[21] crucial [ˋkruʃəl] adj. 关键的，重大的

【同】critical

Understanding social cues, creating works of art and spawning inventions are all crucial mental tasks that bear little relationship to how well a person can fill in a printed test form.

(TIME, Sept. 11, 1995, p.60)

许多重要的心智活动，像理解一些社交上的暗示，创造艺术品，孕育新发明，其实都和填写考卷的能力没什么关系。

♦ cru|cial /kr'uːʃ^əl/
[ADJ] oft ADJ to n
If you describe something as crucial, you mean it is extremely important.
He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself...
Improved consumer confidence is crucial to an economic recovery.
= critical
● crucially [ADV]
Chewing properly is crucially important...
Crucially, though, it failed to secure the backing of the banks.

例句的翻译很巧妙。

[22] cunning [ˋkʌnɪŋ] adj. 狡猾的，精明的

【同】crafty

Perhaps the most cunning Disney trick is to take fairy tales in the public domain and reinvent them as corporate property. A billion-dollar example is Beauty and the Beast…

(TIME, May 2, 1994, p.72)

迪斯尼公司最精明的盘算，或许就是将童话故事搬上大众舞台，且将其改头换面，成为公司资产。耗资10亿美元排成的《美女与野兽》就是个例子。

cun|ning /k'ʌnɪŋ/
1 [ADJ]
Someone who is cunning has the ability to achieve things in a clever way, often by deceiving other people.
These disturbed kids can be cunning.
...Mr Blair's cunning plan.
= crafty
● cunningly [ADV] usu ADV with v
They were cunningly disguised in golf clothes.
2 [N-UNCOUNT]
Cunning is the ability to achieve things in a clever way, often by deceiving other people.
...one more example of the cunning of today's art thieves...

略带有贬义。

[23] dazzling [dæzəlɪŋ] adj. 令人目眩神移的

【同】stunning

With computers doubling in speed and power every couple of years and with genetic engineering’s dazzling feats growing more and more routine, the battered American faith in technologic progress has been growing stronger and giddier of late. (TIME, May 27, 1996, p.67)

随着电脑的速度与功能每两年就增加一倍，基因工程领域中惊人的成就变得司空见惯，美国人在科技发展方面备受打击的信心，近年来已逐渐增强，并有异常乐观的趋势。

█ batter v. 连番猛击，毒打

dazz|ling /d'æzlɪŋ/
1 [ADJ]
Something that is dazzling is very impressive or beautiful.
He gave Alberg a dazzling smile.
= stunning
● dazzlingly [ADV]
The view was dazzlingly beautiful.
2 [ADJ]
A dazzling light is very bright and makes you unable to see properly for a short time.
He shielded his eyes against the dazzling declining sun.
● dazzlingly [ADV] ADV adj
The loading bay seemed dazzlingly bright.

第一个解释可以用来形容美丽。

[24] dedicated [ˈdedɪkeɪtɪd] adj. 专注的

In Singapore, dedicated Net users are planning to maintain unfettered access by jumping borders and dialing services in neighboring Malaysia. (TIME, Sept.23, 1996, p.27)

新加坡的网络迷正计划跨越国界，使用邻国马来西亚的拨号服务，以确保网络上的自由使用权。

dedi|cat|ed /d'edɪkeɪtɪd/
1 [ADJ] usu ADJ n
You use dedicated to describe someone who enjoys a particular activity very much and spends a lot of time doing it.
Her great-grandfather had clearly been a dedicated and stoical traveller.
2 [ADJ] oft ADJ to n
You use dedicated to describe something that is made, built, or designed for one particular purpose or thing.
Such areas should also be served by dedicated cycle routes.
...the world's first museum dedicated to ecology.

第一种用法用于名词前面，第二种用法不可忽略。

[25] desperate [ˋdɛspərət] adj. 迫切的

Bereft of patrons, desperate to rescue his economy, Fidel Castro turns to an unusual solution:…

(TIME, Feb.20, 1995, p.50)

由于资助断绝，而又急于挽救该国经济，卡斯特罗转而求助于一项罕见的解救之道：……

█ to be bereft of 丧失（希望、喜悦等）

♦ des|per|ate /d'espərət/
1 [ADJ]
If you are desperate, you are in such a bad situation that you are willing to try anything to change it.
Troops are needed to help get food into Kosovo where people are in desperate need...
He made a desperate attempt to hijack a plane.
● desperately [ADV] ADV with v
Thousands are desperately trying to leave their battered homes.
2 [ADJ] v-link ADJ, usu ADJ to-inf, ADJ for n
If you are desperate for something or desperate to do something, you want or need it very much indeed.
They'd been married nearly four years and June was desperate to start a family...
People are desperate for him to do something.
● desperately [ADV] ADV with v
He was a boy who desperately needed affection.
3 [ADJ]
A desperate situation is very difficult, serious, or dangerous.
India's United Nations ambassador said the situation is desperate...
= dire

第一条解释值得深体会。