Teaching vocabularies through collocation (dạy từ vựng qua collocation cụm từ cố định)

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SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ……….

TRƯỜNG THPT ….

BÁO CÁO CHUYÊN ĐỀ

TEACHING VOCABULARIES THROUGH

COLLOCATION

Tác giả: ………

……

THÔNG TIN CHUNG VỀ CHUYÊN ĐỀ

1 Tên chuyên đề: Teaching vocabularies through collocation (Dạy từ vựng qua

collocation- cụm từ cố định)

2 Đối tượng dạy chuyên đề: Học sinh lớp 12

3 Thời gian dạy chuyên đề: 2 buổi (3 tiết/ buổi)

Nowadays, English is playing a very important role in the global

development Besides, English has become one of the major and compulsory subjects at schools in Vietnam Together with the expansion of teaching and

learning English, many great efforts have been made to help students learn English more effectively

Vocabulary has been regarded as a fundamental element of learning English It is one of the elements that link the four skills of Speaking, Listening, Reading and writing together Richards and Rernandya (2002, p 255) stated that

“Vocabulary is one of the core components of language proficiency and

provides much of the basis for how well learners speak, listen, read and write Therefore, without an extensive vocabulary and strategies for acquiring new vocabulary, learners often achieve less than their potencial and may be

discouraged from making use of language learning opportunities around them such as listening to the radio, listening to native speakers, using the language in different contexts, reading or watching television”

In fact, students, at Tran Hung Dao High School, they found it difficult to master vocabulary because they have not paid enough attention to vocabulary learning even though they realised how important they are In any course books, vocabulary is considered as the most boring part, in both teachers and students’ opinions Whenever I asked my students to tell me how they learn vocabulary, they mostly answered that they tried to learn but they could not memorize

words, and while reading they found some words familiar but they could not remember their meanings In addtion, materials in textbooks, sometimes, are notinteresting and suitable for all students They cannot provide enough vocabulary sources

In order to motivate students to learn vocabulary effectively, therefore, I think it is necessary to provide students with collocations that help students get

a pleasant and less stressful atmosphere to learn vocabulary and infer word meaning in context

As far as I am concerned, the major problems students encountered are:

1 They cannot express exactly what they really mean

2 They find it difficult to have good word choices, so it is common to

repeat familiar words such as good, nice or help

II Aim:

In view of what have been mentioned earlier, I carry out this little study with an aim to:

1 Help students get an overview of English collocations

2 Help them improve their range of vocabulary through doing

exercises through topics

III Scope: Learning English collocations are part of learning English

vocabulary It is difficult to cover so many collocations here Therefore the study will focus on only the collocations related to the national exam

IV Problems English Learners Have with Collocation

One of the biggest problems with collocation is its arbitrary nature: there is no

“rule” or reason that it’s “in regard to” and not “on regard to”—it just is

1 Lack of awareness: students need to have a problem brought to their attentionbefore they even know it is a problem They may be unaware that some words

go together better than others, especially as this doesn’t tend to be emphasized inlanguage instruction

2 First language transfer is another ESL problem with collocation—studentstransfer the appropriate collocation from their first language “Make” and “do”confusion is common, for example, among students of Latin languagebackgrounds: e.g., “make my homework” rather than “do my homework.”

PART II: CONTENT

I An overview of English collocations

1 Definition of collocation

Collocation means a natural combination of words; it refers to the ways Englishwords are closely associated with each other For example, do and homework gotogether, as do make and mistakes; tall goes with man/ woman and high goeswith mountain

2 Distinction between a collocation and an idiom

Idioms are groups of words in a fixed order that have a meaning that cannot beguessed by knowing the meaning of the individual words For example, a storm

in a tea cup is an idiom meaning “a lot of anger or worry about something that isnot important”

The meaning of collocations can be easily guessed by the meaning of theindividual words, which is different from idioms Collocations are pairs orgroups of words that often go together naturally

3 Importance of learning collocations.

An appreciation of collocation will help you to：

• use the words you know more accurately In other words, you’ll make (NOTdo) fewer mistakes

• sound more natural when you speak and write

• vary your speech and, probably more importantly, your writing Instead ofrepeating everyday words like very good or nice, you will he able to exploit awider range of language

• understand when a skilful writer departs from normal patterns of collocation

4 Types of collocations

Students should know that there are many different types of collocations

Type 1: Adjectives and nouns

For example: Jean always wears red or yellow or some other bright color.

We had a brief chat about the exams but didn’t have time to discuss it properly.

Type 2: Nouns and verbs.

For example: The economy boomed in the 1990s (the economy was very

strong)

The company has grown and now employs 50 more people than last year.

The company launched the product in 2002 (introduced the product)

Type 3: Noun and noun.

For example: I felt a pang of nostalgia when I saw the old photos of the village

where I was born

Every parent feels a sense of pride when their child does well or wins

something

Type 4: Verbs and expressions with prepositions.

For example: I was filled with horror when I read the newspaper report of the

explosion

When she split juice on her new skirt, the little girl burst into tears

Type 5: Verbs and adverbs.

For example: She smiled proudly as she looked at the photos of her new

grandson

“I love you and want to marry you”, Derek whispered softly to Marsha.

Type 6: Adverbs and adjectives.

For example: They are happily married.

I am fully aware that there are serious problems

Harry was blissfully unaware that he was in danger

II Methods of teaching collocations:

Apart from classroom lessons, teachers should to learn collocations bythemselves Students should get the habit of finding, recording and afterwardslearning them How to do this well ought to be instructed by teachers as follows

a Finding collocations: There are two ways in which collocations can be

After giving Mark a lift to the airport, Cathy made her way home What

an exciting life he led! At times, Cathy felt desperately jealous of him She

spent her time doing little more than taking care of him and the children Now

her sister was getting divorced and would doubtless be making demands on her too Cathy had promised to give her sister a call as soon as she got home but she decided to run herself a bath first She had a sharp pain in her side and hoped that a hot bath might ease the pain

- Students can also find collocations in a good learner’s dictionary, likeOxford Collocations Dictionary for students of English For example, when they

look up the word use , they will find many combinations with it, some of which

are:

considerable/ extensive/ great/ full use

make use of/ come into use/ ban the use of

medicinal / intended/ potential use

b Recording collocations

When students record a collocation, it is a great idea to do it in a phrase or asentence showing how it is used Then, highlight the collocation by underlining

it or by using a highlighting pen

For example: I don’t have access to that kind of secret information

Jim gave me a very useful piece of advice

c Learning collocations

Learning collocations is not so different from learning any vocabulary item.Teachers should remind students to:

- Regularly revise what they want to lean

- Practise using what they want to learn in contexts that are meaningful forthem personally

- Learn collocations in groups to help fix them in students’ memory.Students might together collocations relating to the same topic Or they cangroup collocations based on the same word, for example:

I must find a way to help him

Can you find your way back to my house?

I learnt the hard way that Jack can’t be trusted.

Please tell me if I’m getting in your way.

You must give way to traffic from the left.

You’ve tried every possible way to get him to change his mind.

III Listing collocations.

1 Common collocations used in Textbook 10,11,12

1 Extremely

excited

On my birthday my father gave mesome money, so that I could buy a hat for myself, which made me extremely excited

Cực kì vui sướng

2 Far better Life will be far better than it is

Giáo dục phổ thông

2 Tragic death After the tragic death of Pierre

Curie in 1906, she took up the position which her husband had obtained at the Sorbonne

Cái chết thương tâm

3 Heavy rain Heavy rain during the night will

occur all over the country today

Mưa to/ mưa rào

4 Endangered

animals

Howletts Zoo in Kent is owned By John Aspinall, who is famous for his program of breeding endangeredanimals and reintroducing them intothe wild

Những động vật quý hiếm/

có nguy cơ tuyệt chủng

5 True friendship What is the first quality for true

friendship and what does it tell you?

Tình bạn thực sự

6 Mutual friend How many mutual friends do

you have with her?

Bạn chung

7 A sneaky look There was a sneaky look on his

face, but I didn’t think much about it

Vùng núi, vùng sâu vùng xa

9 Close-knit/

close family

We are a very close-knit family Khăng khít,

bền chặt, gắn bó

10 A noisy party We are at a noisy party Bữa tiệc ồn ào

11 A slight nod A slight nod will do 1 cái gật đầu

nhẹ

12 Core subject English, math and science are

core subjects

Môn học chính

C Noun + noun

1 Plot of land We repair the banks of our plot of

land

Mảnh đất

2 Bumper crop The scientists introduced new

farming methods which resulted

in bumper crops

Vụ mùa bội thu

3 Cash crop The scientists also helped the

villagers grow cash crops for export

Nông sản thương mại

Các gia đình

có thu nhập thấp

6 Birth-control

method(s)

Safe birth-control methods are not available to some people in poor nations

Các phương pháp kiểm soát sinh đẻ

8 Night shift Once a week, she has to work

on a night shift

Ca đêm (việc làm)

9 Body language Body language includes our

posture, facial expressions and gestures

Ngôn ngữ cơ thể

10 School system There are two parallel school

systems in England

Hệ thống trường học

11 Lack of +

interest

A person who doesn't look at

you is expressing lack of

interest or is shy

Thiếu sự quan tâm, thích thú

D.Verb + noun

1 Have a cold I think I’ve got a cold Bị cảm lạnh

Tiếp nhận thong tin qua tai

3 Keep a secret There are people who cannot

keep a secret, either of their own or of others’

Giữ bí mật

4 Make a fuss He had stolen my money; I

didn’t want to make a fuss, so

I decided just to take my money back from his schoolbag

Làm ồn lên, làm to chuyệnlên

5 Blow out the

candle(s)

When everybody finished singing, Lisa blew out the candles

Thổi tắt nến

6 Take photo(s) I had decided to bring my

camera to take some photos of the happy family

Chụp ảnh

7 Have a good time The host and the wife moved

around to make sure that everyone was having a good time

Có thời gian vui vẻ

Spend time/money In the USA, college students

often spend many hours as volunteers in hospitals, orphanages or homes

Giành thời gian, tiền bạc

11 Eradicate

illiteracy

By the year of 2000, only 70%

of the population was able to read and write; this means that more work had to be done to eradicate illiteracy in the country

Đưa ra cách giải quyết

Giới hạn tăng trưởng dân số

14 Win a place I am now in my final year at

the secondary school, and in

my attempt to win a place at university

Giành lấy 1 chỗ

15 Hurry home/get

home

In the afternoon, after hospital, she rushes to the market, then hurries home so that dinner is ready on the table by the time Dad gets

Nhanh về nhà/ về nhà

appearance after marriage

18 Fall off horse The cowboy fell off his horse Ngã ngựa

19 Lead a life Those people led a poor life Sống 1 cuộc

sống ( giàu có/ nghèo

22 Make great

effort

The parents realized that the young teacher was making great efforts to help their poor kids

Có những nỗ lực to lớn

E.Verbs and expressions with prepositions.

1 Scream in panic The plane seemed to dip and many

people screamed in panic

La hét trong sự hoảng sợ

2 Make ends meet The villagers had to work hard in the

fields all day and could hardly make ends meet

Đủ để sống

3 Come to an end The party came to an end at about 11

p.m

Kết thúc

4 Look forward to I went home feeling that it had been

a delightful evening and looking forward to the next day to have the film developed

Mong chờ

1 điều gì đó

others

Đem lại hạnh phúc cho ai đó

6 Grow in

popularity

Although established not long ago, the Women’s World Cup is growing in popularity

Nhanh chóng pháttriển./ được yêu

7 Reach the

figure of

In 1850, the world population reached the figure of 1.3 billion people

Đạt tới con số

Giao tiếp bằng lời/ngôn ngữ cơ

Chạy/hoạt động bằng ( nguyên

11 Lead a

scientific expedition across the

Three years later Madigan led a scientific expedition across the sand dunes on a more northern route

Dẫn đầu cuộc khảo cứu khoa học

12 Plant/animal

species

Be threatened with

Over 8300 plan species and 7200 animal species around the globe are threatened with extinction

Loài động thực vật/

Bị đe dọa

F Verb + adverb

1 Go off The alarm goes off at 4:30 a.m đổ chuông

extremely hard

In spite of her difficult living conditions, she worked extremelyhard

Làm việc cực kì/hết sức chăm chỉ

independently

Some are swimming animals such

á fishes and sharks that move independently of water currents

Di chuyển tự do

Biến mất hoàn toàn

9 Be Better

looked after

We will also be better looked after by a modern medical system

Được chăm sóc tốt hơn

10 Raise hands

slightly

We can raise our hands slightly

to show that we need assistance

12 Listen carefully You won't know what to do

unless you listen carefully

Nghe chăm chú

2 Expansions

2.1 SỰ KẾT HỢP TỪ VỚI CÁC ĐỘNG TỪ THÔNG DỤNG:

 DO: (= accomplish, carry out – hoàn thành, thực hiện một công việc)

Do an assignment: làm một nhiệm vụ được giao

Do business (with): kinh doanh

Do one’s best: cố gắng hết sức

Do a crossword: chơi ô chữ

Do damage: gây thiệt hại

Do a course: theo một khóa học

Do history/economics: học lịch sử/ kinh tế học…

Do an experiment: làm thí nghiệm

Do good: bổ ích

Do harm: gây hại

Do a job: làm một công việc

Do one’s duty: làm nghĩa vụ

Do one’s hair: làm tóc

Do one’s homework: làm bài tập về nhà

Do research: nghiên cứu

Do someone a favour: làm giúp ai điều gì

Do the shopping: mua sắm

Do wonders/ miracles: mang lại kết quả kì diệu

Do without: làm mà không có cái gì

Do wrong: làm sai

 MAKE: (= produce, manufacture- làm ra, chế tạo ra)

Make an appointment: thu xếp một cuộc hẹn

Make an attempt: cố gắng, nỗ lực

Make an announcement: thông báo

Make the bed: dọn giường

Make a cake: làm bánh

Make changes: thay đổi

Make a choice: chọn lựa

Make a decision: quyết định

Make a comment: nhận xét

Make a complaint: phàn nàn, than phiền

Make a comparision: so sánh

Make a contribution: đóng góp vào

Make a decision: quyết định

Make a differrence: tạo sự khác biệt

Make a distinction: tạo sự khác biệt/sự tương phảnMake an effort: nỗ lực

Make an excuse: viện cớ

Make a law: thông qua đạo luật

Make a mistake: mắc sai lầm

Make money: kiếm tiền

Make progress: tiến bộ

Make a plan: lập kế hoạch

Make a phone call: gọi điện thoại

Make preparations for: chuẩn bị cho

Make a profit: thu lợi nhuận

Make a promise: hứa hẹn

Make a speech: đọc bài diễn văn

Make noise: làm ồn

Make a start: khởi hành

Make a suggestion: đề nghị

Make a will: làm di chúc

Make up one’s mind: quyết định

Make use of: sử dụng

 TAKE:

Take sb/sth for granted: xem ai/ cái gì là tất nhiênTake place: xảy ra

Take part in: tham gia vào

Take effect: có hiệu lực

Take advantage of sth: tận dụng cái gì

Take notice of sth: chú ý dến cái gì

Take responsibility for sth: chịu trách nhiệm về cái gì

Take interest in: quan tâm đến

Take offence: thất vọng, phật ý

Take powder/office: nhận chức

Take a pity on sb: thông cảm cho ai

Take a view/ attitude: có quan điểm/ thái độ

Take sth as a compliment: xem cái gì như lời khen tặng

Take sth as an insult: xem cái gì như lời sỉ nhục

 HAVE:

Have difficulty (in) doing something: gặp khó khăn khi làm cái gì

Have a problem: có vấn đề, gặp khó khăn

Have a go/ try: thử

 PAY:

Pay attention to: chú ý dến

Pay a compliment: khen

Pay a visit to sb: đến thăm ai

Pay tribute to: bày tỏ long kính trọng

postscript: “besides” at the beginning of a phrase means “as well as”, whereas

at the beginning of a clause it means “anyway”

ex: I like riding a bike as it’s a very convenient way to travel Besides, it’s cheap and I can’t afford a car.

golden opportunity

expand / broaden / widen (sb’s) horizons

as opposed to

ex: Students discuss ideas, as opposed to just copying from books

generally speaking = in most situations = ordinarily

as for: còn như, về phần

ex: I love playing golf and tennis As for cooking, I have no real interest in it

as a rule

rarely = once in a blue moon

be quite into = be keen on = have a strong interest in = be into

other countries = faraway places

find oneself doing st = suddenly realise that you are doing st

unintentionally

regarding = in / with regard to = in terms of: về

ex: She said nothing regarding your request

I've nothing to say in / with regard to your complaints

regardless of: bất kể

ex: They are allowed to have whatever they want, regardless of price and to behave as they please

in other words

or more precisely = or rather: hay chính xác hơn

rather than = instead of

take up further education: học lên cao

ought to

“ought to” có dạng phủ định là “ought not” hoặc “oughtn’t”

get in the way (of st) = prevent (st) from happening ex:

We had almost reached an agreement, but some

unimportant details got in the way

have difficulty v-ing: khó khăn trong việc

burst out: thốt lên, òa lên

ex: He suddenly bursts out laughing (Anh ta đột nhiên cười phá lên)

shrink from (st / doing st): lưỡng lự (làm cái gì)

be dumped by partner: bị người yêu đá

grim reaper: thần chết

speed up: tăng tốc độ

sunbathe topless: cởi trần tắm nắng

do + B-I

“do” ở đây để nhấn mạnh “B-I”

ex: I do know this (Tôi thực sự biết điều này)

freeze someone's blood: làm ai sợ hết hồn

a chain of: một loạt / dãy

ex: a chain of mountains

a chain of events

far from it

ex: Do you think you need a new car? Far from it The old one is fine

in the region of: trong khoảng

ex: This costs in the region of 500 dong

These clouds form in the region of mountains

slow down: làm chậm lại, làm trì hoãn

ex: They slow down a process

hail sb / st as: hoan hô, hoan nghênh (ai đó / thứ gì đó) như

ex: The crowd hailed him as a hero

chain reaction: phản ứng dây chuyền

come under st: be forced to experience st unpleasant

ex: We have to come under pressure (Chúng ta phải chịu nhiều áp lực)

the embodiment of: hiện thân của

ex: She's the embodiment of kindness

physical force: sức mạnh vật chất

in form: sức khỏe tốt, sung sức

out of form: sức khỏe không tốt

moral force: sức mạnh tinh thần

down below

sharp practice: những chuyện làm ăn không lương thiện

ex: The building industry brought in rules to protect customers from sharp practice

a growing tendency: một xu hướng đang phát triển

in outline: những nét chính

ex: I like your idea in outline but would like some time to study the details

not quite: không hẳn

be on the anvil: đang làm / xem xét / nghiên cứu

by force of circumstances: do hoàn cảnh bắt buộc

force a smile: gượng cười

as sharp as a needle: rất thông minh và nhanh trí

ex: His response was as sharp as a needle

in force: có hiệu lực

ex: The law remains in force (Điều luật đó còn hiệu lực)

rarer still: còn hiếm hơn nữa (trạng từ)

take a sharp walk: đi bộ rảo bước

sharp remark: lời nhận xét gay gắt

be shorn of (st): bị lấy đi, bị tước mất (cái gì)

a good anvil does not fear the hammer: cây ngay không sợ chết đứng for a long stretch of time: lâu lắm rồi

stretch a point: chiếu cố, nhân nhượng

stoop so low as to do (st): hạ mình làm (điều gì)

from time to time = occasionally

hardly ever = almost never

all year round: all year; at all times of the year

ex: I could tell my grandmother's health all year round wasn't very good because she felt cold all year round

more often than not

ex: Businessmen drive cars to work more often than not

depth of winter

get into = be able to concentrate on: có thể tập trung vào

provide the perfect conditions for

express oneself

ex: Although I play the music somebody else wrote, I can express myself through the piano, so each time I play it's different

from scratch: từ đầu, từ bàn tay trắng

ex: There were so many spelling mistakes, I had to write the letter out again from scratch

come over: come to a place to visit for a short time (often used with the

meaning of come to my/our house)

ex: Ever since my boy friend argued with my father, he's been unwilling to come over to our house

keep sb from doing st

go to plan = go according to plan = happen in the way you want

get to grips with = learn the basics of

ex: I found the guitar a little hard at first, but with patience and practice, I got

to grips with it

learn by trial and error

every other day: ngày có ngày không, cách ngày

ex: I go to the gym every other day

be a burden to (someone): là gánh nặng (cho ai)

the grown up people

inspire sb to st: truyền cảm hứng (cho ai đó làm gì đó)

inspire sb with st = inspire st in sb : gây ra những ý nghĩ

ex: Our first sight of the dingy little hotel didn’t inspire us with much

confidence / inspire much confidence in us (Cái khách sản nhỏ bẩn thỉu ấy mới trông thấy khiến chúng tôi không tin tưởng lắm)

a glance at: cái nhìn thoáng qua về

ex: A glance at the graph provided reveals some striking similarities between the Chinese and US birth rates

great fertility of mind: đầu óc có sức sáng tạo phong phú

be in low spirits: buồn rầu, chán nản

be in low water: cạn tiền

at a low ebb: sa sút, xuống dốc

be low on (st): gần cạn kiệt (cái gì)

household chore: việc nhà, viêc vặt trong nhà

take the plunge: quyết tâm hành động, liều

exponential growth: sự tăng theo cấp số nhân

a vast amount of: một lượng lớn

plunge to a low of: sụt giảm đến mức thấp

ex: China’s birth rate then plunged to a low of just 5% in the 1940

as though: dường như, như thể là

ex: He ran as though the devil were after him (Anh ta chạy như thể có ma đuổi)

rapid climb = rapid growth = zoom

reach a peak of: đạt đến đỉnh cao

ex: That rate reached a peak of 20% in 1950

equally importantly: quan trọng không kém

by force of = by = owing to = thanks to : nhờ, bằng cách

ex: Disputes were sometimes settled by force of arms (Sự tranh chấp đôi khi được giải quyết bằng vũ lực)

subject to: tùy thuộc vào, với giả thuyết là

ex: Subject to your consent (Tuỳ theo anh có đồng ý hay không)

far outweigh: vượt xa, lớn hơn nhiều so với

ex: The benefits of the Internet far outweigh its drawbacks.

come up with (st) = think of an idea / a solution

ex: I’ve come up with a perfect plan for the weekend

be subject to damage: dễ / khó tránh khỏi bị hư hại

the latter half of: nửa cuối của

ex: the latter half of the century

in isolation: một cách riêng biệt, một mình

ex: examine each piece of evidence in isolation (xem xét riêng từng chứng cớ)

sustained decline: sự giảm liên tục

every so often = sometimes = not very often = every once in a while

object to = oppose = protest = raise objections : phản đối

about = approximately = somewhere in the vicinity of

come up = happen unexpectedly

ex: Something has come up and I must leave

come out = be published /released for sale

ex: Their new album came out last month

come on to (sb) = flirt with (sb) = seduce (sb)

ex: She tried to come on to me but I blanked her

plunge into: lao vào, chìm vào

ex: plunge into darkness (chìm ngập trong bóng tối)

plunge into a difficulty (lao vào một công việc khó khăn)

it is public/common knowledge that: ai cũng biết rằng

at (someone’s) fingertips: trong tầm tay (của ai đó)

busy = engaged = over head and ears in

tool along: lái xe một cách đủng đỉnh và thư giãn

come across (st) = find (st) by chance

ex: She came across some old love letters

social unrests: những bất ổn về mặt xã hội

outbound tourists: khách du lịch nước ngoài

sustainable tourism development: sự phát triển du lịch bền vững

human trafficking: tệ nạn buôn người

increase / grow by (…%): tăng (…%)

by contrast = in contrast

increase from (…%) to (…%): tăng từ (…%) đến (…%)

increase / grow steadily: tăng đều đặn

in my power: trong khả năng của mình

confide a secret to (sb): chia sẻ bí mật với (ai đó)

make immense progress: tiến bộ vượt bậc

conform to the law: tuân thủ pháp luật

entice (sb) to (do st): xúi giục (ai đó) (làm việc gì)

handset device: thiết bị cầm tay

technologically-inclined: nghiện công nghệ

tech-savvy: giỏi về công nghệ

be over-dependence on technology: lệ thuộc vào công nghệ

apply technology wisely: ứng dụng công nghệ một cách khôn ngoan

the advent of technology: bước tiến của công nghệ

ten a penny: rất phổ biến

living environment = living surrounding: môi trường sống

eco - products: những sản phẩm thân thiện với môi trường

green solutions: giải pháp bảo vệ môi trường

keep our planet healthy: giữ gìn môi trường sạch đẹp

environmental degradation: sự xuống cấp về môi trường

master key: bài toán then chốt

lights-off event: ngày hội tắt đèn

seemingly trivial activities: những hành động tưởng chừng như là nhỏ nhặt make a futile attempt: một sự cố gắng vô ích

bite off more than one can chew: ôm đồm quá nhiều công việc

fill in for (sb): tạm thay thế cho (ai đó đang đi làm công việc khác)

in the black = be profitable >< in the red: hoạt động kinh doanh bị thua lỗ sleep on (st): suy nghĩ kỹ về (vấn đề gì đó) trước khi trả lời

get the ball rolling: khởi động một công việc hoặc dự án

cause / contribute to climate change /global warming: gây ra/góp phần vào

sự biến đổi khí hậu / nóng lên toàn cầu

burn a hole in your pocket: tiêu hoang phung phí

albeit = notwithstanding = much as = though = although = even though =

in spite of = despite

fly off the handle: mất bình tĩnh

be a charge on (someone): là gáng nặng (cho ai)

at all cost: bằng mọi giá

for instance: for example

behind the times: lỗi thời, hết thời

pay through the nose: trả một giá quá đắt

in deep water: trong tình thế nguy hiểm/khó khăn

put yourself in sb’s shoes: thử đặt mình vào vị trí / hoàn cảnh của người khác

be up in arms about (st): tức giận, buồn bực vì (điều gì đó)

break the bank: tốn rất nhiều tiền

cost an arm and a leg: rất mắc.

be a slave to custom: quá lệ thuộc vào tập tục

sense of responsibility: ý thức trách nhiệm

sense of beauty: khả năng thưởng thức cái đẹp

person of sense: người biết lẽ phải

do not make sense: không có ý nghĩa gì cả

frighten (sb) out of his senses: làm (ai) sợ hết hồn hết vía

paradoxically = sadly = ironically: đáng buồn thay, mỉa mai thay, trớ trêu là (adv) speaking: về mặt

ex: Politically speaking, this policy can enhance the national security and establish the reputation of governments (Về mặt chính trị, chính sách này có thể củng cố an ninh quốc phòng và tạo dựng uy tín cho các chính phủ)

murder on (st): gây tổn hại / khó chịu lên

ex: This hot weather's murder on my feet

lose one's senses: mất trí khôn, bất tỉnh nhân sự

make a virtue of necessity: bất đắc dĩ lắm phải làm

have the honour of doing (st): được vinh dự làm (điều gì)

put (sb) on his honour: buộc (ai đó) phải thề danh dự

stick in the mud: bảo thủ, chậm tiến, lạc hậu

feel honour bound to do (st): làm (điều gì) vì danh dự

in a way: theo một cách nào đó

get used to another country's customs: quen với phong tục của một nước

khác

suspect (sb) of (st) / doing (st): nghi (ai đó) làm (gì đó)

in the strict sense of the word: theo đúng nghĩa của từ

in the extreme: mức độ cao nhất, cực kì

ex: This is inconvenient in the extreme (cái này cực kỳ bất tiện)

the extreme of: mức độ lớn nhất của

ex: He couldn't tolerate the extremes of heat in the desert (Nó không chịu nổi những cơn nóng cực độ của sa mạc)

wise as an owl: khôn ranh, tinh khôn

connect to root: giữ gìn gốc gác

extreme views: quan điểm quá khích

adoring fans: people who love a particular band or singer

up to the handle: hoàn toàn, đầy đủ, hết sức

ex: enjoy (st) up to the handle (hết sức vui thích (về cái gì))

be free of charge: không phải trả tiền

be in charge of (sb): phải trong nom (ai)

rally (someone) on (st): chế giếu (ai) về (cái gì)

sleep like a log: ngủ say như chết

feel like (v-ing): muốn (làm gì)

ex: Sometimes I feel like running away from everything

concentrate on: tập trung vào

steel (sb’s) heart: làm lòng (ai đó) trở lên sắt đá

all of a sudden = suddenly

background music: nhạc nền

a catchy tune: một giai điệu lôi cuốn

have a great voice: sing well

go on tour: go on a planned series of performances around a region or country

a huge following: a large number of fans

live music = live performance: music that is listened to while it is performed

a massive hit: a record that sells lots of copies

be/sing out of tune

sing along to: join in singing

ex: It’s the kind of music you can also sing along to easily … even if you

don’t have a great voice

play by ear: play without reading the musical notes

a pop group: a small group of people who play or sing pop music together read music: understand and follow written musical notes

a slow number: a song with a slow tempo

take up a musical instrument: begin learning a musical instrument

taste in music

ex: Their taste in music is completely different

be tone deaf: be unable to distinguish the different notes in music

vital question: vấn đề sống còn

vital style: văn phong sinh động

musical style = type of music

refer to (sb): hỏi ý kiến (ai đó)

vital force: sức sống