Vocabulary

fumbling; groping

classification; assortment

head; leader; prime minister

contraction; shrinking; shrinkage; constriction; deflation

entering service (on a route; of a plane or ship); going into commission; being in service

terminus; last stop (e.g. train)

to assign; to set aside

running through (north-south); cutting across; travelling across

heavy responsibility

to celebrate; to congratulate; to observe (a festival)

celebration; celebratory event; wedding ceremony

sortie; sally; attack

receipts and expenditure (disbursements)

getting on base; reaching first base

art; technique; skill

spring break; spring vacation

to send back; to refer back

collecting; gathering

bundle of banknotes; stack of bills

living together; mixed residence; sharing living quarters

place in the shade of a mountain; shelter of the mountains

survival; remaining; being extant; being left

to start; to begin; to commence

allowance; remittance; sending (someone) an allowance

farmer; peasant; farm laborer; farmhand

weak (constitution); sickly; feeble; in poor health

character; personality

poor; meagre; meager; feeble; scanty; shabby

constant; persistent; unremitting; ceaseless

discord; (on) bad terms (with)

nonpayment; default

extramarital sex; affair; fooling around

having more losses than wins

storage room; storeroom; lumber room

fork; junction; parting of the ways

in the sentence; in the text

joint establishment (esp. schools of different levels or different courses of study); establishment as an annex (e.g. of a school); juxtaposition; placing side by side

average mark; mean point

square kilometer; square kilometre

to close (e.g. book, eyes, meeting, etc.); to shut