大学英语六级词汇迅速记忆法之8天攻克8000词汇十

　　268. assuage : ease; lessen

　　Your messages of cheer should assuage her suffering.

　　269. assumption : something taken for granted; the taking over or taking possession of

　　The young princess made the foolish assumption that the regent would not object to her Assumption of power.

　　270. assurance : promise or pledge; certainty; self-confidence

　　When Gutherie gave Guiness his assurance that rehearsals were going well,he spoke with such assurance that Guiness was convinced.

　　274. astringent : binding; causing contraction; harsh or severe

　　The astringent quality of unsweetened lemon juice made swallowing difficult.

　　278. asylum : place of refuge or shelter; protectionwww.examda.com

　　The refugees sought asylum from religious persecution in a new land.

　　279. asymmetric : not identical on both sides of a dividing central line

　　Because one eyebrow was set markedly higher than the other, Williams face had a particularly asymmetric appearance.

　　281. atheistic : denying the existence of God

　　His atheistic remarks shocked the religious worshippers.

　　285. attenuate : make thin; weaken

　　By withdrawing their forces, the generals hoped to attenuate the enemy lines.

　　286. attest : testify; bear witness

　　Having served as a member of a grand jury, I can attest that our system of indicting individuals is in need of improvement.

　　287. attribute : essential quality

　　His outstanding attribute was his kindness.

　　288. attribute : ascribe; explain

　　I attribute her success in science to the encouragement she received from her parents.

　　292. augment : increase

　　How can we hope to augment our forces when our allies are deserting us?

　　293. augury : omen; prophecy

　　He interpreted the departures of the birds as an augury of evil.

　　294. august : impressive; majestic

　　Visiting the palace at Versailes, she was impressed by the august surroundings in which she found herself.

　　297. auspicious : favoring success

　　With favorable weather conditions, it was an auspicious moment to set sail

　　302. authoritative : having the weight of authority; dictatorial

　　We accepted her analysis of the situation as authoritative.

　　308. avarice : greed for wealth

　　King Midass avarice has been famous for centuries.

　　309. aver : state confidently

　　I wish to aver that I am certain of success.

　　310. averse : reluctant

　　He was averse to revealing the sources of his information.

　　311. aversion : firm dislike

　　Their mutual aversion was so great that they refused to speak to one another.

　　312. avert : prevent; turn away

　　She averted her eyes from the dead cat on the highway.

　　313. aviary : enclosure for birds

　　The aviary at the zoo held nearly 300 birds.

　　315. avocation : secondary or minor occupation

　　His hobby proved to be so fascinating and profitable that gradually he abandoned his regular occupation and concentrated on his avocation.

　　316. avow : declare openly

　　I must avow that I am innocent.

　　338. bantering : good-naturedly ridiculing

　　They resented his bantering remarks because they misinterpreted his teasing as sarcasm.

　　342. baroque : highly ornate

　　Accustomed to the severe, angular lines of modern skyscrapers, they found the flamboyance of baroque architecture amusing.

　　343. barrage : barrier laid down by artillery fire; overwhelming profusion

　　The company was forced to retreat through the barrage of heavy canyons.

　　344. barrister : counselor-at-law

　　Galsworthy started as a barrister, but when he found the practice of law boring, turned to writing.

　　346. bask : luxuriate; take pleasure in warmth

　　basking on the beach, she relaxed so completely that she fell asleep.

　　358. beguile : amuse; delude; cheat

　　I beguiled himself during the long hours by playing solitaire.

　　362. belabor : explain or go over excessively or to a ridiculous degree; assail verbally

　　The debate coach warned her student not to bore the audience by belaboring his point.

　　366. belittle : disparage; depreciate

　　Parents should not belittle their childrens early attempts at drawing, but should encourage their efforts.

　　367. bellicose : warlike

　　His bellicose disposition alienated his friends.

　　368. belligerent : quarrelsome

　　Whenever he had too much to drink, he became belligerent and tried to pick fights with strangers.

　　370. benediction : blessing

　　The appearance of the sun after the many rainy days was like a benediction

　　371. benefactor : gift giver; patron

　　Scrooge later became Tiny Tims benefactor and gave him a benediction.

　　372. beneficent : kindly; doing good

　　The overgenerous philanthropist had to curb his beneficent impulses before he gave away all his money and left himself with nothing.

　　373. beneficiary : person entitled to benefits or proceeds of an insurance policy

　　You may change your beneficiary as often as you wish.

　　374. benevolent : generous; charitable

　　His benevolent nature prevented him from refusing any beggar who accosted him.

　　375. benign : kindly; favorable; not malignant

　　The old man was well liked because of his benign attitude toward friend and stranger alike.

　　378. bequeath : leave to someone by means of a will; hand down

　　In his will, Father bequeathed his watch to Phillip; the bequest meant a great deal to the boy.

　　383. beset : harass; trouble

　　Many problems beset the American public school system.

　　387. betroth : become engaged to marry

　　The announcement that they had become betrothed surprised their friends who had not suspected any romance.

　　389. bicameral : two-chambered, as a legislative body

　　The United States Congress is a bicameral body.

　　391. biennial : every two years

　　The group held biennial meetings instead of annual ones.

　　392. bifurcated : divided into two branches; forked

　　With a bifurcated branch and a piece of elastic rubber, he made a crude but effective slingshot.

　　418. boon : blessing; benefit

　　The recent rains that filled our empty reservoirs were a boon to the whole community.

　　421. bountiful : generous; showing bounty

　　She distributed gifts in a bountiful and gracious manner.

　　427. braggart : boaster

　　Modest by nature, she was no braggart, preferring to let her accomplishments speak for themselves.

　　430. brazen : insolent

　　Her brazen contempt for authority angered the officials.

　　432. breadth : width; extent

　　We were impressed by the breadth of her knowledge.

　　433. brevity : conciseness

　　brevity is essential when you send a telegram or cablegram; you are charged for every word.

　　459. cacophony : discord

　　Some people seem to enjoy the cacophony of an orchestra that is tuning up.

　　462. cadence : rhythmic rise and fall ; beat

　　Marching down the road, the troops sang out, following the cadence set by the sergeant.

　　469. calorific : heat-producing

　　Coal is much more calorific than green wood.

　　474. candor : frankness

　　The candor and simplicity of his speech impressed all, it was all clear he held nothing back.

　　478. cant : pious phraseology; jargon of criminals

　　Angry that the president had slashed the education budget, we dismissed his speech on the importance of education as mere cant.

　　484. capacious : spacious

　　In the capacious areas of the railroad terminal, thousands of travelers lingered while waiting for their train.

　　487. caprice : whim

　　She was an unpredictable creature, acting on caprice, never taking thought of the consequences.

　　489. caption : title; chapter heading; text under illustration

　　I find the captions that accompany these cartoons very clever and humorous

　　499. carnage : destruction of life

　　The carnage that can be caused by atomic warfare adds to the responsibilities of our statesmen.

　　500. carnal : fleshly

　　The public was more interested in carnal pleasures than in spiritual matters.