpleasant or disastrous destiny

Examples

●The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.

●They're just like eggs hurled against stone; they're heading for their doom.

●The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.

5. erupt

v. a. when a volcano erupts or burning rocks, smoke, etc. erupt or are erupted, the burning rocks, etc. are thrown out from the volcano

b. to start happening, suddenly and violently

Examples:

●An immense volume of rocks and molten lava was erupted.

●Violence has erupted on the streets.

6. flee

v. to leave a person or place very quickly, especially because you are afraid of possible danger

Examples:

●He was caught trying to flee the country.

●The driver had already fled the scene of the accident.

●Many refugees have been forced to flee their homeland.

●The frightened people fled from the fire.

7. graze

v. a. to eat grass that is growing in a field

b. to put cows, sheep in a field so that they can eat the grass

Examples:

●The horses were grazing on the lush grass.

●The field had been grazed by sheep.

●The land is used by local people to graze their animals.

●He grazed his elbow on a sharp piece of rock.

8. intact

a. constituting the undiminished entirety; lacking nothing essential especially not damaged

Examples:

●Most of the houses remains intact even after two hundred years.

●He emerged from the trial with his reputation intact.

●Despite his misfortunes, his faith and optimism remained intact.

9. perish

v. a. to die, especially in a sudden violent way

b. to be lost or destroyed

Examples:

●Early buildings were made of wood and have perished.

●Almost a hundred people perished in the hotel fire last night.

●We must plan our civilization or we must perish .

10. reverberate

v. a. to be repeated several times as it is reflected off different surfaces

b. to seem to shake because of a loud noise

Examples:

●Her voice reverberated around the hall.

●The crash reverberated through the house.

●Echoes of cries of pain reverberate my heart.

11. shroud

n. a. a piece of cloth that a dead person's body is wrapped in before it is buried

b. a thing that covers, surrounds or hides something

Examples:

●The doctor wanted us to use the sheet for a shroud.

●The organization is cloaked in a shroud of secrecy.

Examples:

●For years the teaching of acting has been shrouded in mystery.

●The whole jail was shrouded in darkness.

●Mist shrouded the hilltops.

●The origins of this civilization are shrouded in mystery.

12. summit

n. a. the highest point of something, especially the top of a mountain

b. an official meeting or series of meetings between the leaders of two or more governments at which they discuss important matters

●summit conference

●This path leads to the summit.

●The athlete reached the summit of his prowess at the age of twenty-four.

13. topple

v. to become unsteady and fall down; to make something do this

Examples:

●The pile of books toppled over onto the floor.

●The explosion toppled the near chimney.

14. volcanic

a.a. relating to or produced by or consisting of volcanoes

b. explosively unstable

Examples:

●volcanic ash

●The temperature of volcanic gases is very high.

The French Revolution was a volcanic upheaval in European history.

●Phrases and Expressions

List:

be at hand / be in place / blow up / break loose / clear away / come to life / cram sth into / die away

1. be at hand

in the appropriate or usual position or order

Examples:

●He slides the bolt in place to keep the door from swinging.

●The proposal is not quite in place.

●I think an expression of thanks to our host would be in place.

3. blow up

to explode; to lose one's temper; to seem more serious or important than sth really is

Examples:

●The army used precision-guided munitions to blow up enemy targets.

●Could you lend me a pump to blow up my bicycle tires?

●I'm sorry I blew up at you.

●Newspapers blew up the story.

4. break loose

be unleashed; run away from confinement

Examples:

●A mighty force was about to break loose.

●Marty wants to break loose from his parent's authority.

5. clear away

收拾；消失

to remove in order to make room; to disappear

Example:

●The waitress had cleared away the plates and brought coffee.

●Tania cooked, served, and cleared away.

●When the smoke cleared away, we saw that the house was in ruins.

6. come to life

to recover consciousness; to appear lifelike

Examples:

●But as the door banged, she seemed to come to life again.

●Meanwhile, as spring advanced, the flowers in the seed ranch began to come to life.

7. cram sth into

to force, press, or squeeze into an insufficient space;

Examples:

●He tried to cram as many things as possible into his traveling bag.

●You can't cram eight people into that car .

8. die away

become less in amount or intensity

Examples:

●The hoofbeats gradually died away.

●The hoofbeats gradually died away.

●No sooner did one crisis die away than another claimed the headlines.

9. get away

逃离；逃脱；离开

to make an escape; leave

Examples:

●The bank robbers used a stolen car to get away.

●He had no chance to get away.

●People want to get away from the drudgery of their everyday lives.

o10. in the grip of

受…的控制（或支配）

controlled by something

Examples:

●All China was in the grip of a deep cold outbreak.

●The country was in the grip of a continuing and deep depression.

●He is in the grip of influenza.

11. nothing except

Examples:

●I can do nothing except for swimming in the dog days.

●I received nothing except what was due to me.

●The women and children could do nothing except eat during the journey.

12. rush to

（使某人）急速去； 奔； 奔赴

to hurry

Examples:

●We all rushed to the office to see what had happened.

●Ambulances rushed the injured to hospital.

●He sprang up and rushed to the door .

●Word Building

List:

●prefix—mono-

●suffix—-en

●Grammar

Past Participle as Adverbial Modifier

Past participles can be used as adverbial of condition, adverbial of time, adverbial of reason, adverbial of recession and adverbial of accompanying manner etc.

Example:

●The children headed toward school, followed by their dogs. (Para. 8)

●Heated, the metal expands.

●Born and bred in the countryside, he was bewildered by the big city.

●These sentences, analyzed differently, will make no sense.

●Mocked at by everybody, he had my sympathy.

●The lichens came borne by storms.

Past Participle as Object Complement

Past participles can be used as object complements. The predicate verbs are normally basic verbs of sensation or causative verbs.

Example:

●Dozens of people plunged into dead-end streets and found themselves trapped by crashing buildings. (Para. 17)

●She found the house renovated.

●It’s better to leave some things unsaid.

●I don’t want my name linked with him.

●I should like this matter settled immediately.

●He had his window broken to pieces.