Unit 62

chaste / chasten / chastise

chaste adj. 禁欲的 (not having sex ) / tʃeɪst /

• In an effort to ensure that she remain chaste, Kate's parents refused to let her date boys until after high school.

chasten v. 使内疚 (to make someone feel sorry for something they have done) / ˈtʃeɪs(ə)n /

• We felt quite contrite after our teacher chastened us for not performing better on the exam.

chastise v. 谴责 (to criticize (someone) harshly for doing something wrong) /tʃaˈstʌɪz/

• Our father chastised us harshly for our failing grades.

leach / bleach / breach / preach

leach v. 被冲走，滤去 (to remove (nutritive or harmful elements) from soil by percolation) / lēCH /

• The monsoon rains leached so many nutrients from the soil that we had to douse it with liquid fertilizer in order to revive it.

bleach v. 漂白 (to make something whiter or lighter in color ) /blitʃ /

• Gail bleached her skirt in the laundry in hopes of removing the red wine stain.

breach v. 违反 (to break or violate) / britʃ /

• The judge ruled that Nancy had breached her contract with the bank by failing to pay her mortgage.

preach v. 讲道，宣讲 (to make a speech about religion in a church or other public place) / pritʃ /

• The priest preached a sermon that was so long that we all fell asleep in the pews.

pecuniary / penurious / pernicious

pecuniary adj. 金钱的 (relating to or in the form of money) / pəˈkyo͞onēˌerē /

• Howard went to medical school in order to help people, but the pecuniary benefits ceded by his profession, manifest in a healthy bank account, were a welcome sweetener.

penurious adj. 贫困的 (very poor) / pəˈn(j)ʊriəs /

• Tyra worked hard in order to rescue herself from her penurious situation after declaring bankruptcy.

pernicious adj. 有害的，致命的 (causing great harm or damage, often in a way that is not easily seen or noticed) / pərˈniSHəs /

• Many forms of cancer are pernicious invaders that can wreak havoc on the human body before being discovered.