Outcomes Advanced Vocabulary Builder  Unit 12

12 HISTORY
Pages 106–107 of university | about one third of students drop out of the
course by the end of the second year
bark  /bɑː(r)k/ Noun
Noun:  dropout
a bark is the noise a dog makes. If you say that
someone’s bark is worse than their bite, you mean that it’s not easy to find work if you’re a dropout | there’s a
they seem much more rude or fierce than they really are proven link between poverty and college dropout rates
it turned out his bark was much worse than his bite | evacuate  /ɪˈvækjueɪt/ Verb
don’t worry about Fred, his bark’s worse than his bite when people are evacuated, they are moved out of the
area where they live because of a war or other danger,
belch  /beltʃ/ Verb
to somewhere safer
if you belch, air comes up from your stomach and out of
your mouth, usually making a noise she was evacuated during the war | luckily, they all
managed to evacuate the village before the floods
he still eats like a peasant and belches after meals |
came | the police had evacuated the area before the
he tried to stop himself belching, unsuccessfully
bomb went off | about 400 homes were evacuated
Noun:  belch in total
a smile crossed his face, followed by a belch Noun:  evacuation | Noun:  evacuee
broken home  /ˌbrəʊkən ˈhəʊm/ Noun the school was used as an evacuation centre | the
if someone comes from a broken home, they grow up fire caused the evacuation of 12 nearby homes | the
with just one parent because their parents have divorced evacuees included over 200 children | during the war,
or separated our village took in 12 evacuees from London
he comes from a broken home | Martin was a child of a from scratch  /frɒm ˈskrætʃ/ Phrase
broken home | she grew up in a broken home | he was if you start something from scratch, you do it without
the product of a broken home and had never seen using anything that has been prepared for you or that
his father has existed before
build up  /ˌbɪld ˈʌp/ Phrasal verb she built up the business from scratch | the garden was
if you build something up, you do what is needed to completely bare, so we had to start from scratch | I had
make it develop and be successful to learn French from scratch when I arrived in Paris |
he slowly built things up until he got to where he is they built the car from scratch using mostly second-hand
today | we built up the business over a number of years parts | soup tastes better when you make it from scratch
| they built it up from a little corner shop to a chain of generation  /ˌdʒenəˈreɪʃ(ə)n/ Noun
supermarkets a generation is the group of all the people who were
capital  /ˈkæpɪt(ə)l/ Noun born and lived at around the same time. If you talk
the capital of a country is the city where the government about the first generation, you are referring to the first
is based generation of people who have moved to live in another
country. Their children who are then born there are the
he decided to move to the capital | the capital of Russia second generation
moved from Petrograd to Moscow in 1919 | what’s the
capital city of Australia? | lots of people think New York is he came from a first-generation Chinese family | she’d
the capital of the USA, but actually it’s Washington D.C. never been to Ireland, although her mother was a
second-generation Irish-American | his family were in the
close-knit  /ˌkləʊs ˈnɪt/ Adjective first generation of immigrants from Italy to the USA
a close-knit group of people live or work together very
closely and support each other a lot orphan  /ˈɔː(r)f(ə)n/ Verb
an orphan is a child whose parents have both died.
he grew up in a very close-knit community | ours was a Someone who becomes an orphan has been orphaned
close-knit family | this is a very close-knit organisation,
where everyone knows everyone else | the novel is he was orphaned when both his parents died in a plane
about a close-knit group of teenagers growing up crash | thousands of children were orphaned during
in Glasgow the war
Adjective:  orphaned | Noun:  orphan
drop out  /ˌdrɒp ˈaʊt/ Phrasal verb there are approximately 700 orphaned children in the
if you drop out of a course of study, you stop doing it and city | Jackson became an orphan at the age of 12 |
leave the institution where you were studying. A person Sarah died a week later, leaving the three children
who does this is a dropout as orphans
he had to drop out of school and earn money for his
family | he went back to college, but dropped out for a pass away  /ˌpɑːs əˈweɪ/ Phrasal verb
second time | my mother was furious when I dropped out if someone has passed away, they have died. Pass away
is a more formal and less direct way of saying die

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 Outcomes Advanced Vocabulary Builder  Unit 12

when he was 13, his dad passed away | my like a fish out of water:
grandmother passed away last year | he passed away
in his sleep if you feel like a fish out of water, you feel very
uncomfortable because you are in a situation that you are
peasant  /ˈpez(ə)nt/ Noun not used to and you don’t feel you belong there
a peasant is someone in a poor country who works as there I was, like a fish out of water, the only person at the
a farmer and does not have much money or education. party who was over 30
People sometimes use the word peasant to suggest that
someone does not behave politely or does not have avoid something like the plague:
any education if you avoid something like the plague, you do everything
he said I eat like a peasant! | peasants left the you can to avoid it. The plague is a very serious disease
countryside to look for work in the big cities | her that spreads very quickly and kills people who have it
grandfather was a peasant who could not read or write she’s been avoiding me like the plague since I asked her
Noun:  peasantry to help with painting the house
living conditions for the French peasantry changed a lot like chalk and cheese:
between 1870 and 1914
if you say two people or things are like chalk and cheese,
privileged  /ˈprɪvəlɪdʒd/ Adjective you mean that they are very different from each other
someone who is privileged has a lot of advantages in even though they’re both in Russia, Moscow and St
life, for example because they come from a rich family or Petersburg are like chalk and cheese
have had a good education
as hard as nails:
Collocates:  a privileged family/background
if you say that someone is as hard as nails, you mean they
she’s from a very privileged background | a large
do not show emotions such as sympathy or kindness
proportion of our students come from highly privileged
families | she had enjoyed a privileged upbringing she looks very friendly, but watch out, she’s as hard as
in Chelsea | she gave up her privileged lifestyle and nails and a very tough businesswoman
volunteered to work in a rural village in India for a year
as dead as a dodo:
Noun:  privilege
if you say that something is as dead as a dodo, you mean
from an early age he became used to having money that it is no longer in existence or no longer active or
and privilege interesting. A dodo was a bird that could not fly and is
now extinct (does not exist at all)
sheltered  /ˈʃeltə(r)d/ Noun
if someone has had a sheltered upbringing or a the steel industry in this town is as dead as a dodo
sheltered life, they have been protected from dangerous
as white as a sheet:
or unpleasant experiences
if someone goes as white as a sheet, they look very
Collocates:  a sheltered upbringing/life/background
frightened, worried, or ill
due to his sheltered upbringing, he was shy and quite
when he heard the news, he went as white as a sheet
naïve | both of us had a very sheltered upbringing | for
students who have had a sheltered upbringing, the as old as the hills:
first weeks at university can be quite alarming | she
if you say that something is as old as the hills, you mean
was very quiet and, I guessed, from a rather sheltered
that it is very old
background
that story is as old as the hills, but the children hadn’t
textile  /ˈtekstaɪl/ Noun heard it before and enjoyed it
textiles are fabrics made from wool, cotton, silk, etc.
as clear as mud:
he used to go from door to door selling textiles | a textile
mill (a factory that makes textiles) | the city is a former if you say that something is as clear as mud, you mean
centre of textile production that it is very difficult to understand
these are instructions are as clear as mud!
SIMILES
memory like a sieve:
Pages 108–109
if you have a memory like a sieve, you forget things very
easily. A sieve is a bowl with holes in it that you use in the comprehensive  /ˌkɒmprɪˈhensɪv/ Adjective
kitchen to separate liquids from solids something that is comprehensive includes as much
detail and as many relevant things as possible
I read it the other week, but I’ve got a memory like a sieve
and can’t even remember the name of the main character there was a need to establish more comprehensive
and joined-up systems | the first comprehensive book
smoke like a chimney: about the war | a comprehensive list of winners can be
if someone smokes like a chimney, they smoke a lot of found on our website | a very comprehensive guide on
cigarettes, all day long. A chimney is the tall pipe that cleaning a guitar | a comprehensive survey of the birds
carries smoke from a fire out of a building of Canada
my grandad smoked like a chimney all his life and, Adverb:  comprehensively
amazingly, lived to be 92

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this topic will be comprehensively discussed in the next some people embrace change and find it exciting |
chapter | the kitchen is comprehensively equipped with doctors need to move with the times and embrace
quality appliances new ideas

couple with  /ˈkʌp(ə)l wɪð/ Phrasal verb flower  /ˈflaʊə(r)/ Verb

if something is coupled with another thing, the two things if an idea or relationship flowers, it develops and
combine in some way and produce a particular result becomes stronger and more successful
this fear of borrowing has been coupled with an effort to women’s liberation flowered in the 1960s and 1970s
reduce state intervention | the advantages are lightness | his love of poetry flowered at university | we need to
coupled with great strength | cold temperatures coupled give her an environment where her creativity can flower
with strong winds made it very uncomfortable outside
go over  /ˌɡəʊ ˈəʊvə(r)/ Phrasal verb
cripple  /ˈkrɪp(ə)l/ Verb if you go over something, you repeat it in order to try and
if something cripples a machine, organisation, or activity, understand it better or to make it clear to someone
it damages it so much that it cannot work properly could you go over that again?| I went over what I wanted
any more to say several times before picking up the phone | we
the old colonial powers were crippled by debts | the went over every detail together | we’ve gone over this
virus might slow down or cripple your computer | the three times already
snowstorm crippled operations at London’s Heathrow
Airport | the company was crippled by rising oil prices head  /hed/ Noun
your head is the top part of your body that holds your
Adjective:  crippled | Adjective:  crippling
brain. You can use the word head in a number of
Collocates:  crippling debt | a crippling blow expressions to do with your ability to think
it will take years for our crippled economy to recover it’s difficult for us to get our heads round the scale of the
| crippling debts forced them to sell the company | the devastation (to fully understand it) | for some reason, he
loss of their mother was a crippling blow to the family got it into his head that I was German | I’m sure you can
work it out – just use your head! | what put that idea into
declaration  /ˌdekləˈreɪʃ(ə)n/ Noun
your head?
a declaration is a formal statement announcing a serious
action that a government is starting to take incur  /ɪnˈkɜː(r)/ Verb
Collocates:  a declaration of something | make/issue if you incur debts, losses, costs, etc. you start to owe
a declaration money for something
a declaration of independence | the president made a Collocates:  incur debts/losses/costs/expenses
declaration on state television | the two sides issued they incurred huge debts during the war | you have to
a joint declaration at the end of the conference | a pay all the costs incurred during your stay in hospital |
declaration of war soon followed the bank incurred losses of billions of pounds | are you
Verb:  declare willing to incur the additional expense of travelling
Collocates:  declare independence | declare war first class?
Croatia declared independence on 8 October 1991 | the intervention  /ˌɪntə(r)ˈvenʃ(ə)n/ Noun
following day, Chamberlain declared war intervention is the act of starting to become involved in a
situation in order to have an effect on what happens
elaborate  /ɪˈlæbəreɪt/ Verb
if you elaborate on something, you say more about it the government are trying to reduce the amount of state
and provide more details about it intervention in people’s lives | direct military intervention
was going to be politically dangerous | Iraq does not
Collocates:  elaborate on something
want to depend on foreign intervention for ever | he
could you elaborate on that a little? | I’ll elaborate on this opposed British intervention in Syria
idea in the next lecture | all this will be fully elaborated in
Verb:  intervene
the next chapter | in her talk, she elaborated on the topic
of Spanish literature Roosevelt personally intervened in the dispute | the
Bank of England intervened and raised interest rates
Noun:  elaboration
I think this idea needs further elaboration | the question kick-start  /ˈkɪk stɑː(r)t/ Verb
required some explanation and elaboration if you kick-start a motorbike, you make the engine start
by pressing a lever with your foot. If you kick-start a
embrace  /ɪmˈbreɪs/ Noun process, you do what is necessary to help it start or
an embrace of new ideas, ways of doing things, change, develop more quickly
etc., is an enthusiastic acceptance of them
what better way to kick-start the economy than by
Collocates:  an embrace of something developing trade with China | the success of his first
our embrace of science and technology dates back novel kick-started his career as a writer | it is up to the
to the second world war | his embrace of Thatcher’s government to kick-start the housing market
political philosophy did not last long
massacre  /ˈmæsəkə(r)/ Noun
Verb:  embrace
a massacre is the killing of a lot of people in a short
space of time in a violent way

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after another massacre in the town, fresh calls for resistance  /rɪˈzɪst(ə)ns/ Noun uncount
gun control were made | police believe the massacre the Resistance is the group of people who continue to
took just 15 seconds | another survivor described the fight against an army that has invaded and taken control
massacre of her family of their country. Resistance is also the activity that they do
Verb:  massacre many women were central to the resistance movement
thousands of civilians were massacred | it was estimated that fought against the occupation | ten members of the
that 60 prisoners were massacred after the attack Resistance were arrested and shot | troops faced stiff
resistance outside the capital | enemy resistance was
nationalise  /ˈnæʃ(ə)nəlaɪz/ Verb light and badly organised
when a company is nationalised, it stops being privately Verb:  resist
owned and starts being controlled by the government of
the inhabitants were resisting occupation of their land |
the country where it is based
the invasion was resisted successfully for
lots of companies and banks were nationalised | the several months
new Labour government nationalised the coal industry
| in 1956, Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal | small scale  /skeɪl/ Noun
businesses were also later nationalised the scale of something is its size or extent
Noun:  nationalisation | Adjective:  nationalised Collocates:  the (sheer) scale of something | on a
Collocates:  the nationalisation of something | particular scale
nationalised industries it’s difficult for us to get our heads round the sheer
a programme of nationalisation that began in 1945 | scale of the devastation | they had never seen flooding
the nationalisation of the coal industry | unions were on such a scale before | the scale of the problem was
stronger in the nationalised industries than in private frightening | a large scale research project | there was
companies evidence of fraud on a massive scale

overstatement  /ˌəʊvə(r)ˈsteɪtmənt/ Noun seed  /siːd/ Noun

an overstatement is an exaggerated statement that a seed is a small part of a plant that you put into the
describes something as being more important or serious ground in order to grow a new plant. You can use the
than it really is word seed to talk about something that is the beginning
of a new idea, activity, or belief
don’t you think it’s an overstatement to say that it failed?
| it might sound dramatic, but it’s not an overstatement Collocates:  sow the seeds (of something)
| that sort of overstatement won’t convince people to the war sowed the first seeds of women’s liberation
believe you | we started with £3000 seed money (a little money
Verb:  overstate to get a project started) | they scattered the seeds of
revolutionary ideas throughout Europe | the seeds of
these figures overstate the extent of the problem | it
unrest were already present
would be easy to overstate the risk involved
spark  /spɑː(r)k/ Noun
overthrow  /ˈəʊvə(r)ˈˌθrəʊ/ Noun
a spark is something that causes a serious event to
the overthrow of a government or political leader is their
happen or develop
removal, usually by force
maybe it would have happened anyway, but the war
following the overthrow of the old regime, a new
provided the spark at the time | it proved to be the spark
government was formed | their aim is the violent
that started the revolution | that film was the spark that
overthrow of democracy | he had supported the
grew into a career spent in medicine
attempted overthrow of the president
Verb:  spark
Verb:  overthrow
the announcement sparked widespread demonstrations
only a revolution will succeed in overthrowing the
| what sparked this explosion of anger?
regime | the government was overthrown just five
months after it was elected turning point  /ˈtɜː(r)nɪŋ pɔɪnt/ Noun
a turning point is a time during a process or sequence
reform  /rɪˈfɔː(r)m/ Noun
of events when things start to change and develop in a
a reform is a change to an existing law, system, or
different way and therefore change the eventual result
institution
the election marked a turning point in the country’s history
the reforms introduced last year have brought about a
| a turning point in the strike came a week later | the
recovery in the economy | the reforms came too late |
invasion of Russia proved to be a turning point in the war
educational reform was an important topic during the
election | the last major tax reform was in 1986 | the untenable  /ʌnˈtenəb(ə)l/ Adjective
process of carrying out the reforms took several years if a belief, situation, or position is untenable, it cannot
Verb:  reform | Noun:  reformer continue because there is a serious problem with it
an attempt to reform the House of Lords | the it was simply untenable to continue their exclusion from
government are about to reform the tax system | the politics | the prime minister’s position was untenable
announcement was welcomed by educational reformers when he lost the vote in parliament (he could no longer
continue as prime minister) | the situation was now

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untenable and the army retreated back to the other side Collocates:  assign someone to do something | assign
of the river | the arrangement proved untenable, and someone to somewhere
Watkins moved to a different department he was assigned to collaborate on his project with a
classmate | she assigned the students to groups and
vivid  /ˈvɪvɪd/ Adjective
gave each group a separate task | after three weeks,
something that is vivid is very clear, understandable, and
she was assigned to the Manchester branch | Somerville
contains a lot of detail
was permanently assigned to the Embassy in Lisbon
Collocates:  a vivid description/memory
Noun:  assignment
Keith Lowe’s book gives a very vivid account of the
following his assignment to Washington, he received a
whole process | a vivid description of love and politics in
large pay rise
medieval England | he still has vivid memories of his first
day at school | the film left a vivid impression on me cast  /kɑːst/ Verb
Adverb:  vividly | Noun:  vividness if you cast doubt on something, you make people think it
I vividly remember two events from that trip | her story might not be true. If you cast light on something, you say
vividly illustrates the society of her time | that Christmas something that makes people understand it better
remains in my memory with great vividness | they several people have already cast doubt on these claims
admired the accuracy and vividness of her description | a recent book has cast doubt on these conclusions |
the story cast some light on the sort of person he was
welfare  /ˈwelfeə(r)/ Noun uncount
welfare is all the things that a state does for its challenge  /ˈtʃæləndʒ/ Verb
citizens, such as providing medical care, pensions, if you challenge something, you suggest that it is not
unemployment benefits, etc. true
in many European countries, welfare systems simply the article challenged the conventional views of the
didn’t exist before the war | our social welfare policies time | he is known for challenging the current beliefs in
need to be brought up to date | the cost of welfare his field | I have to challenge your assertion that we will
has risen steeply since the economic crisis | spending never know the truth about this
on health, social welfare, and education must not be
allowed to drop | the government are determined to consume  /kənˈsjuːm/ Verb
bring about welfare reform if a feeling or desire consumes someone, they feel it
very strongly and cannot control it
widowed  /ˈwɪdəʊd/ Adjective more than 30 other people had been consumed by a
a widow is someone whose husband has died. A similar urge | he was consumed by a desire for revenge |
widower is someone whose wife has died. Someone her feelings of guilt began to consume her
who is widowed had a husband or wife who has died
she lived with her widowed sister-in-law in Paris | in contend  /kənˈtend/ Verb
March, her widowed father suffered a heart attack | less if you contend that something is the case, you say quite
than ten per cent of single parents are widowed mothers firmly that you believe it is true
Verb:  widow | Noun:  widow | Noun:  widower Collocates:  contend that
thousands of women were widowed by the war | she many psychologists contend that extreme stress was
was widowed at the age of just 28 | his widow survived the cause | critics contend the system would cost too
him by 30 years (she stayed alive for 30 years after her much | the author contends that the state should not be
husband died) | he left a widow and three small children responsible for education | opponents contend that this
| he had been a widower for five years would be a tax on breathing
Noun:  contention
Pages 110–111 there is no evidence for his contention that speed limits
have no effect | it’s my contention that students work
assert  /əˈsɜː(r)t/ Verb harder now than when I was a student
if you assert something, you say very firmly that you
believe it is true craze  /kreɪz/ Noun
Collocates:  assert that a craze is something that becomes very popular for a
short time
some historians assert that the decline of the Roman
Empire was the result of a series of invasions | Oswald the craze continued into a second week | the disco
repeatedly asserted his innocence | in her article, she craze spread around the world in the 1970s | the latest
asserted her belief that they would lose the election | health craze involves eating only nuts | there was a brief
this did not prevent him from asserting his opinion craze for knitting at my school
Noun:  assertion demonstrate  /ˈdemənˌstreɪt/ Verb
repeating your assertion doesn’t make it true, you know if you demonstrate something, you show that it exists or
| his assertion was not based on any evidence is true
students should demonstrate an understanding of at
assign  /əˈsaɪn/ Verb
least three languages | the research demonstrated the
to assign someone to a particular task means to make
effectiveness of the new drug | a simple example will
them do that task. To assign someone to a particular
demonstrate the importance of this problem | these
place means to send them to work there
results demonstrate the importance of regular practice

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epidemic  /ˌepɪˈdemɪk/ Noun plausible  /ˈplɔːzəb(ə)l/ Adjective

when there is an epidemic, a serious disease affects a something that is plausible is reasonable and seems
large number of people at the same time likely to be true
the epidemic came to a halt after the dancers started I couldn’t think of a plausible explanation for the incident
going to a special healing shrine | the flu epidemic | it was a perfectly plausible theory | she needed a
of 1919 | the epidemic spread very rapidly into plausible excuse for not going to the theatre | the story
neighbouring countries | the epidemic caused at least seemed plausible at the time
1000 deaths Adverb:  plausibly | Opposites – Adjective implausible |
Adverb:  implausibly
handful  /ˈhæn(d)fʊl/ Noun
a handful is the amount of something you can hold in it has been plausibly suggested that Yuri Gagarin was
your hand. You can use the word handful to say that a not the first man in space | he could not plausibly explain
quantity of something is not very big how he was two hours late for the meeting | Watson’s
claim seemed highly implausible | it seems implausible
there have been only a small handful of cases since
that the marketing campaign could result in a 40%
then | eat a handful of peanuts in the middle of the
increase in profits | the success rate they claimed was
afternoon | we had met on just a handful of occasions |
implausibly high | the quality of the photographs was
a handful of people stayed behind after the meeting to
implausibly good
help clean the hall
rule out  /ˌruːl ˈaʊt/ Phrasal verb
harsh  /hɑː(r)ʃ/ Adjective
to rule something out means to decide that it is not
something that is harsh is very difficult to live with, or is
possible or relevant
very cruel or unfair
medical experts ruled out supernatural causes | that
harsh environmental conditions were to blame | they
possibility has since been ruled out | we need to rule out
received harsh punishment | the climate in the north
human error – this was definitely a mechanical failure
is much more harsh | the harsh reality is that we can’t
| the X-ray ruled out any serious fracture of the leg | at
afford to replace the car
first we thought he was too hot, but we ruled that out
Adverb:  harshly | Noun:  harshness when we took his temperature
the sun shone harshly all afternoon | prisoners there
were treated very harshly | the book clearly shows the shrine  /ʃraɪn/ Noun
harshness of life in the 17th century a shrine is a special place that is associated with a
holy event or person. You can also refer to somewhere
holy  /ˈhəʊli/ Adjective as a shrine when it is connected very strongly with a
something that is holy is considered to be very special particular person or activity
by a particular religion Collocates:  a shrine to someone or something
a holy shrine | the river Ganges is considered holy some of the dancers were taken to a special healing
by Hindus | Jerusalem is holy to three great religions shrine | his entire house is a shrine to chess | there were
Noun:  holiness many holy shrines along the river | there were three
it is a place of great holiness | the two statues symbolise shrines, all dedicated to different saints
wisdom and holiness
stage  /steɪdʒ/ Verb
mania  /ˈmeɪniə/ Noun to stage an event or activity means to organise it and
a mania for something is a strong interest in it and make it happen
a desire to be involved in it, especially when a lot of they staged a walkout in protest at the cuts | the
people are affected by it at the same time students staged a concert on the last day of term |
there had been several earlier instances of dancing similar exhibitions were successfully staged in Belfast
mania | in the 1840s, railway mania spread throughout and Cardiff
Great Britain | luckily, his mania for gambling did not Adjective:  staged
last long it was a very carefully staged event
plague  /pleɪɡ/ Noun unorthodox  /ʌnˈɔː(r)θədɒks/ Adjective
a plague is a serious disease that can kill a lot of people something that is unorthodox is considered to be
very quickly. You can also use the word plague to talk unusual by most people
about something unwanted that is difficult to control, or
it was a rather unorthodox attempt to cure the problem
about a large number of rats, insects, etc.
| he took the highly unorthodox step of appointing
they thought the dancing plague was a natural disorder himself financial director while remaining chairman | she
caused by hot blood | it was rumoured that a plague demonstrated an unorthodox approach to solving the
of rats was living in the underground railway network | problem | he held unorthodox views
there’s been a plague of violence in the capital
Opposite:  orthodox
Verb:  plague
the orthodox view was that government needed to
we’ve been plagued with flies all summer encourage more private enterprise

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withdrawal  /wɪðˈdrɔːəl/ Noun mould  /məʊld/ Noun

the withdrawal of something or someone is their removal a mould is a container with a special shape. You pour
from the place where they are liquid into it, and when the liquid becomes solid it has
the treatment usually involved the withdrawal of blood the same shape as the container
| the troop withdrawal was completed a week later | I a set of jelly moulds in the shape of different fish | pour
went to the bank and made a withdrawal of £200 the wax very carefully into the mould
Verb:  withdraw
rightful  /ˈraɪtf(ə)l/ Adjective
British forces were withdrawn in 1954 | I’d like to rightful things or people are officially accepted as being
withdraw some cash, please legally right or correct
they believed he was their rightful king | our family have
Pages 112–113 been the rightful owners of the castle for over 500 years
| they robbed him of his rightful inheritance
in vain  /ɪn veɪn/ Adverb
a vain attempt or action does not succeed in what it Adverb:  rightfully
is trying to do. If you do something in vain, you fail to we only want what is rightfully ours | the park rightfully
achieve what you wanted to belongs to the public, not the council
I tried in vain to get the mark off my shirt | we spent the
afternoon looking for the ring, but in vain | he made a
vain attempt to catch the last train | she had gone off in
a vain search for bananas

© 2017 National Geographic Learning  7

 Outcomes Advanced Vocabulary Builder  Unit 12

EXERCISES 4 I took the long route home so I wouldn’t have to walk

past her house.
5 I’ve never seen him without a cigarette in his hand.
Prepositions
E Complete the similes with the correct word.
A Complete the sentences with the correct Look in the similes box if you need help.
preposition. Look up the word in bold if you 1 as as nails
need help.
2 as as a dodo
1 The declaration independence was followed
by great celebrations. 3 as as a sheet
2 In her talk, she elaborated the topic of 4 as as the hills
Spanish literature. 5 as as mud
3 The scale the problem was frightening.
4 After three weeks, she was assigned the Collocations
Manchester branch.
5 A recent book has cast doubt his claims. F Complete the missing nouns to make collocations.
6 The whole house is a shrine his great hero, Pelé. Look up the adjectives if you need help.
1 The first comprehensive s _ _ _ _ y of the birds
of Britain.
Word families 2 He grew up in a very close-knit c _ _ _ _ _ _ _ y.
B Complete the expressions on the right with the 3 The prime minister’s p _ _ _ _ _ _ n proved to be
correct form of the word in bold. untenable.
1 evacuate 300 people there were 300 4 She still has vivid m _ _ _ _ _ _ s of her childhood.
5 The harsh r _ _ _ _ _ y is that we can’t afford to
2 nationalise the banks the replace the car.
of the banks 6 She needed a plausible e _ _ _ _ e for not going to
3 a harsh punishment 
the the theatre.
of the punishment G Match the adjectives (1–6) with the nouns (a–f)
4 we are the rightful owners 
it is to make collocations. Look up the adjectives if
ours you need help.
5 a holy temple famous for its great 1 privileged a) attempt
2 sheltered b) debt
C Tick the words in the unit that are both a verb 3 crippling c) upbringing
and a noun.
4 vivid d) owner
1 withdraw
5 vain e) family
2 plague
6 rightful f) description
3 contend
4 assign
Phrasal verbs
5 reform
6 overthrow H Complete the sentences with the correct form of
7 massacre the phrasal verbs in the box.
8 elaborate go over      pass away    build up
couple with       rule out  drop out
Similes 1 The medical examination has the
possibility of murder.
D Match the similes (a–f) with the sentences they
2 We’ve already all the details three
go with (1–6).
times!
a) smoke like a chimney
3 Ice on the roads strong winds made
b) avoid something like the plague it dangerous to drive.
c) a memory like a sieve 4 I was at my mother’s bedside the night she
d) like a fish out of water  .
e) like chalk and cheese 5 My father was furious when I of
university.
1 I completely forgot her birthday. 6 They gradually the business over a
2 I’d never been to a conference before. period of 20 years.
3 She never stops talking and he never says a word.

© 2017 National Geographic Learning  8