grade[ɡreid]
拾级而上：一个台阶一个台阶地向上登

词根grad,gred,gress=to step,to walk

a level of quality, size, importance etc
a number or letter that shows how good someone's work or performance is
to separate people or things into different levels of quality, size, importance etc
US (UK mark) to give a score to a student's piece of work
a school class or group of classes in which all the children are of a similar age or ability:
n. 年级；等级；成绩；级别；阶段
vt. 评分；把…分等级
vi. 分等级；逐渐变化

ingredient [in'ɡri:diənt]前缀in表示in,into。
ingredient字面意思就是“step into”，即“混合进去的成分”

a food that is used with other foods in the preparation of a particular dish:
one of the things or qualities that are necessary to make sth successful:
n. 原料；要素；组成部分
adj. 构成组成部分的。

耶鲁公开课 - 死亡课程节选
But more importantly still--those are all crucial but there's an extra ingredient as well-- he thinks he's got good reason to believe, when he dies he's going to go, basically, to what we'd call heaven.
更重要的是,当然前面几点也很重要,但是还有更重要的一点,他觉得他有理由相信,他死后他将去到一个,我们通常称为天堂的地方。

aggressive[ə'ɡresiv]
behaving in an angry, threatening way, as if you want to fight or attack someone
very determined to succeed or get what you want
adj. 侵略性的；好斗的；有进取心的；有闯劲的

耶鲁公开课 - 金融市场课程节选
Most recently--A few years ago, we were living in a regime of negative real interest rates, when the Fed was pursuing a very aggressive monetary policy.
就在最近几年之前,我们生活在,负实际利率的政策中,当时美联储追求一种,非常激进的货币政策。

congress：['kɔŋgres]
a large formal meeting of representatives from countries or societies at which ideas are discussed and information is exchanged
n. 国会；代表大会；会议；社交

绯闻女孩第3季第8集
When did Tripp decide to run for congress?
Well, after congressman Krugar die, A house seat opened up in Manhattan.
什么时候特里普决定要参选美国国会？
国会议员库里哥去世后，曼哈顿又多了一个国会席位。

transgress ：[træns'gres]

trans前缀表示across,through,beyond，理解为“穿越”和“跨过”最为合适。

to do something that is against the rules of social behaviour or against a moral principle
v违反；侵犯；犯罪

例句
They have transgressed the treaty of peace.
他们违反了和平条约。
His manners transgressed the bounds of good taste.
他的举止有伤大雅。

regress [ri'ɡres]
to return to a previous and less advanced or worse state, condition or way of behaving
vi. 逆行，倒退；复归
n. 回归；退回
vt. 使…倒退。

例句
The night regressed into utter silence and solitude.
黑夜重归孤寂

retrogress ：[,retrəu'gres]
to return to an older and worse state
vi. 倒退，退化。

拉丁前缀retro表示backward，与re前缀有着紧密的联系，因此如果说regress是to step back的话，retrogress就是to step backward。前者强调的是倒退这个动作，后者强调的则是倒退这个趋势和方向，是与progress v.进步；向前相对的，意思上还是有细微差别的。

例句
Deviate from socialism and China will inevitably retrogress to semi-feudalism and semi-colonialism.
中国离开社会主义就必然退回到半封建半殖民地。