Unit 8.2 & 8.3 Flashcards
a Never before … b Only once in my life … c Scarcely … when … d No sooner … (past perfect) than … e Hardly … when … f Not until last month ... g Seldom ... h Rarely ... i Had it not been for the fact that ...
a Never before … b Only once in my life … c Scarcely … when … d No sooner … (past perfect) than … e Hardly … when … f Not until last month ... g Seldom ... h Rarely ... i Had it not been for the fact that ...
seldom
almost never:
Now that we have a baby, we seldom get the chance to go to the cinema.
forlorn
very unlikely to be achieved or to succeed:
Their only hope now is that the outside world will intervene but it is an increasingly forlorn hope.
deafening/thunderous
extremely loud:
The music was deafening.
not sleep a wink
to not sleep at all:
I didn’t sleep a wink last night with all that noise.
crawl
to move slowly or with difficulty, especially with your body stretched out along the ground or on hands and knees:
The child crawled across the floor.
The injured soldier crawled to safety.
outcry
a strong expression of anger and disapproval about something, made by a group of people or by the public:
The release from prison of two of the terrorists has provoked a public outcry.
stool
a seat without any support for the back or arms:
a bar/kitchen/piano stool
steel yourself
to prepare yourself to do something that you know will be unpleasant or upsetting:
He steeled himself not to look away.
lash down
to rain in large amounts and with a lot of force
It’s been lashing down for an hour.
rickety
in bad condition and therefore weak and likely to break:
Careful! That chair’s a bit rickety.
She slowly climbed the rickety wooden steps.
relish
to like or enjoy something:
I always relish a challenge.
dead end
a situation that has no hope of making progress:
Negotiators have reached a dead end in their attempts to find a peaceful solution.
trepidation
fear or worry about what is going to happen:
We view future developments with some trepidation.
welcoming
friendly or making you feel welcome:
She gave everyone a welcoming smile.
a The question is complex … b All things considered … c … is a separate issue. d One definite disadvantage is … e That is not to say that … f The third and perhaps most important … g Take the area of … h To evaluate this … i By way of illustration … j Moving on to … k Taking everything into account … l More specifically …
a The question is complex … b All things considered … c … is a separate issue. d One definite disadvantage is … e That is not to say that … f The third and perhaps most important … g Take the area of … h To evaluate this … i By way of illustration … j Moving on to … k Taking everything into account … l More specifically …
occupancy
someone’s use of a room or building for the purposes of living or working:
The family’s occupancy of the apartment lasted only six months.
out of the frame
not involved in something, or not being considered for something
With Steve out of the frame, I knew I had a chance with Sarah.
take place
to happen:
The concert takes place next Thursday.
out of place
in the wrong place or looking wrong:
The boy looked uncomfortable and out of place among the adults.
in place
If something is in place, it is in its usual or correct position:
The chairs are all in place.
He screwed the shelf in place.
organized:
The arrangements are all in place for the concert next Thursday.
burn your boats/bridges
If you are in a situation and you burn your boats/bridges, you destroy all possible ways of going back to that situation.
in a nutshell
very briefly, giving only the main points:
“What went wrong?” “In a nutshell, everything.”
trivial
having little value or importance:
I don’t know why he gets so upset about something so trivial.
Sexual harassment in the workplace is not a trivial matter.
A trivial problem is easy to solve:
Getting computers to understand human language is not a trivial problem.
