Unit 9

Sustain

Sustain

1. live through

2. keep up

Weather

to endure the effects of weather or other forces

S: Reporters wondered whether Gary would ? his latest political challenge and remain in office.

Charlatan

fraud; quack; con man

S: Buck was selling what he claimed was a cure for cancer, but he was just a ? (the pills were jelly beans).

Anchor

to secure or fasten firmly; be fixed in place

Vie

content; compete

S: Politicans ? with one another, competing for donations and votes.

Gloat

to express evil satisfaction; view malevolently

S: As you ? over your ill-gotten wealth, do you think the many vitctims you have defrauded. (骗）

Renovate

restore to good condition; renew

Reparable

capable of being repaired

Pomposity

self-important behavior; acting like a stuffed shirt

Although the commencement speaker had some good things to say, we had to laugh at his ? and a general air of parading his own dignity.

Defiance

refusal to yield; resistance

S: When John reached the terrible two’s, he responded to every parental request with howls of ?

Temper

1. make something less intense or extreme

2. toughen (steel glass) by heating and then cooling

S: Not even her supervisor’s grumpiness could ? Nancy’s enthusiasm for her new job.

Intractable

uncontrollable; stubborn; disobedient

Irreconcilable

incompatible; not able to be resolved

S: Because the separated couple were ?, the marriage counselor recommended a divorce.

Malign

speak evil of; bad-mouth; defame

Engage

to pledge to do something (especially to marry; hire someone to perform a service; attract and keep; induce someone to participate; take part in; attack (an enemy)

S: When Tony and Tina became ?, they decided to ? a lawyer to write up a pre-nuptial agreement.

Vulnerable

susceptible to wounds

S: His opponents could not harm Achilles, who was ? only in his heel.

Rigorous

strict; harsh; severe

Inscrutable

impenetrable; not readily understood; mysterious

S: Experienced poker players try to keep their expressions ?, hiding their reactions to the cards behind a so called ‘poker face’

Vigor

active strength

S: Although he was over 70 yo, Jack had the ? of a man in his prime.

Infamous

shamefully wicked; having an extremely bad reputation; disgraceful

S: To be ? is to be famous for being evil.

Resolve

determination; firmness of purpose

S: How dare you question my ? to take up sky-diving! Of course I haven’t changed my mind!

Insubordination

disobedience; rebelliousness

S: At the slightest hint of ? from the sailors of the Bounty, Captain Bligh had them flogged.

Pitfall

hidden danger; concealed trap

S: Her parents warned young Sophie against the many ?? that lay in wait for her in the dangerous big city.

Intrepid

fearless

S: For her ? conduct nursing the wounded during the war,Florence was honored by Queen.

Grapple

to wrestle; come to grips with

S: He ?? with the burglar and overpowered him.

Complicity

participation in wrongdoing; the act of being accomplice

S: There was ?? between the bank robber and the dishonest teller.

Incompatible

so opposed in nature as to be unable to coexist; unable to work together in combination

Cogent

powerfully convincing

S: Shaft was ?? in explaining why he needed the confidential files.

Withstand

stand up against; successfully resist

S: If you can ?? all the peer pressure to cut classes, you should survive college just fine.

Controvert

to oppose with arguments; attempt to refute; contradict

S: The witness’s testimony was so clear and her reputation for honesty so well established that the defense attorney decided it was wiser to make no attempt to ?? what she said.

Incongruous

not harmonious; not consistent; not appropriate; not fitting in

S: The ultramodern kitchen seemed ?? in the restored eighteenth-century farmhouse. It was ??.

Polemical

aggressive in verbal attack; disputatious

S: Lexy was a master of ?? rhetoric; she should have worn a T-shirt with the slogan ‘Born to Debate'.’

Besiege

to surround with armed forces; harass (with request)

S: When the bandits ?? the village, the villagers hole up in the town hall and prepared to withstand a long siege.

Confrontation

act of facing someone or something; encounter, often hostile

S: Morris hoped to avoid any ?? with his ex-wife, but he kept running into her at the health club.

Indefatigable

tireless

S: Although the effort of taking out the garbage tired Wayne out for the entire morning when it came to partying, he was ??.

Duplicity

the act of being two-faced; double-dealing; deception

S: Dave in his duplicity, told us he wasn’t going to rob the bank and then went right out and robbed it.

Impending

approaching; imminent; looming

S: Jim’s ?? 50th bday filled him with gloom; he was starting to feel old.

Converse

opposite

Objective

goal; aim

Contend

to argue earnestly; struggle in rivalry

S: Sociologist Harry Edwards ?? that some colleges exploit young African American athletes.

Contention

angry disagreement; point made in a debate or argument; competiton

S: Some people are peacemakers; others seek out any excuse for quarrels and ??.

Bolster

to support; reinforce

S: The debaters amassed file boxes full of evidence to ?? their arguments.

Rigid

1. unable to bend

2. not easily changed

3. unwilling to change (beliefs, opinons)

Deacons Dobbs wore a ?? white plastic collar that chafed his neck.

Acclimate

adjust to climate

S: One of the difficulties of our present air age is the need of travelers to ?? themselves to their new environments.

Concentration

action of focusing one’s total attention

Insolence

impudent disrespect; haughtiness

S: How dare you treat me so rudely! The manager will hear of your ??.

Prevail

to triumph; to overcome rivals; (with on, upon, or with) to persuade

S: When justice ??, it means good defeats evil.

Despise

to look on with scorn; regard as worthless or distasteful

S: Mr. Bond, I ?? spies; I look down on them as mean, despicable, honorless men.