devote vt. 投入於，獻身
[特徵]
- the student devoted his time to his study.
這個學生把他的時間用在學習上。
[備考必背]
①重要詞組
devote oneself to 獻身於…… devote one's life to doing將一生貢獻給……
- he has devoted his whole life to benefiting mankind.
他為全人類的利益獻出了自己的一生。
②派生詞：devotion n. 奉獻，投入
- the devotion of too much time to sports leaves too little time for studying.
把過多的時間花在體育運動上就使花在學習上的時間太少了。
difficulty n. 困難，難點
[特徵]
with difficulty 困難地，費盡地 in difficulty 處境困難
- this project is full of difficulties.
這個工程困難很多。
[貼心叮嚀]
difficulty是difficult的名詞形式。它既可作可數名詞，也可作不可數名詞。
[考點]
表示“在某方面有困難”可以用“difficulty+in+doing sth.（in可以省略）”，而不能用“difficulty+ to do sth.”形式。
（誤）there was no difficulty to solve the problem.
（正）there was no difficulty (in) solving the problem.
解決這問題毫無困難。
direct vt. ①指路，指明方向 ②指導，指揮 ③導演（電影等） adj. 筆直的；直率的
[特徵]
a direct road 一條直路
- could you direct me to the railway station?
請問道火車站怎么走？
- who is directing the workmen?
誰在指揮工人？
- who directed the movie?
誰執導的這部影片？
- he gave the boss a direct answer.
他給了老闆一個直接的答案。
[貼心叮嚀]
direct的基本含義是“指明方向”，其他意思都是由此引申而來，請注意參考上面的例句。
[練習與解答]
- once a decision has been made, all of us shouldit. [2004 湖北]
a. direct to b. stick to c. lead to d. refer to
答案：b
（一旦做出了決定，我們大家都要遵守。本題考查動詞詞組的含義。direct to是“把……指向……”；stick to是“堅持”；lead to是“導致；通向”；refer to是“參考；提及”。）
disability n. ①無力，無能 ②殘疾
[特徵]
在英文中，在一些單詞前面通常會加上前綴dis，表示和後面這個單詞相反的含義。disability就是由前綴dis（表示否定）+ability（能力）構成。
- he has a disability pension from the government.
他領有一筆政府發的傷殘撫恤金。
[備考必背] 辨析disability和inability
這兩個詞都有“缺乏能力”的意思。disability多指身體殘疾而引起的“缺乏能力”；而inability單純指“不能”。
- he was disabled in the war and his disability prevented him from holding any job.
他在戰爭中殘廢了，這使他無法找到任何工作。
- the new secretary is still unable to work alone and this inability may cause her to lose the job.
新來的秘書至今仍不能獨立工作，這很可能使她失去這份工作。