1.clap: strike (one's hands) together with a quick movement and loud sound
　Examples:
　　The teacher clapped to attract the class's attention.
　　The audience clapped at the end of the play.

2. usher: bring or cause to enter
　Examples:
　　A series of reforms ushered in the new regime.
　　The rising sun ushered in a new day.

3. quit: stop (doing something)
　Examples:
　　He quit his job for a better position.
　　He should really quit smoking.

4. persevere: continue firmly in spite of difficulties
　Examples:
　　He persevered in his search for a job.
　　Despite the failure of his early experiments, the scientist persevered in his research.

5. in the way: blocking the forward movement of
　Examples:
　　The chair is in the way; so move it, please.
　　Although he thought he was helping us prepare the dinner, he was only in the way.

6. interview: ask questions of (somebody)
　Examples:
　　He interviewed all the applicants one by one.
　　In the oral test the student is interviewed by an examiner.

7. count out: leave out by choice
　Examples:
　　If you are playing football in this rainy weather you can count me out.
　　We have ten applicants for the post, but two of them have now accepted other appointments, so we can count them out.

8. at times: sometimes
　Examples:
　　I do feel a little nervous at times.
　　We have pie for dinner at times.

9. survey: investigation using a pool or questionnaire.
　Examples:
　　We made a survey of the uses of English.
　　They ran a survey of the most popular television programs.

10. have a shot: try
　Examples:
　　I don't know if I can do that, but I'll have a shot (at it).
　　Have a shot at solving the problem.

11. as opposed to: in contrast to
　Examples:
　　It happened in the day as opposed to the evening.
　　This is a book about business as opposed to theory.

12. exclusive: not shared with others
　Examples:
　　The actress granted the reporter an exclusive interview.
　　This company has the exclusive right to print Mr. Dare's books.

13. merit: deserve; have a right to
　Examples:
　　The suggestion merits serious consideration.
　　He merited all the praise they gave him.

14. crisis: a point or moment of great danger, difficulty, or uncertainty
　Examples:
　　I was on the verge of a terrible crisis in my life.
　　The potentiality for future government crises was growing.

15. behind the scenes: out of sight; secretly; without public knowledge
　Examples:
　　He is an important man behind the scenes.
　　John was president of the club, but behind the scenes Robert told him what to do.