詞匯精學：

1. burst  爆炸; 脹破; 爆破

If you blow that balloon up any more it will burst.

那氣球再吹就要破了。

Don't get so angry! You'll burst a blood-vessel!

別生這么大的氣! 會把血管氣崩的!

2. delusion 幻想，妄想，錯覺

Your hopes of promotion are a mere delusion.

你提升的希望只不過是一種幻想。

3. ruin毀壞, 毀滅（某事或某人）

He ruined his prospects by carelessness.

他因疏忽大意而斷送了前途。

The storm ruined the crops.

暴風雨毀壞了莊稼。

He's a ruined man.

他已不名一文。

4. vanish：突然不見，消失；不復存在，絕跡

The thief vanished into the crowd.

那小偷消失在人群中。

My prospects/hopes of success have vanished.

我的成功前景（希望）已破滅。

5. decayed 腐敗的, 被蛀的

The restaurant was soon stinking with the decayed fish.
 
那家飯館很快就充滿了臭魚的氣味。

6. vigorous 精力充沛的, 有力的, 元氣旺盛的

Old as he is, he is none the less vigorous and active.
 
雖然他年紀很大了，他仍然精力充沛。

短語精學：

1. full of life 生意盎然，充滿生命力

His fresh enterprise is full of life and has a bright future. 

他新興的事業生氣勃勃, 前途光明。
 
The children were jumping about and full of life.
 
孩子們來回跳動，充滿了活力。 

2. wind around：在......周圍隨風起舞

3. a safe hold：安全的依靠

4. dreamed of：夢想

He dreamed of becoming a movie star when he was young.
 
他年輕時向往著成為電影明星。 

He dreamed of going to Congress and even of become governor. 

他夢想進入國會，甚至想當州長。
 
5. fly away：飛走，消失，離開，脫離

He knew that he could not fly away just like that. 

他知道他不能就這樣一走了之。 

You must approach the bird very quietly or it will fly away. 

你必須悄悄地走近那只鳥，否則它會飛走的。

Your thoughts always fly away from the real problems. 

你的想法總是偏離了真正的問題。 

6. so long as 只要

So long as I live, I must study. 

只要還活著，我就要學習。

It matters little who does it so long as it is done. 

只要事情做了，誰做都行。

7. no better than 和 ... 一樣不好, 幾乎是

In those days, the laboring people lived no better than beasts of burden.  

在那些日子里，勞動人民過著牛馬般(牛馬不如)的生活。

At the end of the day the new manager is no better than the previous one. 
 
從各個方面來看，這位新經理并不比前任強。

You're no better than they are: who are you to judge other people?  

你不比他們強，憑什么指責別人?