1、inception noun/nspn/ singular (formal) the start of an institution, an organization, etc.Interest in the girls basketball team has grown rapidly since its inception in 2009.plank noun/plk/ a main point in the policy of an organization, especially a political partyThe central plank of the bill was ru
2、ral development.irrevocable adjective/rvkbl/ (formal) that cannot be changedsynonym FINALan irrevocable decision/stepsmuggle verb/sml/ smuggle something/someone (+ adverb/preposition) to take, send, or bring goods or people secretly and illegally into or out of a country, etc.They were caught smuggl
3、ing diamonds into the country.He managed to smuggle a gun into the prison.smuggled drugsWe do not yet know how the bomb was smuggled abroad.confiscate verb/knfsket/ confiscate something to officially take something away from someone, especially as a punishmentTheir land was confiscated after the war
4、.The teacher threatened to confiscate their phones if they kept using them in class.barbarous adjective/brbrs/ (formal) 1 extremely cruel and shockingthe barbarous treatment of these prisoners of waratrocity noun/trsti/ uncountable plural atrocities countable, usually plurala cruel and violent act,
5、especially in a warinnocuous adjective/nkyus/ (formal) 1 not intended to offend or upset anyonesynonym HARMLESSIt seemed a perfectly innocuous remark.defiance noun/dfans/ uncountable open refusal to obey someone or somethinga look/an act/a gesture of defianceNuclear testing was resumed in defiance o
6、f an international ban.fathom verb/fm/ to understand or find an explanation for somethingfathom someone/somethingIt is hard to fathom the pain felt at the death of a child.fathom what, where, etc.He couldnt fathom what the man could possibly mean.delusion noun/dlun/ 1 countable a false belief or opi
7、nion about yourself or your situationthe delusions of the mentally illDont go getting delusions of grandeur (= a belief that you are more important than you actually are).He was suffering from paranoid delusions and hallucinations.Love can be nothing but a delusion.disparate adjective/dsprt/ (formal
8、) 1 made up of parts or people that are very different from each othera disparate group of individuals2 (of two or more things) so different from each other that they cannot be compared or cannot work togethera critical study that aims to cover such disparate forms as Anglo-Saxon poetry and the mode
9、rn novel.rectifyverb/rktfa/ rectifies, rectifying, rectified, rectified rectify something(formal)to put right something that is wrongsynonym CORRECTto rectify a faultWe need to start thinking about how to rectify the pound verb /kmpand; kmpand; kmpand/ 1 often passivecompound somethingto make someth
10、ing bad become even worse by causing further damage or problemsThe problems were compounded by severe food shortages.exacerbate verb/zsrbet/ exacerbate something(formal) to make something worse, especially a disease or problemsynonym AGGRAVATEHis aggressive reaction only exacerbated the situation.Th
11、e symptoms may be exacerbated by certain drugs.foil verb/fl/ often passive to stop something from happening, especially something illegal; to prevent someone from doing somethingsynonym THWARTfoil somethingto foil a plan/crime/plotCustoms officials foiled an attempt to smuggle the paintings out of t
12、he country.foil someone (in something)They were foiled in their attempt to smuggle the paintings.thwart verb/wrt/ often passive to prevent someone from doing what they want to dosynonym FRUSTRATEthwart somethingto thwart someones plansthwart someone (in something)She was thwarted in her attempt to t
13、ake control of the party.devout adjective/dvat/ (of a person)believing strongly in a particular religion and obeying its laws and practicesa devout Christian/Muslimgrace noun/res/ the kindness that God shows toward the human racethe power of divine graceIt was only by the grace of God that they surv
14、ived.penance noun/pnns/ 1 countable, usually singular, uncountable (especially in particular religions) an act that you give yourself to do, or that a priest gives you to do, in order to show that you are sorry for something you have done wrongan act of penancepenance for somethingto do penance for
15、your sinssuppressverb/sprs/ 1suppress something(usually disapproving) (of a government, ruler, etc.) to put an end, often by force, to a group or an activity that is believed to threaten authoritysynonym QUASHThe rebellion was brutally suppressed.annul verb/nl/ annulling, annulled annul somethingto
16、state officially that something is no longer legally validTheir marriage was annulled after just two months.seververb/svr/ (formal)sever somethingto completely end a relationship or all communication with someonesynonym BREAK OFFThe two countries have severed all diplomatic links.She has severed all
17、 contact with her family.breach noun/brit/ breach of somethingan action that breaks an agreement to behave in a particular waya breach of confidence/trusta breach of security (= when something that is normally protected is no longer secure)3 countable a break in a relationship between people or coun
18、triesa breach in Franco-German relationsappertainverb/prten/ PHRASAL VERBappertain to someone/something(formal)to belong or refer to someone or somethingrights appertaining to the propertyThese figures appertain to last years sales.gamut noun/mt/ singular the complete range of a particular kind of t
19、hingThe network will provide the gamut of computer services to your home.She felt she had run the (whole) gamut of human emotions from joy to despair.apathynoun/pi/ uncountable the feeling of not being interested in or enthusiastic about anythingThere is widespread apathy among the electorate.public
20、/political/student apathyidentical adjective/adntkl/ 1 similar in every detaila row of identical housesThe two pictures are similar, although not identical.identical to someone/somethingHer dress is almost identical to mine.identical with someone/somethingThe number on the card should be identical w
21、ith the one on the checkbook.meticulous adjective/mtkyls/ paying careful attention to every detailsynonym FASTIDIOUS, THOROUGHmeticulous planning/records/researchTheir room had been prepared with meticulous care.She planned her trip in meticulous detail.meticulous in something/doing somethingHes alw
22、ays meticulous in keeping the records up to date.meticulous about somethingMy father was meticulous about his appearance.perpetual adjective/prptul/ 1 usually before noun continuing for a long period of time without interruptionsynonym CONTINUOUSthe perpetual noise of trafficWe lived for years in a
23、perpetual state of fear.(literary)mountain peaks covered with perpetual snow and icestatic adjective/sttk/ 1 not moving, changing, or developingThe balance sheet provides a static picture of the financial position at a point in time.Prices on the stock market, which have been static, are now rising
24、again.a static population leveltumultuous adjective/tmltus/ usually before noun 1 very loud; involving strong feelings, especially feelings of approvaltumultuous applausea tumultuous reception/welcomestationary adjective/stenri/ 1 not moving; not intended to be movedI remained stationary.The car col
25、lided with a stationary vehicle.a stationary exercise bikebanal adjective/bnl; bnl; benl/ (disapproving)very ordinary and containing nothing that is interesting or importanta banal conversation about the weatherintriguing adjective/ntri/ very interesting because of being unusual or not having an obv
26、ious answerThese discoveries raise intriguing questions.an intriguing possibilityHe found her intriguing.conjureverb/kndr/ intransitive, transitive to do skillful tricks such as making things seem to appear or disappear as if by magicHer grandfather taught her to conjure.conjure something + adverb/p
27、repositionHe could conjure coins from behind peoples ears.PHRASAL VERBSconjure something up1 to make something appear as a picture in your mindsynonym EVOKEThat smell always conjures up memories of vacations in France.He strained to conjure up her face and voice, but they had vanished.reverberate ve
28、rb/rvrbret/ 1 intransitive (of a sound) to be repeated several times as it is reflected off different surfacessynonym ECHOHer voice reverberated around the canyon walls.The crash reverberated throughout the house.fret verb/frt/ fretting, fretted intransitive, transitivefret (about/over something)fre
29、t (that)to be worried or unhappy and not able to relaxFretting about it wont help.Her baby starts to fret as soon as she goes out of the room.screen verb/skrin/ screen someone (for something)to examine people in order to find out if they have a particular disease or illnessMen over 55 should be regu
30、larly screened for prostate cancer.quibble verb/kwbl/ intransitivequibble (about/over something)to argue or complain about a small matter or an unimportant detailIt isnt worth quibbling over such a small amount.underline verb/ndrlan/ to emphasize or show that something is important or trueunderline
31、somethingThe report underlines the importance of preschool education.underline how, what, etc.Her question underlined how little she understood him.underline thatThe report underlined that the project enjoyed considerable support in both countries.it is underlined thatIt should be underlined that th
32、ese are only preliminary findings.creepy adjective/kripi/ creepier, creepiest (informal)1 causing an unpleasant feeling of fear or slight horrorsynonym SCARYa creepy ghost storyIts kind of creepy down in the cellar!plausible adjective/plzbl/ 1 (of an excuse or explanation) reasonable and likely to b
33、e trueHer story sounded perfectly plausible.The only plausible explanation is that he forgot.bubbly adjective/bbli/ bubblier, bubbliest 1 full of bubbles2 (of a person) always cheerful, friendly, and enthusiasticJulies bright, bubbly personalitymutation noun/myuten/ 1 uncountable, countable (biology
34、) a process in which the genetic material of a person, a plant, or an animal changes in structure when it is passed on to children, etc., causing different physical characteristics to develop; a change of this kindcells affected by mutationgenetic mutations2 uncountable, countable a change in the fo
35、rm or structure of something(linguistics)vowel mutationIn Celtic languages such as Welsh, there is a process of mutation affecting the beginning sound of a word, according to the word which comes before it.the mutation of ethnic politics into nationalist politicsglamorous adjective/lmrs/ (also infor
36、mal glam/lm/ ) especially attractive and exciting, and different from ordinary things or peopleglamorous movie starsa glamorous jobresentful adjective/rzntfl/ feeling bitter or angry about something that you think is unfaira resentful lookresentful of/at/about somethingThey seemed to be resentful of
37、 our presence there.She was resentful at having been left out of the team.adorationnoun/dren/ uncountablea feeling of great love or worshipHe gazed at her with pure adoration.The painting is called “Adoration of the Infant Christ.”preeminentadjective/primnnt/ (formal) more important, more successful
38、, or of a higher standard than otherssynonym OUTSTANDINGa preeminent example of the artists workDickens was preeminent among English writers of his day.allege verb/ld/ often passive (formal)to state something as a fact but without giving proofallege (that)The prosecution alleges (that) she was drivi
39、ng carelessly.it is alleged (that)It is alleged that he mistreated the prisoners.be alleged to be, have, etc. somethingHe is alleged to have mistreated the prisoners.allege somethingThis procedure should be followed in cases where dishonesty has been alleged.clandestine adjective/klndstn/ (formal) d
40、one secretly or kept secreta clandestine meeting/relationshipthe clandestine sale of weaponsludicrous adjective/ludkrs/ unreasonable; that you cannot take seriouslysynonym ABSURD, RIDICULOUSa ludicrous suggestionIt was ludicrous to think that the plan could succeed.He is paid a ludicrous amount of m
41、oney.revelverb/rvl/ intransitive to spend time enjoying yourself in a noisy, enthusiastic wayPHRASAL VERBrevel in somethingto enjoy something very muchShe was clearly reveling in all the attention.He reveled in the freedom he was allowed.revel doing somethingSome people seem to revel in annoying oth
42、ers.She reveled in defying the critics.warp verb/wrp/ 1 intransitive, transitivewarp (something)to become, or make something become, twisted or bent out of its natural shape, for example because it has become too hot, too damp, etc.The window frames had begun to warp.vindicateverb/vndket/ (formal) 1vindicate somethingto prove that something is true or that you were right to do something, especially when other people had a different opinionsynonym JUSTIFYI have every confidence that this decision will be fully vindicated.
