41-42

a peerless performance

The new president reversed many of the policies of his predecessor. His immediate predecessor in the post.

The choice of players for the team seemed completely arbitrary. He makes unpredictable, arbitrary decisions. The arbitrary powers of officials.

A craving for chocolate. A desperate craving to be loved.

She has always craved excitement. They craved to return to their homeland. I must crave your pardon.

I incline to the view that we should take no action at this stage. Lack of money inclines many young people towards crime. He inclined his head in acknowledgement. The land inclined gently towards the shore.

a steep/slight incline

She was inclined to trust him. He writes only when he feels inclined to. He's inclined to be lazy. I'm inclined to agree with you. Musically/academically inclined children.

He had a liking for fast cars. She had taken a liking to him on their first meeting.

His acting career started brilliantly, then sank into mediocrity. A brilliant leader, surrounded by mediocrities.

A mundane task/job. I lead a pretty mundane existence.

We encourage all members to strive for the highest standards. hey were always striving towards perfection.

Our striving for perfection.

We went on an outing to London. Every year she organized an outing to the countryside.

The drug brought a brief respite from the pain. She continued to work without respite. His creditors agreed to give him a temporary respite.

A sedentary job/occupation/lifestyle. He became increasingly sedentary in later life. Rhinos are largely sedentary animals.

The journey soon became tedious. We had to listen to the tedious details of his operation.

I don't want to waste time on trivialities. His speech was one of great triviality.

The trivialization of serious issues.

It is important not to trivialize children’s worries. The magazine has been accused of trivializing serious issues.

This play is usually ascribed to Shakespeare. He ascribed his failure to bad luck. We ascribe great importance to these policies.

His ascription of the painting to Sully. The ascription of disease to poor people and foreigners. The ascription of meaning to objects and events.

He's gambling his reputation on this deal. It was wrong to gamble with our children's future.

She knew she was taking a gamble but decided it was worth it. It was the biggest gamble of his political career.