TỪ VỰNG TOEIC unit 8

Unit PORT PEND PAN EXTRA PHOT LUC MOR/MORT TROPH Words from Mythology and History Quiz 8-1 Quiz 8-2 Quiz 8-3 Quiz 8-4 Quiz 8-5 Review Quizzes PORT comes from the Latin verb portare, meaning “to carry.” Thus, something portable can be carried around A porter carries your luggage, whether through a train station or high into the Himalayas When we transport something, we have it carried from one place to another And goods for export are carried away to another country portage The carrying of boats or goods overland from one body of water to another; also, a regular route for such carrying • The only portage on the whole canoe route would be the one around the great waterfall on our second day Portage was borrowed from French back in the 15th century to mean “carrying, transporting” or “freight,” and it has kept its simple “carrying” sense to the present day But its first known use in its “carrying of boats” sense came in 1698, and the obstacle that the canoes couldn't be steered over was none other than Niagara Falls Though canoes are much lighter today than they used to be, a long portage that includes a lot of camping gear can still test a camper's strength portfolio (1) A flat case for carrying documents or artworks (2) The investments owned by a person or organization • In those days, a graphic artist who had recently moved to New York would just schlep his portfolio around to every magazine office in the city Portfolio is partly based on the Latin folium, meaning “leaf, sheet.” A portfolio usually represents a portable showcase of your talents Today actual portfolios are used less than they used to be by artists, since most commercial artists have a Web site dedicated to showing off their art But portfolio in its other common meaning is extremely common Not so long ago, a broker would keep each of his or her clients' investments in a separate notebook or portfolio Today the investment portfolio, like an artist's portfolio, usually takes the form of a Web page, even though everyone still uses the same old word comport (1) To be in agreement with (2) To behave • This new evidence comports with everything we know about what happened that night With its prefix com-, “with,” the Latin word comportare meant “to bring together.” So it's easy to see how in English we could say that a college's policy comports with state law, or that a visit to your parents doesn't comport with your other weekend plans, or that your aunt and uncle won't listen to anything on TV that doesn't comport with their prejudices The “behave” sense of the word comes through French, and its essential meaning is how a person “carries” him- or herself So you may say, for instance, that your 17year-old comported himself well (for once!) at the wedding reception, or that an ambassador always comports herself with dignity—that is, her comportment is always dignified—or that your class comported itself in a way that was a credit to the school deportment Manner of conducting oneself socially • At social events she would constantly sneak glances at Alexandra, in quiet admiration of her elegant and graceful deportment We've all seen pictures of girls walking around balancing books on their heads in an effort to achieve the poise of a princess or a film star Classes in deportment were once a standard part of a young lady's upbringing, offered in all the girls' colleges; and you can still take private deportment classes, where you'll learn about posture and body language, how to move, sit, stand, shake hands, dress, drink and eat, and much more But deportment isn't all about refined female grace In fact, deport is often used as a synonym for comport, but usually in a positive way; thus, people are often said to deport themselves well, confidently, with dignity, like gentlemen or ladies, and so on PEND comes from the Latin verb pendere, meaning “to hang” or “to weigh.” (In the Roman era, weighing something large often required hanging it from a hook on one side of the balance scales.) We find the root in English words like appendix, referring to that useless and sometimes troublesome tube that hangs from the intestine, or that section at the back of some books that might contain some useful additional information pendant ornament Something that hangs down, especially as an • Around her neck she was wearing the antique French pendant he had given her, with its three rubies set in silver filigree Most pendants are purely decorative But a pendant may also hold a picture or a lock of hair of a lover or a child And, perhaps because they hang protectively in front of the body and near the heart, pendants have often had symbolic and magical purposes Thus, a pendant may be a charm or amulet, or its gems or metals may be felt to have health-giving properties In architecture, a pendant is an ornament that hangs down from a structure, but unlike a necklace pendant it's usually solid and inflexible append To add as something extra • She appended to the memo a list of the specific items that the school was most in need of Append is a somewhat formal word Lawyers, for example, often speak of appending items to other documents, and lawmakers frequently append small bills to big ones, hoping that everyone will be paying attention only to the main part of the big bill and won't notice When we append a small separate section to the end of a report or a book, we call it an appendix But in the early years of e-mail, the words we decided on were attach and attachment, probably because appendixes are thought of as unimportant, whereas the attachment is often the whole reason for sending an e-mail appendage (1) Something joined on to a larger or more important body or thing (2) A secondary body part, such as an arm or a leg • She often complained that she felt like a mere appendage of her husband when they socialized with his business partners Appendix isn't the only noun that comes from append Unlike appendix, appendage doesn't suggest the end of something, but simply something attached The word is often used in biology to refer to parts of an animal's body: an insect's antennae, mouthparts, or wings, for example The appendages of some animals will grow back after they've been removed; a salamander, for example, can regrow a finger, and the tiny sea squirt can regrow all its appendages—and even its brain suspend (1) To stop something, or to force someone to give up some right or position, for a limited time (2) To hang something so that it is free on all sides • The country has been suspended from the major trade organizations, and the effects on its economy are beginning to be felt When something is suspended, it is “left hanging”; it is neither in full operation nor permanently ended Suspense is a state of uncertainty and maybe anxiety When we watch a play or movie, we enjoy experiencing a “suspension of disbelief”; that is, we allow ourselves to believe we're watching reality, even though we aren't truly fooled.Suspension can also mean physical hanging; thus, in a suspension bridge, the roadway actually hangs from huge cables When some substance is “in suspension,” its particles are “hanging” in another substance, mixed into it but not actually dissolved, like fine sand in water, or sea spray in the air at the seashore Quiz 8-4 A Choose the closest definition: mortality a deadliness b danger c disease d death rate hypertrophy a excessive growth b low birth rate c increased speed d inadequate nutrition amortize a bring back b pay down c make love d die off atrophy a expansion b swelling c exercise d wasting mortify a weaken b bury c embarrass d kill dystrophy a bone development b muscular wasting c nerve growth d muscle therapy moribund a deathlike b unhealthy c lethal d dying eutrophication a inadequate moisture b excessive growth c loss of sunlight d healthy nourishment Answers B Fill in each blank with the correct letter: a eutrophication b atrophy c hypertrophy d dystrophy e moribund f mortify g mortality h amortize By the 1960s, most of the textile industry had moved south, and the mill town seemed _ In muscular _, the wasting begins in the legs and advances to the arms Most people don't spend much time thinking about their _ until they're in their thirties or forties They should be able to _ their mortgage completely by the time they retire Muscular _ as extreme as that is only possible with steroids Some religious sects still engage in acts designed to _ the flesh By then the pond had almost entirely filled in with plant life, a result of the _ caused by the factory's discharges In the four weeks before he has the cast taken off, his muscles will _ quite a lot Answers Words from Mythology and History aeolian harp A box-shaped instrument with strings that produce musical sounds when the wind blows on them • Poets have long been fascinated by the aeolian harp, the only instrument that produces music without a human performer According to the ancient Greeks, Aeolus was the king or guardian of the winds He lived in a cave with his many, many sons and daughters, and sent forth whatever wind Zeus asked for When Odysseus stopped there on his way home from Troy, he received a bag of winds to fill his sails But while he was asleep, his men, thinking it contained treasure, opened the bag and released the raging winds, which blew their ships all the way back to their starting point An aeolian harp produces enchanting harmonies when the wind passes over it According to Homer, it was the god Hermes who invented the harp, by having the wind blow over the dried sinews attached to the shell of a dead tortoise cynosure (1) A guide (2) A center of attention • Near the club's dance floor, a young rock star was hanging out, the cynosure of a small crowd of admirers In Greek kynosoura means “dog's tail,” and in Latin Cynosura came to mean the constellation Ursa Minor (Little Bear)—what we usually call the Little Dipper The first star on the dog's or bear's “tail,” or the dipper's “handle,” is Polaris, the North Star, long used as a guide for seamen or travelers lost on a clear night, since, unlike the other stars, it always remains in the same position in the northern sky, while the other constellations (and even the rest of its own constellation) slowly revolve around it Since Cynosura also came to mean the star itself, the English cynosure now may mean both “guide” and “center of attention.” laconic Using extremely few words • Action-film scripts usually seem to call for laconic leading men who avoid conversation but get the job done Ancient Sparta was located in the region of Greece known as Laconia, and the Greek word lakonikos could mean both “Laconian” and “Spartan.” The disciplined and militaristic Spartans, the finest warriors of their time, were known for putting up with extreme conditions without complaint So English writers who knew their ancient history came to use laconic to describe the habit of saying few words Today we can refer not only to a laconic person but also to laconic wit, a laconic answer, or a laconic phrase—such as “Men of few words require few laws,” uttered by a Spartan king mnemonic memory Having to with the memory; assisting the • Sales-training courses recommend various mnemonic devices as a way of remembering peoples' names The Greek word for memory is mnemosyne, and Mnemosyne was the goddess of memory and the mother of the Muses So something that helps the memory is a mnemonic aid, or simply a mnemonic Such traditional mnemonic devices as “Every Good Boy Does Fine” (for the notes on the lines of a musical staff with a treble clef) or the “Thirty days hath September” rhyme help to recall simple rules or complicated series that might otherwise slip away (For extra credit, guess what “King Henry Died Drinking Chocolate Milk” or “King Philip Could Only Find Green Socks” stands for.) Notice that the first m isn't pronounced, unlike in other -mne- words such as amnesia and amnesty platonic (1) Relating to the philosopher Plato or his teachings (2) Involving a close relationship from which romance and sex are absent • The male and female leads in sitcoms often keep their relationship platonic for the first few seasons, but romance almost always wins out in the end The philosopher Plato presented his theories in a series of dramatic conversations between Socrates and other people, now called the “Platonic dialogues.” Among many other important concepts, he taught that everything here on earth is a pale imitation—like a shadow—of its ideal form, and this ideal form is now often called the “platonic form.” But platonic is probably usually seen in the phrase “platonic love.” Because Socrates (through Plato) teaches that the philosophical person should turn his passion for a lover into appreciation of beauty and love of a higher power and of the universe, close but nonsexual friendship between two people who might be thought to be romantically attracted is today known as platonic love or friendship sapphic with Sappho (1) Lesbian (2) Relating to a poetic verse pattern associated • The Roman poets Catullus and Horace composed wonderful love poems in sapphic verse The poet Sappho wrote poems of self-reflection but also of passion, some of it directed to the women attending the school she conducted on the Greek island of Lesbos around 600 B.C Even though most of the poems survive only as fragments, they have been greatly admired for many centuries They were written in an original rhythmical pattern, which has become known as sapphic verse Later admirers, such as the Roman poets Catullus and Horace, honored her by adopting the sapphic meter for their own poetry Because of Sappho, the island of Lesbos also gave its name to lesbianism, which writers often used to call sapphic love Socratic Having to with the philosopher Socrates or with his teaching method, in which he systematically questioned the student in conversation in order to draw forth truths • She challenges her students by using the Socratic method, requiring them to think and respond constantly in every class Socrates lived and taught in Athens in the 5th century B.C., but left no writings behind, so all we know of him comes through the works of his disciple Plato, almost all of which claim to be accounts of Socrates' conversations with others Today Socrates is best remembered for his method of teaching by asking increasingly difficult questions, the so-called Socratic method This generally involves the use of Socratic induction, a way of gradually arriving at generalizations through a process of questions and answers, and Socratic irony, in which the teacher pretends ignorance while questioning his students skillfully to make them aware of their errors in understanding solecism (1) A grammatical mistake in speaking or writing (2) A blunder in etiquette or proper behavior • The poor boy committed his first solecism immediately on entering by tracking mud over the Persian rug in the dining room In ancient Asia Minor (now Turkey), there was a city called Soloi where the inhabitants spoke Greek that was full of grammatical errors So errors in grammar, and later also small errors in formal social behavior, came to be known (at least by intellectuals) as solecisms The British magazine The Economist publishes a list of solecisms to be avoided in its prose, including the use of “try and” when you mean “try to,” “hone in on” when you mean “home in on,” and so forth Social solecisms, such as mentioning how inferior the wine is to someone who turns out to be the hostess's sister, are more commonly called by a French name, faux pas Quiz 8-5 Fill in each blank with the correct letter: a solecism b sapphic c platonic d Socratic e cynosure f aeolian harp g mnemonic h laconic She always learns her students' names quickly by using her own _ devices Every so often, a breeze would spring up and the _ in the window would emit its beautiful harmonies New Yorkers tend to think of their city as the _ of the nation The _ method is inappropriate for normal courtroom interrogation After encountering the fifth _ in the report, we began to lose faith in the writer Her father-in-law was _ in her presence but extremely talkative around his son As an experiment, he had written a poem in _ verse, but he suspected that the rhythm was more suited to Greek The dinner was good, but saying that it approached the _ ideal of a meal was probably too much Answers Review Quizzes A Fill in each blank with the correct letter a elucidate b appendage c solecism d pantheism e comport f laconic g moribund h deportment i mortality j atrophy After spending four years at home, she's afraid her professional skills have begun to _ Her impressive résumé doesn't _ well with her ignorance of some basic facts about the business He can't go to a cocktail party without committing at least one _ and offending a couple of people Like most farmers, he's fairly _, but when he says something it's usually worth listening to For kids their age they have excellent manners, and everyone admires their _ around adults It was a large beetle with an odd _ coming off the top of its head The book's introduction helps _ how the reader can make the best use of it _ has been a common element in religious belief in the West over many centuries The newspaper has suffered declines in both advertisements and readership over the last few years and is clearly _ 10 The _ rates from these kinds of cancer have been going down as new treatments have been adopted Answers B Indicate whether the following pairs of words have the same or different meanings: mnemonic / ideal same _ / different _ hypertrophy / overgrowth same _ / different _ extrapolate / project same _ / different _ mortify / stiffen same _ / different _ appendage / attachment same _ / different _ cynosure / guide same _ / different _ extrovert / champion same _ / different _ append / attach same _ / different _ amortize / pay down same _ / different _ 10 lucid / glittering same _ / different _ 11 atrophy / enlarge same _ / different _ 12 translucent / cross-lighted same _ / different _ 13 solecism / goof same _ / different _ 14 pandemonium / uproar same _ / different _ 15 extraneous / superb same _ / different _ 16 lucubration / nightmare same _ / different _ 17 photosynthesis / reproduction same _ / different _ 18 panacea / remedy same _ / different _ 19 elucidate / charm same _ / different _ 20 deportment / behavior same _ / different _ Answers C Match the definition on the left to the correct word on the right: question-and-answer a panoply elementary particle of light b pendant stop temporarily c sapphic hanging ornament d comport impressive display e translucent nonsexual f platonic behave g photon dying h Socratic lesbian i suspend 10 light-diffusing j moribund Answers ... tree with a 40-inch trunk may produce two-thirds of a pound of oxygen every day through _ His 88 -year-old aunt is in a nursing home, and he never knows which days she'll be _ The alarm system... not actually dissolved, like fine sand in water, or sea spray in the air at the seashore Quiz 8- 1 A Choose the closest definition: pendant a porch b salary c flag d ornament portfolio a mushroom... the same conditions, and were properly divided according to gender, age, health, and so on Quiz 8- 2 A Fill in each blank with the correct letter: a extrapolate b panoply c extraneous d panacea