Barrons 3500 E

Question 1

material

Answer 1

ADJ. /物质的；重要的/made of physical matter; unspiritual; impor?tant. Probing the mysteries of this material world has always fascinated physicist George Whitesides. Reporters nick?named Madonna the Material Girl because, despite her name, she seemed wholly uninterested in spiritual values. Lexy’s active participation made a material difference to the success of the fund-raiser.

Question 2

materialism

Answer 2

N. /唯物主义/preoccupation with physical comforts and things. By its nature, materialism is opposed to idealism, for where the materialist emphasizes the needs of the body, the idealist emphasizes the needs of the soul.

Question 3

maternal

Answer 3

ADJ. /母性的/motherly. Many animals display maternal instincts only while their offspring are young and helpless.

Question 4

matriarch

Answer 4

N. /女家长；掌管全家的老太婆/woman who rules a family or larger social group. The matriarch ruled her gypsy tribe with a firm hand.

Question 5

matriculate

Answer 5

V. /入学/enroll (in college or graduate school). Incoming students formally matriculate at our college in a special ceremony during which they sign the official regis?ter of students.

Question 6

maudlin

Answer 6

ADJ. /多愁善感/effusively sentimental. Whenever a particu?larly maudlin tearjerker was playing at the movies, Marvin would embarrass himself by weeping copiously.

Question 7

maul

Answer 7

V. /粗手粗脚的处理/handle roughly. The rock star was mauled by his over-excited fans.

Question 8

maverick

Answer 8

N. /没打烙印的动物；闹独立的人；非国教徒；造反者/rebel; nonconformist. To the masculine literary establishment, George Sand with her insistence on wearing trousers and smoking cigars was clearly a maverick who fought her proper womanly role.

Question 9

mawkish

Answer 9

ADJ. /过分多愁善感；感情脆弱到令人作呕的/mushy and gushy; icky-sticky sentimental; maudlin. Whenever Gigi and her boyfriend would sigh and get all lovey-dovey, her little brother would shout, “Yuck!” protesting their mawkish behavior.

Question 10

maxim

Answer 10

N. /至理名言；格言/proverb; a truth pithily stated. Aesop’s fables illustrate moral maxims.

Question 11

meager

Answer 11

ADJ. /瘦的；贫乏的，不足的/scanty; inadequate. Still hungry after his meager serving of porridge, Oliver Twist asked for a sec?ond helping.

Question 12

meander

Answer 12

V. /弯曲；蜿蜒/wind or turn in its course. Needing to stay close to a source of water, he followed every twist and turn of the stream as it meandered through the countryside.

Question 13

meddlesome

Answer 13

ADJ. /爱管闲事的；好事的；好插手的/interfering. He felt his marriage was suf?fering because of his meddlesome mother-in-law.

Question 14

mediate

Answer 14

V. /调解；仲裁/settle a dispute through the services of an out?sider. King Solomon was asked to mediate a dispute between two women, each of whom claimed to be the mother of the same child.

Question 15

mediocre

Answer 15

ADJ. /普通的，一般的/ordinary; commonplace. We were disap?pointed because he gave a rather mediocre performance in this role.

Question 16

meditation

Answer 16

N. /沉思冥想/reflection; thought. She reached her deci?sion only after much meditation.

Question 17

medley

Answer 17

N. /混合/mixture. To avoid boring dancers by playing any one tune for too long, bands may combine three or four tunes into a medley.

Question 18

meek

Answer 18

ADJ. /谦卑的，驯服的；温和的；顺从的/quiet and obedient; spiritless. Can Lois Lane see through Superman’s disguise and spot the superhero hiding behind the guise of meek, timorous Clark Kent? Mr. Barrett never expected his meek daughter would dare to defy him by eloping with her suitor.

Question 19

melancholy

Answer 19

ADJ. /忧郁/gloomy; morose; blue. To Eugene, stuck in his small town, a train whistle was a melancholy sound, for it made him think of all the places he would never get to see.

Question 20

mellifluous

Answer 20

ADJ. /优美的；流畅的；蜜一样的/sweetly or smoothly flowing; melodious. Ital?ian is a mellifluous language, especially suited to being sung.

Question 21

membrane

Answer 21

N. /（动植物的）膜，薄膜/thin soft sheet of animal or vegetable tissue. Each individual section of an orange is covered with a thin, transparent membrane. membranous,ADJ.

Question 22

memento

Answer 22

N. /有象征意义的物品；纪念品/token; reminder. Take this book as a memento of your visit.

Question 23

menagerie

Answer 23

N. /动物园/collection of wild animals. Whenever the children run wild around the house, Mom shouts, “Calm down! I’m not running a menagerie!”

Question 24

mendacious

Answer 24

ADJ. /撒谎成性的；撒谎的，假的/lying; habitually dishonest. Distrusting Huck from the start, Miss Watson assumed he was menda?cious and refused to believe a word he said.

Question 25

mendicant

Answer 25

N. /乞丐/beggar. "O noble sir, give alms to the poor," cried Aladdin, playing the mendicant.

Question 26

menial

Answer 26

ADJ. /仆人的；卑贱的/suitable for servants; lowly; mean. Her wicked stepmother forced Cinderella to do menial tasks around the house while her ugly stepsisters lolled around painting their toenails.

Question 27

mentor

Answer 27

N. /门特；顾问；导师/teacher. During this very trying period, she could not have had a better mentor, for the teacher was sympathetic and understanding.

Question 28

mercenary

Answer 28

ADJ. /唯利是图/interested in money or gain. Andy's every act was prompted by mercenary motives: his first question was always "What's in it for me?"

Question 29

mercurial

Answer 29

ADJ. /善变的；无常的/capricious; changing; fickle. Quick as quicksilver to change, he was mercurial in nature and there?fore unreliable.

Question 30

merger

Answer 30

N. /合并；吞并/combination (of two business corporations). When the firm's president married the director of financial planning, the office joke was that it wasn't a marriage, it was a merger.

Question 31

mesmerize

Answer 31

V. /施催眠术/hypnotize. The incessant drone seemed to mesmerize him and place him in a trance.

Question 32

metallurgical

Answer 32

ADJ. /冶金的/pertaining to the art of removing metals from ores. During the course of his metallurgical research, the scientist developed a steel alloy of tremendous strength.

Question 33

metamorphosis

Answer 33

N. /变形/change of form; major transformation. The metamorphosis of caterpillar to butterfly is typical of many such changes in animal life. metamorphose,V.

Question 34

metaphor

Answer 34

N. /隐喻/implied comparison. "He soared like an eagle" is an example of a simile; "He is an eagle in flight," a metaphor.

Question 35

metaphysical

Answer 35

ADJ. /形而上学的/pertaining to speculative philosophy. The modern poets have gone back to the fanciful poems of the metaphysical poets of the seventeenth century for many of their images. metaphysics, N.

Question 36

methodical

Answer 36

ADJ. /方法论的；系统化的/systematic. An accountant must be methodical and maintain order among his financial records.

Question 37

meticulous

Answer 37

ADJ. /小心翼翼的/excessively careful; painstaking; scrupu?lous. Martha Stewart was a meticulous housekeeper, fuss?ing about each and every detail that went into making up her perfect home.

Question 38

metropolis

Answer 38

N. /大都会/large city. Every evening the terminal is filled with thousands of commuters going from this metropolis to their homes in the suburbs.

Question 39

mettle

Answer 39

N. /勇气；精神/courage; spirit. When challenged by the other horses in the race, the thoroughbred proved its mettle by its determination to hold the lead.

Question 40

miasma

Answer 40

N. /沼气；瘴气，毒气；天然气/swamp gas; heavy, vaporous atmosphere, often emanating from decaying matter; pervasive corrupting influence. The smog hung over Victorian London like a dark cloud; noisome, reeking of decay, it was a visible miasma.

Question 41

microcosm

Answer 41

N. /微观世界/small world; the world in miniature. The small village community that Jane Austen depicts serves as a microcosm of English society in her time, for in this small world we see all the social classes meeting and mingling.

Question 42

migrant

Answer 42

ADJ. /移居的；候鸟的/changing its habitat; wandering. These migrant birds return every spring. also N.

Question 43

migratory

Answer 43

ADJ. /迁徙的；流浪的/wandering. The return of the migratory birds to the northern sections of this country is a harbinger of spring. migrate,V.

Question 44

milieu

Answer 44

N. /环境；（社会）背景/environment; means of expression. Surrounded by smooth preppies and arty bohemians, the country boy from Smalltown, USA, felt out of his milieu. Although he has produced excellent oil paintings and lithographs, his proper milieu is watercolor.

Question 45

militant

Answer 45

ADJ. /好战的/combative; bellicose. Although at this time he was advocating a policy of neutrality, one could usually find him adopting a more militant attitude. also N.

Question 46

mimicry

Answer 46

N. /模仿/imitation. Her gift for mimicry was so great that her friends said that she should be in the theater.

Question 47

mincing

Answer 47

ADJ. /装腔作势的/affectedly dainty. Yum-Yum walked across the stage with mincing steps.

Question 48

minuscule

Answer 48

ADJ. /极小的/extremely small. Why should I involve myself with a project with so minuscule a chance for success?

Question 49

minute

Answer 49

ADJ. /极小的/extremely small. The twins resembled one another closely; only minute differences set them apart.

Question 50

minutiae

Answer 50

N. /细节；细微之处/petty details. She would have liked to ignore the minutiae of daily living.

Question 51

mirage

Answer 51

N. /曲解；海市蜃楼；虚影 /unreal reflection; optical illusion. The lost prospector was fooled by a mirage in the desert.

Question 52

mire

Answer 52

V. /陷入（泥塘）；麻烦缠身/entangle; stick in swampy ground. Their rear wheels became mired in mud. also N.

Question 53

mirth

Answer 53

N. /欢笑/merriment; laughter. Sober Malvolio found Sir Toby's mirth improper.

Question 54

misanthrope

Answer 54

N. /厌恶人类的人；憎人者/one who hates mankind. In Gulliver's Travels, Swift portrays an image of humanity as vile, degraded beasts; for this reason, various critics consider him a misanthrope.

Question 55

misapprehension

Answer 55

N. /错误；误解/error; misunderstanding. To avoid misapprehension, I am going to ask all of you to repeat the instructions I have given.

Question 56

miscellany

Answer 56

N. /杂记/mixture of writings on various subjects. This is an interesting miscellany of nineteenth-century prose and poetry.

Question 57

mischance

Answer 57

N. /霉运；不幸/ill luck. By mischance, he lost his week's salary.

Question 58

misconception

Answer 58

N. /误解/mistaken idea. "Sir, you are suffering from a misconception. I do not wish to marry you in the least!"

Question 59

misconstrue

Answer 59

V. /曲解/interpret incorrectly; misjudge. She took the passage seriously rather than humorously because she misconstrued the author's ironic tone.

Question 60

misdemeanor

Answer 60

N. /轻罪/minor crime. The culprit pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor rather than face trial for a felony.

Question 61

miserly

Answer 61

ADJ. /吝啬的；贪婪的；坏的/stingy; mean. Transformed by his vision on Christmas Eve, mean old Scrooge ceased being miserly and became a generous, kind old man.

Question 62

misgivings

Answer 62

N. /担忧，疑虑/doubts. Hamlet described his misgivings to Horatio but decided to fence with Laertes despite his fore?boding of evil.

Question 63

mishap

Answer 63

N. /意外，灾难/accident. With a little care you could have avoided this mishap.

Question 64

misnomer

Answer 64

N. /错误的名字；写错名字；用词不当/wrong name; incorrect designation. His tyrannical conduct proved to all that his nickname, King Eric the Just, was a misnomer.

Question 65

misrepresent

Answer 65

V. /误传；有意制造误解/give a false or incorrect impression, often deliberately; serve unsatisfactorily as a representative. In his job application, Milton misrepresented his academic background; he was fired when his employers discovered the truth. The reformers accused Senator Gunbucks of mis?representing his constituents and claimed he took bribes from the NRA.

Question 66

missile

Answer 66

N. /投掷物/object to be thrown or projected. After carefully folding his book report into a paper airplane, Beavis threw the missile across the classroom at Butthead. Rocket scien?tists are building guided missiles; Beavis and Butthead can barely make unguided ones.

Question 67

missive

Answer 67

N. /信件/letter. The ambassador received a missive from the secretary of state.

Question 68

mite

Answer 68

N. /小东西；小硬币/very small object or creature; small coin. Gnats are annoying mites that sting.

Question 69

mitigate

Answer 69

V. /减轻；减缓；中和/appease; moderate. Nothing Jason did could mitigate Medea's anger; she refused to forgive him for betraying her.

Question 70

mnemonic

Answer 70

ADJ. /记忆的/pertaining to memory. He used mnemonic tricks to master new words.

Question 71

mobile

Answer 71

ADJ. /移动的/movable; not fixed. The mobile blood bank operated by the Red Cross visited our neighborhood today. mobility, N.

Question 72

mock

Answer 72

V. /嘲弄，嘲笑/ridicule; imitate, often in derision. It is unkind to mock anyone; it is stupid to mock anyone significantly big?ger than you. mockery, N.

Question 73

mode

Answer 73

N. /时尚；方式；模式/prevailing style; manner; way of doing some?thing. The rock star had to have her hair done in the latest mode: frizzed, with occasional moussed spikes for variety. Henry plans to adopt a simpler mode of life: he is going to become a mushroom hunter and live off the land.

Question 74

modicum

Answer 74

N. /少量/limited quantity. Although his story is based on a modicum of truth, most of the events he describes are fictitious.

Question 75

modulate

Answer 75

V. /控制；调制到标准；调制（信号）/tone down in intensity; regulate; change from one key to another. Always singing at the top of her lungs, the budding Brunhilde never learned to modulate her voice.

Question 76

molecule

Answer 76

N. /分子/the smallest particle (one or more atoms) of a substance, having all the properties of that substance. In chemistry, we study how atoms and molecules react to form new substances.

Question 77

mollify

Answer 77

V. /平息；安抚/soothe. The airline customer service representa?tive tried to mollify the angry passenger by offering her a seat in first class.

Question 78

molt

Answer 78

V. /换毛；褪毛/shed or cast off hair or feathers. When Molly's canary molted, he shed feathers all over the house.

Question 79

molten

Answer 79

ADJ. /融化了的/melted. The city of Pompeii was destroyed by volcanic ash rather than by molten lava flowing from Mount Vesuvius.

Question 80

momentous

Answer 80

ADJ. /非常重要的/very important. When Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium, they had no idea of the momen?tous impact their discovery would have upon society.

Question 81

momentum

Answer 81

N. /动量；动力/quantity of motion of a moving body; impetus. The car lost momentum as it tried to ascend the steep hill.

Question 82

monarchy

Answer 82

N. /君主制；君主整体/government under a single ruler. Though England today is a monarchy, there is some question whether it will be one in twenty years, given the present dis?content at the prospect of Prince Charles as king.

Question 83

monastic

Answer 83

ADJ. /僧侣的；遁入空门的，不问世事/related to monks or monasteries; removed from worldly concerns. Withdrawing from the world, Thomas Merton joined a contemplative religious order and adopted the monastic life.

Question 84

monetary

Answer 84

ADJ. /金融的/pertaining to money. Jane held the family purse strings: she made all monetary decisions affecting the household.

Question 85

monochromatic

Answer 85

ADJ. /单色的/having only one color. Most people who are color blind actually can distinguish several colors; some, however, have a truly monochromatic view of a world all in shades of gray.

Question 86

monolithic

Answer 86

ADJ. /单片的，单块的；一体不动摇的/solidly uniform; unyielding. Knowing the importance of appearing resolute, the patriots sought to present a monolithic front.

Question 87

monosyllabic

Answer 87

ADJ. /单音节的/having only one syllable. No matter what he was asked, the taciturn New Englander answered with a monosyllabic "Yep" or "Nope." monosyllable, N.

Question 88

monotony

Answer 88

N. /千篇一律的/sameness leading to boredom. What could be more deadly dull than the monotony of punching num?bers into a computer hour after hour?

Question 89

montage

Answer 89

N. /蒙太奇/photographic composition combining ele?ments from different sources. In one early montage, Beauchamp brought together pictures of broken man?nequins and newspaper clippings about the Vietnam War.

Question 90

monumental

Answer 90

ADJ. /雄伟的；厚重的；结实的；纪念的/massive. Writing a dictionary is a monu?mental task.

Question 91

moodiness

Answer 91

N. /闷闷不乐/fits of depression or gloom. Her recurrent moodiness left her feeling as if she had fallen into a black hole.

Question 92

moratorium

Answer 92

N. /延期偿还/legal delay of payment. If we declare a moratorium and delay collection of debts for six months, I am sure the farmers will be able to meet their bills.

Question 93

morbid

Answer 93

ADJ. /病态的，恐怖的；喜怒无常的；不成熟的/given to unwholesome thought; moody; char?acteristic of disease. People who come to disaster sites just to peer at the grisly wreckage are indulging their morbid curiosity.

Question 94

mores

Answer 94

N. /风俗习惯/conventions; moral standards; customs. In America, Benazir Bhutto dressed as Western women did; in Pakistan, however, she followed the mores of her people, dressing in traditional veil and robes.

Question 95

moribund

Answer 95

ADJ. /垂死的/dying. Hearst took a moribund, failing weekly newspaper and transformed it into one of the liveli?est, most profitable daily papers around.

Question 96

morose

Answer 96

ADJ. /郁闷的；乖僻的/ill-humored; sullen; melancholy. Forced to take early retirement, Bill acted morose for months; then, all of a sudden, he shook off his sullen mood and was his usual cheerful self.

Question 97

mortician

Answer 97

N. /殡仪业者/undertaker. The mortician prepared the corpse for burial.

Question 98

mortify

Answer 98

V. /侮辱；体罚/humiliate; punish the flesh. She was so mortified by her blunder that she ran to her room in tears.

Question 99

mosaic

Answer 99

N. /马赛克/picture made of colorful small inlaid tiles. The mayor compared the city to a beautiful mosaic made up of people of every race and religion on earth.

Question 100

mote

Answer 100

N. /小半点/small speck. The tiniest mote in the eye is very painful.

Question 101

motif

Answer 101

N. /主旨，本意；动机/theme. This simple motif runs throughout the entire score.

Question 102

motley

Answer 102

ADJ. /多彩的，杂色的；混合的/multi-colored; mixed. The jester wore a motley tunic, red and green and blue and gold all patched together haphazardly. Captain Ahab had gathered a motley crew to sail the vessel: old sea dogs and runaway boys, pil?lars of the church and drunkards, even a tattooed islander who terrified the rest of the crew.

Question 103

mottled

Answer 103

ADJ. /有斑点的；弄脏的/blotched in coloring; spotted. When old Fal?staff blushed, his face was mottled with embarrassment, all pink and purple and red.

Question 104

muddle

Answer 104

V. /迷惑的；搞乱了的，混淆了的/confuse; mix up. His thoughts were muddled and chaotic. also N.

Question 105

muggy

Answer 105

ADJ. /又热又潮的（天气）/warm and damp. August in New York City is often muggy.

Question 106

multifaceted

Answer 106

ADJ. /多面的/having many aspects. A multifaceted composer, Roger Davidson has recorded original pieces that range from ragtime tangos to choral masses.

Question 107

multifarious

Answer 107

ADJ. /多样的；各式各样的/varied; greatly diversified. A career woman and mother, she was constantly busy with the multi?farious activities of her daily life.

Question 108

multiform

Answer 108

ADJ. /多态的/having many forms. Snowflakes are multi?form but always hexagonal.

Question 109

multilingual

Answer 109

ADJ. /多语种的/having many languages. Because they are bordered by so many countries, the Swiss people are multilingual.

Question 110

multiplicity

Answer 110

N. /多样性/state of being numerous. He was appalled by the multiplicity of details he had to complete before set?ting out on his mission.

Question 111

mundane

Answer 111

ADJ. /世俗的；日常的/worldly as opposed to spiritual; everyday. Uninterested in philosophical or spiritual discussions, Tom talked only of mundane matters such as the daily weather forecast or the latest basketball results.

Question 112

munificent

Answer 112

ADJ. /宽宏大量的；慷慨大方的/very generous. Shamelessly fawning over a particularly generous donor, the dean kept on referring to her as "our munificent benefactor." munificence, N.

Question 113

mural

Answer 113

N. /壁画/wall painting. The walls of the Chicano Commu?nity Center are covered with murals painted in the style of Diego Rivera, the great Mexican artist.

Question 114

murky

Answer 114

ADJ. /暗的，模糊的，暧昧的/dark and gloomy; thick with fog; vague. The murky depths of the swamp were so dark that one couldn't tell the vines and branches from the snakes.

Question 115

muse

Answer 115

V. /沉思/ponder. For a moment he mused about the beauty of the scene, but his thoughts soon changed as he recalled his own personal problems. also N.

Question 116

mushroom

Answer 116

V. /膨胀，迅速生长/expand or grow rapidly. Between 1990 and 1999, the population of Silicon Valley mushroomed; with the rapidly increasing demand for housing, home prices sky-rocketed as well.

Question 117

musky

Answer 117

ADJ. /麝香味儿的/having the odor of musk. She left a trace of musky perfume behind her.

Question 118

muster

Answer 118

V. /收集；集合/gather; assemble. Washington mustered his forces at Trenton. also N.

Question 119

musty

Answer 119

ADJ. /陈腐的，变质的；时间长损失品质的/stale; spoiled by age. The attic was dark and musty.

Question 120

mutability

Answer 120

N. /变化能力/ability to change in form; fickleness. Going from rags to riches, and then back to rags again, the bank?rupt financier was a victim of the mutability of fortune.

Question 121

muted

Answer 121

ADJ. /静默的；静音的/silent; muffled; toned down. Thanks to the thick, sound-absorbing walls of the cathedral, only muted traffic noise reached the worshippers within.

Question 122

mutinous

Answer 122

ADJ. /反抗的；暴动的/unruly; rebellious. The captain had to use force to quiet his mutinous crew. mutiny, N.

Question 123

myopic

Answer 123

ADJ. /鼠目寸光；缺乏远见/nearsighted; lacking foresight. Stumbling into doors despite the coke bottle lenses on his glasses, the nearsighted Mr. Magoo is markedly myopic. In playing all summer long and ignoring to store up food for winter, the grasshopper in Aesop's fable was myopic as well.

Question 124

myriad

Answer 124

N. /无数，非常多/very large number. Myriads of mosquitoes from the swamps invaded our village every twilight. alsoADJ.

Question 125

mystify

Answer 125

V. /迷惑，蛊惑/bewilder purposely. When doctors speak in medical jargon, they often mystify their patients, who have little knowledge of medical terminology.

Question 126

nadir

Answer 126

N. /谷底，最低点；天底/lowest point. Although few people realized it, the Dow-Jones averages had reached their nadir and would soon begin an upward surge.

Question 127

naiveté

Answer 127

N. /天真烂漫的，简单的/quality of being unsophisticated; simplicity; art?lessness; gullibility. Touched by the naivetd of sweet, con?vent-trained Cosette, Marius pledges himself to protect her innocence. naive,ADJ.

Question 128

narcissist

Answer 128

N. /自我陶醉的人；逞能的人/conceited person; someone in love with his own image. A narcissist is her own best friend.

Question 129

narrative

Answer 129

ADJ. /解说的/related to telling a story. A born teller of tales, Tillie Olsen used her impressive narrative skills to advantage in her story "I Stand Here Ironing." narrate,V.

Question 130

nascent

Answer 130

ADJ. /初生的/incipient; coming into being. If we could identify these revolutionary movements in their nascent state, we would be able to eliminate serious trouble in later years.

Question 131

natty

Answer 131

ADJ. /穿着整齐干净的/neatly or smartly dressed. Priding himself on being a natty dresser, the gangster Bugsy Siegel collected a wardrobe of imported suits and ties.

Question 132

nauseate

Answer 132

V. /令人作呕的/cause to become sick; fill with disgust. The foul smells began to nauseate him.

Question 133

nautical

Answer 133

ADJ. /航海的/pertaining to ships or navigation. The Mar?itime Museum contains many models of clipper ships, log?books, anchors and many other items of a nautical nature.

Question 134

navigable

Answer 134

ADJ. /可以通航的/wide and deep enough to allow ships to pass through; able to be steered. So much sand had built up at the bottom of the canal that the waterway was barely navigable.

Question 135

nebulous

Answer 135

ADJ. /暧昧的，混浊不清的/vague; hazy; cloudy. After twenty years, she had only a nebulous memory of her grandmother's face.

Question 136

necromancy

Answer 136

N. /巫术，妖术，招魂术/black magic; dealings with the dead. The evil sorceror performed feats of necromancy, calling on the spirits of the dead to tell the future.

Question 137

nefarious

Answer 137

ADJ. /十恶不赦的/very wicked. The villain's crimes, though various, were one and all nefarious.

Question 138

negate

Answer 138

V. /拒绝，否定，取消/cancel out; nullify; deny. A sudden surge of adrenalin can negate the effects of fatigue: there's nothing like a good shock to wake you up.

Question 139

negligence

Answer 139

N. /疏忽，没能尽力的/neglect; failure to take reasonable care. Tommy failed to put back the cover on the well after he fetched his pail of water; because of his negligence, Kitty fell in.

Question 140

negligible

Answer 140

ADJ. /可忽略不计的/so small, trifling, or unimportant that it may be easily disregarded. Because the damage to his car had been negligible, Michael decided he wouldn't bother to report the matter to his insurance company.

Question 141

nemesis

Answer 141

N. /复仇的人；寻衅者/someone seeking revenge. Abandoned at sea in a small boat, the vengeful Captain Bligh vowed to be the nemesis of Fletcher Christian and his fellow mutineers.

Question 142

neologism

Answer 142

N. /新生词/new or newly coined word or phrase. As we invent new techniques and professions, we must also Invent neologisms such as "microcomputer" and "astronaut" to describe them.

Question 143

neophyte

Answer 143

N. /新入教者；新信徒/recent convert; beginner. This mountain slope contains slides that will challenge experts as well as neophytes.

Question 144

nepotism

Answer 144

N. /偏袒的人（亲戚）/favoritism (to a relative). John left his position with the company because he felt that advancement was based on nepotism rather than ability.

Question 145

nettle

Answer 145

V. /烦恼；激怒；荨麻/annoy; vex. Do not let him nettle you with his sar?castic remarks.

Question 146

neutral

Answer 146

ADJ. /中型的；自然的；中庸的，公允的/impartial; not supporting one side over another. Reluctant to get mixed up in someone else's quar?rel, Bobby tried to remain neutral, but eventually he had to take sides.

Question 147

nicety

Answer 147

N. /准确，精密/precision; minute distinction. I cannot distinguish between such niceties of reasoning.

Question 148

nihilist

Answer 148

N. /虚无主义者/one who believes traditional beliefs to be groundless and existence meaningless; absolute skeptic; revolutionary terrorist. In his final days, Hitler revealed him?self a power-mad nihilist, ready to annihilate all of Western Europe, even to destroy Germany itself, in order that his will might prevail. The root of the word nihilist is nihil, Latin for nothing. nihilism, N.

Question 149

nip

Answer 149

V. /夹，捏；剪断；阻止/stop something's growth or development; snip off; bite; make numb with cold. The twins were plotting mis?chief, but Mother intervened and nipped that plan in the bud. The gardener nipped off a lovely rose and gave it to me. Last week a guard dog nipped the postman in the leg; this week the extreme chill nipped his fingers till he could barely hold the mail.

Question 150

nirvana

Answer 150

N. /涅磐/in Buddhist teachings, the ideal state in which the individual loses himself in the attainment of an imper?sonal beatitude. Despite his desire to achieve nirvana, the young Buddhist found that even the buzzing of a fly could distract him from his meditation.

Question 151

nocturnal

Answer 151

ADJ. /夜的/done at night. Mr. Jones obtained a watch?dog to prevent the nocturnal raids on his chicken coops.

Question 152

noisome

Answer 152

ADJ. /有害的，有毒的；恶臭的/foul-smelling; unwholesome. The noisome atmosphere downwind of the oil refinery not only stank, it damaged the lungs of everyone living in the area.

Question 153

nomadic

Answer 153

ADJ. /游牧的/wandering. Several nomadic tribes of Indi?ans would hunt in this area each year.

Question 154

nomenclature

Answer 154

N. /命名法；术语学/terminology; system of names. Sharon found Latin word parts useful in translating medical nomen?clature: when her son had to have a bilateral myringotomy, she figured out that he just needed a hole in each of his eardrums to end the earaches he had.

Question 155

nominal

Answer 155

ADJ. /有名无实的，名存实亡的；名义上的/in name only; trifling. He offered to drive her to the airport for only a nominal fee.

Question 156

nonchalance

Answer 156

N. /冷淡/indifference; lack of concern; composure. Cool, calm, and collected under fire, James Bond shows remarkable nonchalance in the face of danger.

Question 157

noncommittal

Answer 157

ADJ. /不明朗的，不表态的；中庸的，未决的/neutral; unpledged; undecided. We were annoyed by his noncommittal reply for we had been led to expect definite assurances of his approval.

Question 158

nondescript

Answer 158

ADJ. /普通的/undistinctive; ordinary. The private detec?tive was a short, nondescript fellow with no outstanding fea?tures, the sort of person one would never notice in a crowd.

Question 159

nonentity

Answer 159

N. /不存在/person of no importance; nonexistence. Because the two older princes dismissed their youngest brother as a nonentity, they did not realize that he was qui?etly plotting to seize the throne.

Question 160

nonplus

Answer 160

V. /使迷惑；使为难；混淆/bring to halt by confusion; perplex. Jack's uncharacteristic rudeness nonplussed Jill, leaving her uncertain how to react.

Question 161

nostalgia

Answer 161

N. /想家；乡愁/homesickness; longing for the past. My grandfather seldom spoke of life in the old country; he had little patience with nostalgia. nostalgic,ADJ.

Question 162

notable

Answer 162

ADJ. /显著的；值得注意的/conspicuous; important; distinguished. Nor?mally notable for his calm in the kitchen, today the head cook was shaking, for the notable chef Julia Child was com?ing to dinner.

Question 163

notoriety

Answer 163

N. /臭名昭著的/disrepute; ill fame. To the starlet, any publicity was good publicity: if she couldn't have a good reputation, she'd settle for notoriety. notorious,ADJ.

Question 164

novelty

Answer 164

N. /新奇/something new; newness. The computer is no longer a novelty at work; every desk in our office has one. novel,ADJ.

Question 165

novice

Answer 165

N. /新手/beginner. Even a novice at working with comput?ers can install Barron's Computer Study Program for the SAT by following the easy steps outlined in the user's manual.

Question 166

noxious

Answer 166

ADJ. /有害的/harmful. We must trace the source of these noxious gases before they asphyxiate us.

Question 167

nuance

Answer 167

N. /细微差别/shade of difference in meaning or color; subtle distinction. Jody gazed at the Monet landscape for an hour, appreciating every subtle nuance of color in the painting.

Question 168

nullify

Answer 168

V. /使无效/to make invalid. Once the contract was nullified, it no longer had any legal force.

Question 169

numismatist

Answer 169

N. /硬币收藏家/person who collects coins. The numisma?tist had a splendid collection of antique coins.

Question 170

nuptial

Answer 170

ADJ. /婚姻的/related to marriage. Reluctant to be married in a traditional setting, they decided to hold their nuptial cere?mony at the carousel in Golden Gate Park.

Question 171

nurture

Answer 171

V. /养育；教育/nourish; educate; foster. The Head Start pro?gram attempts to nurture pre-kindergarten children so that they will do well when they enter public school. also N.

Question 172

nutrient

Answer 172

N. /营养品/nourishing substance. As a budding nutrition?ist, Kim has learned to design diets that contain foods rich in important basic nutrients.

Question 173

oaf

Answer 173

N. /愚蠢的人/stupid, awkward person. "Watch what you're doing, you clumsy oaf!" Bill shouted at the waiter who had drenched him with iced coffee.

Question 174

obdurate

Answer 174

ADJ. /执拗的；顽固的/stubborn. He was obdurate in his refusal to listen to our complaints.

Question 175

obese

Answer 175

ADJ. /肥胖的/fat. It is advisable that obese people try to lose weight.

Question 176

obfuscate

Answer 176

V. /迷惑，困惑；增加不必要的复杂性/confuse; muddle; cause confusion; make needlessly complex. Was the president's spokesman trying to clarify the Whitewater mystery, or was he trying to obfus?cate the issue so the voters would never figure out what went on?

Question 177

obituary

Answer 177

ADJ. /讣告/death notice. I first learned of her death when I read the obituary column in the newspaper. also N.

Question 178

objective

Answer 178

ADJ. /不为情所动的；公平的/not influenced by emotions; fair. Even though he was her son, she tried to be objective about his behavior.

Question 179

objective

Answer 179

N. /目标/goal; aim. A degree in medicine was her ulti?mate objective.

Question 180

obligatory

Answer 180

ADJ. /必须的/binding; required. It is obligatory that books borrowed from the library be returned within two weeks.

Question 181

oblique

Answer 181

ADJ. /间接的；倾斜的；无诚意的/indirect; slanting (deviating from the perpen?dicular or from a straight line). Casting a quick, oblique glance at the reviewing stand, the sergeant ordered the company to march "Oblique Right."

Question 182

obliterate

Answer 182

V. /彻底摧毁/destroy completely. The tidal wave obliterated several island villages,

Question 183

oblivion

Answer 183

N. /遗忘；赦免/obscurity; forgetfulness. After a decade of pop?ularity, Hurston's works had fallen into oblivion; no one bothered to read them any more.

Question 184

oblivious

Answer 184

ADJ. /遗忘的；出神的/inattentive or unmindful; wholly absorbed. Deep in her book, Nancy was oblivious to the noisy squab?bles of her brother and his friends.

Question 185

obnoxious

Answer 185

ADJ. /讨厌的；冒犯的/offensive. I find your behavior obnoxious; please mend your ways.

Question 186

obscure

Answer 186

ADJ. /模糊的，不明了的，暗淡的/dark; vague; unclear. Even after I read the poem a fourth time, its meaning was still obscure. obscu?rity, N.

Question 187

obscure

Answer 187

V. /使模糊；使暗淡/darken; make unclear. At times he seemed purposely to obscure his meaning, preferring mystery to clarity.

Question 188

obsequious

Answer 188

ADJ. /谄媚的；拍马屁的；奴性的/slavishly attentive; servile; sycophantic. Helen liked to be served by people who behaved as if they respected themselves; nothing irritated her more than an excessively obsequious waiter or a fawning salesclerk.

Question 189

obsessive

Answer 189

ADJ. /强迫性的，入迷的；出神的/related to thinking about something con?stantly; preoccupying. Ballet, which had been a hobby, began to dominate his life: his love of dancing became obsessive. obsession, N.

Question 190

obsolete

Answer 190

ADJ. /过时的；无用的/no longer useful; outmoded; antiquated. The invention of the pocket calculator made the slide rule used by generations of engineers obsolete.

Question 191

obstetrician

Answer 191

N. /妇产科医师/physician specializing in delivery of babies. In modern times, the delivery of children has passed from the midwife to the more scientifically trained obstetrician,

Question 192

obstinate

Answer 192

ADJ. /坚定的，倔强的/stubborn; hard to control or treat. We tried to persuade him to give up smoking, but he was obstinate and refused to change. Blackberry stickers are the most obstinate weeds I know: once established in a yard, they're extremely hard to root out. obstinacy, N.

Question 193

obstreperous

Answer 193

ADJ. /喧闹的，喧嚣的；任性的/boisterous; noisy. What do you do when an obstreperous horde of drunken policemen goes carous?ing through your hotel, crashing into potted plants and singing vulgar songs?

Question 194

obtrude

Answer 194

V. /插手，强入，冲出/push (oneself or one's ideas) forward or intrude; butt in; stick out or extrude. Because Fanny was reluctant to obtrude her opinions about child-raising upon her daughter-in-law, she kept a close watch on her tongue. obtrusive,ADJ.

Question 195

obtuse

Answer 195

ADJ. /钝的，迟钝的；愚蠢的/blunt; stupid. What can you do with somebody who's so obtuse that he can't even tell that you're insulting him?

Question 196

obviate

Answer 196

V. /消除；排除；避免/make unnecessary; get rid of. I hope this contri?bution will obviate any need for further collections of funds.

Question 197

odious

Answer 197

ADJ. /可恨的；可耻的/hateful; vile. Cinderella's ugly stepsisters had the odious habit of popping their zits in public.

Question 198

odium

Answer 198

N. /讨厌；憎恶/detestation; hatefulness; disrepute. Prince Charming could not express the odium he felt toward Cin?derella's stepsisters because of their mistreatment of poor Cinderella.

Question 199

odorous

Answer 199

ADJ. /有气味的/having an odor. This variety of hybrid tea rose is more odorous than the one you have in your garden.

Question 200

odyssey

Answer 200

N. /长期的冒险旅行/long, eventful journey. The refugee's journey from Cambodia was a terrifying odyssey.

Question 201

offensive

Answer 201

ADJ. /攻击的；冒犯的/attacking; insulting; distasteful. Getting into street brawls is no minor matter for professional boxers, who are required by law to restrict their offensive impulses to the ring.

Question 202

offhand

Answer 202

ADJ. /即时的；随意的/casual; done without prior thought. Expecting to be treated with due propriety by her hosts, Great-Aunt Maud was offended by their offhand manner.

Question 203

officious

Answer 203

ADJ. /多管闲事的/meddlesome; excessively pushy in offering one's services. Judy wanted to look over the new computer models on her own, but the officious salesman kept on butting in with "helpful" advice until she was ready to walk out of the store.

Question 204

ogle

Answer 204

V. /抛媚眼；送秋波/look at amorously; make eyes at. At the coffee house, Walter was too shy to ogle the pretty girls openly; instead, he peeked out at them from behind a rubber plant.

Question 205

olfactory

Answer 205

ADJ. /嗅觉的/concerning the sense of smell. A wine taster must have a discriminating palate and a keen olfactory sense, for a good wine appeals both to the taste buds and to the nose.

Question 206

oligarchy

Answer 206

N. /寡头政治/government by a privileged few. One small clique ran the student council: what had been intended as a democratic governing body had turned into an oligarchy.

Question 207

ominous

Answer 207

ADJ. /有威胁的；恶兆的/threatening. Those clouds are ominous; they suggest a severe storm is on the way.

Question 208

omnipotent

Answer 208

ADJ. /无所不能的；全能的/all-powerful. The monarch regarded him?self as omnipotent and responsible to no one for his acts.

Question 209

omnipresent

Answer 209

ADJ. /无所不在的/universally present; ubiquitous. On Christmas Eve, Santa Claus is omnipresent.

Question 210

omniscient

Answer 210

ADJ. /无所不知的/all-knowing. I do not pretend to be omni?scient, but I am positive about this fact.

Question 211

omnivorous

Answer 211

ADJ. /无所不吃的；杂食的/eating both plant and animal food; devouring everything. Some animals, including man, are omnivorous and eat both meat and vegetables; others are either carnivorous or herbivorous.

Question 212

onerous

Answer 212

ADJ. /范忠德/burdensome. He asked for an assistant because his work load was too onerous.

Question 213

onset

Answer 213

N. /开始，发作，肇端；攻击/beginning; attack. Caught unprepared by the sudden onset of the storm, we rushed around the house closing windows and bringing the garden furniture into shelter. Caught unprepared by the enemy onset, the troops scrambled to take shelter.

Question 214

onus

Answer 214

N. /负担；责任/burden; responsibility. The emperor was spared the onus of signing the surrender papers; instead, he rele?gated the assignment to his generals.

Question 215

opalescent

Answer 215

ADJ. /乳白的/iridescent; lustrous. The oil slick on the water had an opalescent, rainbow-like sheen.

Question 216

opaque

Answer 216

ADJ. /暗的；不透明的/dark; not transparent. The opaque window shade kept the sunlight out of the room. opacity, N.

Question 217

opiate

Answer 217

N. /鸦片剂；安眠的，止痛的/medicine to induce sleep or deaden pain; some?thing that relieves emotions or causes inaction. To say that religion is the opiate of the people is to condemn religion as a drug that keeps the people quiet and submissive to those in power.

Question 218

opportune

Answer 218

ADJ. /世纪恰巧的；刚好的/timely; well-chosen. Sally. looked at her father struggling to balance his checkbook; clearly this would not be an opportune moment to ask him for a raise in her allowance.

Question 219

opportunist

Answer 219

N. /机会主义者/individual who sacrifices principles for expediency by taking advantage of circumstances. Joe is such an opportunist that he tripled the price of bottled water at his store as soon as the earthquake struck. Because it can break water pipes, an earthquake is, to most people, a disaster; to Joe, it was an opportunity.

Question 220

optician

Answer 220

N. /眼镜商/maker and seller of eyeglasses. The patient took the prescription given him by his oculist} o the optician.

Question 221

optimist

Answer 221

N. /乐观者/person who looks on the good side. The pes?simist says the glass is half-empty; the optimist says it is half-full.

Question 222

optimum

Answer 222

ADJ. /最优的/most favorable. If you wait for the optimum moment to act, you may never begin your project. also N.

Question 223

optional

Answer 223

ADJ. /可选的/not obligatory; left to one's choice. Most col?leges require applicants to submit SAT I scores; at some colleges, however, submitting SAT I scores is optional.

Question 224

opulence

Answer 224

N. /奢华；巨富；富裕，富足/extreme wealth; luxuriousness; abundance. The glitter and opulence of the ballroom took Cinderella's breath away. opulent,ADJ.

Question 225

opus

Answer 225

N. /作品/work. Although many critics hailed his Fifth Sym?phony as his major work, he did not regard it as his major opus.

Question 226

oracular

Answer 226

ADJ. /神一样的；谜一样的；超自然的，无法理解的/prophetic; uttered as if with divine authority; mysterious or ambiguous. Like many others who sought divine guidance from the oracle at Delphi, Oedipus could not understand the enigmatic oracularwarning he received.

Question 227

orator

Answer 227

N. /演讲者/public speaker. The abolitionist Frederick Dou?glass was a brilliant orator whose speeches brought home to his audience the evils of slavery.

Question 228

ordain

Answer 228

V. /指定；规定；任命；命令/decree or command; grant holy orders; predes?tine. The king ordained that no foreigner should be allowed to enter the city. The Bishop of Michigan ordained David a deacon in the Episcopal Church. The young lovers felt that fate had ordained their meeting.

Question 229

ordeal

Answer 229

N. /严酷的考验；折磨/severe trial or affliction. June was so painfully shy that it was an ordeal for her to speak up when the teacher called on her in class.

Question 230

ordinance

Answer 230

N. /法令；政令/decree. Passing a red light is a violation of a city ordinance.

Question 231

ordination

Answer 231

N. /圣职授任；委任/ceremony making someone a minister. At the young priest's ordination, the members of the congregation presented him with a set of vestments. ordain,V.

Question 232

orgy

Answer 232

N. /放荡，旷野；纵酒狂欢/wild, drunken revelry; unrestrained indulgence in a tendency. The Roman emperor's orgies were far wilder than the toga party in the movie Animal House. When her income tax refund check finally arrived, Sally indulged in an orgy of shopping.

Question 233

orient

Answer 233

V. /确定方向；校准/get one's bearings; adjust. Philip spent his first day in Denver orienting himself to the city.

Question 234

orientation

Answer 234

N. /定位（在社会上）/act of finding oneself in society. Freshman ori?entation provides the incoming students with an opportunity to learn about their new environment and their place in it.

Question 235

ornate

Answer 235

ADJ. /华丽的；过分装饰的/excessively or elaborately decorated. With its elaborately carved, convoluted lines, furniture of the Baroque period was highly ornate.

Question 236

ornithologist

Answer 236

N. /鸟类学家/scientific student of birds. Audubon's drawings of American bird life have been of interest not only to the ornithologists but also to the general public.

Question 237

ornithology

Answer 237

N. /鸟类学/study of birds. Audubon's studies of Ameri?can birds greatly influenced the course of ornithology.

Question 238

orthodox

Answer 238

ADJ. /传统的；保守的/traditional; conservative in belief. Faced with a problem, he preferred to take an orthodox approach rather than shock anyone. orthodoxy, N.

Question 239

oscillate

Answer 239

V. /振荡/vibrate pendulumlike; waver. It is interesting to note how public opinion oscillates between the extremes of optimism and pessimism.

Question 240

ossify

Answer 240

V. /硬化；骨化；化石化/change or harden into bone. When he called his opponent a "bonehead," he implied that his adversary's brain had ossified to the point that he was incapable of clear thinking.

Question 241

ostensible

Answer 241

ADJ. /显然的；虚假的/apparent; professed; pretended. Although the ostensible purpose of this expedition is to discover new lands, we are really interested in finding new markets for our products.

Question 242

ostentatious

Answer 242

ADJ. /卖弄的；企图惹人注意的；哗众取宠的/showy; pretentious; trying to attract attention. Donald Trump's latest casino in Atlantic City is the most ostentatious gambling palace in the East: it easily out?glitters its competitors. ostentation, N.

Question 243

ostracize

Answer 243

V. /放逐/exclude from public favor; ban. As soon as the newspapers carried the story of his connection with the criminals, his friends began to ostracize him. ostracism, N.

Question 244

oust

Answer 244

V. /剥夺；驱逐/expel; drive out. The world wondered if Aquino would be able to oust Marcos from office. ouster, N.

Question 245

outlandish

Answer 245

ADJ. /奇异的；偏僻的；前卫的/bizarre; peculiar; unconventional. The eccentric professor who engages in markedly outlandish behavior is a stock figure in novels with an academic setting.

Question 246

outmoded

Answer 246

ADJ. /过时的/longer stylish; old-fashioned. Uncon?cerned about keeping in style, Lenore was perfectly happy to wear outmoded clothes as long as they were clean and unfrayed.

Question 247

outskirts

Answer 247

N. /边界；郊区；外围/fringes; outer borders. We lived, not in central London, but in one of those peripheral suburbs that spring up on the outskirts of a great city.

Question 248

outspoken

Answer 248

ADJ. /坦率直言的/candid; blunt. The candidate was too out?spoken to be a successful politician; he had not yet learned to weigh his words carefully.

Question 249

outstrip

Answer 249

V. /超过/surpass; outdo. Jesse Owens easily out?stripped his white competitors to win the gold medal at the Olympic Games.

Question 250

outwit

Answer 250

V. /欺骗；瞒骗/outsmart; trick. By disguising himself as an old woman, Holmes was able to outwit his pursuers and escape capture.

Question 251

ovation

Answer 251

N. /热情洋溢的喝彩/enthusiastic applause. When the popular tenor Placido Domingo came on stage in the first act of La Boheme, he was greeted by a tremendous ovation.

Question 252

overbearing

Answer 252

ADJ. /傲慢专横的/bossy and arrogant; decisively impor?tant. Certain of her own importance, and of the unimpor?tance of everyone else, Lady Bracknell was intolerably overbearing in her manner. "In choosing a husband," she said, "good birth is of overbearing importance; compared to that, neither wealth nor talent signifies."

Question 253

overt

Answer 253

ADJ. /明显的；公然的/open to view. According to the United States Constitution, a person must commit an overt act before he may be tried for treason.

Question 254

overwrought

Answer 254

ADJ. /歇斯底里的/extremely agitated; hysterical. When Kate heard the news of the sudden tragedy, she became too overwrought to work and had to leave the office early.

Question 255

pachyderm

Answer 255

N. /皮厚的动物（如大象）/thick-skinned animal. The elephant is prob?ably the best-known pachyderm.

Question 256

pacifist

Answer 256

N. /和平主义者/one opposed to force; antimilitarist. Shooting his way through the jungle, Rambo was clearly not a pacifist.

Question 257

pacify

Answer 257

V. /安抚；平静/soothe; make calm or quiet; subdue. Dentists criticize the practice of giving fussy children sweets to pacify them.

Question 258

pact

Answer 258

N. /和约；条约/agreement; treaty. Tweedledum and Tweedledee made a pact not to quarrel anymore.

Question 259

paean

Answer 259

N. /欢乐歌；赞美歌/song of praise or joy. Paeans celebrating the victory filled the air.

Question 260

painstaking

Answer 260

ADJ. /辛勤的/showing hard work; taking-Dreat care. The new high-frequency word list is the result of painstaking efforts on the part of our research staff.

Question 261

palatable

Answer 261

ADJ. /可接受的；美味的/agreeable; pleasing to the taste. Neither Jack's underbaked opinions nor his overcooked casseroles were palatable to Jill.

Question 262

paleontology

Answer 262

N. /古生物学/study of prehistoric life. The paleontology instructor had a superb collection of fossils.

Question 263

palette

Answer 263

N. /调色板/board on which painter mixes pigments. At the present time, art supply stores are selling a paper palette that may be discarded after use.

Question 264

pall

Answer 264

V. /厌烦，腻味/grow tiresome. The study of word lists can eventu?ally pall and put one to sleep.

Question 265

palliate

Answer 265

V. /减轻/lessen the violence of (a disease); alleviate; moderate intensity; gloss over with excuses. Not content merely to palliate the patient's sores and cankers, the researcher sought a means of wiping out the disease. pal?liative,ADJ.

Question 266

pallid

Answer 266

ADJ. /苍白的，惨淡的/pale; wan. Because his job required that he work at night and sleep during the day, he had an excep?tionally pallid complexion.

Question 267

palpable

Answer 267

ADJ. /易于领会的；明显的/tangible; easily perceptible; unmistakable. The patient's enlarged spleen was palpable: even the first year medical student could feel it.

Question 268

palpitate

Answer 268

V. /拍动；跳动；搏动/throb; flutter. As he became excited, his heart began to palpitate more and more erratically.

Question 269

paltry

Answer 269

ADJ. /不显著的；微小的/insignificant; petty; trifling. One hundred dollars for a genuine imitation Rolex watch! Lady, this is a paltry sum to pay for such a high-class piece of jewelry.

Question 270

pan

Answer 270

V. /剧烈批评；猛烈抨击/criticize harshly. Hoping for a rave review of his new show, the playwright was miserable when the critics panned it unanimously.

Question 271

panacea

Answer 271

N. /包治百病的药，灵丹妙药/cure-all; remedy for all diseases. The rich youth cynically declared that the panacea for all speeding tickets was a big enough bribe.

Question 272

panache

Answer 272

N. /华丽/flair; flamboyance. Many performers imitate Noel Coward, but few have his panache and sense of style.

Question 273

pandemic

Answer 273

ADJ. /广泛传播的，流行的/widespread; affecting the majority of peo?ple. They feared the AIDS epidemic would soon reach pan?demic proportions.

Question 274

pandemonium

Answer 274

N. /喧嚣；混乱/wild tumult. When the ships collided in the harbor, pandemonium broke out among the passengers.

Question 275

pander

Answer 275

V. /低级趣味的；拉皮条/cater to the low desires of others. The reviewer accused the makers of Lethal Weapon of pandering to the masses' taste for violence.

Question 276

panegyric

Answer 276

N. /推崇之至/formal praise. Blushing at all the praise heaped upon him by the speakers, the modest hero said, °I don't deserve such panegyrics."

Question 277

panoramic

Answer 277

ADJ. /全景的/related to an unobstructed and compre?hensive view. On a clear day, from the top of the World Trade Center you can get a panoramic view of New York City and parts of New Jersey and Long Island. panorama, N.

Question 278

pantomime

Answer 278

N. /演哑剧/acting without dialogue. Because he worked in pantomime, the clown could be understood wherever he appeared. alsoV.

Question 279

papyrus

Answer 279

N. /纸草；草纸（古代的）/ancient paper made from stem of papyrus plant. The ancient Egyptians were among the first to write on papyrus.

Question 280

parable

Answer 280

N. /寓言/short, simple story teaching a moral. Let us apply to our own conduct the lesson that this parable teaches.

Question 281

paradigm

Answer 281

N. /典范；模式/model; example; pattern. Pavlov's experiment in which he trains a dog to salivate on hearing a bell is a paradigm of the conditioned-response experiment in behavioral psychology. Barron's How to Prepare for College Entrance Examinations was a paradigm for all the SAT-prep books that followed.

Question 282

paradox

Answer 282

N. /悖论；佯谬/something apparently contradictory in nature; statement that looks false but is actually correct. Richard presents a bit of a paradox, for he is a card-carrying mem?ber of both the National Rifle Association and the relatively pacifist American Civil Liberties Union.

Question 283

paragon

Answer 283

N. /模范/model of perfection. Her fellow students dis?liked Lavinia because Miss Minchin always pointed her out as a paragon of virtue.

Question 284

parallelism

Answer 284

N. /平行状态；相似的/state of being parallel; similarity. Although the twins were separated at birth and grew up in different adop?tive families, a striking parallelism exists between their lives.

Question 285

paramount

Answer 285

ADJ. /极其重要的/foremost in importance; supreme. Proper nutrition and hygiene are of paramount importance in ado?lescent development and growth.

Question 286

paranoia

Answer 286

N. /妄想狂；偏执狂/psychosis marked by delusions of grandeur or persecution. Suffering from paranoia, Don claimed every?one was out to get him; ironically, his claim was accurate: even paranoids have enemies.

Question 287

paraphernalia

Answer 287

N. /琐碎的东西；零碎的随身物品/equipment; odds and ends. His desk was cluttered with paper, pen, ink, dictionary and other paraphernalia of the writing craft.

Question 288

paraphrase

Answer 288

V. /解释；批注；注释/restate a passage in one's own words while retaining thought of author. In 250 wordsaor less, para?phrase this article. also N.

Question 289

parasite

Answer 289

N. /寄生；寄生体/animal or plant living on another; toady; syco?phant. The tapeworm is an example of the kind of parasite that may infest the human body.

Question 290

parched

Answer 290

ADJ. /干旱的；干渴的/extremely dry; very thirsty. The parched desert landscape seemed hostile to life.

Question 291

pariah

Answer 291

N. /贱民；被社会遗弃的人/social outcast. If everyone ostracized singer Mariah Carey, would she then be Mariah the pariah?

Question 292

parity

Answer 292

N. /相等；势均力敌；奇偶/equality in status or amount; close resemblance. Unfortunately, some doubt exists whether women's salaries will ever achieve paritywith men's.

Question 293

parochial

Answer 293

ADJ. /狭小的，地方的/narrow in outlook; provincial; related to parishes. Although Jane Austen sets her novels in small rural communities, her concerns are universal, not parochial,

Question 294

parody

Answer 294

N. /拙劣的模仿/humorous imitation; spoof; takeoff; travesty. The show Forbidden Broadway presents parodies spoofing the year's new productions playing on Broadway.

Question 295

paroxysm

Answer 295

N. /突然一阵的，突发的（痛苦，笑，愤怒）/fit or attack of pain, laughter, rage. When he heard of his son's misdeeds, he was seized by a paroxysm of rage.

Question 296

parry

Answer 296

V. /躲避/ward off a blow; deflect. Unwilling to injure his opponent in such a pointless clash, Dartagnan simply tried to parry his rival's thrusts. What fun it was to watch Kather?ine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy parry each other's verbal thrusts in their classic screwball comedies!

Question 297

parsimony

Answer 297

N. /过度俭省；吝啬/stinginess; excessive frugality. Furious because her father wouldn't let her buy out the clothing store, Annie accused him of parsimony.

Question 298

partial

Answer 298

ADJ. /不完善的；偏爱的/incomplete; having a liking for something. In this issue we have published only a partial list of contribu?tors because we lack space to acknowledge everyone. I am extremely partial to chocolate eclairs.

Question 299

partiality

Answer 299

N. /倾向；偏见/inclination; bias. As a judge, not only must I be unbiased, but I must also avoid any evidence of partiality when I award the prize.

Question 300

partisan

Answer 300

ADJ. /一边倒的/one-sided; prejudiced; committed to a party. On certain issues of principle, she refused to take a partisan stand, but let her conscience be her guide. Rather than join-ing forces to solve our nation's problems, the Democrats and Republicans spend their time on partisan struggles. also N.

Question 301

partition

Answer 301

V. /分裂开来/divide into parts. Before their second daughter was born, Jason and Lizzie decided each child needed a room of her own, and so they partitioned a large bedroom into two small but separate rooms. also N.

Question 302

passive

Answer 302

ADJ. /被动的/not active; acted upon. Mahatma Gandhi urged his followers to pursue a program of passive resis?tance as he felt that it was more effective than violence and acts of terrorism.

Question 303

passport

Answer 303

N. /护照/legal document identifying the bearer as a citi?zen of a country and allowing him or her to travel abroad. In arranging your first trip abroad, be sure to allow yourself enough time to apply for and receive your passport you won't be allowed to travel without one.

Question 304

pastiche

Answer 304

N. /摹写；模仿/imitation of another's style in musical composi?tion or in writing. We cannot even say that her music is a: pastiche of this composer or that; it is, rather, reminiscent of many musicians.

Question 305

pastoral

Answer 305

ADJ. /田园的；乡下的/rural. In these stories of pastoral life, we find an understanding of the daily tasks of country folk.

Question 306

patent

Answer 306

ADJ. /显而易见的；公开查阅的/open for the public to read; obvious. It was patent to everyone that the witness spoke the truth. also N.

Question 307

pathetic

Answer 307

ADJ. /可怜的，触动人心的/causing sadness, compassion, pity; touch?ing. Everyone in the auditorium was weeping by the time he finished his pathetic tale about the orphaned boy.

Question 308

pathological

Answer 308

ADJ. /病理学/related to the study of disease; diseased or markedly abnormal. Jerome's pathological fear of germs led him to wash his hands a hundred times a day. pathol-ogy, N.

Question 309

pathos

Answer 309

N. /痛苦，悲怆，哀婉/tender sorrow; pity; quality in art or literature that produces these feelings. The quiet tone of pathos that ran through the novel never degenerated into the maudlin or the overly sentimental.

Question 310

patina

Answer 310

N. /铜绿；光泽；古色/green crust on old bronze works; tone slowly taken by varnished painting. Judging by the patina on this bronze statue, we can conclude that this is the work of a medieval artist.

Question 311

patriarch

Answer 311

N. /长者，家长；酋长，族长/father and ruler of a family or tribe. In many primitive tribes, the leader and lawmaker was the patriarch.

Question 312

patrician

Answer 312

ADJ. /贵族的/noble; aristocratic. We greatly admired her well-bred, patrician elegance. also N.

Question 313

patronize

Answer 313

V. /资助；支持/support; act superior toward; be a customer of. Penniless artists hope to find some wealthy art-lover who will patronize them. If some condescending wine steward patronized me because he saw I knew nothing about fine wine, I'd refuse to patronize his restaurant.

Question 314

paucity

Answer 314

N. /少量；缺乏/scarcity. They closed the restaurant because the paucity of customers made it uneconomical to operate.

Question 315

pauper

Answer 315

N. /叫花子；非常可怜的人/very poor person. Though Widow Brown was living on a reduced income, she was by no means a pauper.

Question 316

peccadillo

Answer 316

N. /轻罪，轻微冒犯/slight offense. When Peter Piper picked a peck of Polly Potter's pickles, did Pete commit a major crime or just a peccadillo?

Question 317

pecuniary

Answer 317

ADJ. /钱的，货币的/pertaining to money. Seldom earning enough to cover their expenses, folk dance teachers work because they love dancing, not because they expect any pecuniary reward.

Question 318

pedagogy

Answer 318

N. /教育学/teaching; art of education. Though Maria Montessori gained fame for her innovations in pedagogy, it took years before her teaching techniques were common practice in American schools.

Question 319

pedant

Answer 319

N. /学究式人物/scholar who overemphasizes book learning or technicalities. Her insistence that the book be memorized marked the teacher as a pedant rather than a scholar.

Question 320

pedantic

Answer 320

ADJ. /书生气的/showing off learning; bookish. Leavening his decisions with humorous, down-to-earth anecdotes, Judge Walker was not at all the pedantic legal scholar. pedant, pedantry, N.

Question 321

pedestrian

Answer 321

ADJ. /没有想象力的，普通的/ordinary; unimaginative. Unintentionally boring, he wrote page after page of pedestrian prose.

Question 322

pediatrician

Answer 322

N. /儿科专家/expert in children's diseases. The family doctor advised the parents to consult a pediatrician about their child's ailment.

Question 323

peerless

Answer 323

ADJ. /不可比较的，不相衡的，无可匹敌的/having no equal; incomparable. The reign?ing operatic tenor of his generation, to his admirers Luciano Pavarotti was peerless: no one could compare with him.

Question 324

pejorative

Answer 324

ADJ. /轻蔑；蔑视的/negative in connotation; having a belittling effect. Instead of criticizing Clinton's policies, the Republi?cans made pejorative remarks about his character.

Question 325

pellucid

Answer 325

ADJ. /透明；清澈；明白的/transparent; limpid; easy to understand. After reading these stodgy philosophers, I find Bertrand Russell's pellucid style very enjoyable.

Question 326

penchant

Answer 326

N. /倾向；趣味/strong inclination; liking. Dave has a penchant for taking risks: one semester he went steady with three girls, two of whom were stars on the school karate team.

Question 327

pendant

Answer 327

N. /装饰品；首饰/ornament (hanging from a necklace, etc.) The?grateful team presented the coach with a silver chain and pendant engraved with the school's motto.

Question 328

penitent

Answer 328

ADJ. /悔过的/repentant. When he realized the enormity of his crime, he became remorseful and penitent, also N.

Question 329

pensive

Answer 329

ADJ. /沉思默想的；忧心忡忡的/dreamily thoughtful; thoughtful with a hint of sadness; contemplative. The pensive lover gazed at the portrait of his beloved and deeply sighed.

Question 330

penury

Answer 330

N. /一贫如洗；穷困潦倒/severe poverty; stinginess. When his pension fund failed, George feared he would end his days in penury. He became such a penny pincher that he turned into a closefisted, penurious miser.

Question 331

perceptive

Answer 331

ADJ. /有洞察力的，警觉的；智慧的/insightful; aware; wise. Although Maud was a generally perceptive critic, she had her blind spots: she could never see flaws in the work of her friends.

Question 332

percussion

Answer 332

ADJ. /打击/striking one object against another sharply. The drum is a percussion instrument. also N.

Question 333

perdition

Answer 333

N. /毁灭/damnation; complete ruin. Praying for salva?tion, young Steven Daedalus feared he was damned to eternal perdition.

Question 334

peregrination

Answer 334

N. /旅程；旅行/journey. Auntie Mame was a world traveler whose peregrinations took her from Tiajuana to Timbuctoo.

Question 335

peremptory

Answer 335

ADJ. /专制的；强硬的，专横的/demanding and leaving no choice. From Jack's peremptory knock on the door, Jill could tell he would not give up until she let him in.

Question 336

perennial

Answer 336

N. /终年的；永久的/something that is continuing or recurrent. These plants are hardy perennials and will bloom for many years. alsoADJ.

Question 337

perfidious

Answer 337

ADJ. /背信弃义的；不忠的/treacherous; disloyal. When Caesar real?ized that Brutus had betrayed him, he reproached his per?fidious friend. perfidy, N.

Question 338

perforate

Answer 338

V. /打孔/pierce; put a hole through. Before you can open the aspirin bottle, you must first perforate the plastic safety seal that covers the cap.

Question 339

perfunctory

Answer 339

ADJ. /肤浅的，不投入的；漠不关心的/superficial; not thorough; lacking interest, care, or enthusiasm. The auditor's perfunctory inspection of the books overlooked many errors. Giving the tabletop only a perfunctory swipe with her dust cloth, Betty promised her?self she'd clean it more thoroughly tomorrow.

Question 340

perimeter

Answer 340

N. /周长/outer boundary. To find the perimeter of any quadrilateral, we add the lengths of the four sides.

Question 341

peripheral

Answer 341

ADJ. /外围的/marginal; outer. We lived, not in central London, but in one of those peripheral suburbs that spring up on the outskirts of a great city.

Question 342

periphery

Answer 342

N. /（圆形的）边缘/edge, especially of a round surface. He sensed that there was something just beyond the periphery of his vision.

Question 343

perjury

Answer 343

N. /伪誓；伪证/false testimony while under oath. Rather than lie under oath and perhaps be indicted for perjury, the witness chose to take the Fifth Amendment, refusing to answer any questions on the grounds that he might incriminate himself.

Question 344

permeable

Answer 344

ADJ. /可渗透的，可学习的/penetrable; porous; allowing liquids or gas to pass through. If your jogging clothes weren't made out of permeable fabric, you'd drown in your own perspira-tion (figuratively speaking).

Question 345

permeate

Answer 345

V. /传播；流传/pass through; spread. The odor of frying onions permeated the air.

Question 346

pernicious

Answer 346

ADJ. /及具毁灭性的/very destructive. Crack cocaine has had a pernicious effect on urban society: it has destroyed fami?lies, turned children into drug dealers, and increased the spread of violent crimes.

Question 347

perpetrate

Answer 347

V. /犯/commit an offense. Only an insane person could perpetrate such a horrible crime.

Question 348

perpetual

Answer 348

ADJ. /永久的/everlasting. Ponce de Leon hoped to find the legendary fountain of perpetual youth.

Question 349

perpetuate

Answer 349

V. /保护免于灭绝/make something last; preserve from extinc?tion. Some critics attack The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because they believe Twain's book perpetuates a false image of Blacks in this country.

Question 350

perquisite

Answer 350

N. /津贴，补贴；奖金/any gain above stipulated salary. The perquisites attached to this job make it even more attractive than the salary indicates.

Question 351

persona

Answer 351

N. /角色/public personality or facade. Offstage the comedian was a sullen, irritable grumbler, a far cry from his ever-cheerful adopted stage persona.

Question 352

personable

Answer 352

ADJ. /有吸引力的/attractive. The man I am seeking to fill this position must be personable since he will be representing us before the public.

Question 353

perspicacious

Answer 353

ADJ. /洞察一切的，渗透的；机敏的/having insight; penetrating; astute. The brilliant lawyer was known for his perspicacious deductions. perspicacity, N.

Question 354

pert

Answer 354

ADJ. /爱管闲事的，无理的/impertinent; forward. I think your pert and impu?dent remarks call for an apology.

Question 355

pertinacious

Answer 355

ADJ. /拒不屈服；反抗/stubborn; persistent. He is bound to succeed because his pertinacious nature will not permit him to quit.

Question 356

pertinent

Answer 356

ADJ. /说到点子上的；中肯的；有关的/To the point; relevant. Virginia Woolf's words on women's rights are as pertinent today as they were when she wrote them nearly a century ago.

Question 357

perturb

Answer 357

V. /感到不安/disturb greatly. The thought that electricity might be leaking out of the empty light bulb sockets perturbed my aunt so much that at night she crept about the house screw-ing fresh bulbs in the vacant spots. perturbation, N.

Question 358

peruse

Answer 358

V. /细读/read with care. After the conflagration that burned down her house, Joan closely perused her home insurance policy to discover exactly what benefits her cov?erage provided her. perusal, N.

Question 359

pervasive

Answer 359

ADJ. /深入人心的；普遍的/pervading; spread throughout every part. Despite airing them for several hours, Martha could not rid her clothes of the pervasive odor of mothballs that clung to them. pervade,V.

Question 360

perverse

Answer 360

ADJ. /不正当的，邪恶的，做作的 ；硬脖子的/stubbornly wrongheaded; wicked and per?verted. When Jack was in a perverse mood, he would do the opposite of whatever Jill asked him. When Hannibal Lecter was in a perverse mood, he ate the flesh of his vic?tims. Jack acted out of perversity. Hannibal's act proved his perversion.

Question 361

pessimism

Answer 361

N. /悲观主义者/belief that life is basically bad or evil; gloominess. Considering how well you have done in the course so far, you have no real reason for such pessimism about your final grade.

Question 362

petrify

Answer 362

V. /石化/turn to stone. His sudden and unexpected appearance seemed to petrify her.

Question 363

petty

Answer 363

ADJ. /微小的，不重要的/trivial; unimportant; very small. She had no major complaints to make about his work, only a few petty quibbles that were almost too minor to state.

Question 364

petulant

Answer 364

ADJ. /脾气坏的/touchy; peevish. If you'd had hardly any sleep for three nights and people kept phoning and waking you up, you'd sound pretty petulant, too.

Question 365

phenomena

Answer 365

N. /现象/observable facts; subjects of scientific investigation. We kept careful records of the phenomena we noted in the course of these experiments.

Question 366

philanderer

Answer 366

N. /调情；轻佻的人/faithless lover; flirt. Swearing he had never so much as looked at another woman, Ralph assured Alice he was no philanderer.

Question 367

philanthropist

Answer 367

N. /慈善家/lover of mankind; doer of good. In his role as philanthropist and public benefactor, John D. Rocke?feller, Sr., donated millions to charity; as an individual, how?ever, he was a tight-fisted old man.

Question 368

philistine

Answer 368

N. /俗气的人，无教养的人；心胸狭窄的人/narrow-minded person, uncultured and exclu?sively interested in material gain. We need more men of cul?ture and enlightenment; we have too many philistines among us.

Question 369

philology

Answer 369

N. /语言学/study of language. The professor of philology advocated the use of Esperanto as an international lan?guage.

Question 370

phlegmatic

Answer 370

ADJ. /冷静的；平静的；不易被激起的/calm; not easily disturbed. The nurse was a cheerful but phlegmatic person, unexcited in the face of sudden emergencies.

Question 371

phobia

Answer 371

N. /恐怖/morbid fear. Her fear of flying was more than mere nervousness; it was a real phobia.

Question 372

phoenix

Answer 372

N. /凤凰（象征不死和重生、涅磐）/symbol of immortality or rebirth. Like the leg?endary phoenix rising from its ashes, the city of San Fran?cisco rose again after its destruction during the 1906 earth?quake.

Question 373

phylum

Answer 373

N. /门；语群/major class of plants; primary branch of animal kingdom; division. In sorting out her hundreds of packets of seeds, Katya decided to file them by phylum.

Question 374

physiological

Answer 374

ADJ. /生理学的/pertaining to the science of the function of living organisms. To understand this disease fully, we must examine not only its physiological aspects but also its psychological elements.

Question 375

picaresque

Answer 375

ADJ. /以歹徒为题材的文学作品的/pertaining to rogues in literature. Tom Jones has been hailed as one of the best picaresque nov?els in the English language.

Question 376

piebald

Answer 376

ADJ. /花斑的；斑驳的/mottled; spotted. You should be able to iden?tify Polka Dot in this race; it is the only piebald horse run?ning.

Question 377

piecemeal

Answer 377

ADV. /一次一个的，逐个的；渐渐的；碎的/one piece at a time; gradually. Tolstoy's War and Peace is too huge to finish in one sitting; I'll have to read it piecemeal.

Question 378

pied

Answer 378

ADJ. /杂色的；斑驳的/variegated; multicolored. The Pied Piper of Hamelin got his name from the multicolored clothing he wore.

Question 379

piety

Answer 379

N. /虔诚；孝行/religious devotion; godliness. The nuns in the con?vent were noted for their piety; they spent their days in wor?ship and prayer. Pious,ADJ.

Question 380

pigment

Answer 380

N. /色素/coloring matter. Van Gogh mixed various pig?ments with linseed oil to create his paints.

Question 381

pillage

Answer 381

V. /掠夺/plunder. The enemy pillaged the quiet village and left it in ruins.

Question 382

pine

Answer 382

V. /消瘦，憔悴；渴望；松树/languish, decline; long for, yearn. Though she tried to be happy living with Clara in the city, Heidi pined for the mountains and for her gruff but loving grandfather.

Question 383

pinnacle

Answer 383

N. /顶尖；顶点/peak. We could see the morning sunlight illu?minate the pinnacle while the rest of the mountain lay in shadow.

Question 384

pious

Answer 384

ADJ. /尽职的；虔诚的/devout; religious. The challenge for church people today is how to be pious in the best sense, that is, to be devout without becoming hypocritical or sanctimonious. piety, N.

Question 385

piquant

Answer 385

ADJ. /开胃的；辛辣的；刺激的；淘气顽皮的/pleasantly tart-tasting; stimulating. The piquant sauce added to our enjoyment of the meal. piquancy, N.

Question 386

pique

Answer 386

N. /愤怒；不满/irritation; resentment. She showed her pique at her loss by refusing to appear with the other contestants at the end of the competition. alsoV.

Question 387

pique

Answer 387

V. /激起，煽动；激怒/provoke or arouse; annoy. "I know something you don't know," said Lucy, trying to pique Ethel's interest.

Question 388

pitfall

Answer 388

N. /缺陷/hidden danger; concealed trap. Her parents warned young Sophie against the many pitfalls that lay in wait for her in the dangerous big city.

Question 389

pithy

Answer 389

ADJ. /精炼的；抓住灵魂的/concise; meaningful; substantial; meaty. While other girls might have gone on and on about how uncool Elton was, Liz summed it up in one pithy remark: "He's bogus!"

Question 390

pittance

Answer 390

N. /微薄的薪水/a small allowance or wage. He could not live on the pittance he received as a pension and had to look for an additional source of revenue.

Question 391

pivotal

Answer 391

ADJ. /关键的/crucial; key; vital. The new "smart weapons" technology played a pivotal role in the quick resolution of the war with Iraq.

Question 392

placate

Answer 392

V. /安抚/pacify; conciliate. The store manager tried to placate the angry customer, offering to replace the dam?aged merchandise or to give back her money right away.

Question 393

placebo

Answer 393

N. /安慰剂/harmless substance prescribed as a dummy pill. In a controlled experiment, fifty volunteers were given aspirin tablets; the control group received only placebos.

Question 394

placid

Answer 394

ADJ. /平静的/peaceful; calm. After his vacation in this placid section, he felt soothed and rested.

Question 395

plagiarism

Answer 395

N. /剽窃/theft of another's ideas or writings passed off as original. The editor recognized the plagiarism and rebuked the culprit who had presented the manuscript as original.

Question 396

plagiarize

Answer 396

V. /剽窃/steal another's ideas and pass them off as one's own. The teacher could tell that the student had pla?giarized parts of his essay; she could recognize whole paragraphs straight from Barron's Book Notes.

Question 397

plaintive

Answer 397

ADJ. /哀伤的/mournful. The dove has a plaintive and melancholy call.

Question 398

plasticity

Answer 398

N. /塑性/ability to be molded. When clay dries out, it loses its plasticity and becomes less malleable.

Question 399

platitude

Answer 399

N. /陈词滥调/trite remark; commonplace statement. In giving advice to his son, old Polonius expressed himself only in platitudes; every word out of his mouth was a commonplace.

Question 400

plaudit

Answer 400

N. /喝彩/enthusiastically worded approval; round of applause. The theatrical company reprinted the plaudits of the critics in its advertisements. plauditory,ADJ.

Question 401

plausible

Answer 401

ADJ. /似是而非的/having a show of truth but open to doubt; specious. Your mother made you stay home from school because she needed you to program the VCR? I'm sorry, you'll have to come up with a more plausible excuse than that.

Question 402

plenitude

Answer 402

N. /充分，富足/abundance; completeness. Looking in the pantry, we admired the plenitude of fruits and pickles we had preserved during the summer.

Question 403

plethora

Answer 403

N. /过剩；过多/excess; overabundance. She offered a plethora of excuses for her shortcomings.

Question 404

pliable

Answer 404

ADJ. /圆滑的；柔韧的；易弯曲的/flexible; yielding; adaptable. In remodeling the bathroom, we have replaced all the old, rigid lead pipes with new, pliable copper tubing.

Question 405

pliant

Answer 405

ADJ. /顺从的/flexible; easily influenced. Pinocchio's disposi?tion was pliant, he was like putty in his tempters' hands.

Question 406

plight

Answer 406

N. /情况，状况；困境/condition, state (especially a bad state or condi?tion); predicament. Many people feel that the federal gov?ernment should do more to alleviate the plight of the homeless. Loggers, unmoved by the plight of the spotted owl, plan to continue logging whether or not they ruin the owl's habitat.

Question 407

plumb

Answer 407

ADJ. /垂直；铅锤；用铅锤量/checking perpendicularity; vertical. Before hanging wallpaper it is advisable to drop a plumb line from the ceiling as a guide. also N. andV.

Question 408

plumage

Answer 408

N. /鸟类的羽毛/feathers of a bird. Bird watchers identify differ?ent species of bird by their characteristic songs and dis?tinctive plumage.

Question 409

plummet

Answer 409

V. /垂直落下/fall sharply. Stock prices plummeted as Wall Street reacted to the crisis in the economy.

Question 410

plutocracy

Answer 410

N. /富豪统治/society ruled by the wealthy. From the way the government caters to the rich, you might think our soci?ety is a plutocracy rather than a democracy.

Question 411

podiatrist

Answer 411

N. /足病医生/doctor who treats ailments of the feet. He consulted a podiatrist about his fallen arches.

Question 412

podium

Answer 412

N. /指挥台；检阅台/pedestal; raised platform. The audience applauded as the conductor made his way to the podium.

Question 413

poignancy

Answer 413

N. /强烈的；感人的；尖锐的/quality of being deeply moving; keenness of emotion. Watching the tearful reunion of the long-separated mother and child, the social worker was touched by the poignancy of the scene. poignant,ADJ.

Question 414

polarize

Answer 414

V. /极化；分化；两极分化/split into opposite extremes or camps. The abortion issue has polarized the country into pro-choice and anti-abortion camps. polarization, N.

Question 415

polemical

Answer 415

ADJ. /辩论的，好辩的/aggressive in verbal attack; disputatious. Lexy was a master of polemical rhetoric; she should have worn a T-shirt with the slogan "Born to Debate."

Question 416

politic

Answer 416

ADJ. /精明的；明智的；诡计多端的；谨慎的/expedient; prudent; well advised. Even though he was disappointed by the size of the bonus he was offered, he did not think it politic to refuse it.

Question 417

polygamist

Answer 417

N. /多配偶/one who has more than one spouse at a time. He was arrested as a polygamist when his two wives filed complaints about him.

Question 418

polyglot

Answer 418

ADJ. /多语言/speaking several languages. New York City is a polyglot community because of the thousands of immi?grants who settle there.

Question 419

pomposity

Answer 419

N. /夸大，华丽；浮夸；自大/self-important behavior; acting like a stuffed shirt. Although the commencement speaker had some good things to say, we had to laugh at his pomposity and general air of parading his own dignity. POMPOUS,ADJ.

Question 420

ponderous

Answer 420

ADJ. /沉重的；笨重的；呆板的；冗长的/weighty; unwieldy. His humor lacked the light touch; his jokes were always ponderous.

Question 421

pontifical

Answer 421

ADJ. /教皇的；主教的/pertaining to a bishop or pope; pompous or pretentious. From his earliest days at the seminary, John seemed destined for a high pontifical office. However, he sounded so pompous when he pontificated that he never was chosen pontiff after all.

Question 422

pore

Answer 422

V. /沉思；考察；深思熟虑；小孔，细口/study industriously; ponder; scrutinize. Deter?mined to become a physician, Beth spent hours poring over her anatomy text.

Question 423

porous

Answer 423

ADJ. /筛子似的/full of pores; like a sieve. Dancers like to wear porous clothing because it allows the ready passage of water and air.

Question 424

portend

Answer 424

V. /预示/foretell; presage. The king did not know what these omens might portend and asked his soothsayers to interpret them.

Question 425

portent

Answer 425

N. /征兆/sign; omen; forewarning. He regarded the black cloud as a portent of evil.

Question 426

portly

Answer 426

ADJ. /健壮的；肥胖的；魁梧的/stately; stout. The overweight gentleman was referred to as portly by the polite salesclerk.

Question 427

poseur

Answer 427

N. /装模作样的人；邯郸学步/person who pretends to be sophisticated, ele?gant, etc., to impress others. Some thought Salvador Dali was a brilliant painter; others dismissed him as a poseur.

Question 428

posterity

Answer 428

N. /子孙；后裔/descendants; future generations. We hope to leave a better world to posterity.

Question 429

posthumous

Answer 429

ADJ. /身后的；遗腹的（书出版于作者死后，孩子生于父亲死后）/after death (as of child born after father's death or book published after author's death). The critics ignored his works during his lifetime; it was only after the posthumous publication of his last novel that they recog?nized his great talent.

Question 430

postulate

Answer 430

N. /前提；基于的假定/essential premise; underlying assumption. The basic postulate of democracy, set forth in the Declara?tion of Independence, is that all men are created equal.

Question 431

potable

Answer 431

ADJ. /可饮用的/suitable for drinking. The recent drought in the Middle Atlantic states has emphasized the need for exten?sive research in ways of making sea water potable. also N.

Question 432

potent

Answer 432

ADJ. /有效的/powerful; persuasive; greatly influential. Look?ing at the expiration date on the cough syrup bottle, we wondered whether the medication would still be potent. potency, N.

Question 433

potentate

Answer 433

N. /当权者/monarch; sovereign. The potentate spent more time at Monte Carlo than he did at home on his throne.

Question 434

potential

Answer 434

ADJ. /潜在的/expressing possibility; latent. This juvenile delinquent is a potential murderer. also N.

Question 435

potion

Answer 435

N. /剂量/dose (of liquid). Tristan and Isolde drink a love potion in the first act of the opera.

Question 436

practicable

Answer 436

ADJ. /可行的/feasible. The board of directors decided that the plan was practicable and agreed to undertake the project.

Question 437

practical

Answer 437

ADJ. /有用的；经验的；实践证明的/based on experience; useful. He was a practical man, opposed to theory.

Question 438

practitioner

Answer 438

N. /从业者/someone engaged in a profession (law, medicine). In need of a hip replacement, Carl sought a practitioner with considerable experience performing this particular surgery.

Question 439

pragmatic

Answer 439

ADJ. /实际的；注重实效的/practical (as opposed to idealistic); con?cerned with the practical worth or impact of something. This coming trip to France should provide me with a pragmatic test of the value of my conversational French class.

Question 440

pragmatist

Answer 440

N. /爱管闲事的人；实用主义者/practical person. No pragmatist enjoys becoming involved in a game he can never win.

Question 441

prank

Answer 441

N. /胡闹；打扮/mischievous trick. Is tipping over garbage cans on Halloween merely a childish prank, or is it vandalism?

Question 442

prate

Answer 442

V. /空谈/speak foolishly; boast idly. Let us not prate about our good qualities; rather, let our virtues speak for them?selves.

Question 443

prattle

Answer 443

V. /闲聊；胡说；废话；唠叨/babble. Baby John prattled on and on about the cats and his ball and the Cookie Monster.

Question 444

preamble

Answer 444

N. /导言；介绍词/introductory statement. In the Preamble to the Constitution, the purpose of the document is set forth.

Question 445

precarious

Answer 445

ADJ. /不确定的；冒风险/uncertain; risky. Saying the stock would be a precarious investment, the broker advised her client against purchasing it.

Question 446

precedent

Answer 446

N. /先例/something preceding in time that may be used as an authority or guide for future action. If I buy you a car for your sixteenth birthday, your brothers will want me to buy them cars when they turn sixteen, too; I can't afford to set such an expensive precedent. The law professor asked Jill to state which famous case served as a precedent for the court's decision in Brown ll.

Question 447

precept

Answer 447

N. /规则/practical rule guiding conduct. "Love thy neigh?bor as thyself" is a worthwhile precept.

Question 448

precinct

Answer 448

N. /行政区/district or division of a city. Ed McBain's detec?tive novels set in the 87th precinct provide an exciting picture of police work.

Question 449

precipice

Answer 449

N. /悬崖；危险的位置/cliff; dangerous position. Suddenly Indiana Jones found himself dangling from the edge of a precipice.

Question 450

precipitate

Answer 450

ADJ. /匆忙的；突然的；未成熟的；草率的/rash; premature; hasty; sudden. Though I was angry enough to resign on the spot, I had enough sense to keep myself from quitting a job in such a precipi?tate fashion.

Question 451

precipitate

Answer 451

V. /下降；下坠/throw headlong; hasten. The removal of American political support appears to have precipitated the downfall of the Marcos regime.

Question 452

precipitous

Answer 452

ADJ. /陡峭的；急躁的/steep; overhasty. This hill is difficult to climb because it is so precipitous; one slip, and our descent will be precipitous as well.

Question 453

précis

Answer 453

N. /大纲；摘要/concise summing up of main points. Before mak?ing her presentation at the conference, Ellen wrote up a neat précis of the major elements she would cover.

Question 454

precise

Answer 454

ADJ. /精确的/exact. If you don't give me precise directions and a map, I'll never find your place.

Question 455

preclude

Answer 455

V. /消灭；杜绝/make impossible; eliminate. The fact that the band was already booked to play in Hollywood on New Year's Eve precluded their accepting the New Year's Eve gig in London they were offered.

Question 456

precocious

Answer 456

ADJ. /早熟的/advanced in development. Listening to the grown-up way the child discussed serious topics, we couldn't help remarking how precocious she was. precocity, N.

Question 457

precursor

Answer 457

N. /领跑者，先驱/forerunner. Though Gray and Burns share many traits with the Romantic poets who followed them, most critics consider them precursors of the Romantic Movement, not true Romantics.

Question 458

predator

Answer 458

N. /捕食者/creature that seizes and devours another ani?mal; person who robs or exploits others. Not just cats, but a wide variety of predators-owls, hawks, weasels, foxes?catch mice for dinner. A carnivore is by definition predatory, for he preys on weaker creatures.

Question 459

predecessor

Answer 459

N. /前任；前辈/former occupant of a post. I hope I can live up to the fine example set by my late predecessor in this office.

Question 460

predetermine

Answer 460

V. /预定；预先确定/predestine; settle or decide beforehand; influence markedly. Romeo and Juliet believed that Fate had predetermined their meeting. Bea gathered estimates from caterers, florists, and stationers so that she could pre?determine the costs of holding a catered buffet. Philip's love of athletics predetermined his choice of a career in sports marketing.

Question 461

predicament

Answer 461

N. /困境；危险的境地；两难/tricky or dangerous situation; dilemma. Tied to the railroad tracks by the villain, Pauline strained against her bonds. How would she escape from this terrible predicament?

Question 462

predilection

Answer 462

N. /偏爱；偏好/partiality; preference. Although I have writ?ten all sorts of poetry over the years, I have a definite predilection for occasional verse.

Question 463

predispose

Answer 463

V. /预先安排，使其偏向于/give an inclination toward; make suscepti?ble to. Oleg's love of dressing up his big sister's Barbie doll may have predisposed him to become a fashion designer. Genetic influences apparently predispose people to certain forms of cancer.

Question 464

preeminent

Answer 464

ADJ. /出色的；出类拔萃的/outstanding; superior. The king traveled to Boston because he wanted the preeminent surgeon in the field to perform the operation.

Question 465

preempt

Answer 465

V. /排挤，代替；阻止；抢占；先发制人/head off; forestall by acting first; appropriate for oneself; supplant. Hoping to preempt any attempts by the opposition to make educational reform a hot political issue, the candidate set out her own plan to revitalize the public schools. preemptive,ADJ.

Question 466

preen

Answer 466

V. /把自己打扮漂亮；自我满足；鸟类用嘴梳理羽毛/make oneself tidy in appearance; feel self-satis?faction. As Kitty preened before the mirror, carefully smoothing her shining hair, she couldn't help preening over how pretty she looked.

Question 467

prehensile

Answer 467

ADJ. /可以得到的；可以抓住的/capable of grasping or holding. Monkeys use not only their arms and legs but also their prehensile tails in traveling through the trees.

Question 468

prelate

Answer 468

N. /高级教士/church dignitary. The archbishop of Moscow and other high-ranking prelates visited the Russian Ortho?dox seminary.

Question 469

prelude

Answer 469

N. /序；先驱；先导/introduction; forerunner. I am afraid that this border raid is the prelude to more serious attacks.

Question 470

premeditate

Answer 470

V. /预谋，预先考虑/plan in advance. She had premeditated the murder for months, reading about common poisons and buying weed killer that contained arsenic.

Question 471

premise

Answer 471

N. /假定，假设；前提/assumption; postulate. Based on the premise that there's no fool like an old fool, P. T. Barnum hired a ninety-year-old clown for his circus.

Question 472

premonition

Answer 472

N. /前兆/forewarning. We ignored these premoni?tions of disaster because they appeared to be based on childish fears.

Question 473

preposterous

Answer 473

ADJ. /荒唐的/absurd; ridiculous. When he tried to downplay his youthful experiments with marijuana by saying he hadn't inhaled, we all thought, "What a preposterous excuse!"

Question 474

prerogative

Answer 474

N. /特权/privilege; unquestionable right. The presi?dent cannot levy taxes; that is the prerogative of the legisla?tive branch of government.

Question 475

presage

Answer 475

V. /预示/foretell. The vultures flying overhead presaged the discovery of the corpse in the desert.

Question 476

prescience

Answer 476

N. /预示能力/ability to foretell the future. Given the current wave of Japan-bashing, it does not take prescience for me to foresee problems in our future trade relations with Japan.

Question 477

presentiment

Answer 477

N. /预感/feeling something will happen; anticipa?tory fear; premonition. Saying goodbye at the airport, Jack had a sudden presentiment that this was the last time he would see Jill.

Question 478

prestige

Answer 478

N. /声望；威信/impression produced by achievements or repu?tation. Many students want to go to Harvard College not for the education offered but for the prestige of Harvard's name.

Question 479

presumptuous

Answer 479

ADJ. /自大；轻狂；专横/overconfident; impertinently bold; tak?ing liberties. Matilda thought it was somewhat presumptu?ous of the young man to have addressed her without first having been introduced. Perhaps manners were freer here in the New World.

Question 480

pretentious

Answer 480

ADJ. /自命不凡；华而不实；自大/ostentatious; pompous; making unjusti?fied claims; overly ambitious. None of the other prize win?ners are wearing their medals; isn't it a bit pretentious of you to wear yours?

Question 481

preternatural

Answer 481

ADJ. /超自然的/beyond what is normal in nature. Mal?colm's mother's total ability to tell when he was lying struck him as almost preternatural.

Question 482

pretext

Answer 482

N. /借口；托辞/excuse. He looked for a good pretext to get out of paying a visit to his aunt.

Question 483

prevail

Answer 483

V. /导致，促使；击败；盛行/induce; triumph over. He tried to prevail on her to type his essay for him.

Question 484

prevalent

Answer 484

ADJ. /普遍的；流行的/widespread; generally accepted. A radical committed to social change, Reed had no patience with the conservative views prevalent in the America of his day.

Question 485

prevaricate

Answer 485

V. /撒谎；支吾，搪塞；糊弄/lie. Some people believe that to prevaricate in a good cause is justifiable and regard such a statement as a "white lie."

Question 486

prey

Answer 486

N. /猎物；受害人，牺牲品/target of a hunt; victim. In Stalking the Wild Asparagus, Euell Gibbons has as his prey not wild beasts but wild plants. alsoV.

Question 487

prim

Answer 487

ADJ. /整洁的；精准的，精确的/very precise and formal; exceedingly proper. Many people commented on the contrast between the prim attire of the young lady and the inappropriate clothing worn by her escort.

Question 488

primordial

Answer 488

ADJ. /原始的；与时间同在的/existing at the beginning (of time); rudi?mentary. The Neanderthal Man is one of our primordial ancestors.

Question 489

primp

Answer 489

V. /打扮/groom oneself with care; adorn oneself. The groom stood by idly while his nervous bride-to-be primped one last time before the mirror.

Question 490

pristine

Answer 490

ADJ. /史前的；质朴的/characteristic of earlier times; primitive; unspoiled. This area has been preserved in all its pristine wildness.

Question 491

privation

Answer 491

N. /困难，困苦；短缺，缺少/hardship; want. In his youth, he knew hunger and privation.

Question 492

probe

Answer 492

V. /探测/explore with tools. The surgeon probed the wound for foreign matter before suturing it. also N.