LXXI

Question 1

sober /ˈsəʊbə/

Answer 1

1) not drunk
“He’s a nice guy when he’s sober.”
2) serious, and thinking or making you think carefully about things
“a sober hard-working young man”
“a sober reminder of the difficulties we face”
3) plain and not at all brightly coloured
“a sober grey suit”
4) to become more serious in behaviour or attitude, or to make someone become more serious
“His expression sobered instantly.”

Question 2

avert /əˈvɜːt/

Answer 2

to prevent something unpleasant from happening
“The tragedy could have been averted if the crew had followed safety procedures.”

avert your eyes/gaze etc
to look away from something so that you do not see it
“Henry averted his eyes as she undressed.”

Question 3

lethal /ˈliːθəl/

Answer 3

1) causing death, or able to cause death → fatal
“a lethal dose of heroin”
“a lethal weapon”
“death by lethal injection”
“a lethal cocktail of drink and pills”
lethal to
“These chemicals are lethal to fish.”
2) likely to be powerful or dangerous – often used humorously
“They were all drinking lethal amounts of tequila!”
“Higher taxes and higher inflation were a lethal combination.”

Question 4

booze /buːz/

Answer 4

1) alcoholic drink
“a bottle of booze”
on the booze
“He’s been on the booze (=drinking too much alcohol) for five days.”
off the booze
“My husband is now off the booze (=no longer drinking too much alcohol) and he is a different person.”
2) to drink alcohol, especially a lot of it
“He went out boozing with his mates after work.”

Question 5

dope /dəʊp/

Answer 5

1) a drug that is not legal, especially marijuana
“Jeff used to smoke dope all the time.”
2) spoken a stupid person SYN idiot
“What a dope!”
3) to give a person or an animal a drug, often in their food or drink, to make them unconscious
“The girl had been doped and kidnapped.”
4) to give an animal a drug that makes it perform better in a race
5) very good
“a dope album”

dope test informal
a test given to people or animals taking part in a sport, to see if they have taken or have been given a drug to improve their performance

the dope (on somebody/something) informal
new information about someone or something, especially information that not many people know
 "What’s the dope on the new guy?"

Question 6

muffler /ˈmʌflə/

Answer 6

1) a long piece of thick cloth that you wear to keep your neck warm SYN scarf
2) a piece of equipment on a vehicle that makes the noise from the engine quieter SYN silencer

Question 7

covet /ˈkʌvɪt/

Answer 7

to have a very strong desire to have something that someone else has
“The Michelin Awards are coveted by restaurants all over the world.”

Question 8

curtail /kɜːˈteɪl/

Answer 8

to reduce or limit something SYN cut
“The new law will curtail police powers.”
severely/drastically curtail
“Budget cuts have drastically curtailed training programs.”

Question 9

constrain /kənˈstreɪn/

Answer 9

1) to stop someone from doing what they want to do SYN restrict
constrain somebody from doing something
“Financial factors should not constrain doctors from prescribing the best treatment for patients.”
2) to limit something SYN restrict
“Poor soil has constrained the level of crop production.”
“Women’s employment opportunities are often severely constrained by family commitments.”

Question 10

thud /θʌd/

Answer 10

1) the low sound made by a heavy object hitting something else
a dull/hard/heavy thud
“There was a dull thud as the box hit the floor.”
“His head hit the floor with a sickening thud.”
2) to hit something with a low sound
“The stone thudded to the ground.”
“waves thudding against the side of the ship”
3) to walk or run with your feet making a heavy sound as they touch the ground
“A horse thudded over the frozen grass.”
4) if your heart thuds, it beats strongly because you are excited or frightened
“Peter was aware of his heart thudding in his chest.”