Useful Words and Expressions
(Back)
average
1) found by making an average; ordinary平均的；普通的
What is the average rainfall in July in this area?
There was nothing special about it. It was only average
2) the amount found by
adding together several quantities and then dividing by the number of
quantities平均数
The average of 3, 8 and 10 is 7.
John’s salary in the firm is above the average, Jack’s is below the
average, and mine is just the average.
On
the average the machine turns out one bottle every second.
3) find the average of; have as an average均分；平均为
Will you average those books for me?
The cost of our
lunches at the school canteen averages 60 dollars a month.
case
1) what has
really happened; actual condition实情
I have
received a letter from a lady who has become interested in your case.
We afterwards
heard that this was not the case.
2) an example; an instance事例；实例
The lost books
were another case of his carelessness.
3) an instance of a disease病症；病例
The doctor said
it was a hopeless case.
A case of measles
kept him in bed.
4) a matter for a law court to
decide诉讼；案件
The judge decided the
case in favor of her.
The case will be
brought before the court tomorrow.
5) a box or container盒子；容器
Put the knife back in
its case.
There is a big case
full of books in the hall.
fill in: fill with sth.; put in;
insert 把……填进去；把表格填好；填补
Fill in your name, age and
address on this application form.
His research results
helped fill in a gap in the history of film. 他的研究成果有助于填补电影史上的一项空白。
commit
1) bind or obligate, as by pledge or
assurance 使承担义务；使作出保证
He committed himself to a promise.
He refused to commit
himself on a controversial subject before making due investigations. 他拒绝在作出必要的调查研究之前对争论的问题表态。
2) entrust, hand over, for safekeeping
or treatment把……托付给; 把……提交给
He committed the papers to
the care of the lawyer.
They committed the matter
to the committee.
3) do, perform (usually sth. wrong or
foolish) 犯 (错误、罪); 干 (坏事、傻事)
They’ve committed many
horrible crimes against the Chinese people.
Being driven to despair,
she committed suicide. 她被赶上绝路而自杀。
4) assign to a specified purpose指定……用于
The mayor has committed the 100 thousand dollars in beautifying the
city. 市长指定这十万美元用于美化城市。
decide
on/upon: decide in favor of 作出对……有利的决定; 选定
They’ve decided on a date for wedding.
Our production quota
for the coming year was decided on after extensive discussion. 我们经过 广泛的讨论，确定了下年度的生产指标。
regular
1) fixed by
custom or rule; usual; normal 习惯性的；规律性的；通常的；正常的
Six o’clock was his regular hour of rising.
2) following some rule or principle; according to rule 规则的；正规的
“-s” or “-es” is the regular ending for a plural.
He knows a lot about the law but he’s not a regular lawyer.
3) steady; habitual 固定的
A regular customer trades at the same store.
注意：regular的否定前缀是ir-, irregular 意为“没有规律的，不规则的”等。
make sure: be or become absolutely certain 查明；确保；以为
Make sure of the time.
Make sure that you have the key.
比较：for sure/certain: as a certainty; surely 肯定地；确实地
It’s going to be a good day, for sure.
That’s for sure .
No one knows
for sure how the public will respond to our new product.
8. set aside
set aside
1) reserve for a particular purpose or for future use 拨出；留出
Set this aside till I call for it.
He sets aside part of his salary every month to support a little girl’s study.
2) dismiss from the mind 忽视, 撇开
We’d better set aside our personal feelings and try to analyze the problem rationally.
3) reject, discard, annul 拒绝；驳回；宣告……无效
The sentence was set aside by the
Supreme Court (最高法院).
normal
1) of the usual standard or type; regular; usual 标准的；正规的；通常的
The normal temperature of the human body is 36°C.
2) well; healthy; not diseased 健康的；无病的
In a group of normal children of the same age the difference between the tallest and the shortest may be very great.
3) the usual state or level 正常的状态（或水平等）（只用于单数）
He is ten pounds above normal for his age.
occupy
1) take or fill up ( space, time, etc. ) 占据（空间、时间等）
The speeches occupied
more than two hours.
Is that flat already
occupied?
2) cause to spend time doing
sth.; keep busy; engage 使忙于
He occupied himself
in/with collecting stamps.
He was occupied in
writing letters.
Business occupies his
mind most of time.
3) take possession and control of
(a place ), as by military invasion 占领
At that time the
Russians already occupied almost all of the city.
be aware of: have knowledge of;
realize 知道；意识到
I don’t think his parents are aware of what he has done.
Are you aware of the danger/that there is a danger?
The poor boy was too sleepy to be aware how cold
it was
concentrate
on/upon: keep or direct all one’s efforts, thoughts, attention, etc. to 集中全力；聚精会神
He concentrated
on his reading so that he could understand the story.
We must concentrate our efforts on improving the quality of our products.
look over: examine,
esp. briefly or superficially; inspect
(尤指简短或表面) 查看; 过目；端详；打量
He has the habit of looking over newspapers when he has breakfast.
He looked over my work and made
some comments on it.
Her green eyes looked them over
indifferently from under her dusty lashes.
After looking him over, she saw
that he was the man who had saved her life two days ago.
recognize
1) know again认出
You
have grown so much that I scarcely recognized you.
2) regard, consider to be认为是
This has long been recognized as the standard work on the Napoleonic
period.
3) be willing to
accept that sb. or sth. has the rank or authority that is claimed for him or it承认某人或某物的地位或权威
It is not certain
that the Court will recognize him as his father’s rightful successor.
take/make notes: write down things to
be remembered 做笔记，做记录
The doctor took notes of the
patient’s pulse and temperature.
Make notes of how much money you
spend on the trip.
She takes good notes of
everything that’s said in class.
比较：take note/notice of: pay attention to 注意；注意到
Take careful note of what I say and please don’t forget it.
No one took any note of my leaving.
They went on working, taking no
note/notice of the passage of time.
go over
1) read again; review 重新阅读一遍；复习
You will have to go
over the figures again before you send in the report.
I can’t come out this
evening. I have to go over my lessons for tomorrow’s test.
2) check, examine, inspect 检查；察看
We
went over every detail of his story in an effort to discover whether it was
true or not.
3) look at carefully 仔细看；打量
She went over the stranger carefully from head to foot.
注意以下短语：
go about 闲逛；(消息、谣言等) 四处传播 go after 追求；设法得到
go against 违背；不利于 go ahead 尽管去做；继续做
go at 从事；着手 go back on/upon 违背（诺言等）
go in for 爱好；追求 go off 点爆; (枪等)走火；变质；昏过去
as well as: as much or as truly as;
equally as 同样；既……又
She was kind-hearted as well as beautiful. 她不仅漂亮，而且心地善良。
The present reform requires a change of the superstructure as well as a change of the economic basis. 当前的改革不仅需要经济基础的变革，而且也需要上层建筑的变革。
注意：
1）该短语连接的两个并列部分中，前者较后者重要，译成汉语时，一般先译后者。
2）当as well as连接两个名词作主语时，动词的形式应与第一个名词保持一致。
George as well as the other boys lives in Patterson Hall.
His parents as well as he are very kind to me.
remain
1) continue in the same state; stay behind or in the same place 留下
I’ll remain here when you go to the airport.
We shall remain at the seashore till September.
2) be left after the removal, loss, destruction, etc. 剩下
The front wall is all that remains of the fort.
If you take 3 from 5, 2 remains.
3) continue; keep on; last 保持；仍然是
The town remains the same year after year.
lead to: (of road) reach a place;
have as a result; cause 引向；导致
This path leads down to the river.
The discussion led to still greater differences between the two parties.
share
1) the part belonging to one person; part;
portion 属于某人的一份；份额
We should contribute our share to making the country prosperous. 我们都应该为国家繁荣作出 自己的贡献。
He left each child an equal share of the
property.
2) each of the equal
parts into which the ownership of a company or corporation is divided 股份; 股票
The ownership of this railroad is divided into several million shares.
With
borrowed money, they bought 59,000 shares and then agreed to resell the block (大宗股票).
3) use together; enjoy together共用；共享
Since one tent leaked, all the boys shared the other one.
Will you share your candy with your sister?
4) have a share; take part分享；分担
Everyone shared in making
the picnic a success.
注意以下短语：
do one’s share for 为……干自己的一份工作 claim a share in 索取……的一份
deprive sb. of a share in 剥夺某人在……中的一份 the lion’s share 最大/好的份额
take/bear one’s
share of 承担自己的一份 a fair share 公平合理的一份