第二段

on and off?(also?off and on)

If something?happens?on and off during a?period?of?time, it?happens?sometimes.?時(shí)斷時(shí)續(xù)地；間歇地

I've had?toothache?on and off for a?couple?of?months.

我的牙斷斷續(xù)續(xù)疼了幾個(gè)月。

weld

to?join?two?pieces?of?metal?together?permanently?by?melting?the?parts?that?touch?焊接，鍛接（金屬）

Iron?spikes?have been welded?(on) to?the?railings?around the?embassy.

大使館周?chē)淖o(hù)欄上都焊上了鐵刺尖頭。

assemblage

the?process?of?joining?or putting things together組合；裝配

ceramic

a pot or other object made of clay that has been made permanently hard by heat?陶瓷制品；陶瓷器

an exhibition of ceramics by Picasso

畢加索陶瓷作品展

第三段

chisel

a?tool?with a?long?metal?blade?that has a?sharp?edge?for?cutting?wood,?stone, etc.?鑿子；鏨子

junkyard

a?place?to which?people?take?large?things such as?old?furniture?or?machines?that they no?longer?want?（堆放舊家具、舊機(jī)器等的）廢品場(chǎng)

第四段

palpable

so?obvious?that it can?easily?be?seen?or?known, or (of a?feeling) so?strong?that it?seems?as if it can be?touched?or?physically?felt?可感知的，易察覺(jué)的；觸摸得到的

a palpable?effect?明顯的效果

cubism

a?style?of?modern?art?in which an?object?or?person?is?shown?as a set of?geometric?shapes?and as if?seen?from many different?angles?at the same?time?立體派（以幾何圖形來(lái)表現(xiàn)物體和人物，好像同時(shí)從不同角度觀察物體的現(xiàn)代藝術(shù)流派

uproar

a?situation?in which a lot of?people?complain?about something?angrily?or make a lot of?noise?喧囂；嘈雜；吵鬧

The?book?caused?an uproar in France.

該書(shū)在法國(guó)引起了軒然大波。

demolish

to?prove?that an?argument?or?theory?is?wrong?推翻（論點(diǎn)），顛覆（理論）He?completely?demolished all her?arguments.

他徹底推翻了她的全部論點(diǎn)。

interlocking

firmly?joined?together,?especially?by one?part?fitting?into another?緊密連接的；（尤指）互鎖的，咬合的

This?jigsaw?puzzle?has 1,000 interlocking?pieces.

這個(gè)拼圖玩具有1000個(gè)互相咬合的部件。

emptiness

empty?space?空無(wú)一物；空曠

He?gazed?out over the emptiness of the?desert.

他凝視著遠(yuǎn)處空曠的沙漠。

protrusion

something that?sticks?out from a?surface, or the?act?of doing this?突出物；伸出，凸起

It has a?series?of protrusions along?its?back.

它背上有一連串的凸起。

cylinder

ceramica solid or hollow tube with long straight sides and two circular ends the same size, or an object shaped like this, often used as a container?圓柱體；圓柱狀物；圓筒（常用作容器）

Deep-sea?divers?carry?cylinders of?oxygen?on?their?backs.

深海潛水員背上背有氧氣筒。

slice

to?cut?something into?thin,?flat?pieces?把…切成薄片

Slice the?mushrooms?thinly?and?fry?in?butter.

把蘑菇切成薄片，用黃油煎一下。

wad

a?number?of usually?flat?and/or?small?objects?pressed?tightly?together?一疊；一捆；一卷

a wad of?banknotes?一疊鈔票

第六段

opaque

preventing?light?from?travelling?through, and?therefore?not?transparent?or?translucent?不透明的；不透光的

opaque?glass/tights?不透明的玻璃／連褲襪

tactic

a?planned?way of doing something?策略，手法

These?bomb?attacks?represent?a?change?of tactics by the?terrorists.

這些炸彈襲擊事件表明恐怖分子改變了策略。

repurpose

to?find?a new use for an?idea,?product, or?building?重新利用；改變…的用途；為…找到新用途The company's?role?is to repurpose?print?data?for use on the Web.

這家公司的職責(zé)是將印刷品資料轉(zhuǎn)成電子版以供網(wǎng)絡(luò)使用。

第八段

strenuous

needing?or using a lot of?physical?or?mental?effort?or?energy?費(fèi)力的，費(fèi)勁的；繁重的；耗費(fèi)精力的

He?rarely?does anything more strenuous than?changing?the?channels?on the?television.

他很少做比換電視頻道更費(fèi)神的事。

witty

using words in a?clever?and?funny?way?風(fēng)趣的，詼諧的

a witty?comment/remark?風(fēng)趣的評(píng)論／話語(yǔ)

monumental

very?big?巨大的

a monumental?task?重大的任務(wù)

conflation

the act or process of combining two or more separate things into one whole, especially pieces of text or ideas （尤指文章章節(jié)或想法）合并

The term "clean coal" is a deliberate and misleading conflation of two very separate technologies.

“潔凈煤”一詞是兩種截然不同的技術(shù)的蓄意和誤導(dǎo)性混合。

ingratiating

Ingratiating?behaviour?is?intended?to make?people?like you.?迎合的，奉承的

an ingratiating?smile/manner?諂媚的微笑／舉止

frenemy

a?person?who?pretends?to be?your?friend?but is in?fact?an?enemy?假裝是朋友，其實(shí)是敵人的人

Her only?friends?are a?trio?of?catty?frenemies she hasn't?seen?in?months.

她僅有的朋友是三位好幾個(gè)月都沒(méi)見(jiàn)著的出言惡毒的假朋友真敵人。

contemporary

someone?living?during the same?period?as someone?else?同時(shí)代的人

Was he a contemporary of Shakespeare's?

他和莎士比亞是同時(shí)代的人嗎？