TỪ VỰNG TOEIC unit 2

Unit 2MANIA PSYCH CEPT FIN JECT TRACT DUC/DUCT SEQU Words fromMythology Quiz 2-1 Quiz 2-2 Quiz 2-3 Quiz 2-4 Quiz 2-5 Review Quizzes 2 MANIA in Latin means “madness,” and the meaning pass

Unit 2

MANIA PSYCH CEPT FIN JECT TRACT DUC/DUCT SEQU Words fromMythology

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

MANIA in Latin means “madness,” and the meaning passed over into

English unchanged Our word mania can mean a mental illness, or at least an excessive enthusiasm We might call someone a maniac who was wild,

violent, and mentally ill—or maybe just really enthusiastic about something

Too much caffeine might make you a bit manic But the intense mood swings once known as manic-depressive illness are now usually called bipolar disorder instead.

kleptomania A mental illness in which a person has astrong desire to steal things

• Kleptomania leads its sufferers to steal items of little value that they don'tneed anyway

Klepto- comes from the Greek word kleptein, “to steal.” Even though

kleptomania is often the butt of jokes, it's actually a serious mental illness,often associated with mood disorders, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, andsubstance abuse Klepotomaniacs tend to be depressed, and many live lives ofsecret shame because they're afraid to seek treatment

dipsomaniac A person with an extreme anduncontrollable desire for alcohol

• She didn't like the word alcoholic being applied to her, and liked

dipsomaniac even less

Dipsomaniac comes from the Greek noun dipsa, “thirst,” but thirst usually

has nothing to do with it Some experts distinguish between an alcoholic and

a dipsomaniac, reserving dipsomaniac for someone involved in frequent

episodes of binge drinking and blackouts In any case, there are plenty of less

respectful words for a person of similar habits: sot, lush, wino, souse, boozer, guzzler, tippler, tosspot, drunkard, boozehound the list goes on and on and

on

megalomaniac A mental disorder marked byfeelings of great personal power and importance

• When the governor started calling for arming his National Guard withnuclear weapons, the voters finally realized they had elected a megalomaniac

Since the Greek root megalo- means “large,” someone who is megalomaniacal has a mental disorder marked by feelings of personal grandeur Megalomania has probably afflicted many rulers throughout

history: The Roman emperor Caligula insisted that he be worshipped as aliving god Joseph Stalin suffered from the paranoia that often accompaniesmegalomania, and had thousands of his countrymen executed as a result J.-

B Bokassa, dictator of a small and extremely poor African nation,proclaimed himself emperor of the country he renamed the Central AfricanEmpire And even democratically elected leaders have often acquired huge

egos as a result of public acclaim But megalomaniac is generally thrown

around as an insult and rarely refers to real mental illness

egomaniac Someone who is extremely self-centeredand ignores the problems and concerns of others

• He's a completely unimpressive person, but that doesn't keep him frombeing an egomaniac

Ego is Latin for “I,” and in English ego usually means “sense of self-worth.”

Most people's egos stay at a healthy level, but some become exaggerated.Egomaniacs may display a grandiose sense of self-importance, with fantasiesabout their own brilliance or beauty, intense envy of others, a lack of

sympathy, and a need to be adored or feared But, like megalomaniac, the word egomaniac is thrown around by lots of people who don't mean much more by it than blowhard or know-it-all.

PSYCH comes from the Greek word psyche, meaning “breath, life, soul.”

Psychology is the science of mind and behavior, and a psychologist treats or studies the mental problems of individuals and groups Psychiatry is a branch

of medicine that deals with mental and emotional disorders, and a

psychiatrist (like any other doctor) may prescribe drugs to treat them.

psyche Soul, personality, mind

• Analysts are constantly trying to understand the nation's psyche and why theU.S often behaves so differently from other countries

Sometime back in the 16th century, we borrowed the word psyche directly

from Greek into English In Greek mythology, Psyche was a beautifulprincess who fell in love with Eros (Cupid), god of love, and went throughterrible trials before being allowed to marry him The story is oftenunderstood to be about the soul redeeming itself through love (To the

Greeks, psyche also meant “butterfly,” which suggests how they imagined the soul.) In English, psyche often sounds less spiritual than soul, less intellectual than mind, and more private than personality.

psychedelic (1) Of or relating to a drug (such as LSD) thatproduces abnormal and often extreme mental effects such as hallucinations.(2) Imitating the effects of psychedelic drugs

• In her only psychedelic experience, back in 1970, she had watched withhorror as the walls began crawling with bizarrely colored creatures

The most famous—or notorious—of the psychedelic drugs is LSD, acompound that can be obtained from various mushrooms and other fungi but

is usually created in the lab The other well-known psychedelics are

psilocybin (likewise obtained from fungi) and mescaline (obtained frompeyote cactus) How psychedelics produce their effects is still fairlymysterious, partly because research ceased for almost 20 years because oftheir reputation, but scientists are determined to find the answers and muchresearch is now under way Psychedelics are now used to treat anxiety inpatients with cancer, and are being tested in the treatment of such seriousconditions as severe depression, alcoholism, and drug addiction

psychosomatic Caused by mental or emotionalproblems rather than by physical illness

• Her doctor assumed her stomach problems were psychosomatic but gaveher some harmless medication anyway

Since the Greek word soma means “body,” psychosomatic suggests the link

between mind and body Since one's mental state may have an importanteffect on one's physical state, research on new medicines always involvesgiving some patients in the experiment a placebo (fake medicine), and somewho receive the sugar pills will seem to improve You may hear someone say

of someone else's symptoms, “Oh, it's probably just psychosomatic,”implying that the physical pain or illness is imaginary—maybe just anattempt to get sympathy—and that the person could will it away if he or shewanted to But this can be harsh and unfair, since, whatever the cause is, thepain is usually real

psychotherapist One who treats mental or emotionaldisorder or related bodily ills by psychological means

• He's getting medication from a psychiatrist, but it's his sessions with thepsychotherapist that he really values

Many psychologists offer psychological counseling, and psychological

counseling can usually be called psychotherapy, so many psychologists can

be called psychotherapists The most intense form of psychotherapy, called

psychoanalysis, usually requires several visits a week A competing type of therapy known as behavior therapy focuses on changing a person's behavior

(often some individual habit such as stuttering, tics, or phobias) withoutlooking very deeply into his or her mental state

Quiz 2-1

A Fill in each blank with the correct letter:

a psychedelic b kleptomania c psyche d egomaniac e megalomaniac f.psychosomatic g dipsomaniac h psychotherapist

1 Her boss was an _ who always needed someone around telling him howbrilliant he was 2 Testing _ drugs on cancer patients was difficult because

of their unpredictable mental effects 3 By now the dictator had begun tostrike some observers as a possibly dangerous _

4 His fear of AIDS was so intense that he'd been developing _ symptoms,which his doctor hardly bothered to check out anymore

5 After finding several of her missing things in the other closet, she beganwondering if her roommate was an ordinary thief or actually suffering from _

6 They'd only been together two weeks, but already she suspected there was

a lot hidden in the depths of her boyfriend's _

7 A medical report from 1910 had identified her great-grandfather as a _,and ten years later his alcoholism would kill him

8 He hated the thought of drugs but knew he needed someone to talk to, sohis brother recommended a local _

Answers

B Match each word on the left to the best definition on the right:

1 psyche a alcoholic

2 egomaniac b caused by the mind

3 psychotherapist c person deluded by thoughts of grandeur

4 psychosomatic d producing hallucinations

5 dipsomaniac e compulsive thieving

6 megalomaniac f mind

7 kleptomania g extremely self-centered person

8 psychedelic h “talk” doctor

Answers

CEPT comes from the Latin verb meaning “take, seize.” Capture, which is

what a captor has done to a captive, has the same meaning Captivate once

meant literally “capture,” but now means only to capture mentally throughcharm or appeal But in some other English words this root produces, such asthose below, its meaning is harder to find

reception (1) The act of receiving (2) A social gatheringwhere guests are formally welcomed

• Although the reception of her plan by the board of directors wasenthusiastic, it was months before anything was done about it

Reception is the noun form of receive So at a formal reception, guests are

received or welcomed or “taken in.” A bad TV reception means the signalisn't being received well When a new novel receives good reviews, we say ithas met with a good critical reception If it gets a poor reception, on the other

hand, that's the same as saying that it wasn't well-received.

intercept To stop, seize, or interrupt (something or someone)before arrival

• The explosives had been intercepted by police just before being loaded ontothe jet

Since the prefix inter means “between” (see INTER), it's not hard to see how intercept was created Arms shipments coming to a country are sometimes intercepted, but such interceptions can sometimes be understood as acts of

war In football, soccer, and basketball, players try to intercept the ball as it'sbeing passed by the other team In years gone by, letters and documents beingcarried between officers or officials were sometimes intercepted when thecarrier was caught; today, when these communications are generallyelectronic, an intercepted e-mail isn't actually stopped, but simply readsecretly by a third party

perceptible Noticeable or able to be felt by the senses

• Her change in attitude toward him was barely perceptible, and he couldn't

be sure he wasn't just imagining it

Perceptible includes the prefix per-, meaning “through,” so the word refers to whatever can be taken in through the senses A perceptive person picks up

minor changes, small clues, or hints and shades of meaning that others can't

perceive, so one person's perception—a tiny sound, a slight change in the

weather, a different tone of voice—often won't be perceptible to another

susceptible (1) Open to some influence; responsive (2)Able to be submitted to an action or process

• She impressed everyone immediately with her intelligence, so they're nowhighly susceptible to her influence and usually go along with anything sheproposes

With its prefix sus-, “up,” susceptible refers to something or someone that

“takes up” or absorbs like a sponge A sickly child may be susceptible tocolds, and an unlucky adult may be susceptible to back problems A lonelyelderly person may be susceptible to what a con man tells him or her on thephone And students are usually susceptible to the teaching of an imaginativeprofessor—that is, likely to enjoy and learn from it

FIN comes from the Latin word for “end” or “boundary.” Final describes last

things, and a finale or a finish is an ending (And at the end of a French film,

you may just see the word “Fin.”) But its meaning is harder to trace in some

of the other English words derived from it

confine (1) To keep (someone or something) within limits (2) Tohold (someone) in a location

• He had heard the bad news from the CEO, but when he spoke to hisemployees he confined his remarks to a few hints that sales had slipped

Confine means basically to keep someone or something within borders.

Someone confined to a bedroom or a wheelchair is too ill or disabled to beanywhere else A person under “house arrest” is confined to his or her house

by the government At a business meeting, the discussion may be confined to

a single topic A town may keep industrial development confined to one area

by means of zoning And someone confined to the state prison for 20 yearshas probably committed quite a serious crime

definitive (1) Authoritative and final (2) Specifying perfectly

finite Having definite limits

• Her ambitions were infinite, but her wealth was finite

It has come as a shock to many of us to realize that resources such as oil—and the atmosphere's ability to absorb greenhouse gases—are finite ratherthan unlimited The debate continues as to whether the universe is finite or

infinite and, if it's finite, how to think about what lies beyond it Religion has

always concerned itself with the question of the finite (that is, human life on

earth) versus the infinite (God, eternity, and infinity) But finite is mostly

used in scientific writing, often with the meaning “definitely measurable.”

infinitesimal Extremely or immeasurably small

• Looking more closely at the research data, he now saw an odd pattern ofchanges so infinitesimal that they hadn't been noticed before

Just as infinite describes something immeasurable (“without limit”), infinitesimal describes something endlessly small When Antonie van

Leeuwenhoek invented the microscope in the 17th century, he was able to see

organisms that had been thought too infinitesimally small to exist But today's

electron microscope allows us to see infinitesimal aspects of matter that evenLeeuwenhoek could not have imagined

1 By the fall there had been a _ change in the mood of the students.

2 An _ speck of dust on the lens can keep a CD player from functioning

3 They waited weeks to hear about the board's _ of their proposal

4 Let's _ this discussion to just the first part of the proposal

5 Small children are often _ to nightmares after hearing ghost stories inthe dark

6 He was at the post office the next morning, hoping to _ the foolish letter

he had sent yesterday

7 We have a _ number of choices, in fact maybe only three or four

8 This may be the best book on the subject so far, but I wouldn't call it _.Answers

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

JECT comes from jacere, the Latin verb meaning “throw” or “hurl.” To

reject something is to throw (or push) it back; to eject something is to throw (or drive) it out; and to inject something is to throw (or squirt) it into

something else

interject To interrupt a conversation with a comment orremark

• His anger was growing as he listened to the conversation, and every so often

he would interject a crude comment

According to its Latin roots, interject ought to mean literally “throw

between.” For most of the word's history, however, the only things that havebeen interjected have been comments dropped suddenly into a conversation

Interjections are often humorous, and sometimes even insulting, and the best

interjections are so quick that the conversation isn't even interrupted

conjecture To guess

• He was last heard of in Bogotá, and they conjectured that he had met hisend in the Andes at the hands of the guerrillas

Formed with the prefix con-, “together,” conjecture means literally “to throw

together”—that is, to produce a theory by putting together a number of facts

So, for example, Columbus conjectured from his calculations that he would

reach Asia if he sailed westward, and his later conjecture that there was a

“Northwest Passage” by sea from the Atlantic to the Pacific over the NorthAmerican continent was proved correct centuries later

projection An estimate of what might happen in the futurebased on what is happening now

• The president has been hearing different deficit projections all week fromthe members of his economic team

Projection has various meanings, but what they all have in common is that something is sent out or forward A movie is projected onto a screen; a

skilled actress projects her voice out into a large theater without seeming toshout; and something sticking out from a wall can be called a projection Butthe meaning we focus on here is the one used by businesses andgovernments Most projections of this kind are estimates of a company's sales

or profits—or of the finances of a town, state, or country—sometime in thefuture

trajectory The curved path that an object makes in space, orthat a thrown object follows as it rises and falls to earth

• Considering the likely range, trajectory, and accuracy of a bullet fired from

a cheap handgun at 100 yards, the murder seemed incredible

Formed with part of the prefix trans-, “across,” trajectory means a “hurling

across.” By calculating the effect of gravity and other forces, the trajectory of

an object launched into space at a known speed can be computed precisely.Missiles stand a chance of hitting their target only if their trajectory has beenplotted accurately The word is used most often in physics and engineering,but not always; we can also say, for example, that the trajectory of a wholelife may be set in a person's youth, or that a new book traces the longtrajectory of the French empire

TRACT comes from trahere, the Latin verb meaning “drag or draw.”

Something attractive draws us toward it Something distracting pulls your attention away And when you extract something from behind the sofa, you

drag it out