4000 CPE Vocabulary List

a. 喝醉的,耍酒疯 drunken; relating to reveling and drunkenness
Emperor Nero attended the bacchanalian orgy.

n. 舞台背景,背景 background; the view behind something
It's set against a backdrop of intrigue within the oil industry.

n. 开玩笑,揶揄,取消 teasing conversation; good-humored, playful conversation
Her friends at work greeted the news of her engagement with cheerful badinage.

v. 挫败 frustrate as by confusing or perplexing; impede force or movement of
The new code will baffle the enemy agents.

n. 平衡 being in equilibrium; equilibrium; symmetry; stability
Many here see the ruling against US cotton subsidies as just the first step in tipping the balance of future world trade talks in favour of developing countries.

n. 大包裹 a bundle or package of goods in a cloth cover, and corded for storage or transportation
The room Jacques and I occupied, though large, was dwarfed by an immense feather bed. It was a bed to end all beds, almost as big as a tennis court and as thick as a hay bale.

a. 恶意的,有害的 portending evil; harmful in intent or effect.
The fortune teller made baleful predictions of terrible things to come.

v. 反对,阻止 stop short and refuse to go on; refuse obstinately or abruptly
When the warden learned that several inmates were planning to escape, he took steps to balk their attempt.

n. 配重,沙袋 heavy substance used to add stability or weight
The ship was listing badly to one side; it was necessary to shift the ballast in the hold to get her back on an even keel.

n. 芭蕾舞 a sort of theatrical representation by dancers
That school strives to be an international leader in ballet training.

a. 平凡,陈腐,老生常谈 obvious and dull; commonplace; lacking originality
The writer made his comic sketch seem banal; only a few people liked it.

n. 乐队指挥 a conductor of a band
The bandmaster pointed this boy out as one who would have no difficulty getting into a band outside.

v. 传话 discuss lightly or glibly; exchange words heatedly
While the president was happy to bandy patriotic generalizations with anyone who would listen to him, he refused to exchange words with unfriendly reporters.

n. 发出砰的一声,重击 a vigorous blow; a conspicuous success
But there are fears that if the Egyptian side doesn't play well, the crowds will stay away, and the African Cup may go off with a whimper rather than a bang.

v. 破产,生意失败 cause to become financially ruin; ruin
The only company that did not bankrupt is Ford, the one who did not take Federal money.

a. 可笑的,嘲弄的 good-natured ridiculing; cleverly amusing in tone
They resented his bantering remarks because they thought he was sarcastic.

n. 烤肉野餐 a rack to hold meat for cooking over hot charcoal usually out of doors
The authorities believe it could have been started by a barbecue that had not been put out properly and have announced that they will be questioning suspects in the morning.

n. （吟游）诗人 poet, especially lyric poet
The ancient bard Homer sang of the fall of Troy.

n. 谷仓,畜棚 an outlying farm building for storing grain or animal feed and housing farm animals
I daresay it is only a rat scrambling along the rafters of the adjoining schoolroom: it was a barn before I had it repaired and altered, and rats generally haunt them.

n. 气压计,晴雨表 an instrument for determining the weight or pressure of the atmosphere
So far, our country's barometer is National Bookstore's and Powerbooks' bestsellers list.