1、tale：n. （虚构的）话、故事

e.g. a fairy tale：神仙故事； tales of adventure：冒险故事； an old wives' tale：迷信、荒唐的故事； It was just a tale：那只是捏造的事故； tell tales (about、on)泄露秘密、搬弄是非

2、puzzle：vt.使......迷惑、为难、伤脑筋。 常用句型：sth. puzzle sb.

　　e.g. What he said puzzled everyone present.

　　 The maths problem puzzled all the students.

　　 vt. puzzle oneself (one's brain) about / over / as to ... 为......绞尽脑汁、伤透脑筋

　　e.g. He puzzled his brains all day about the problem, but failed to work it out.

　　 Don't puzzle yourself about it, for it is of no importance.

　　 n. 难题、谜、无法理解的事物

　　e.g. It's quite a puzzle to me why he did that.

　　be in a puzzle：感到困惑

　　e.g. I was in a puzzle when I was asked to answer the question.

be puzzled by / about / at：被/对/听（看）到......而迷惑、为难、伤脑筋。

　　e.g. We are puzzled by her / such an action.

They were puzzled about the choice of words.

区分：puzzling / puzzled

3、step up：走上楼梯，加快、加速，促进、增加......、改善

　　e.g. The first line, please step up.

　　 For fear of being late, she began to step up her pace.

　　 You have to step up your efforts to finish the work on time.

step的其它短语：step on：踩、踏； step aside：站到一边、让路，让工作给某人（for sb）step down：从（车子等）下来，辞职、下台； step in：走进，干涉、介入； step off：走下交通工具；step out：走出、出去一下

4、search：vt. 寻找、搜寻

1) search sb. / sth.：在......地方找

　　e.g. They searched every room but failed.

　　 The police are searching the thieves, hoping to find sth.

2) search for sb. / sth.：寻找某人、某物

　　e.g. They are still searching for the missing boy.

He searched his pockets for some money.

n. 搜索、调查

the / one's search for sth.：e.g. They gave up their search for the missing boy.

in search of：寻找、寻求、试图发现 = in one's search for ...

e.g. I went to the bookstore in search of some useful books.

make a search for ...搜索、寻求、追求

e.g. They made a search for the medicine the moment the meeting was over.

Search me! (spoken English）(对问题）我不知道！

5、due：adj. 到期、应当付的（与to连用），预定（到达）的、预定做......的（+ to do）