学习词根---Unit 4.2
昨天的答案：
1. f 2. g 3. b 4. h 5. e 6. c 7. d 8. a
今天将学习CRED和FID两个词根。
CRED. 源自拉丁动词，credere，意为“to believe"或"to entrust". We have a good credit rating when institutions trust in our ability to repay a loan, and we carry credentials so that others will believe that we are who we say we are.
credence. Mental acceptance of something as true or real; belief.
例句：He scoffed and said no one still gives any credence to the story of the Loch Ness monster.
Credence is close in meaning to belief, but there are differences. Unlike belief, credence is seldom used in connection with faith in a religion or philosophy. Instead credence is often used in reference to reports, rumors, and opinions. And, unlike belief, it tends to be used with the words give, lack, lend, and gain. So a new piece of evidence may lend credence to the alibi(不在场证明) of a criminal suspect. Claims that a political candidate can become the next President gain credence only after the candidate wins a few primaries. And although stories about Elvis sightings persist, they lack credence for most people.
credible. (1) Able to be believed; reasonable to trust or believe. (2) Good enough to be effective.
例句：Because of her past criminal record, the defense lawyers knew she wouldn't be a credible witness.
Credible evidence is evidence that's likely to be believed. A credible plan is one that might actually work, and a credible excuse is one your parents might actually believe. And just as credible means "believable," the noun credibility means "believability." (But we no longer use incredible to mean the literal opposite of credible, just as we no longer use unbelievable as the literal opposite of believable.) Since cred is short for credibility, "street cred" is the kind of credibility among tough young people that you can only get by proving yourself on the mean streets of the inner city.
credulity. Readiness and willingness to believe on the basis of little evidence.
例句：Thrillers and action movies only succeed if they don't strain our credulity too much.
A particularly far-fetched story may be said to strain credulity, stretch credulity, put demands on our credulity, or make claims on our credulity. Credulity is a quality of innocent children (of all ages) and isn't always a bad thing; it must have been pure credulity that enabled Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies fans to wait so long for a World Series Victory ("This is the year they're going to take it!"), which probably made life bearable for them. The related adjective is credulous. F.Scott Fitzgerald once defined advertising as "making dubious promises to a credulous public."
credo. (1) A statement of the basic beliefs of a religious faith. (2) A set of guiding principles or beliefs.
例句：She claims she made her money on Wall Street just by following the old credo "Buy low, sell high."
Credo comes straight from the Latin word meaning "I believe," and is the first word of many religious credos, or creeds, such as the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed. But the word can be applied to any guiding principle or set of principles. Of course, you may choose a different credo when you're 52 than when you're 19. But here is the credo of the writer H. L. Mencken, written after he had lived quite a few years:" I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than to be ignorant."
FID. 源自拉丁词语fides, "faith" or "trust." Fidelity is another word for "faithfulness." Confidence is having faith in someone or something. An infidel(无宗教信仰者；异教徒) is someone who lacks a particular kind of religious faith. And the once-popular dog's name Fido is Latin for "I trust."
affidavit. A sworn statement made in writing.
例句：The whole family had signed affidavits stating that they believed the will to be valid.
In Latin，affidavit means "he(she) has sworn an oath," and an affidavit is always a sworn written document. If it contains a lie, the person making it may be prosecuted. Affidavits are often used in court when it isn't possible for someone to appear in person. Police officers must usually file an affidavit with a judge to get a search warrant. Affidavits (unlike similar signed statements called depositions) are usually made without an opposing lawyer being present and able to ask questions.
diffident. Lacking confidence; timid, cautious.
例句：He always found it a struggle to get his most diffident students to speak in front of the class.
Diffident means lacking faith in oneself--in other words, the opposite of confident. Distrust in your abilities or opinions usually makes you hesitate to speak or act. Patients who fell diffident around their doctors, for example, don't dare ask them many questions. A helpful friend tries to instill confidence in place of diffidence.
fiduciary. (1) Having to do with a confidence or trust. (2) Held in trust for another.
例句：Pension-fund managers have a fiduciary responsibility to invest the pension's founds for the sole benefit of those who will receive the pensions.
A fiduciary relationship is one in which one person places faith in another. Stockbrokers and real-estate agents have fiduciary duties to their clients, which means they must act in their clients' best financial interests. Members of a company's board of directors have fiduciary responsibility to protect the financial interests of the company's shareholders. There are legal requirements for those with fiduciary responsibility, and they can be sued for breach of fiduciary duty if they fail.
perfidy. Faithlessness, disloyalty, or treachery.
例句：While working for the CIA he was lured into becoming a double agent, and it seems he paid a high price for his perfidy.
The perfidious Benedict Arnold plotted with the British to surrender West Point to them during the American Revolution--an act that made his name a synonym for traitor. In recent years, the perfidy of the double agents Aldrich Ames (of the CIA) and Robert Hanssen (of the FBI) has become notorious(臭名昭著的).
Match the definition on the left to the correct word on the right:
1. bad faith a. perfidy
2. timid b. credible
3. acceptance c. diffident
4. trust-based d. credulity
5. sworn document e. credo
6. believable f. affidavit
7. principles g. fiduciary
8. trustfulness h. credence
