用法学习: 1. carouse [kəˈraʊz] 饮酒作乐 to enjoy yourself by drinking alcohol and speaking and laughing loudly in a group of people. If you say that people are carousing, you mean that they are behaving very noisily and drinking a lot of alcohol as they enjoy themselves. He's now more likely to be seen tending his garden than carousing with the stars. The singing and carousing did not end until after midnight. We'd been up carousing till the early hours and were exhausted. Mom's brothers would come
up and want to go carousing with Dad. They'd go drinking and chasing women. nadir [ˈneɪdɪə] 最低点. 低潮, 低峰期. I. The nadir of something such as someone's career or the history of an organization is its worst time. the worst moment, or the moment of least hope and least achievement: The defeat was the nadir of her career. 1945 to 1946 was the nadir of Truman's presidency. If Jimmy's youth shielded him from the signs of their deteriorating marriage for a bit, the problem soon reached an obvious nadir. II. 最低点. In astronomy, the nadir is the point at which the sun or moon is directly below you, on the other side of the earth. The point directly below a particular place, or the lowest point reached by a heavenly body (= any object existing in space, especially a planet, or the sun) as it travels around, or appears to travel around, another body: The sun, or any celestial body, is said to be at its nadir when at its lowest point. The opposite, highest point is said to be its zenith. III. the point at which something is at its lowest value or level: At its nadir in the mid-1980s, the pound was almost at parity with the dollar. zenith [zɛnɪθ] 最高点, 高潮期. 高峰期 I. The zenith of something is the time when it is most successful or powerful. the best or most successful point or time: In the 1860s, Tolstoy was at the zenith of his achievement. His career reached its zenith in the 1960s. His career is now at its zenith. The zenith of Perugia's influence came with the defeat of Siena in 1358. II. The zenith is the point at which the sun or moon is directly above you and seems to be at its highest. The highest point reached by a heavenly body (= any object existing in space, especially a planet, or the sun) as it travels around, or appears to travel around, another body: The summer sun was at its zenith in a cloudless sky. The sun is well past its zenith when we cross paths with a mini-flotilla. The sun rises, reaches its zenith and sets. III. the point in the sky directly above you: The centre of the map is the zenith (straight overhead). A pall of cloud muffled the whole expanse of sky from zenith to horizon. fanfare I. A fanfare is a short, loud tune played on trumpets or other similar instruments to announce a special event. The ceremony opened with a fanfare of trumpets. II. If something happens with a fanfare, it happens or is announced with a lot of publicity. If something happens without a fanfare, it happens without a lot of fuss or publicity. great attention to and interest in something: much fanfare 张扬的, 大张旗鼓的, 大阵仗的 The new laws were passed after much fanfare. little fanfare 悄无声息的, 悄悄的, 神不知鬼不觉的 Riordan and his staff receive little fanfare for their work. The company was privatised with a fanfare of publicity. The departure of the South Korean prime minister was marked with little fanfare. Papaw quit drinking in 1983, a decision accompanied by no medical intervention and not much fanfare. 2. in the course of 期间, 在...时间里 I. undergoing the specified process. while doing a particular activity. in the course of doing something: Your job description outlines the main duties that you will be carrying out in the course of your work. In the course of writing this essay, I was tempted many times to veer off the subject. "a new textbook was in the course of preparation". II. during the specified period or activity. during an event or period of time. If something happens in the course of a particular period of time, it happens during that period of time. In the course of the 1930s, steel production in Britain approximately doubled. We struck up a conversation, in the course of which it emerged that he was a sailing man. The subpoena was issued in the course of a routine inquiry. How many really important calls do you get in the course of a day? "he was a friend to many people in the course of his life". I learned that our neighborhood had "gone downhill" after two bikes were stolen in the course of the week. in/within the space of six weeks, three hours, etc. 仅仅用了, 仅仅花了, 极言时间之短 before the end of (a stated time). in (a stated time) or less. during a period of six weeks, three hours, etc.: It all happened in the space of ten minutes. Within the space of three weeks, we've had four burglaries on this street. They started building in February and in the space of six months, the building was complete. Their shares have risen by 20 percent in the space of two weeks. Basically, I've had three bosses within the space of eight months. They finished in/within the space of an hour. refrain [rɪˈfreɪn] I. 常说的话. A refrain is a comment or saying that people often repeat. a phrase that is often repeated: "Every vote counts" is a familiar refrain in politics. Rosa's constant refrain is that she doesn't have a life. But it's obvious if you know where to look, and a common refrain for those of us who return intermittently is "Geez, Middletown is not looking good." II. A refrain is a short, simple part of a song, which is repeated many times. a short part of a song or poem that is repeated, especially between the verses (= the separate parts) ...a refrain from an old song. verb. If you refrain from doing something, you deliberately do not do it. We refrained from talking until we knew that it was safe. The sign on the wall said "Please refrain from smoking." Mrs Hardie refrained from making any comment. He appealed to all factions to refrain from violence. 3. A strip mall, strip center, strip plaza or simply plaza is a type of shopping center common in North America and Australia where the stores are arranged in a row, with a footpath in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front. Many of them face major traffic arterials and tend to be self-contained with few pedestrian connections to surrounding neighborhoods. Smaller strip malls may be called mini-malls, while larger ones may be called power centers or big box centers. In Australia, "strip shops" or "shopping centre" describes a line of independent shops and buildings along the principal streets of a city or suburban area, which are not set back from the pavement (footpath) and do not have dedicated car parking spaces. long-forgotten belonging to the past; no longer remembered a long-forgotten episode. It feels like now people have long forgotten all of the s--- she had to go through. long since = have long since did something 很长时间了 If you say that something has long since happened, you mean that it happened a long time ago. I've long since forgiven her for what she did. Even though her parents have long since died, she still talks about them in the present tense. a. long ago. Long ago; in the (distant) past. I don't know why he asked me to do that, when I had long since finished it. The building has long since been demolished. promises long since forgotten. b. for a long time. has long since been a devoted friend. Richie's pawnshop has long since closed, though a hideous yellow and green sign still marks the site, so far as I know. 4. earth-shattering = earth-shaking adj. (in hyperbolic use) very important, shocking, or traumatic. extremely important, interesting, or surprising. Something that is earth-shattering is very surprising or shocking. ...earth-shattering news. This is hardly earth-shattering news to anyone who's been following the debate. an earth-shattering discovery. "tell me this earth-shattering news of yours". 3. trial by fire A test in which a person is exposed to flames in order to assess their truthfulness, commitment, courage etc. A situation in which one is placed under extreme pressure or stress and expected as a means of testing one's ability to learn or perform. I was thrown right in the middle of a huge project as soon as I was hired, so it was a bit of a trial by fire. The master's program is something of a trial by fire compared to the relatively lax structure of my bachelor's degree. poor: impoverished 赤贫的, beggared 极度穷困的, destitute 一贫如洗的. lazy: lethargic 萎靡不振的, languorous 倦怠的, indolent 懒惰的. boom town a small town that grows quickly as a result of a sudden increase in local economic activity. a town or city that experiences a sudden increase in size and business activity: In many of India's boomtowns, a car is an important part of the middle-class dream, a symbol of status and comfort. an oil/a mining boomtown. And there's suddenly a great clamour of charities all 'raising awareness' of adult ADHD and a boom town of clinics in the W1 area of London offering private Ritalin prescriptions – with (almost) no questions asked. scatty 健忘的, 粗心大意的, 好忘的 If you describe someone as scatty, you mean that they often forget things or behave in a silly way. silly and often forgetting things: a scatty child. scatty behaviour. Her mother is scatty and absent-minded. But it's nonsense, all of it, isn't it? Yes, some adults are disorganised and distracted. We work, we have children, some of us are scatty, but that's character, not disease. Our short-term memories have been boiled alive by Apple Inc, but that doesn't mean we have ADHD. Not so long ago ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, to give it its full name) was a childhood disorder – something gone a touch awry in the brains of those boys in class who couldn't focus and bounced about on their chairs. Now there's a great crush of perfectly normal adults bullying meds out of their GPs, with none left for the poor bouncing boys. worried well 疑心病的, 整天疑神疑鬼的 people who are healthy but see a doctor because they think that they may have a disease or medical problem: Too much money is spent treating the worried well rather than people who are actually sick. Nearly 500 people died of the disease and more than 6,600 were "worried well", concerned that they, too, were infected. The worried well have cash to burn on meds and personalised brain training plans. Just enter the letters 'ADHD' into a search box and you'll see for yourself. It's like spilling blood into the water around Amity Island. The sharks begin to circle almost instantly. wiki: The worried well is a term that describes persons who are in relatively good health but believe themselves to be ill or likely to get an illness based on a current circumstance. As a collective noun, the term is typically used for groups of patients, not clearly defined, who are perceived to be using health services inappropriately or disproportionately. The phenomenon is also known as worried well syndrome. The worried well are within ICD-10 code Z71.1—"Person with feared complaint in whom no diagnosis is made." 4. litigious [lɪˈtɪdʒəs] 爱起诉的, 爱诉诸于法律的 I. tending or too ready to take legal action to settle disputes. Someone who is litigious often makes formal complaints about people to a civil court of law. too often taking arguments to a court of law for a decision, especially to win money in a lawsuit. too ready to take disagreements to a court of law so that a legal decision can be made about them: litigious society/culture. We live in an increasingly litigious society. The US is the most litigious society in the world. Many blame the current litigious climate for making doctors quicker to perform C-sections. Teachers were warned to avoid conflict with the parents, who were known to be litigious. At the same time patients were growing more and more litigious. "our increasingly litigious society". II. concerned with lawsuits or litigation. suitable to become the subject of a lawsuit. dressing gown 睡袍 a long, loose robe, typically worn after getting out of bed or bathing. a loose piece of clothing like a coat, worn informally inside the house, especially before getting dressed in the morning or after getting undressed in the evening. have a roving eye = wandering eye 色迷迷, 总找机会寻花问柳 old-fashioned humorous If you say that someone has a roving eye, you mean that they are always sexually interested in people other than their partner. If you say that someone has a roving eye, you are criticizing them for continually looking to start new sexual relationships. By his own admission he had a roving eye and was easily infatuated. Although he's going out with one of the world's most beautiful women, the actor still has a roving eye. roving You use roving to describe a person who travels around, rather than staying in a fixed place. ...a roving reporter. Left to raise themselves on the streets, these children form roving bands of delinquents. accountable Someone who is accountable is completely responsible for what they do and must be able to give a satisfactory reason for it: accountable to She is accountable only to the managing director. Politicians should be accountable to the public who elected them. accountable for The recent tax reforms have made government more accountable for its spending. hold someone accountable for something You have to hold your employees accountable for their actions, or else they will just do whatever they please. Riddle me this: RI. iddle me this is a stock phrase used to introduce a riddle, joke, observation, or question. a catchphrase used to introduce a joke, observation, question, or riddle. making a demand of a listener to note a situation about to be mentioned or a question, mostly ones that are hard to explain or solve. II. posing a challenge to a person to answer a question with no apparent answer. used to sarcastically or humorously pay emphasis to a question, undercutting the self-assuredness of another person. a rhetorical way of questioning conventional wisdom. pointing to hypocrisy or a contradiction or creating wry observations. Despite acting so confidently, riddle me this: how will we get all that money within a day? How will you pay for all your plans if you quit your job? Riddle me that. Riddle me this: why was such a talented collective so horrible in their work? note: Riddle me is an idiom whose use can be traced back to 1615. People use it as a way of presenting a brainteaser. A notable early use dates from 1693, when the English author John Dryden uses it in his translation of an ancient Roman satire, where the speaker says, "Riddle me this, and guess him if you can, who bears a nation in a single man." The phrase appears in another play acted in 1700 when a character in it uses it as an introduction to a puzzle. The American Folklore Society, in 1924, has it that in Jamaica, the phrase occurred in a chant used before riddles; "riddle me this, riddle me that, and perhaps not." It established itself by the middle of the 1900s when a Broadway musical was staged in 1933 under the title Riddle Me This. A riddle book was also published in 1940 under the title Riddle Me This. encumbered prevented from making quick progress by having to carry heavy objects or deal with important duties and responsibilities: She was encumbered by concern over her husband's health. a. to weigh someone or something down, or to make it difficult for someone to do something: be encumbered with/by Today, thankfully, women tennis players are not encumbered with/by long, heavy skirts and high-necked blouses. b. weigh down, burden. tourists encumbered by heavy luggage. c. to impede or hamper the function or activity of. hinder negotiations encumbered by a lack of trust. d. to burden with a legal claim (such as a mortgage). encumber an estate. 5. Universal key = master key = passkey 万能钥匙 I. a key designed to open any of a set of similar locks (as on the doors of a building). "the night porter used a pass key for those rooms that were empty". The porter unlocked the door with his master key. … he borrowed the electronic master key …—a fob which unlocks all the bedrooms in the building—and used it to enter another resident's room. … the … idea of coordinating luggage inspection by providing locks that the TSA can open with a master key. II. something (such as a set of computer instructions or a specific sequence of characters) that provides digital access to a variety of systems, files, etc. III. a crucial means of understanding or attaining something. —usually used with to. That's when it clicked. I had trained my mind to think what I wanted. At that point, I knew mindset training was the master key to success. a man I thought might hold the master key to one of the strangest scholarly mysteries in recent decades. night porter 值夜的人 A night porter is a person whose job is to be on duty at the main reception desk of a hotel throughout the night. someone whose job is to take care of a building or hotel at night: The hotel reception had closed at midnight and did not have a night porter. He is now working as a night porter. A night porter is a porter who is on duty during the night. A hotel commonly has a night porter to attend to the needs of guests and other incidents during the night. Traditionally a night porter might also be required to perform sundry maintenance and cleaning tasks such as polishing boots, emptying spittoons and laying fires. distressing causing anxiety, sorrow or pain; upsetting. upsetting or worrying. If something is distressing, it upsets you or worries you. It is very distressing to see your baby attached to tubes and monitors. Tranquillizers help alleviate the distressing symptoms of anxiety. The news reports about the famine were very distressing. deeply distressing It was deeply distressing for him to see his wife in such pain. "some very distressing news". stress I. to make a system, resource, etc. experience difficulties by needing or expecting too much from it: You can only stress the system so much before it starts to break down. Rural landscapes, stressed by drought, are turning brown. II. to pronounce a word or syllable with greater force than other words in the same sentence or other syllables in the same word, or to play a musical note with greater force than others in a group: In the word "engine" you should stress the first syllable. III. to give emphasis or special importance to something: He is careful to stress (that) the laboratory's safety standards are the best in the country. stress the importance of I'd just like to stress the importance of neatness and politeness in this job. 6. The Barnum [ˈbɑːnəm] effect, also called the Forer effect or, less commonly, the Barnum–Forer effect, is a common psychological phenomenon whereby individuals give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of their personality that supposedly are tailored specifically to them, yet which are in fact vague and general enough to apply to a wide range of people. This effect can provide a partial explanation for the widespread acceptance of some paranormal beliefs and practices, such as astrology, fortune telling, aura reading, and some types of personality tests. Psychologist Bertram Forer originally named it the "fallacy of personal validation". The term "Barnum effect" was coined in 1956 by psychologist Paul Meehl in his essay "Wanted – A Good Cookbook", because he relates the vague personality descriptions used in certain "pseudo-successful" psychological tests to those given by showman P. T. Barnum. The Barnum effect is manifested in response to statements that are called "Barnum statements"( 'If you don't like doing homework, you have ADHD.' Or 'if you zone out during meetings, you probably have ADHD'. These are known as Barnum statements, named after the showman P.T. Barnum whose catchphrase was: 'A sucker is born every minute.' ), meaning that general characterizations attributed to an individual are perceived to be true for them, even though the statements are such generalizations that they could apply to almost anyone. Such techniques are used by fortune tellers, astrologers, and other practitioners to convince customers that they, the practitioners, are in fact endowed with a paranormal gift. The effect is a specific example of the "acceptance phenomenon", which describes the general tendency of humans "to accept almost any bogus personality feedback". A related and more general phenomenon is that of subjective validation. 7. placement I. 放置. 摆放. 放位. the act of placing something in a particular position, or the position of something. the position of something, or the act of putting something in a particular position: We put a lot of thought into the placement of the furniture. The architecture and the placement of shops is not random: everything is minutely planned. The director gives instructions for the placement of the camera. Stent placement was successful for all patients. They were supervising the careful placement of the crate in the back of the truck. The placement of the furniture makes it hard to walk around. II. 排位赛. 排名赛. the rank someone or something has when compared to others: A bunch of new freshmen (= students in the first year of a program of study) are taking the university's math placement exam. III. (JOB/SCHOOL/HOME) the act of placing someone in a particular job, organization, school, or place where they can live. the act of officially putting someone in a particular home, institution (= a place such as a prison or hospital), school class, etc.: The state-run home is for children awaiting placement with a foster family or adoptive parents. Her research shows a big increase in the out-of-home placements for kids being taken from their family and being put in foster care. This is a temporary prison for inmates awaiting placement in the federal penal system. The frail and elderly may need placement in a long-term care facility. Placement in a self-contained classroom will mean that your child will be taken out of the mainstream classroom for all academic subjects. There are many dogs awaiting placement in suitable homes. There are students for whom this school is not the best possible placement. product placement a way of advertising a product by supplying it for use in films or television programmes. IV. a temporary position or job in an organization: I think we can find a placement for you in the sales department. The trainee teachers do a school placement in the summer term. Students then undertake a period of industrial placement. placement test 能力测试 a test that measures someone's ability in order to put that person in a particular class or group. work placement 工作实习 a limited period of time, usually forming part of a course of study, during which someone works for a company or organization in order to get work experience, which may be paid or not paid: All the students are undertaking work placements in local businesses one day a week for 12 weeks. Tallulah is a sociology student currently on work placement with a public relations company. In the two-hour-long interview, the woman said she first met the boy while she was completing her teaching placement. In the two-hour-long interview, the woman said she first met the boy while she was completing her teaching placement. She told police she declined the requests, but said the complainant was more persistent. The woman told police she declined friend requests from him multiple times, until he called her on Instagram. Advanced Placement in the US, courses offered to students at high school (= aged approximately 14 to 18) that are at the same level as college courses, and that give students college credits (= points for successfully completing an educational unit) if they pass a test at the end of the course: Increasing the number of minority students in Advanced Placement (AP) classes is a priority for us. Advanced Placement is increasingly important to success after high school, and should not be denied to any student. They are both 16 and juniors, and are preparing for Advanced Placement tests coming up soon.
vacuous VS fatuous; innocuous VS anodyne; insidious: vacuous [ˈvækjuəs] 没有营养的, 缺内容实质的, 没有内涵的, 愚蠢的, 缺大脑的, 无脑的 [disapproval]
not expressing or showing intelligent thought or purpose. If you
describe a person or their comments as vacuous, you are critical of them
because they lack intelligent thought or ideas. completely lacking in
intelligence or serious thought. a vacuous TV game show. vacuous minor celebrities. Models
are not always as vacuous as they are made out to be. ...the usual
vacuous comments by some faceless commentator. a vacuous
remark/question/expression/smile. vocabulary: Reserved for the harmlessly stupid and truly meaningless, vacuous is a smart-sounding way to describe something dumb. Celebrity gossip and reality TV are usually pretty vacuous, even if they're fun. If someone smiles at you in a way that seems fake or empty, you could describe the smile as vacuous. An example of a vacuous comment would be a politician promising to make things better without explaining how. If something is vacuous, it's like a vacuum — hollow, empty, devoid of substance. fatuous [ˈfætjuəs] 愚蠢的, 没脑子的, 脑残的 [formal, disapproval]
stupid. If you describe a person, action, or remark as fatuous, you
think that they are extremely silly, showing a lack of intelligence or
thought. The Chief was left speechless by this fatuous remark. vocabulary: Fatuous means lacking intelligence. When your mother outlaws calling your brother stupid, use fatuous instead.
Fatuous derives from the Latin fatuus meaning "foolish." It sounds like
it should have something to do with being fat, but it actually has no
relation to size. Fatuus itself comes from a root that also gave us
"debate" and this might be a good way to remember it. You
want to debate someone who's fatuous, because they are unintelligent,
silly and even a bit conceited, so they probably won't be very
persuasive debaters. Just don't call them fatuous to their face. Even if they don't know what it means, it's just not nice! innocuous [iˈnokjuəs] 无公害的, 无毒无害的. 非常平常的. 无辜的. 人畜无害的 not likely to offend or upset anyone. completely harmless (= causing no harm): The interviewer only asked boring, innocuous questions. Some mushrooms look innocuous but are in fact poisonous. an innocuous remark/suggestion. a. not likely to harm or hurt anyone or anything. an innocuous substance found in some types of fungi. anodyne ['ænə,daɪn] 不会招致非议的, 人畜无害的, 无害的, 无聊的 [formal, disapproval] containing nothing that will offend anyone or cause disagreements, and therefore rather boring. expressed in a way that is unlikely to offend anyone anodyne topics of conversation. If you describe something as anodyne, you are criticizing it because it has no strong characteristics and is not likely to excite, interest, or upset anyone. intended to avoid causing offence or disagreement, especially by not expressing strong feelings or opinions: This is daytime television at its most anodyne. Somehow this avoids being just another silly pop song with anodyne lyrics about love and happiness. Their quarterly meetings were anodyne affairs. vocabulary: When your back is killing you from helping your friend move furniture into his new apartment, you need to take an anodyne, a painkiller. An anodyne doesn't have to be actual medicine. If the pure joy of helping your friend is soothing enough to make you forget your aching back, that counts as an anodyne too (though perhaps an unlikely one). Anodyne can also be used as an adjective to describe something that relieves pain, or is at least inoffensive. When you're stressed out or unhappy, try looking at anodyne pictures of kittens. Er, unless you had a bad experience with a cat once. insidious [ɪnˈsɪdɪəs] 貌似无害的, 貌似无辜的, 不容小觑的, 不可小看的, 不可忽视的, 不可小视的, 貌似无害实则危害很大的 something that is insidious is dangerous because it seems to be harmless or not important but in fact causes harm or damage. Something that is insidious is unpleasant or dangerous and develops gradually without being noticed. The changes are insidious, and will not produce a noticeable effect for 15 to 20 years. They focus on overt discrimination rather than insidious aspects of racism. the insidious effects of gossip. As head of the Arts Council, Lord Palumbo looks like the fox in charge of the henhouse. He has been possessed to build a "masterpiece," whether London wants it or not. He is like the Boy Scout intent on doing a good deed who drags an old lady across the street when she doesn't want to go. Why doesn't he simply put this paragon of design on already vacant land? This whole controversy arose because a former Secretary of the Environment allowed it on the premise that "perhaps the new design might be better than the old one." This is indeed an insidious thought, and should not be allowed to determine the life or death of already satisfactory structures. fox in the henhouse = fox guarding the henhouse 掌管鸡窝的狐狸 ( cock in the henhouse = wolf guarding the sheep) (idiomatic, figurative) Someone untrustworthy placed in a position of trust in which they will be harmful, damaging or detrimental for their own personal gain. cock in the henhouse (idiomatic, figurative) A man in a situation where he has access to many women, presumably intending to seduce them.
