VOCABULARY

VOCABULARY

VOCABULARY AREAS

Abbreviations: M1/A53/B1405, St (street, saint), TL, TR, SO; BA (Brit Airways, Bach of Arts), BSc, MA, MSc, PhD, MP, MEP, PM; BBC, CNN, EU/EC, NATO, UN, WHO, OPEC; CIA, FBI, MI5; VAT, PLC/plc, Ltd, Co., SOS, PIN, AD, BC, OAP, PR; c., cc, e.g., i.e., asap, RSVP, enc., c/o, l/ll, p/pp, pto, dob/DOB, d., Ms, N/A.

Accidents: types - (head-on) collision, crash, derailment, pile-up; to capsize/sink/run aground;

causes - brake failure, carelessness, communication breakdown, driver error, drunkenness, icy roads, ignoring safety procedures, misunderstanding, negligence, poor visibility, runaway train, speeding, tiredness; car bomb, suicide bomber, sniper;

results - carnage, death toll; chaos, post mortem, court of inquiry, c 949r176j oroner, inquest; black box.

Accommodation: types of home - flat, cottage, terraced house, semi-detached house, detached house, villa, bungalow, mansion, palace, castle, fort, chalet;

verbs - hire, rent, let, buy, sell; design, extend, renovate, repair, rebuild, refurbish;

nouns - alterations, repairs, extension, renovation;

house - attic, loft, cellar, basement flat, gutter, drainpipe, hedge, fence, drive, ceiling, study, radiator, central heating, double glazing, tiles, pond; sofa, settee, mat.

Animals: types of animal - amphibian, insect, mammal, reptile; group words - herd, flock;

verbs - bark, bite, buzz, growl, kick, lick, roar, scratch, sniff, sting, mate; breed, migrate, nest;

body - fur, skin, beak, claw, feather, fin, horn, hoof, tail, trunk, tusk, wing;

human activities - domesticate, tame, train, hunt, poach, pat, stroke.

Arts: jobs - author, writer, playwright, dramatist, novelist; composer, conductor, musician, pianist; sculptor, artist, painter, photographer (free-lance); editor, critic, journalist, reporter; producer, director, cameraman, stage manager, star, co-star, extra;

types of work - biography (auto), fable, fairy tale, legend, myth, novel, poem (poetry), play; rhyme, fiction, non-fiction; painting, sculpture, exhibition (exhibit), opera, musical.

Body: parts - ankle, beard, chest, chin, elbow, eyebrow/lash, hip, joint, kidney, knee, liver, lung, moustache, muscle, neck, shoulder, throat, thumb, toe, waist, wrist;

problems - ache, bruise, cut, fracture, graze, pull a muscle, sprain, twist; blind, deaf, disabled, bald;

aids - bandage, contact lens, crutch, filling, plaster, stretcher, treatment, vaccine, wheelchair.

Cars: parts - ABS, accelerator, airbag, battery (flat), bonnet, boot, brake, bumper, central locking, engine, fuel gauge, headlights, gear lever, horn, jack, oil, seat belt, speedometer, steering wheel, spare tyre, windscreen, wiper; manual/automatic;

verbs - change gear, crash, do a U-turn, overtake, reverse, skid, speed up, slow down, swerve, turn;

adjectives - comfortable, luxury, economical, high-performance, second-hand, used;

roads - avenue, crescent, drive, lane, road, square, street, cul-de-sac; main road, dual carriageway, motorway, bypass, lay-by, roundabout, flyover, underpass, toll; road works, hold up, pile up, traffic jam/congestion, rush hour, diversion.

Clothing: adjectives - elegant, fashionable, matching, loose, tight, comfortable; protective, waterproof;

verbs - clash, go with, suit, shorten, shrink, discolour, drip dry, dry clean;

materials - cotton, linen, nylon, silk, wool, synthetic;

nouns - button, collar, zip.

shapes - circular, round, oval, square, rectangular, triangular, spherical; artificial, imitation; other: materials - bronze, silver, gold, brick, cardboard, concrete, (fibre) glass, iron, metal, plastic, rubber, steel, wood.

Crime: people - arsonist, blackmailer, burglar, conman, drugs dealer, hijacker, kidnapper (ransom), killer, mugger, murderer, pick-pocket, rapist, robber, swindler, terrorist, thief, thug, traitor; hostage;

punishment - asbo, fine, community service, detention, suspended sentence, imprisonment, exile, execution; also - compensation, rehabilitation;

verbs - break in, break out, bribe, burgle, counterfeit, forge, kidnap, rob, steal, threaten.

Economy banks - deposit, withdraw, pay in, take out, credit, debit, loan, mortgage, account (a/c), balance, interest, interest rate, statement, overdrawn, cheque book, credit card, coin, banknote, cash machine; inflation;

paying - exorbitant, overpriced, dear, costly, value for money, bargain, cheap, worthless; discount, reduction, instalment, deposit, duty, tax, VAT, bill, receipt, voucher;

adjectives - well-off, hard-up, wealthy, broke, bankrupt, bust;

organisations - building society, ECB, Bank of England, insurance company, stock exchange, share, shareholder;

statistics - a sharp rise, a steady increase, a gradual decline, a drastic reduction; pick up, fall off; level, rate; forecast, prediction, indication; lowest, highest, trend; short/long term;

people - almost all of us, majority/minority, over half, hardly anybody, one in ten, per cent.

Education: exams - take/do, pass, fail, grade, resit, retake; assess, mark;

levels - nursery, primary, secondary, sixth form, college, polytechnic, university, academy;

people - instructor, counsellor, mentor, lecturer, tutor, professor, headteacher, principal; trainee, student, apprentice, under-graduate, post-graduate;

subjects - astronomy, economics, computing, IT, statistics.

Food: cooking - bake, boil, cook, fry, grill, toast; microwave, frying pan, saucepan, tray; raw;

taste - hot, spicy, sour, sweet, sharp, fruity, rich, creamy; greasy;

problems - allergy, diabetes/diabetic, overeat, malnutrition, food poisoning;

health - balanced diet, proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates, preservatives, greasy/convenience food.

Games: types - game, match, contest, competition, championship, tournament, race, cup, league;

verbs - win, beat, take part in, enter, withdraw, (dis)qualify, come first/second, be knocked out, fight back, draw, replay, postpone, put off, cancel, boycott, award, appeal;

people - winner, runner-up, loser, finalist, opponent, competitor, champion, record holder, gold/silver/bronze medallist, referee, umpire, panel of judges, organiser, team captain.

Health: medical - illness, disease, contagious, incurable, symptoms, diagnose, prescription, ointment, lotion, dose, pill/tablet, check up, X-ray, examination, transfusion, operate on, vaccination;

hospital - anaesthetic, operating theatre, ward, sister, nurse, consultant, convalescence;

general - GP, health centre, surgery, appointment, NHS, General Medical Council, in/out-patient.

Holidays: travel - crossing, cruise, drive, excursion, expedition, flight, outing, ride, safari, trip, voyage; travel agency/agent's, book, reserve; business/economy class, package tour, charter flight, hold, excess baggage, flight number, brochure, itinerary; resort, souvenir;

accommodation - B & B, half board, full board, guest house, self-catering;

transport - barge, canoe, double-decker, glider, jeep, (jumbo) jet, liner, moped, yacht.

Law: courts - magistrates' court, county/crown court, High Court, Appeal Court, House of Lords, civil/criminal court; guilty, not guilty, innocent, judge, jury; barrister, solicitor, defence, prosecution;

other - case/statute law; Bill, Act; Law Society; European Court of Justice.

Media: newspapers - advertisements (classified), article, caption, cartoon, column, contents, editorial, entertainment, headline, horoscope; (Sunday)Times/ Guardian/ Daily Telegraph/

Daily Mail/ Sun/ Mirror; tabloid, gutter (press); reporter, journalist, correspondent, critic, editor; freelance;

verbs - announce, broadcast, censor, edit, highlight, replay, print, publish, televise, transmit.

Nature: disasters - avalanche, earthquake, flood, hurricane, landslide, tidal wave, tornado, typhoon; drought, famine, epidemic;

reaction - emergency services, insurance claim, rescue/salvage operation, accident investigator;

vocab - estuary, forest/wood, glacier, tide (high/low), tropics, North/South Pole, volcano, waterfall.

People: descriptions - good-looking, well-built, left-handed, well-behaved, short-tempered, over-indulgent, easy-going, narrow-minded, self-centred; frail, handsome, skinny, plump, shortish, neat, plain, scruffy, smart;

feelings - annoyed, anxious, ashamed, betrayed, confused, desperate, embarrassed, envious, excited, excluded, foolish, furious, grateful, guilty, humiliated, irritated, jealous, lonely, miserable, rejected.

Technology: convenience - air conditioning, humidifier, central heating, hair dryer, toaster, microwave, spin dryer, fan, answering machine, shredder, double glazing, vacuum cleaner/hoover; hose; remote control;

tools - chisel, drill, file, hammer, nail, pliers, sandpaper, saw, screw(driver), spanner, tape measure, vice; to weld;

electricity - switch, plug, socket, fuse, cable, wire, mains; transformer.

Weather: breeze, blustery (adj), gale, storm; mist, fog; drizzle, shower, downpour, torrential rain; heatwave (sunburn, sunstroke), cold spell (hypothermia, frostbite), blizzard; overcast, dull, bright.

Work: verbs - appoint, engage, employ, promote, interview, suspend, fire, sack, dismiss, make redundant, lay off, transfer; also - appraisal interview;

nouns - job, occupation, profession, career, employment; task, labour, business, trade, commerce;

people - supervisor, manager, director, boss, secretary, technician, chief executive, chairman, senior, principal, assistant, owner; disciplinary/grievance procedure;

pay - wages, salary, increase, incentive scheme, bonus, productivity, commission.

WORDS THAT ARE USUALLY SINGULAR

Accommodation, advice, baggage, equipment, evidence, furniture, information, help, knowledge, luggage, machinery, money, news, proof, shopping, technology, work.

CHARACTER & PERSONALITY

Identify antonyms and synonyms in the following lists.

Character: absent-minded, aggressive, argumentative, arrogant, brave, callous, careful, cheeky, compassionate, conceited, conscientious, considerate, cooperative, courageous, cowardly, deceitful, decent, dependable, determined, devious, disciplined, disorganised, envious, forgetful, forgiving, gentle, generous, greedy, gullible, honest, impetuous, kind, lazy, likeable, manipulative, mean, modest, moody, naïve, obstinate, overbearing, patient, peaceful, quarrelsome, queer, rebellious, reckless, reliable, rude, self-centred, self-controlled, selfish, sensible, sensitive, sincere, stingy, stubborn, temperamental, thoughtless, trustworthy, vain, warm-hearted.

Personality: active, adventurous, bold, boring, calm, cautious, cheerful, conservative, defeatist, devoted, dull, easy-going, emotional, energetic, excitable, extrovert, fascinating, friendly, inquisitive, insecure, inventive, mild, obliging, optimistic, outgoing, passive, persuasive, pessimistic, pleasant, proud, reserved, secretive, self-confident, self-conscious, sentimental, shy, talkative, uncompromising, unconventional, unimaginative, unpopular, unsympathetic, zealous.

HOMONYMS (Words spelt the same)

Identify the main meanings of the following: tank (n,n), party (n,n), ball (n,n), pole (n,n) (also Pole), hamper (n,v), grave (adj,n), discount (n,v), mean (adj,v), conduct (n,v), sink (n,v), catch (n,v), current (adj,n), round (adj,adv,n,prep,v), tip (n,n,n), complex (adj,n,n), contract (n,v), club (n,n), gear (n,n), sound (adj,n,v), execute (v,v), nail (n,n), trust (n,n), coat (n,v), deposit (v,n,n), exhaust (n,v), race (n,n), stick (n,v), study

(n,v), mine (pn,n,n), bridge (n,n), fan (n,n), tap (n,n), plug (n,n), plain (adj,n), plaster (n,v), class (n,n,), stall (n,v), bow (n,n,n), turn (n,v), row (n,n,v), leave (n,v), beat (v,v), horn (n,n), trial (n,n), even (adj,adv), court

(n,n), stone (n,n), wind (n,v), pound (n,n), found (v,v), cut (n,n,v), matter (n,v), lighter (adj,n), match (n,n,v), tie (v,v), lie (v,v), fine (adj,n), will (n,n), fair (adj,adj,n), lead (n,v), refuse (n,v), chair (n,v), fire (n,v), sack (n,v), wound (v,v), late (adj,adj), bar (n,n,v), hang (v,v), coach (n,n), recover (v,v), ditch (n,v), suit (n,v), fly (n,v), train (n,v), house (n,v), let (v,v).

HOMOPHONES (Words that sound the same)

Define each of these: hall-haul, queue-cue, saw-sore, dual-duel, floor-flaw, site-cite, tire-tyre, due-dew, dam-damn, heard-herd, seas-seize, tail-tale, seam-seem, scent-sent, die-dye, role-roll, fate-fete, sole-soul, anyone-any one, everyday-every day, cheap-cheep, genes-jeans, morning-mourning, lead-led, dependant-dependent, seek-Sikh, air-heir, groan-grown, aloud-allowed, moan-mown, toe-tow, sale-sail, waist-waste, sort-sought, wait-weight, feat-feet, pray-prey, profit-prophet, made-maid, band-banned, sauce-source, vain-vein, board-bored, straight-strait, key-quay, councillor-counsellor, pole-poll, higher-hire, leak-leek, heal-heel, stationary-stationery, lightning-lightening, sweet-suite, fair-fare, fined-find, break-brake, bare-bear.

COMMON SPELLING MISTAKES

Correct these spelling mistakes: overpayed, wheather, iresponsable, hight, strenghten, ilegally, voleyball, diferently, dissapearance, passangers, apointement, imaturity, lugguage, unbelivable, enviroment, arhitect, mayer, noisest, qualificated, forgoten, proffession, historicly, foriegn, misterious, tempory, receit, eventualy, bussinesmen, releaved, ocupation, mispelt, personnal, unpractical, determinated, displaid, dispair, costumer, thiefs, recommandation, committments, imigration, unexplicable, councilor, improuvement, sistematicly, decieved, truethfull, unecesary, unemploiable, stresful, atractive, achivement, understuffed, weakneses, priveliges, resorcefull, aplication, aliance, oportunities, suprisingly, noticably, lenghtened, unhappyness, marrige, arguement, financer, ilogicly, negociator, unmanagable, paniced, succesfuly, destroied, refference, defense, sincerly, yourselfs, developement, suvenir, unrelyable, dissapointment, entusiasm, canceled, reparations, discription, exausted, volcanos, seperate, occassionally, independant, electricien, fourtieth, advertisment, inpossibility, machinary, anouncement, american, ensurance, beggining, broshure, collegue, confortable, couragous, greatfuly, incidently, jurnalist, mecanic, brakedown.

GAPFILLS

Connectives: if, unless, while, as soon as, in case, despite, in spite of, although, even though, since,  besides, alternatively, on top of all that, by the way, either...

Structures: passive, conditional, reported speech, phrasal verbs, modals.

Pronouns: mine..., myself..., which, that, who, whose, what.

Adverbs: however..., less, fewer, many, more, same, so, such, once, twice, nearly, almost.

Prepositions: depend on, succeed in, manage to, fond of, keen on, bound to, full of, think of/about, dream of/about, used to, due to, afraid of, blame for, accuse of, charge with, photo of, at/by/in/on/to.

Groups: meet, wait, expect, hope, look forward to; interview, interrogate, question; obey, follow, respect;

average, usual, common, routine, normal, ordinary, typical; announce, say, speak, talk, tell; as, like;

remind, remember; do/go/play + sports; let, leave; permitted, forbidden, illegal, allowed, prohibited;

before, by, until; rent, hire, let, sell; level, rate; let, make, force, allow;

do/make + noise, excuse, favour, mistake, practice, shopping, sport, exercise, suggestion, decision;

assure, ensure, insure, reassure; suspect, accuse, charge, blame; persuade, convince, determine, decide, influence; add, admit, advise, answer, apologise, appeal, claim, comment, complain, confirm, deny, doubt, enquire, mention, object, offer, order, promise, propose, protest, question, refuse, remark, reply, report, request, respond, state, suggest, threaten, warn, wonder.