研究生的筆記本

清晰的: lucid, pellucid, limpid

清晰、清澈的形容詞，許多也有透光、發光的意思，詳見: 【GRE單字】一些閃閃發亮的字

lucid (adj.):

Definition:

(1)  發亮的  shining
(2)（頭腦）清醒的 mentally sound 
(3)（意思/論點）清楚的  easily understood

Example1: Those lucid bands that spread across the arctic sky and are known as the northern lights
Example2: The drugs she's taking make her drowsy and confused, but there are times when she's quite lucid.
Example3: Her lucid writing depicts the troubled nature of human relationships and an unapologetic life with commanding grace.
— Farah Abdessamad, The Atlantic, 12 Apr. 2022

pellucid (adj.): 清澈的、(意思)清楚的

Example: He writes in pellucid prose.

limpid (adj.): 清澈的、(意思)清楚的Example: a limpid pool

混淆：

動詞: confuse, confound, puzzle, perplex, bewilder, baffle

形容詞: confused/confusing, confounded/confounding. puzzled/puzzling, perplex/perplexing, bewildered/bewildering, baffled/baffling

名詞: confusion,  bewilderment

Example1: She stared at him in utter bewilderment.
Example2: These soliloquies of doubt, grief, rage or sheer (純粹的) bewilderment appear without gloss (光亮) or commentary, as minimalist micro-dramas.
— Boyd Tonkin, WSJ, 11 Mar. 2022

難題、謎團:

名詞: conundrum,  enigma

Example1: Arranging childcare over the school holidays can be a real conundrum for working parents.
Example2: Despite the enigma of the singularity (奇異點), the big bang theory is unquestionably one of the most successful ideas in the history of science.
— Tom Yulsman, Astronomy, September 1999

在電影<模仿遊戲>裡，圖靈團隊要破譯的密碼機就叫作 Enigma

兩難、難解的情境:

quandary, predicament, muddle, dilemma

quandary (n.): （選擇/道德上的）兩難

Example1: I've had two job offers, and I'm in a real quandary about/over which one to accept.

Example2: Although end-of-life decision-making and other areas of quandary ethics are important topics, values - including ethical values - inform every aspect of day-to-day medical practice.

Example3: Williams's quandary is not unlike that faced by other urban executives who have had to wrestle with a deeply rooted power structure. The problem is especially acute for African American mayors. They are expected to serve as sentries (哨兵), protecting their cities' black communities and staving off so-called white encroachment (逐步侵犯).
— Jonetta Rose Barras, Washington Post, 15 June 2003

predicament (n.): 困境

They both have decided to come personally to extricate me from my financial predicament. (財務困難)