2015/12/30

week sixteen

st. francis of assisi : Saint Francis of Assisi (Italian: San Francesco d'Assisi); born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, informally named as Francesco; 1181/1182 – 3 October 1226) was an Italian Roman Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Order of Friars Minor, the women’s Order of Saint Clare, the Third Order of Saint Francis and the Custody of the Holy Land.Francis is one of the most venerated religious figures in history.

Saint Peter, also known as Simon Peter, Simeon, or Simōn, according to the New Testament, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, leaders of the early Christian Church. The Roman Catholic Church considers him to be the first Pope, ordained by Jesus in the "Rock of My Church" dialogue in Matthew 16:18. The ancient Christian churches all venerate Peter as a major saint and associate him with founding the Church of Antioch and later the Church in Rome, but differ about the authority of his various successors in present-day Christianity.

Pope Saint John Paul II , served as Pope from 1978 to 2005.He was elected by the second Papal conclave of 1978, which was called after Pope John Paul I, who was elected in August after the death of Pope Paul VI, died after thirty-three days. Cardinal Wojtyła was elected on the third day of the conclave and adopted his predecessor's name in tribute to him. In the years since his death, John Paul II has been canonised as a saint by the Catholic Church. He is referred to by Catholics as St. John Paul the Great, for example as a name for institutions.

Stephen Crane (November 1, 1871 – June 5, 1900) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism. He is recognized by modern critics as one of the most innovative writers of his generation.

The Red Badge of Courage is a war novel by American author Stephen Crane (1871–1900). Taking place during the American Civil War, the story is about a young private of the Union Army, Henry Fleming, who flees from the field of battle. Overcome with shame, he longs for a wound, a "red badge of courage," to counteract his cowardice. When his regiment once again faces the enemy, Henry acts as standard-bearer.

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vocabulary : 

mega - 大

pre - 在前

post - 之後  e.g. postnuptial 結婚後的

unit 27

1. auspicious - showing signs that something is likely to be successful in the futuresynonym promising
2. expedite - expedite something (formal) to make a process happen more quicklysynonym speed up
3. extenuating - showing reasons why a wrong or illegal act, or a bad situation, should be judged less seriously or excused
4. fraudulent - intended to cheat somebody, usually in order to make money illegally
5. innuendo - an indirect remark about somebody/something, usually suggesting something bad or rude; the use of remarks like this
6. rebuke - the act of speaking severely to somebody because they have done something wrongsynonym reprimand
7. redeem - 
8. redeem somebody/something to make somebody/something seem less badsynonym compensateThe excellent acting wasn't enough to redeem a weak plot.The only redeeming feature of the job (= good thing about it) is the salary.She seems to have no redeeming qualities (= good aspects of her character) at all.In an attempt to redeem the situation, Jed offered to help sell tickets.
9. redeem yourself to do something to improve the opinion that people have of you, especially after you have done something badHe has a chance to redeem himself after last week's mistakes.
10. redeem somebody (in Christianity) to save somebody from the power of evilJesus Christ came to redeem us from sin.He was a sinner, redeemed by the grace of God.
11. redeem something to pay the full sum of money that you owe somebody; to pay a debtto redeem a loan/mortgage
12. redeem something to exchange something such as shares or vouchers for money or goodsThis voucher can be redeemed at any of our branches.
13. redeem something to get back a valuable object from somebody by paying them back the money you borrowed from them in exchange for the objectHe was able to redeem his watch from the pawnshop.
14. redeem a pledge/promise (formal) to do what you have promised that you will do
15. subordinate - 
16. subordinate (to somebody) having less power or authority than somebody else in a group or an organizationIn many societies women are subordinate to men.She was directly subordinate to the president.The monarch is formally subordinate to Parliament.
17. subordinate (to something) less important than something elsesynonym secondaryAll other issues are subordinate to this one.
18. transgress - transgress something (formal) to go beyond the limit of what is morally or legally acceptable
19. vehement - showing very strong feelings, especially angersynonym forceful

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unit 28

1. deride - [often passive] deride somebody/something (as something) | + speech (formal) to treat somebody/something as ridiculous and not worth considering seriouslysynonym mock
2. derogatory - showing a critical attitude towards somebodysynonym insulting
3. fabricate - 
4. fabricate something to invent false information in order to trick peoplesynonym make upThe evidence was totally fabricated.The prisoner claimed the police had fabricated his confession.
5. fabricate something (specialist) to make or produce goods, equipment, etc. from various different materialssynonym manufactureThese specialized chips will be fabricated by Mykrokorp Inc.
6. impending - (usually of an unpleasant event) that is going to happen very soonsynonym imminent
7. macabre - unpleasant and strange because connected with death and frightening thingssynonym ghoulish, grisly
8. misconstrue - misconstrue something (as something) (formal) to understand somebody’s words or actions wronglysynonym misinterpret
9. paramount - 
10. more important than anything elseThis matter is of paramount importance.Safety is paramount.The welfare of the child must always be the court’s paramount consideration.
11. (formal) having the highest position or the greatest powerChina’s paramount leader
12. quandary - the state of not being able to decide what to do in a difficult situationsynonym dilemma
13. turbulent - 
14. in which there is a lot of sudden change, confusion, disagreement and sometimes violencea short and turbulent career in politicsa turbulent part of the worldturbulent emotions
15. (of air or water) changing direction suddenly and violentlyThe aircraft is designed to withstand turbulent conditions.a turbulent sea/storm (= caused by turbulent water/air)They jumped off the cliff into the turbulent waters below.
16. (of people) noisy and/or difficult to controlsynonym unrulya turbulent crowd
17. validate - 
18. validate something to prove that something is trueto validate a theoryThe research findings do not validate the claims made by the manufacturer.opposite invalidate
19. validate something to make something legally validto validate a contractopposite invalidate
20. validate something to state officially that something is useful and of an acceptable standardCheck that their courses have been validated by a reputable organization.
21. to recognize the value of a person or their feelings or opinions; to make somebody feel valuedvalidate somebody/something Be sure to validate your child's feelings—don't minimize them.validate somebody/something as something She seemed to need his admiration to validate her as a person.