profess v.
e.g. James professed to know everything aboutsculpture.
He professed the greatest respectfor the law.
Practice:她自称对此事一无所知。
She professed total ignorance of thematter.
他声称对该阴谋毫不知情。
He professed that he knew nothing about theplot.
earth-shattering a.
e.g. After years of hard work, they finally madean earth-shattering discovery.
The new invention is ofearth-shattering importance.
feign v.
pretendto have or be, put on a false air of
e.g. She feigned to be ill in order not to do theexercises.
He feigned surprise and they allbelieved him.
Collocations:
feign interest / surprise / ignorance / illness
(formal) pretend that you are interested, surprised, etc.
e.g.“Oh really!” he said, trying to feign interest.
Sometimes it’s best just to feign ignorance (=pretend that you do not know anything).
Synonym:
pretend v.
deliberately behave asthough something is true when you know it is not, either for fun or to deceive people
e.g. Mark closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.
She shouted but he pretended that he hadn’t heardher.
spare one’s feelings
avoiddoing sth. that would upset sb.
e.g. He simply wished to minimize the fuss and tospare her feelings.
We carefully avoided mentioning the newsto spare his feelings.
preoccupation n.
a stronginterest in sth., usually because you are worried about it, with the resultthat you do not pay attention to other things
e.g. Because of his preoccupation withhis books, he didn’t realize we were already back.
Such preoccupation with your work isn’thealthy.
prevarication n.
the state of avoiding giving adirect answer or making a firm decision
e.g. After months of prevarication, a decision wasfinally made.
When we questioned the authoritieson the subject, we were met by prevarication.
devote … to
give all or a largepart of one’s time or resources to (a person, activity, or cause)
e.g. I want to devote more time to my family.
He devotes himself tophilanthropy.
professionn.
a form of employment, esp. onethat is possible only for an educated person and that is respected in societyas honorable
e.g. She intends to make teaching her profession.
According to the report, fortypercent of the lawyers entering the profession are women.
pundit n.
a personwho is an authority on a particular subject; an expert
e.g. Mr. Johnson is a well-known political pundit.
We’ve invited aforeign-policy pundit to give us a lecture.
shape or spin the truth
modifythe truth
client n.
sb. who pays for services or advice from aperson or an organization
e.g. a solicitor and his client
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ubiquitous a.
seeming to be everywhere
e.g. By the end of last century, the computer hadbecome ubiquitous.
We are now confronted with the ubiquitousspread of English.
fibn.
a smallunimportant lie
e.g. Have you ever told fibs?
She told innocent fibs like anyoneelse.
invariablyad.
always
e.g. It’s invariably wet when I take my holidays.
She invariably forgets to take her keys.
blurt outv.
say sth. suddenly andwithout thinking, usually because one is nervous or excited
e.g. Toour surprise, he blurted his secret out at table.
John blurted out that he dreamed ofbecoming a computer programmer.
lubricant n.
a substancesuch as oil that one puts on surfaces that rub together
e.g. That all-important task acts as a sociallubricant, minimizing frictions.
tangled a.
complicatedor made up of many confusing parts
e.g. After listening to his speech I thought hisideas and opinions were so tangled that I could not vote for him.
The floor of the forest wascovered with tangled growth.
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wear down
reduce orbecome weaker until useless
e.g. My shoes have worn down at the heel.
Your back tyres are badly worn down; youshould fit new ones.
warp v.
bend ortwist and to be no longer in the correct shape
e.g. Left in the garage where it was damp, thewooden frame had warped.
The door must be warped. It won’t closeproperly.
think highly of
have agood opinion of
e.g. Wethink highly of your suggestion.
I can assure you, the management thinksvery highly of you.
proliferation n.
a rapidincrease in the amount or number of sth.
e.g. Smoking triggers off cell proliferation.
Over the past two years, we have witnessedthe proliferation of TV channels.
cynicism n.
thebelief that people always act selfishly
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associate n.
sb. whoyou work or do business with
e.g. He is not a friend, but a business associate.
George’s party was boring — it was full ofhis business associates.
undermine v. gradually make sb. or sth. less strong or effective
e.g. She jealously tried to undermine ourfriendship.
Lack of food has undermined his health.
rule of thumb
a roughmethod of calculation, based on practical experience
e.g. I never weigh anything when I’m cooking —just do it by rule of thumb.
As a rule of thumb, a cup of filter coffeecontains about 89mg caffeine.
astound v.
make sb.very surprised or shocked
e.g. It astounds me that anyone could everyconsider declaring war.
He used to astound his friends with featsof physical endurance.
