n. 安慰剂，宽心话，为死者所诵的晚祷词，（试验药物用的）无效对照剂；

n. 教皇的职位，主教的地位；vi. 装作教皇的说话；

[例句] Politicians like to pontificate about falling standards.

[例句] Pope Formosus died after a pontificate of four and a half years.

n. 假装，作假，借口，口实，虚伪，虚饰；

[例句] Welland made a pretence of writing a note in his pad...

[例句] We have to go along with the pretence that things are getting better...

挑选，取出，了解，衬托；

[例句] The detective-constable picked out the words with difficulty...

[例句] Steven describes himself as 'a regular guy — you couldn't pick me out of a crowd'.

n. 原则，原理，道义，节操，原则( principle的名词复数 )，准则，工作原理，[P-]（基督教科学派信奉的）神圣的原理；

[例句] Buck never allowed himself to be bullied into doing anything that went against his principles...

[例句] ...moral principles...

n. （秘密）计划( plot的名词复数 )，（戏剧、小说等的）情节，基址，小区；v. 密谋( plot的第三人称单数 )，绘制，把…分成小块，为（文学作品）设计情节；

[例句] Security forces have uncovered a plot to overthrow the government...

[例句] He was responding to reports of an assassination plot against him.

n. 具有某专业资格的人（ professional的名词复数 ），专业人士，内行，专门职业者；

[例句] His professional career started at Liverpool University.

[例句] ...highly qualified professional people like doctors and engineers.

v. 促进( promote的过去式和过去分词 )，提升，推销，使 （学生）升级；

[例句] You don't have to sacrifice environmental protection to promote economic growth...

[例句] In many ways, our society actively promotes alcoholism.

v. 连续重击( pound的过去式和过去分词 )，咚咚地走，（持续地）苦干，（驾舟时）拍打（水面）；

[例句] Beer cost three pounds a bottle...

[例句] A thousand pounds worth of jewellery and silver has been stolen.

栖息，使坐，置于（perch的变形词）；

[例句] He lit a cigarette and perched on the corner of the desk...

[例句] He perched himself on the side of the bed.

整平，刨，刨削，刨工；

[例句] He had plenty of time to catch his plane...

[例句] Her mother was killed in a plane crash.

n. 刺，刺痕，刺痛感；v. 刺，扎，戳( prick的现在分词 )，刺伤，刺痛，使剧痛；

[例句] Prick the potatoes and rub the skins with salt...

[例句] He pricks holes in the foil with a pin.

vt. 人格化，拟人化，赋与…人性，象征，体现；

[例句] She seemed to personify goodness and nobility...

[例句] ...the world of inter-war decency as personified by Stanley Baldwin...

插上电源的插头，堵住…上的洞；

[例句] They plugged in their tape-recorders...

[例句] I filled the kettle while she was talking and plugged it in...

adv. 更可取地，更好地，宁可；

[例句] A big earthquake a long way off is preferable to a smaller one nearby...

[例句] The hazards of the theatre seemed preferable to joining the family paint business...

n. （尤指北美的）大草原，大牧场，草原地带，〈美方〉林中空地；

adj. 可口的，美味的，宜人的，可接受的；

[例句] ...flavourings and preservatives, designed to make the food look more palatable.

[例句] ...a palatable way of sacking staff...

n. 悲怆，哀婉，凄楚，伤感，痛苦，同情；

[例句] ...the pathos of man's isolation...

[例句] With touching pathos he described the pangs of hunger.

n. 平常的话，老生常谈，陈词滥调；

[例句] Why couldn't he say something original instead of spouting the same old platitudes?

[例句] ...a stream of platitudes, outlining many problems but offering few solutions.

adj. 无意义的，不得要领的，钝的，无谓；

[例句] Violence is always pointless...

[例句] Without an audience the performance is pointless.