1、difficulty, hardship这两个名词都表示“困难”之意。difficulty : 指需大量思考和技巧或努力才能克服的任何困难。She has difficulty breathing.(她呼吸有困难。)hardship : 侧重指生活上令人难以承受的艰难困苦,如疾病、贫穷等磨难。He was willing to face any hardship in fulfillment of his duty.(他愿意面对任何困难去履行他的职责。)die, decease, expire, perish, pass away这些动词或短语动词均有“死”或“死亡”之意。die : 最普通用
2、词,指某人或某物失去生命而永远不存在。He became very ill and then he died.(他病得很重, 接着就死了。)decease : 正式用词,多指法律上的用语。Upon his decease the house will pass to his wife.(他死后房屋归他太太所有。)expire : 委婉用词。从本义“从肺部吐出气来”引申为吐出最后一口气,断气而死。He expired at midnight.(他在午夜死去。)perish : 书面用词,多指夭折或不幸暴亡。Hundreds of sheep perished that year because
3、of drought.(那年由于干旱, 几百头羊突然死去。)pass away 是 die 的委婉用语。He passed away peacefully.(他安详地去世了。)doubt, suspicion, distrust, uncertainty这些名词均有“怀疑”之意。doubt : 指对事物的真、假有怀疑。There is no doubt that the answer is wrong.(毫无疑问这个答案是错的。)suspicion : 语气较强,指对某人做某事的目的、意图有怀疑,或认为某人做错事,但无确凿证据而产生怀疑。Since they discovered the tr
4、uth about his background, his colleagues have regarded him with suspicion.(他的同事虽然摸清了他的背景 , 但对他还是疑神疑鬼的。)distrust : 一般用词,泛指对某人某事不信任而感到怀疑。He looked at the stranger with distrust.(他怀疑地打量着那个陌生人。)uncertainty : 侧重指对某事或选择等需作决定时的迟疑不决。After six weeks of uncertainty, the strain was beginning to take its toll.(
5、6 个星期的忐忑不安后,压力开始产生影响了。)dominant, predominant, sovereign这些形容词均含有“占优势的,支配其它的”之意。dominant : 强调权威。The British were formerly dominant in India.(英国人从前统治印度。)predominant : 侧重指影响与新近的优势。The predominant feature of his character was pride.(他的性格中主要的特点是骄傲。)sovereign : 侧重指其他事物都从属于或低于它的。The Queen has sovereign powe
6、r.(女王握有统治权。)doctor, physician, surgeon, dentist这些名词都有“医生”之意。doctor : 普通用词,泛指各科医生,即一切有行医资格的人。He would not dream of becoming a doctor.(他做梦也没想到要当大夫。)physician : 指医院的内科医生。In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.(对于糖尿病患者, 医生告诫他们不要吃糖。)surgeon : 指专修外科或专修人体某个部分的外科专科医生,这种医生一般需对患者进行手术治
7、疗。The surgeon is now operating.(外科医生正在做手术。)dentist : 指专门从事治牙的医生。I have got toothache, so I must go to a dentist.(我牙疼, 必须去看牙医。)disgrace, humiliate, shame, dishonour这些动词均含“使丢脸、使受耻辱”之意。disgrace : 侧重在别人,尤其在众人面前丢脸。They have disgraced the whole school.(他们给整个学校都丢了脸。)humiliate : 强调受辱者自尊心的损坏。Parents are humi
8、liated if their children behave badly when guests are present.(子女在客人面前举止失当, 父母也失体面。)shame : 指由不光彩或不道德的行为引起的惭愧感或羞耻感。The classs unruly behaviour shamed the teacher.(这班学生不守规矩的行为使老师感到羞愧。)dishonour : 有时可与 disgrace 换用,但前者是指因失去荣誉所致。Theres no dishonour in losing.(失败并不是耻辱。)disguise, mask, cloak这些动词均表示“伪装”或“掩
9、饰”之意。disguise : 指改变装束或外表以掩饰自己的真面目或冒充他人。有时仅指掩饰感情、动机或意图。She disguised herself as a man, but she couldnt disguise her voice.(她假扮成男人, 但改不了声音。)mask : 本义为“面罩”,引申“掩饰”解时,指掩饰某物的真实性质或存在的伪装。This perfume wont mask the unpleasant smell.(这种香水遮不住那股难闻的气味。)cloak : 指采取伪装来掩盖或隐藏真实面目或本性或企图。He cloaked his fear by whistli
10、ng and pretending to be unafraid.(他吹口哨并假装不害怕来掩盖自己的恐惧。)discover, find, detect, ascertain这些动词均有“发现”之意。discover : 普通用词,指发现本来存在,但示被认识的事物、真理或情况。Recently they have discovered a comet.(最近他们发现了一颗彗星。)find : 普通用词,可指偶然发现,也可指经过寻找后得到或重新获得已失去的东西。强调动作的结果。I have found the lost book.(我已经找到丢失的书了。)detect : 正式用词,强调经过周密
11、观察或研究而有所获得和发现,尤指发现有意隐藏之物。The sensors can also detect the presence of nuclear, chemical or biological agents. (传感器也能侦测到核物质、化学物质或是生物物质的存在。)discern, discriminate, distinguish这些动词均有“区别、辨别”之意。discern : 语义较笼统,着重精深与准确的观察力,不一定有能分辨关系密切的各项事物的含义。I soon discerned that the man was lying.(我很快便察觉出这个人是在撒谎。)discrimi
12、nate : 语气强,指从十分相似的事物中辨出差异,尤其把好坏区分开来。They can discriminate hundreds of colours.(他们能分辨上百种颜色。)distinguish : 普通用词,指辨别者的能力或实际观察到的区别,强调辨别所需的技巧。We can distinguish between gold and silver.(我们能区分金和银。)disaster, calamity, catastrophe, misfortune这些名词均表示“灾难”或“不幸”之意。disaster : 普通用词,指大破坏、痛苦或伤亡。They kept a record o
13、f earthquake disasters.(他们记录地震所引发的灾害。)calamity : 多指个人的不幸,比 disaster 严重,强调灾难引起的悲痛以及对于损失的感觉。The marriage proved to be the greatest calamity of his life.(事实证明这桩婚姻是他一生中最大的不幸。)catastrophe : 语气最强,指可怕的灾难,强调最终的结局。The flood was a major catastrophe.(洪水是一场大灾难。 )misfortune : 普通用词,多批较为严重的不幸,强调不幸多由外界因素所致。Misfortu
14、nes never come single.(祸不单行。)disagree, differ, object这些动词均含有“不同意,反对”之意。disagree : 指彼此间意见或看法不同,任何言行上的不合。He likes to fight it out whenever others disagree with him.(当别人与他意见不一致时, 他总喜欢争辩个明白。)differ : 可替换 disagree,但语气较温和,是 disagree 的委婉说法。The two brothers differed about politics.(这兄弟俩政见不同。)object : 语气强烈,侧
15、重对某一具体计划、行为或作法等表示反对。常跟 to 连用。Look, I dont object to your being an activist.(瞧,我并不反对您成为活动分子。)dirty, foul, nasty这些形容词均有“脏的,污秽的,下流的”之意。dirty : 普通用词,泛指被玷污或弄脏。They were telling dirty stories.(他们在讲下流故事。)foul : 指由于腐烂、恶臭等造成的不干净,令人恶心。The house was filled with foul odour.(房间里充满了难闻的气味。)nasty : 主要指特别讲究清洁的人感到讨厌的
16、东西。Try to get rid of your nasty cold.(想法除去你那讨厌的感冒。)direct, conduct, guide, lead, pilot这些动词都含“引导”之意。direct : 指为某人指方向,但自己不一定亲自引路,也可表示指导一群人的事或活动。The general directed that the prisoners should be set free.(将军命令释放囚犯。)conduct : 正式用词,指引导某人去某处,强调亲自带领;也强调监督管理一群有共同目的或目标的人。He conducted the members of the audie
17、nce to their seats. (他引观众到他们的座位上。)guide : 普通用词,可与 conduct 换用,指引导者与被引导者双方彼此合作,共同努力的关系。This book guides us in using English words and idioms.(这本书指导我们如何使用英语单词和习语。)lead : 指走在前面给某人引路或带路人共同去达到某一目标。用于抽象意义时,指在某项活动或运动中起主导和组织作用。If the blind leads the blind, both will fall into ditch.(盲人领瞎子, 两人都会掉进水沟里。)pilot :
18、 从原义“为飞机、轮船导航”借喻为指亲自带领某人去某处。Tom didnt like to pilot the boat.(汤姆不愿为这只船领航。)diligent, industrious这两个形容词均表示“勤奋的”之意。diligent : 多指为一定的目的或追求而勤奋。He made a diligent attempt to learn Russian.他勤奋地学习俄语。industrious : 指由习惯养成或天性形成的勤奋。We Chinese people are brave and industrious.(我们中国人是勇敢勤劳的。)different, various, di
19、verse这些形容词均含“不同的”之意。different : 普通用词,强调事物间的区别或本质的不同。有时侧重对比,不着重差别。Different nations have different levels of technology.(不同的国家的科技水平不同。)various : 通常强调种类的数目。The products we sell are many and various.(我们出售的产品是各式各样的。)diverse : 语气较强,指性质完全不同,着重显著的区别。Trying to find a single coherent account of events in a c
20、ountry as diverse as Russia is risky.(试图在一个像俄罗斯这样多元化的国家里寻找对重大事件的一致性叙述是危险的。)difference, distinction, discrepancy这些名词都有“差别,区别”之意。difference : 普通用词,可指事物本质上的差异或数量上的差额,也可指事物在某一方面的差别,还可指人们之间的不同意见。When the synthetic fabric is contrasted with the natural one, the difference is very apparent.(要是把合成纺织品和天然纺织品对
21、比一下, 它们的差别就很明显了。)distinction : 较正式用词,除指事物在本质上的差别外,还指在某一方面或某一细节上的区分,要在认真观察、研究后才易觉察。I cant see any distinction between these two cases.(我看不出这两个案例有什么不同。)discrepancy : 多用于言论和记述方面,指两物之间缺乏使之相似或平衡的协调。There was a discrepancy in the two reports of the accident.(关于那次事故的两则报道有不一致之处。)destroy, exterminate, exting
22、uish这 3 个动词均有“消灭”之意。destroy :使某人或某物无用或毁灭。Destroy after reading.(阅毕销毁。)exterminate : 指大量地、成批地杀害、消灭。Some people exterminate garden insects by spraying poison on the plants.(有些人在植物上喷撒毒剂以杀死花园内的昆虫。)extinguish : 原义指灭火,转义后暗示生命、希望等像火一样地消灭、熄灭。His discovery extinguished the achievements of his colleague.(他的发现
23、使他同事的成就黯然失色。)die, decease, expire, perish, pass away这些动词或短语动词均有“死”或“死亡”之意。die : 最普通用词,指某人或某物失去生命而永远不存在。He died a millionaire.(他死时是个百万富翁。)decease : 正式用词,多指法律上的用语。Upon his decease the house will pass to his wife.(他死后房屋归他太太所有。)expire : 委婉用词。从本义“从肺部吐出气来”引申为吐出最后一口气,断气而死。He expired at midnight.(他在午夜死去。)pe
24、rish : 书面用词,多指夭折或不幸暴亡。Hundreds of sheep perished that year because of drought.(那年由于干旱, 几百头羊突然死去。)pass away 是 die 的委婉用语。He passed away peacefully.(他安详地去世了。)destiny, fate, lot, doom, luck, fortune这些名词均有“命运”或“运气”之意。destiny: 普通用词,侧重预先注定的命运,对未来命运的美好憧憬。It was the great mans destiny to lead his country to
25、freedom.(那位伟人命中注定要领导他的国家获得自由。)fate : 较庄严用词,多指不幸的命运,暗示不可避免,令人畏惧和人的意志无法改变,宿命论色彩较浓。Every man has a share of responsibility for the fate of his country.(国家兴亡,匹夫有责。)lot : 多指偶然的运气或终身遭受的不幸命运。Her lot has been a hard one.(她命苦。)doom : 指最终的,常常是灾难性或毁灭性的命运,隐含不可避免的意味。The report on our economic situation is full o
26、f doom and gloom.(这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。)luck : 普通日常用词,指好的或坏的运气,尤多指好运气,有时也指成功或愉快的结局。because I have a good luck charm which has already changed my luck. (因为我有吉祥符,它已经把我的运气变好了)fortune : 普通用词,指由机会或运气来决定的一种命运,如暗示一种比 fate 好的运气或一种愉快的未来。By a stroke of fortune, he won the competition. (他靠运气在竞赛中获胜了。)desp
27、ise, scorn, look down upon这些动词或短语动词均表示“轻视,蔑视”之意。despise : 指由于卑鄙、软弱,渺小或无价值等而被轻视。Honest boys despise lies and liars.(诚实的孩子鄙视谎言和说谎者。)scorn : 语气较强,指极端的蔑视,常伴有愤怒或恼怒的情感。She scorned the view that inflation was already beaten.(她嘲笑那种认为通货膨胀已被消除的观点。)look down upon : 指自视地位优越而蔑视他人或事。Dont look down upon others, yo
28、u are just a common guy.(不要瞧不起别人,你只不过是个普通人。)describe, represent, sketch, picture这些动词均有“描写、描述”之意。describe : 侧重指描述细节,给读者或听众提供清晰的视觉图像。She described in detail their resisting the invaders.(她详细叙述了他们抵抗侵略者的事迹。)represent : 指有代表性或象征性地描述或讲述。The painting represents the scene of a bumper harvest.(这幅画描绘了丰收的景象。)s
29、ketch : 指快速地勾勒或概略地叙述。The historical article sketched the major events of the decade.(这篇有关历史的文章概述了这十年中的重大事件。)picture : 着重能够栩栩如生地把事物或场景等描绘出来。The speaker pictured the suffering of the poor vividly.(演讲者很生动地描述了穷人的生活。)descend, drop, fall, sink这些动词都表示“落下,下降”之意。descend : 通常指沿斜线或斜坡下降。They descended the slope
30、 towards the hamlet.(他们顺坡下山 , 向那个村子走去。)drop : 指物体从一定高度落下。The sky diver dropped toward the earth.(延缓张伞跳伞者降落到地上。)fall 与 drop 同义,指突然或猛烈地降落,但 fall 也可指任何下落,同高度或形式无关。The leaves begin to fall when autumn comes.(秋天来临时, 树叶开始落下。)sink : 指在空气或水中垂直下降、下沉。The ship struck against the rocks and sank.(那艘船触礁沉没了。)decid
31、e, determine, resolve, settle这些动词都含“决定”之意。decide : 侧重指经过思考、比较、讨论或询问之后做出的决定。You are the one to decide.(该由你来决定。)determine : 指经过深思熟虑,决心去做某事并坚持施行。The board determined company policy.(董事会决定公司的方针。)resolve : 语气较强,强调以坚定不移的信念去做或不做某事,暗含有远大抱负和坚强决心。The Cabinet met to resolve the crisis.(内阁开会, 寻求解决危机的办法。)settle
32、: 指排除犹豫、怀疑和争论之后作出明确的最终结论。The professor settled the argument with some convincing words.教授用令人信服的话解决的争端。deceit, deception, fraud这 3 个名词均含有“欺骗”之意。deceit : 指歪曲实情,惯于说谎或蓄意欺骗。The boys deceit made his mother very unhappy.(这小孩的欺骗行为使他母亲非常不愉快。)deception : 语气较弱,一般用词,侧重于具体的骗人行为。但有时并无欺骗行为,只是玩弄把戏,故弄玄虚而已。Nobody saw
33、 through Marys deceptions.(无人看透玛丽的诡计。 )fraud : 一般用于犯罪行为的欺骗,通常指政治或经济活动中的舞弊行为。He said he was an insurance salesman, but later she discovered he was a fraud.(他说自己是保险推销员 , 但她后来发现他是骗子。)desire, wish, hope, expect, want, long这些动词都有“希望”之意。desire : 语气较正式庄重,着重渴望的力量与热切,常含有强烈的意图和目的。They greatly desired to come
34、to China.他们非常想到中国来。wish : 语气较弱,多指难于实现或不可能实现的愿望。They informed him that they wished reconciliation.(他们告诉他, 他们愿意和解。)hope : 指对愿望实现有一定信心的希望。We have had no news from him but were still hoping.(我们没有他的消息, 但我们仍在希望着能有。)expect : 通常指有很大程度的把握,但仍含有预料之意,或预计某事或某行动的发生。We expect writers to produce more and better wor
35、ks.(我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。)want : 一般指所想要的东西是切望得到的东西,能弥补实际需要。Ive long wanted to come to your country.(我老早就想到你们国家来。)long : 语气强,指极殷切地盼望着,这种盼望侧重于很难或不可能得到的东西。有时也指一般愿望,但含一定感情色彩。We are longing to see you.(我们极想见到你。)despite, in spite of, notwithstanding这些前置词或前置短语都含有“虽然,尽管”之意。despite : 书面用词,指不受某事或某种原因的阻碍,语气轻于 in s
36、pite of。Despite the fact that she is short, she is an excellent basketball player.(尽管她个子矮, 却是个出色的篮球运动员。)in spite of : 在这些词中语气最强,可与 despite 换用,口语或书面语中均可使用。I went out in spite of the rain.(尽管下雨我仍然外出。 )notwithstanding : 语气最弱,仅表示一种障碍的存在。He insisted on going to the football match, notwithstanding his doc
37、tors advice to the contrary.(他不顾医生的劝阻, 坚持要去看足球比赛。)depart, leave, go, start, quit, set out这些动词均含“离开某处”之意。depart : 较正式用词,指经过周密考虑或郑重地离开,强调离开的起点。The train departs at 7:30.(这列火车上午 7:30 发车。)leave : 侧重出发地而不是目的地。Were giving him a party when he leaves.(当他离开时, 我们将为他举办一个聚会。)go : 一般用词,指从所在地到其它地方去,着重目的地而非出发地。She
38、 has gone to the station.(她去车站了。)start : 可与 leave 换用,强调目的地,但不及 leave 普通。They started their journey home.(他们启程回家了。)quit : 侧重指离开令人烦恼的地方,或摆脱使人不快的人或事。If I dont get a pay rise Ill quit.(若不给加薪, 我就不干了。 )set out : 书面用词。A visitor arrived just as we were setting out for the airport.(我们正要前往机场时来了一位客人。)delicate,
39、 fine, subtle这 3 个形容词均含“微妙的,细微的”之意。delicate : 侧重指需要谨慎处理和对待。This has been regarded as a delicate subject.(这已被认为是一项棘手的问题.)fine : 隐含“不易察觉的”意味。The law makes fine distinctions.(法律做出细致的区别。)subtle : 侧重有洞察、领悟事物细微差别以及微妙关系的能力。Her whole attitude had undergone a subtle change.(她的整个态度发生了微妙的变化。)deliberately, on p
40、urpose上述用作副词的词和词组均有“有意地、故意地”之意。deliberately : 指经过深思熟虑后而行事。I believe the house was deliberately set fire to.(我认为有人蓄意放火烧这幢房子。)on purpose : 侧重所作所为具有特殊目的。I sometimes think that all his supposed mistakes are made on purpose just to annoy me.(我有时认为他犯的那些被信以为真的一切错误是故意为了气我。)denote, indicate这两个动词都有“指示”之意。deno
41、te : 指用符号等表示。We often denote danger by red letters.(我们常常用红字表示危险。)indicate : 指用词语或标记表达较明确的意义。The sign here indicated where I should go.(这个标记指出了我该去的地方。)delay, postpone, defer, suspend, prolong, put off这些动词或短语动词均有“推延,延期”之意。delay : 普通用词,多指因外界原因推迟或耽误,也可指有意推迟。My delay in going abroad is due to my illness.
42、(我推迟出国是因为我生病了。)postpone : 正式用词,语气较强,多指有安排的延期,常指明延期到一定的时间。They postponed leaving because of the weather.(他们因天气原因而延迟离开。)defer : 正式用词,语气强于 postpone,多指故意拖延。The department deferred the decision for six months.(这个部门推迟了六个月才作决定。)suspend : 指暂时中断以待某种条件的实现。Both sides in the conflict have agreed temporarily to
43、suspend hostilities.(冲突双方同意暂时停火。)prolong : 指把时间延长至超过正常或通常的限度。Two countries prolonged signing an agreement until details could be agreed on.(两国推迟签约直到就细节达成协议。)put off : 口语用词,与 postpone 同义,但较通俗。The appointment was put off because of his illness.(由于他生病而推迟了约会。)defend, protect, safeguard, guard, shield, s
44、helter, harbour这些动词均有“保护、保卫”之意。defend : 普通用词,指用武力或其它措施使人或物不受损害,消除危险。用作比喻时,指坚持某种行动、决定或意见。The American navy would defend and patrol the Western Hemisphere.(美国海军将防御和巡逻西半球。)protect : 普通用词,指用某种手段作为防御工具以防危险或伤害。The troops were there to protect the townspeople.(部队驻扎在那里以保护市民。)safeguard : 语气强,指采取积极措施预防可能发生的一切
45、攻击或危险。Their political rights must be safeguarded.(他们的政治利益必须得到保证。)guard : 普通用词,指保持警惕以防可能的攻击或伤害。The soldiers guarded the prince whenever he left the palace.(每当王子离开皇宫, 士兵们都要保护他。)shield : 语气比 protect 强,但侧重防止迫在眉睫的攻击或伤害。It occurred to me that perhaps he was trying to shield someone.(在我看来,可能他在试图保护某个人。)shel
46、ter : 通常指寻找安全地方躲避风雨或使人免遭危害。He sheltered himself behind a hedge.(他躲在树篱后面。)harbour : 贬义词,指隐匿或非法保护、窝藏。Its an offence to harbour the criminals.(窝藏罪犯是犯罪行为。)delegate, deputy, representative, agent, substitute这些名词有“代表、代理人”之意。delegate : 指一般被派参加某一会议的代表。He is one of the delegates to the conference.(他是与会代表之一。)
47、deputy : 指上级授权代理行事的代表,特指被选择为执行全部或部分公务的人。John will act as a deputy for me during my absence.(我离开期间, 约翰将代理我的职务。)He is one of the delegates to the conference.(他是与会代表之一。)representative : 一般指被选举或委派代表某人或一些人或某个较大团体的人,其职务有时是较长期的。A representative of the company will call on you to assess the damage. (公司的代表将前
48、往贵处评估受损失的状况.)agent : 普通用词,通常指经授权代理另一个人或团体,或指在双方之间代表一方起中间作用的人。A commercial agent manages the business affairs of company.(商务代理人负责代公司处理商业性事务。)substitute : 主要强调某人或某物可以用来代替别的人或物的作用。If you cant find a ladder,use a strong chair as a substitute.(如果你找不到梯子,就用一把结实的椅子代替吧。)dedicate, devote这两个动词均有“奉献”之意。dedicate
49、 : 正式用词,指献身于某一崇高事业或目的,也可指把著作题献给他人。The ancient Greeks dedicated many shrines to Aphrodite.(古希腊人以许多神殿供奉(爱与美的女神) 阿佛洛狄特)devote : 普通用词,指决心把全部身心、精力、时间等献给某一目标,某一个人或致力于某一事业。He is devoting his ability in his station.(他在自己的岗位上默默地奉献自己的才华。)deep, profound这两个形容词都有表示“深的”之意。deep : 普通用词,指由上到下,或由表及里的深度,可指具体或抽象事物。The river is not deep; we can walk through it.(这河不深, 我们可以涉水过去。)profound : 语气较强,较为庄重,多指抽象的事物,多用于比喻。I give you my profound thanks for saving my life.(我对您的救命之恩深表谢意。)decrease, diminish, lessen, reduce, dwindle这些协词的共同含义是“减少,变少”。decrease : 指逐渐地、不断地减少。Interest in the sport is decreasing.(人