Vocabulary for reading (7 10)

VOCABULARY FOR READING

(CAM 7-CAM 10)

CAM 7

TEST 1
Passage 1: Let’s go Bats
Favour favour something to provide suitable conditions for a particular person,
group, etc.
 The warm climate favours many types of tropical plants.
Ancestry (n) /ˈænsestri/: the family or the group of people that you come from
Ancestor (n): a person in your family who lived a long time ago
SYNONYM forebear
Substantial (a): large in amount, value or importance
SYNONYM considerable
Obstruct (v): obstruct something to block a road, an entrance, a passage, etc. so
that somebody/something cannot get through, see past, etc.
obstruct somebody/something to prevent somebody/something from doing
something or making progress, especially when this is done deliberately

Facial vision: An awareness of obstacles without vision
Adapt (v): to change something in order to make it suitable for a new use or
situation
SYNONYM modify

 adapt something for something The gym has been adapted for use by
visually impaired students.

Comparable (a): similar to somebody/something else and able to be compared

Strike someone’s dumb with admiration

Coin (v): coin something to invent a new word or phrase that other people then
begin to use

Passage 2: Making every drop count

Manipulate (v): to control, use or change something with skill

Aqueduct (n) /ˈækwɪdʌkt/: a structure for carrying water, usually one built like a

bridge across a valley or low ground

Sewer (n) /ˈsuːə(r)/: an underground pipe that is used to carry sewage away from
houses, factories, etc.

Monumental (a): very important and having a great influence, especially as the
result of years of work / very large, good, bad, stupid, etc. / appearing in or serving
as a monument

Irrigation (n): the practice of supplying water to an area of land through pipes or
channels so that crops will grow

At the outset of

Diminish (v): to become smaller, weaker, etc.; to make something become
smaller, weaker, etc./ to make somebody/something seem less important than they
really are

SYNONYM decrease

Quadruple (v): to become four times bigger; to make something four times
bigger

Passage 3: Educating psyche

Psyche (n): the mind; your deepest feelings and attitudes

Mannerism (n): a particular habit or way of speaking or behaving that somebody
has but is not aware of

Hypnosis (n): an unconscious state in which somebody can still see and hear and
can be influenced to follow commands or answer questions

 under hypnosis She only remembered details of the accident under
hypnosis.

dispense with somebody/something to stop using somebody/something because
you no longer need them or it

SYNONYM do away with

Accredited (a) /əˈkredɪtɪd/: (of a person) officially recognized as something; with
official permission to be something/officially approved as being of an accepted
quality or standard

Notoriety (n) /ˌnəʊtəˈraɪəti/: the state of being famous for being bad in some way

Emulate (v) /ˈemjuleɪt/: to try to do something as well as somebody else because
you admire them

Spectacular (a): very impressive

SYNONYM breathtaking

Passage 3: Why pagodas don’t fall down

Unscathed (a) /ʌnˈskeɪðd/: not hurt

SYNONYM unharmed

Batter (v): to hit somebody/something hard many times, especially in a way that
causes serious damage

Flex (v): flex (something) to bend, move or stretch an arm or a leg, or pull a
muscle tight, especially in order to prepare for a physical activity

 He stood on the side of the pool flexing his muscles.

Craftsman (n): a person with a special skill, especially one who makes beautiful
things by hand
Consecutive (a): following one after another in a continuous series

TEST 2

Passage 2: The true Cost of food
collateral damage /kəˌlætərəl ˈdæmɪdʒ/: deaths of or injury to civilians (= people
not in the armed forces) or damage to buildings that are not connected to the
military during a war. People say ‘collateral damage’ to avoid saying ‘innocent
people being killed’

enervation (n) /ˌenəˈveɪʃn/: the feeling of being weak and tired
onward (a): continuing or moving forward
march (n): the march of something the steady development or forward
movement of something
staggering (a): so great, shocking or surprising that it is difficult to believe
SYNONYM astounding
Arable (a): connected with growing crops such as wheat

arable land/fields (= used or suitable for growing crops)
conservative (a): (of an estimate) lower than what is probably the real amount or
number
break away (from somebody/something)
to escape suddenly from somebody who is holding you or keeping you prisoner

o The prisoner broke away from his guards.
to leave a political party, state, etc., especially to form a new one

 The people of the province wished to break away and form a new state.
to move away from a crowd or group, especially in a race

 She broke away from the pack and opened up a two-second lead.

viable (a) that can be done; that will be successful / (biology) capable of
developing and surviving independently
SYNONYM feasible

Passage 3: Makete Integrated Rural Transport Project
Arduous (a) /ˈɑːdʒuəs/: involving a lot of effort and energy, especially over a
period of time
Institutionalization (n): the act of making something become established as part

of the normal systems, practices, etc. of an organization, society or culture
Scrutiny (n) /ˈskruːtəni/: careful and complete examination
SYNONYM inspection

TEST 3
Passage 1: Ant Intelligence
come in for something: to receive something, especially something unpleasant
 The government's economic policies have come in for a lot of criticism.
Repel (v): repel somebody/something (formal) to successfully fight somebody
who is attacking you, your country, etc. and drive them away
 to repel an attack/invasion/invader

Chant (n): words or phrases that a group of people shout or sing again and again /
a religious song or prayer or a way of singing, using only a few notes that are
repeated many times

Jingle (n): a short song or tune that is easy to remember and is used in advertising

Martial (a): connected with fighting or war

Ceaselessly (adv): without ever stopping

 He worked ceaselessly for charity.

Secrete (v) /sɪˈkriːt/: secrete something (of part of the body or a plant) to produce
a liquid substance

 Insulin is secreted by the pancreas.
 More saliva is secreted while chewing.

Propagate (v) /ˈprɒpəɡeɪt/: to produce new plants from a parent plant
Outstrip (v): outstrip something to become larger, more important, etc. than
somebody/something

 Demand is outstripping supply.

outstrip something to be faster, better or more successful than somebody you are
competing against
SYNONYM surpass
Forage (v): forage (for something) (of a person or an animal) to search widely for
food

 The female only leaves the young when she forages for food.

Hail (v): to describe somebody/something as being very good or special,
especially in newspapers, etc

Albeit /ˌɔːlˈbiːɪt/: although

 He finally agreed, albeit reluctantly, to help us.

Elaborate (a): very complicated and detailed; carefully prepared and organized

 elaborate designs

Passage 2: Population movements and genetics

Sound (a): sensible; that you can rely on and that will probably give good results /
good, detailed and complete / in good condition; not damaged, hurt, etc./ deep and
peaceful / good and accurate, but not excellent / severe.

Fluid (n): a liquid; a substance that can flow
Variant (n): variant (of/on something) a thing that is a slightly different form or
type of something else

 This game is a variant of baseball.

Interbreed (v): interbreed (something) (with something) if animals from
different species interbreed, or somebody interbreeds them, they produce young
together.
Credence (n) /ˈkriːdns/: a quality that an idea or a story has that makes you believe
it is true

 Historical evidence lends credence to his theory.

Belief in something as true

 Alternative medicine has been gaining credence (= becoming more widely
accepted) recently.

Passage 3
Heritage (n) /ˈherɪtɪdʒ/: the history, traditions, buildings and objects that a country
or society has had for many years and that are considered an important part of its
character
Woodland (n): an area of land that is covered with trees

Confine (v): to keep somebody/something inside the limits of a particular activity,
subject, area, etc.
SYNONYM restrict

 be confined to (doing) something The work will not be confined to the
Glasgow area.

Condemn (v): to force somebody to accept a difficult or unpleasant
situationSYNONYM doom

 be condemned to something He was condemned to a life of hardship.

Surveillance (n) /sɜːˈveɪləns/: the act of carefully watching a person suspected of a
crime or a place where a crime may be committed
SYNONYM observation

 The police are keeping the suspects under constant surveillance.
 surveillance cameras/equipment

Cumulative (a) /ˈkjuːmjələtɪv/: having a result that increases in strength or
importance each time more of something is added

 the cumulative effect of human activity on the world environment

Accentuate (v) /əkˈsentʃueɪt/: accentuate something to emphasize something or
make it easier to notice

 Her short hair accentuated her huge eyes.

TEST 4
Passage 1: Pulling strings to build pyramids
Peruse (v) /pəˈruːz/: to read something, especially in a careful way
Drag (v): to pull somebody/something along with effort and difficulty
Harness something to control and use the force or strength of something to

produce power or to achieve something

 attempts to harness the sun’s rays as a source of energy
 We must harness the skill and creativity of our workforce.

Passage 2: Endless Harvest
Crash (n): a sudden serious fall in the price or value of something; the occasion
when a business, etc. Fails
SYNONYM collapse

 Some economists have been predicting another crash for years.
Subsistence (n): the state of having just enough money or food to stay alive

 Many families are living below the level of subsistence.
Passage 3: Effects of noise

Transient (a): continuing for only a short time
SYNONYM fleeting, temporary

 the transient nature of speech

CAM 8

TEST 1
Passage 1: A Chronicle of Timekeeping
Chronicle (n): a written record of events in the order in which they happened

 Her latest novel is a chronicle of life in a Devon village.
Advent (n): the advent of something/somebody the coming of an important
event, person, invention, etc.

wax and wane
to increase then decrease in strength, importance, etc. over a period of time
Ex: Public interest in the issue has waxed and waned over the years.

Conspicuous (a) /kənˈspɪkjuəs/: easy to see or notice; likely to attract attention
Regulate (v): to control something by means of rules / to control the speed,
pressure, temperature, etc. in a machine or system

Passage 2: Air traffic control in the USA
Oversee (v): oversee somebody/something to watch somebody/something and
make sure that a job or an activity is done correctly
SYNONYM supervise
Rudimentary (a) /ˌruːdɪˈmentri/: dealing with only the most basic matters or
ideas
SYNONYM basic

 They were given only rudimentary training in the job.
 His understanding of the language is very rudimentary.
Vicinity (n) /vəˈsɪnəti/: the area around a particular place

 in the vicinity (of something) Crowds gathered in the vicinity of Trafalgar
Square.

Metropolitan (a): connected with a large or capital city

 the New York metropolitan area
Blanket (n): to cover something completely with a thick layer

 The ground was soon blanketed with snow.

Rigorous (a): done carefully and with a lot of attention to detail
SYNONYM thorough

 a rigorous analysis
Demanding that particular rules, processes, etc. are strictly followed

SYNONYM strict

Passage 3: Telepathy

Telepathy (n) /təˈlepəθi/i/: the direct communication of thoughts or feelings from
one person to another without using speech, writing, or any other normal method.

Compelling (a): that makes you pay attention to it because it is so interesting and
exciting / so strong that you cannot resist it / that makes you think it is true

Concur (v): to agree

Rule somebody/something out (as something) to state that something is not
possible or that somebody/something is not suitableSYNONYM exclude

 Police have not ruled out the possibility that the man was murdered.

to prevent somebody from doing something; to prevent something from happening

 His age effectively ruled him out as a possible candidate.

TEST 2

Passage 1: Sheet glass manufacture: the float process

Molten (a): (of metal, rock or glass) heated to a very high temperature so that it
becomes liquid

 molten lead
 a stream of molten lava

Unblemished (a): not spoiled, damaged or marked in any way

 He had an unblemished reputation.

Passage 2: The little ice age

embark on/upon something;

1. (formal) to start to do something new or difficult
o She is about to embark on a diplomatic career.

o Remember these basic rules before embarking upon major home
improvements.

at the mercy of somebody/something

1. not able to stop somebody/something harming you because they have power
or control over you
o I'm not going to put myself at the mercy of the bank.
o We were at the mercy of the weather.

See-saw (n): a situation in which things keep changing from one state to another
and back again

Amplify (v): amplify something to increase something in strength, especially
sound

 to amplify a guitar/an electric current/a signal

to add details to a story, statement, etc.

 amplify something You may need to amplify this point.

Proliferate (v): to increase rapidly in number or amount
SYNONYM multiply

 Books and articles on the subject have proliferated over the last year.

Passage 3: The meaning and power of smell

Feeble (a): very weak/ not effective; not showing energy or effort

Elusive (a): difficult to find, define or achieve

 Eric, as elusive as ever, was nowhere to be found.
 the elusive concept of ‘literature’
 A solution to the problem of toxic waste is proving elusive.

TEST 3

Passage 1: Striking back at Lightning with Lasers

Inflict (v): to make somebody/something suffer something unpleasant

 inflict something on/upon somebody/something They inflicted a
humiliating defeat on the home team.

Hail (n): small balls of ice that fall like rain

Conductor (n): a substance that allows electricity or heat to pass along it or
through it

 Wood is a poor conductor.

Passage 2: The Nature of Genius

Begetter (n): a person who creates something

Ambivalent (a): ambivalent (about/towards somebody/something) having or
showing both positive and negative feelings about somebody/something

Prodigy (n): a young person whose intelligence or skill is unusually good for their
age

 a child/an infant prodigy

Mist : The origins of the story are lost in the mists of time (= forgotten because it
happened such a long time ago).

Vantage point

a position from which you watch something

 The cafe was a good vantage point for watching the world go by.

a point in time or a situation from which you consider something, especially the
past

 From the vantage point of the present, the war seems to have achieved
nothing.

Mundane (a) /mʌnˈdeɪn/:not interesting or exciting
SYNONYM dull, ordinary

 a mundane task/job
mediocre (a) /ˌmiːdiˈəʊkə(r)/: not very good; of only average standard

 a mediocre musician/talent/performance
Manifestation (n): an event, action or thing that is a sign that something exists or
is happening; the act of appearing as a sign that something exists or is happening

 The riots are a clear manifestation of the people's discontent.
Hard-won (a): that you only get after fighting or working hard for it

 She was not going to give up her hard-won freedom so easily.
Outrageous (a) /aʊtˈreɪdʒəs/: offensive and unacceptable
SYNONYM scandalous
very unusual and intended to shock people slightly

 She says the most outrageous things sometimes.
Supremacy (n) /suˈpreməsi/: a position in which you have more power, authority
or status than anyone else

 the battle for supremacy in the region
unpalatable (a): unpleasant and not easy to accept
SYNONYM distasteful
not pleasant to taste

 unpalatable food

integrity (n) /ɪnˈteɡrəti/: the quality of being honest and having strong moral
principles

Passage 3: How does the biological clock tick?

Inexorable (a) /ɪnˈeksərəbl/: (of a process) that cannot be stopped or
changedSYNONYM relentless

 the inexorable rise of crime

Equilibrium (n) /ˌiːkwɪˈlɪbriəm/: a state of balance, especially between different
forces or influences

 Any disturbance to the body's state of equilibrium can produce stress.

a calm state of mind and a balance of emotions

 He sat down to try and recover his equilibrium.

Invert (v)/ɪnˈvɜːt/: invert something (formal) to change the normal position of
something, especially by turning it into a position in which the top of it is where
the bottom of it normally is or by arranging it in the opposite order

 Place a plate over the cake tin and invert it.
 The shape looked like an inverted V.

Frugally (adv) /ˈfruːɡəli/: in a way that uses only as much money or food as is
necessary

 to live/eat frugally

OPPOSITE extravagantly

Hibernation (n): a state like deep sleep in which some animals spend the winter

 to go into/come out of hibernation

Lethargy (n) /ˈleθi/ədʒi/: the state of not having any energy or enthusiasm for doing
things

SYNONYM listlessness, inertia

 The report criticizes the lethargy shown by employers when it comes to job
creation.

TEST 4

Passage 1: Land of the rising sum

elaborate (v): to explain or describe something in a more detailed way

 elaborate (on/upon something) He said he was resigning but did not
elaborate on his reasons.

Homogeneity (n) /ˌhəʊməʊdʒəˈniːəti/: the quality in a group of people or things of
being all the same or all of the same type

Passage 2: Biological control of pests

Engender (v): engender something to make a feeling or situation exist

 The issue engendered controversy.

Potent (a): having a strong effect on your body or mind / powerful

 a potent drug
 That chilli sauce is pretty potent stuff.

escalate (v): to become greater, worse, more serious, etc.; to make something
greater, worse, more serious, etc.

 the escalating costs of healthcare

indiscriminate (a): an indiscriminate action is done without thought about what
the result may be, especially when it causes people to be harmed

nuisance (n): a thing, person or situation that is annoying or causes trouble or
problems

 I don't want to be a nuisance so tell me if you want to be alone.

behaviour by somebody that annoys other people and that a court can order the
person to stop

 He was charged with causing a public nuisance.

Infest (v): (especially of insects or animals such as rats) to exist in large numbers
in a particular place, often causing damage or disease

 be infested (with something) The kitchen was infested with ants.
 shark-infested waters

Parasite (n): a small animal or plant that lives on or inside another animal or plant
and gets its food from it

Passage 3: Collecting Ant Speciments

Taxonomy (n): the scientific process of classifying things (= arranging them into
groups)

 plant taxonomy

CAM 9

TEST 1

Passage 1: William Henry Perkin

Synthetic (a): artificial; made by combining chemical substances rather than
being produced naturally by plants or animals

SYNONYM man-made

Prompt (v): to make somebody decide to do something; to cause something to
happen

SYNONYM provoke

to encourage somebody to speak by asking them questions or suggesting words
that they could say

Patent (n): an official right to be the only person to make, use or sell a product or
an invention; a document that proves this

Utilize (v) utilize something (as something) to use something, especially for a
practical purpose

SYNONYM make use of

Passage 2: is there anybody out there

Haunt (v): haunt somebody if something unpleasant haunts you, it keeps coming
to your mind so that you cannot forget it

 The memory of that day still haunts me.

Intermittently (adv): in a way that stops and starts often over a period of time; not
regularlySYNONYM sporadically

 Protests continued intermittently throughout November.

Tenuous (a): so weak or uncertain that it hardly exists

 a tenuous hold on life

mere (a): used when you want to emphasize how small, unimportant, etc.
somebody/something is

 It took her a mere 20 minutes to win.
 A mere 2 per cent of their budget has been spent on publicity.

used when you are saying that the fact that a particular thing is present in a
situation is enough to have an influence on that situation

 His mere presence (= just the fact that he was there) made her feel afraid.

Inconceivable (a): impossible to imagine or believe
SYNONYM unthinkable

 It is inconceivable that the minister was not aware of the problem.

Attenuate (v): to make something weaker or less effective

 The drug attenuates the effects of the virus.
Traverse (v): traverse something to cross an area of land or water

 skiers traversing the slopes
 The region is traversed by several roads.

Passage 3: The history of the tortoise
revert to phrasal verb
revert to somebody/something
(law) (of property, rights, etc.) to return to the original owner again

revert to something (formal)
to return to a former state; to start doing something again that you used to do in the
past

 Try not to revert to your old eating habits.
to return to an earlier topic or subject

 So, to revert to your earlier question…
Overlap (n): overlap (between something and something) a shared area of
interest, knowledge, responsibility, etc.

 There is (a) considerable overlap between the two subjects.
the amount by which one thinga period of time in which two events or activities
happen together

 There will be an overlap of a week while John teaches Ann the job.
covers another thing

 an overlap of 5 cm on each roof tile

TEST 2
Passage 1
Preliminary (a) /prɪˈlɪmɪnəri/: happening before a more important action or event
SYNONYM initial

 After a few preliminary remarks he announced the winners.
Ventilation (n): the fact of allowing fresh air to enter and move around a room,
building, etc.
Amount to
phrasal verb

amount to something

to add up to something; to make something as a total
o His earnings are said to amount to £300 000 per annum.

Exacerbate (v): exacerbate something to make something worse, especially a
disease or problem
SYNONYM aggravate

 His aggressive reaction only exacerbated the situation.
Reverberation (n): a loud noise that continues for some time after it has been
produced because of the surfaces around it
SYNONYM echo

 The reverberations of the drum were still vibrating in the air.
Stimulus plural stimuli /ˈstɪmjələs/(n): something that helps somebody/something
to develop better or more quickly