词汇学习

●Word Study

Word list:

Appall / authentic / define / dome / eccentric / smash / stiffen / swallow / vague / whirl / impulsive / indemnity / nonetheless / repress / scoff

1. appall

to grow pale: to (ap- /ad-) + pale(pall)

v. to fill or overcome with horror, fear or apprehension or alarm; cause to be unpleasantly surprised

●If you don’t study the whole semester and open your books a night before the exam, then you’ll surely be appalled to look at the syllabus.

●Astound: to overwhelm with amazement and wonder; to astonish and bewilder

●shudder: to shake or tremble suddenly and violently, as from horror, fear or aversion

2. authentic

author, one who acts independently

adj. conforming to fact and worthy of belief; trustworthy; reliable: an authentic account by an eyewitness

adj. of undisputed origin or authorship; genuine: an authentic signature.

3. define

to limit, determine : de- + fīnis, boundary, limit

FIN & FINIS: root-words, meaning end

●final 最终，决赛，期末考试

●finale 终曲

●finish 结束

●finite 有限的

●confine 限制，监禁

●infinity无穷

●financial：When you pay your bill the financial matter is ended

4. dome

n. a concave shape whose distinguishing characteristic is that the concavity faces downward

●Under the Dome is a science fiction novel by Stephen King published in November 2009.

●(Slang) the human head.

5. eccentric

out of centre, from(-ec) + centre

●a person with an unusual or odd personality; unconventional; peculiar; odd

●He is getting more eccentric every day; He had an eccentric habit of collecting stray cats.

6. impulsive

●Inclined to act on impulse rather than thought

●Letting him borrow her car was an impulsive act that she immediately regretted.

PEL & PULS, the ROOT-WORDS means DRIVE PUSH & THROS.

1. Impulse / Impulsive:冲动（的）

2. Pulse:脉搏

3. Compel / Compulsive:强迫（的）

4. Compulsory:义务的

5. Expel / Expulsion:驱逐

6. Repel / Repulsive:抵制（的）

7. Propel / Propulsion:驱动

8. Impel:推动

9. Dispel:驱散

7. indemnity

from uninjured, not (in-) + injured (damage)

n. protection or security against damage or loss ; compensation for loss or damage; reimbursement

●Political exiles had not been given indemnity from prosecution.

8. nonetheless

despite that; however; nevertheless; in spite of the fact that has just been mentioned

●The region was extremely beautiful. Nonetheless he could not imagine spending the rest of his life there.

9. repress

re- + press

v. to keep under control, check, or suppress (desires, feelings, actions, tears, etc.)

●It is anger that is repressed that leads to violence and loss of control.

v. to put down by force, usually before total control has been lost; quell

●To repress a rebellion / dissidents

10. scoff

from mockery, probably of Scandinavian origin;

akin to Danish skof, jest, teasing

v. to express scorn; laugh at with contempt and derision

●She scoffed at my poem.

●However, of course the scoffer didn't laugh — I mean the boy. No, he scoffed; there wasn't anything he wouldn't scoff at.

●From A Connecticut Yankee by Mark Twain

11. smash

v. to break in pieces or be ruined.

●But, unhappy man, the dreadful recoil will smash you to pieces at your starting.

●From The Earth To The Moon by Jules Verne

●This unexpected news had smashed all his hopes.

smashing adj. marvelous; splendid

●What a smashing idea!

●smash hit a song, show etc. that is a great success.

●This play was a smash hit in New York.

12. stiffen

v. to make or become stiff or stiffer; to become suddenly tense or unyielding

●I felt him stiffen in my arms and heard him murmur: "Go on, go on; but don't make any noise.

●From The Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux

●He stiffened when he saw his boss enter the room

13. swallow

v. to allow to pass down the throat to the stomach.

●His throat was so painful that he could hardly swallow.

v. to put up with (something unpleasant):

●I swallowed the insults and kept on working.

●v. to take back; retract: to swallow one’s words

●swallow up: to cause to disappear completely.

●She was swallowed up in the crowd

●swallow one‘s pride 忍气吞声

●to behave humbly by making an apology

n. a type of insect-eating bird with long wings and a divided tail燕子 One swallow does not make a spring.

I feel vaguely uneasy.

14. vague

adj. Not clearly expressed; inexplicit; not clear, distinct or definite.

●Through the fog we saw the vague outline of a ship.

●She has only a vague idea of how this machine works.

adj.(of people) imprecise, or impractical and forgetful.

●He is always very vague when making arrangements.

Vaguely: slightly

●She felt vaguely irritated.

15. whirl

v. to move rapidly (round, away etc.).

●She whirled round when I called her name.

●The wind whirled my hat away before I could grab it.

n. a circular current in a river or sea, caused by opposing tides, winds or currents

whirlwind 旋风

n. a violent circular current of wind with a whirling motion.