【正文】 an Connery’s James Bond was superior to Roger Moore’s.) propensity (n.) an inclination, preference (Dermit has a propensity for dangerous activities such as bungee jumping.) propitious (adj.) favorable (The dark storm clouds visible on the horizon suggested that the weather would not be propitious for sailing.)prosaic (adj.) plain, lacking liveliness (Heather’s prosaic recital of the poem bored the audience.)proscribe (v.) to condemn, outlaw (The town council voted to proscribe the sale of alcohol on weekends.)protean (adj.) able to change shape。 displaying great variety (Among Nigel’s protean talents was his ability to touch the tip of his nose with his tongue.) prurient (adj.) eliciting or possessing an extraordinary interest in sex (David’s mother was shocked by the discovery of prurient reading material hidden beneath her son’s mattress.) puerile (adj.) juvenile, immature (The judge demanded order after the lawyer’s puerile attempt to object by stomping his feet on the courtroom floor.) pugnacious (adj.) quarrelsome, bative (Aaron’s pugnacious nature led him to start several barroom brawls each month.)pulchritude (n.) physical beauty (Several of Shakespeare’s sonnets explore the pulchritude of a lovely young man.)punctilious (adj.) eager to follow rules or conventions (Punctilious Bobby, hall monitor extraordinaire, insisted that his peers follow the rules.)Qquagmire (n.) a difficult situation (We’d all like to avoid the kind of military quagmire characterized by the Vietnam War.)querulous (adj.) whiny, plaining (If deprived of his pacifier, young Brendan bees querulous.)quixotic (adj.) idealistic, impractical (Edward entertained a quixotic desire to fall in love at first sight in a laundromat.)Rrancor (n.) deep, bitter resentment (When Eileen challenged me to a fight, I could see the rancor in her eyes.)rebuke (v.) to scold, criticize (When the cops showed up at Sarah’s party, they rebuked her for disturbing the peace.)recalcitrant (adj.) defiant, unapologetic (Even when scolded, the recalcitrant young girl simply stomped her foot and refused to finish her lima beans.)rectitude (n.) uprightness, extreme morality (The priest’s rectitude gave him the moral authority to counsel his parishioners.)replete (adj.) full, abundant (The unedited version was replete with naughty words.)reprobate (adj.) evil, unprincipled (The reprobate criminal sat sneering in the cell.)reprove (v.) to scold, rebuke (Lara reproved her son for sticking each and every one of his fingers into the strawberry pie.)repudiate (v.) to reject, refuse to accept (Kwame made a strong case for an extension of his curfew, but his mother repudiated it with a few biting words.) rescind (v.) to take back, repeal (The pany rescinded its offer of employment after discovering that Jane’s resume was full of lies.)restive (adj.) resistant, stubborn, impatient (The restive audience pelted the band with mud and yelled nasty ments.)ribald (adj.) coarsely, crudely humorous (While some giggled at the ribald joke involving a parson’s daughter, most sighed and rolled their eyes.)rife (adj.) abundant (Surprisingly, the famous novelist’s writing was rife with spelling errors.)ruse (n.) a trick (Oliver concocted an elaborate ruse for sneaking out of the house to meet his girlfriend while simultaneously giving his mother the impression that he was asleep in bed.)Ssacrosanct (adj.) holy, something that should not be criticized (In the United States, the Constitution is often thought of as a sacrosanct document.)sagacity (n.) shrewdness, soundness of perspective (With remarkable sagacity, the wise old man predicted and thwarted his children’s plan to ship him off to a nursing home.)salient (adj.) significant, conspicuous (One of the salient differences between Alison and Nancy is that Alison is a foot taller.)sanctimonious (adj.) giving a hypocritical appearance of piety (The sanctimonious Bertrand delivered stern lectures on the Ten Commandments to anyone who would listen, but thought nothing of stealing cars to make some cash on the side.)sanguine (adj.) optimistic, cheery (Polly reacted to any bad news with a sanguine smile and the chirpy cry, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!”)scurrilous (adj.) vulgar, coarse (When Bruno heard the scurrilous accusation being made about him, he could not believe it because he always tried to be nice to everyone.)serendipity (n.) luck, finding good things without looking for them (In an amazing bit of serendipity, penniless Paula found a $20 bill in the subway station.)servile (adj.) subservient (The servile porter crept around the hotel lobby, bowing and quaking before the guests.) solicitous (adj.) concerned, attentive (Jim, laid up in bed with a nasty virus, enjoyed the solicitous attentions of his mother, who brought him soup and extra blankets.)solipsistic (adj.) believing that oneself is all that exists (Colette’s solipsistic attitude pletely ignored the plight of the homeless people on the street.)somnolent (adj.) sleepy, drowsy (The somnolent student kept falling asleep and waking up with a jerk.)spurious (adj.) false but designed to seem plausible (Using a spurious argument, John convinced the others that he had won the board game on a technicality.)staid (adj.) sedate, serious, selfrestrained (The staid butler never changed his expression no matter what happened.)stolid (adj.) expressing little sensibility, unemotional (Charles’s stolid reaction to his wife’s funeral differed from the passion he showed at the time of her death.)stupefy (v.) to astonish, make insensible (Veronica’s audacity and ungratefulness stupefied her best friend, Heather.)surfeit (n.) an overabundant supply or indulgence (After partaking of the surfeit of tacos and tamales at the AllYouCanEat Taco Tamale Lun