unit 2 headway upper intermediate Flashcards

Question

nurdles

Answer 1

small plastic pellets ˈpelɪt/ noun [countable] 1 a small ball of a substance food pellets for rabbits

Answer 2

/rɔː $ rɒː/ ●●● W3 adjective 1 FOOD not cooked raw meat grated raw carrots Cabbage can be eaten raw. 2 SUBSTANCES raw substances are in a natural state and not treated or prepared for use → refined raw silk In its raw state, cocoa is very bitter. Raw sewage had been dumped in the river. The cost of our raw materials has risen significantly. 3 INFORMATION raw information is collected but not organized, examined, or developed software to convert raw data into usable information His time here provided the raw material for his novel. Warhol used everyday items as the raw ingredients of his art. 4 EMOTIONS raw feelings are strong and natural, but not fully controlled raw passion Linda didn’t want to see Roy while her emotions were still raw. It took raw courage to admit she was wrong.

Answer 3

/ˈɪnfənət/ ●●○ AWL adjective 1 very great in amount or degree a woman of infinite patience an infinite number/variety of something There was an infinite variety of drinks to choose from. 2 without limits in space or time OPP finite The universe is infinite. → in somebody’s (infinite) wisdom, → non-finite *** /ˈfaɪnaɪt/ ●○○ AWL adjective 1 having an end or a limit OPP infinite the Earth’s finite resources

Answer 4

/dʌmp/ ●●● S3 verb [transitive] 1 PUT SOMETHING SOMEWHERE [always + adverb/preposition] to put something somewhere in a careless untidy way Merrill dumped her suitcase down in the hall. dump something on something They dump tons of salt on icy road surfaces to make driving safer. dump something in/into something He found a can of beef stew and dumped it in a saucepan to heat. ► see thesaurus at put 2 GET RID OF SOMETHING a) to get rid of something that you do not want Ellie dumped all the photos of her ex-husband. He dumped her body into the sea. b) to get rid of waste material by taking it from people’s houses and burying it under the soil Britain dumps more of its waste than any other European country. 3 END RELATIONSHIP informal to end a relationship with someone Vicky dumped Neil yesterday. 4 SELL GOODS to get rid of goods by selling them in a foreign country at a much lower price dump in/on a campaign to stop cheap European beef being dumped in West Africa

Answer 5

1 dig something ↔ in (also dig something into something) to mix something into soil by digging Dig some fertilizer into the soil first. 2 (also dig (something) into something) to push a hard or pointed object into something, especially someone’s body, or to press into something She dug her fingernails into his arm. dig something ↔ in He dug his spurs in and urged his horse on. I could feel one of the hooks digging in. 3 if a group of people, especially soldiers, dig in, they make a protected place for themselves or prepare for a difficult situation The troops dug in along the defensive line. We just have to dig in and hope we can turn things around. 4 (also dig into something) informal to start eating food that is in front of you Go on – dig in! He was already digging into his pie and chips.

Answer 6

/ˌbaɪəʊdɪˈɡreɪdəbəl◂ $ ˌbaɪoʊ-/ adjective materials, chemicals etc that are biodegradable are changed naturally by bacteria into substances that do not harm the environment OPP non biodegradable, non-biodegradable This carton is made of biodegradable plastic.

Answer 7

if a car or machine breaks down, it stops working The car broke down just north of Paris. The printing machines are always breaking down. → breakdown 2 to fail or stop working in a successful way Negotiations broke down after only two days. I left London when my marriage broke down. → breakdown 3 break something ↔ down if you break down a door, you hit it so hard that it breaks and falls to the ground Police had to break down the door to get into the flat. 4 break something ↔ down to change or remove something that prevents people from working together and having a successful relationship with each other Getting young people together will help to break down the barriers between them. It takes a long time to break down prejudices. 5 if a substance breaks down, or something breaks it down, it changes as a result of a chemical process break something ↔ down Food is broken down in the stomach. Bacteria are added to help break down the sewage. 6 to be unable to stop yourself crying, especially in public He broke down and cried. She broke down in tears when she heard the news. 7 break something ↔ down to separate something into smaller parts so that it is easier to do or understand He showed us the whole dance, then broke it down so that we could learn it more easily. The question can be broken down into two parts.

Answer 8

a very small amount of something The story wouldn’t have fooled anyone with a grain of sense. There is a grain of truth in all folklore and legend. a single very small piece of a substance such as sand or salt grain of a grain of sand There were crumbs and grains of sugar on the table. the natural lines you can see in a substance such as wood, which are the result of its structure along the grain (=in the same direction as the grain) Cut along the grain of the wood. across the grain (=at 90 degrees to the grain)

Answer 9

/flek/ noun [countable] 1 a small mark or spot SYN speck fleck of a black beard with flecks of gray 2 a small piece of something SYN speck fleck of flecks of sawdust fleck of * Kathy's eyes have flecks of gray in them.

Answer 10

/ˈpaʊndɪŋ/ noun 1 [singular, uncountable] the action or the sound of something hitting a surface very hard many times pounding of the pounding of the waves on the rocks below 2 [singular, uncountable] the action or sound of your heart beating

Answer 11

/dɪɡ/ ●●● S2 verb (past tense and past participle dug /dʌɡ/, present participle digging) 1 [intransitive, transitive] to move earth, snow etc, or to make a hole in the ground, using a spade or your hands dig a hole/trench/grave etc They dig a small hole in the sand to bury their eggs. dig down Dig down about 6 inches. dig for birds digging for worms 2 [transitive] to remove something, especially vegetables, from the ground using a spade freshly dug carrots 3 [intransitive, transitive always + adverb/preposition] to put your hand into something, especially in order to search for something

Answer 12

verb [transitive] 1 formal to make something dirty, especially with waste from your body 2 → not soil your hands —soiled adjective soiled diapers not soil your hands to not do something because you consider it too unpleasant or dishonest Keep your money – I wouldn’t soil my hands with it.

Answer 13

LAYER if something covers a surface, it forms a layer over it Grey mould covered the walls. Much of the country is covered by snow. cover something with/in something The bulletin board was covered with messages. The eruption of the volcano covered states as far away as Montana in a fine layer of ash.

Answer 14

literary to be covered and hidden in mist, smoke etc The mountains were shrouded in mist.

Answer 15

/ˈfrækʃən/ ●●○ noun [countable] 1 a very small amount of something fraction of I got these shoes at a fraction of the original price. She paused for a fraction of a second. 2 a part of a whole number in mathematics, such as ½ or ¾

Answer 16

klɒɡ $ klɑːɡ/ (also clog up) verb (clogged, clogging) [intransitive, transitive] to block something or become blocked tourists whose cars clog the roads each summer clog with Over many years, the pipes had got clogged up with grease. —clogged adjective clogged highways

Answer 17

/slɒʃ $ slɑːʃ/ verb 1 [intransitive, transitive always + adverb/preposition] if a liquid sloshes somewhere, or if you slosh it, it moves or is moved about in an uncontrolled way SYN slop slosh around/about Water was sloshing about in the bottom of the boat. He put the glass down hard and beer sloshed over the edge. 2 [transitive always + adverb/preposition] to put a liquid in a container or on a surface in a careless way SYN slop Jo sloshed more wine into her glass. Slosh a bit of paint on. 3 [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] to walk through water or mud in a noisy way SYN splash People were sloshing around in the mud.

Answer 18

verb [transitive] 1 to suddenly give someone a lot of work, problems etc to deal with SYN inundate be swamped by/with something We’ve been swamped with phone calls since the advert appeared. 2 to go somewhere or surround something in large numbers, especially in a short period of time be swamped by/with something In the summer the village is swamped by visitors. Grammar Swamp is usually passive in meanings 1 and 2.

Answer 19

/pætʃ/ ●●○ noun [countable] 1 PART OF AN AREA a small area of something that is different from the area around it patch of We finally found a patch of grass to sit down on. Belinda watched a patch of sunlight move slowly across the wall. Look out for icy patches on the road. a cat with a white patch on its chest He combs his hair over his bald patch. 2 OVER A HOLE a small piece of material that is sewn on something to cover a hole in it a jacket with leather patches at the elbows 3 FOR GROWING SOMETHING a small area of ground for growing fruit or vegetables a strawberry patch 4 COMPUTER a small computer program that is added to software to solve problems 5 EYE a piece of material that you wear over your eye to protect it when it has been hurt He had a black patch over one eye. 6 DECORATION American English a small piece of cloth with words or pictures on it that you can sew onto clothes SYN badge British English 7 → a bad/difficult/sticky/rough patch 8 → somebody’s patch 9 → not be a patch on somebody/something

Answer 20

/əˈkjuːmjəleɪt/ ●○○ AWL verb 1 [transitive] to gradually get more and more money, possessions, knowledge etc over a period of time It is unjust that a privileged few should continue to accumulate wealth. ► see thesaurus at collect 2 [intransitive] to gradually increase in numbers or amount until there is a large quantity in one place Fat tends to accumulate around the hips and thighs. —accumulation /əˌkjuːmjəˈleɪʃən/ noun [countable, uncountable] the accumulation of data Register In everyday English, people usually say build up rather than accumulate: These chemicals tend to build up in the soil.

Answer 21

/ˈdebriː, ˈdeɪ- $ dəˈbriː, deɪ-/ ●○○ noun [uncountable] 1 the pieces of something that are left after it has been destroyed in an accident, explosion etc She was hit by flying debris from the blast. 2 technical pieces of waste material, paper etc plant/garden/industrial etc debris Clean the ventilation ducts to remove dust and insect debris.

Answer 22

/swɜːl $ swɜːrl/ ●○○ verb 1 [intransitive, transitive] to move around quickly in a twisting circular movement, or to make something do this swirl around/round Smoke swirled around her. swirl something around/round He swirled the brandy around in his glass. The river had become a swirling torrent. 2 [intransitive] if stories or ideas swirl around a place, a lot of people start to talk about them – used especially in news reports SYN circulate swirl around Rumours of a takeover began to swirl around the stock markets.

Answer 23

/ˈskændl/ ●●○ noun 1 [countable] an event in which someone, especially someone important, behaves in a bad way that shocks people It caused quite a scandal when he left his wife. The college has recently been involved in a drugs scandal. He has been at the centre of a political scandal. a major scandal involving the government a series of financial scandals a sex scandal that ruined his reputation They had already left the country when the scandal broke. 2 [uncountable] talk about dishonest or immoral things that famous or important people are believed to have done The magazine is full of gossip and scandal. 3 → be a scandal

Answer 24

rag‧ment1 /ˈfræɡmənt/ ●●○ noun [countable] a small piece of something that has broken off or that comes from something larger glass fragments fragment of fragments of broken pottery

Answer 25

1 if one company gobbles up a smaller company, it buys it and takes control of it Air France gobbled up its main French rivals, Air Inter and UTA. 2 to quickly use a lot of a supply of something such as money or land Inflation has gobbled up our wage increases. 3 to eat something very quickly, especially in an impolite or greedy way We gobbled up all of the cake in one evening.

Answer 26

/tʃəʊk $ tʃoʊk/ ●●○ verb 1 [intransitive] to be unable to breathe properly because something is in your throat or there is not enough air choke on He choked on a piece of bread. Six people choked to death on the fumes. 2 [transitive] if something chokes you, it makes you unable to breathe properly I felt as if there was a weight on my chest, choking me. The smoke was choking me. 3 [transitive] to prevent someone from breathing by putting your hands around their throat and pressing on it His hands were round her throat, choking her. 4 [intransitive, transitive] to be unable to talk clearly because you are feeling a strong emotion choke with He was choking with rage. I was too choked with emotion to speak. Her voice was choked with rage. 5 [transitive] (also choke something ↔ out) to say something with difficulty because you are very upset or angry ‘Get out, ’ she choked. 6 [transitive] (also choke something ↔ up) to fill a place so that things cannot move through it Weeds were choking the stream. be choked (up) with something The gutters were choked up with leaves. 7 [intransitive] informal to fail at doing something, especially a sport, because there is a lot of pressure on you People said I choked, but I just had a bad day on the golf course. 8 [transitive] if one plant chokes another, it kills it by growing all around it and taking away its light and room to grow Weeds can quickly choke delicate garden plants. 9 → choke a horse → choke something ↔ back → choke off something → choke something ↔ out

Answer 27

/ˈlaɪkli/ ●●● S1 W1 adjective (comparative likelier, superlative likeliest) 1 something that is likely will probably happen or is probably true OPP unlikely Snow showers are likely tomorrow. likely outcome/effects/consequences etc What are the likely effects of the law going to be? the most likely cause of the problem likely to do/be something Children who live in the country’s rural areas are very likely to be poor. more/less/most/least likely Young drivers are far more likely to have accidents than older drivers. It is more than likely (=almost certain) the votes will have to be counted again. It could have been an accident, but that was hardly likely (=not very likely). He could offer no likely explanation when I asked him. 2 [only before noun] suitable for a particular purpose the three most likely candidates for president One likely source of energy is wind power.

Answer 28

ˈdevəsteɪtɪŋ/ ●○○ adjective 1 badly damaging or destroying something devastating effect/impact Acid rain has a devastating effect on the forest. devastating results/consequences The oil spill had devastating consequences for wildlife. It will be a devastating blow for the town if the factory closes. 2 making someone feel extremely sad or shocked He was in Nice when he heard the devastating news. Long-term unemployment can be devastating. 3 very impressive or effective In a devastating display of military muscle, soldiers seized the town. 4 literary extremely attractive a devastating smile —devastatingly adverb a devastatingly attractive man COLLOCATIONS NOUNS a devastating effect/impact The recession has had a devastating impact on employment in this area. devastating consequences/results a terrible disease with devastating results a devastating flood/fire/earthquake etc The country is still recovering from last year's devastating floods. a devastating disease/illness Cheaper medicines are needed to fight Aids and other devastating diseases. a devastating war It will take a long time for the region to recover from such a devastating war. a devastating blow (=a devastating action or event ) When a huge car bomb exploded, it was a devastating blow to the peace plan. a devastating defeat The party suffered a devastating defeat in the local election.

Answer 29

/spɜːn $ spɜːrn/ verb [transitive] literary to refuse to accept something or someone, especially because you are too proud SYN reject She spurned all offers of help. a spurned lover

Answer 30

/ˈkʌlprɪt/ noun [countable] 1 the person who is guilty of a crime or doing something wrong → victim Police finally managed to catch the culprit. 2 informal the reason for a particular problem or difficulty High production costs are the main culprit.

Answer 31

/ˈweɪstfəl/ adjective using things such as money, materials or energy in a way that is not sensible or effective Local government is seen as wasteful, and incompetent. /əbˈsenəti/ noun (plural obscenities) 1 [uncountable] sexually offensive language or behaviour, especially in a book, play, film etc laws against obscenity 2 [countable usually plural] a sexually offensive word or action → swear drunken youths screaming obscenitie

Answer 32

to get rid of something or stop using it People thought that the use of robots would do away with boring low-paid factory jobs. 2 informal to kill someone

Answer 33

/dʒuːt/ noun [uncountable] a natural substance that is used for making rope and rough cloth

Answer 34

/ɪmˈpəʊz $ -ˈpoʊz/ ●●○ W2 AWL verb 1 [transitive] if someone in authority imposes a rule, punishment, tax etc, they force people to accept it The court can impose a fine. impose something on something/somebody The government imposed a ban on the sale of ivory. 2 [transitive] to force someone to have the same ideas, beliefs etc as you impose something on somebody parents who impose their own moral values on their children 3 [intransitive] formal to expect or ask someone to do something for you when this is not convenient for them impose on/upon We could ask to stay the night, but I don’t want to impose on them. 4 [transitive] to have a bad effect on something or someone and to cause problems for them impose a burden/hardship etc (on somebody/something) Military spending imposes a huge strain on the economy. Register In everyday English, people usually say put a ban/tax/burden/strain on something rather than impose a ban/tax/burden/strain on something: The government put a higher tax on cigarettes. This puts a lot of strain on families.

Answer 35

/aɪl/ ●○○ noun [countable] 1 a long passage between rows of seats in a church, plane, theatre etc, or between rows of shelves in a shop Would you like a window seat or an aisle seat (=seat next to the aisle)? 2 → go/walk down the aisle → be rolling in the aisles

Answer 36

if something that you value very much is at stake, you will lose it if a plan or action is not successful They have to win the contract – thousands of jobs are at stake. National pride is at stake in next week’s game against England.

Answer 37

if people in a theatre, cinema etc are rolling in the aisles, they are laughing a lot

Answer 38

informal to leave your job or home We’re going to pull up stakes and move to Montana.

Answer 39

well you know like i mean you see kind of sort of anyway so

Answer 40

to be satisfactory or acceptable ‘Something very light, ’ he ordered. ‘An omelette will do fine.’ b) to do something well or in a satisfactory way Don’t worry, you’re doing fine. Keep at it. c) to be healthy and well ‘How’s your husband?’ ‘He’s doing fine, thank you.

Answer 41

ENOUGH/ACCEPTABLE [intransitive, transitive not in progressive] used to say that something will be enough or be acceptable We don’t have a lot of wine for the party, but it should just about do. I can’t find my black shoes so these will have to do. A few sandwiches will do me for lunch. It won’t do (=it is not acceptable) to say that the situation couldn’t have been avoided.

Answer 42

/rɪˈzaɪn/ ●●○ W3 verb [intransitive, transitive] 1 to officially announce that you have decided to leave your job or an organization → quit resign from She resigned from the government last week. resign as He resigned as governor of Punjab in August. resign your post/seat/position etc Tom has since resigned his membership of the golf club.

Answer 43

to make yourself accept something that is bad but cannot be changed → resigned Josh resigned himself to the long walk home. At sixteen, I resigned myself to the fact that I’d never be a dancer.

Answer 44

right just very

Answer 45

the middle of nowhere the suburbs the far south of Japan the heart of the countryside

Answer 46

the outskirts of paris *** aʊtskɜːts $ -ɜːr-/ ●○○ noun [plural] the parts of a town or city that are furthest from the centre on the outskirts (of something) They live on the outskirts of Paris. *** on the corner of Brook street on the south coast on the river thames

Answer 47

at a crossroads the bottom of the hill the end of the track at the side of the road

Answer 48

/strəʊl $ stroʊl/ ●○○ verb [intransitive] to walk somewhere in a slow relaxed way stroll down/over/along We were strolling along, laughing and joking. ► see thesaurus at walk —stroll noun [countable] They went for a stroll in the park.

unit 2 headway upper intermediate Flashcards

(115 cards)