TỪ VỰNG TOEIC unit 25

Unit 25 VERB SIMIL/SIMUL SCEND ONYM SCRIB/SCRIP FALL SOLU HYDR Greek and Latin Borrowings Quiz 25-1 Quiz 25-2 Quiz 25-3 Quiz 25-4 Quiz 25-5 Review Quizzes 25 VERB comes from the Latin verbum, meaning “word.” A verb—or action word—appears in some form in every complete sentence To express something verbally—or to verbalize something—is to say it or write it verbose Using more words than are needed; wordy • The writing style in government publications has often been both dry and verbose—a deadly combination Americans brought up on fast-paced TV shows and action films have lost any patience they once had for verbosity So most American writing is brisk, and American speakers usually don't waste many words But many of us love our own voices and opinions and don't realize we're being verbose until our listeners start stifling their yawns And students still try to fill up the pages of their term papers with unneeded verbosity proverb A brief, often-repeated statement that expresses a general truth or common observation • “Waste not, want not” used to be a favorite proverb in many households Proverbs probably appeared with the dawn of language Sayings such as “A stitch in time saves nine,” or “Pride goeth before a fall,” or “Least said, soonest mended,” or “To everything there is a season” are easily memorized nuggets of wisdom But the convenient thing about proverbs is that there's often one for every point of view For every “Look before you leap” there's a “He who hesitates is lost.” “A fool and his money are soon parted” can be countered with “To make money you have to spend money.” A cynic once observed, “Proverbs are invaluable treasures to dunces with good memories.” verbatim In the exact words; word for word • It turned out that the writer had lifted long passages verbatim from an earlier, forgotten biography of the statesman Verbatim comes directly from Latin into English with the same spelling and meaning Memorizing famous speeches, poems, or literary passages is a good way to both train the memory and absorb the classic texts of our literature and culture At one time the ability to recite verbatim the Gettysburg Address, the beginning of the Declaration of Independence, and great speeches from Shakespeare was the mark of a well-educated person But when that language was quoted by a writer, he or she was always careful to put quotation marks around it and tell readers who the true author was verbiage wordiness An excess of words, often with little content; • The agency's report was full of unnecessary verbiage, which someone should have edited out before the report was published Government reports are notorious for their unfortunate tendency toward empty verbiage, through part of the reason is simply that officials are anxious to be following all the rules Legal documents are also generally full of verbiage, partly because lawyers want to be sure that every last possibility has been covered and no loopholes have been left But writing that contains unneeded verbiage is often trying to disguise its lack of real substance or clarity of thought And every writer, including government workers and lawyers, should be constantly on the lookout for opportunities to hit the Delete key SIMIL/SIMUL come from the Latin adjective similis, meaning “like, resembling, similar,” and the verb simulare, “to make like.” Two similar things resemble each other Two simultaneous activities proceed at the same time And a facsimile, such as you might receive from your fax machine, looks exactly the same as the original simile A figure of speech, introduced by as or like, that makes a point of comparison between two things different in all other respects • He particularly liked the simile he'd thought of for the last line of the song's chorus, “It felt like a bullet in his heart.” Fiction, poetry, and philosophy have been full of similes for centuries In fact, the oldest literature known to us uses similes, along with their close relatives known as metaphors (see metaphorical) This suggests that similes are an essential part of imaginative writing in all times and all cultures When Tennyson, describing an eagle, writes “And like a thunderbolt he falls,” he's using a simile, since the line makes a specific comparison “The road was a ribbon of moonlight” could be called a metaphor, though “The road was like a ribbon of moonlight” would be a simile assimilate (1) To take in and thoroughly understand (2) To cause to become part of a different society or culture • One of the traditional strengths of American society has been its ability to assimilate one group of immigrants after another Assimilate comes from the Latin verb assimulare, “to make similar,” and it originally applied to the process by which food is taken into the body and absorbed into the system In a similar way, a fact can be taken into the mind, thoroughly digested, and absorbed into one's store of knowledge A newcomer to a job or a subject must assimilate an often confusing mass of information; only after it's been thoroughly absorbed can the person make intelligent use of it An immigrant family assimilates into its new culture by gradually adopting a new language and the habits of their new neighbors—a process that's always easier for the children than for the parents simulacrum imitation A copy, especially a superficial likeness or • As a boy he had filled his bedroom with model fighter jets, and these simulacra had kept his flying fantasies active for years In its original meaning, a simulacrum is simply a representation of something else; so an original oil painting, marble statue, or plastic figurine could all be simulacra (notice the plural form) in the old sense But today the word usually means a copy that's meant to substitute for the real thing—and usually a cheap and inferior copy, a pale imitation of the original So in old Persia a beautifully laid out garden was a simulacrum of paradise Some countries' governments are mere simulacra of democracy, since the people in power always steal the elections by miscounting the votes And a bad actor might a simulacrum of grief on the stage that doesn't convince anyone simulate (1) To take on the appearance or effect of something, often in order to deceive (2) To make a realistic imitation of something, such as a physical environment • The armed services have made extensive use of video games to simulate the actual experience of warfare for their recruits The zircon, that favorite of home shopping channels, simulates a diamond— more or less A skilled furrier can dye lower-grade furs to simulate real mink A skilled actress can simulate a range of emotions from absolute joy to crushing despair And an apparatus that simulates the hazards of driving while intoxicated is likely to provide some very real benefits Quiz 25-4 A Complete the analogy: freezing : melting :: dissolution : _ a unification b separation c death d defiance pneumatic : air :: hydraulic : _ a solid b gas c liquid d evaporation request : plea :: absolution : _ a accusation b forgiveness c requirement d loss sterility : bacteria :: hydroponics : _ a water b soil c air d fire determined : hesitant :: soluble : _ a moist b dry c unexplainable d possible nuclear : uranium :: hydroelectric : _ a coal b petroleum c dynamics d water puzzle : mystery :: resolution : _ a determination b delay c detection d demand drain : replenish :: dehydrate : _ a find b dry out c rehydrate d add Answers B Indicate whether the following pairs of words have the same or different meanings: hydraulic / electric same _ / different _ soluble / explainable same _ / different _ dehydrate / dry same _ / different _ dissolution / disintegration same _ / different _ hydroelectric / solar-powered same _ / different _ resolution / attitude same _ / different _ hydroponics / waterworks same _ / different _ absolution / forgiveness same _ / different _ Answers Greek and Latin Borrowings aegis (1) Something that protects or defends; shield (2) Sponsorship or guidance by an individual or organization • The conference was held under the aegis of the World Affairs Council, which provided almost all of the funding The original aegis was a goatskin shield or breastplate, symbolizing majesty, that was worn by Zeus and his daughter Athena in Greek mythology Athena's aegis bore the severed head of the monstrous Medusa Aegis came to be used for any kind of invulnerable shield But today we almost always use the word in the phrase “under the aegis of ,” which means “under the authority, sponsorship, or control of.” charisma (1) An extraordinary gift for leadership that attracts popular support and enthusiasm (2) A special ability to attract or charm; magnetism • Many later leaders have envied the charisma of Napoleon Bonaparte, who many of his followers genuinely believed to be immortal Charisma is Greek for “gift,” but its traditional meaning comes from Christian belief, where it originally referred to an extraordinary power—the gift of healing, the gift of tongues, or the gift of prophecy—bestowed on an individual by the Holy Spirit The first nonreligious use of charisma didn't appear until the 20th century, when it was applied to that mysterious personal magnetism that a lucky few seem to possess, especially the magnetism with which a political leader can arouse great popular enthusiasm When John F Kennedy was elected president in 1960, its use by journalists popularized the term in the mass media Since then, actors, rock stars, athletes, generals, and entrepreneurs have all been said to possess charisma ego (1) A sense of confidence and satisfaction in oneself; self-esteem (2) An exaggerated sense of self-importance • His raging ego was what his fellow lawyers remembered about him—his tantrums, his vanity, his snobbery, and all the rest of it Ego is the Latin word for “I.“ So if a person seems to begin every sentence with “I,” it's sometimes a sign of a big ego It was the psychologist Sigmund Freud (well, actually his original translator) who put ego into the popular vocabulary, but what he meant by the word is complex, so only other psychologists really use it in the Freudian sense The rest of us generally use ego simply to mean one's sense of self-worth, whether exaggerated or not When used in the “exaggerated” sense, ego is almost the same thing as conceit Meeting a superstar athlete without a trace of this kind of ego would be a most refreshing experience But having a reasonable sense of your own worth is no sin Life's little everyday victories are good—in fact, necessary— for a healthy ego ethos The features, attitudes, moral code, or basic beliefs that define a person, a group, or an institution • The company's ethos has always been an interesting blend of greed and generosity Ethos means “custom” or “character” in Greek As originally used by Aristotle, it referred to a man's character or personality, especially in its balance between passion and caution Today ethos is used to refer to the practices or values that distinguish one person, organization, or society from others So we often hear of the ethos of rugged individualism and selfsufficiency on the American frontier in the 19th century; and a critic might complain about, for example, the ethos of violence in the inner cities or the ethos of permissiveness in the suburbs hubris Unreasonable or unjustified pride or self-confidence • Two hours later, the team's boastful pregame hubris bumped into the embarrassing reality of defeat To the Greeks, hubris referred to extreme pride, especially pride and ambition so great that they offend the gods and lead to one's downfall Hubris was a character flaw often seen in the heroes of classical Greek tragedy, including Oedipus and Achilles The familiar old saying “Pride goeth before a fall” is basically talking about hubris id The part of a person's unconscious mind that relates to basic needs and desires • His own id often scared him, especially when a sudden violent impulse would well up out of nowhere In Latin, id means simply “it.” Sigmund Freud (and his translator) brought the word into the modern vocabulary as the name of what Freud believed to be one of the three basic elements of the human personality, the other two being the ego (see ego) and the superego According to Freud, the id is the first of these to develop, and is the home of the body's basic instincts, particularly those involving sex and aggression Since the id lacks logic, reason, or even organization, it can contain conflicting impulses Primitive in nature, it wants to be satisfied immediately Although its workings are completely unconscious, Freud believed that its contents could be revealed in works of art, in slips of the tongue (“Freudian slips”), and in one's dreams libido (1) Sexual drive (2) In psychoanalytic theory, energy that is derived from primitive biological urges and is usually goal-oriented • She would sit at home trying not to think about where his unmanageable libido had led him this time The Latin word libido, meaning “desire, lust,” was borrowed by Sigmund Freud as the name for a concept in his own theories At first he defined libido to mean the instinctual energy associated with the sex drive Later he broadened the word's meaning and began using it to mean the mental energy behind purposeful human activity of any kind; in other words, the libido (for which Freud also used the term eros, a Greek word meaning “sexual love”) came to be regarded as the life instinct, which included sex along with all the other impulses we rely on to keep us alive But those of us who aren't psychologists use the word simply as a synonym for “sex drive.” trauma (1) A serious injury to the body (2) An abnormal psychological state caused by mental or emotional stress or physical injury • Fifteen years later, their adopted Cambodian daughter was still having nightmares in which she relived the trauma of those terrible years Trauma is the Greek word for “wound.” Although the Greeks used the term only for physical injuries, nowadays trauma is just as likely to refer to emotional wounds We now know that a traumatic event can leave psychological symptoms long after any physical injuries have healed The psychological reaction to emotional trauma now has an established name: post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD It usually occurs after an extremely stressful event, such as wartime combat, a natural disaster, or sexual or physical abuse; its symptoms include depression, anxiety, flashbacks, and recurring nightmares Quiz 25-5 Fill in each blank with the correct letter: a charisma b libido c aegis d id e ethos f trauma g ego h hubris It seems like _ to brag about a victory before it has been won It took her just a few weeks to recover from the physical _, but the emotional scars were still with her years later He has such a massive _ that no praise seems to satisfy him Those who enter the monastery don't lose their _, just their opportunity to satisfy it She's going on a speaking tour through the Middle East under the _ of the State Department Attracting and motivating such a terrific faculty required a principal of great personal _ The wildest of these underground comic books seem to be a pure expression of the teenage _ She joined the church because of its _ of tolerance and social service Answers Review Quizzes 25 A Complete the analogy: tag : label :: pseudonym : _ a last name b title c maiden name d alias drama : play :: trauma : _ a wound b harm c mind d emotion allow : prohibit :: proscribe : _ a hesitate b stick c permit d lead tune : melody :: proverb : _ a poem b song c story d saying extent : length :: simile : _ a shape b contrast c kind d comparison mob : crowd :: ego : _ a self b other c friend d same deceive : mislead :: simulate : _ a increase b excite c grow d imitate disease : cure :: dissolution : _ a disintegration b unification c departure d solidity baby : mother :: descendant : _ a brother b offspring c child d ancestor 10 soak : drench :: dehydrate : _ a liquidate b dry c dissolve d adjust Answers B Fill in each blank with the correct letter: a transcend i id b libido j condescend c verbose k hydroponics d patronymic l ethos e circumscribe m proscribe f absolution n resolution g simile o conscription h verbatim The doctor warned her that her _ would be reduced while she was on the medication The use of _ and greenhouses enables the floral industry to operate yearround He'd been very nervous about seeing her again, so when she smiled at him it felt like a kind of _ Stevenson was originally a _ (“Steven's son”), which was later sometimes shortened to Stevens Military professionals often dislike _ because most of the recruits don't want to be in the armed services He invites his wife's family to their place on holidays, but he would never _ to go to their house instead Since the tape recorder wasn't turned on, there's no _ record of the meeting The worst _ in the song is the one that compares his beloved to a really solid six-cylinder engine Occasionally the Congress will try to _ the president's power, but they usually end up deciding they'd rather not have the new responsibilities themselves 10 All the states now _ smoking inside public buildings 11 She hates school, and she lacks the _ to complete her high-school equivalency degree on her own 12 These made-for-TV movies are made for very little money and almost never _ the lowest level of acting and production 13 In my afternoon class there's an extremely _ guy whose “questions” sometimes go on for five minutes 14 The _ is completely primitive and reacts unthinkingly according to the pleasure-pain principle 15 There's something very wrong with a company's _ when the employees who get ahead are the ones who tell on their friends Answers C Match each word on the left to its correct definition on the right: inscription a domination verbiage b personal magnetism dehydrate c prohibit simulacrum d replica soluble e protection hubris f mistake fallacy g dissolvable dissolution h breakup aegis i excessive pride 10 hydraulic j involving liquid 11 ascendancy k absorb 12 proscribe l wordiness 13 assimilate m saying 14 charisma n dry 15 proverb o dedication Answers ... writer, including government workers and lawyers, should be constantly on the lookout for opportunities to hit the Delete key SIMIL/SIMUL come from the Latin adjective similis, meaning “like,... simulates the hazards of driving while intoxicated is likely to provide some very real benefits Quiz 25- 1 A Fill in each blank with the correct letter: a simulacrum b verbiage c simulate d verbatim... devotional names, as Agnes Bojaxhiu did in 1931 (“Teresa,” later known as “Mother Teresa”) Quiz 25- 2 A Choose the closest definition: ascendancy a growth b climb c dominance d rank eponymous a