TỪ VỰNG TOEIC unit 22

Unit 22 ACER/ACR STRICT STRU/STRUCT PROP/PROPRI TORT VIV SERV CLUS Greek and Latin Borrowings Quiz 22-1 Quiz 22-2 Quiz 22-3 Quiz 22-4 Quiz 22-5 Review Quizzes 22 ACER/ACR comes from the Latin adjective acer, meaning “sharp” or “sour.” Grapefruit and limes have an acid taste; acid can also describe a person's sense of humor (other words for it might be sharp or biting) The acidity of the soil often indicates whether it's good for growing certain crops; blueberries, for instance, love acid soil, so they're more likely to be found east of the Mississippi River, where acid soil is the rule acerbic Sharp or biting in temper, mood, or tone • She had enjoyed his acerbic humor for years, but then a friend told her about the nasty jokes he was making about her behind her back Acerbic often describes wit An acerbic critic won't make many friends among the writers or artists whose work is being criticized, but often keeps his or her readers amused and entertained Acerbity may be slightly less sharp than sarcasm, but not much; both words have roots meaning basically “cut.” acrid Unpleasantly sharp and harsh; bitter • The acrid odor of gunpowder in the air long after the shots' echoes had died away Acrid exactly fits the smoke from a fire—a burning building or forest, for example Dense smog may cast an acrid pall over a city, making throats burn and eyes sting But, like acid and acerbic, acrid sometimes also describes nonphysical things, such as the remarks of a bitter person acrimony temper Harsh or bitter sharpness in words, manner, or • Town meetings here were usually civilized, and no one could recall an issue that had ever aroused such intense acrimony as the new pulp mill Acrimony is angry harshness that usually springs from intense personal dislike An acrimonious exchange is full of cutting, unpleasant remarks designed to hurt Civil wars are often more acrimonious and bloody than foreign wars In the same way, a bad divorce may be more acrimonious than any other kind of legal battle exacerbate To make worse, more violent, or more severe • The increase in coal-burning power plants has greatly exacerbated the buildup of greenhouse gases To exacerbate is not to cause, but only to make something bad even worse So the loss of a major industry in a city may exacerbate its already serious unemployment problem A vicious remark can exacerbate a quarrel Building a new mall may exacerbate an area's existing traffic problems A new drug can exacerbate the side effects of the drug a patient is already taking It used to be thought that too much blood in the body exacerbated a fever, so the patient's blood would be drained, often by means of leeches—and not all patients survived STRICT comes from the Latin verb meaning “to draw tight, bind, or tie.” So the English word strict means “tightly controlled.” And when someone begins a sentence “Strictly speaking, ” you know he or she is going to be talking about a word or idea in its most limited sense, “drawing tight” the meaning till it's as narrow as possible stricture (1) A law or rule that limits or controls something; restriction (2) A strong criticism • There are severe legal strictures on the selling of marijuana in almost every state Stricture has meant many things through the centuries, and its “restriction” meaning—probably the most common one today—is actually the most recent High-school teachers often put strictures on texting during class Cities concerned about their murder rate have slapped strictures on the possession of handguns And the United Nations may vote to put strictures on arms sales to a country that keeps violating international treaties With the meaning “strong criticism,” stricture is slightly old-fashioned today, but it's still used by intellectuals So, for example, an article may amount to a harsh stricture on the whole medical profession, or an art review may just express the critic's strictures on sentimental paintings of cute little houses with glowing windows restrictive (1) Serving or likely to keep within bounds (2) Serving or tending to place under limits as to use • The deed to the property had a restrictive covenant forbidding any development of the land for 50 years Restrictive covenants (that is, agreements) in real-estate deeds were once used to forbid the buyer from ever selling the property to anyone of another race These are now illegal, though other kinds of restrictive covenants are very common; in some neighborhoods, they may even tell you what colors you can't paint your house In grammar, a restrictive clause is one that limits the meaning of something that comes before it In the sentence “That's the professor who I'm trying to avoid,” “who I'm trying to avoid” is a restrictive clause, since it's what identifies the professor But in the sentence “That's my History professor, who I'm trying to avoid,” the same clause is nonrestrictive, since the professor has already been identified as “my History professor.” There should always be a comma before a nonrestrictive clause, but not before a restrictive clause constrict (1) To draw together or make narrow (2) To limit • She felt that small towns, where everyone seems to know every move you make and is just waiting to gossip about it, can constrict your life terribly Arteries constricted by cholesterol slow the flow of blood, just as traffic arteries or highways constricted by accidents slow the flow of traffic But constriction isn't always physical Economic growth may be constricted by trade barriers A narrow, constricted life may be the result of poverty or lack of opportunity And an actress may feel constricted by a role she played as a child or by her TV character from years ago, which the public refuses to forget vasoconstrictor a drug that narrows a blood vessel Something such as a nerve fiber or • For operations like this, my dentist likes to use a vasoconstrictor to keep bleeding to a minimum Our blood vessels are constantly narrowing and widening in response to our activity or our environment, constricting in order to retain body heat and widening to get rid of excess heat So when we're hot our skin flushes, and when we're very cold we become pale Since the width of the blood vessels affects blood pressure, vasoconstrictors are prescribed to treat low blood pressure Vasoconstrictors include antihistamines and amphetamines, as well as nicotine and caffeine; we commonly buy them for our runny noses and bloodshot eyes as well The opposite of vasoconstrictors are vasodilators, which are commonly used to treat high blood pressure Quiz 22-4 A Complete the analogy: freedom : liberty :: servitude : _ a determination b arrangement c slavery d work inclusive : many :: exclusive : _ a everyone b numerous c few d snobbish considerate : thoughtless :: subservient : _ a boastful b bossy c decisive d unique monk : pray :: recluse : _ a deny b receive c reclaim d hide fashionable : stylish :: serviceable : _ a useless b devoted c fundamental d adequate progress : advance :: occlusion : _ a dismissal b obstruction c prevention d denial dominant : aggressive :: servile : _ a saving b sensitive c obedient d forgetful conclusion : ending :: seclusion : _ a refusal b relaxation c isolation d denial Answers B Indicate whether the following pairs of words have the same or different meanings: occlusion / stroke same _ / different _ subservient / military same _ / different _ recluse / hermit same _ / different _ serviceable / usable same _ / different _ exclusive / sole same _ / different _ servitude / enslavement same _ / different _ seclusion / solitude same _ / different _ servile / humble same _ / different _ Answers Greek and Latin Borrowings acme Highest point; summit, peak • Last Saturday's upset victory over Michigan may prove to have been the acme of the entire season In Greek, acme meant a mountain peak, but in English we hardly ever use it in the physical sense Instead we speak of someone's new job as the acme of her career, or of a certain leap as the acme of classical dance technique In old Road Runner cartoons, the Acme Company is the provider of every ingenious device imaginable But the word can't always be taken quite literally as a brand or company name; it's possible, for instance, that something called the Acme Bar & Grill may not be the absolutely highest and best example of a bar and grill And don't confuse acme with acne, the skin disorder—even though both actually come from the same word catharsis or spirit A cleansing or purification of the body, emotions, • Having broken down sobbing at the funeral, he said afterwards that it had felt like a catharsis One of the earliest uses of catharsis is in Aristotle's Poetics, where the philosopher claims that watching a tragedy provides the spectators with a desirable catharsis because of the buildup and release of the emotions of pity and fear Sigmund Freud borrowed the term as a name for the process of bringing a set of unconscious desires and ideas back into consciousness in order to eliminate their bad effects Today some people claim it's cathartic to merely express your anger or grief, since it “gets it out of your system.” Laxatives are also called cathartic, since they provide a physical catharsis that some people believe to be healthful But there's no general agreement about any of this, and the notion of catharsis remains a very personal one colossus (1) A gigantic statue (2) A person or thing that resembles such a statue in size or activity or influence • Even if Citizen Kane had been his only movie, Orson Welles would be regarded as a colossus in the history of film The original colossi (notice the plural form) were the larger-than-life statues made by the Greeks and Romans The most famous of these was the Colossus of Rhodes, a statue of the sun god Helios built on the Greek island of Rhodes around 280 B.C that was over 100 feet tall and took more than 12 years to build The Statue of Liberty is a modern colossus, enormous and stately, at the entrance to New York Harbor And someone who has played a colossal role in history, such as Winston Churchill, may be called a colossus as well detritus Loose material that results from disintegration; debris • The base of the cliff was littered with the detritus of centuries of erosion After the first hard freeze of fall, gardens are sadly littered with the detritus of the summer's plants and produce: stalks, leaves, vines, rotted vegetables, and maybe even a hand trowel left behind As the flooding Mississippi River retreats back to its ordinary course, it leaves detritus behind in its wake, debris gathered from everywhere by the raging waters The detritus of civilization may include junkyards and abandoned buildings; mental detritus may includes all kinds of useless trivia Notice how this word is pronounced; for some reason, people often try to accent the first syllable rather than the second hoi polloi The general population; the masses • He's a terrible snob, the kind of person who thinks it's funny to say things like “the riffraff” and “the hoi polloi” and “the great unwashed.” In Greek, hoi polloi means simply “the many.” (Even though hoi itself means “the,” in English we almost always say “the hoi polloi.”) It comes originally from the famous Funeral Oration by Pericles, where it was actually used in a positive way Today it's generally used by people who think of themselves as superior—though it's also sometimes used in Pericles' democratic spirit By the way, it has no relation to hoity-toity, meaning “stuck-up,” which starts with the same sound but has nothing to with Greek kudos (1) Fame and renown that result from an achievement; prestige (2) Praise • His first film earned him kudos at the independent film festivals, and the big studios were soon calling him up Kudos is an odd word in English In Greek, kydos meant “glory” or “prestige”; in other words, it wasn't something you could count But in English kudos looks like a plural and is therefore often treated as one So people now sometimes use the form kudo, with kudos as its plural onus A disagreeable necessity or obligation; responsibility • Now that Congress has passed the bill, the onus is on the President to live up to his promise and sign it into law In Latin onus means literally a “burden,” like a particularly heavy backpack But in English an onus is more often a burden of responsibility or blame In legal language, the onus probandi is the “burden of proof,” meaning the big job of assembling enough evidence to prove a person's guilt, since the accused is innocent until proved guilty stigma A mark of shame: stain • In these small villages, the stigma of pregnancy is a terrible thing for an unmarried girl In Greek and Latin, a stigma was a mark or brand, especially one that marked a slave, so a stigma marked a person as inferior When the plural form stigmata is used, it usually refers to the nail wounds on Christ's hands and feet, wounds which have sometimes reappeared on the hands or feet of later worshippers such as St Francis When stigma began to be used in English, it usually meant the kind of mark or stain you can't actually see So today we hear about the stigma of homelessness, the stigma of overweight, and the stigma of mental illness People may be so afraid of being stigmatized for losing a job that they'll put on their office clothes and drive out their driveways every weekday morning so that the neighbors won't know Quiz 22-5 Fill in each blank with the correct letter: a kudos b colossus c acme d catharsis e hoi polloi f detritus g stigma h onus Now that they have apologized, the _ is on you to the same The storm waves had left the beach littered with _ For many years Microsoft has remained the _ of the software industry, feared by all its competitors In the 1950s the _ of divorce was strong enough that a divorced man almost couldn't run for high office She says she and her fellow stars would never go near a restaurant where the _ might be eating At the _ of his racing career, Bold Ruler won the Kentucky Derby His painting is obviously a kind of _ for him, and his works are filled with violent images A young Korean pianist has been winning _ from critics worldwide Answers Review Quizzes 22 A Complete the analogy: rule : regulation :: stricture : _ a criticism b injury c dislike d bravery demanding : effortless :: tortuous : _ a twisting b winding c straight d descending expensive : costly :: exclusive : _ a indirect b fantastic c experienced d fashionable criticism : error :: kudos : _ a praise b prestige c blame d achievement experiment : subject :: vivisection : _ a botany b biology c bacteria d animals inspect : examine :: construe : _ a condemn b continue c contend d interpret appropriate : take :: expropriate : _ a proclaim b seize c expel d complete funny : comical :: acerbic : _ a distrustful b sarcastic c witty d cheerful praise : compliment :: onus : _ a load b habit c obligation d reputation 10 capable : helpless :: serviceable : _ a useless b useful c practical d formal Answers B Fill in each blank with the correct letter: a extort i tortuous b exacerbate j seclusion c appropriate k vivacious d constrict l colossus e detritus m restrictive f convivial n propriety g servitude o occlusion h infrastructure The collapsing bridge was only the latest evidence of the city's deteriorating _ She began a long and _ explanation of why she had stayed out so late, but her parents weren't buying it The _ of the mountain hut was just what she needed to begin serious work on her book The children at the orphanage lived in a condition of genuine _, often working from dawn to dusk They often joined their neighbors for a _ evening of Scrabble or charades The steep bank had become a dumping ground, and _ of all kinds lay at the bottom His diet had been terrible for years, so he wasn't surprised when the doctor reported a near _ of one coronary artery The company's new standards of _ prohibited taking any large gifts from salespeople There were several _ clauses in the house contract, including one that required weekly mowing of the lawn 10 The statue for the plaza would be a 30-foot-high _ representing Atlas holding the globe 11 She had been a _ teenager, but had become rather quiet and serious by her thirties 12 She was forced to practically _ the money from her husband with threats 13 Dr Moss warned him that any drinking would only _ his condition 14 The legislature had decided to _ funds for new harbor facilities 15 She feared that marriage and a family would _ her life unbearably Answers C Choose the closest definition: acerbic a spicy b tangy c mild d stinging deconstruction a analysis b destruction c breaking d theory acme a monument b peak c honor d award subservient a arrogant b submissive c demanding d underneath contort a torture b twist c turn d twirl instrumental a instructive b intelligent c helpful d fortunate catharsis a explosion b cleansing c pollution d cough acrid a pleasant b crazed c irritating d soothing stigma a sting b statue c stain d stalk 10 recluse a spider b hermit c request d hiding place 11 acrimony a breakup b dispute c bitterness d custody 12 propriety a misbehavior b suitability c harassment d drama 13 servile a efficient b pleasant c humble d unnerving 14 tort a cake b twist c wrong d law 15 revivify a retreat b rewrite c reappear d refresh Answers ... concerned about their murder rate have slapped strictures on the possession of handguns And the United Nations may vote to put strictures on arms sales to a country that keeps violating international... constricted by trade barriers A narrow, constricted life may be the result of poverty or lack of opportunity And an actress may feel constricted by a role she played as a child or by her TV character... of vasoconstrictors are vasodilators, which are commonly used to treat high blood pressure Quiz 22- 1 A Indicate whether the following pairs of words have the same or different meanings: exacerbate