“Our purpose is to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts and develop correct English usage that will help them all their lives.”

“我们的目的是帮助学生提高他们的拼写，增加他们的词汇量，学习单词的概念和掌握正确的使用方法，以让他们终生受益。”

                                                                                                                                                   — Scripps National Spelling Bee

                                                                                                                                                        斯克里普斯全国拼字比赛

  经过几个月的准备，初二的同学们终于迎来了期盼已久的拼词大赛。4月12日中午，在第二阶梯教室进行了长达五轮的激烈角逐，下面让我们去现场看看。

    前四轮的比赛规则类似，因为选词的范围都是同学们比较熟悉的单词。

    在前四轮的比赛中，评委教师非常给力，同学们也非常自信。

    进入最后一轮，单词难度大幅加大，因此规则也稍有放松：

    赛事也进入紧张状态，这是冲进终局的几位选手：

    比赛持续进行，直到最后三位选手胜出：

    喜欢学习的同学们，下面是终局的词单，大家认识多少呢？

Final Round

1 pianist           She could have been a brilliant pianist if she'd put her mind to it.

                         a person who plays the piano

2 marathon     To win a marathon, you need super-human endurance levels.

                         a long running race of about 42 kilometres or 26 miles

3 dispatch        The package was dispatched to her in time.

                          to send sb/sth somewhere, especially for a special purpose

4 souvenir       I bought the ring as a souvenir of Greece.

       a thing that you buy and/or keep to remind yourself of a place, an occasion or a holiday/vacation

5 stationary     You can buy this nicely designed stationary from our online store.

                          not moving; not intended to be moved

6 expo             There are lots of people at the expo.

                        an expo is a large event where goods, especially industrial goods, are displayed.

7 characteristic   The main characteristic of an elephant is its long trunk.

                               the characteristics of a person or thing are the qualities or features that belong to them and make them recognizable.

8 guidance      My trainer gave me some guidance on my exercise schedule.

                         help or advice that is given to sb, especially by sb older or with more experience

9 voluntary     Giving blood is 100% voluntary; nobody will force you to do it.

                         done willingly, not because you are forced

10 fragile        These vases are very fragile. Please be careful!

                        easily broken or damaged

11 disappearance    The little sheep’s disappearance baffled his companions.

                                   if you refer to someone's disappearance, you are referring to the fact that nobody knows where they have gone.

12 pronunciation    These different mouth shapes can help us practice our pronunciation.

                                   the way in which a language or a particular word or sound is pronounced        

13 civilization    They are all outstanding achievements of human civilization.

                             a society, its culture and its way of life during a particular period of time or in a particular part of the world

14 architecture He studied classical architecture and design in Rome.

the art and study of designing buildings

15 candor    Their candor is a very pleasing feature.

                              the quality of being honest and straightforward

16 coherent          He appeared hardly capable of conducting a coherent conversation.

                               marked by an orderly and consistent relation of parts

17 confidant   You are my best friend and confidant.

                                 someone to whom private matters are told

18 belch                He wiped his hand across his mouth, then belched loudly.    

                              to let air come up noisily from your stomach and out through your mouth    

19 aberration       It became very clear that the incident was not just an aberration; it was not just a single incident.

                              a fact, an action or a way of behaving that is not usual, and that may be unacceptable

20 veracity           They questioned the veracity of her story.

                              the quality of being true; the habit of telling the truth

21 daft                      She's not as daft as she looks.

silly, often in a way that is amusing

22 gristle              Remaining vultures grab slabs of softened gristle and greedily devour them.      

                             a hard substance in meat that is unpleasant to eat

23 wield              She wields enormous power within the party.

                              to have and use power, authority, etc.

24 trepidation    I approached this project with great trepidation.

                            great worry or fear about sth unpleasant that may happen    

25 felicity            It is an error to confuse Joy and Felicity.

great happiness  

26 malign            She feels she has been much maligned by the press.

        to say bad things about sb/sth publicly  

27 propriety        Nobody questioned the propriety of her being there alone.

         moral and social behaviour that is considered to be correct and acceptable

28 rustic           When he came to decorate the kitchen, Kenneth opted for a friendly rustic look.          

        typical of the country or of country people; simple

29 reconcile      to find an acceptable way of dealing with two or more ideas, needs, etc. that seem to be opposed to each other

                           It was hard to reconcile his career ambitions with the needs of his children.

30 utilitarian having a useful function

                           However, the significance of this invention goes beyond its utilitarian application.

    请大家加油，明年的拼词大赛再会！