GRE的神话和历史词汇

　　1. arachnid¹ n. a member of the family Arachnida, which principally includes animals with four pairs of legs and no antennae², such as spiders, scorpions³, mites⁴, 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. bacchanalian⁵ adj.(The Roman god of drama, wine and ecstasy⁶, 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.) frenzied⁷, orgiastic; drunken发狂似的，狂饮闹宴的；纵酒的The bacchanalian partying on graduation night resulted in three wrecked⁸ cars, two lawsuits⁹ 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 mighty¹⁰ Biblical beast described in Job 40: 15-40) huge creature; something of monstrous¹¹ 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. blatant¹² 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 propriety¹³.) 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. boycott¹⁴ v. (The word comes from C.C. Boycott, land agent ostracized¹⁵ by his neighbors during the Land League agitation¹⁶ in Ireland in 1880.) to refrain from buying or using拒绝购买(或使用)；抵制To put pressure on grape growers to stop using pesticides¹⁷ that harmed the farm workers’health, Cesar Chavez called for consumers to boycott grapes.为了给葡萄种植者施压以迫使其停止使用危害农场工人健康的杀虫剂，西泽·查维斯号召消费者拒绝购买葡萄。also n.

　　7. braggadocio¹⁸ n. (Braggadochio is a boastful character in Edmund Spenser’s poem The Faerie Queen《仙后》.) boasting自夸，吹牛He was disliked because his manner was always full of braggadocio.因为他总是自吹自擂，狂妄自大，所以很受人讨厌。cf braggart¹⁹ n. boaster自吹者，吹牛者Modest by nature, she was no braggart, preferring to let her accomplishments²⁰ speak for themselves.她天性谦虚，从不自吹，喜欢以自己的成就来表明一切。

　　8. chauvinist²¹ n. (After Nicholas Chauvin, a devoted²² soldier and overzealous supporter of `Napoleon Bonaparte) blindly devoted patriot²⁴; zealous²³ adherent²⁵ of asgroupsor cause盲目的爱国主义者(一般译为：沙文主义者)；(某集团或事业的)狂热的信徒A chauvinist cannot recognize his faults in his country, no matter how flagrant they may be. Likewise, a male chauvinist cannot recognize how biased²⁷ he is in favor of his own sex, no matter how flagrant that bias²⁶ may be.无论自己国家中的缺点有多么明显，沙文主义者对此一概视而不见。同样地，无论对自己性别的偏袒有多么明显，大男子主义者对那种偏见也是视若无睹。

　　9. chimerical²⁸ adj. (In Greek mythology²⁹ Chimera³⁰ (客迈拉) was a fire- breathing monster, usually represented asshavingsa lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail.) fantastically improbable; highly unrealistic; imaginative异想天开的；空想的；幻想的As everyone expected, Ted’s chimerical scheme to make a fortune by raising ermines in his backyard proved a dismal³¹ failure.不出大家所料，泰德想在后院饲养白鼬来发财的荒诞不经的计划以惨败告终。chimera n.

　　10. chortle v. (coined by Lewis Carroll, in Through the Looking Glass (《镜中世界》), prob. chuckle³² + snort) to chuckle with delight咯咯地欢笑When she heard that her rival had just been jailed for embezzlement³³, she chortled with joy. She was not a nice lady.当她听说对手因贪污而被监禁时，她开心得咯咯地笑。她是个幸灾乐祸的女人。