I was so preoccupied with the beautiful woman I met on the bus that I was oblivious of the pickpocket beside me / of what the conductress was yelling when the bus came to a stop.

12. bob: to move up and down quickly and repeatedly

The cork on the fishing line bobbed up and down on the water.

13. rite: form of behaviour with a fixed pattern. A rite is a series of words and actions which as a fixed order and which is used for a special religious purpose.

I don't know much about the rites of that church.

Secret society has their special rites.

ceremonial / burial / funeral rites

the rites of hospitality

the marriage rite of the church

Ritual actions are always done in exactly the same way whenever a particular situation arises, (a slightly humorous use).

On Sunday we make our ritual visit to the pub at lunchtime.

14. formula: an expression which is often used in a particular situation, esp. one that has come to sound stupid and meaningless

They exchange the set of conventionally / customarily fixed pattern of daily greetings.

15. facade: front or face of a building towards a street or open place

16. grin: broad smile that shows the teeth, it intends to imply naive cheerfulness

17. rear-view mirror: a mirror (as in an automobile) that gives a view of the area behind the vehicle

18. martyr: person who is put to death or caused to suffer for his beliefs or for the sake of a great cause or principle

a martyr to a cause / love (殉情) / duty (殉职)

Eternal life to the revolutionary martyrs! (革命英雄永垂不朽)

v.: to put to death, cause to suffer, to torture, out of cruelty

19. lurch: to move with irregular sudden movements, to move unsteadily, clumsily, with heavy rolling and swaying back and forth

20. in response to: as an answer to

In response to your inquiries, we regret to inform you that we cannot help you in this matter.

Twice I put the request to him but he said nothing in response.

21. twist: to wind a number of threads, etc. together

to make a rope by twisting threads

to twist the hair to make it curl

to turn, to change direction abruptly

to twist the cap of a tube of tooth paste

He twisted my arm.

Give the handle a twist, that will open the box.

22. screech: make a harsh, piercing sound, to make a sharp, high-pitched noise

23. halt: to stop or pause, mainly used in the phrase "come to a halt"

24. ignorance: lack of knowledge

Please forgive our ignorance.

Poverty, disease and ignorance remain major world problems.

We are in complete ignorance of his plan.

ignorant: To be ignorant of sth. is not to know it.

He is quite ignorant of Latin.

She was ignorant of his presence.

cf:

disregard: to treat as not worthy of notice

He disregarded Tom , and spoke straight to me.

We disregarded the go ssip and rumours.

neglect: to give no or too little attention or care to

You are neglecting your work / duty.

There is a factor which we must certainly not neglect.

neglect: fail to do sth. because of carelessness

He neglected to return the book to the library.

Don't neglect to lock (locking) the door when you leave.

To ignore sth. is to pretend not to know or see it.

She saw him coming but ignored him.

It is not a question that can be ignored.

Of these three words, ignore is the strongest and neglect is the weakest

      It is a point of honor with the taxi driver to take the passenger to whichever destination he wants to go.

25. intermezzo: short musical composition to be played between the acts of a drama or an opera, or one that connects the main divisions of a large musical work such as a symphony. This word is used very lighted-hearted here

26. I found myself in front of the gigantic city hall.

cf: I got to the front of...

The first sentence indicates suddenness, unconsciousness. I suddenly discovered that I was in front of the city hall.

gigantic: a close synonym of giant, from which it is derived, very likely to be used in metaphorical extensions.

giant: in fairy tales, a very big, strong creature in the form of a man, but often unfriendly to human beings and very cruel and stupid.

In some culture, eg. Greek, Scandinavian, American Indian, giants were believed to be the first race of people lived on earth.

gigantic: titanic, massive, huge

27. usher: official door keeper, a man who shows people to their seats on an important occasion, (or in a theatre, cinema)

28. heave: to give out (a sad sound) esp. in the phrase " to heave a sigh / groan"

We all heaved a sigh of relief when the work was done.

sigh: an act of letting out a deep breath slowly and with a sound, usu. expressing tiredness, sadness or satisfaction

She nodded, sighed and went on cooking.

He gave another deep sigh.

29. sketch: to draw roughly and quickly with outlines but little detail

30. embankment: a wide wall of stones or earth, which is build to keep a river from overflowing its banks, or to carry a road or railway over low ground

cf:

bank: land long the side of a river, lake, etc.

shore: the land along the edge of a large stretch of water

beach: a shore of an ocean, sea, or lake or the bank of a river covered by sand, smooth stones or larger pieces of rock

coast: the land next to the sea

When meaning land bordering a body or stream of water, the four words are comparable.

Shore is the general word for the land immediately bordering on the sea, a lake, or a large stream.

Coast denotes the land along the sea regarded especially as a boundary.

Beach applies to the pebbly or sandy shore washed by the sea or a lake

a rocky shore with here and there a cove with a beach

Both shore and beach may denote a resort frequented for pleasure or vacation. In this use shoremay specifically indicates proximity to the sea, and beach a place adapted to the use of swimmers or sunbathers.

spend the summer at the shore

spend a part of each day at the beach

Bank denotes the steep or sloping margin of a stream.

31. barge: a large low boat with a flat bottom, used mainly for carrying heavy goods on a canal or river

32. moor: to faster (a ship, boat) to land, to the bed of the sea, etc. by means of ropes, chains an anchor, etc.

33. arresting: striking, attracting and holding attention. This word adds to striking the suggestion of capturing attention

arresting beauty / story

arrest: to seize in the name of law and usu. put in prison, to catch and fix (esp. sb.'s attention)

The bright lights arrest the boy's attention.

34. spectacle: sth. seen, sth. taking place before the eyes, esp. sth. fine, remarkable

The big army parade on national day is a grand spectacle.

The erupting volcano is a wonderful spectacle.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition was a fine spectacle.

35. adrift: afloat without control, driven about by the sea or wind

a has the meaning of "away, from, of, in, on, etc."

aboard: on the board, on the boat

afire: to set sth. on fire: The house was afire.

afloat: on water

afoot: on foot   I came afoot.

36. beige

khaki / flannel / indanthrine

mohair / palace / melton / cashmere

37. amid: fml and lit. among, in the middle of

38. incessant: never stopping, it implies ceaseless or uninterrupted activity

39. stun: to make unconscious by hitting the head

The robbers stunned the guard by banging him on the head.

He was stunned by the news of his father's death.

stunning: very attractive, delightful, beautiful, making you become intoxicated

40. costume: the clothes worn by people at a particular time in history or in a particular country

a museum of costume

portraits of people dressed in 17th-century costume

a set of clothes worn by an actor or performer or by sb. at a fancy dress party

bathing / swimming / riding / hunting costume

He was in academic costume.

41. tread: to walk or step, to put the foot down on

(Notice: the mind is fixed on the feet)

42. cautious: having or showing great care, as if there might be some danger, esp. fear of failure or harm to oneself or others, act very carefully so as to avoid or to minimized the risks of disaster

The thief cautiously opened the door.

The troops advanced with great caution.

43. twinge: a sudden sharp pain

to feel a twinge in the region of heart

a twinge of toothache / conscience

44. embarrass: to feel ashamed or socially uncomfortable

45. prospect: reasonable hope, sth. which is expected or considered probable

She was quite excited by the prospect of seeing...soon.

He was in high spirits at the prospect.

The scandal ruined his prospects.

I see no prospect of his recovery.

prospect: a wide or distant view, esp. seen from a high place

From the top of the hill there's a beautiful prospect over the valley.

cf:

expectation: thing that is expected

The boy has great prospects / expectation.

We came here with the expectation of meeting the mayor, but I see no prospects of seeing him now since he is oblivious of us humbles.

46. emotion: any of the strong feelings of the human spirit

Love, hatred, and grief are emotions.

His speech has an effect on our emotions rather than our reason.

47. bombardment: attack, onslaught

bombard: to attack with artillery / shells, or bombers

48. slay (slew, slain): (lit.) kill or murder, to kill, esp. violently, put to death

49. linger on: to live on the point of death for some time, esp. when suffering from a disease, be slow in dying

The pain lingered on for weeks (was slow to disappear).

The dying man lingered on.

He's no better, but he's lingering on by sheer will power.

linger: to wait for a time which is considered too long instead of going, stay, delay going

The newly acquainted young couple lingered around the hall long after the concert had ended.

She shouldn't have lingered after the others had left---that was fatal.

50. agony: very great pain or suffering of mind or body, suggesting suffering so intense that both body and mind are involved in a struggle to endure the unbearable, intolerable

He suffered agonies from his broken arm.

The country must not again go through the agony of war.

The refugees are experiencing the agony of...

       the agony of defeat and the thrill of victory

Thousands upon thousands of others were on the brink of death, suffering the intense, unbearable pain both physically and spiritually, and dying slowly.

51. inhibit: cause one to suppress certain thoughts or desires because of the environmental condition

His way of teaching is dull, and inhibits imagination.

This medicine will inhibit the spread of the disease.

inhibited: (of people's character) unable to express what one really feels or do what one really wants, feeling restrained, having to suppress one's emotion

They were too inhibited to laugh freely.

52. agitate: to stir, upset, disturb

The speech agitated the crowd.

agitated: emotionally disturbed and excited.

The audience was agitated.

agitator: person who stirs up public opinion, esp on a political matter

agitation: painful excitement of the mind or feelings, anxiety, a public argument, unrest

None of them noticed her agitation.

be in agitation

53. assent: (fml) agreement, an acceptance (of a statement) as true

It basically apply to opinion or proposal, suggesting understanding

The committee assented to our proposals.

The teacher answered with a brief nod of assent.

agree: It can imply previous disagreement, discussion and attempts of persuading

I don't agree with him on many things.

I think it impossible to agree to your proposals.

54. sink in: penetrate, esp. gradually, to enter a solid through the surface, be fully absorbed or understood,

If the ink sinks in, it'll be hard to remove the spot from the cloth.

When Frank heard that war had started, it didn't sink in for a long time until his father was drafted into the army.

I think the lesson has sunk in, he won't make the same mistake again.

       The beam sinks earthwards.

55. jolt: to shake or be shocked

The cart jolted along over the rough road, jolting every bone in his body.

With a tremendous jolt the car started.

to run over a hole and receive a jolt

The news was a jolt to me.

56. reverie: dreamy thinking, esp. of agreeable things, that state of being absorbed in dreamlike contemplation, daydreaming

He loved to indulge in reveries about his future.

He was awakened from his reverie by the teacher's question.

She sat at the window, deep in reverie.

He was sunk in reverie and did not hear me.

When one is preoccupied with sth., he has preoccupations. And he is always oblivious of the things around. He is in deep reverie.

57. heinous: (lit) (of wicked people or acts) very shameful, very bad, hatefully and shockingly evil, abominable, outrageous, so openly and shamelessly bad or so conspicuous that it excited hatred or horror

Treason has always been regarded as a heinous crime.

58. confess: admit

Confession: a religious service at which a person tells his faults to a priest

Confess usu. applies to what one feels to be wrong. If you confess sth. or confess to sth., You admit that you have done sth. that you feel ashamed of, or embarrassed about. But admit stresses reluctance, or unwillingness.

In usage, these two words are almost the same, both can be followed by a clause, a noun, a gerund (with or without a “to”) or a complex object.

Usage:

to confess / admit that...

to confess / admit one's sins / error / crime

to confess / admit hating sb. / the weakness

to admit to stealing / the murder /

to confess oneself to be guilty

to confess / admit oneself to be beaten

But confess is often followed by a “to”:

       He confesses to having done it.

She confessed readily to what she described as an ignorance of modern science.

59. cataclysm: a violent and sudden change or event, esp. a serious flood or earth quake or a war, disaster

60. trace: a visible mark or sign of the former presence of a thing or event, a mark or sign showing the former presence or passing of some person, vehicle, or event.

61. preserve: (fml or lit) to keep from destruction, to protect. The word stresses the idea of resistance to destructive agencies and hence implies the use of means to keep sth. in existence

Old records are preserved by protecting them from light and moisture.

62. erect: (fml) to build or establish (a solid thing which was not there before, construct, set up

Erect basically means to set upright, while