Sunday, August 12, 2012

< V > TOEFL Vocabulary (70)


Berserk (adjective) 
in a violent rage, especially to “go” berserk
After finding out that his wife had cheated on him, the murder suspect allegedly went
berserk and shot her five times.

Bestow (verb) 
to convey as a gift -- usually used with on or upon
According to tradition, Brigit took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the
presence of the missionary bishop, Saint Patrick, who bestowed on her the nun's veil. 

 Bewildering (adjective) 
difficult to understand or solve: puzzling  
From components to software to accessories, new PCs offer a bewildering array of
choices, and for some folks, sifting through the large number of options can be daunting.

Bicentennial (adjective) 
lasting two hundred years or occurring every two hundred years
Maya Angelou returned to the United States in 1974 and was appointed by Gerald Ford
to the Bicentennial Commission and later by Jimmy Carter to the Commission for
International Woman of the Year.

Binding (noun) 
the act of making fast or firmly fixed by means of a cord, rope, etc.
A properly constructed shoe supports and protects the foot without any pressure or
binding.

Bipedal (adjective) 
a two footed animal
Anatomical details indicate that A. anamnesis, a hominid whose remains were
discovered by Leakey in 1995 in Kenya, to between 4.07 million and 4.17 million years
ago, was capable of bipedal walking.

Birthmark (noun) 
brown or red mark on one’s body from birth; a naturally occurring mark on an inanimate 
object
Almost all diamonds contain very tiny natural birthmarks known as inclusions.

Bitter (adjective) 
bitingly feeling or showing unfriendliness
After the government lent the two companies money and gave them large sections of land
for every mile they built, the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad
became bitter rivals, with each company laying as much track as possible.

Bizarre (adjective) 
departing from the customary
The stars would be moving three times faster across the sky while observers at other
points on Mercury's surface would see different but equally bizarre motions. 

Blanketed (verb) 
to extend over the surface
One could see what the world was like when ice sheets a thousand feet thick blanketed
Canada and northern Europe, or when the Indonesian volcano Toba blew its top in the
largest volcanic eruption of the last half million years.

Blaze (noun) 
the visible signs of combustion (a fire)
Once any blaze begins to threaten human life or property or there is high danger of
wildfire, the blaze is to be stopped or controlled. 

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