Unit 1: My Father’s Shadow
Apprehension: anxiety about the future, expectation of something unpleasant
Ex. We waited for their decision with a great deal of apprehension.
apprehensive: adj.
Ex. I must admit that before my baby was born I was apprehensive about motherhood.
Typical (characteristic) of...
Ex. It’s typical of Peter to scatter things around when he is finished with what he is dong.
Ex. This poem is typical of his early work.
Stern: rious; strict
Ex. The college principal was a stern old man called Mr. Frar.
Hold up: to show as an example
Ex. Mary always holds up her daughter as a model of good behavior.
Gregarious: liking the companionship of others; sociable
Ex. My gregarious neighbor, Mrs. Brown, throws parties every weekend
Mingle: to mix so as to form an individual whole, while keeping parate qualities
Ex. She mingles tradition and originality in her design for women’s shoes.
Ex. As I spoke his expression was one of amazement mingled with fury.
Enroll (A.E.): to make officially a member of a group, school or cour enrollment
Ex. Ann decided to enroll in the interior design cour at this college.
Marry into (a family or a social class): to become a member of a certain family or social class by marriage
Ex. The only reason Britney has so much money is that she married into the long-established clan.
Subquent: following or happening after
Ex. In subquent lessons the teacher continued to emphasize the importance of revision after each class.
Ex. They started their rearch using a method which was subquently proved to be unsatisfactory.
Resonate: to make a deep, clear, echoing or continuing sound
Ex. My mother’s advice has been resonating in my head for a long time.
Disapproval: having or expressing an unfavorable opinion disapprove of…
Ex. Many employees expresd their disapproval of the new policy openly.
Taking his devotion as my due: taking his devotion as granted
Prodigal: careless and wasteful with money
Ex. Mrs. Blair is very concerned with her son becau he is too prodigal.
The prodigal (son) returns
Breach: an opening or hole made in a wall; a break in friendly relations; breaking or neglect the law or duty
Ex. The incident caud an irreparable breach between the two countries.
The breach between us would be complete: our relationship would end
Retire: to go to bed
Ex. It is getting really late, you can retire to our guest room upstairs.
Fretful: anxious becau of discomfort
Ex. After eight hours of working, everybody began to have this fretful look on their faces.
Gurgle: the happy low sound that someone makes in his or her throat
Ex. For every parent, the happy gurgle of their children is the best music in the world.
Gleefully: in such a way as showing great joy and satisfaction
Ex. He takes gleeful pleasure in watching politicians make fools of themlves.
Churn: to shake or move about vigorously or violently
Croon: to sing (usually old popular songs) with feeling
Ex. She gently crooned a lullaby.
Spell:
1) a period of a particular kind of activity, weather, illness, etc.
a cold / hot / wet / bright/... spell
Ex. There will be rain at first, with sunny spells later.
2) words that are thought to have magic power or to make a piece of magic work; a piece of magic that happens when sb says the magic words:
Ex. The wizard recited a spell.
to cast / put a spell on sb to be under a spell (= affected by magic)
Scrap: material which has been thrown away and can be reud
Ex. Plea give me a piece of scrap paper, I need to write down his number.
Ex. We sold the car for scrap (= so that any good parts can be ud again).
scrap metal a scrap dealer
scraps [pl.] food left after a meal:
Ex. Give the scraps to the dog
Trail: n. a long line or ries of marks that is left by sb/sth;
Ex. Tourists who leave a trail of litter everywhere they go.
Ex. Fortunately the trail was still warm (= clear and easy to follow)
v. to follow;
Ex. That red car has been trailing us, let’s drive to the police station.
Bouncing: (especially of babies) healthy and active
Ex. A bouncing toddler can bring you a mixture of pleasure and pain.
as lively as a cricket 极活泼
as mad as a wet hen 非常生气
as mild as a dove 非常温和
as plain as the no in your face 一清二楚
as poor as a church mou 赤贫的
as proud as a peacock 极骄傲
as strong as a hor 健壮如牛
as stupid as an owl 极愚蠢
as thin as a wafer 极薄
as true as steel 绝对可靠
AS...AS...
