TỪ VỰNG TOEIC unit 15

Unit 15TERM/TERMIN GEO SPHER VERT MORPH FORM DOC/DOCT TUT/TUI DI/DUP BI/BIN Number Words Quiz 15-1 Quiz 15-2 Quiz 15-3 Quiz 15-4 Quiz 15-5 Review Quizzes 15 TERM/TERMIN comes from the La

Unit 15

TERM/TERMIN GEO SPHER VERT MORPH FORM DOC/DOCT

TUT/TUI DI/DUP BI/BIN Number Words

Quiz 15-1 Quiz 15-2 Quiz 15-3 Quiz 15-4 Quiz 15-5 Review Quizzes 15

TERM/TERMIN comes from the Latin verb terminare, “to limit, bound, or

set limits to,” and the noun terminus, “limit or boundary.” In English, those boundaries or limits tend to be final A term goes on for a given amount of time and then ends, and to terminate a sentence or a meeting or a ballgame

means to end it

terminal (1) Forming or relating to an end or limit (2) Fatal

• She knows she's in the late stages of a terminal illness, and has alreadydrawn up a will

A terminal disease ends in death If you're terminally bored, you're “bored to

death.” For many students, a high-school diploma is their terminal degree

(others finish college before terminating their education) A bus or train terminal is the endpoint of the line A computer terminal was originally the

endpoint of a line connecting to a central computer A terminal ornament maymark the end of a building, and terminal punctuation ends this sentence

indeterminate Not precisely determined; vague

• The police are looking for a tall white bearded man of indeterminate agewho should be considered armed and dangerous

When you determine something, you decide on what it is, which means you

put limits or boundaries on its identity So something indeterminate lacksidentifying limits A mutt is usually the product of indeterminate breeding,since at least the father's identity is generally a mystery A painting ofindeterminate origins is normally less valued than one with the painter's name

on it And if negotiations are left in an indeterminate state, nothing has beendecided

interminable Having or seeming to have no end;tiresomely drawn out

• The preacher was making another of his interminable pleas for money, soshe snapped off the TV

Nothing is literally endless, except maybe the universe and time itself, so

interminable as we use it is always an exaggeration On an unlucky day you

might sit through an interminable meeting, have an interminable drive home

in heavy traffic, and watch an interminable film—all in less than 24 hours

terminus (1) The end of a travel route (such as a rail or busline), or the station at the end of a route (2) An extreme point; tip

• They've been tracking the terminus of the glacier for 20 years, in whichtime it has retreated 500 yards

This word comes straight from Latin In the Roman empire, a terminus was aboundary stone, and all boundary stones had a minor god associated withthem, whose name was Terminus Terminus was a kind of keeper of thepeace, since wherever there was a terminus there could be no argumentsabout where your property ended and your neighbor's property began SoTerminus even had his own festival, the Terminalia, when images of the godwere draped with flower garlands Today the word shows up in all kinds ofplaces, including in the name of numerous hotels worldwide built near a city'srailway terminus

GEO comes from the Greek word for “Earth.” Geography is the science that

deals with features of the Earth's surface Geologists study rocks and soil to learn about the Earth's history and resources Geometry was originally about

measuring portions of the Earth's surface, probably originally in order todetermine where the boundaries of Egyptians' farms lay after the annualflooding by the Nile River

geocentric Having or relating to the Earth as the center

• He claims that, if you aren't a scientist, your consciousness is mostlygeocentric for your entire life

The idea that the Earth is the center of the universe and that the sun revolvesaround it is an ancient one, probably dating back to the earliest humans Notuntil 1543 did the Polish astronomer Copernicus publish his calculationsproving that the Earth actually revolves around the sun, thus replacing the

geocentric model with a heliocentric model (from Helios, the Greek god of the sun) But geocentrism remains central to various religious sects around

the world, and still today one in five adult Americans believes the sunrevolves around the Earth

geophysics The science that deals with the physical processesand phenomena occurring especially in the Earth and in its vicinity

• Located in the heart of oil and gas country, the university offers a degree ingeophysics and many of its graduates go straight to work for the oil and gasindustry

Geophysics applies the principles of physics to the study of the Earth It dealswith such things as the movement of the Earth's crust and the temperatures ofits interior Another subject is the behavior of the still-mysterious

geomagnetic field Some geophysicists seek out deposits of ores or

petroleum; others specialize in earthquakes; still others study the waterbeneath the Earth's surface, where it collects and how it flows

geostationary Being or having an orbit such that asatellite remains in a fixed position above the Earth, especially having such

an orbit above the equator

• It was the science-fiction writer Arthur C Clarke who first conceived of aset of geostationary satellites as a means of worldwide communication

We don't give much thought to geostationary satellites, but many of us rely

on them daily Anyone who watches satellite TV or listens to satellite radio isdependent on them; the weather photos you see on TV are taken fromgeostationary satellites; and military information gathering via satellite goes

on quietly day after day (Though the satellites that provide GPS service foryour car or cell phone actually aren't geostationary, since they orbit the Earthtwice a day.) By 2009 there were about 300 geostationary satellites inoperation, all of them moving at an altitude of about 22,000 miles Since theyhover above the same spot on Earth, your receiving dish or antenna doesn'thave to turn in order to track them

geothermal Of, relating to, or using the natural heatproduced inside the Earth

• Geothermal power plants convert underground water or steam to electricity

Geothermal comes partly from the Greek thermos, “hot” (see

THERM/THERMO) Most geothermal electricity is provided by powerplants situated in areas where there is significant activity of the Earth's greattectonic plates—often the same areas where volcanoes are found But hotwater from deep underground may be used by cities far from volcanoes toheat buildings or sidewalks And a newer source of geothermal energy relies

on a less dramatic kind of heat: Individual homeowners can now install heatpumps that take advantage of the 50°-60° temperature of the soil near thesurface to provide heating in cold weather (and air-conditioning in the warmmonths) These very small-scale geothermal systems may eventually supplymore useful energy than the large power plants

B Fill in each blank with the correct letter:

4 Their land extends all the way out to the _ of the little peninsula

5 He was a man of _ age, and mysterious in other ways as well

6 It was the mystery of the earth's magnetic field that eventually led him intothe field of _

7 He gave _ lectures, and I usually dozed off in the middle

8 Last week we assumed his condition was _; today no one is makingpredictions

Answers

SPHER comes from the Greek word for “ball.” A ball is itself a sphere, as is

the ball that we call Earth So is the atmosphere, and so are several other

invisible “spheres” that encircle the Earth

spherical Relating to a sphere; shaped like a sphere or one of itssegments

• The girls agreed that the spacecraft had been deep blue and perfectlyspherical, and that its alien passengers had resembled large praying mantises

Something spherical is like a sphere in being round, or more or less round, in

three dimensions Apples and oranges are both spherical, for example, even

though they're never perfectly round A spheroid has a roughly spherical shape; so an asteroid, for instance, is often spheroidal—fairly round, but

lumpy

stratosphere (1) The part of the earth's atmosphere thatextends from about seven to about 30 miles above the surface (2) A veryhigh or the highest region

• In the celebrity stratosphere she now occupied, a fee of 12 million dollarsper film was a reasonable rate

The stratosphere (strato- simply means “layer” or “level”) lies above the

earth's weather and mostly changes very little It contains the ozone layer,which shields us from the sun's ultraviolet radiation except where it's been

harmed by manmade chemicals The levels of the atmosphere are marked particularly by their temperatures; stratospheric temperatures rise only to around 32°—very moderate considering that temperatures in the troposphere below may descend to about -70° and those in the ionosphere above may rise

to 1000°

biosphere (1) The part of the world in which life can exist (2)Living things and their environment

• The moon has no biosphere, so an artificial one would have to beconstructed for any long-term stay

The lithosphere is the solid surface of the earth (lith- meaning “rock”); the hydrosphere is the earth's water (hydro- means “water”), including the clouds and water vapor in the air; and the atmosphere is the earth's air (atmos- meaning “vapor”) The term biosphere can include all of these, along with

the 10 million species of living things they contain The biosphere recycles itsair, water, organisms, and minerals constantly to maintain an amazinglybalanced state; human beings should probably do their best to imitate it.Though the word has a new sound to it, it was first used over a hundred yearsago

hemisphere Half a sphere, especially half the global sphere asdivided by the equator or a meridian

• A sailor who crosses the equator from the northern to the southernhemisphere for the first time is traditionally given a special initiation

Hemisphere includes the prefix hemi-, meaning “half.” The northern and

southern hemispheres are divided by the equator, the circle halfway betweenEarth's two poles The eastern and western hemispheres aren't divided soexactly, since there are no poles in the Earth's east-west dimension Often thedividing line is said to be the “prime meridian”—the imaginary north-southline that runs through Greenwich, England, from which all longitude iscalculated (itself being the 0° meridian) But for simplicity's sake, the easternhemisphere is often said to include all of Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia,while the western hemisphere contains North and South America and a greatdeal of ocean

VERT comes from the Latin verb vertere, meaning “to turn” or “to turn

around.” Vertigo is the dizziness that makes it seem as if everything is turning around you And an advertisement turns your attention to a product or

service

divert (1) To turn from one purpose or course to another (2) Togive pleasure to by distracting from burdens or distress

• The farmers had successfully diverted some of the river's water to irrigatetheir crops during the drought

The Roman circus was used to provide diversion for its citizens—and

sometimes to divert their attention from the government's failings as well.The diversion was often in the form of a fight—men pitted against lions,bears, or each other—and the audience was sure to see blood and death A

diverting evening these days might instead include watching the same kind of

mayhem on a movie screen

converter A device that changes something (such as radiosignals, radio frequencies, or data) from one form to another

• She was so indifferent to television that she hadn't even bought a converter,and her old TV sat there useless until she finally lugged it down to therecycling center

Converters come in many forms Travelers to foreign countries who bringalong their electric razors or hair dryers always pack a small electricconverter, which can change direct current to alternating current or viceversa In 2009 millions of Americans bought digital-analog converters, smallbox-shaped devices that change the new broadcast digital signal to the analog

signal that older TV sets were made to receive A catalytic converter is the

pollution-control device attached to your car's exhaust system that convertspollutants such as carbon monoxide into harmless form

avert (1) To turn (your eyes or gaze) away or aside (2) To avoid orprevent

• General Camacho's announcement of lower food prices averted animmediate worker's revolt

Sensitive people avert their eyes from gory accidents and scenes of disaster.But the accident or disaster might itself have been averted if someone hadbeen alert enough Negotiators may avert a strike by all-night talks In theCuban missile crisis of 1962, it seemed that nuclear catastrophe was barely

averted Aversion means “dislike or disgust”—that is, your feeling about

something you can't stand to look at

revert (1) To go back or return (to an earlier state, condition,situation, etc.) (2) To be given back to (a former owner)

• Control of the Panama Canal Zone, first acquired by the U.S in 1903,reverted to the local government in 1999

Since the prefix re- often means “back” (see RE-), the basic meaning of

revert is “turn back.” Revert and reversion often show up in legal documents,

since property is often given to another person on the condition that it willrevert to the original owner at some future date or when something happens(usually the death of the second person) In nonlegal uses, the word tends toshow up in negative contexts Many reformed drinkers, for example,eventually revert to their old ways, and most people revert to smoking at leastonce or twice before succeeding in quitting for good

1 Every living thing that we know of inhabits the earth's _.

2 The generals had discussed what would be involved if they tried to _10,000 troops from Afghanistan to Iraq

3 The _ contains the ozone layer, which guards the earth against excessiveultraviolet radiation

4 She's praying that her daughter doesn't _ to her old habit of partyingseveral nights a week

5 As soon as his normal baseball season is over, my nephew joins a team inthe southern _, where spring training is just starting

6 Only by seizing a cord dangling beside the window did he manage to _disaster

7 By federal law, every gasoline-powered vehicle must have a catalytic _

to reduce pollution

8 Football and rugby balls are ovoid, unlike the _ balls used in othersports

Answers

B Match the word on the left to the correct definition on the right:

1 avert a go back

2 spherical b upper atmosphere

3 divert c device for adapting

MORPH comes from the Greek word for “shape.” Morph is itself an English

word with a brand-new meaning, which was needed when we began todigitally alter photographic images or shapes to make them move ortransform themselves in often astonishing ways

amorphous Without a definite shape or form; shapeless

• Picking up an amorphous lump of clay, she molded it swiftly into a roughhuman shape

According to the Greek myths of the creation, the world began in anamorphous state; and the Bible states that, at the beginning, “the earth waswithout form, and void.” Most of us have had nightmares that consist mostly

of just a looming amorphous but terrifying thing A plan may have so littledetail that critics call it amorphous And a new word may appear to name a

previously amorphous group of people, such as yuppie in 1983 and Generation X six years later.

anthropomorphic (1) Having or described ashaving human form or traits (2) Seeing human traits in nonhuman things

• The old, diseased tree had always been like a companion to her, though shedidn't really approve of such anthropomorphic feelings

Anthropomorphic means a couple of different things In its first sense, an

anthropomorphic cup is a cup in the shape of a human, and anthropomorphicgods are human in appearance—like the Greek and Roman gods, forexample, even though Socrates and others believed that their fellow Greekshad created the gods in their own image rather than the other way around Inits second sense, the animal characters in Aesop's fables are anthropomorphicsince they all have human feelings and thoughts even though they don't looklike humans Thus, when the fox calls the grapes sour simply because they'reout of reach, it's a very human response Thousands of years after Aesop,

anthropomorphism is still alive and well, in the animal stories of Beatrix Potter, George Orwell's Animal Farm, and hundreds of cartoons and comic

strips

metamorphosis (1) A physical change, especiallyone supernaturally caused (2) A developmental change in an animal thatoccurs after birth or hatching

• Day by day the class watched the gradual metamorphosis of the tadpolesinto frogs

Many ancient myths end in a metamorphosis As Apollo is chasing thenymph Daphne, she calls on her river-god father for help and he turns herinto a laurel tree to save her Out of anger and jealousy, the goddess Athenaturns the marvelous weaver Arachne into a spider that will spin only beautiful

webs But natural substances may also metamorphose, or undergo

metamorphosis Heat and pressure over thousands of years may eventuallyturn tiny organisms into petroleum, and coal into diamonds And the mostbeloved of natural metamorphoses (notice how this plural is formed) isprobably the transformation of caterpillars into butterflies

morphology (1) The study of the structure and form of plantsand animals (2) The study of word formation

• The morphology of the mouthparts of the different mayfly species turns out

to be closely related to what they feed on and their methods of eating

Within the field of biology, morphology is the study of the shapes andarrangement of parts of organisms, in order to determine their function, theirdevelopment, and how they may have been shaped by evolution Morphology

is particularly important in classifying species, since it can often reveal howclosely one species is related to another Morphology is studied within othersciences as well, including astronomy and geology And in language,morphology considers where words come from and why they look the waythey do

FORM is the Latin root meaning “shape” or “form.” When you march in

formation, you're moving in ordered patterns And a formula is a standard

form for expressing information, such as a rule written in mathematicalsymbols, or the “Sincerely yours” that often ends a letter

format (1) The shape, size, and general makeup of something (2)

A general plan, arrangement, or choice of material

• The new thesaurus would be published in three formats: as a hardcoverbook, a large paperback, and a CD-ROM

Format is a word that seems to gain more uses with every decade.

Traditionally, people used the word simply to refer to the design of a book ornewspaper page, but today that's only one of its many meanings TV newsshows seem to change their format, or general form, as often as theiranchorpeople, and show types such as situation comedy and crime drama areoften called formats When a radio station gives up playing pop music tobecame a talk station, it's said to be switching formats In the electronic age,

format has also become widely used as a verb; thus, organizing electronic data for storage or other special uses is called formatting (or reformatting).