| about this site | who we are | site map | reading tips | teaching tips | student tips | build vocab | | teaching vocab | hot links | visit Thai school | Bangkok Post | Post books | student weekly | home

June 14 & 15, 2003 flurry (FLUR ee) The noun flurry refers to a short intense period of activity. In the sixth game, Clijsters pinned Henin-Hardenne back 15-40 but could not covert the break, playing a flurry of loose shots to allow her opponent to hold on for 4-2. The light-heavyweight was ahead 11-10 with just 14 seconds remaining, but a late flurry at the end left the score tied at 12-12. The Egyptians were stung by a flurry of negative newspaper stories when large chunks of the Sphinx fell off in 1981 and 1988. The arrests were the latest of a flurry of incidents involving planned or threatened violence at schools. June 13, 2003 rampage (RAM paydj) The noun rampage refers to a situation where people or animals rush around in a wild or violent way, causing damage or destruction. The verb form is also rampage. An 18-year-old student shot dead his ex-girlfriend's uncle and wounded her grandmother yesterday in a rampage that ended when he turned the gun on himself. Residents say the militiamen went on a rampage after they heard gunshots on the outskirts of the town. Police and armed civilians were rampaging through the streets, threatening to kill ethnic Albanians as they tried to flee the city. The police stood and watched as rioters rampaged through the neigbourhoods. June 12, 2003 thug The noun thug refers to a violent person, usually a criminal. Burmese pro-democracy activists say their procession was attacked by government-hired thugs. On Thursday night more than 30 paramilitary thugs and soldiers ransacked the opposition headquarters. The police said that the thugs posing as security guards were heavily involved in the drugs trade. The police are doing their best at keeping English thugs away from international competitions. June 11, 2003 exorcise (EK sor saiz) The noun exorcise means to force an evil spirit to leave a person or place or to remove a bad memory from your mind. The process is known as an exorcism and a person who performs one is known as an exorcist. More than 1,000 people joined in a ceremony yesterday to exorcise a ghost (pee-paub) they believed responsible for unexplained deaths in the neighbourhood in the past weeks. To exorcise the ghost of her own past, Molly deliberately tried to remember incidents from her violent childhood. After two losses, the team performed a light-hearted exorcism in hopes of a change of luck. The monks loved exorcists and their belief in superstition and magic was very strong. June 10, 2003 yoke The noun yoke refers to something which restricts freedom or makes life very difficult or unpleasant. Yoke can also refer to a long piece of wood that is fastened across the necks of two animals so that they can pull heavy loads. The Constitution Court yesterday freed women in Thailand from a 41-year-old legal yoke that forced them to adopt their husband's family name after marriage. Their overwhelming desire was to be free of the oppressive and hated yoke of colonialism. He was eager to free his suffering people from the yoke of the Vietnamese invaders. He used his hatchet to make a hasty yoke of wood. June 9, 2003 bumbling The adjective bumbling means to make mistakes in a confused, disorganised way. Wounded by his own gun, the bumbling robber attempted to flee the scene. They accused the UN weapons inspectors as being bumbling idiots unable to find anything. Lee's lawyers tried to portray him as an unlikely spy, more bumbling and naive than clever and secretive. "Trade Minister Jim Sutton's bumbling diplomacy is putting New Zealand's interests at risk," according to the National Party's Trade spokesman, Dr Lockwood Smith. Click here to see our words in the news for the previous week. Return to our home page | Comments to Terry F. at terryfrd@ksc15.th.com | |© The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. All rights reserved 2003 | Last modified: June 13, 2003