one or two; a few; small number
revival from the brink of death; recovering from a hopeless situation; resuscitation; revitalization
to lose completely; to waste; to let slip away
receiving in advance (e.g. wages, interest); taking before others; anticipation; being ahead of (e.g. the times); prefetch; anticipatory completion (i.e. finishing another's sentence)
profit-and-loss arithmetic; calculating profit and loss; mercenary point of view
to investigate thoroughly; to examine closely; to probe into; to be obsessed with a thought; to brood over; to worry about
environmental problem; environmental issue
one's nature; one's destiny; custom; tradition; habit
magnificent; grand; majestic; splendid
gradually becoming poor; situation getting gradually worse and worse
idealistic theory; unrealistic argument
to scoff; to laugh at; to make fun of; to ridicule; to jeer at
shoulder (of a road); berm
taking a picture or video of oneself (esp. with a smartphone camera); selfie; video selfie; self-taken picture
to paste; to stick; to affix
comments section; comment field
emoticon; smiley; kaomoji
listless; languid; sluggish; irritating; exasperating; tiresome
to feign ignorance; to evade one's responsibilities; to slip away; to abscond
laughing embarrassedly and sticking out one's tongue
double take (esp. out of surprise)
moratorium; period of grace; extension (of time, e.g. to make payments); postponement (of social responsibility); immaturity; not having developed emotional maturity
hobby; pastime; tastes; preference; liking
very fond of; more fond of than eating; so fond of that someone would rather not eat than go without; (lit.) more important than three meals a day
to live through hell; to go to hell and back; to suffer dire straits
bold; shameless; cheeky; brash; impudent
to pin (someone) down; to hold down; to shut out (one's opponent); to keep (the opposing team) from scoring; to suppress; to control
around here; hereabouts; (around) this point; about now
Altai (Russia); Altai mountains
23rd day of the month; 23 days
canary (esp. the island canary, Serinus canaria)
accidental; incidental; occasional; casual
half-wit; fool; simpleton
to lose contact with (someone); to stop communication with; to go missing; to disappear
heavy blow; major blow; severe blow; serious damage
reading comprehension; ability to read and understand
many; a lot of; a great number of; numerous
so to speak; so to call it; as it were; in a sense
boss; leader; head; boss (difficult enemy, usu. at the end of a section or level)