Day 15
vocabulary
strip
The verb strip has many shades of meaning, but most of them involve removing something. Someone may strip you of your power or you may strip off your clothes. Whatever it is that you strip, it’s gone.
When you strip something, you leave it bare. Strip can refer to removing a covering — like your clothes or like when you strip your sheets from your bed. Robbers may strip your car of all valuable items. And you might need to strip off a coat of paint before you start painting the front door. When used as a noun, strip could be something in a long, narrow shape — like an airstrip or a strip of material.
delusion
A delusion is a belief that has no evidence in fact — a complete illusion. The cook at the hot dog stand who thinks he is the best chef in the world? That opinion is definitely a delusion.
The noun delusion is often used in the phrase delusions of grandeur, which expresses the belief that unattainable goals are well within reach, like a terrible actress's delusions of grandeur that she won't just land her first role in a movie, it also will make her an Academy Award winner. Delusions like that can be amusing for onlookers, but other kinds of delusions are not, like those suffered by the mentally ill. Their delusions can remove them from reality, making it hard to function.
unnerved
deprived of courage and strength
stature
Stature is the another way to say "height of a person," like the surprising stature of the movie star who seems so much taller in his action movies.
Stature comes from the Latin word statura, meaning "height, size of body, growth," but today, it also means "a high level of respect gained by achievement." For example, after you win a Nobel Prize, your new stature will bring new fans, more sales of your book, invitations to many exclusive dinner parties, and maybe even your picture on magazine covers all over the world.
totem
A totem is an emblem or badge that features an animal or plant. Each totem represents a family, clan, or tribe. Do you come from a long line of fishermen? Perhaps your family’s totem is a trout.
Any group can have a totem, but the word totem is from the Algonquian (Native American) word odoodeman for "his family mark." Totems are pictures — usually on badges or emblems — of animals or plants that represent a group of people, especially an extended family or clan. A totem could be a grizzly bear, oak tree, catfish, or just about any other living thing. Like a flag, a totem means a lot to the people it represents.
amulet
If you rub your pendant while praying to your gods, it sounds like you have an amulet, a necklace or similar item attributed with magical powers.
An amulet is something that wards off evil spells and all manner of bad luck. Often found in undeveloped societies — or Brady Bunch episodes — an amulet acts as a charm to protect its wearer from evil. Often worn close to the heart as a necklace, the word amulet can refer to any a piece of jewelry or other trinket that is kept close to the body and believed to keep evil and danger at bay.
nonplussed
If a conversation with someone leaves you scratching your head and wondering what point they were trying to make, you are nonplussed: bewildered, puzzled, often speechless.
Interestingly, there is no word plussed. You can only be nonplussed. People are nonplussed when they’re astounded, exasperated, or at a loss. "I'm nonplussed," you say when your mother tells you she's marrying her 25-year-old personal trainer. "I'm nonplussed," you say when your boss fires you, even though he tells you you’re the best employee he's ever had. Since so many things are confusing and odd, there’s a lot in life that can leave you nonplussed.
crucifix
representation of the cross on which Jesus died.a gymnastic exercise performed on the rings when the gymnast supports himself with both arms extended horizontally
credential
A credential is something that’s proof of a claim you make about yourself or your skills. You might earn a credential in computer networking that lets employers know that you’re qualified to do the job.
A credential can be a particular qualification that you earn or it can refer more generally to achievements or qualities that you’ve acquired over time. You’ll most often see the word credential used in its plural form: credentials. You typically refer to your credentials to show that you're qualified to do something. Your strong academic credentials might qualify you to work as an assistant at a hip magazine during the summer.
deception
Deception is a trick or scheme used to get what you want, like the deception you used to get your sister to agree to do all your chores for a month.
Deception occurs when you deceive, a word that comes from the Latin de- meaning "from" and capere, meaning "to take." When you deceive someone, the result may be taking — like items you don't really need from people willing to give them, believing they are helping you. You may have heard the phrase "take someone for a ride." That's a way of describing deception.
Phi Beta Kappa
an honorary society composed of American college students and graduates in liberal arts and science who have ranked high in scholarship.
Ex. [She] was graduated summa cum laude in 1947 from Barnard College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa (New York Times).
Raskolnikov
a fictional character in Dostoevsky's novel `Crime and Punishment'; he kills old women because he believes he is beyond the bounds of good or evil
Stanford-Binet scale
The Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scales (or more commonly the Stanford-Binet) is an individually administered intelligence test that was revised from the original Binet-Simon Scale by Lewis M. Terman, a psychologist at Stanford University. The Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scale is now in its fifth edition (SB5) and was released in 2003. It is a cognitive ability and intelligence test that is used to diagnose developmental or intellectual deficiencies in young children. The test measures five weighted factors and consists of both verbal and nonverbal subtests. The five factors being tested are knowledge, quantitative reasoning, visual-spatial processing, working memory, and fluid reasoning.
The development of the Stanford–Binet initiated the modern field of intelligence testing and was one of the first examples of an adaptive test. The test originated in France, then was revised in the United States. It was initially created by the French psychologist Alfred Binet, who, following the introduction of a law mandating universal education by the French government, began developing a method of identifying "slow" children for their placement in special education programs (rather than removing them to asylums as "sick"). As Binet indicated, case studies might be more detailed and helpful, but the time required to test many people would be excessive. In 1916, at Stanford University, the psychologist Lewis Terman released a revised examination which became known as the "Stanford–Binet test".
apprehension
Lucky you! Apprehension has three meanings: 1) the capture of a criminal; 2) the understanding of an idea; 3) a fear, doubt, or misgiving.
Given the crook's record of evading arrest, the chief had real apprehensions about being able to catch him again. Eventually though, he lost those misgivings and activated the whole police force in an effort to ensure the felon's apprehension. And it paid off! They caught him red-handed. But it wasn't until he saw the video of the crime in progress that the guy apprehended just how much trouble he was in. It was that apprehension that led him to make a deal with the district attorney.
platitude
If an executive gives a speech that begins, "This business is all about survival of the fittest. You need to burn the midnight oil and take one for the team," his employees might get sick of listening to these meaningless clichés and tell him to cut the platitudes.
The English language contains many old, worn-out clichés, or platitudes. Phrases like "ants in your pants" and "as American as apple pie" are so overused that they've almost lost their meaning. People rely on these tired old remarks when they can't think of anything original to say. Be warned: if you throw too many platitudes into your conversations, people are eventually going to get tired of listening to you.
assignation
a secret meeting, especially with someone you are having a romantic relationship with – often used humorously
shuffle
To shuffle is to drag your feet slowly along the ground as you walk. A kid might shuffle reluctantly off to his room only after being told five times that it's bedtime.
Shuffle also means to wiggle around, like if you shuffle uncomfortably in your seat while watching a five-hour movie. If you get lost in the shuffle, you’re lost in the crowd. Another way to use shuffle is to mean "mix up in a random way," as you do with a deck of cards before dealing a hand. Shuffle probably comes from the Low German word schuffeln, which means both "to walk clumsily" and "to deal dishonestly."
interminable
Use interminable to describe something that has or seems to have no end. Your math class. Your sister's violin recital. A babysitting job where five kids are going through your purse and the parents didn't leave a number.
Something that is interminable is often boring, annoying, or hard to bear, such as an interminable noise. A near synonym is incessant, which also refers to something unpleasant that continues without stopping. It descends from the Latin prefix in- "not," terminare "to end," and the suffix -abilis "able to." Latin terminare is also the source of the English verb terminate "to end" and the corresponding noun termination "an act of ending something."
on the outs
not in harmony with； in conflict with
I wrote in large letters across two pages of a notebook that innocence ends when one is stripped of the delusion that one likes oneself.
当人们褪掉了那层“自我欣赏”的迷思时，纯真也就终结了。 这句话被她大字写在笔记本里
Rhett Butler：
With enough courage, you can do without a reputation.
to give formal dinners in the rain forest would be pointless did not the candlelight flickering on the liana call forth deeper
did not那句是if从句的省略倒装，貌似是中古英语的用法，还原成：if the candlelight did not call forth disciplines
footage
cinema film showing a particular event
splice
As noun and verb, splice refers to the overlapping or interweaving of two ends of something to create the strongest possible attachment.
The earliest records of the word splice are from the early 16th century, when it was borrowed from the Middle Dutch verb splissen, used by sailors for joining ropes end to end by interweaving their strands. In 1912, the infant motion-picture industry took over the word splice to refer to the cutting and joining of film in the editing process. In 1975, scientists found they could alter genes by cutting and adding chunks of DNA, creating the science of gene splicing.perform a marriage ceremony
screening
the showing of a film or television programme.medical tests that are done on a lot of people to make sure that they do not have a particular disease.tests or checks that are done to make sure that people or things are acceptable or suitable for a particular purpose:security screening of airline passengers
muff
a warm tubular covering for the hands.(sports) dropping the ball.fail to catch, as of a ball.make a mess of, destroy or ruin
Phenobarbital
fail to catch, as of a ball
make a mess of, destroy or ruin
coverlet
an outer covering
the sins of commission and omission
beyond the reach of
无法达到
sloth
If you lounge around in your bathrobe watching TV and ordering out for pizza, you'll get called a sloth. A sloth is actually a slow-moving, tree-dwelling mammal, but it has become a synonym for 'lazybones.'
Slug also doubles as the name of an animal and a term for someone who is lazy, slow or lethargic. But with slug, the animal name probably morphed into the human application, whereas sloth has meant "lazy person" or "laziness" for a long time. In the Catholic Church sloth was categorized as one of the seven deadly sins.
improbable
Your parents might tell you it's improbable that they'll buy you a car when you turn 16. Since improbable means something is unlikely but not impossible, your optimism allows you to keep hoping.
The adjective improbable also means statistically unlikely to happen. You might be afraid to fly, but the odds of a plane crash are so low that such an event is improbable. Improbable also means something that is so outrageous that you'd never admit you believed in it. You know the existence of the Loch Ness Monster is improbable, but that doesn't stop you from looking for it when you travel to Scotland.
