inclination
n. a preference or tendency
Examples:
¡ïI've no inclination to follow my mother into accountancy.
¡ïTheir initial inclination was to build the plant in India but then decided to put it up in China.
incline
v. to tend in feeling, thought, habit, etc.
Example:
¡ïI incline to believe his innocence.
inclined
a. having a tendency
Example:
¡ïShe's more inclined than most people to help out when you ask her.

pick up
1) to start again after an interruption
Example:
¡ïAfter China's entry into WTO, many Chinese picked up English at in their 40s or older.
2) to take hold of and raise
Example:
¡ïShe opened the door, picked up a letter on the floor and started reading it.
3) to collect, take on board
Example:
¡ïI'll pick you up at 6 outside the gate.

leave off
to stop, cease
Examples:
¡ïThe rain left off after a whole week of pouring.
¡ïTed left off talking about his adventure.

appeal (to)
1) v. to please, attract, or interest
Examples:
¡ïWhat appeals to me about his painting is the colors he uses.
¡ïIt's a program designed to appeal mainly to 16 to 25 year olds.
2) n. interest, attraction
Examples:
¡ïMen worry about going bald because they think they will lose their sex appeal.
¡ïThe films directed by Spielberg have a wide appeal.

get at
1) to reach, gain access to
Example:
¡ïA sensible man keeps his savings in the bank - not in the house where a thief can get at them.
2) to suggest, in an indirect way
Example:
¡ïI don't know what you're getting at exactly, but if you want to borrow money from me you've found a wrong person.

ready-made
something in a finished form or is available to use immediately
Examples:
¡ïReady-made frozen meals sell well in the supermarket.
¡ïWhen she married Giles, she acquired a ready-made family ¨D two teenage sons and a daughter.

gourmet n.
1) a person who knows a lot about food and cooking, and who enjoys eating high-quality food
Example:
¡ïOur specialty foods will appeal particularly to the gourmet.
2) (as a modifier) something for a gourmet
Example:
¡ïIf you want to have a gourmet meal, you don't go to a fast-food restaurant.

gourmet food
fine food and drink

deny
v. to declare untrue; refuse to accept as fact
Examples:
¡ïThe three defendants deny all charges.
¡ïNeil denies breaking the window, but I'm sure he did.
There's no denying
It's true.
Example:
¡ïThere's no denying that this has been a difficult year for the company.

stink
v.
1) to be extremely bad or unpleasant
Example:
¡ïHis acting stinks, but he looks good, so he's offered lots of movie roles.
2) to smell very unpleasant
Example:
¡ïThe morning after the party, the whole house stank of beer and cigarettes.

make a buck
to earn some money
Examples:
¡ïThe eldest son had to make a buck to support the family.
¡ïDon't expect to make an easy buck; everything is earned in a hard way.

go with
to accompany; to be part of
Examples:
¡ïThe younger children stayed with their uncle while the older sons went with their parents to Spain.
¡ïCrime does not necessarily go with poverty; criminals with wealth are not uncommon.

bet v.
1) to risk (a sum of money) on the unknown result of an event
Examples:
¡ïShe bet ¡ê500 000 on the horse which came in second.
¡ïI bet you $25 that I'll get there before you.
2) to state confidently (what will happen or has happened)
Example:
¡ïI bet (that) he won't come.
You bet.
Certainly.
Example:
¡ï"Are you coming to the party?" "You bet."

break one's back
1) to work very hard or too hard; make every possible effort
Example:
¡ïBefore the final exam, Frank broke his back over mathematics.
2) to make life difficult or impossible for
Example:
¡ïThese new taxes will break the back of the working poor.

conceit
n. too high an opinion of oneself
Example:
¡ïThe young man was puffed up with conceit.
conceited
a. full of conceit
Example:
¡ïA conceited man believes he's always right about everything.

stump
v. to leave (someone) unable to reply; puzzle
Examples:
¡ïYour question has stumped me.
¡ïWe're all completely stumped ¨D we can't work out how he escaped.

Plato (circa 428-c. 347 BC), Greek philosopher, one of the most creative and influential thinkers in Western philosophy.
¡S¡SBorn around 428 BC, Plato investigated a wide range of topics. Chief among his ideas was the theory of forms, which proposed that objects in the physical world merely resemble perfect forms in the ideal world, and that only these perfect forms can be the object of true knowledge. The goal of the philosopher, according to Plato, is to know the perfect forms and to instruct others in that knowledge.

Aristotle, (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher and scientist. A student of ancient Greek philosopher Plato, Aristotle shared his teacher's reverence for human knowledge but revised many of Plato's ideas by emphasizing methods rooted in observation and experience. Aristotle surveyed and systematized nearly all the extant branches of knowledge and provided the first ordered accounts of biology, psychology, physics, and literary theory. In addition, Aristotle invented the field known as formal logic, pioneered zoology, and addressed virtually every major philosophical problem known during his time. Known to medieval intellectuals as simply "the Philosopher," Aristotle is possibly the greatest thinker in Western history, and historically, perhaps the single greatest influence on Western intellectual development.

Hume, David (1711-1776), Scottish historian and philosopher, who influenced the development of skepticism and empiricism, two schools of philosophy.
He is considered one of the greatest skeptics in the history of philosophy. Hume thought that one can know nothing outside of experience, and experience-based on one's subjective perceptions-never provides true knowledge of reality. Even the law of cause and effect was, for Hume, an unjustified belief: If one drops a ball, one cannot be certain it will fall to the ground. Rather, it is only possible to recognize through past experience that certain pairs of events (dropping a ball, the ball striking the ground) have always accompanied one another.

Spinoza, Baruch
(1632-1677), Dutch rationalist philosopher and religious thinker.
¡S¡SA member of the rationalist school of philosophy, Baruch Spinoza pursued knowledge through deductive reasoning rather than induction from sensory experience.

Dewey, John (1859-1952), American philosopher, psychologist, and educator.

Locke, John (1632-1704), English philosopher, who founded the school of empiricism.

Byron, George Gordon Noel, known as 6th Baron Byron (1788-1824), English poet, who was one of the most important and versatile writers of the romantic movement

Don Juan, legendary hero in many folklore traditions, originating in Spain, who is the prototype of the unrepentant libertine. The old Spanish tale recounts the promiscuous Don Juan's seduction of the daughter of Sevilla's military commander. After killing the commander in a duel, Juan cynically invites the victim's funerary statue to a feast. The statue comes to life, seizes the defiant Juan, and drags him down to hell.