第一句：I looked pointedly at the bookshelf that held at least three dictionaries, and Kevin sighed dramatically.（2026新高考Ⅰ卷）

• pointedly adv. 有意地，直指地。表示说话或动作带有明确目的，常用于描述刻意为之的行为。
• dramatically adv. 夸张地；大幅度地。在描述动作时表示“夸张地”，在描述变化时表示“显著地、大幅度地”。
• sigh v. 叹气，叹息。可作名词，表示“叹息声”。常见搭配：sigh with relief（如释重负地叹气）。

第二句：I decided that I wanted to learn as many words as I could and started marking every entry I looked up with a pencil to measure my progress.（2026新高考Ⅰ卷）

• entry n. 词条；入口；参赛作品；登记。在词典语境中意为“词条”，也可表示“进入”的行为。
• measure v. 衡量，测量。名词形式为measurement。常见搭配：measure progress（衡量进步）、take measures（采取措施）。
• look up 查阅；抬头看；拜访。在词典语境中意为“查阅”，是高考高频短语。

第三句：A team of Cambridge psychologists conducted an experiment to compare the cognitive effects of merely seeing art with actively judging how beautiful it is.（2026新高考Ⅰ卷）

• merely adv. 仅仅，只是。相当于only，但更正式，常用于强调程度之轻。
• cognitive adj. 认知的。常见搭配：cognitive ability（认知能力）、cognitive development（认知发展）。
• actively adv. 主动地，积极地。反义词为passively（被动地）。
• compare v. 比较，对比。固定搭配：compare A with B（将A与B比较）、compare A to B（将A比作B）。

第四句：The most important idea behind the kind of party planning described here is that it brings parents and children closer together.（NMET2002）

• describe v. 描述，叙述。过去分词described可作定语，表示“被描述的”。名词形式：description。
• bring...together 使……团结/靠近。常见搭配：bring people together（把人们聚在一起）。
• closer adj./adv. 更近的/地。close的比较级，可表示空间距离或情感距离。

第五句：He had realized that the words “one of six to eight” under the first picture in the book connected the hare in some way to Katherine of Aragon, the first of Henry VIII's six wives.（NMET2002）

• connect v. 连接，联系。固定搭配：connect A to/with B（将A与B连接/联系起来）。
• in some way 在某种程度上，以某种方式。同义表达：in a way、somehow。
• realize v. 意识到，认识到；实现。在高考中“意识到”和“实现”两个义项均常考。

第六句：Until one day he came across two stone crosses in Ampthill park and learnt that they had been built in her honor in 1773.（NMET2002）

• come across 偶然遇见，碰巧发现。是高考高频短语，注意与come about（发生）、come up with（想出）区分。
• in one's honor 为纪念/向某人致敬。也可写作in honor of sb。
• learn v. 得知，了解到；学习。在“得知”义项上，常接that从句。

第七句：Gold is one of a growing number of shoppers buying into the organic trend, and supermarkets across Britain are counting on more like him as they grow their organic food business.（NMET2002）

• count on 依赖，指望。相当于depend on、rely on。
• buy into 购买（股份）；认同，接受（某种观念）。在句中表示“认同并参与有机食品趋势”。
• a growing number of 越来越多的。后接可数名词复数，谓语动词用复数。

第八句：Supporters of underground development say that building down rather than building up is a good way to use the earth's space.（NMET2002）

• rather than 而不是。连接两个并列成分，常用来表示对比选择。
• underground adj. 地下的；秘密的。adv. 在地下。
• a way to do sth 做某事的方法。同义结构：a way of doing sth。

第九句：In general, women's friendships with each other rest on shared emotions and support, but men's relationships are marked by shared activities.（NMET2001）

• rest on 依靠，基于。相当于depend on、be based on。
• be marked by 以……为特征/标志。mark在此为动词，表示“标志，表明”。
• in general 一般来说，总体上。常用于句首，作评注性状语。

第十句：Whereas a woman's closest female friend might be the first to tell her to leave a failing marriage, it wasn't unusual to hear a man say he didn't know his friend's marriage was in serious trouble until he appeared one night asking if he could sleep on the sofa.（NMET2001）

• whereas conj. 然而，但是。用于引导对比从句，表示前后情况的鲜明对照。
• not unusual 并非不寻常，即“很常见”。双重否定表肯定，语气较委婉。
• failing adj. 失败的，衰退中的。如a failing marriage（濒临破裂的婚姻）、failing health（日益衰退的健康）。
• in serious trouble 处于严重困境中。trouble在此为不可数名词，表示“困境，麻烦”。