1. slip: to move slidingly, smoothly, secretly or unnoticed. it carries a stronger implication of a frictionless than slide.

2. lump: a mass of sth. solid without a special size of shape
　　a lump of lead, sugar
　　Black coffee, 2 lumps, please!

a hard swelling on the body
　　She was afraid when she felt a lump in her left breast

to have a lump in one's throat:
to have a tight feeling in the throat because strong emotion, such as sorrow or gratitude, to have one's throat choked, to have a feeling of pressure, being unable to breath, a tight sensation in the throat caused by unexpressed pity, sorrow, excitement, etc.
　　All during her husband's funeral, she had ...
　　John's mother had a ... at his college graduation.

　　The strong sensation of excitement and sorrow made me unable to breathe or to speak as if my throat was choked, as if my throat got blocked by sth. solid.
3. on my mind: troubling one's thoughts, causing anxiety, unhappiness. When you have sth on your mind, you can't get rid of it, you are completely preoccupied, and obsessed.
　　His failure weighs heavily on him mind.
　　He has got too much on his mind to worry about your problem.
　　I am glad you want to talk about this. It's been on my mind for weeks.

cf:
in one's mind: think about, think of
　　I think I know what's in your mind.
　　Her mother was always in her mind.

4. the very act of stepping on this soil:

act and action:

Action refers primarily to the process of acting; act to the result, the things done. An action is usually regarded as occupying some time and involving more than one step; an act is more frequently thought of as momentary of instantaneous and as individual.
　　The rescue of a shipwrecked crew is a heroic action while the launching of the lifeboat, a brave act.
　　a course of action

on this soil: on this land, on this earth, ground
The word SOIL conveys a strong emotion, it is an emotive word.
　　A person in exile comes back to his motherland, he kneels down to kiss the soil.

Here is suggests the emotion of the author. He thinks his country is responsible for the A-bomb destruction. He is preoccupied. He has the feeling of atoning (making repayment) for the crime.

5. adventure: a journey that is strange and exciting and often dangerous, sth. you do or a situation you become involved in that is rather unusual, exciting and dangerous. From the text itself one can clearly see that the meaning is “trip” since it is followed by this word.
　　The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn

6. reportorial: (not in Longman or ALD)
belonging to, of, about a reporter. the adj. form of reporter

7. crime: an offence which is punishable by law
Here: an immoral act

8. appear
Appear, Look, and Seem can mean to be as stated in one's view or judgement, but not necessarily in fact.

Seem suggests an opinion based on subjective impression rather than objective signs.
　　He seems tired.
　　My other visits to Beijing were twenty years ago. How would it seem after such a long time?

Look implies that the opinion is based on a general visual impression.
　　His lips looked unnatural.
　　He looks nervous.

Appear suggests a distorted impression, such as can be produced by a restricted point of view.
　　His tongue could make the worse appear the better reason.
　　He appeared not to have heard what had been said about him.

　　He appears / seems / looks to be / like an honest man.

9. preoccupy: to fill the thoughts or hold the interest of, to fill one's mind completely so that not enough attention is given to other present matters
　　When he is preoccupied with his hobby, he has no idea of what is going on around him.
　　I was too preoccupied to hear the bell.
　　He had a preoccupied look on his face, as if sth. was troubling him.

preoccupation: extreme concern for sth.
　　Reading is his main preoccupation.

It seemed to me that the Japanese did not have the same extreme concern which is bothering me.
I was totally absorbed in the consideration of the crime, but the Japanese did not appear to be so.
My mind was completely filled with sad thoughts ...

10. rub shoulders with: to meet and mix with (people)
　　This is not the sort of club where the great rub shoulders with the humble.
　　A person in my position rubs shoulders with all kinds of people.
　　In our class, people of all trades (porter, carpenter, coppersmith, etc.) rubber shoulders with each other.

11. oblivious: be unaware of, not noticing, unconscious of, lacking mindful attention
　　Their government is oblivious of the rights of the governed.
　　I am oblivious of my former failure.
　　I was so preoccupied with the book that I was oblivious of the surroundings.

　　I was so preoccupied with the beautiful woman I met on the bus that I was oblivious of the pickpocket beside me / of what the 　　conductress was yelling when the bus came to a stop.

12. bob: to move up and down quickly and repeatedly
　　The cork on the fishing line bobbed up and down on the water.

13. rite: form of behaviour with a fixed pattern. A rite is a series of words and actions which as a fixed order and which is used for a special religious purpose.
　　I don't know much about the rites of that church.
　　Secret society has their special rites.
　　ceremonial / burial / funeral rites
　　the rites of hospitality
　　the marriage rite of the church

Ritual actions are always done in exactly the same way whenever a particular situation arises, (a slightly humorous use). 　　On Sunday we make our ritual visit to the pub at lunchtime.

14. formula: an expression which is often used in a particular situation, esp. one that has come to sound stupid and meaningless

They exchange the set of conventionally / customarily fixed pattern of daily greetings.

15. facade: front or face of a building towards a street or open place

16. grin: broad smile that shows the teeth, it intends to imply naive cheerfulness

17. rear-view mirror: a mirror (as in an automobile) that gives a view of the area behind the vehicle

18. martyr: person who is put to death or caused to suffer for his beliefs or for the sake of a great cause or principle 　　a martyr to a cause / love (殉情) / duty (殉职)
　　Eternal life to the revolutionary martyrs! (革命英雄永垂不朽)

v.: to put to death, cause to suffer, to torture, out of cruelty

19. lurch: to move with irregular sudden movements, to move unsteadily, clumsily, with heavy rolling and swaying back and forth

20. in response to: as an answer to
　　In response to your inquiries, we regret to inform you that we cannot help you in this matter.
　　Twice I put the request to him but he said nothing in response.

21. twist: to wind a number of threads, etc. together
　　to make a rope by twisting threads
　　to twist the hair to make it curl

to turn, to change direction abruptly
　　to twist the cap of a tube of tooth paste
　　He twisted my arm.
　　Give the handle a twist, that will open the box.

22. screech: make a harsh, piercing sound, to make a sharp, high-pitched noise

23. halt: to stop or pause, mainly used in the phrase "come to a halt"

24. ignorance: lack of knowledge
Please forgive our ignorance.
Poverty, disease and ignorance remain major world problems.
We are in complete ignorance of his plan.

ignorant: To be ignorant of sth. is not to know it.
He is quite ignorant of Latin.
She was ignorant of his presence.

cf:
disregard: to treat as not worthy of notice
　　He disregarded Tom , and spoke straight to me.
　　We disregarded the gossip and rumours.

neglect: to give no or too little attention or care to
　　You are neglecting your work / duty.
　　There is a factor which we must certainly not neglect.

neglect: fail to do sth. because of carelessness
　　He neglected to return the book to the library.
　　Don't neglect to lock (locking) the door when you leave.

To ignore sth. is to pretend not to know or see it.
　　She saw him coming but ignored him.
　　It is not a question that can be ignored.

Of these three words, ignore is the strongest and neglect is the weakest

　　It is a point of honour with the taxi driver to take the passenger to whichever destination he want to go.

25. intermezzo: short musical composition to be played between the acts of a drama or an opera, or one that connects the main divisions of a large musical work such as a symphony. This word is used very lighted-hearted here

26. I found myself in front of the gigantic city hall.
cf: I got to the front of...

The first sentence indicates suddenness, unconsciousness. I suddenly discovered that I was in front of the city hall.

gigantic: a close synonym of giant, from which it is derived, very likely to be used in metaphorical extensions.

giant: in fairy tales, a very big, strong creature in the form of a man, but often unfriendly to human beings and very cruel and stupid.
In some culture, eg. Greek, Scandinavian, American Indian, giants were believed to be the first race of people lived on earth.
gigantic: titanic, massive, huge

27. usher: official door keeper, a man who shows people to their seats on an important occasion, (or in a theatre, cinema)

28. heave: to give out (a sad sound) esp. in the phrase " to heave a sigh / groan"
　　We all heaved a sigh of relief when the work was done.

sigh: an act of letting out a deep breath slowly and with a sound, usu. expressing tiredness, sadness or satisfaction 　　She nodded, sighed and went on cooking.
　　He gave another deep sigh.

29. sketch: to draw roughly and quickly with outlines but little detail

30. embankment: a wide wall of stones or earth, which is build to keep a river from overflowing its banks, or to carry a road or railway over low ground

cf:
bank: land long the side of a river, lake, etc.
shore: the land along the edge of a large stretch of water
beach: a shore of an ocean, sea, or lake or the bank of a river covered by sand, smooth stones or larger pieces of rock
coast: the land next to the sea

When meaning land bordering a body or stream of water, the four words are comparable.
Shore is the general word for the land immediately bordering on the sea, a lake, or a large stream.
Coast denotes the land along the sea regarded especially as a boundary.
Beach applies to the pebbly or sandy shore washed by the sea or a lake
a rocky shore with here and there a cove with a beach

Both shore and beach may denote a resort frequented for pleasure or vacation. In this use shore may specifically indicates proximity to the sea, and beach a place adapted to the use of swimmers or sunbathers.
　　spend the summer at the shore
　　spend a part of each day at the beach

Bank denotes the steep or sloping margin of a stream.

31. barge: a large low boat with a flat bottom, used mainly for carrying heavy goods on a canal or river

32. moor: to faster (a ship, boat) to land, to the bed of the sea, etc. by means of ropes, chains an anchor, etc.

33. arresting: striking, attracting and holding attention. This word adds to striking the suggestion of capturing attention 　　arresting beauty / story

arrest: to seize in the name of law and usu. put in prison, to catch and fix (esp. sb.'s attention)
　　The bright lights arrest the boy's attention.

34. spectacle: sth. seen, sth. taking place before the eyes, esp. sth. fine, remarkable
　　The big army parade on national day is a grand spectacle.
　　The erupting volcano is a wonderful spectacle.
　　The opening ceremony of the exhibition was a fine spectacle.

35. adrift: afloat without control, driven about by the sea or wind
　　a has the meaning of "away, from, of, in, on, etc."

aboard: on the board, on the boat
afire: to set sth. on fire: The house was afire.
afloat: on water
afoot: on foot I came afoot.

36. beige
khaki / flannel / indanthrine
mohair / palace / melton / cashmere

37. amid: fml and lit. among, in the middle of

38. incessant: never stopping, it implies ceaseless or uninterrupted activity

39. stun: to make unconscious by hitting the head
　　The robbers stunned the guard by banging him on the head.
　　He was stunned by the news of his father's death.

stunning: very attractive, delightful, beautiful, making you become intoxicated

40. costume: the clothes worn by people at a particular time in history or in a particular country
　　a museum of costume
　　portraits of people dressed in 17th-century costume

a set of clothes worn by an actor or performer or by sb. at a fancy dress party
　　bathing / swimming / riding / hunting costume
　　He was in academic costume.

41. tread: to walk or step, to put the foot down on
(Notice: the mind is fixed on the feet)

42. cautious: having or showing great care, as if there might be some danger, esp. fear of failure or harm to oneself or others, act very carefully so as to avoid or to minimized the risks of disaster
　　The thief cautiously opened the door.
　　The troops advanced with great caution.

43. twinge: a sudden sharp pain
　　to feel a twinge in the region of heart
　　a twinge of toothache / conscience

44. embarrass: to feel ashamed or socially uncomfortable

45. prospect: reasonable hope, sth. which is expected or considered probable
　　She was quite excited by the prospect of seeing...soon.
　　He was in high spirits at the prospect.
　　The scandal ruined his prospects.
　　I see no prospect of his recovery.
prospect: a wide or distant view, esp. seen from a high place
　　From the top of the hill there's a beautiful prospect over the valley.

cf:
expectation: thing that is expected

　　The boy has great prospects / expectation.
　　We came here with the expectation of meeting the mayor, but I see no prospects of seeing him now since he is oblivious of us 　　humbles.

46. emotion: any of the strong feelings of the human spirit
　　Love, hatred, and grief are emotions.
　　His speech has an effect on our emotions rather than our reason.

　　I was again overcome by the same sense of guilty as I had experienced when I first arrived at the station.

　　The overwhelming and strange feeling I had experienced at the station came back.

47. bombardment: attack, onslaught

bombard: to attack with artillery / shells, or bombers

48. slay (slew, slain): (lit.) kill or murder, to kill, esp. violently, put to death

cf:
kill: It is so general that it merely states the fact, doesn't have many connotations
　　to kill snails in the garden
　　to take medicine to kill the pain
　　What you have said killed my hope.
　　vegetable killed by the frost
　　to kill time
　　The president killed the project.

slay: v (fml. or US) kill (esp an enemy) in a violent way. It implies killing by force or wildly, in an uncontrolled way, irresponsibly, immorally, deliberately. It is rarely used in spoken English, but it often occurs in written English to convey 　　a dramatic quality.
　　Cain slew his brother Abel.

murder: to kill with a motive, a plan in advance
T　　he bandits murdered the man for his money.
　　According to the historians he murdered his rival in cold blood.

slaughter: a. kill (an animal), usu for food b. kill (animals or people) in large numbers

butcher: a. kill and prepare (animals) for meat b.(derog.) kill (people or animals) unnecessarily and brutally

assassinate: kill (esp an important or famous person) for money or for political reasons

execute: kill (sb) as a legal punishment
　　He was executed for treason.
massacre: cruel killing of a large number (of people or animals)

suicide: n. killing oneself intentionally
　　commit suicide
-cide: comb form (forming ns ) a. act of killing sb b. person or thing that kills
genocide: n [U] deliberate extermination of a nation or race of people

homicide:
　　a. killing of one person by another
　　be accused of homicide
　　b. person who kills another
　　have homicidal tendencies
　　a homicidal maniac
patricide: a. (act of) killing one's own father (b) person who does this
parricide: a. (act of) killing one's father or a close relative b. person guilty of this
matricide: a. (act of) killing one's own mother b. person who does this
insecticide: substance that kills insects
fungicide: substance that kills fungus

-cidal: of or related to killing
　　That is homicidal.

49. linger on: to live on the point of death for some time, esp. when suffering from a disease, be slow in dying
　　The pain lingered on for weeks (was slow to disappear).
　　The dying man lingered on.
　　He's no better, but he's lingering on by sheer will power.

linger: to wait for a time which is considered too long instead of going, stay, delay going
　　The newly acquainted young couple lingered around the hall long after the concert had ended.
　　She shouldn't have lingered after the others had left---that was fatal.

50. agony: very great pain or suffering of mind or body, suggesting suffering so intense that both body and mind are involved 　　in a struggle to endure the unbearable, intolerable
　　He suffered agonies from his broken arm.
　　The country must not again go through the agony of war.
　　The refugees are experiencing the agony of...
the agony of defeat and the thrill of victory

　　Thousands upon thousands of others were on the brink of death, suffering the intense, unbearable pain both physically and 　　spiritually, and dying slowly.

51. inhibit: cause one to suppress certain thoughts or desires because of the environmental condition
　　His way of teaching is dull, and inhibits imagination.
　　This medicine will inhibit the spread of the disease.

inhibited: (of people's character) unable to express what one really feels or do what one really wants, feeling restrained, 　　having to suppress one's emotion
　　They were too inhibited to laugh freely.

52. agitate: to stir, upset, disturb
　　The speech agitated the crowd.

agitated: emotionally disturbed and excited.
The audience was agitated.

agitator: person who stirs up public opinion, esp on a political matter

agitation: painful excitement of the mind or feelings, anxiety, a public argument, unrest
　　None of them noticed her agitation.
　　be in agitation

53. assent: (fml) agreement, an acceptance (of a statement) as true
　　It basically apply to opinion or proposal, suggesting understanding
　　The committee assented to our proposals.
　　The teacher answered with a brief nod of assent.

agree: It can imply previous disagreement, discussion and attempts of persuading
　　I don't agree with him on many things.
　　I think it impossible to agree to your proposals.

54. sink in: penetrate, esp. gradually, to enter a solid through the surface, be fully absorbed or understood,
　　If the ink sinks in, it'll be hard to remove the spot from the cloth.
　　When Frank heard that war had started, it didn't sink in for a long time until his father was drafted into the army.
　　I think the lesson has sunk in, he won't make the same mistake again.
The beam sinks earthwards.

55. jolt: to shake or be shocked
　　The cart jolted along over the rough road, jolting every bone in his body.
　　With a tremendous jolt the car started.
　　to run over a hole and receive a jolt
　　The news was a jolt to me.

56. reverie: dreamy thinking, esp. of agreeable things, that state of being absorbed in dreamlike contemplation, daydreaming 　　He loved to indulge in reveries about his future.
　　He was awakened from his reverie by the teacher's question.
　　She sat at the window, deep in reverie.
　　He was sunk in reverie and did not hear me.
　　When one is preoccupied with sth., he has preoccupations. And he is always oblivious of the things around. He is in deep 　　reverie.

57. heinous: (lit) (of wicked people or acts) very shameful, very bad, hatefully and shockingly evil, abominable, outrageous, 　　so openly and shamelessly bad or so conspicuous that it excited hatred or horror
　　Treason has always been regarded as a heinous crime.

58. confess: admit

Confession: a religious service at which a person tells his faults to a priest

　　Confess usu. applies to what one feels to be wrong. If you confess sth. or confess to sth., You admit that you have done sth. 　　that you feel ashamed of, or embarrassed about. But admit stresses reluctance, or unwillingness.

　　In usage, these two words are almost the same, both can be followed by a clause, a noun, a gerund (with or without a “to”) 　　or a complex object.
Usage:
　　to confess / admit that...
　　to confess / admit one's sins / error / crime
　　to confess / admit hating sb. / the weakness
　　to admit to stealing / the murder /
　　to confess oneself to be guilty
　　to confess / admit oneself to be beaten

　　But confess is often followed by a “to”:
　　He confesses to having done it.
　　She confessed readily to what she described as an ignorance of modern science.

59. cataclysm: a violent and sudden change or event, esp. a serious flood or earth quake or a war, disaster

60. trace: a visible mark or sign of the former presence of a thing or event, a mark or sign showing the former presence or passing of some person, vehicle, or event.

61. preserve: (fml or lit) to keep from destruction, to protect. The word stresses the idea of resistance to destructive 　　agencies and hence implies the use of means to keep sth. in existence
　　Old records are preserved by protecting them from light and moisture.

62. erect: (fml) to build or establish (a solid thing which was not there before, construct, set up
　　Erect basically means to set upright, while Build strictly implies a fitting together of parts and materials to form sth. 　　which may be large or small
　　to erect a flagpole
　　Many factories erected during that period.

63. impact: collision, an impinging or striking esp. of one body against another, the action of one object hitting another, 　　with great force, the force of impression of one thing on another, an impelling or compelling effect
　　The car hit the stone wall with great impact.
　　a target constructed to resist the impact of a bullet
　　We see the impact of modern science on our society everywhere.
　　The book made a great impact on its readers.
　　the concrete embankment built to resist the impact of floods

Notice: This word is normally used as uncountable noun but sometimes can have an indefinite article but never plural form.

64. demolish: pull down or tear down, to destroy

cf:
Destroy: a general word. It is so general in its application that it may imply the operation of any force that wrecks, kills, 　　crushes or annihilates. Its opposition to construct is often apparent.
　　It is easier to destroy than to construct.

Demolish: It implies pulling or smashing to pieces. When used in reference to buildings or other complex structures (as of wood, stone, or steel), it implies complete wreckage and often a heap of ruins.
　　houses demolished by a hurricane
　　The automobile was demolished in a collision with the train.
　　His research has been painstaking, and he demolishes a great many legends.

65. somehow: in some way not yet know or stated, by some means, for some reason that is not clear
　　I think she is right but somehow I’m not completely sure.
　　I thin we can manage that somehow.
　　Somehow he was afraid of her.
　　I thought I knew the way, but somehow I got lost.

66. belly: (infml) 'abdomen, stomach, paunch are synonyms when naming the front part of the human trunk below the chest abdomen: medical term

stomach: When used nontechnically, it means abdomen, but specifically means the organ which digests food.

belly: an informal term for abdomen, suggesting roundness.
　　He has a large belly.
paunch: a derogatory and humorous term, meaning fat stomach, esp. a man's.
　　The man has a paunch / a potbelly / a paunchy belly / is paunchy / a potbelly, etc.

67. spare: to keep from harming, punishing or attacking
　　Take my money but spare my life.
　　They prayed that Allah might spare the village from starvation.
　　Lay down your arms and we'll spare your lives.
　　The enemy were so heinous that even refused to spare the new-borns.

afford to give
Can you spare me 5 minutes?
Can you spare an extra ticket for me?
　　Spare a penny, sir, for a starving man.

68. feel sick: vomit, upset in the stomach so as to want to throw up what is in it.
He began to feel sick as soon as the ship started to move.
He suddenly felt sick, and was sick twice before he could even get into bed.

69. or else: or if not, or otherwise. This expression is basically used as a threat
　　He must pay $100 or else go to jail.
　　Do what I tell you or else!

70. commit:
a. to do, to perform sth. bad, wrong or unlawful
　　to commit an error / many horrible crimes

b. to order sb. to be placed under the control of another or in a mental hospital
　　The judge committed him to prison
　　The court committed the man to a lunatic asylum / mental home (hospital).

c. to promise to undertake, make oneself responsible
　　The government has committed more money to improving basic education.
　　He was fully committed to the plan.

to commit oneself to
　　The government committed itself to spending ten million pounds on that project.
　　He has committed himself to support his brother's children.

71. humiliate: to cause to feel humble or to lose the respect of others, to hurt the pride or dignity of
　　He humiliated her beyond endurance.

72. encounter: to meet or be faced by sth. bad, esp. a danger or a difficulty. n. sudden or unexpected, esp. hostile meeting with
　　What if we should encounter a bear?

73. prejudice: an unreasonable, unfair dislike or preference of sb. or sth, an unfair and often unfavourable feeling or opinion not based on reason or enough knowledge, and sometimes resulting from fear or distrust or ideas different from one's own; An irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group or a race. This word in Latin means previous judgement, preconceived judgement or opinion.

　　Prejudice against women is becoming less severe.
　　A judge must be free from prejudice.
　　racial / national prejudice

74. on the part of: by, of
　　It will arouse deep suspicions on the part of our allies.
　　I apologize for any mistake on my part.

75. scare; a mark remaining on the skin or an organ from a wound, cut, etc.

76. victim: a person, animal or thing that suffers pain, death, harm, destruction, etc. as a result of other people's actions, of illness, bad luck, etc.

77. genetic damage: a damage, harm, illness which have been passed on / inherited and will be passed on from generation to generation

78. earthly: of this world as opposed to heaven; material worldly as opposed to spiritual

earthly care: daily life and worries, cares on the earth which is in contrast with that in heaven, in death.