Word-building and word-blending

Many English speakers are not aware of the meanings of the word parts listed here, but knowing them can help you to understand and remember new words.. EXAMPLE biography = writing about

Word-building and word-blending

Many literary or academic words in English are formed using ancient Greek and Latin prefixes and roots Many English speakers are not aware of the meanings of the word parts listed here, but knowing them can help you to understand and remember new words Common well-established word parts

word part* meaning example

auto- self an autonomous country [self-ruling}

bio- life, living things biodegradable packaging [able to decay naturally]

cyber- relating to computers | a cybercafé [café where customers can use computers

and robots with the Internet]

de- opposite action PP to decolonise a country y [remove colonists from -graph-, -gram writing a monograph [long article or short book on a subject

that the writer has studied for a long time]

-gress- step, walk, go a congress [a conference, i.e a meeting where people

come together]

-ics an area of study or obstetrics [the study of childbirth]

knowledge

-phon- sound phonetics [the study of human speech]

-ology study criminology [the study of crime]

pre- (opposite = | before prepaid postage [paid for in advance]

post-)

retro- back, backwards retroactive law [taking effect from a date in the past]

techno- relating to advanced technophobia [fear of using technological machines such

machines as computers]

tele- over a distance telepathic experience [feeling something from a distance]

* The dash (-) in this column indicates whether the word part is usually found at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of a word

Although these word parts above will help you to understand words, you cannot use them

as freely to form new words as the productive prefixes and suffixes in Unit 2 and Unit 3 Blends

An interesting, if much less common, way of forming words is by combining two well- established words, e.g brunch = a meal that is a combination of breakfast and lunch heliport: a place where helicopters can land and take off (helicopter + airport) smog: polluted fog (smoke + fog)

motel: a roadside hotel for people travelling by car (motor + hotel) Chunnel: tunnel linking Britain and France (Channel + tunnel) guesstimate: an approximate calculation (guess + estimate; verb — to guesstimate) docusoap: TV series about real people using hidden cameras (documentary + soap opera) breathalyser: a device to find out how much alcohol a person has drunk (breath + analyse)

26 — English Vocabulary in Use (Advanced)

4.1

4.5

4.6

Using information from the table in A, explain the basic meanings of these words

EXAMPLE biography = writing about a life

Can you think of five more words using only those word parts listed in A and any other basic endings like -ist or -ical?

Look at the following prefixes Use your dictionary to find two new words beginning with these prefixes and write them in your vocabulary notebook

Choose only words that use the prefixes studied in this unit Postman, for example, clearly has not been formed using the prefix post-

Rewrite these sentences, replacing the underlined words with a word that includes the word part given Use a dictionary if necessary

EXAMPLE I had to put off my trip to Japan (POST)

| had to postpone my trip to Japan

She asked the star for his signature on the back of her table napkin (GRAPH)

She took a degree in the science of crime at Stockholm University (OLOGY)

The novel is largely based_on the writer’s own life (BIO)

It’s an exhibition looking back at the painter’s life and work (RETRO)

He believes you can cure yourself by telling yourself you are cured (AUTO)

Working at home and keeping in contact with the office by phone, fax and modem is becoming increasingly common (TELE)

7 Some areas are now deliberately trying to become less industrial (DE)

8 Crime committed through the Internet is a growing cause for concern (CYBER)

Rewrite these sentences, replacing the underlined word with an explanatory phrase

EXAMPLE Most of the time planes fly on autopilot

Most of the time planes fly automatically, controlled by a computer rather than

the pilot

1 The firm makes job applicants do a graphology test

2 Johnny loves his cyberpet

3 Matt’s a techno-wizard!

4 He’s giving a paper at a pre-conference event in Spain

5 Is it OK if I post-date this cheque?

What words have been combined to make these blends? What do you think they mean?

ma

Global contact and language

enrichment

Read the texts about English vocabulary and note the words and expressions that are useful for talking about language enrichment

When one language takes words from

another, the new items are called loan

words or borrowings — though neither term is really appropriate as the receiving language does not give

them back Whereas the speakers of

some languages take pains to exclude foreign words from their lexicons [vocabulary], English seems always to have welcomed them Over 120

languages are on record as sources

[where something comes from] of its

present-day vocabulary

nglish has been enormously extended

by each wave of invaders coming to

Britain Thus, for example, Viking and Norman invasions hugely enriched (made

richer] the basic Anglo-Saxon word stock [set of words] Scholarship then introduced many words of classical origin [from

ancient Latin or Greek] at the time of the Renaissance Moreover, English speakers’ contact with the world as, for example, explorers, pirates, imperialists, convicts or

fortune-seekers have all had linguistic consequences [results affecting language] | Here are just some examples of words coming into English from other languages

Arabic amber yellowy-orange precious stone an amber neckiace Dutch roster list of people’s turns for jobs the cooking roster

Farsi tabby female or stripy cat our old tabby

German gimmick frivolous way of attracting attention advertising gimmicks

| Greek tonic medicine to make you feel more lively | take a tonic

| Hindi cot child’s bed with high vertical sides sleep in a cot

Icelandic mumps a childhood illness have mumps Japanese hara-kiri type of ceremonial suicide commit hara-kiri Portuguese palaver unnecessary trouble What a palaver!

Russian intelligentsia | social class of intellectuals 19th century intelligentsia Spanish hammock net hung and used as a bed sleep in a hammock

Turkish turban type of men’s headwear wear a turban

Some English words may look like words in your language but have a different meaning Such words are known as false friends, e.g the German word Gift looks like the English word gift [(birthday) present] but actually means poison in German The English word sympathetic resembles a word meaning, simply, nice in many other European languages, but in English sympathetic has a much narrower meaning [understanding and caring about someone else’s suffering] Note also that the pronunciation of a word borrowed into

English may be quite different from its pronunciation in its language of origin

28 — English Vocabulary in Use (Advanced)

5.1

5.2

5.3

5.4

5.5

5.6

What collocations other than those in the texts in A are there for these words?

1 source of 2 enrich 3 classical 4 linguistic

Which of the words in B do these pictures illustrate?

IX

Fill the gaps with one of the words from B

1 The company will be committing economIc if it agrees to such a

proposal

2 Most children these days are inoculated against when they are babies

3 Ihave some lovely earrings They match my yellow scarf perfectly

4 A weekend beside the sea was Just the we needed after the long winter

$ Who% on the for the cleaning this week?

6 The clowns went out into the street as a to advertise their circus

Think of words that have come from your own language into English Try to find words from these topic areas, which are particularly rich in loan words in English

e flora, fauna and landscape features © politics and society

¢ industrial products and inventions e the arts, sports and leisure activities

Make a list of false friends for English and your own first language Here is a list begun by

a German speaker

word similar word in my language + meaning | meaning in English

sympathetic | sympathisch = nice understands and cares about others’

These words are said to have moved from English into a number of other languages Which of them exist in your language?

Thematic fields English source words

food and drink bacon, beefsteak, jam, pudding, sandwich

flora and fauna bulldog, dog, mustang [wild horse], skunk

clothing and the home blazer, cardigan, pullover, sweater, patio

political and social life parliament, Tory, boycott, budget, inflation, strike

industry and inventions car ferry, container, freight, computer chip, cable TV

arts, sports and leisure ace [1 in playing cards], boxer, football, break dance

Make a list of words that have come from English into your language The meaning and the

pronunciation may well have changed in the move from one language to another So check if this has happened and make appropriate notes beside the words in your list

as

Similar but different: words easily confused

Words similar in form and close in meaning Some words not only look similar but are quite close in meaning

The United Nations should intervene to stop the civil war [step in; neutral in meaning] She shouldn’t interfere in things that don’t concern her [involve herself; negative and critical] The phone’s been ringing continually It’s driving me crazy [very frequently; often negative] (From a recipe) Stir the mixture continuously until it boils [without stopping]

There’s a new series on TV about space exploration [set of related programmes]

1 don’t want to miss this week’s episode of Oliver Twist It’s a serial — if I miss one I’ll lose track of the story [set of programmes where the story continues over different episodes]

We sat in the shade of a big oak tree [out of the sun; pleasant connotation]

The evening sun cast long shadows [dark areas or shapes]

They lived in the shadow of a chemical! factory {in a place dominated by; negative connotation Words of different form but from the same area of meaning

The cake mixture should be moist but not sticky [slightly wet]

The climate in the north is damp and rather cold [slightly wet in an unpleasant way]

The theme of the festival was ‘1000 years of culture’ [the main idea that everything followed! The topic of conversation soon changed from the weather to the latest gossip [what the people talked about at any given moment]

The security officer at work said there had been a burglary [concerned with protection of property, etc.]

The safety officer told him that he must wear a helmet [concerned with prevention of accidents, etc ]

Phrasal combinations Sometimes, phrasal verbs have noun forms which may be in a different order and have different meanings

Six prisoners have broken out of a high There has been a breakout at a high security jail security jail

The disease has broken out in several villages There has been an outbreak of the disease in

in the north of the country several villages in the north of the country

Economists are looking out for signs of an The outlook is not good The economy seems to

end to the recession be stagnant

He stood at the corner looking out for He was the lookout while the others robbed the

In some cases, there are two verb forms with the same words in a different order and with different meanings

verb |: particle second verb 2: particle first

end up [finish] upend [move into a vertical position]

hold up [delay] uphold [confirm, support]

do out [decorate] outdo [do better than]

30 = English Vocabulary in Use (Advanced)

6.2

6.3

6.4

Circle the correct word in these sentences Use a dictionary if necessary

1 I have always tried not to intervene/interfere in things that are not my business

2 The traffic was stationary/stationery for a few minutes, then it began to move again

3 She paid me a nice compliment/complement; she said I was the most intelligent person she had ever worked with

4 I’m sorry! I wasn’t trying to evade/avoid you I just didn’t know you were here

5 At the entrance there was a big signal/sign saying No children

6 The teacher intervened/interfered to stop the argument between the two students

7 The other benefits I received in the job were complimented/complemented by an

excellent pension plan

8 If you need stationary/stationery for your office, just ask the secretary

9 He was continually/continuously complaining about something or other

10 He was fined £20,000 for avoiding/evading taxes and failing to declare his income

11 The signal/sign changed to green and the train moved away from the station

12 You have to press the button continually/continuously until the red light comes on Don’t take your finger off it, or it won’t work

Decide whether the particle should go before or after the verb in these sentences

EXAMPLE I don’t think these shoes will .94È last ull the end of winter (OUT)

1 We ended the sofa and used it to block the doorway (uP)

2_ The cheetah is so fast Ir can run a sports car (OUT)

3 She?s always trying to do everyone Why is she so competitive? (OUT)

4 The committee held her complaint, and she was awarded compensation (UP)

5 The Beatles have lasted most other 1960s groups in popularity (OUT)

6 We ended eating in a dingy café on the edge of town (up)

Z7 TII leave on Monday I don”t want to StAay my welcome (OUT)

8 The radio’s not working The batteries have run (OUT)

Match the verbs on the left with a suitable object on the right

1 rehearse the batteries in the clock

2 revise flowers in the garden

3 change for an exam

4 alter a friend at the airport

5 pick up someone’s suspicions

6 pick a garment that’s too big

7 rouse an end-of-term play

8 arouse someone who’s sleeping

Choose a noun from the box that can be associated with the following sentences

a lookout an outbreak a breakout an upset an outlook a setup

There has been violence in the capital city

My stomach was bad so I couldn’t go to work

He is very cheerful and positive about life

They fooled him into thinking his car had been stolen, but it hadn’t

She made sure nobody was looking, while her husband did the shoplifting

Four prisoners have escaped from a maximum security prison

At work: colleagues and routines

Colleagues Look at this extract of someone talking about their job and their colleagues

Well, Philip is my opposite number [has the same position/does the same job as me] in the company’s New York office

He and | have a good working relationship [how we communicate and work together] Last month

we got a new boss, who quickly established a good rapport [/rzep'o:/ communication/relationship] with everyone in the office | do socialise with my workmates [informal: colleagues, especially in non- professional jobs] but we try not to talk shop [informal: talk about work]

The company is generally very hierarchical [/harear'a:kikal/ has a structure with powerful and less powerful people]; there’s a pecking-order [a system where some people have the right to get benefits/promotions before others] for everything | do a job-share [we each have a 50% contract for the same job] with a woman called Rosemary It suits us both as we each have children to look after

—

ug B Daily work routines

Nancy gets to work at about 8.45 She has to clock in and clock out [use an electronic card to record the time she arrives and leaves each day] She works fixed hours; she has a nine-to-five job Brett can come in at any time from eight o’clock till ten in the morning;

he works flexi-time / he’s on flexi-time, but his core hours are 10.00 to 12.00 and 2.00 to 4.00 Archie doesn’t go to the office at all He works from home with his computer; he’s a teleworker Bert works different times each week; every third week he works nights; he does shift work / he’s a shift worker Mick has his own company; he’s self-employed and works from home His wife works for different companies at different times; she’s

freelance / she works freelance

Ee € During the day (different work-patterns)

Most of the day I do routine tasks, but occasionally there’s I have a glamorous job [very exciting,

a crisis or | have to meet a deadline [have something which everyone admires] I’m a pilot The finished by a fixed day or time] At certain times of the hours are irregular and antisocial [do not year I have a very heavy workload [amount of work enable one to have a normal social life], but

I have to do] but at other times it can be quite light I’m not stuck behind a desk [informal:

sitting in an office all day] and there’s a lot

of variety The stress levels can be quite high when you know people’s lives depend

on you I feel sorry for people who are stuck in a rut [stuck in a job they can’t escape from] or working in dead-end jobs [jobs with no prospects of promotion]

I start work at my machine at seven o’clock when

Im on the day shift The job’s very mechanical [you don’t have to think about what you are doing] and repetitive [the same thing every day]

All I ever think about is knocking off at three [informal: finishing work] The shift I hate most

is the night shift I start at ten and work all night ` ~e=

till six in the morning The job’s a bit TA

monotonous [boring because it never changes] a

a

I have a lot of paperwork to do by tomorrow [letters/reports to write, forms to complete]

My father did manual work all his life and was very fit [hard and physical]

I think I’d like vocational work, like being a nurse or a teacher [which helps people]

32 English Vocabulary in Use (Advanced)

7.1

7.3

Correct the mistakes in this paragraph

| think | have a good work relationship with most of my colleagues | tried to establish a good report with them from the very beginning The person | like most is my opposite member in our office in Paris Generally, when [ socialise to my colleagues outside of work, we try not to talk about shop, but it's not easy and sometimes we have a good gossip about people who are not there

Give three adjectives which you think describe each of these jobs (for example, stressful, glamorous, dead-end) Think of words you would use in your own language, then try to translate them into English Use a dictionary if necessary

1 assembly-line worker S lifeguard

Use words and phrases from B and C on the opposite page to complete these sentences

1 LT would get bored ¡f I had a nine -.-ceeessee

2 When I arrive in the morning and leave the office in the evening I use this card to

I’m very tired; recently I’ve “had a very heavy seo

I don’t want an office job I don’t want to spend all day stuek S-

I can clock in any time between eight and ten and clock out between four and six; ’m

0

I'd hate to feel trapped in my job and to be stuck In ssceessre

He’s not here this evening, he’s working nights; you see, he does

I work for different companies at different times as it suits me I’m

I used to work for someone else, but now I’m my own boss; I’m

I stopped working in the hamburger restaurant It was just a dead- When J was working in the factory, all I could think of all day was the moment when

I could knoek -cccscrrrereersserzrerrrer

12 Being a nurse is a good job, but you can’t

go out much with friends The hours are a USA TODAY Snapshots®

Making time to meet

ĐỊt, 622222

US workers conduct many more scheduled sing a dictionary if necessar face-to-face i

Using ry ys Woriencek nh tings ina typical

in other

countries: _ 2

give one example of

a manual job

a vocational job

a job with great variety

a job with irregular hours

a job with routine tasks

a job with regular deadlines

a job with lots of paperwork

Copyright

2000, USA TODAY

Reprinted

with permission

At work: career and promotion

a

_ A Getting a job

Look at this job ad (informal)/advertisement (formal) for the IT (Information Technology) industry

Amb iti O us industry You will work in close-knit® teams,

maintaining and developing relationships with a diverse’ range of clients

8

sales experience’ and a good knowledge

Up to £30k’ basic’ of computers Most importantly you will Money motivated, eager, looking to work have a strong desire to succeed

in a dynamic, fast-moving industry? If you fit this description’ and are seeking

We are looking for ambitious, dynamic sales | a lucrative'® career in IT sales then call

professionals with the talent and drive' to Claire Walden or Graham Keen on 01960

develop a rewarding’ career within the IT 479 6021

people determined to succeed and achieve great things thirty thousand pounds

guaranteed minimum salary without overtime or bonuses

strong motivation

giving you a lot back

working in a close relationship

of different types

experience selling things

have these qualities producing a lot of money

The text has some words with similar meanings in connection with work; learn them in pairs:

motivated and eager (person) dynamic and fast moving (industry/profession)

to seek a career in and to look to work in (note look to, meaning consider or hope,

not look for) During your working life

In some countries, women are allowed maternity leave and men paternity leave if they’re having a child [time away from work to have a new baby]

What perks (informal) / (extra) benefits (formal) do you get in your job? [extra things

apart from salary, e.g a car]

How important is job satisfaction to you? [the feeling that your job is worth doing and fulfils you]

What’s your holiday entitlement? [number of days you have the right to take as holiday]

Do you get regular salary increments? [formal: increases/rises]

Most people don’t want to reach/hit a glass ceiling [reach a level where you cannot get further promotion, even if you deserve it]

Most people think they are overworked and underpaid [often said together as a humorous fixed expression]

34 English Vocabulary in Use (Advanced)

8.1

8.2

8.3

8.4

8.5

8.6

Make these rather informal sentences more formal by using words and phrases from the opposite page

1 Do you often look at the job ads?

2 I haven’t worked in sales before

3 There’s a lot of money in selling computers I made 70k last year

4 We sell quite a mixed range of products

5 [thought I would apply for the job since it sounded just like me

Find expressions on the left-hand page which mean the opposite of the underlined words

or phrases

1 avery loosely organised team

2 avery frustrating job

3 to have low motivation

4 a rather static and slow-moving profession

5 a drop in your salary ’

An exciting outdoor career

If you're an out-of-the-ordinary person who is looking for more than just a job, we are offering

Read the text and answer the questions

1 Why does ‘a career’ sound better than

‘a job’? a unique career that requires you to use your

2 What are ‘ambiguous’ situations? intelligence, self-reliance and responsibility If you

3 What expression means ‘not have an adventurous spirit, a strong, positive

depending on other people’? personality, a tough mind and a high level of

4 What is the abstract noun that means personal integrity, and if you think you can deal

with rapidly-changing, ambiguous and

unpredictable situations that will test your resourcefulness to the limit, then contact us now

Phone 070037652, or e-mail personnel@leadership.com

‘your ability to find clever or imaginative ways of doing things’?

5 What mental quality do you need for this job?

6 What job do you think this

advertisement is for?

Put these expressions into two groups: usually negative (-) and usually positive (+) Some

of them are new expressions not on the opposite page

1 to hit a glass ceiling 5S to be passed over for promotion

2 to have a lot of perks 6 to get turned down for a job

3 to be snowed under 7 to be short-listed for a job

Some words here are not used correctly or in their usual way Correct them

1 [ started studying French at university, but I didn’t finish my career and left after one year

2 My boss rose my salary with £2,000 a year I was delighted

3 I’m underpaid and overworked, like everybody! And I’m always stressed up

4 My holiday titlement is four weeks a year

5 He got maternity leave when his wife had a baby

Imagine you are a careers adviser What advice would you give to someone who is

1 money motivated and who is prepared to take risks?

2 a very talented musician who is not necessarily money motivated?

3 an achiever who has a background in IT and is a very confident person?

4 suffering from a lack of job satisfaction in their present job?