relieve alleviate

relieve[ri'li:v]
to make an unpleasant feeling, such as pain or worry, less strong
to improve an unpleasant situation
vt. 解除，减轻；使宽慰；使放心；救济；援救

词组短语
relieve from从…中解除，减轻
relieve of解除；消除；减轻之

例句
My headache has been relieved.
我的头痛已经轻些了。
Let me relieve you of your luggage.
让我帮你拿行李。
They are trying to build up funds to relieve the poverty-stricken families.
他们设法筹集资金来救济非常贫困的家庭。

alleviate [ə'li:vieit] lieve 变levi
to make something bad such as pain or problems less severe
vt. 减轻，缓和;减小，减少

例句
The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.
医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
They alleviated the boredom of waiting by singing songs.
他们以唱歌来减轻等候的厌烦。

耶鲁公开课 - 金融市场课程节选

In other words, wealthy people, in an effort to alleviate penury, would create a savings bank.
换句话说,富人们要扶危济困,便建立了储蓄银行

【词义辨析】
comfort, console, ease, soothe, relieve
这些动词均含有“给人以帮助以减轻痛苦或悲伤”之意。
comfort: 普通用词，指用语言或行动对痛苦者给予鼓励、勇气和力量，从而减轻其痛苦或悲伤，得到安慰。
console: 较正式用词，侧重缓和或减轻别人的痛苦或悲伤。
ease: 正式用词，指减轻身心的痛苦、不安和忧虑。
soothe: 着重以安慰减轻悲痛、愤怒或激动，使人理智地平静下来。也可指药物等减轻病痛。
relieve: 指解除或缓解某人的病痛、担心或忧虑等，常用被动态。

趣味单词
gloat[ɡləut] goat+l
to feel or express great pleasure or satisfaction because of your own success or good luck, or someone else's failure or bad luck

vi. 幸灾乐祸
n. 幸灾乐祸；洋洋得意

例句
She gloated over her son’s achievements.
她对儿子的成就感到洋洋得意。
Don't you think it's a little unkind to gloat over your competitor's failure?
你难道不认为对你对手的失败幸灾乐祸是有点不近人情吗？

昨日重现

1990年1月CET-4真题

Don't _____ this news to the public until we give you the go-ahead.

A.release
B.relieve
C.relate
D.retain

2002年6月CET-6真题
The medicine _____ his pain but did not cure his illness.

A.activated
B.alleviated
C.mediated
D.deteriorated

答案A B release:发布