mindmap root((CATA)) cataclysm 1、 A violent and massive change of the earth's surface.
2、 A momentous event that results in great upheaval and often destruction.
🌱World War I was a great cataclysm in modern history, marking the end of the old European social and political order. 🌳The -clysm part of cataclysm comes from the Greek word meaning "to wash," so cataclysm's original meaning was "flood, deluge," and especially Noah's Flood itself. A cataclysm causes great and lasting changes. An earthquake or other natural disaster that changes the landscape is one kind of cataclysm, but a violent political revolution may also be a cataclysmic event. Many cataclysms could instead be called catastrophes. catacomb An underground cemetery of connecting passageways with recesses for tombs.
🌱The early Christian catacombs of Rome provide a striking glimpse into the ancient past for modern-day visitors. 🌳About forty Christian catacombs have been found near the roads that once led into Rome. After the decline of the Roman empire these cemeteries were forgotten, not to be rediscovered until 1578. Catacomb has come to refer to different kinds of underground chambers and passageways. The catacombs of Paris are abandoned stone quarries that were not used for burials until 1787. The catacombs built by a monastery in Palermo, Sicily, for its deceased members later began accepting bodies from outside the monastery; today you may wander through looking at hundreds of mummified corpses propped against the catacomb walls, dressed in tattered clothes that were once fashionable. catalyst 1、 A substance that speeds up a chemical reaction or lets it take place under different conditions.
2、 Someone or something that brings about or speeds significant change or action.
🌱The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914 turned out to be the catalyst for World War I. 🌳Chemical catalysts are substances that, in very small amounts, can bring about important chemical changes in large quantities of material. The catalytic converter in your car's exhaust system, for instance, uses tiny amounts of platinum to swiftly convert the engine's dangerous gases to carbon dioxide and water vapor. And it's easy to see how the meaning of catalyst could broaden to include nonchemical situations. We can now say, for example, that the Great Depression served as the catalyst for such important social reforms as Social Security. catatonic 1、 Relating to or suffering from a form of schizophrenia.
2、 Showing an unusual lack of movement, activity, or expression.
🌱After an hour, extreme boredom had produced a catatonic stupor in those of the audience who were still awake. 🌳Catatonia is primarily a form of the terrible mental disease known as schizophrenia, though it may show up in patients with a variety of other mental conditions. A common symptom is extreme muscular rigidity; catatonic patients may be "frozen" for hours or even days in a single position. Its causes remain mysterious. Serious though the condition is, most nondoctors use catatonic humorously to describe people who seem incapable of moving or changing expression.