Melody Su 的部落格

1.          Pension

: an amount of money that a company or the government pays to a person who is old or sick and no longer works

e.g. Her pension arrives in the mail every month.

1. 2.          Spinster

: an unmarried woman who is past the usual age for marrying and is considered unlikely to marry

e.g. A spinster is a bachelor's wife.

1. 3.          Solicitor

: a person whose job involves talking to many people and trying to persuade them to buy things, donate money, etc.

: a lawyer in Britain who assists people in legal matters and who can represent people in lower courts of law

: a chief law officer of a city, town, or government department

e.g. Solicitors will be arrested for trespassing.

1. 4.          Indecent

: sexually offensive or shocking

: using language that offends people : including behavior or ideas that people find offensive

e.g. He took indecent pleasure in her troubles.

1. 5.          Disdain

: a feeling of strong dislike or disapproval of someone or something you think does not deserve respect

e.g. I have a healthy disdain for companies that mistreat their workers.

1. 6.          Taciturn

: tending to be quiet : not speaking frequently

e.g. A taciturn man, he almost never initiates a conversation.

1. 7.          Brood

: a group of young birds (such as chickens) that were all born at the same time

: the children in someone's family

: to think a lot about something in an unhappy way

e.g. Mrs. Smith took her brood to church every Sunday.

1. 8.          Seductive

: sexually attractive

: making someone do or want something : very attractive

e.g. People always remarked on the cult leader's seductive personality

1. 9.          Suffragette

: a woman who worked to get voting rights for women in the past when women were not allowed to vote

e.g. After women obtained the right to vote, the suffragette movement became a dead duck in Britain.

1. 10.      Celibacy

: the state of not being married

: abstention from sexual intercourse

e.g. A widower who has maintained absolute celibacy since the death of his wife.

1. 11.      Mug

: a large drinking cup with a handle

: the liquid that is contained in a mug

: the face or mouth of a person

e.g. He drank a mug of coffee.

1. 12.      Seminary

: a school for training religious leaders (such as priests, ministers, and rabbis)

e.g. Some claimed that orphanages were seminaries of sin and petty crime, turning out juvenile delinquents by the score

1. 13.      Leninist

: the political, economic, and social principles and policies advocated by Lenin; especially :  the theory and practice of communism developed by or associated with Lenin

e.g. Proletarian revolutionaries always cleave to Marxist-Leninist principles.

1. 14.      Nun

:  a woman belonging to a religious order; especially one under solemn vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience

e.g. The girl took vows to become a teaching nun.

1. 15.      Slander

: to make a false spoken statement that causes people to have a bad opinion of someone

e.g. For some reason, that newspaper seems determined to slander one particular celebrity.

1. 16.      Daffodils

: a yellow flower that blooms in the spring and that has a center that is shaped like a long tube

e.g. The daffodils were in bloom, stirring in the evening breeze.

1. 17.      Chock

: a block of wood or metal that you put against a wheel to stop a vehicle from moving

e.g. The road was chock a - block with varieties of vehicles again today.

1. 18.      Alibis

: a claim that you cannot be guilty of a crime because you were somewhere else when the crime was committed; also : evidence which shows that such a claim is true

: an excuse for not being somewhere or doing something

e.g. Nobody could confirm his alibi that he was at the movies.

1. 19.      Tuberculosis

: a serious disease that mainly affects the lungs

e.g. People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.

1. 20.      Spouses

: someone who is married : a husband or wife

e.g. Employees and their spouses are covered by the health plan.

1. 21.      Orthodoxy

: an idea or practice that is accepted by most people as being correct or usual

: the traditional beliefs and practices of a religion or political system

e.g. The current orthodoxy is child-centred, not teacher-centred, learning.

1. 22.      Contempt

: a feeling that someone or something is not worthy of any respect or approval

: a lack of respect for or fear of something that is usually respected or feared

law : speech or behavior that does not show proper respect to a court or judge

e.g. He feels that wealthy people view him with contempt because he is poor.

1. 23.      Flunkey

: an insulting word for someone who is always keen to please or obey more powerful people

: an insulting word for someone who does unimportant work

e.g. A braided, bewigged flunkey brought us a silver bucket of iced champagne.

1. 24.      Cripple

: to cause (a person or animal) to be unable to move or walk normally

: to make (something) unable to work normally : to cause great damage to (something)

e.g. Higher taxes could cripple small businesses.

1. 25.      Federal

: of or relating to a form of government in which power is shared between a central government and individual states, provinces, etc.

: of or relating to the central government

: of, relating to, or loyal to the federal government during the American Civil War

e.g. The ruling was overturned by a federal appeals court.