English Vocabulary in Use Chapter 21/58

Chapter 21| | Rewarding| Gives you a lot of positive experiences| Fruitful| Produces good results| Lucrative| Makes a lot of money| Therapeutic| Makes you healthy in body and/or mind| Relaxing/calming| Reduces stress, gives a peaceful feeling| Time-consuming| Takes a long time to do| Culture vulture| Big fan of anything cultural| Couch potato| Physically very inactive person|
Dabbler| Person who never keeps doing one activity for long| Doer| Person who believes in acting and doing things, not just thinking| Shopaholic| Person addicted to shopping: compare alcoholic: addicted to alcohol| Is… into| Informal: takes a great interest in/is very involved in| Went off| Informal: stopped liking/lost interest| Locks herself away| Isolates herself from the world| Hooked on| Informal: is addicted to| Get up to| Informal: do| Full diary| A lot of commitments/activities|
Chapter 22| | Scruff| Dirty and untidy person| Pastel| In pale colours| Power outfits| Formal clothes to make you seem powerful| Frumpy| Old-fashioned and boring| Outfit| Set of clothes for a particular occasion| Dress codes| Accepted way of dressing in a particular social group| Dress down| Wear less formal clothes| Smart-casual| Clothes that are informal, but clean, tidy and stylish| Dressy| Suitable for formal occasions| Skimpy| Close-fitting, using little material| Baggy| Loose eg. Of sweater|

Snazzy| Modern, stylish| To be dressed to kill| Wear clothes to attract people’s sexual attention| Designer (label) clothes| Expensive clothes| Off the peg/rack| Cheap clothes| On the high street| Cheap clothes| Off the cuff| Without having prepared anything| To be hand in glove with someone| To have a close working relationship with someone| Cloak-and-dagger| Involving secrecy and mystery| To have/take the shirt of someone’s back| Someone’s last possession| On a shoestring| Spending as little as possible|
Without frills| Simple and plain| To put someone in a straitjacket | Restrict someone’s freedom| To wear the trousers| To be the dominant partner in a marriage| Chapter 23| | Squat | An empty building where people start living without owner’s permission| Hovel| Very poor, dirty house or flat in bad condition| Pied a terre| Small flat/house in a city owned/rented by people in addition to their main house and used when visiting the city| Penthouse| Luxury flat at the top of a building|
Council housing| Provided by state for people who cannot afford own home| High-rise flats| Flats in tall modern building with a lot of floors| Granny flat| Set of rooms for an elderly person, connected to relatives house| The rat race| Unpleasant way in which people struggle competitively for wealth and power| Fengshui| A Chinese philosophy position of buildings and arrangements of objects in their home affect health and well-being people. | Minimalism| A style involving using the smallest possible range of materials, colours etc. only the most simple shapes/designs| Post-modernism| A style of architecture.
The arts etc. popular 1980’s – 1990’s| New age| A way of life and thinking developed late 1980’s, includes wide range of beliefs and activities not accepted by most people| Subsistence farming| Where people live by growing just enough food for their own family| A household word/name| Something everyone knows| A drink on the house| A free drink| Home truths| Information that is true but not pleasant or welcome| Nothing to write home about| Nothing special| Hit home| Become fully understood or fully felt| That’s the story of my life| That’s what always happens to me| Have the time of your life| Have a wonderful time|
Get a new lease of life| Become more energetic and active than before| A dog’s life| A very unhappy and difficult life| Chapter 24| | Socialising| Spending leisure time with other people| A housewarming (party)| Party to celebrate moving into a new house or flat| A launch (party)| Party to celebrate the publication of book/new product| A fancy dress party| Party where everyone dresses up in costume as other people| A stag party| Party before the wedding for husbands and male friends| A girls’ night out/a hen party| An evening for just female friends. Hen party: for a wedding. | A reception| Formal party|
Wedding party| Main group of close family and friends at a wedding| Black tie/white tie| Formal party with black bow ties or white bow ties| Networking| Making contacts that will be useful business/career| Old school tie/old boy network| Contacts made by the children of the upper class while at expensive private school| Pro-active| Taking action yourself rather than waiting for something to happen| Put themselves about| Informal: make themselves visible in the hope of being noticed by someone important| Climb the career ladder| Getting higher up in your career| To hobnob/hobnobbing| Negative association, to be friendly with someone who is important or famous| To rub shoulders with| Informal: mix socially with people who are famous| Hangs out with/knock around with| Spends social time with| A bash/do/get-together/booze up| A party, booze up = colloquial lots of alcohol| Outstaying my welcome| To host = staying to long| Party animal| Someone who loves going to parties| Party pooper| Someone who spoils parties by being disapproving/miserable| Clubbing| Going to one or more nightclubs| On the town| Enjoy the entertainment in a town| Chummy/pally| Friendly|
Cliquey| Negative word for small group of people who spend time together and do not allow others to join them| An item | Having a romantic relationship| Stood me up| Failed to turn up on a date| Drop him| End our relationship| Gone on a pub crawl| Gone to spend an evening going to several different pubs| Chapter 25| | Overrated| Not as good as people say| Hackneyed| Done so often it is boring| Impenetrable| Complex and impossible to understand| Disjointed| Unconnected and not clear in order| Far-fetched| Impossible to believe| Risque| Slightly immoral and likely to shock people| Gripping| Exciting and keeping your attention the whole time| Harrowing| Extremely upsetting| Moving| Making you feel strong emotion, especially pity or sadness| Memorable| You remember it long after|
Understated| Done or expressed in a simple but attractive style| Panned| Very negatively criticised| Lauded| Highly praised| Bombed| Was a failure| Awards| Prized/honours| Up-and-coming| Likely to become very famous or successful| Masterpiece| Very great work of art| Was miscast| Was the wrong actor for the role| Encores| Calls from the audience to repeat it| Standing ovation| The audience stood up and applauded| Interpretation| Way of understanding and performing it| Version| One of several performances that exist| Rendition| Performance on a specific occasion| Portrayal| The picture she created| Chapter 26| | Pulling the wool over… eyes| Deceiving|
Philistinism| Inability to appreciate art or culture| Detractors| Critics| Wised up| Become more sophisticated| Dumbed down| Become less intellectual| Tate modern| New modern art gallery in London| Renaissance| Period of new interest in the arts, Europe 14th/16th century| Fad| A short enthusiasm for something| Vote with their feet| Stop coming| Impressionism| Types of artist and schools of the last 150 years| Cubist| Types of artist and schools of the last 150 years| Surrealists/surrealism| Types of arts and schools of the last 150 years| Deemed| Considered (formal)| Visually literate| Educated with regard to art| Immune to/inured to| Not affected by| Opposites in the brackets| |
Highbrow (lowbrow)| Intended for educated, intelligent people = disapproving| Impenetrable (transparent)| Extremely difficult to understand| Sophisticated (primitive)| Showing advanced skills and understanding| Challenging (undemanding)| Demanding considerable effort to be understood| Dazzling (pedestrian)| Inspiring great admiration because it is brilliant in some way| Evocative (uninspiring)| Calling up images and memories| Exquisite (clumsy)| Having rare beauty or delicacy| Intriguing (dreary)| Interesting because it is strange or mysterious| Peerless (run-of-the-mill)| Better than any other| Tongue-in-cheek (earnest)| Not intended to be taken seriously despite appearing serious| Chapter 27| | lurb| Short text on the back of a book describing what the book is about| Poignant chronicle| A moving and sad description of a sequence of events| Compelling tale| Powerful story that keeps you interested| Lugubrious setting| Rather dark and gloomy setting/situation| Page-turner| Very interesting and engaging story| Enigmatic tale| Mysterious story| Macabre| Often cruel or disgusting, concerned with dead| Chilling| Causing great fear| Breath taking achievement| Amazing achievement| Wry humour| Humour in the face of a bad situation| Evocative scenes| Scenes which arouse memories or images| Journal| 1. A written record of what you’ve done each day 2. An academic publication containing articles, reporting research, new theories etc. ublished at regular intervals| Memoirs| Written record of person’s own life, typically by politician or military figure| Anthology| Collection of, for example, poems or short stories from different authors| Compendium| Collection of detailed, concise information about a particular subject| Manuel| Usually a technical book with instructions| Logbook| Book that records events and times etc. ship, plane etc. | Compulsive reading| Formal: difficult to stop once you’ve started| Can’t put down| Informal: difficult to stop once you’ve started| Lightweight| Not complex, slightly negative connotation| Bedtime reading| Nice to read in bed| Heavy going| Difficult to read| Get into| Become involved/engaged with| Chapter 28| | Synthetic| Made from artificial substances| Wholesome| Good for you, physically or morally|
Wholemeal| Containing all the natural substances in the grain with nothing removed| Fair Trade| Refers to products such as coffee, tea, chocolate marketed in such a way that the small farmers in developing countries who produce them get the profits rather than large multinational companies | Free-range| Relating to farm animals that are not kept in cages| GM| Genetically modified, i. e. the genes of a natural product have been altered in some way| Loopholes| Ways of getting round regulations| Derivatives| Things produced from| Recipe for| Situation sure to lead to| All the ingredients of| All the necessary characteristics| Dilute| Make less dominant| Stew| Worry or suffer especially about something you think is his fault| Grilled | Asked a lot of questions| Half-baked| Unrealistic or not thought through properly| Spice up| Make more lively| Unsavoury| Unpleasant, morally offensive| Turned sour| Went wrong|
Juicy| Exciting and interesting| Chapter 29| | Split the bill| Each person will pay for him/herself| Is on me| Informal: I am paying for you| Join us| Come with us| Be our guest| Formal: we will pay| Get this| Informal: pay the bill this time| Wined and dined| Invited out to restaurants| Impeccable| Perfect, can’t be faulted| Sluggish| Rather slow| Courteous| Polite| Sullen| Bad-tempered/unwilling to smile| Overbearing| Too confident/too inclined to tell people what to do| Brusque| Quick and rude| Off-putting| Makes you feel you don’t want to go there again| Go out of their way| Do everything possible| Have a sweet tooth| Love sweet things|
Count the calories/calorie conscious| Be careful how many calories I eat| Savoury| Salty in flavour or with herbs| Fussy eater| Person who has very particular demands when eating| Teetotal| Never drink alcohol| Dietary requirements| Formal: special needs/things someone can’t eat| Overdo it| Eat or drink too much| Take pot luck| Eat what we’re eating, nothing special| Bring a bottle| Usually means a bottle of wine| Dinner party| Rather formal dinner with guests| Informal get-together| Informal group of people meeting for a meal/drinks etc. | Seconds| A second helping/serving of a dish| Say when| Tell me when I have served enough| When! | That’s enough, thanks|
Nibbles| Thinks like nuts, crisps etc. before a meal| Grab a bite to eat| Have a quick meal| Take away| Ready-cooked meal bought to take home| Chapter 30| | Give way/give way sing| Geef voorrang/voorrangsbord| Has the right of way| Is allowed to go before other traffic| Sounding/hooting/tooting your horn| Claxoneren| Jumping at red light| Not stopping at| Reckless driving| Very dangerous driving, without any care for others| Drink-driving| Driving when you’ve drank too much alcohol| Breathalyser| Instrument you breathe into to measure alcohol level| Hit-and-run| Running over/into someone and not stopping| Ban| Removal of one’s driving licence|
Penalty points| Negative pints on your licence which are added up over time| On-the-spot-fines| Given at the scene of the offence| Exhaust emissions| Waste gases produced by the vehicle| Road worthy| In a condition that it can be driven safely| Tyre tread| The depth of the grooves in the tyre rubber| Tailback| Line of slow or stopped traffic| Pile-up| Crash between several or many cars| Diverted| Directed away from our road| Tow away zone| Area where your car may be taken away if you park illegally| Clamped| Fitted with a metal device on the wheel to prevent it from moving| Road rage| Anger or violence between drivers because of difficult driving conditions| Skidded| Lost control of the steering|
Head-on collision| Two vehicles hitting each other directly in the front| Air-bags| Bags in your car that blow up when you crash | Chapter 31| | Scheduled flight| Normal regular flights| Charter flight| Special flight taking a group of people usually to the same holiday destination| Apex| Fares normally have to be booked a fixed no. of days in advance| Value for money/budget| Fare usually cheaper| Restrictions| e. g. you can only travel on certain days| Non-refundable| You can’t get you money back| Cancellation fee| Money you pay when you cancel| Stopover| You may stay somewhere overnight before continuing to you destination| All-in packages| Normally include accommodation and transfers| Transfers| e. g. us or coach to and from you hotel| Crossing| Sea travel on a ferry| Go on a cruise| Holiday on the sea| The holiday of a lifetime| One you will always remember| Berth/shared cabin| A bed in a cabin with other people| Deluxe cabin| Bigger and more comfortable| Upper deck| The higher part of the ship| Exotic| Unusual or exciting| Get away from it all| Escape you daily life and routines| Getting around| Informal: travelling to different places| Unlimited mileage| You can travel as many miles as you like for the same price| Extras| e. g. accident insurance| Go as you please| Go where you want when you want| Self-catering| Where you do your own cooking|
Chalet| Small cottage or cabin specially built for holiday makers| Guest houses| Private homes offering high standard accommodation | Inns| Similar to pubs, but also offering accommodation, usually beautiful old buildings| B and B| Bed-and-breakfast| Half board| Usually breakfast and one other meal| Full board| All meals| Chapter 32| | Escape the crowd| Go where there are not many people| Wander of the beaten track| Go to places tourists don’t normally go| Get back to nature| Live a natural rural style of life| A promising choice| A choice which could be a very good one| Boasts| This use of boast is for listing the good qualities of a place (formal)| Hordes| Crowds, in a negative sense| Tourism sector| Tourist industry (formal)|
Seeking something out of the ordinary| Common collocation: looking for something different/unusual| Wealth of| Large amount of (formal)| Virgin| Original and natural| Flora and fauna | Plants and animals (Latin) fixed phrase| Ecotourism| Holidays that respect the environment| Unwind| Relax, reduce your general level of stress| Recharge| Get back you energy| The bush| A term for the wild, tree- or grass- covered areas in Africa or Australia| 4×4| Four by four: vehicles with driving power at all 4 wheels| Waterfront| On the edge of the sea or of a river| Discerning| Who knows what he/she wants in terms of good quality| Stunning| Extremely beautiful|
Unbeatable| No other company can offer cheaper ones for the same service| Awe-inspiring| If fills you with a sense of power and beauty of what you’re looking at| Rambled, hikes, treks| These words represent a scale of length and difficulty| Ramble| Long pleasant walk, not too demanding| Hike| More demanding, suggesting more difficult terrain| Trek| Usually of several days over wild country| Unrivalled| No other holiday programme can match this| Savour| A word typically used in advertisements meaning enjoy| Heartland| The inland areas furthest from the sea or from borders with other countries| Chapter 33| | Prone to| Tending to have a particular negative characteristic| Arid| Dry| Drought| Period without rain| Tundra| Area in north with no trees and permanently frozen ground| Vegetation| Plant life|
Coniferous| Trees that are evergreen (green all year round) and produce cones, unlike deciduous trees, which lose their leaves in winter| Prairies| Flat grasslands in Canada and Northern USA| Paddy fields| Fields planted with rice growing in water| Cereals| Type of grass cultivated to produce a grain i. e. a food plant like rice, wheat or maize| Tend| Take care of animals| Manufacturing| Producing goods in large numbers| Forefront| In an important position| Generates| Produces| Are descended from| Are related to| Ancestors| Relatives from earlier times: we are our ancestors’ descendants| Migrants| People who move to live in another country| Emigrant| Someone who leaves a country|
Immigrant| Someone who moves to live in a country| Settled| Made their homes| Chapter 34| | Formal:| Informal:| Chilly| Freezing/nippy| Hot| Boiling/sweltering/roasting| Windy| Blowy/breezy | Oppressive/sultry| Stifling/heavy/close| Downpour/deluge| Chucking it down/ it’s pouring| Humid| Muggy/clammy| Climate metaphors:| | Climate of distrust| Climate of change| Cultural/current/economic / financial /moral/ political / social/ prevailing climate| Sunny disposition| …frosty reception| Job prospects are sunny| Snowed under with work| She said icily| Snowed under with work| Under a cloud of suspicion| Cloud you judgement| Hail of bullets| Hail/storm of abuse| In a haze|
Hazy idea| In the mists of| Misty-eyed| Whirlwind of speculation| Whirlwind romance| Thunderous applause| The horses thundered down the race track| Winds of change/discontent/democracy| Chapter 35| | Cement| Make building/relationships stronger| Brick wall| Metaphorically: a barrier| Ceiling| Can be used to suggest a limit to something| Glass ceiling| Phrase used to refer to invisible barrier that stops people, especially woman, from rising to top positions at work| Roof| As metaphor: the roof fell on my world, the day he died. | Go through the roof| Colloquial phrase: 1. If prices go through the roof, they increase in a rapid, uncontrolled fashion. 2.
Person goes through the roof, commonly used to mean lose one’s temper hit the roof| Tower| Conveys an idea of distance from ordinary people| Ivory tower| Someone living in it = he or she does not know about the unpleasant and ordinary things that happen in life| Tower of strength| About a person = extremely strong (emotional)| Towers above| Outstanding in some positive way| Gateway to| Metaphorical: provide access| Door| Like gateway to and other metaphorical phrases: * closed shut a lot of doors * opens door * close the door on our past.. | Doing something through/by the back door| Suggest doing it unofficially| Key| Metaphorical phrases: * provide/hold the key to… * the key to success * key figures| Chapter 36| |
Seed(s)| Often used to talk about the start of an idea or feeling: * the seeds of success * the seeds of discontent * the seeds of revolution| Root(s)| Is used to suggest the origins of something: * the root of a problem * the roots of a tradition * deeply/firmly rooted collocation| going back to your roots| going back to the place where your family come from| putting down roots| settling down and making your home in one place| take root| Idea becomes known or accepted| Grass roots| Is the ordinary people of an organisation, not the leaders| Stem| Used as verb to signify that something originates in something else| A branch| Something that grows off or branches out from main organisation: * branches of a shop * business branching out in new directions| Bud| Flower before it opens. |
Nipped in the bud| Stopped before it develops into something| Budding (adjective)| Showing promise of future development| Weed out| Get rid off| Prune back| Cut/limit| Is reaping the reward of| Is getting results from| Have dug up| Have discovered| Was germinating| Was beginning to develop| Have been sprouting| Have been appearing quickly in large numbers| Is flourishing| Is doing very well| Sheds| Loses| Shed employees / traditions /worries / inhibitions / weight| Lose….. | fading| (metaphorically) becoming smaller| Shrivelling| (metaphorically) becoming less| Wilt| (metaphorically) lose energy| Glance/look/remark can wither or be withering| Make the recipient feel scorned| Chapter 37| |
Mammal| Animal that gives birth to live babies, not eggs, and feeds them on its own milk| Rodent| e. g. mouse, rat| Reptile| e. g. snake, lizard| Carnivore| Animal that eats meat| Herbivore| Animal that eats grass/vegetation| Predator| Animal that hunts/eats other animals| Docile| Behaves very gently| Tame| Not afraid of humans| Domesticated| Lives with ore is used by humans| Wild| Opposite of domesticated| Savage| Extremely violent or wild| Fierce | Behaves aggressively| Natural habitat| Preferred natural place for living and breeding| Game reserves/game parks| Areas of land where animals are protected from hunting, etc. | Bird sanctuary| Protected area where birds can live and breed| Animal shelter| Place where cats, dogs, horses, etc. hich have no home are given food and a place to live| Blood sports| Sports whose purpose is to kill or injure animals| The fur trade| The hunting and selling of animal furs for coats, jackets, etc. | Poachers| People who hunt animals illegally| The ivory trade| The buying and selling of ivory from elephants’ tusks| Animal rights activists| People who actively campaign for the protection and rights of animals| Chapter 38| | Shrinking habitats| Places where animals live and breed which are decreasing in size| Endangered species| Types of animals/plants which are in danger of no longer existing| Global warming| Steady rise in average world temperatures| Climatic changes| Changes in the weather/climate| Carbon dioxide emissions| Carbon dioxide gas from factories, cars, etc. | Fossil fuels| Coal, oil, etc. |
Greenhouse effect| Warming of the Earth’s surface caused by pollution| Exerts severe pressure on| Formal: puts pressure on| Finite resources| Limited resources| Ecological balance| Balance of natural relationships in the environment| Deforestation| Destruction/clearing of forests| Demographic projections| Forecasts about the population| The worst case scenarios| The worst possibilities for the future| Pristine environments| Perfectly clean/untouched/unspoilt areas| Green credentials| Reputation for positive support of the environment| Prophets of doom and gloom| People who always make the most of depressing or pessimistic forecasts for the future| Sustainable development| Development of industry, etc. hich does not threaten the environment or social and economic stability| Piecemeal conservation| Carrying out conservation one bit at a time, with no overall plan| Chapter 39| | Prompt| Quick, without delay| Query| Question or enquiry about service| Responsive to complaints| They listen, take them seriously and act| Accommodating| Willing to understand and help| Got back to me| Called me with an answer to my query| Impeccable| 100% perfect| Obliging| Willing and happy to do things for you | Incompetent| Failing through insufficient skill, knowledge or training| Impersonal| Lacking a personal element| Shoddy| Poor quality (of service or of goods)|
Substandard| Below the standard expected (often used about actions)| Uncooperative| Not supportive, unwilling to work together| Backlog| Number which are waiting to be dealt with| Sense of urgency| Feeling that your request is important or urgent| Helpline| Telephone number where you can get help if you have problems| Put you on hold| Make you wait| Under guarantee/warranty| Having a written promise by a company to repair or replace a faulty product| Secure site| Web address where no outside person can read your details| Privacy policy/safe transactions| Business exchanges which protect, e. g. your credit card from use by someone else| FAQ| Frequently asked questions|
Browse| Look at the list of goods/services offered before buying| Immediate dispatch| Goods will be sent at once| Nationwide| Covering the whole country| Chapter 40| | Landing card| Form with your personal details and date of arrival| Customs declaration form| Form showing how much money and what goods you are carrying| Vaccination certificate| Paper proving you have had the necessary health injections| Entry restrictions| Rules about who can enter a country and for how long| Spot checks/random checks| Checks done without warning| Sniffer dogs| Specially trained dogs who can smell drugs and bombs| Clear customs| Take your bags through customs|
Port of entry| The port or airport where you first enter a country | Political asylum| Permission to stay in another country to avoid political persecution back home| Economic migrants| People who try to enter from poorer countries just to get work| Offences| Offence is a formal word for an illegal action| Fixed penalty| Fixed sum payable for a particular offence| On-the-spot fine| Fine payable at the time and place that you commit the offence| Parking tickets| Papers places on driver’s windscreens fining them for illegal parking| Breathalyser| An instrument which you blow into that whose if you have consumed alcohol recently| Make a statement| Say what happened and sign a copy of it| Stop-and-search| Power to stop people and search them in the street| Surveillance cameras| Cameras that record everything that happens| Search warrant| Official permission from a judge or magistrate to search your house| Security forces| Often a name for the army and police together enforcing the law| Plain clothes/undercover police| Police who do not wear uniform| Paramilitary police| Police who are more like soldiers than civilian police officers| Drug squad| Policy specially trained to fight the illegal drug trade| Anti-corruption squad| Police specially trained to discover and fight bribery/corruption| Chapter 41| |
Adherent (of)| A person who supports a particular idea or party| Convert (to)| Someone who has taken on a new set of beliefs| Fanatic| (disapproving) someone with a very strong belief| Radical| Someone who believes there should be extreme political change, either of a left- or right-wing nature| Reactionary| (disapproving) someone who opposed to change or new ideas| Bigot| (disapproving) someone with strong unreasonable beliefs who thinks that anyone with other beliefs is wrong| Feminism| Movement that seeks equal political and social right for women | Assumption| Unquestioning acce3ptance that something is true| Derives from| Has its origins in| Eradicate| Abolish or get rid of| Postulates| Basic principles| Consciousness| Awareness| Usher in| Introduce| Credible| Believable| Credulous| Too willing to believe what you’re told|
Incredulous| Not wanting or able to believe something| Credence| (formal) acceptance that something is true| Gullible| Easily tricked into believing things that may not be true| Ingenuous| Trusting, sincere, often in a way that seems foolish| (im)plausible| (un)convincing| Ascribe/attribute| (formal) you consider something to be caused, created or possessed by that person or thing| A tenet| One of the principles on which a belief is based| Give someone the benefit of the doubt| To accept that someone is telling the truth even if you thought it is not certain| Take something with a pinch of alt| You do not totally believe what you are told| I don’t buy that!
A likely storyWhat d’you take me for? I wasn’t born yesterday! Pull the other one! I’ll believe it when I see it! | (informal) I don’t believe it (yet)| Chapter 42| | Superstitious| Have illogical beliefs about hidden forces in nature| Centenary/bi-centenary| 100th anniversary/ 200th anniversary| Penance| Actions to show you are sorry for bad deeds| Fasting| Not eating for a long period| Flamboyant| Extremely colourful and exaggerated| Raucous| Very noisy| Sombre| Serious, heavy and sad| Atmospheric| Had a special feeling or atmosphere| Commemorates| Formal: respects and remembers officially| Chapter 43| | Syntax| The grammar and word order|
Modality| Meanings such as possibility and necessity| Modal verbs| Like must, could and should| Phonology| The sound system| Phonemes| Different sounds that distinguish meanings| Diphthongs| Sounds made by combining vowels, such as ? and ei| Lexicon| Technical term for vocabulary| Compounds| Words formed by combining words| Graeco-Latin| Originally from Greek and Latin| Anglo-Saxon| Language of England from 500-100 AD| Orthography| Technical term for writing systems| Characters| Letters or symbols| Pictograms| Characters representing pictures| Ideograms| Characters representing ideas/concepts| Morphology| How words are formed| Morphemes| Units of meaning|
Inflected| Words have endings to show tense, person, person, etc. | Isolating| Each words had only one morpheme| Chapter 44| | Feudal| Relating to a social system strictly organised according to rank typical of e. g. Europe in the Middle Ages| Medieval| Of or from the middle ages i. e. 1000-1500 AD| Renaissance| Period of new growth of interest and activity in the arts especially in Europe in the 14th to 16th centuries| Victorian| Relating to the period 1837-1901 when Victoria was Queen of Britain – associated with values of self-control, hard work, loyalty, strong religious beliefs| Infantry| Soldiers on foot| Cavalry| Soldiers on horseback| Legion| Roman army| suit of) armour| Metal protective clothing worn by soldiers| Chariot| Two-wheeled vehicle pulled by a horse and used in ancient times for racing and war| Galleon| Large sailing ship with three or four masts used in trade and war in the 15th to 18th centuries| Stagecoach | Covered vehicle pulled by horses that carries passengers and goods on regular routes| Cart | Open vehicle with two or four wheels and pulled by an animal| Serf| Person working on the land who legally belongs to his master| Jester| Person who entertained people in the Middle Ages with jokes| Minstrel| Person who entertained people in the Middle Ages with music and poetry| Highwayman| Man on horseback who robbed travellers on roads| Chapter 45| |
Absolute poverty| Is defenced according to an absolute minimum standard, often called ‘poverty line’| Relative poverty| Means that you are poor in relation to those around you| Income poverty| Means that you are poor if you have less money than the defined poverty line for your country| Human poverty| Takes into account other factors, such as life expectancy, infant malnutrition, illiteracy and lack of food or clean water| Malnutrition| Ill health caused by inadequate food| Illiteracy| Inability to read or write| Sanitation| Systems for taking dirty water and waste from homes to ensure good hygiene| GDP| Gross Domestic Product: the total value of all the goods and services produced in a country in one year, excluding income received from abroad| GNP| Gross National Product is GDP plus money earned from abroad by companies based in that country| Poverty alleviation| Reducing the level of poverty| Debt servicing| Paying back money owed on loans| Penury| The state of being extremely poor| The breadline| Having the level of income of an extremely poor person| Impoverished| Poor, without much money to live on|
Destitute| Without money, food, home or possessions| Deprived| Not having the things necessary for a pleasant life- food, home, money| Living from hand to mouth| Having just enough money to live without suffering| Money has been tight| There has not been much money| Chapter 46| | Legislation| Law making| Constituents| People who elected on MP| Lobbies| Interest groups who try to influence MPs| Corporations| Large companies| Institute of Directors| Organisation of top business people| Ministers| MPs with top responsibilities, e. g. for health, education| Civil servants| People employed in government departments (the Civil Service)| Lobbyists| People who lobby|
Chancellor of the Exchequer| Finance minister (in the UK)| Annual budget| Yearly financial plan (of tax rates, etc. )| Petitions| Formal requests often signed by lots of people| Tax concessions| Reductions in taxes| Producers| Manufactures: a person or business that makes something| Centralised| Concentrated in one central organisation| Close-knit| With close ties to each other| Well-funded| With plenty of financial support| Consumers| People who use/buy products| Fragmented| Separate; not centralised| Friends of the Earth| Large environmental organisation| Child Poverty Action Group| Large organisation helping children| Paid-up members| People who have paid their membership fees, i. e. ommitted members| Deputations| People sent to speak for a group| Counter| Oppose| Grievances| Complaints about unfair treatment| Appeal to| Request support from| Chapter 47| | To abrogate a law/treaty| To bring a law/treaty to an official end| To bend the law/rules| To break the law/rules in a way that is considered not to be harmful| To contravene a law| To break a law| To impeach a president/governor| To make a formal statement saying that a person in public office has committed a serious offence| To infringe someone’s rights| To prevent a person doing what they are legally allowed to do| To lodge an appeal| To make an official appeal|
To uphold/overturn a verdict| To say that a previous decision was correct/incorrect| To pervert the course of justice| To put obstacles in the way of justice being done| To squash a decision/conviction| To change a previous official decision/conviction| To set a precedent| To establish a decision which must, in English law, be taken into account in future decisions| To award/grant custody to| To give one parent or adult the main responsibility for a child especially after separation or divorce| To annul a marriage/agreement/law| To declare that it no longer exist and never existed| Discrimination| Unfair treatment on ground of sex, race or nationality| Embezzlement| Stealing money that is in your care or belongs to an organisation that you work for| Harassment| Making a person feel anxious and unhappy | Insider trading/dealing| Illegal buying and selling of shared by someone who has specialist knowledge of a company| Joyriding| Driving around for enjoyment in a car you have stolen| Money laundering| Moving money obtained illegally so that its origin cannot be traced| Perjury| Lying when under oath| Trespass| Go onto someone else’s land without permission| Civil(court)| Matters relating to, say, divorce| Indictable| i. e. hey are tried by indictment in a higher level of court| Summary (offences)| Are less serious and can be tried in lover level court| Binding | They have to abide by his or her decision| Chapter 48| | Patriotism| Loyalty to your own country| Deterrents| Ways of discouraging people from doing something because of the negative results| Outlaw| Make war illegal or impossible| 1918| End of WO I| Aerial warfare| Fighting a war using aeroplanes| 1945| End of WO II| Annihilation| Total destruction by nuclear weapons| Great powers| Most important political powers (used about the USA and the Soviet Union from the 1940s to 1990s)| Revulsion against| Feeling of total disgust towards| Causes| Movements, organisations| Gaining their ends| Achieving their aims|
To wage war| To fight a war| Hostilities| Acts of war| To besiege| To attack a place by surrounding it| To ambush| To attack unexpectedly from secret positions| A truce| An agreement during a war to stop fighting for a time| A ceasefire| Agreement between two armies or groups to stop fighting| To rout| To defeat totally| Peacekeeping troops| Neutral soldiers engaged in keeping the peace in divided society| An international observer| Outside, neutral person or body| A campaign| Planned group of military activities| An incendiary device| Bomb| Germ/biological warfare| Using germs to cause disease among enemy soldiers or crops| Chapter 49| |
Development grants| Are often given to poor regions (money to help economic development)| Sustainable development| Is the most important goal for most countries (development that does not destroy the economy/the environment, etc. )| Restrictive practices| The placing of unfair restrictions, e. g. limiting imports| Sanctions| Restrictions on what a country may import/export| Embargoes| Total prohibitions on importing/exporting certain goods| Devaluation/revaluation| Reduction/increase in value against other currencies| Slump in prices| Serious fall/collapse in prices| Fiscal measures| Measures concerning taxes, etc. | Boost the economy| Give the economy a lift| Chapter 50| |
Was broke/skint| Had no money left: broke = informal, skint = very informal| I’m rolling in it| Informal: have a lot of money| To make ends meet| To survive financially| Things are a bit tight | Informal: my finances are not good| Strapped for cash| Informal: needed cash and had very little| Bounced| The bank refused to pay it| Make… out to| What name shall I put on it| APR| Annual percentage rate of interest| Expires| Is not valid after| Credit card fraud| Illegal use of someone’s card or account| Charge card| Card where you must pay back the whole debt each month| Store card| Credit card issued by a store/shop for that store| Lump sum| Single, large payment|
Golden handshake| Large payment to someone on leaving a job| Endowment| Combined insurance and savings plan that pays out after a fixed period| Life-savings| Money saved over many years| Share portfolios| Combination of stocks and shares of different kinds| Chapter 51| | Obituaries| Descriptions of the lives of famous people who have just died| Leader/editorial| An article giving the newspaper editor’s opinion| Classified ads| Pages of advertisements in different categories| Supplements| Separate magazines included with the newspaper| Feature| An article or set of articles devoted to a particular topic| Agony columns| Sections in a paper or magazine that deal with readers’ private emotional roblems| Agony aunt| Person, typically a woman, who answers letters in the agony column| Pamphlet| Small book with a soft cover, dealing with a specific topic, often political| Leaflet| Single sheet or folded sheets of paper giving information about something| Brochure| Small, thin book like a magazine, which gives information, often about travel or a company, etc. | Prospectus| Small, thing book like a magazine, which gives information about a school, college or university, or a company| Flyer| Single sheet giving information about some event, special offer, etc. , often given out in the street| Booklet| Small thin book with a soft cover, often giving information about something| Manual| Book of detailed instruction how to use something| Chapter 52| |
Instant messaging| A kind of e-mail where both people are online at the same time| Chat rooms| An online conversation between a group of people on topics chosen by them, where you can enter or leave the ‘room’ at any time| Newsgroups| A website where people with shared interests can get news and information| e-commerce| All kinds of business done on the internet| Attachments| Files you send at the same time as e-mail messages| Browsing| Looking at different websites, with no particular goal| Surfing the web| Moving from one website or on web page to another, usually looking for something| Graphic images| Technical term for pictures, icons, diagrams, etc. | ISP| Internet Service Provider: a company that offers users access to the Internet and services such as news, e-mail, shopping sites, etc. usually for a monthly fee| Downloading| Bringing files to your computer from the internet| Uploading| Sending files from your computer to the internet or to another internet user| Spam| Unwanted advertisements and other material sent to you by e-mail from companies| Cookies| A kind of program that is sent from the internet to your computer, often without your knowledge, which can follow and record what you do, which websites you visit, etc. | Offensive material| Material such as pornography, or extreme political views, or material that encourages hate and violence against people| Bookmarked| Put it in a list of websites I can access immediately| Subscribe to| Become a member of| Screen out| Prevent from reaching you| Server| Central computer that distributes e-mail and other services to a group of users| Down| Not working|
Hacked into| Accessed it illegally| Anti-virus software| Protection against computer viruses| Bounced| Came back to me| Garbled| Just a series of meaningless letters and numbers| Chapter 53| | Innovative| Original and interesting| Unsurpassed| The best there is| Leave other cars standing| Are much better than other cars| Put/leave other candidates in the shade| Make candidates from other courses seem insignificant| Rock-bottom| Extremely low| Slashed! | Dramatically reduced| Bargains galore! | A huge number of products on sale at ridiculously low prices| Pamper yourself| Treat yourself to something luxurious| Indulge yourself| Allow yourself something enjoyable|
Sumptuous/opulent| Both adjectives mean rich and special: sumptuous collocates most strongly with words relating to food and furnishings, and opulent with words relating to lifestyle| In the lap of luxury| In a very luxurious way| Proven| Shown by research| State-of-the-art| Use the very latest technology| Stand out in the crowd| Be noticed| Tantalisingly| Temptingly| Fetching/alluring| Both adjectives mean attractive| Alliteration| Repetition of a sound| Billboards| Very large boards used for advertising| Flyers| Sheets of printed information advertising something| Trailers| Brief excerpts from a film, TV or radio programme which are used to advertise it| Sky-writing| Words written in the sky using smoke from a plane| Sandwich boards| Advertising posters hung at the back and front of a person who then walks around a busy area| Plug| Advertise| Chapter 54| |
Pressure groups| People trying to influence what other people think about a particular issue| Air their views| Express their opinions| Seek publicity| Want to reach a wider audience| Press conferences| Meetings to give information to and answer questions from the press| Press release| Give a formal announcement to the press| Sound bite| Short memorable sentence or phrase that will be repeated in news bulletins and articles| Silly season| Time of year, summer in the UK, when there is not much happening and trivial stories end up on the front page| Useful sources| Making use of people or organisations which regularly provide news| Monitoring| Regularly checking| Column inches| Space|
Put their own gloss/spin on a story| Present a story in a particular way| Muck-raking| Collecting scandal (informal and disapproving)| Arag| Informal for a newspaper and it suggests that it is not of very high quality| Gutter press| Disapproving term used about the kind of newspapers and magazines that are more interested in crime and sex than serious news| Glossy| Expensive magazine printed on good quality paper| Copy| Produced by journalist, having to be ready for a deadline| Deadline| Moment that al the articles have to be finished and ready to go to the press| Stop press| Place for very important stories| Hot off the press| A very new newspaper or story| Exclusive| A story that is only to be found in one newspaper| Scoop| Story discovered and published by one newspaper before all the others| Hit the headlines| Story breaks| Story breaks| Becomes public knowledge| Chapter 55| |
Fighting off| Trying to get rid of| Gone down with| Has caught, usually a non-serious illness| Come down with| With I we say come down not go down| I got over it| Got better/recovered| Recovering from| Getting better: uses for more serious illnesses| Suffers from| Used for more long-term problems| Died of/from| Not: he died with lung cancer| Healthcare| General expression for all of the services offered by hospitals, clinics, dentists, opticians, etc. | National insurance| Tax paid by most adults which covers the costs of healthcare for everyone| National Health Service| British name for the service that covers hostpitals, clinics, dentists, etc. family doctor/GP| doctor who looks after people’s health: GP means general practitioner| Surgery| Small centre with just two or three doctors| clinic| Large centre with several doctors and kinds of services| Prescription charge| Charge for the medication the doctor prescribes, which you pay at a pharmacy| Go private| Choose private healthcare| Diabetes| Disease where the body does not properly absorb sugar starch| Bronchitis| Inflammation in the breathin system, causing you to cough| Heart disease| Serious illness connected with the heart which can lead to a heart attack| Skin cancer/lung cancer/breast cancer| Harmful tumours in those areas| TB (tuberculosis)| Infectious disease in the lungs|
Cholera| An intestinal disease that can be caused by bad drinking water| Hepatitis| Inflammation of the liver| Typhoid| Fever, with red spots on the chast and abdomen| Heart attack/failure| When the heart fails| Chapter 56| | Hurt| Gives pain caused by an injury| Ache| To suffer a usually dull persistant pain| (the usual) aches and pains| Often used to refer in a non-serious way to minor problems| Cuts and bruises| Can refer to minor injuries| Stinging| Sudden, burning pain| Throbbing| Beating with pain| Stiff neck| Pain and difficulty in moving your neck round| Dizzy| A feeling that you are spinning round and can’t balance| Feverish| With a high temperature| Nauseous| Feeling that you want to vomit| Trembling| Shaking| Bunged up| Blocked|
Off-colour/under the weather/ out of sorts| Informal expressions that mean ‘not well, but not seriously ill’| Alternative medicine| Different from typical western systems: * acupuncture * chripractic * herbal medicine| Homeopathy| Taking tiny amounts of natural substances to treat an illness| Aromatherapy| Using aromatic oils and massage| Chapter 57| | Clotting| Forming a partly solid lump| Dehydration| Not having enough water in your body| Ulcer| Painful infected area on the skin or inside your body| Side effects| Unwanted effects in addition to the intended one| Stools| Medical term for (formal) excrement or (informal, childish) pooh| Symptom| (methaphor) Often used when talking about problems in society| Prognosis| (methaphor) How experts expect it to develop| Ailing| (methaphor) One that has a lot of problems| A rash of| (methaphor) A number of similar things happening at the same time| Fever| (methaphor) Great excitement|
Fever pitch| (methaphor) A points of very high intensity| jaundiced| (methaphor) Unenthusiastic or sceptical because of previous bad experiences| Carry the scars of/be scarred by | (methaphor) be permanently affected by a negative experience| Chapter 58| | Cholesterol| Fatty substance found in the body tissue and blood of all animals| Plaque| Unwanted substance that forms on the surface of the arteries| Offal| Organs from inside animals which are eaten as food (brains, heart, kidneys, liver)| Excreted| Got rid of from the body| Fibre| Substance in food that travels through the body as waste helping digestion| Buffer| Something (or someone) that helps protect from harm| Gut| Tubes that carry food from the stomach|
Cardiovascular| Affecting the heart and blood circulation| Diabetics| an illness in which the body cannot cope with glucose because it does not produce enough insulin| Glucose| Sugar| Insulin| Hormone that controls the level of sugar in the body| Pounds| Measure of weight 1 pound (lb) = 454 grams| Mood enhancer| Hormone that makes you feel happier| Sports and fitness metaphors:| | Scored an own goal| Made things worse rather than better| Moving the goalposts| Changing the rules| Level playing field| Fair situation| In the running| Seriously considerd| Neck and neck| Level with each other and equally likely to win| Skate around| Don’t talk directly about| Sailed through| Passed very easily| Also check: Chapter: 41 A 43 A + end B 44 A 48 C 49 A/B/C