考研英語核心辭彙辨析(黑魔方系列2008版之七)

concentrate, focus

這兩個動詞都有"集中"的意思。

concentrate v.集中,集中精力(後接on,賓語可以是具體或抽象的東西);濃縮,壓縮。

during exams, students concentrate hard on answering the questions.考試期間,同學們集中精力回答問題。

focus v.集中(於某事物);將(注意力等)集中於……(後接on,賓語一般不是具體的東西)。

please focus your minds on the following problem.請集中考慮以下問題。

confinement, limitation, restraint

這一組名詞都有"限制,局限"的意思。

confinement n.限制,囚禁(於某地或某種境地)。

the prisoner was sentenced to three months' solitary confinement.那犯人被判處單獨監禁三個月。

limitation n.限制,局限;(能力的)缺點,弱點。

that employee has limitations on what work he can do.那個雇員能做的工作有限。

restraint n.克制,抑制;約束措施。

even though the mother was very angry, she acted with restraint and didn't yell at her child.即使母親很生氣,她仍克制自己沒有向孩子大吼。

considerable, considerate

這是一對形近易混的形容詞。

considerable a.相當大的,相當多的;值得考慮的。

that family owns a considerable amount of land.那個家族擁有大量的土地。

considerate a.考慮周到的,體貼的,後面常跟of結構。

he is always considerate of others; he is kind and sympathetic.他總是很體諒別人,他很慈善並且富有同情心。

conserve, preserve, reserve

這是一組形近易混詞,且都有"保存"的意思。

conserve v.保存,保藏,保護(強調節約)。

in winter, some people conserve energy by lowing the heat at night.冬天,為節約能源有些人在夜裡把暖氣調小。

preserve v.保護;維持;保養;防止(食物)腐敗(強調使不受破壞)。

the government preserves the rights of the individual person.政府保護個人的權利不受侵犯。

reserve v.保留,儲備(強調為某一特殊目的);訂(座位),預定。

we are reserving these seats for my parents.我們把這些座位留給我的父母。

continual, continuous, constant, incessant

這一組形容詞都有"不斷的,不停的"的意思。

continual a.連續不斷的;頻繁的。表示時斷時續的發生。

that dog's barking is a continual annoyance.那條狗不停地叫,真是煩死人了。

continuous a.不停的,連續不斷的,強調中間不停頓。

our homes and offices need a continuous supply of electricity.我們的家庭以及辦公室需要不間斷的供電。

constant a.不斷的,經常的,強調始終如一地經常出現。

everything in the universe is in constant motion.宇宙中的萬物都在不斷地運動。

incessant a.不停的,持續不斷的,強調令人厭煩地重複出現,中間有可能有停頓。

incessant noise makes me appreciate silence.持續不斷的噪聲騷擾使我喜歡安靜的環境。

convert, invert, revert, transform

這一組動詞都有"轉變"的意思。

convert v.轉變,變換,含有"使某人改變觀點"的意思。

he wants to convert to catholicism.他要皈依天主教。

invert v.使顛倒,使倒轉,使反向。常常表示位置、順序、方向等的顛倒。

the baby inverted the cup and spilled her orange juice.嬰兒把杯子打翻,弄灑了裡面的橙汁。

revert v.歸還,恢復原狀。指回到原來的狀態或情形。

john gave his brother a house, and when his brother died, ownership reverted back to john.約翰送給他的哥哥一所房子,當他的哥哥去世後,房子的所有權重新歸於約翰。

transform v.改變,轉變,指形狀、顏色、大小、性質等的改變。

a little paint will soon transform the old house.刷一點油漆很快就會使這所舊房子大為改觀。

credible, credulous, plausible

這一組形容詞都有"可信的"意思。

credible a.可信的,可靠的。

that the student told the teacher a credible story that she missed classes because she was sick.那個學生跟老師講了實情,她沒來上課是因為她病了。

credulous a.輕信的,易於相信的。

she was credulous when she listened to the salesman and bought the car for too much money.她很容易輕信別人,竟然聽信那個銷售員的話以高價買了那輛車。

plausible a.似乎有理的(可信的)。常帶有懷疑的意思。

even though it is a plausible explanation, i am not completely convinced.雖然這個解釋合理,但仍不可能使我完全相信。

decline, refuse, reject, deny

這組動詞都有"拒絕"的意思。

decline v.婉言拒絕,謝絕,相當於refuse politely,主要用於拒絕有關社交活動的邀請或要求幫助的請求,後接名詞或動詞不定式,主語只能是人。

i invited her to join us, but she declined.我邀請她和我們在一起,可是她婉言謝絕了。

refuse v.是比較普通的用詞,表示"拒絕",含有非常堅決地、不客氣地拒絕的意思。

reject v.拋棄,不採納,主語可以是人或物,後接名詞,不能接動詞不定式。

he asked her to go to the movies three times, and each time she rejected him.他三次約她去看電影,但每一次都被拒絕。

deny v.否認,否定,其後可接名詞,代詞或that從句。

the defendant denied the accusations made against him in court.被告在法庭上否認了對他的指控。

deduce, induce, reduce

這是一組形近易混詞。

deduce v.推斷,推理,演繹。

my friend becomes quiet when his girlfriend is angry with him; today he is quiet and so i deduce she is angry.我的朋友在他的女朋友生他的氣的時候就會變得沉默,今天他很沉默,所以我推斷她生氣了。

induce v.引誘,勸;引起,導致。

we couldn't induce the old lady to travel by air.我們無法勸說那位老太太坐飛機去。

reduce v.減輕,減小;降低。

he reduced his weight by 20 pounds by eating less and exercising.他通過節食和運動,體重減輕了20磅。

delay, postpone

這兩個詞都有"延遲"之意。

delay v.延期,延緩,耽擱,常指由於不可避免的障礙等原因而延期。

her late arrival delayed the start of the meeting.她的遲到使會議延遲開始。

postpone v.耽擱,暫緩,常指將某事放置一邊,等到另一事發生或一定時間後再做。

our meeting for today was postponed until next week.我們今天的會議推遲到下周舉行。

demonstrate, illustrate

這兩個詞都有"說明"的意思。

demonstrate v.多指通過具體動作或物體進行演示、示範、表演、展示等以達到說明或解釋的目的。

this salesman demonstrated how to cook with a pressure cooker.這個推銷員當眾演示如何用壓力鍋煮東西。

illustrate v.強調通過舉例、列圖表或比較等方式來說明道理。

the teacher illustrated the history lesson by telling a story about george washington.那個老師通過喬治·華盛頓的故事來講述他的歷史課。

disappear, vanish, fade

這一組詞都有"消失"的意思。

disappear v.消失,不見;滅絕,不復存在。是個一般用語。

the little dog was just there, then he disappeared.那條小狗剛才就在那裡,然後就不見了。

vanish v.消失,不見,指突然間化為烏有,強調非常徹底地、神秘莫測地消失、失蹤。

the man ransintosthe shop and vanished from sight.那個男子跑到了商店裡,然後就消失了。

fade v.指衣服的顏色褪色,聲音的逐漸消失。

the wallpaper has faded from red to pale pink.牆紙從紅色褪成了淡粉色。

decline, decrease, diminish, reduce

這一組動詞都有"減少"的意思。

decline v. (數量、數字、價格、比率)下降,下落。

last year, the crime rate in chicago has sharply declined.去年芝加哥的犯罪率明顯下降。

decrease v.減少,減小,強調逐漸地下降或減少的過程。

diminish v. (力量、勢力)減弱,減少,強調由於某種原因而減少,這種減少可以造成能夠為人們所察覺的後果或損失。

the need to take action has diminished.已經沒有多少需要採取行動的必要性了。

reduce v.是及物動詞,指通過人為的方法在數量、規模、範圍等方面減少,也可以指在地位、重要性方面降低等級。

he reduced his weight by 20 pounds by eating less and exercising.他通過節食和運動,體重減輕了20磅。