4000 Essential English Words

pas s E n g lis h W ords www.irlanguage.com 4000 Essential English Words 6 www.irlanguage.com 4000 Essential English Words 6 Paul Nation © 2009 Compass Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Acquisitions Editor: Fidel Cruz Project Coordinator: Annie Cho Design: Design Plus email: info@compasspub.com http://www.compasspub.com ISBN: 978-1-59966-407-1 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 12 11 Photo Credits All images © Shutterstock, Inc. www.irlanguage.com f f IJLidJEs...S j S - ^ £ S l v — .........-.................-............................... j j j g j g g j | D Unit Target Words Page alleviate, astrology, differentiate, disrupt, equation, err, erroneous, frantic, hull, inadvertent, improvise, 1 8 latitude, mariner, multitude, nuisance, permanence, revolve, soothe, stranded, volatile arduous, attain, coexist, conceive, dubious, ego, elastic, endeavor, engrave, excavate, 2 14 jagged, locale, mold, outright, periphery, plaster, shovel, skeletal, terrestrial, vicious absurd, anemia, aristocracy, aristocrat, attire, craze, enlarge, excess, feminine, hallmark, 3 20 pad, predominant, reputable, rouge, signify, strap, tangle, vanity, vie, vulgar attic, chunk, civic, descent, din, dissatisfy, fuss, gourmet, hence, intrinsic, kettle, ministry, 4 26 ordeal, outspoken, overwork, particular, pungent, snore, soundly, superintendent alternate, apologetic, benign, char, clarify, distress, dogged, ensue, gasp, negotiate, 5 32 overdose, persuasion, relay, reluctance, restate, sesame, sip, verge, wary, waver ashore, contradict, counterpart, devoid, diverge, elude, embryo, fend, fictitious, gazette, 6 38 homogeneous, obstruct, plunge, prolong, publicize, sparse, surplus, theorize, verify, vigorous altar, arthritis, botany, credible, deceased, deception, decipher, dung, dusk, gratify, 7 44 hone, mash, ornate, pneumonia, psychic, psychotic, scope, sinister, strife, therapeutic congested, courier, deform, etiquette, exclusive, freight, garment, insomnia, intuitive, liable, 8 50 obsess, overboard, premium, privilege, propel, socialize, suppress, tram, unsettle, warp artery, deterioration, elusive, forage, impede, induce, inseparable, invalid, magnify, mainstream, 9 56 microbe, negligible, paralysis, pest, prevail, respiration, rupture, savage, stun, susceptible accumulate, aerial, apparatus, avalanche, consistency, convection, discharge, intact, mortal, 10 62 omen, overcast, poignant, ranger, rubble, seclude, sideways, sob, sober, speck, upbringing advocate, authorize, civilian, commodity, conquest, disclose, dynamics, enroll, envious, 11 68 euphoria, festive, jolly, lentil, marshal, morale, prophecy, sage, senate, sentiment, unrest adorn, bliss, butler, cramp, dilapidated, evoke, farewell, faucet, filth, flaw, grin, 12 74 housekeeping, mound, numb, reckless, slate, stool, testament, timber, valve certify, collaborate, compile, counteract, curb, diagnose, enact, federation, gross, humane, 13 80 intolerable, needy, onset, pledge, prohibit, rash, render, smallpox, transmit, vow camouflage, contemplate, contend, cot, enlist, frontier, handbook, hesitant, lush, marrow, 14 86 outfit, paw, quiver, splendid, stray, substantial, torch, tract, vigil, weary adhere, administer, compassionate, contaminate, deficiency, epidemic, hazard, imperative, intestines, manifest, 15 92 metabolic, overcrowded, paramount, practitioner, provision, replenish, sterile, upgrade, viable, voluntary www.irlanguage.com Unit Target Words Page amid, backstage, billionaire, brute, clumsy, collide, culprit, evacuate, flammable, mob, 16 98 premature, resent, satire, scrutiny, segregate, subject, testify, tumult, underestimate, uproar accelerate, anew, defect, dreary, duplicate, electromagnetic, electron, glide, ingenious, innovation, 17 104 innovative, launch, meteorological, meteorology, penetrate, propulsion, simulate, spur, stimulate, tenacious beforehand, centigrade, chatter, concerto, condense, cove, deteriorate, exterior, freeway, hearty, 18 110 hospitable, manor, monastery, nursery, outstretched, parcel, profile, vivacious, winding, zip airway, Almighty, advent, constellation, definitive, equate, inhale, invoke, lunar, novelty, 19 116 outmoded, personalize, pertain, primal, psychiatric, psychiatry, reflex, seizure, session, utensil adhesive, adverse, dependency, dump, eternal, fluctuate, fro, inclusion, intermediate, intermittent, 20 122 mentor, phoenix, photosynthesis, pollen, regain, reverse, swarm, texture, tickle, vibrant abolish, amend, aspire, censor, charter, constitution, cosmopolitan, disseminate, flatter, 21 128 infamous, lame, limp, outburst, pathological, phenomenal, poll, remorse, secrecy, tackle, trance coward, delete, firsthand, earnest, ethnic, exclude, fluent, imperial, inclusive, legislature, 22 134 linguistic, monolingual, nationality, patriot, prosecute, racial, solemn, solidarity, tact, undermine allocate, appetizing, blizzard, cavity, clockwise, concentric, courtesy, crisp, discord, frigid, 23 140 generate, glacial, interchange, locker, multicultural, omission, oversee, pierce, replicate, wavy abide, conversion, cram, defer, export, fume, habitual, justify, output, overpopulation, patent, 24 146 penalize, petroleum, prototype, scrap, sector, subscribe, subsist, suspend, synthesis acrobat, advocacy, communal, fluid, harmonize, industrious, inventive, judicial, Mandarin, 25 152 metropolitan, mimic, misguided, rehearse, scorn, sensory, staple, statute, veteran, villain, vine constrain, depot, emulate, forefinger, guts, inherent, intimidate, janitor, moist, nope, 26 158 prod, ransom, restrain, saliva, spit, sprint, stunt, tolerant, vampire, yawn analogy, ancestry, archer, conspiracy, deputy, earl, fragrant, funnel, hereditary, hymn, 27 164 invert, prey, procession, prophet, sarcastic, seasoning, sodium, tyranny, tyrant, vinegar adjoining, allege, arch, assemble, casualty, erect, foul, hectare, heighten, hospitality, 28 170 mansion, outnumber, overjoyed, pasture, petition, renovate, revise, slab, terrace, turf analogous, binoculars, bulk, comprise, depict, dual, Fahrenheit, fulfill, grove, ore, outback, 29 176 outweigh, paradox, pier, shortcut, tariff, thermometer, tilt, vice versa, whereabouts amber, charcoal, columnist, courteous, credentials, crickets, delta, detergent, euphemism, 30 182 expire, granite, gravel, haunt, liberal, maze, moss, peck, pebble, reservoir, streak 9 www.irlanguage.com About the Vocabulary The 600 words in each book of this series along with the additional target words presented in the appendices included in the first three books of the series are the most useful words in English. They were found by analysis of a collection of English course books from various levels in the primary, secondary and tertiary school systems. The words included in this series were chosen because they occurred many times in different levels of these materials. Because of the way that they were chosen, these words have the following characteristics: 1 They are useful in both spoken and written English. No matter what English course you are studying, the words in these books will be of value to you. 2 Each word in these books is a high-frequency word. This means that the effort in learning the words is well repaid by the number of times learners have a chance to encounter or use them. 3 These books as a whole cover a large proportion of the words in any spoken or written text. They cover at least 80% of the words in newspapers and academic texts, and at least 90% of the words in novels. They also cover at least 90% of the words in conversation. About the Books The activities in these books are specially designed to make use of important learning conditions. Firstly, the words are introduced using sentence definitions and an example sentence. The activities that follow in the units encourage learners to recall the meanings and forms of the words. Some activities also make the learners think about the meaning of the words in the context of a sentence—a sentence different from the sentences that occurred in the introduction of the words. Moreover, each unit ends with a story containing the target words. While reading the story, the learners have to recall the meanings of the words and suit them to the context of the story. Such activities help learners develop a better understanding of a common meaning for a given word which fits the different uses. Illustrations for each target word are provided to help learners visualize the word as it is being used in the example sentence. These word/image associations aim to help students grasp the meaning of the word as well as recall the word later. CIS www.irlanguage.com It should be noted that words have more than one grammatical category. However, this series focuses on the word’s most common form. This is mentioned to remind learners that just because a word is labeled and utilized as a noun in this series does not mean that it can never be used in another form such as an adjective. This series has simply focused on the word in the form that it is most likely to be expressed. Supporting Learning with Outside Activities A well-balanced language course provides four major opportunities for learning: learning through input, learning through output, deliberate learning, and fluency development. The highly structured activities in these books support all four types of learning opportunities. In addition, learning can further be supported through the following activities: 1 Have students create vocabulary cards with one word from the unit on one side of the card and the translation of the word in the student’s first language on the other side. Students should use the cards for study in free moments during the day. Over several weeks, students will find that quick repeated studying for brief periods of time is more effective than studying for hours at one sitting. 2 Assign graded readers at students’ appropriate levels. Reading such books provides both enjoyment as well as meaning-focused input which will help the words stick in students’ memory. 3 Practice reading fluency to promote faster recall of word meaning for both sight recognition and usage. Compass Publishing’s Reading for Speed and Fluency is a good resource for reading fluency material. 4 Include listening, speaking, and writing activities in classes. Reinforcement of the high-frequency vocabulary presented in this series is important across all the four language skills. Author Paul Nation Paul Nation is professor of Applied Linguistics in the School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He has taught in Indonesia, Thailand, the United States, Finland, and Japan. His specialist interests are language teaching methodology and vocabulary learning. www.irlanguage.com alleviate [aii vieit] v. To alleviate pain or suffering means to make it less intense or severe. —? She needed something to alleviate the pain in her back. astrology [astralsd3i] n. Astrology is the study of the stars in the belief that they influence people’s lives. —»Jack, who studies astrology, believes that the stars can predict the future. differentiate [difarenjieit] v. To differentiate things or people is to show the difference between them. —? It was hard to differentiate between the identical twins. disrupt [disrApt] V. To disrupt something or someone is to prevent them from working. —? The loud crash disrupted the class lecture. equation [i(:)kwei3an] n. An equation is a math operation to determine the value of something. —? I used the Pythagorean theorem to solve the equation. err [ax] v. To err means to make a mistake. —? The pilot erred in his estimate of the time it would take to make the trip. erroneous [irounias] adj. When something is erroneous, it is incorrect or only partly correct. —? The child held the erroneous belief that time machines were real. frantic [frsentik] adj. If people or things are frantic, they behave in a wild way because they are frightened —* The cat became frantic when I tried to give it a bath. hull [hAl] n. The hull of a boat or tank is the main body of it. -»Afterthe wreckatsea, the ship’s hull was the last part to sink. inadvertent [inadvertent] adj. When an action is inadvertent, it is done without realizing what you are doing. —* She made an inadvertent error when she knocked over the nail polish. oa www.irlanguage.com I improvise [impravaiz] V. To improvise something is to do it with whatever is available or without planning. —? There was no meat for the pizza, so we improvised with what was in the fridge. latitude [Isetej/uid] n. The latitude of a place is its distance from the equator. —* The device was able to tell the traveler his exact latitude. mariner [mseranar] n. A mariner is a sailor. —? The old mariner used his telescope to find the shore. multitude [mAltipid] n. A multitude of things or people is a very large number of them. —> A multitude of people were waiting at the airport. nuisance [ryu.'ssns] n. A nuisance is a person or thing that is annoying or causes a lot of problems. —? The teenager considered her noisy little brothers to be quite a nuisance. permanence [paxmanans] n. The permanence of something is its ability to last forever. —? Poor results will threaten the permanence of the new teaching system. revolve [rivdlv] V. To revolve around something is to keep it as the main feature or focus. —» My life revolves around sports. soothe [su a] v. To soothe means to calm someone who is angry or upset. —? The mother soothed her crying baby by rocking him in her arms. Stranded [straendid] adj. If someone is stranded, they are prevented from leaving a place. —» When the plane left, my sister and I were stranded in China. volatile [vdlatil] adj. When something is volatile, it is likely to change suddenly and unexpectedly. —? The volatile volcano might explode at any moment. www.irlanguage.com E x e r c i s e 1 Write a word that is similar in meaning to the underlined part. 1. He chose to paint a picture on the main body of the boat. 2. When the plane crashed on the island, the passenger knew he was prevented from leaving. 3. I admired the very large number of stamps in his collection. 4. I took some aspirin to make less my back pain. 5. The countries were concerned about the treaty’s ability to last forever. 6. Australia’s distance from the equator is less extreme than I imagined. 7. I’m still not sure if the math operation I did was correct. 8. When the rats got out of the cage, the girl was behaving in a wild wav because of fear. 9. The incorrect or partly correct information gave us the wrong idea about the president. 10. When he forgot his rope at home, he had to make one using whatever was available. www.irlanguage.com