1.scramble：The diary, whose copyright status was uncertain, became the object of a publishing scramble. 这本日记虽然不版权归属尚不确定，但已成了出版社炙手可热的争抢对象。

hectic: Things have been so hectic here his week, we hope they’ll simmer down after the holidays. 这个礼拜事情闹得沸反盈天，但愿假期过后情况会平静下来。

norm: Nowadays air-conditioned buses for tourists have become the norm. 如今游客作的客车都有空调，这已成为一种惯例。

dwindle: The ongoing investigation dwindled and died, finding no evidence that laws had been violated. 所作的调查没有发现任何人违法的证据，最后不了了之。

want for: She was kind enough to see that we wanted for nothing. 她很热心，尽量使我们什么都不缺。

fraught: The field of corpus linguistics is fraught with unsolved questions. 语料库语言学领域有着许多尚未解决的问题。

let up: slow down The doctor has been working for fifty hours without letting up. 那医生已连续工作了50个小时没有休息。

disorient: He seems disoriented since he left the army, and doesn’t know what to do next. 自从退役以来，他似乎茫无头绪，不知下一步该做些什么。

carve out: He carved out a name/ place for himself in the engineering business. 他在工程技术领域干出了名气（争得了一席之地）。

burn out: Stop working and have a rest, or you’ll burn out.停下来歇歇吧，不然要累垮的。

act out: psychiatry. to express unconsciously (a repressed impulse or experience ) in overt behaviourIn the enclosed life of this small village, many passions are brought to the surface and acted out. 在这个与世隔绝的小村庄里，人们的七情六欲溢于言表，又表现得淋漓尽致。

dispense: The Red Cross dispensed food and clothing to the flood victims. 红十字会向水灾难民分发食品和衣物。

Druggists must dispense medicines with the greatest care. 药剂师配药必须一丝不苟。

2modify: Human action can be modified to some extent, but human nature cannot be changed.人类的行为可以作一定程度的改变，但人类的本性是不可变的。

provided: I’ll forgive her for her mistake provided that she apologizes to me. 只要她向我道歉，我就原谅她的过失。

atrophy: Skills atrophy from lack of practice. 技艺不练就荒疏。

diminish: Familiarity with the routine did not diminish his horror of living in prison. 尽管他对铁窗生活的一套常规耳熟能详，但也没有减轻身陷囹圄的恐惧感。

at heart: He seems friendly, but he is just a ruthless businessman at heart. 他看上去面善，但骨子里却是一个心狠手辣的商人。

precarious: The national leadership in the country was in precarious hands. 该国国家的领导权掌握在一些危险分子的手里。

predicate: The publicity predicated the novel’s success. 这部小说的成功取决于推广宣传。

embark: Our paper is embarking on a nation-wide campaign for increased circulation. 我们的报纸正在全国掀起一个扩大发行量的运动。

Mary embarked on her marriage with many hopes and fears. 玛丽怀着许多希望和忧虑开始了婚姻生活。

actuality: A trip to the moon is now an actuality. 登月旅行现在已成为事实。

endow:Nature endowed her with beauty and wit. 她天生才貌双全。

embed: Every detail of the accident is embedded in my memory. 那起事故的细枝末节深深地印在我的脑海中。

subservient: He was subservient and eager to please his girlfriend. 他一味迁就，急于讨好女友。

enormity: We were really not aware of the enormity of that problem. 那个问题涉及的范围之广是我们所始料未及的。

The bombing of defenseless population was an enormity beyond belief. 对手无寸铁的老百姓狂轰滥炸是令人难以置信的暴行。

shadow: a slight bit; a faint semblance; a suggestion; a hintThere was not even a shadow of remorse on his face. 他脸上甚至连一丝悔恨之意都没有。

There wasn’t a shadow of a hope that the buried miners would be recovered alive.没有一丝希望能把那些埋在地下的矿工活着救出来。

breed: Careless driving breeds accidents. 开车不小心往往酿成事故。

hallmark: His hallmark in work is his full involvement. 他在工作上的突出特点是全身心的投入。

A free press is one of the hallmarks of democracy. 新闻出版自由是民主的显著特征之一。

3．in effect: His silence is in effect a confirmation of the rumour. 他的沉默实际上是对这则谣言的确认。

clamour: His family and friends clamoured against the man’s wronged imprisonment. 他的家属和朋友纷纷抗议对他的非法监禁。

titillat e: This tabloid survived through titillating the reader with gossips. 这家小报靠刊登小道消息得以生存。

emulate: It is impossible for me to emulate her at the piano. 我要在弹钢琴方面超过她，压根儿就没门。

Some smaller cities now emulate the major capitals in their cultural offerings. 如今一些小城市在提供文化设施方面与大都市不相伯仲。

Your eyes would emulate the diamond. 你的眼睛真可与宝石媲美。

mediate: The United Nations is trying to mediate between the two warring countries. 联合国正努力调解两个交战国之间的争端。

4．cipher: an obsolete name for zero; nobody;He was a mere cipher in the company. 他在公司里是个无足轻重的小人物。

at bottom: or at the bottom:Jealousy is, at bottom, the lack of self-confidence. 妒忌实质上是缺乏自信。

lose sight of: Under no circumstances should we lose sight of our main objective. 在任何情况下，我们都不能忘记自己的宗旨。

potent: He faced the most potent challenges to his leadership. 他面临着对其领导地位最强劲的挑战。

patch: Mary and Tom are still trying to patch up their marriage. 玛丽和汤姆仍试图弥合他们婚姻的裂痕。

droop: In the summer vacation, his daughter drooped around the house because all her friends went to camp. 暑假里，他女儿在家团团转，精神十分沮丧，因为她的朋友们都去了夏令营。

confer: Certain cars have always tended to confer status. 某些轿车总能显示主人的地位。