The Discus Thrower

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The Discus Thrower

• Richard Selzer

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• the most famous Olympic statue and was sculpted
  by the artist Myron around 460 BC. National
  Museum in Rome, at the Vatican.

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Information conveyed by the image

• The thrower's flexing muscles and concentrated
  expression.
• A moment of rest between two periods of movement.
  The backward swing of the discus has reached its
  furthest point and the unwinding of the body has
  not commenced. As consequence a poise is
  achieved the utmost straining of the muscles is
  yet to come.
• Combine implied action with classical formalism

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elusive

• An idea too elusive to be put into words
• Elusive memories
• Leaving home is just a way of eluding his
  responsibilities.
• I know who you mean but her name eludes me( I
  cannot remember her name).

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implicit

• She was very about what she thought was wrong
  with the plans.
• ____ ___ the explicitness of her instructions we
  found our way easily.
• There was an implicit understanding between them
  that the subject should not be mentioned.
• He gave us an implicit consent to take the
  apples, for he smiled when he saw us do it.

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terminal

• Please do not leave any of your luggage
  unattended in the terminal building.
• Terminate a contract
• When is the termination date of the contract?
• A dispute was brought to a satisfactory
  termination.

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stance

• The doctors stance_____ the issue of abortion is
  well known.
• He _____a tough stance on human rights.
• He found a tough negotiating stance paid off.
• Jenny took up a stance with her feet slightly
  apart, ready to catch the ball.

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That adverbial clause

• He was so embarrassed that he couldnt speak.
• Bring it closer that I may see it better.
• What was the matter with that fellow that he
  looked so happy?

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assemble

• assemble the staff for a special meeting
• They announced to the assembled guests that they
  were engaged to be married.

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All that

• Mum is not all that keen on me having a disco for
  my party.
• Now that hes a star hell be all the more
  difficult to work with.

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furtive

• I saw him _____ a furtive glance at the woman at
  the table to his right.
• He spent the afternoon making furtive phone calls
  whenever his boss was out of the office.
• There was something furtive about his behavior
  and I immediately felt suspicious.
• steal / cast

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stage

• The ending of the war is not a cause for
  celebration, but rather for regret that it ever
  happened.
• The project is in its final stage and should be
  completed by Aug.
• Our relationship is going through a difficult
  stage at the moment.

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contain

• She was so furious she could no longer contain
  her anger and shouted at him uncontrollably.
• More police were sent to the football ground in
  order to contain the violence.

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prune

• all the dead branches
• Many museums have pruned their collections,
  believing this will improve them.
• Prune the budget/ public spending

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dwarf

• The new crisis may well dwarf most that have gone
  before.
• The new skyscraper will dwarf all those near it.
• The brilliance of his poetry ed the
  accomplishments of his contemporaries.

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as if/ though

• From time to time he turned around as though
  ______(search) for someone.
• He started, as if _____(awake) from some dream.
• He paused, as if _____(let) the painful memories
  to pass.
• He glanced about as if in search of something.

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awkward

• She fell awkwardly when she was skiing and
  twisted her ankle.
• I always feel When I am with Chris--- he is
  difficult to talk to.
• He sat awkwardly at the back of the classroom
  while the teacher criticized his essay.

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weigh

• They weighted the balloon to prevent it from
  flying away.
• The gun weighted him to one side.
• He was weighted down with cares of the world.

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Come adj. /adv.

• What he had hoped at last came true.
• Things will come right in the end.
• Your shoelaces have come undone.
• That package you are carrying is about to come
  unwrapped.
• Wrong never comes right.

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lie adj. /adv.

• The machine lay idle all week.
• The valley lay spread out before us.
• The theft lay heavy on his conscience.
• His mind remained active in spite of his physical
  deterioration.
• She remained standing for a good hour.
• The reform question remained unsolved.
• The city remains the same year after year.
• The treaty shall remain in force for a period of
  ten years.
• ?????????,??????.
• Whether it will do us harm or good remains to be
  seen.

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finger

• He fingered the book thoughtfully for a while.
• The grocer asked us not to finger the tomato.
• He wont stop fingering his new
  video-recorder---hes always like that when he
  gets a new gadget.

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probe

• He probed the darkness ahead with his thin
  flashlight beam.
• The article probes the mysteries of nationalism
  in modern Europe.
• Detectives questioned him for hours, probing for
  any inconsistencies in his story.

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center

• His whole mind, or his whole being was centered
  on the problem.
• Do women center lives around the home now?
• Measures were introduced so that the government
  could balance its budget.

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reach

• ????????????.
• Make sure that you keep all dangerous substances
  out of the reach of the children.
• An expensive trip like that would be completely
  beyond/ out of my reach.
• I came _____ reach of solving the crossword, but
  there was one clue that I couldnt work out.