high-level verbs

Easier verb	High-level verb
Control/limit	curb		The government  should act to curb  tax evasion.
promise	pledge
refuse to accept	veto		If the changes  for 2017 were  vetoed, democratisation  would come to a stop  again
become (worse)	degenerate		Protest for  protest's  sake could  quickly  degenerate  into knee-jerk  opposition to  anything the  government  does.
hurt	undermine		Criticism just  undermines  their confidence.
use	resort to		They must  never resort to  violence
damage (intentionally)	vandalise
make weaker	impoverish
became the victims	fall victim to		Hundreds of  thousands of people  have fallen  victim to the  Sichuan earthquake  disaster.
submit to	succumb to		The HK Government  eventually  succumbed to public  pressure from our citizens.
give your opinion	discuss  [to talk or write about a subject in detail, especially considering different ideas and opinions related to it ]		The later chapters  discuss the effects  on the environment.
exist before	predate		The code predates  the handover.
to criticize someone or something severely	lambaste
given the right to	entitled