Vocabulary Practice 16 :Spelling

By Wiki Study in Vocab & Grammar 0 Comment

Vocabulary Practice 16 :Spelling

Exercise 1: There are eleven words in this passage which are spelled incorrectly. Can you find and correct them?

Apart from condemming tobacco companies and rising the price of cigarettes, the goverment’s antismoking campain has failed to have any long-term affects, and the only people bennefitting from it are the Treasury Departement. Meanwhile, some doctors have said that they may refuse to treat persistant smokers. Of course, this hasn’t prevented the big tobbaco companys spending vast amounts of money on advertiseing.

Exercise 2: Instructions as above

It is argueable whether good pronounciation is more important than good grammer and vocabulery. Consientious students balance their aquisition of these skills, hopeing to acheive both fluency and accuracey. Teachers should encourage there students to practice all the relavant language skills.

Exercise 4 Here are some more words which students of English (and many native English speakers) often spell incorrectly. Can you identify and correct the mistake in each case? Be careful: 3 of the words are spelled correctly!

It is becomming increasingly difficcult for many people to find decent accomodations in Los Angeles at a price they can afford. To put it simpley, most people just don’t have the necesary funds. Organizeations such as Home Front can offer advise, but it is widely agreed that the situation is no longer managable. The fact that the LA city council is building cheap, tempory housing for lower-paid profesionals is the only official acknowlegment of this problem.

 

Click to rate this post!

Vocabulary Practice 11: Phrasal Verb 1

By Wiki Study in Vocab & Grammar 0 Comment

Vocabulary Practice 11: Phrasal Verb 1

Phrasal verbs are very common in English, and should be learnt like any other item of English vocabulary. In the TOEFL, they are tested in the Listening Comprehension section, and appear frequently in other parts of the test.
Exercise 1:In the following sentences, choose the correct verb in bold to complete the phrasal verb in italics. The meaning of each phrasal verb is given in brackets at the end of each sentence.

1. Some parents are criticized for the way they bring / make / throw up their children. (to raise children)
2. They refused to move / face / come up to their responsibilities, with disastrous consequences. (to accept an unpleasant state of affairs, and try to deal with it)
3. The President decided to shout / cry / call off his visit to Europe. (to not to go ahead with a plan)
4. It is only at election time that senators add / count / read on support from their constituents. (to rely / depend on other people)
5. Many developing countries are failing to run / chase / catch up with their more developed neighbors. (to get to the same level)
6. It can take months or even years for political scandals to die / cut / fall down. (to become less strong)
7. An alarming number of students jump / drop / fall out of school early every year. (to leave a race, a competition, a course of study, etc., early or before you have finished)
8. Major international companies can’t carry / cut / figure out the popularity of the anti-capitalist movement. (informal: to find it hard to understand)
9. The committee members dropped / made / fell out over plans for the new health center. (to argue)
10. If they examined the issues more closely, they would search / look / find out the reasons. (to discover)
11. As we grow / stand / look up our priorities change. (to change from being children to being adults)
12. Salaries very rarely catch / keep / work up with the cost of living. (to rise at the same speed as something else)
13. The latest government report leaves / keeps / throws out the real reasons for current demographic shifts. (to not include)
14. The journalist showed / pointed / spoke out the mistakes made by the agency over the last few years. (to show)
15. Before you write your essay, you should search / hunt / look into the Party’s history. (to research)
16. Nobody at the meeting carried / brought / moved up the subject of paid leave. (to start discussing a subject)
17. Once people lose / jump / fall behind with their mortgage payments, they come under extreme financial pressure from their bank. (to fail to do something or pay something at the time that you should)
18. The first step to a healthier lifestyle is to cut / slice / chop down on the amount of saturated fats you eat. (to start doing less of something, usually because it is bad for you)

Exercise 2: Instructions as above. In one of the sentences, all of the verbs are possible.

1. During the early 2000’s, a lot of state-run schools were controlled / taken / acquired over by private companies. (to start to do something in place of someone else)
2. In my last essay, I tried to argue / place / put forward the arguments in favor of global capitalism. (to suggest or state the case for something)
3. Despite the seriousness of the illness, he managed to carry / pull / take through. (to recover from a serious illness or accident)
4. A lot of restrictions on imports have been done / gone / put away with. (to get rid of something)
5. If you have a complaint, put it in writing and ask the company to investigate / look / see into it for you. (to try to discover the facts about something such as a problem)
6. It is very important to carry / work / do out my instructions carefully. (to do something that you have been told to do, often in a particular way)
7. Many employees went / kept / carried on working despite pressure from the unions. (to continue)
8. The drug’s effects are very powerful, but they begin to wear / come / fall off after a few hours. (to gradually disappear or become less intense)
9. The meeting will be canceled if not enough people arrive / move / turn up. (to come somewhere, often unexpectedly)
10. At first, sales of the product were slow, but they kicked / hit / picked up when people realized how useful it was. (to slowly improve)
11. I have given / put / moved across several suggestions, but so far they have all been ignored. (to explain an idea, often in a way that is easy for people to understand)
12. I came / ran / moved into Laura outside the theater last week. (to meet someone by chance)
13. This course has set / moved / put me back by about $2000. (informal: to cost someone a particular amount of money, especially a large amount)
14. When I look / consider / move back on my childhood, I remember the many sacrifices my parents made for me. (to think about something that happened in the past)
15. We were all disappointed with the way things turned / came / changed out. (to develop in a particular way or have a particular result)
16. The exhibition was so popular that a lot of visitors had to be pushed / turned / thrown away. (to be not allowed to enter a building)
17. The total cost of the project makes / moves / works out to about $250,000. (to add up to a particular amount)
18. The telephone service is rather unreliable, and it’s quite common to be cut / shut / run off in the middle of a conversation. (to be disconnected while talking on the telephone)

Click to rate this post!

VOCABULARY ON TOPIC FOR TOEFL IBT 8: FAMILY

By Wiki Study in Vocab & Grammar 0 Comment

FAMILY

  1. Types of family

Close-knit family: We’re a pretty close-knit family, we tend to talk to each other every day.

Immediate/extended family: While my immediate family is quite small, my more extended family is huge – I think I have over 15(first) cousins.

Cousins/ relates: I get on especially well with my (first) cousin. We re only a year apart in age and have grown up together.

Only/middle child: I’ m an only child an`d I think because of that I have a closer relationship with my mother than some other children do.

Separated/divorced: In fact, my parents are divorced and I was brought up by my mother.

Step-brother/half-brother: I guess I’m closest to my step-mother just because we’re almost the same age.

In-laws: Strangely enough, I think I have a closer relationship with my mother- in-law than my biological mother.

In British English, your first cousin is the son/daughter of your uncle/aunt.

Relatives is a useful word to describe your extended family.

A half-brother/sister is when you share a parent, while a step-brother/sister is when neither parent is in common, for instance when your parent marries someone else who already had children.

Your mother/father-in-law is the mother/father of your husband/wife.

  1. Family resemblances

These words are useful for describing things that you may have in common with other members of your family.

(Resemble is mostly used to describe physical similarities (look like), while take after can also be used to describe other personal characteristics (you both like reading). If you quarrel or squabble with someone, it is normally a fairly minor disagreement. Sibling rivalry is when brothers and sisters compete with each other.)

Run in the family: A love of the outdoors runs in the family.

Take after/resemble: People always say I take after my father, though I think I’ much more like my mum really.

Family trait: One of our family traits is that we all talk all the time. Our family gatherings tend to be noisy affairs!

Have things in common: I think one reason why we have grown apart is that we just don’t have that much in common.

Quarrel/squabble with: I used to quarrel with my sister all the time when we were kids, but we get on just fine now. It was just the normal sibling rivalry.

Get together: Although we live in different towns now, we still try to get together whenever we can.

  1. Family relationships

Be close to: Actually, I’m closer to my father than my mother- there’s a special bond between us.

Get on/along with: Although I get along well enough with my sister, I wouldn’t describe our relationship as being particularly close.

Admire/ look up: I really admire my mum- she really has two jobs but you’d never know it. The one in the office and another one at home.

Rely on/depend on: I suppose her best quality is that I can always depend on her to be there for me. She’s never let me down yet.

Look after/ take care of: My older sister was a big influence too, she really looked after me when I was younger.

Bring up / raise: My mum and dad really shared the responsibility of bringing us up- they shared it between themselves.

Age difference: I get on best with my oldest brother despite the age difference between us.

 

Click to rate this post!

VOCABULARY ON TOPIC FOR TOEFL IBT 7: TECHNOLOGY

By Wiki Study in Vocab & Grammar 0 Comment

TECHNOLOGY

1.Progress words:

When you write and speak about computers and technology, very often you will be asked to say how technology has changed or progressed.

Innovation /innovative: The cloud is one of the latest innovations in computer technology.

Advance: One major advance is in the use of computers in transport regulation.

Develop /development: It is not easy to predict how this technology is going to develop.

Progress: The 21st century has already seen considerable progress in computer technology.

Revolution /revolutionary/ revolutionise: It is undeniable that computers have revolutionised our lives.

Breakthrough: One of the greatest technological breakthroughs ever made was the microchip.

(Progress is an uncountable word, while advance is countable. So you say that “digital technology is an advance ” but you cannot say that “digital technology is a progress”)

2.Impact of technology:

Another common topic is to talk about what effect computer technology has had on our lives

Change: It goes without saying that the computer revolution has changed all our lives.

Affect/effect: Generally speaking , most technology has had a beneficial effect on our lives.

Influence/ influential: Few inventions have had a greater influence on mankind than the computer.

Impact: It remains to be seen what the long-term impact of this technology will be.

3.Technology and computer words:

It is very easy to keep on repeating the same word without knowing it. One way not to do this is to change the form of the word or to use it in a different phrase.

Technology: One of the disadvantages of consumers of modern technology is that it rapidly becomes obsolete.

Technological: Simple as it is, I believe that cell phone is the most significant technological innovation.

Technophobe: There are a monority of people who remain technophobes and do not have mobile phones or even know how to text.

Technophile: Other, of course, and technophiles and will buy the latest gadget whether they need it or not.

Computer technology/ICT: Nowadays, one of the core subjects on any school’s curriculum is ICT and it is essential for school leavers to be computer literate.

Information technology/IT: While computers have many possible applications, their greatest use is to allow us to exchange information- hence the name information technology.

Digital native: Young people have an advantage by being digital natives and having grown up with laptops and mobile phones.

Computer literate: It is now almost impossible to work in an office, if you are not computer literate.

The computer age: In fact, we could now be said to live in the computer age.

4.Adjective and Technology:

Cutting- edge: One such cutting-edge innovation is the concept of the cloud.

State-of-the-art: It is not always, however, necessary to have the latest state-of- the-art technology.

Labour-saving: Perhaps the most influential inventions are relatively simple labour-saving devices such as the vacuum cleaner.

Advanced: More advanced technology is not always the best.

High: An example of this is how some high tech solutions are less reliable than the technology they replaced.

Outdated: The pace of change in the computer industry means that hardware can become outdated or even obsolete.

“obsolete ” is similar in meaning to “outdated”, but is a stronger word to show that the technology is so old that it cannot be used any longer.

It is normal to write “high tech” rather than “high technology”.

5.Technological Device

Device: We now have more leisure time because of labour-saving devices in the home such as the dishwasher.

Equipment: A computer is no longer a luxury, but has become an essential piece of equipment for any student or employee.

Gadget: We should not forget that many technological gadgets not only make out lives easier but are also fun to use.

Appliance: Almost all modern kitchens have several electrical appliances that save our time

(A “device ” is often something fairly small that allows you to complete a task. There is a strong collocation (very common phrase): “labour-saving device”.

“Equipment” is an uncountable word so you need to say “a piece of equipment”. It is a very general use word that can be used to describe almost anything mechanical.

“Gadget” is a word often used to describe objects that are either small or have a less serious purpose.

“Appliance” is typically used in the phrase “electrical appliances” (eg irons and kettles) that are less advanced technology.)

Click to rate this post!