GRE的神话与历史词汇.docVIP

1. arachnid n. a member of the family Arachnida, which principally includes animals with four pairs of legs and no antennae, such as spiders, scorpions, mites, and ticks蛛形纲动物(诸如蜘蛛、蝎子、螨、蜱) My interest in arachnids began when I used to watch spiders build their gorgeous webs in the corners of the porch.我过去常常观察蜘蛛在走廊的角落结网，其所结之网甚为奇妙，我对蛛形纲动物的兴趣油然而生。 　　2. bacchanalian adj.(The Roman god of drama, wine and ecstasy, Bacchus (巴克斯) was the focus of a widespread celebration, the Bacchanalia, at which there was wine in abundance and celebrants were expected to cut loose from normal restraints and give in to all sorts of wild desires.) frenzied, orgiastic; drunken发狂似的，狂饮闹宴的；纵酒的The bacchanalian partying on graduation night resulted in three wrecked cars, two lawsuits by unamused parents, and more new experiences than most of the participants could remember the next day.毕业之夜的纵酒狂欢的聚会，导致3辆汽车被毁，家长因不悦提出的诉讼两起，还有许多为大多数参加聚会的人第二天就记不得的新名堂。 　　3. behemoth n. (The behemoth is a mighty Biblical beast described in Job 40: 15-40) huge creature; something of monstrous size or power巨兽；庞然大物Sportscasters nicknamed the linebacker“The Behemoth.”体育节目广播员给那个(橄榄球)中后卫起了个“巨兽”的绰号。 　　4. blatant adj. (coined by Edmund Spenser) extremely obvious; loudly offensive极明显的；吵嚷的；刺眼的Caught in a blatant lie, the scoundrel had only one regret: he wished he had lied more subtly.那无赖的弥天大谎被当场拆穿，此时他只有一个懊悔：懊悔没有把谎话说得巧妙些。 　　5. bowdlerize v. (The word immortalizes an English editor, Dr. Thomas Bowdler, who produced a“family”edition (1818) of the works of Shakespeare by removing every word or passage that offended his sense of propriety.) to expurgate删节，删改After the film editors had bowdlerized the language in the script, the motion picture’s rating was changed from“R”to“PG”.电影编辑把剧本中的不妥部分删除后，该影片就由R级(restricted：指17岁以下青少年除有家长陪同不得观看——译注)变为PG级(parental guidance (suggested)：宜在家长指导下观看的——译注)。 　　6. boycott v. (The word netes from C.C. Boycott, land agent ostracized by his neighbors during the Land League agitation in Ireland in 1880.) to ref