hard-to-get-into university; elite university; highly-selective university
change; alteration; difference; distinction; something wrong; abnormality
report card; result sheet
less than ...; smaller ...
to rest one's chin in one's hands
to look away; to avert one's eyes
(somebody else's) parents; both parents
burden; load; responsibility; bearing (a cost, responsibility, etc.); shouldering
to abate; to decrease; to diminish; to shorten
to remove obstacles in the way of one's objective
battle formation; camp; encampment; group; gang; war
currently nowhere to be seen; unknown where it went; disappeared into thin air
half-cooked; vague; halfhearted; indecisive
to say; to tell; to state; to do
results; record; grades; marks
ordinary; common; commonplace; mediocre; unremarkable; undistinguished
average; mean; balance; equilibrium
mark; symbol; to mark; to put a mark on; trademark; paying attention to; focusing on
resistance; opposition; reluctance; repulsion; resistance; drag
resting one's chin in one's hands; brace (in construction); angle brace
to get up (e.g. from bed); to make one's way in the world; to achieve in life
slightly; a little; barely; narrowly; only; just
to welter in blood; to be covered in blood
to shoot through something (wall, body, etc.); to pierce (e.g. with an arrow or a look)
surrender; submission; capitulation; being defeated (e.g. by a problem); giving up; giving in
suddenly; all of a sudden; quickly; emphatically; energetically
best one could ask for; just what one wants; welcome (news); heaven-sent
meal set before one; women's advances
for some reason or other; somehow; whatsitsname; what-you-call-it; and so on; and you know the rest
to kill; to slay; to suppress; to block; to suppress (a voice, feelings, etc.); to hold back
order; command; directions; instructions
standing by; awaiting an opportunity; being on alert
to separate (by distance, time, etc.); to isolate; to interpose; to have between; to alienate; to estrange
to brave; to risk; to harm; to afflict; to desecrate; to profane
incomplete understanding; doubt; question; distrust; suspicion; strangeness