学习词根---Unit 1.4
先来对一下昨天的答案~
1. e 2. a 3. b 4. f 5. d 6. h 7. g 8. c
第6个单词 accuse意为指控，意思与 incriminate相近~
今天将学习GRAV和LEV两个词根~
GRAV. 源自拉丁语，意为"heavy, weighty, serious". Gravity是使物体具有质量这一属性的原因，如果没有它，物质就不会被留在地球上，地球也就不会产生生命。This doesn't stop us from yelling in outrage when the familiar laws of gravity cause something to drop to the floor and break.
grave. (1) Requiring serious thought or concern. (2) Serious and formal in appearance or manner.(这里用的不是名词坟墓，是 严重的、严肃的 意思）
例句：We realized that the situation was grave and that the slightest incident could spark all-out war.
Gravity has a familiar physical meaning but also a nonphysical meaning-basically "seriousness". Thus, something grave possesses gravity. 你可以用grave来形容一个人举止严肃，尽管当今社会的公众人物没有以前那么Gravity了。或者你可以谈论一个grave situation, 用法如上面的例句所示。But even though Shakespeare makes a pun(双关) on grave when a dying character talks about being buried the next day("Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man"), the word meaning "hole for burying a body" isn't actually related.
gravitas. Great or very dignified seriousness.
例句：The head of the committee never failed to carry herself with the gravitas she felt was appropriate to her office.
这个词直接取自拉丁语。Among the Romans, gravitas was thought to be essential to the character and functions of any adult (male) in authority.即使是一家之主或者低等级官员也会渴望这个重要的品质。We use gravitas today to identify the same solemn dignity in men and women, but it seems to come easier in those who are over 60, slow moving-and a bit overweight.
gravitate. to move or be drawn toward something, especially by natural tendency or as if by an invisible force.
例句：On hot evenings, the town's social life gravitated toward the lakefront, where you could stroll the long piers eating ice cream or dance at the old Casino.
To gravitate is to respond, almost unconsciously, to a force that works like gravity to draw things steadily to it as if by their own weight. 像飞蛾扑火，gravitate（吸引）。
aggravate. (1) To make (an injury, problem, etc) more serious or severe. (2) To annoy or bother.
例句：She went back to the soccer team before the knee was completely healed, which naturally aggravated the injury.
Since the grav- root means basically "weighty or serious", the original meaning of aggravate was "to make more serious". 如，你和父母之间的关系会因为你和一个没人喜欢的人结婚而变得aggravate. depression(抑郁)会使insomnia(失眠)aggravate, insomnia(失眠)也会使depression(抑郁)aggravate, 但今天人们用aggravate这个词时，赋予其"annoy"的含义。如，What really aggravates my dad is having to listen that TV all day long.
LEV. 源自拉丁语中形容词levis, 意为”light“. 动词levare, 意为"to raise or lighten". So a lever is a bar used to lift something, by means of leverage. And levitation is the magician's trick in which a body seems to rise into the air by itself.
alleviate. To lighten, lessen, or relieve, especially physical or mental suffering.
例句：Cold compresses(冷敷) alleviated (缓解) the pain of the physical injury, but only time could alleviate the effects of the insult.
Physical pain or emotional anguish(万分痛苦), or a water shortage(缺乏) or traffic congestion(拥堵), can all be alleviated by providing the appropriate remedy(解决方法). But some pain or anguish or shortage or congestion will remain: to alleviate is not to cure.
elevation. (1) The height of a place. (2) The act or result of lifting or raising someone or something.
例句：Her doctor is concerned about the elevation of her blood pressure since her last visit.
当你远足的时候，你可能想知道你将到达最高的elevation. 心理学家用词条"mood elevation”来表示患者抑郁程度的消退，一些腿部受伤的病人需要elevation of the limb, usually so that it's higher than the heart for part of each day. Elevation也有"promotion"的意思，所以副总统可以被elevated成正总统，或者上校(captain) elevated为 admiral(上将)
cantilever.(悬臂梁，托背) A long piece of wood, metal, etc., that sticks out from a wall to support something above it.
例句：The house's deck, supported by cantilevers, jutted out dramatically over the rocky slope, and looking over the edge made him dizzy.
Cantilevers hold up a surface or room without themselves being supported at their outer end. 许多户外阳台都是cantilevered(悬臂支撑的)。A cantilevered bridge may have a huge span (as long as 1800 feet) built out on either side of a single large foundation pier(伸向大海的凸式码头). Architects sometimes use cantilevered construction to produce dramatic effects: Frank Lloyed Wright's "Fallingwater" house, which extends out over a rocky river, is a famous example. But the Grand Canyon's "Skywalk" has become perhaps the best-known piece of cantilevered construction in America.
Fallingwater house
Skywalk
levity(轻佻). Lack of appropriate seriousness.
例句：The Puritan(清教徒) elders tried to ban levity of all sort from the community's meetings, but found it increasingly difficult to control the younger generation.
Levity originally was thought to be a physical force exactly like gravity but pulling in the opposite direction, like the helium in a ballon. 19世纪的时候，科学家还在争论这个词的用法。今天levity只用来形容人举止轻佻。对于虔诚的宗教信仰者来说，levity常常近乎堕落。But the word, like its synonym(同义词) frivolity, now has an old-fashioned ring to it and is usually used only half-seriously.
Quizzes:
Match the word on the left to the correct definition on the right:
1. levity a. solemn dignity
2. gravitas b. relieve
3. grave c. raising
4. alleviate d. support beam
5. elevation e. move toward as if drawn
6. aggravate f. lack of seriousness
7. cantilever g. serious
8. gravitate h. worsen
