TỪ VỰNG TOEIC unit 11

Unit 11 CANT LINGU SPIR VER TURB VOLU/VOLV FAC LUM Words from Mythology and History Quiz 11-1 Quiz 11-2 Quiz 11-3 Quiz 11-4 Quiz 11-5 Review Quizzes 11 CANT, from the Latin verb cantare, meaning “sing,” produces several words that come directly from Latin But some others came to English by way of French, which added an h to the root, giving us such words as chant and chantey cantata A musical composition, particularly a religious work from the 17th or 18th century, for one or more voices accompanied by instruments • Composers of the 18th century composed sacred cantatas by the dozen, and Bach's friend G P Telemann actually wrote over a thousand A cantata is sung, unlike a sonata, which is played on instruments only The most famous cantatas are by Johann Sebastian Bach, who wrote the music for about 200 religious cantatas, using hymns and new religious poems as his texts His cantatas consisted of several different sections for different voices —solos, duets, and choruses Some of his nonreligious cantatas have been performed like mini-operas incantation (1) A use of spells or verbal charms spoken or sung as part of a ritual of magic (2) A formula of words used in, or as if in, such a ritual • He repeated the words slowly over and over like an incantation Incantation comes directly from the Latin word incantare, “enchant.” Incantare itself has cantare as a root, which reminds us that magic and ritual have always been associated with chanting and music Incantations have often been in strange languages; “Abracadabra” is a not-so-serious version of an incantation cantor An official of a Jewish synagogue who sings or chants the music of the services and leads the congregation in prayer • The congregation waited for the cantor to begin the prayers before joining in The cantor is, after the rabbi, the most important figure in a Jewish worship service A cantor not only must possess an excellent singing voice but also must know by heart long passages of Hebrew Cantors such as Jan Peerce and Richard Tucker became international opera stars The comedian and singer Edward Israel Iskowitz renamed himself Eddie Cantor for his original profession and became enormously popular on stage, screen, radio, and television for over 40 years descant An additional melody sung above the principal melody • The soprano added a soaring descant to the final chorus that held the listeners spellbound The prefix des-, meaning “two” or “apart,” indicates that the descant is a “second song” apart from the main melody In popular songs a descant will often be sung at the very end to produce a thrilling climax LINGU comes from the Latin word that means both “tongue” and “language,” and in English today tongue can still mean “language” (as in “her native tongue”) Our expression “slip of the tongue” is just a translation of the Latin phrase lapsus linguae The root even shows up in a slangy-sounding word like lingo And since lingu- changed to langu- in French, our word language is related as well linguistics The study of human speech • The new speechwriter, who had majored in linguistics, was soon putting his knowledge of the deceptive tricks of language to good use Any analysis of language, including 8th-grade grammar, can be called linguistics As recently as 200 years ago, ordinary grammar was about the only kind of linguistics there was Today a linguist may be a person who learns foreign languages, but the term usually refers to people who devote themselves to analyzing the structure of language Many linguists concentrate on the history of a language; others study the way children learn to speak; others analyze the sounds of a language—and still others just study English grammar, a subject so big that you could easily spend your entire life on it multilingual Using or able to use several languages • She soon discovered that he was truly multilingual, fluent in not only the German and Polish he had grown up speaking but in English and Arabic as well The roots of multilingual come from Latin (see MULTI) If you happen to prefer Greek, use the synonym polyglot, in which poly- has the same meaning as multi-, and -glot means the same thing as -lingual The best way to become multilingual is probably to be born in a bilingual (two-language) household; learning those first two seems to give the mind the kind of exercise that makes later language-learning easy lingua franca A language used as a common or commercial language among peoples who speak different languages • That first evening in Tokyo, she heard English being spoken at the next table, and realized it was serving as a lingua franca for a party of Korean and Japanese businessmen In the Middle Ages, the Arabs of the eastern Mediterranean referred to all Europeans as Franks (the name of the tribe that once occupied the land we call France) Since there was plenty of Arab-European trade, the traders in the Mediterranean ports eventually developed a trading language combining Italian, Arabic, and other languages, which almost everyone could more or less understand, and it became known as the “Frankish language,” or lingua franca Some languages actually succeed in becoming lingua francas without changing much So, when the Roman empire became vast and mighty, Latin became the important lingua franca; and at a meeting between Japanese and Vietnamese businesspeople today, English may well be the only language spoken linguine A narrow, flat pasta • As a test of her clients' table manners, she would serve them challenging dishes and watch to see how gracefully they could handle chopsticks or deal with long, slithery linguine The modern language closest to Latin is Italian, and the Italian word linguine means literally “little tongues.” Linguine is only one of the types of pasta whose names describes their shapes Others include spaghetti (“little strings”), fettuccine (“little ribbons”), penne (“little quills”), orzo (“barley”), farfalle (“butterflies”), vermicelli (“little worms”), capellini (“little hairs”), fusilli (“little spindles”), and radiatori (“little radiators”) If you're thinking about learning Italian, you could make a good start by just visiting an Italian restaurant luminary A very famous or distinguished person • Entering the glittering reception room, she immediately spotted several luminaries of the art world The Latin word luminaria could mean either “lamps” or “heavenly bodies.” For medieval astrologers, the luminaries were the sun and the moon, the brightest objects in the heavens Today a luminary is usually a person of “brilliant” achievement: a celebrity, a “leading light,” or a “star.” Quiz 11-4 A Fill in each blank with the correct letter: a lumen b bioluminescent c luminary d luminous e facile f factor g factotum h facilitate The light output of an ordinary candle provided the basis for the light unit called the _ Her _ voice was all the critics could talk about in their reviews of the musical's opening night She was quick-witted, but her reasoning was often _ and not deeply thoughtful The _ insects that he studies use their light for mating The support of the financial industry would greatly _ the passage of the bill He had just been introduced to another _ of the literary world and was feeling rather dazzled The main _ in their decision to build was their desire for a completely “green” home As the company's _, she often felt overworked and underappreciated Answers B Indicate whether the following pairs of words have the same or different meanings: facilitate / ease same _ / different _ lumen / lighting same _ / different _ factor / element same _ / different _ luminary / star same _ / different _ factotum / expert same _ / different _ luminous / glowing same _ / different _ facile / practical same _ / different _ bioluminescent / brilliant same _ / different _ Answers Words from Mythology and History muse A source of inspiration; a guiding spirit • At 8:00 each morning he sat down at his desk and summoned his muse, and she almost always responded The Muses were the nine Greek goddesses who presided over the arts (including music) and literature A shrine to the Muses was called in Latin a museum An artist or poet about to begin work would call on his particular Muse to inspire him, and a poem itself might begin with such a call; thus, Homer's Odyssey begins, “Sing to me of the man, Muse” (that is, of Odysseus) Today a muse may be one's special creative spirit, but some artists and writers have also chosen living human beings to serve as their muses iridescent Having a glowing, rainbowlike play of color that seems to change as the light shifts • The children shrieked with glee as the iridescent soap bubbles floated away in the gentle breeze Iris, the Greek goddess of the rainbow, took messages from Mount Olympus to earth, and from gods to mortals or other gods, using the rainbow as her stairway Iridescence is thus the glowing, shifting, colorful quality of a rainbow, also seen in an opal, a light oil slick, a butterfly wing, or the motherof-pearl that lines an oyster shell mausoleum (1) A large tomb, especially one built aboveground with shelves for the dead (2) A large, gloomy building or room • The family's grand mausoleum occupied a prominent spot in the cemetery, for all the good it did the silent dead within Mausolus was ruler of a kingdom in Asia Minor in the 4th century B.C He beautified the capital, Halicarnassus, with all sorts of fine public buildings, but he is best known for the magnificent monument, the Mausoleum, that was built by his wife Artemisia after his death With its great height (perhaps 140 feet) and many beautiful sculptures, the Mausoleum was declared one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Though Halicarnassus was repeatedly attacked, the Mausoleum would survive for well over 1,000 years mentor A trusted counselor, guide, tutor, or coach • This pleasant old gentleman had served as friend and mentor to a series of young lawyers in the firm Odysseus was away from home fighting and journeying for 20 years, according to Homer During that time, the son he left as a babe in arms grew up under the supervision of Mentor, an old and trusted friend When the goddess Athena decided it was time to complete young Telemachus's education by sending him off to learn about his father, she visited him disguised as Mentor and they set out together Today, anyone such as a coach or tutor who gives another (usually younger) person help and advice on how to achieve success in the larger world is called a mentor And in recent years we've even been using the word as a verb, and now in business we often speak of an experienced employee mentoring someone who has just arrived narcissism (1) Extreme self-centeredness or fascination with oneself (2) Love or desire for one's own body • His girlfriend would complain about his narcissism, saying he spent more time looking at himself in the mirror than at her Narcissus was a handsome youth in Greek mythology who inspired love in many who saw him One was the nymph Echo, who could only repeat the last thing that anyone said When Narcissus cruelly rejected her, she wasted away to nothing but her voice Though he played with the affections of others, Narcissus became a victim of his own attractiveness When he caught sight of his own reflection in a pool, he sat gazing at it in fascination, wasting away without food or drink, unable to touch or kiss the image he saw When he finally died, the gods turned him into the flower we call the narcissus, which stands with its head bent as though gazing at its reflection People with “narcissistic personality disorder” have a somewhat serious mental condition, according to psychologists, but the rest of us are free to call anyone who seems vain and self-centered a narcissist tantalize To tease or torment by offering something desirable but keeping it out of reach • The sight of a warm fire through the window tantalized the little match girl almost unbearably King Tantalus, according to Greek mythology, killed his son Pelops and served him to the gods in a stew for dinner Almost all the gods realized what was happening and refused the meal, though only after Demeter had taken a nibble out of Pelops's shoulder After they had reconstructed him, replacing the missing shoulder with a piece of ivory, they turned to punishing Tantalus In Hades he stands in water up to his neck under a tree laden with fruit Each time he stoops to drink, the water moves out of reach; each time he reaches up to pick something, the branches move beyond his grasp He is thus eternally tantalized by the water and fruit Today anything or anyone that tempts but is unobtainable is tantalizing thespian An actor • In summer the towns of New England welcome troupes of thespians dedicated to presenting plays of all kinds Greek drama was originally entirely performed by choruses According to tradition, the Greek dramatist Thespis, of the 6th century B.C., was the inventor of tragedy and the first to write roles for the individual actor as distinct from the chorus, and the actor's exchanges with the chorus were the first dramatic dialogue Since Thespis himself performed the individual parts in his own plays, he was also the first true actor Ever since choruses disappeared from drama, thespians have filled all the roles in plays Thespian is also an adjective; thus, we can speak of “thespian ambitions” and “thespian traditions,” for example zephyr (1) A breeze from the west (2) A gentle breeze • Columbus left Genoa sailing against the zephyrs that continually blow across the Mediterranean The ancient Greeks called the west wind Zephyrus and regarded him and his fellows—Boreas (god of the north wind), Eurus (god of the east wind), and Notus (god of the south wind)—as gods A zephyr is a kind wind, bringer of clear skies and beautiful weather Quiz 11-5 Fill in each blank with the correct letter: a mausoleum b thespian c iridescent d tantalize e muse f mentor g zephyr h narcissism At the middle of the cemetery stood the grand _ of the city's wealthiest family On fair days a gentle _ would blow from morning until night The company president took the new recruit under her wing and acted as her _ for the next several years He would often _ her with talk of traveling to Brazil or India, but nothing ever came of it The oil slick on the puddle's surface became beautifully _ in the slanting light After his last book of poetry was published, his _ seemed to have abandoned him In everyone there is a bit of the _ yearning for a stage By working as a model, she could satisfy her _ while getting paid for it Answers Review Quizzes 11 A Choose the correct definition: voluble a argumentative b mumbly c speechless d talkative facilitate a guide b build c order d obstruct verify a reverse b mislead c prove d test zephyr a stormy blast b icy rain c light shower d gentle breeze aver a reject b detract c deny d assert turbulent a unending b swirling c muddy d angry facile a tough b quiet c familiar d easy perturb a soothe b restore c park d upset devolve a decay b turn into c suggest d improve 10 convoluted a disorderly b complex c discouraged d superior 11 muse a singer b poetry c inspiration d philosopher 12 tantalize a visit b satisfy c tease d watch 13 iridescent a shimmering b drab c striped d watery 14 mentor a translator b interpreter c guide d student 15 factotum a manufacturer b untruth c dilemma d assistant Answers B Indicate whether the following pairs of terms have the same or different meanings: thespian / teacher same _ / different _ facile / handy same _ / different _ evolution / extinction same _ / different _ verify / prove same _ / different _ turbine / plow same _ / different _ spirited / energetic same _ / different _ incantation / chant same _ / different _ turbid / muddy same _ / different _ transpire / ooze same _ / different _ 10 aver / claim same _ / different _ Answers C Fill in each blank with the correct letter: a lingua franca b narcissism c descant d verisimilitude e cantata f veracity g facilitate h linguistics i cantor j devolve k turbine l mausoleum The defense lawyers knew the jury might be doubtful about the next witness's _ They were a very attractive couple, but their _ often annoyed other people The university chorus was going to perform a Bach _ along with the Mozart Requiem They finally realized they would need a real-estate agent to _ the sale of the property He began his singing career as a _ in Brooklyn and ended it as an international opera star She had hired a highly experienced deputy, hoping to _ many of her responsibilities onto him One day in the cemetery the _ door was open, and he peered in with horrified fascination Never having studied _, he didn't feel able to discuss word histories in much depth The Spaniards and Germans at the next table were using English as a _ 10 Her films showed her own reality, and she had no interest in _ 11 The roar of the _ was so loud they couldn't hear each other 12 As part of their musical training, she always encouraged them to sing their own _ over the main melody Answers ... flow of light In physics, the standard unit for measuring the rate of the • The lumen is a measure of the perceived power of light There are two common units for measuring light, the candela... high-spirited (“bold and energetic”), mean-spirited (“spiteful”), and public-spirited (“generous to a community”), all of which reflect the original meaning of spirit, a notion much like “soul” or “personality.”... test the • It is the bank teller's job to verify the signature on a check During talks between the United States and the former Soviet Union on nuclear weapons reduction, one big problem was how