TỪ VỰNG TOEIC unit 28

Unit 28
MEDI OID SCOP TRANS PRO PRO RE RE- DERM ENDO
Quiz 28-1 Quiz 28-2 Quiz 28-3 Quiz 28-4 Quiz 28-5 Review Quizzes 28
MEDI comes from the Latin medius, meaning “middle.” Our word medium
refers to something in a middle position. The medieval period of European
history, also known as the Middle Ages, is the period between Greek and
Roman antiquity and the “modern age.” But why people around 1620 began
to use the term “Middle Ages,” because they regarded themselves as modern,
is an interesting question.


median
In the middle; especially, having a value that is in the
middle of a series of values arranged from smallest to largest.
• The city's west side is well-off but its east side isn't, so the city's median
house prices are typical for the region.
People often use the word average without realizing that there are two
common forms of average. Suppose you want to find the average net worth
of a group of people—that is, the average value of everything they possess.
To find one type of average, called the mean, you'd simply add up the total
value of money and property of everyone in the group and divide it by the
number of people. To find the other type, called the median, you'd identify
the net worth of the person who is richer than half the people and poorer than
the other half. So if Warren Buffett drove through a tiny village in India, the
mean net worth of those in the village would suddenly rise to perhaps a
billion dollars, but their median net worth would remain close to zero. Which
figure would be more meaningful?


mediate
(1) To work with opposing sides in an argument or

dispute in order to get an agreement. (2) To achieve a settlement or
agreement by working with the opposing sides.
• He was the third person who had attempted to mediate the dispute between
the firm and its striking workers, the first two having given up in despair.
Mediation is often used in disputes between companies and labor unions, and
the government actually provides mediators for such disagreements. The
mediator tries to bring the two sides to an agreement, but doesn't have the
power to actually order such an agreement. Mediators also sometimes have a
role in international disputes; when two neighboring countries claim
exclusive fishing rights in the same ocean waters, for example, they may
invite a trained mediator to help settle the argument. Arbitration is similar to
mediation, but in arbitration both parties in a dispute agree to accept the
arbitrator's decision.


intermediary
A person who works with opposing
sides in a dispute in order to bring about an agreement.
• The divorce had been bitter, and the two now communicated only through
an old friend who they both trusted as an intermediary.
Since inter- means “between, among” (see INTER), an intermediary is
someone who moves back and forth in the middle area between two sides—a
“go-between.” Mediator (which shares the medi- root) is often a synonym,
and so is facilitator; broker and agent are often others. Thus, a real-estate
broker or agent shuttles between a house's buyer and seller, who may never
even meet each other. Financial intermediation is what happens when you put
money in a bank or investment firm, which then invests it in various
companies; if you want, you can instead cut out the intermediary and invest
the money directly in companies of your own choosing.

mediocrity

The quality of being not very good.

• He's the kind of person who can get depressed by the mediocrity of a
dinner, or even a wine.
People interested in words always point out that mediocrity doesn't mean
quite what its main root would indicate: Why doesn't it describe something
that's right in the middle of the pack, exactly what you would expect? Instead
the words mediocrity and mediocre always suggest disappointment. A
mediocre play is one you wish you hadn't wasted an evening on, and the
mediocre actor in it should probably find another profession. A person can
even be called a mediocrity, though it isn't very nice and you'd never do it to
his face.


OID comes from the Greek word for “appearance” or “form.” Since aster in
ancient Greek meant “star,” the small bodies orbiting between Mars and
Jupiter that looked like stars through primitive telescopes were called
asteroids. A factoid is a little bit of information that looks like a fact, whether
it is or not. And some people these days will attach -oid to just about
anything; you can probably figure out the meaning of nutsoid, nerdoid, and
freakazoid without much help.


rhomboid
In geometry, a shape with four sides where only the
opposite sides and angles are equal.
• The flimsy picture frame had been damaged en route, and its rectangular

shape was now a rhomboid.
Rhomboids, like triangles, may take various different shapes, but they always
look like a lopsided diamond or rectangle. As both a noun and an adjective,
rhomboid can be applied to anything with those shapes, such as certain
muscles of the upper back when viewed from behind. Whenever you hear
about rhomboid exercises, rhomboid strain, or rhomboid pain, it involves
those muscles, which attach your shoulder blades to your spine and can be
strained by carrying a heavy backpack, serving a tennis ball, or just slumping
in your chair in front of a computer all day.


deltoid

A large muscle of the shoulder.

• In Anatomy class she had learned about the deltoids, which her trainer at the
gym just called “delts.”
The fourth letter of the Greek alphabet is delta, and a capital delta is triangleshaped. In English, delta commonly means the sand deposits that form a huge
triangle at the mouth of certain large rivers. Deltoid as an adjective means
“having a triangular shape,” and botanists often use the word to describe the
shape of certain leaves. The triangular, swept-back wings seen on jet fighter
aircraft are called delta wings. Your deltoid muscles—not far from your
rhomboids—form a cap on your shoulders, and some gym trainers even treat
shoulder and deltoid as synonyms. Can you guess the general shape of
deltoids when seen from the side?


dendroid

Resembling a tree in form.

• The reef was a fantastic jungle, its dendroid corals resembling luminous,
poisonous trees in a landscape of bizarre beauty.
Dendrology is the study of trees, and those who do the studying are called
dendrologists. So dendroid describes something that “branches” in all
directions from a central “trunk” in an irregular way. The word is almost
always used by biologists, who often speak of dendroid seaweeds, dendroid
moss, and dendroid algae.


humanoid

Looking or acting like a human.

• We slowly learn that most of Dr. Bennell's friends have been replaced by
humanoid substitutes that have emerged from pods.
A humanoid robot, sometimes called an android, is a robot that resembles a
human. Accounts of the yeti, Sasquatch, and Bigfoot continue to fascinate us
mainly because of their humanoid characteristics. The idea of creating a
monstrous humanoid, such as the Jewish golem or Victor Frankenstein's
creation, has intrigued us for centuries. “Humanoid Animation” is a standard
for creating humanlike figures for video that lets the same figure be used in a
variety of 3-D games—some of which have nothing but humanoids for
characters.


Quiz 28-1
A. Fill in each blank with the correct letter:
a. mediocrity
b. humanoid

c. median
d. rhomboid
e. intermediary
f. dendroid
g. mediate
h. deltoid
1. Seen from up close, the mosses turn out to be ___, resembling a colony of
tiny trees.
2. What he dislikes most about his body is his narrow shoulders, so the first
thing he asked his trainer for was some good ___ exercises.
3. The school's wrestling team includes a couple of big guys, but the ___
weight is only about 160 pounds.
4. She'd been expecting a lot from the kids in the advanced-placement class,
so she was dismayed by the ___ of the first papers they passed in.
5. If life is ever discovered on a distant planet, few scientists expect the lifeforms to be ___, even if that's what sci-fi films always show.
6. The two kids are always fighting, and their father's main job is to ___ their
disputes.
7. The antenna takes the shape of a ___, almost a diamond.
8. These illegal arms deals usually require an ___ who knows both languages
and is trusted by both parties.
Answers


B. Indicate whether the following pairs of words have the same or
different meanings:
1. mediate / exchange
same ___ / different ___
2. deltoid / shoulder muscle
same ___ / different ___
3. intermediary / agent

same ___ / different ___
4. dendroid / treelike
same ___ / different ___
5. mediocrity / ordinariness
same ___ / different ___
6. humanoid / manmade
same ___ / different ___
7. median / so-so
same ___ / different ___
8. rhomboid / shifting shape
same ___ / different ___
Answers


SCOP, which usually appears in a suffix, comes from the Greek skopein,
meaning “to look at.” In English we have the simple noun scope, along with
some other words it sometimes stands for: telescope, microscope, periscope,
and so on. And have you ever used a stereoscope, a device your greatgrandparents probably enjoyed, which lets you look through a viewer at two
slightly different photographs of the same thing, one with each eye, to enjoy
the illusion that you're seeing it in three dimensions?


endoscope
A lighted tubular medical instrument for viewing
the interior or a hollow organ or body part that typically has one or more
channels to permit passage of surgical instruments.
• Possible uses of the endoscope outside of medicine soon became apparent,
and soon mechanics were using specially designed endoscopes to view the
insides of jet engines.
The Greek prefix endo- means “within, inside,” so around 1860 an early

crude instrument for looking deep inside the body was named the endoscope.
But modern endoscopy required the invention of the electric lightbulb and
then fiber-optic cable, so the first modern endoscopes date only to 1967. An
endoscope may be inserted through a natural passageway (for example,
through the nose or down the esophagus) or through a tiny cut in the skin. A
tiny camera with a light at the end of the cable sends back images onto a
screen, and the surgeon uses special instruments that work through a tube
alongside the cable. There are now specialized types of endoscopes for every
part of the body, where they can take tissue samples, cut out small growths,
or remove foreign objects.


arthroscopic
Relating to a fiber-optic instrument that is
inserted through an incision near a joint to examine the joint's interior.
• The day he scheduled the fourth arthroscopic operation on his knee was the
day he decided to hang up his football cleats.
In Greek, arthron means “joint.” Arthritis is a condition of swollen and
painful joints, and arthropods are animals (including insects, arachnids, and
crustaceans) that have a segmented body and jointed limbs. Arthroscopic
surgery, or arthroscopy, has revolutionized the treatment of joint injuries. It's
performed with an arthroscope, a specialized type of endoscope (see above).
A tiny camera and a light are inserted through a small cut in the skin, and
through another cut nearby a tiny surgical instrument, controlled through its
own cable, is inserted. The surgeon then performs the operation, guided by
the images sent back via the fiber-optic cable. Most patients walk out of the
hospital on crutches the same day, though full recovery may take a couple of
months.

laparoscopy
Examination of the interior of the
abdomen using a fiber-optic instrument inserted through a cut in the
abdomen's wall.
• The initial laparoscopy involves inserting the cable through a tiny cut and
inflating the internal area with carbon dioxide so that a good-sized area will
become visible.
Since laparo- means “wall of the abdomen,” a laparoscope is an endoscope
designed especially to examine the abdomen. Common laparoscopic
surgeries include removal of the gallbladder, appendix, or kidney, and
removal of tumors from abdominal organs. Like the other endoscopic
surgeries, laparoscopy, as compared to traditional surgery, reduces risk of
bleeding, pain following the operation, patient recovery time, and length of
hospital stays.


oscilloscope
An instrument that shows visual images of
changing electrical current on a screen.
• An oscilloscope next to the bed was monitoring her vital signs, but
otherwise it was hard for a visitor to be sure she was even alive.
In Latin oscillare means “to swing,” and our word oscillation usually means
“vibration” or “variation,” especially in a changing flow of electricity. The
oscilloscope basically draws a graph of an electrical signal. Since all kinds of
physical phenomena can be converted into an electric voltage, oscilloscopes
can be used to measure such things as sound, light, and heat. So an
oscilloscope can analyze how one clarinet's sound is different from another's,
or how one bulb's light differs from another's. Auto mechanics use
oscilloscopes to measure engine vibrations; doctors use them to measure
brain waves. Audio technicians use oscilloscopes to diagnose problems in

audio equipment; TV and radio technicians use them to diagnose TV and
radio problems. But oscilloscopes are most essential today to high-tech
electronics experimentation.


TRANS comes from Latin to indicate movement “through, across, or
beyond” something. Translation carries a writer's meaning from one
language to another. A television signal is sent or transmitted through the air
(or a cable) to your set. When making your way through a city on public
transportation, you may have to transfer from one bus or subway to another.


transient
(1) Not lasting long; short-lived. (2) Passing
through a place and staying only briefly.
• It's a college town, so much of its population is transient.
A transient mood is one that passes quickly. A brief stopover in a town on
your way to somewhere else is a transient visit. A summer job on a farm is
transient work, lasting only as long as the growing season. You may
occasionally experience a transient episode of dizziness or weakness, which
vanishes without a trace. As a noun, transient means a person who passes
through a place, staying only briefly. The hoboes and tramps of earlier years
were some of our most colorful transients, known for hopping freight trains,
panhandling on the street, and stealing homemade pies cooling on the
windowsill.


transfiguration
a glorifying spiritual change.

A change in form or appearance;

• Being in love caused a complete transfiguration of her personality.
The Gospels relate that one day Jesus took three disciples up a mountain,
where they witnessed his transfiguration into divine form: his face shone like
the sun, his garments became brilliantly white, and a voice from heaven
proclaimed that this was the son of God. Transfiguration was first used in
English as the name of this biblical event, and the Feast of the
Transfiguration remains the name of a holy day. So the word has always kept
a somewhat religious—and almost always positive—tone. A face may be
transfigured by joy, and an “ugly duckling” may be slowly transfigured into a
radiant beauty. And as Harry Potter fans know, transfiguration is a subject
long taught at the Hogwarts School by Minerva McGonagall.


transponder
after receiving such a signal.

A radio or radar set that emits a radio signal

• When a patient is admitted to an emergency room, an implanted transponder
can relay important data about his or her medical history.
This word was coined during World War II by simply joining pieces of the
words transmitter and responder. Transponders are basic to modern aviation
and communications satellites, and they're finding new uses in fields such as
medicine as well. But they're now also part of everyday life. The “E-ZPass”
that lets you drive right through turnpike tollbooths is a transponder, and the
car you're driving may not even start unless it recognizes the signal from your
personal key's transponder. In a big crowded foot race, you may carry a tiny
transponder on your shoe that records when you cross both the starting line

and the finish line.


transcendent
(1) Exceeding or rising above usual limits;
supreme. (2) Beyond comprehension; beyond ordinary experience or material
existence.
• Despite the chaos around her she remained calm, with a transcendent smile
on her face.
The Latin verb scandere means “to climb,” so transcend has the basic
meaning of climbing so high that you cross some boundary. A transcendent
experience is one that takes you out of yourself and convinces you of a larger
life or existence; in this sense, it means something close to “spiritual.” The
American writers and thinkers known as the Transcendentalists, including
Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, believed in the unity of all
creation, the basic goodness of humankind, and the superiority of spiritual
vision over mere logic. When we speak of the transcendent importance of an
issue such as climate change, we may mean that everything else on earth
actually depends on it.


Quiz 28-2
A. Indicate whether the following pairs of words have the same or
different meanings:
1. transient / temporary
same ___ / different ___
2. transcendent / sublime
same ___ / different ___
3. arthroscopic / insect-viewing
same ___ / different ___

4. oscilloscope / underwater viewer
same ___ / different ___
5. transfiguration / transformation
same ___ / different ___
6. endoscope / electron microscope
same ___ / different ___
7. transponder / radio signaler
same ___ / different ___
8. laparoscopy / abdomen examination
same ___ / different ___
Answers


B. Fill in each blank with the correct letter:
a. transcendent
b. oscilloscope
c. transient
d. arthroscopic
e. transponder
f. laparoscopy
g. transfiguration
h. endoscope
1. The mechanic always lets her watch the screen of the ___ as he tries to
diagnose the sources of her engine's problems.
2. Painters are well aware of how ___ the color effects of the sunset are, and
how the sky often looks completely different after five minutes.
3. With ___ surgery, knee operations now take only an hour or so, and the
patient leaves the office on crutches soon afterward.
4. The community is surrounded by a high wall, and the gate opens only
when signaled by a resident's ___.

5. Today there's a specialized type of ___ for looking inside practically every
part of the body.
6. On the rare occasions when he conducts nowadays, the critics rave about
his ___ performances of the great Mahler symphonies.
7. The ___ revealed a small stomach tumor, which appeared not to be
cancerous.
8. Painters have tried to depict Jesus' ___ on the mountaintop, while realizing
that it's probably impossible to do with mere paint.
Answers


PRO is an important prefix, with a couple of quite different broad meanings.
In this section, we'll look at words in which pro- has the basic meaning “for”
or “favoring.” Everyone knows words like pro-democracy and pro-American,
but other pro- words may not be quite so self-explanatory.