TỪ VỰNG TOEIC unit 27

Unit 27
NANO SUPER DE NUL/NULL ARM SURG STRAT LATER TOM IATR
Quiz 27-1 Quiz 27-2 Quiz 27-3 Quiz 27-4 Quiz 27-5 Review Quizzes 27
NANO comes from the Greek nanos, meaning “dwarf.” For a prefix meaning
“small,” English got by for centuries with the Greek micro-, and later minicame to be used widely as well. But only recently, as a result of advances in
scientific knowledge and technology, has there been a need for a prefix
meaning “extremely small”—a need that's been filled by nano-, which today
is being attached to all kinds of words, sometimes not very seriously
(nanoskirt, nano-brained, etc.).


nanotechnology
The science of manipulating
materials on an atomic or molecular scale, especially to build microscopic
devices such as robots.
• Nanotechnology is now seen as contributing to numerous environmental
solutions, from cleaning up hazardous waste sites to producing strong but
lightweight materials for auto bodies.
Nanotechnology, or nanotech for short, deals with matter at a level that most
of us find hard to imagine, since it involves objects with dimensions of 100
billionths of a meter (1/800th of the thickness of a human hair) or less. The
chemical and physical properties of materials often change greatly at this
scale. Nanotechnology is already being used in automobile tires, land-mine
detectors, and computer disk drives. Nanomedicine is a particularly exciting
field: Imagine particles the size of a blood cell that could be released into the
bloodstream to form into tiny robots and attack cancer cells, or “machines”
the size of a molecule that could actually repair the damaged interiors of
individual cells.


nanosecond

One billionth of a second.

• When he finally asked if she would marry him, it took her about a
nanosecond to say yes.
The nonserious use of nanosecond is probably much more common than the
proper technical use. In measurement terms such as nanosecond, nanogram,
and nanometer, nano- means “billionth”; in other kinds of words, its meaning
isn't quite so precise. In computers, the speed of reading and writing to
random access memory (RAM) is measured in nanoseconds. By comparison,
the speed of reading or writing to a hard drive or a CD-ROM player, or for
information to travel over the Internet, is measured in milliseconds
(thousandths of a second), which are a million times longer than
nanoseconds.


nanostructure
something of molecular dimensions.

An arrangement, structure, or part of

• In the 1990s the physics department, which had been doing extensive
research on microstructures, began to get deeply involved in nanostructures,
including nanofoam, nanoflakes, and nanofibers.
Two important types of nanostructure are nanocrystals (tiny crystals, often of
semiconducting material) and nanotubes (tiny tubes, usually of pure carbon).
Nanocrystals made from semiconductors change color depending on their
size, and are being used for such tasks as detecting viruses in living cells.
Nanotubes can conduct enormous amounts of electrical current, far more than
metal wires. They are the basic material of tiny “paper” batteries, which can

be rolled, folded, or cut while still producing power. Nanotubes are also now
being used in materials for lightweight tennis rackets and golf clubs, and may
soon enable the manufacture of TV screens no thicker than a film.


nanoparticle
billionths of a meter.

A tiny particle whose size is measured in

• Nanoparticles of iron are being used to clean up soil pollution, helping
break down molecules of dangerous substances into simple compounds.
Nanoparticles of a material usually have very different qualities from those
that the material has at its ordinary scale, which is one reason why there's
such excitement about the possibilities for how they might be used in future
technologies. Many uses have already been developed. Aluminum
nanoparticles added to rocket fuel can make the fuel burn twice as fast and
release much more energy. Silicon nanoparticles are increasing the energy
efficiency of solar cells by allowing the energy from ultraviolet light to be
captured for the first time. Other nanoparticles are now helping prevent rust
in metals, produce stronger batteries, enhance the diagnosis of cancer, and
improve the filtering of water, and the number of other applications is
growing fast.


SUPER, a Latin prefix meaning “over, higher, more than,” has become one
of the most familiar prefixes in English, one of those prefixes that we use to
create new words all the time: supermodel, superpowerful, superjock,
supersize, supersweet—the list goes on and on. This all seems to have started
in 1903 when the playwright G. B. Shaw translated the German word

Übermensch, Nietzsche's famous term for the person who rises to heroic
heights through discipline and creative power, in the title of his play Man and
Superman. The comic-book character with the same name wouldn't make his
appearance for another 30 years.


superfluous

Beyond what is needed; extra.

• My Freshman Comp professor removes all superfluous words from our
essays, and usually ends up shortening mine by about 40 percent.
Since the Latin fluere means “to flow” (see FLU), you can think of
superfluous as describing a river with so much water that it's overflowing its
banks. The word is used in all kinds of contexts. Superfluous characters in
computer code may keep it from working. Most of the buttons on a remote
control may strike us as superfluous, since we never use them. When a
situation “speaks for itself,” any comment may be superfluous. And
whenever you yourself are feeling superfluous, as in a “Two's company,
three's a crowd” situation, it's probably time to leave.


insuperable

Incapable of being solved or overcome.

• In learning to speak again after suffering a massive stroke, he had overcome
what seemed like insuperable odds.
From its roots, the literal meaning of insuperable would be something like
“un-get-overable”; insurmountable is a fairly exact synonym. Insuperable is

used to describe obstacles, difficulties, barriers, obstructions, problems, and
objections. Americans love stories of people who succeed in spite of terrible
handicaps, whether as a result of physical limitations, prejudice, poverty, or
lack of opportunity; such rugged spirits may be called indomitable,
“incapable of being subdued.”


supersede
newer or more useful.

To take the place of; to replace with something

• The notorious decision in the Dred Scott case was superseded by the 14th
Amendment to the Constitution, which stated that anyone born in the U.S.
had all the rights of a citizen.
The Latin word supersedere means “sit on top of”—which is one way of
taking someone else's place. Your boss may send around a memo that
supersedes the memo she sent the day before (the one with all the errors in
it). Every time the first-class postage rate goes up, the new stamps supersede
the old ones. In science, a new theory often supersedes an older one; for
example, the theory that a characteristic you acquire during your lifetime can
be passed on biologically to your children (called Lamarckism) was
superseded by Darwin's theory of evolution. Watch out when spelling this
word; supersede is practically the only English word that ends in -sede.


superlative

Supreme, excellent.

• The new restaurant turned out to be an elegant place, and we all agreed that
the food and wine were superlative.
Superlative may sound high-flown when compared with a synonym like
outstanding, but if your next paper comes back from your teacher with the
comment “Superlative work!” at the top you probably won't complain. Since
superlative means “best, greatest,” it makes sense that superlative is also a
term used in grammar for the highest degree of comparison. So for the
adjective simple, for example, the comparative form is simpler and the
superlative form is simplest; and for the adverb boldly, the comparative form
is more boldly and the superlative is most boldly.


Quiz 27-1
A. Indicate whether the following pairs of terms have the same or
different meanings:
1. superfluous / enormous
same ___ / different ___
2. nanotechnology / computer science
same ___ / different ___
3. insuperable / impossible
same ___ / different ___
4. nanosecond / million seconds
same ___ / different ___
5. supersede / replace
same ___ / different ___
6. nanoparticle / thousand particles
same ___ / different ___
7. superlative / outstanding
same ___ / different ___
8. nanostructure / enclosed mall

same ___ / different ___
Answers


B. Fill in each blank with the correct letter:
a. nanoparticle
b. superlative
c. superfluous
d. nanotechnology
e. supersede
f. nanostructure
g. insuperable
h. nanosecond
1. Again and again she had overcome what seemed to be ___ odds.
2. Many scientists believe that ___ is the most exciting field in the physical
sciences today, with possible uses in almost every aspect of life.
3. A ___ is something whose size is measured in billionths of a meter.
4. A lot of the language in these student essays is ___, since it just repeats
things that have already been said in different words.
5. Each picture illustrates a different ___ (a nanotube, a nanorod, a nanowire,
etc.), each of which has its own set of important uses.
6. He raced down the hall and was back in about a ___ with the good news.
7. This new set of regulations will ___ the ones we've been working under for
the last five years.
8. The movie had received ___ reviews, and we were looking forward to
seeing it.
Answers


DE in Latin means “down, away.” So a descent is a downward slope or

climb, and a decline is a downward slide (of health, income, etc.). To devalue
something is to take value away from it. And you might describe a depressed
friend as “down.”


debase

To lower the value or reputation of someone or something.

• Every year she complains about how Christmas has been debased by
commercialism.
Debase is often used to talk about someone's lowered status or character.
People are constantly blustering about the debased tastes of the ordinary
American, and especially the debased music of America's youth. A
commentator might observe that both candidates had managed to debase
themselves by the end of a political campaign. Debase has a special meaning
in economics: From time to time, governments find that they need to quietly
debase their countries' currency by reducing the percentage of valuable metal
in its coins; if they don't, the metal may become more valuable than the coin
and people will begin melting the coins down and reselling the metal.


defamation
libel or slander.

The harming of someone's reputation by

• In a famous case in 1735, the newspaper publisher J. P. Zenger was found
not guilty of defamation because everything he had printed about the plaintiff
was true.

Harming someone's reputation in speech with falsehoods is known as slander,
and doing the same thing in writing is known as libel (which sometimes
includes speech as well). Any ordinary citizen who can claim to have
suffered harm as a result of such defamation may sue. So why aren't
politicians suing all the time? Because an exception is made for “public
persons” (a category that includes most other celebrities as well), who must
also prove that any such statement was made with “reckless disregard for the
truth.” And although, even by that standard, public persons are defamed all
the time, most of them have decided that it's better to just grin and bear it.


degenerative
Causing the body or part of the body to
become weaker or less able to function as time passes.
• Alzheimer's is a degenerative disease of the brain, marked by the decline of
mental and physical abilities.
Degenerative diseases—including cancer, glaucoma, Parkinson's, diabetes,
arthritis, and leprosy—are usually contrasted with infectious diseases
(diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa). However, many
infectious diseases (Lyme disease, AIDS, etc.) can cause a body or body part
to degenerate, and infective organisms play a part in some degenerative
diseases. Some degenerative diseases can be controlled; some can even be
cured. But no one has yet discovered a way to reverse such degenerative
conditions as multiple sclerosis, emphysema, or Alzheimer's.


dejection

Sadness, depression, or lowness of spirits.

• Her friends were puzzled by her frequent periods of dejection, which
seemed to occur with no obvious cause.
Based partly on the Latin iacere, “to throw” (see JECT), dejection means
literally “cast down”—that is, “downcast.” Like melancholy, gloom, and even
sadness, dejection seems to have been declining in use for many years;
instead, we now seem to prefer depression (whose roots mean basically “a
pressing down”). Since depression is also the word used by doctors, lots of
people now assume that anyone depressed should be taking an
antidepressant; if we went back to dejected and dejection, we might not be so
quick to make that assumption.


NUL/NULL comes from the Latin word nullus, “none,” which is itself a
combination of ne- (“not”) and ullus (“any”). Have you ever noticed how
many of our negative words start with n-? Think of no, not, never, nothing,
none, no one, nowhere, and the hundreds of non- words—just about all of
which go back to the same Greek root.


null

(1) Having no legal power; invalid. (2) Having no elements.

• If we can prove that you signed the contract because you were being
physically threatened, it will automatically be declared null.
Null is used mostly by lawyers, mathematicians, and computer programmers.
In law, it usually occurs in the phrase “null and void” (which means about the
same thing as null itself). When one of the parties that has signed a contract
doesn't hold up his or her part of the deal—for example, if a contract states
that a supplier must supply a million screws of a certain quality of steel, and

it turns out the screws supplied were of inferior steel—the other company can
refuse to pay anything, claiming the contract is null and void. In mathematics,
null means “lacking any elements”; a null set is a set of figures that's actually
empty. In computer programming, a null is a character that doesn't actually
show up as a character, but instead may just be required to show that a series
of digits or characters is finished.


nullity

(1) Nothingness. (2) A mere nothing.

• He couldn't believe she'd actually left him for that nullity—a guy with no
style, no drive, no personality at all.
Intellectuals may speak of a book or a film as a nullity, claiming it possesses
nothing original enough to justify its existence. Legal scholars also use the
word; a law passed by a legislature may be called a nullity if, for example, it's
so obviously unconstitutional that it's going to be shot down by the courts in
no time. And if you're in an unkind mood, you're also free to call a person a
nullity, if you're not instead calling him a nobody, a nonentity, or a zero.


nullify
(1) To cancel legally. (2) To cause something to lose its
value or to have no effect.
• In soccer or water polo, a penalty can nullify a goal that has just been made.
A legislature may nullify a ban, a law, or a tax by simply passing a new law.
Election results can be nullified if a court finds the voting process was
improper, and a court ruling can be nullified by a higher court. Even the
Supreme Court itself may have its decisions nullified by new laws passed by

the Congress—though not if a decision is based on the Constitution. In the
years leading up to the American Civil War, Southern states claimed the right
to nullify any federal law (such as antislavery laws) that they believed to be
unconstitutional, leading to the Nullification Crisis of 1832. Annul is a close
synonym of nullify (with the same root), as are abrogate and invalidate.


annulment
valid.

An official statement that something is no longer

• He requested an annulment of the marriage from the Church, but his wife
claimed that, after 15 years and two children, the idea of annulment was
ridiculous.
Annulment usually applies to marriage. In some states an annulment may be
carried out by a court (“judicial annulment”), but annulment is generally
practiced by a church (“ecclesiastic annulment”), and principally the Roman
Catholic Church, which traditionally hasn't permitted divorce. The usual
acceptable reason for annulment is a “failure to consummate” the marriage by
having children. Unlike a marriage that ends in divorce, an annulled marriage
is considered never to have existed. Other things can be annulled as well,
including a contract (if one party fails to comply with its terms) or an election
(if it wasn't carried out properly).


Quiz 27-2
A. Fill in each blank with the correct letter:
a. null
b. nullify

c. dejection
d. degenerative
e. annulment
f. nullity
g. defamation
h. debase
1. She's bringing suit against her former husband for ___, claiming that
statements he had made to a reporter had caused her to lose her job.
2. If the judge's decision goes against the government, it will ___ a 10-yearold state law.
3. Her lawyer is going to argue that the first trial was a ___ because some of
the jurors missed whole days of testimony.
4. Dogs often suffer from ___ joint diseases that get worse year by year.
5. His ___ after getting turned down by his top two colleges was so deep that
he didn't smile for weeks.
6. We're claiming the contract is ___ and void because the other company
failed to do what it had agreed to.
7. Her friends all told her that a star like her would just ___ herself by
appearing in TV ads.
8. After five years and no children, she asked the church for an ___ of the
marriage.
Answers


B. Match the definition on the left to the correct word on the right:
1. undo
a. annulment
2. weakening b. defamation
3. nothingness c. nullity
4. depression d. debase
5. invalid

e. degenerative
6. cancellation f. nullify
7. slander
g. dejection
8. disgrace
h. null
Answers


ARM comes from the Latin arma, meaning “weapons, tools.” The root is
seen in such English words as arms (i.e., weapons), armed, and army. It has
nothing to do with the limb that starts at your shoulder; the name for that kind
of arm comes from the Latin word meaning “shoulder.”