confidence: stresses faith in oneself and one's powers without any suggestion of conceit or arrogance: had the ~ that comes only from long experience.     faith信念always suggests certitude even where there is no evidence or proof是指在"没有证据证明"的情况下确信，如对神的信念，对共产主义的信念等。自信confidence是对自己和自己能力的faith信念，由于信念的力量巨大，对人有决定性影响，如有人曾说: "a man will be nothing is he is not confident"，如"自信人生二百年，会当水击三千里"       （conceit自负是指过度骄傲too much pride，如he is conceited and ill-mannered他自负又无礼）   arrogant傲慢表示不但conceited自负而且rude无礼貌，如I thought him conceited and arrogant我认为他既自负又傲慢


assurance: carries a stronger implication of certainty and may suggest arrogance or lack of objectivity in assessing one's own powers: moved among the guests with great ~.    （objective客观stresses a tendency to view events and persons as apart from oneself and one's own interests and feelings强调站在"自身以外"的观点看问题，即只考虑事实不考虑感情利益，如an objective analysis/assessment/report/standard/world/evidence客观分析/评价/报告/标准/世界/证据，如I find it difficult to be objective where he's concerned只要涉及他，我就难以做到保持客观，反义词subjective）


self-possession: implies an ease or coolness under stress that reflects perfect self-control and command of one's powers: she answered the insolent question with complete ~.    （ease轻松舒适有信心not feeling difficult or worried; comfortable, 如at ease军事上表示稍息，如he is at ease about the matter他对这事感到很轻松）  （cool冷静may imply calmness, deliberateness, or dispassionateness表示考虑问题时平静，不受情绪影响，如kept a cool head during the emergency紧急情况下保持头脑冷静， 如who shall I fear except the God？I'm cool despite emergency除了神我怕谁？身陷紧急我也冷静，是《lonely》的一句歌词，cool在字典里有16个意思，分两类1、冷静 2、好，如有能力数量多时髦等）    insolent侮辱人般的傲慢


aplomb: implies a manifest self-possession in trying or challenging situations: handled the horde of reporters with great ~.   trying困难difficult，如trying times难熬的时期，如本例     challenging挑战性，指trying and interesting困难又有意思，如challenging task/job/problem富有挑战性的任务/工作/问题


confidence自信: 指对自己和自己能力的信念，不暗示自负傲慢，assurance自信自负: 指更加自信，含有不客观傲慢的暗示，self-possession冷静镇定: 指压力下能保持轻松冷静，能管控自身力量，aplomb冷静镇定: 在困难挑战面前的明显地冷静镇定


记忆方法: 1）首字母CASA想成凯撒<==自信

         2）自信的意思是从容冷静有把握mean a state of mind or manner marked by easy coolness and freedom from uncertainty, diffidence, or embarrassment.   diffident因不自信害羞