Science

IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary Vol.
4 Science
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Thầy Kiên cùng team làm sách của IELTS – iFIGHT chúc bạn thành công.
IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary Vol.4 Science
Lời nói đầu:

Từ vựng là phần chủ yếu cản trở bạn đến với điểm số IELTS mong muốn. Đa phần các
cuốn sách về vocabulary hiện tại dành cho IELTS chỉ list ra những từ “học thuật” theo
chủ đề, ít ví dụ về cách dùng, ít hoặc không có các từ đồng nghĩa với những từ vựng học
thuật đó. Phần thiếu sót có lẽ lớn nhất của các cuốn sách từ vựng hiện tại là
“collocations” và topic vocabulary, đây là các cụm từ hay đi cùng nhau và dùng đặc biệt
trong cách topic nhất định.
Việc thiếu từ đồng nghĩa sẽ làm bạn đọc hiểu rất khó vì từ vựng dùng trong bài đọc
thường được paraphrase ở trong câu hỏi để kiểm tra được độ rộng và mức độ hiểu của
người học.
Ngoài ra việc thiếu collocations sẽ làm bạn diễn đạt vô cùng khó khăn và thiếu tự nhiên
khi viết hoặc nói. Nhưng từ trình độ <8.0 thì lại khó nhận ra những collocations nào nên
học. Do đó cuốn sách này, mình đã trực tiếp highlight tất cả các collocations hay, hay gặp
và có giá trị dùng lại rất nhiều trong quá trình nói và viết của các bạn. Sau khi học xong 6
cuốn trong bộ “LEAN VOCABULARY”, chắc chắn bạn sẽ nhận biết được một lượng
collocations đủ lớn để có thể nghe hiểu, đọc hiểu tốt và nhất là dùng được tốt khi nói và
viết.
Để học tốt cuốn sách:
Bước 1: Chọn 1 bài đọc bất kì, tập trung đọc hiểu và xem phần “synonym – từ đồng
nghĩa” của các từ được in đậm, đây là các từ ảnh hưởng trực tiếp đến mức độ hiểu của
bạn khi đọc 1 câu văn.
Bước 2: Đọc lại thật kĩ và chú ý các “cụm từ được gạch chân” – đây là các collocations
hay dùng.
Bước 3: Chọn 3-5 cụm THẬT SỰ ẤN TƯỢNG và luyện nói hoặc viết bằng cách đặt câu
hoàn chỉnh. Các câu đặt cần đảm bảo: Là câu đơn và ít bị thay đổi so với câu gốc nhất, có
liên quan đến bản thân nhất. (Nên có bút highlight để lưu lại những cụm đó)
Bước 4: Đọc lại 1 lần vào ngày hôm sau trước khi học bài mới.
(Sách có 210 bài đọc chia thành 6 chủ đề lớn: Technology (30), Health & Sports (30),
Environment (45), Education (30), Business & Economy (30), Science (45), nên với các
bạn còn thời gian (6 tháng), hãy chọn chủ đề mình yếu từ vựng nhất, hoặc từ cuốn dễ
nhất: Education  Business  Health  Evironment  Tech  Science - học ít nhất 1
bài 1 ngày và ít nhất 30 bài, học thật sâu và đọc hiểu. Với các bạn còn 3 tháng thì có thể
học 1 ngày 3 bài, nhưng nên chia ra 3 lần học, không nên học 1 lúc 2 bài)
Không cần làm đề nhiều. Chỉ cần 1 tháng làm 1 đề để kiểm tra lại khả năng tiếng Anh. Sẽ
có những collocations các bạn thấy có highlight nhưng không hiểu, khi đó hãy đánh dấu
nháy nháy và cụm đó lên google: “…………” thì sẽ có ví dụ và giải nghĩa của nó.
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Lời cảm ơn:

Công sức của các bạn sẽ giúp nhiều, rất nhiều các bạn khác đạt được mục tiêu.
Nguyễn Đình Hạnh – Khóa 9 - UNETI

Hoàn thành highlight từ vựng học thuật, giải thích và synonym
cho 45 bài đọc cho Vol.4 - Environment của bộ LEAN
VOCABULARY.
Nguyễn Thu Loan: K58 – NEU (bạn thứ 2 bên trái sang
nhé :P )
Hoàn thành highlight từ vựng học thuật, giải thích và
synonym cho 30 bài đọc cho Vol.1 - Education - của bộ
LEAN VOCABULARY.
Hoàng Phương Linh: Du học sinh Úc

cho 45 bài đọc cho Vol.6 - Science - của bộ LEAN
VOCABULARY
Vũ Thị Ba: K57 - FTU

Hoàn thành highlight từ vựng học thuật, giải thích và synonym cho
30 bài đọc cho Vol.3 – Sports and Health - của bộ LEAN
VOCABULARY
Nguyễn Thu Phương: K60 - NEU

cho 30 bài đọc cho Vol.2 – Business & Economy của bộ LEAN
VOCABULARY
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Lời nói đầu:.............................................................................................................................................. 2

Lời cảm ơn: ............................................................................................................................................. 3
Reading 1: What is animal testing? ............................................................................................... 6
Reading 2: What is animal testing? ............................................................................................... 6
Reading 3: Animal Testing 101...................................................................................................... 9
Reading 4: Scientific procedures involving animals at lowest level since 2010 ....... 12
Reading 5: Why science is being more open about animals in research ...................... 14
Reading 6: Eliminate animal experimentation?..................................................................... 18
Reading 7: The Earth and Space Foundation......................................................................... 25
Reading 8: Astronaut ice cream, anyone ................................................................................. 33
Reading 9: The Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence .................................................. 36
Reading 10: The Triune Brain ...................................................................................................... 40
Reading 11: So you think humans are unique ....................................................................... 43
Reading 12: Anesthesiology ........................................................................................................... 46
Reading 13: The Revolutionary Bridges of Robert Maillart .............................................. 48
Reading 14: Striking Back at Lightning With Lasers .......................................................... 51
Reading 15: Green virtues of green sand................................................................................. 54
Reading 16: Beyond the blue horizon........................................................................................ 57
Reading 17: Reducing errors in memory ................................................................................. 61
Reading 18: Johnson's Dictionary ............................................................................................... 63
Reading 19: Nature or Nurture? ................................................................................................. 67
Reading 20: A spark, a flint: How fire leapt to life ............................................................. 71
Reading 21: Right and left-handedness in humans ............................................................ 74
Reading 22: Young children's sense of identity ..................................................................... 78
Reading 23: Flawed Beauty: the problem with toughened glass .................................... 82
Reading 24: Play is a serious business ....................................................................................... 86
Reading 25: In search of the holy grail..................................................................................... 90
Reading 26: The harm that picture books can cause .......................................................... 94
Reading 27: Psychology and personality ASSESSMENT .................................................... 98
Reading 28: A Remarkable Beetle ........................................................................................... 102
Reading 29: A Chronicle of Timekeeping .............................................................................. 105
Reading 30: Endless Harvest ...................................................................................................... 109
Reading 31: The nature and aims of archaelogy ............................................................... 113
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Reading 32: The life and work of Marie Curie ................................................................... 117
Reading 33: Trends and prospects for European transport systems ........................ 120
Reading 34: THE DEPARTMENT OF ETHNOGRAPHY .................................................... 123
Reading 35: Mind readers ........................................................................................................... 126
Reading 36: The History of Bicycles ........................................................................................ 130
Reading 37: Pulling strings to build pyramids.................................................................... 132
Reading 38: What destroyed the civilisation of Easter Island? .................................... 135
Reading 39: When evolution runs backwards ..................................................................... 138
Reading 40: Research using twins............................................................................................ 141
Reading 41: Venus in transit ..................................................................................................... 144
Reading 42: Dino discoveries...................................................................................................... 148
Reading 43: The psychology of innovation ........................................................................... 152
Reading 44: The Rise and Fall of the British Textile Industry .................................... 155
Reading 45: Spoken Corpus comes to life ............................................................................. 158
Reading 46: This Marvellous Invention .................................................................................. 160
Listening section .............................................................................................................................. 163
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What is animal testing?
An animal test is any scientific experiment or

test in which a live animal is forced to undergo Undergo (v) /ˌʌndəˈgəʊ/: experience or be subjected
something that is likely to cause them pain, to (something, typically something unpleasant, painful,
suffering, distress or lasting harm. or arduous)
Synonym: Go through, experience, face, endure, bear,
Animal experiments are not the same as taking tolerate, withstand
your companion animal to the vet. Animals
used in laboratories are deliberately harmed, Deliberately(adv) /dɪˈlɪbərɪtli/: on purpose
not for their own good, and are usually killed at
Synonym: Intentionally, purposely
the end of the experiment.
Inject(v) /ɪnˈʤɛkt /: tiêm
Animal experiments
Expose(v) /ɪksˈpəʊz /: leave or put (someone) in an
Animal experiments include: unprotected and vulnerable state
 injecting or force feeding animals with Radiation(n) /ˌreɪdiˈeɪʃn/: phóng xạ

potentially harmful substances
 exposing animals to radiation Surgically(adv) /ˈsɜːdʒɪkli/: Phẫu thuật
 surgically removing animals’ organs or
tissues to deliberately cause damage Inhale(v) /ɪnˈheɪl /: hít vào
 forcing animals to inhale toxic gases Synonym: Breathe in
 subjecting animals to frightening
situations to create anxiety and Toxic(adj) /ˈtɒksɪk /: poisonous
depression. Synonym: Dangerous, deadly, harmful
Animals used Anxiety(n) /æŋˈzaɪəti/: a feeling of worry,

nervousness, or unease
Only vertebrate animals (mammals, birds, fish Synonym: Worry, concern, fear
and amphibians) and some invertebrates such Depression(n) /dɪˈprɛʃən/: a medical condition in
which a person feels very sad and anxious
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as octopuses are defined as ‘animals’ by Synonym: Stress, despair

European legislation governing animal
experiments. Shockingly, in the USA rats, mice,
fish, amphibians and birds are not defined as
animals under animal experiments
regulations. That means no legal permission to
experiment on them is needed and they are not
included in any statistics.
Animals used in experiments are usually bred

for this purpose by the laboratory or in breeding
facilities. It’s a cruel, multi-million dollar
industry. Cruelty Free International believes
that all animals are equally important. A dog
bred for research is still a dog who could
otherwise live a happy life in a loving home.
Some monkeys are still trapped in the wild in

Africa, Asia and South America to be used in Imprison(v) /ɪmˈprɪzn/: put or keep in prison or a place
experiments or imprisoned in breeding like a prison
facilities. Their children are exported to Synonym: Lock up, hold, remain
laboratories around the world. The use of wild-
caught monkeys in experiments is generally
banned in Europe but is allowed elsewhere.
Horses and other animals such as cows, sheep

and pigs are often supplied by dealers and may
originate from racing stables or farms for use in
animal experiments. The rules preventing the
use of stray companion animals like dogs and Stray(adj) /streɪ/: having no home or having wandered
cats vary from country to country. away from home
Synonym: Homeless, abandoned
Animal suffering
A large proportion of animal experiments in the

EU are reported to cause ‘moderate’ or ‘severe
suffering’ to the animals - according to the
researchers who carry them out. In the UK in
Moderate(adi) /ˈmɒdərɪt/: average in amount,
2016, 35% of animal experiments involved
intensity, quality, or degree
moderate or severe suffering.
Synonym: Average, neutral, modest
Some experiments require the animal to die as Severe(adj) /sɪˈvɪə/: (of something bad or undesirable)
part of the test. For example, regulatory tests very great; intense
for, vaccines and chemical safety are Synonym: Terrible, dreadful, tough, difficult, harsh
essentially variations of the cruel Lethal
Dose 50 test in which 50% of the animals
die or are killed very close to death.
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Sterile(adj) /ˈsteraɪl/: completely clean and free from

Laboratories bacteria
Laboratories are no place for any animal. They Confine(v) /kənˈfaɪn /: keep or restrict someone or
are typically sterile, indoor environments in something within certain limits of (space, scope,
which the animals are forced to live in cages – quantity, or time)
denied complete freedom of movement and Synonym: Enclose, imprison, trap
control over their lives. Some animals in
laboratories are confined on their own, without Companionship(n) /kəmˈpæniənʃɪp/: the pleasant
the companionship of others. feeling that you have when you have a friendly
relationship with somebody and are not alone
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Animal Testing 101
Right now, millions Barren(adj) /ˈbær.ən/: cằn cỗi

of mice, rats, rabbits, primates, cats, dogs, and
other animals are locked inside barren cages Laboratory(n) /ləˈbɒr.ə.tər.i/: Phòng thí nghiệm
in laboratories across the country. They
languish in pain, suffer from extreme Languish(v) /ˈlæŋgwɪʃ/: suffer from being forced to
frustration, ache with loneliness, and long to be remain in an unpleasant place or situation
free. Synonym: Suffer
Instead, all they can do is sit and wait in fear of Long(v) /lɒŋ/: want something very much especially if
the next terrifying and painful procedure that will it does not seem likely to happen soon
be performed on them. The complete lack of Synonym: Want, desire, yearn, crave
environmental enrichment and the stress of
their living situation cause some animals to
develop neurotic types of behavior such as Enrichment(n)/ ɪnˈrɪʧmənt/: the action of improving or
incessantly spinning in circles, rocking back enhancing the quality or value of something
and forth, pulling out their own fur, and even Synonym: Advancement, enhancement
biting themselves. After enduring a life of pain,
loneliness, and terror, almost all of them will be Neurotic(adj) /njʊəˈrɒt.ɪk/: loạn thần kinh chức năng
killed.
There are many non-animal test methods that Incessantly(adv) /ɪnˈses.ənt/: never stopping,
can be used in place of animal testing. Not only especially in an annoying or unpleasant way
are these non-animal tests more humane, they Synonym: ceaseless, unceasing
also have the potential to be cheaper, faster,
and more relevant to humans. Humane(adj) /hjuːˈmeɪn/: nhân văn
Conduct(v) /kənˈdʌkt/: thực hiện

While some of the experimentation conducted
Synonym: implement
on animals today is required by law, most of it
isn’t. In fact, a number of countries have Implement(v) /ˈɪmplɪmənt /: put (a decision, plan,
implemented bans on the testing of certain types
agreement, etc.) into effect
of consumer goods on animals, such as the Synonym: Execute, apply, perform, carry out
cosmetics-testing bans in the European Union,
India, Israel, New Zealand, Norway, and Ban(n) /bæn/: lệnh cấm
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elsewhere.
More than 100 million animals suffer and die

in the U.S. every year in cruel chemical,
drug, food, and cosmetics tests as well as
in medical training exercises and curiosity-
driven medical experiments at universities.
Animals also suffer and die in

classroom biology experiments and Suffer(v) /ˈsʌfə/: experience or be subjected to
dissection, even though modern non-animal
(something bad or unpleasant)
tests have repeatedly been shown to have more
Synonym: Tolearate, bear, stand
educational value, save teachers time, and save
schools money. Exact numbers aren’t available
Dissection(n) /dɪˈsɛkʃən/: the act of cutting up a dead
because mice, rats, birds, and cold-blooded
person, animal or plant in order to study it
animals—who make up more than 99 percent of
Synonym: Cutting up/open
animals used in experiments—are not covered
by even the minimal protections of the Animal
Welfare Act and therefore go uncounted.
Examples of animal tests include forcing mice

and rats to inhale toxic fumes, force-feeding
dogs pesticides, and dripping corrosive Toxic (adj) /ˈtɒksɪk/: poisonous
chemicals into rabbits’ sensitive eyes. Even if a Synonym: Dangerous, deadly, harmful
product harms animals, it can still be marketed
to consumers. Conversely, just because a Corrosive(adj) /kəˈrəʊsɪv/: tending to destroy
product was shown to be safe in animals does something slowly by chemical action
not guarantee that it will be safe to use in
humans. Guarantee(v) /ˌgærənˈtiː/: provide a formal assurance
Synonym: Ensure
Animals are also used in toxicity tests conducted
as part of massive regulatory testing programs
that are often funded by U.S. taxpayers’ money.
The Environmental Protection Agency, the Food
and Drug Administration, the National Massive(adj) /ˈmæsɪv/: extremely large or serious
Toxicology Program, and the U.S. Department
of Agriculture are just a few of the government Synonym: Big, huge, great
agencies that subject animals to crude, painful
tests.
The federal government and many health

charities waste precious dollars from taxpayers Precious(adj) /ˈprɛʃəs/: of great value
and well-meaning donors on animal experiments Synonym: Valuable, special
at universities and private laboratories, instead
of supporting promising clinical, in vitro,
epidemiological, and other non-animal studies
that could actually benefit humans.
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What You Can Do
Each of us can help prevent animal suffering

and deaths by buying cruelty-free products,
donating only to charities that don’t experiment
on animals, requesting alternatives to animal
dissection, demanding the immediate Alternative(n) /ɔːlˈtɜːnətɪv/: one of two or more
implementation of humane, effective non- available possibilities
animal tests by government agencies and Synonym: Choice, option, other posibility
corporations, and calling on our alma maters to
stop experimenting on animals. Implementation(n) /ˌɪmplɪmɛnˈteɪʃən/: the process of
putting a decision or plan into effect
With the help of our members and supporters, Synonym: Execution, operation, carrying out
PETA campaigns globally to expose and end
the use of animals in experiments. Some of our
efforts include the following:
 Conducting groundbreaking
eyewitness investigations and colorful
advocacy campaigns to educate the public
 Pushing government agencies to Groundbreaking(adj) /ˈgraʊndˌbreɪkɪŋ/: making new
stop funding and conducting experiments on discoveries; using new methods
animals Synonym: Innovative, new, unusual, pioneering
 Encouraging pharmaceutical, Advocacy(n) /ˈædvəkəsi/: the giving of public support
chemical, and consumer product to an idea, a course of action or a belief
companies to replace tests on animals with Synonym: support for, backing of, promotion of
more effective non-animal methods
 Helping students and teachers end
dissection in the classroom
 Funding humane non-animal research
 Publishing scientific papers on the
superiority of non-animal test methods
 Urging health charities not to invest in
dead-end tests on animals Superiority(n) /sju(ː)ˌpɪərɪˈɒrɪti /: the state or quality
This multifaceted approach yields scores of being better, more skilful, more powerful, greater,
of victories for animals imprisoned in etc. than others
laboratories every year. Synonym: Advantage, lead, dominance
Multifaceted(adj) /ˌmʌltɪˈfæsɪtɪd/: having many
different aspects to be considered
Synonym: Varied, various
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Scientific procedures involving animals at

lowest level since 2010
Scientific procedures involving animals are at

their lowest level since 2010, but animal rights Procedure(n) /prəˈsiːʤə/: a way of doing something,
groups say the government is not doing enough especially the usual or correct way
to reduce the number of animals bred with Synonym: system, method, strategy, policy
genetic alterations.
Alteration(n) /ˌɔːltəˈreɪʃ(ə)n /: a change to something
New statistics released by the Home Office show
that makes it different
there were almost 3.8m scientific procedures
Synonym: Change, adjustment, modification
involving animals in 2017, a 4% drop on the
previous year. These included 1.89m
experiments on live animals – with reasons
ranging from legally required drug testing to
surgical training. The latest figures represent a
7% drop in the number of such experimental
procedures compared with 2016, and a 17% drop
compared with 10 years ago. Last year 5% of the
experiments were classed as involving “severe
suffering”, with a further 50% classed as mild.
“We are not having lots and lots of very painful

experiments going on – we are actually having
really quite a small percentage,” said Prof
Dominic Wells, chair of the animal sciences
group of the Royal Society of Biology. “Most of
the severe cases are within the regulatory
element – that would be things like toxicology [of
drugs]. If you don’t have toxicity [data], you don’t
know what the safety limit of that drug is.”
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While the number of experiments Primate(n) /ˈpraɪ.meɪt/: a member of the most

using primates has fallen 17% since 2016, the developed and intelligent group of mammals,
report shows a sharp uptick in the use of including humans, monkeys, and apes
horses – an 18% increase in the same time
period. Uptick(n) /ˈəptik/: small increase
Wells said this reflected the reuse of animals,

with the number of horses used for the first time
in fact having decreased from 373 to 288 in
2017. “That’s because some of these horses are
used essentially as blood donors to produce Donor(n) /ˈdəʊ.nər/: a person who gives some of
blood products,” he said, noting the practice was their blood or a part of their body
similar to the procedure in which blood can be
repeatedly taken from humans.
However, 1.9m procedures involved the Alter(v) /ˈɔːltə/: change or cause to change in
creation or breeding of genetically altered character or composition
animals – a 37% uptick over the past decade. Of Synonym: Change, adjust, modify, amend
these animals, 99% were mice, fish or rats.
The Humane Society International said the

figures showed that a 2011 government Lip service: To just say something but not actually
commitment to reduce the number of animals do it
used in scientific research had been fruitless, and
that advice on the efficient breeding of genetically
altered animals was simply lip service. Disgraceful(adj) /dɪsˈgreɪsfʊl/: shockingly
unacceptable
“It is disgraceful that seven years after the UK Synonym: Shocking, mean, shameful
government’s pledge to reduce animal use in
scientific research, the animal body count Pledge(n) /plɛʤ/: a serious promise
remains high year-on-year, with no meaningful or Synonym: Commitment, promise, guarantee,
effective strategy in place to address the number assurance.
one cause: out-of-control breeding of engineered
animals,” said Troy Seidle, vice president for
research and toxicology at the organisation. Short-circuit(v) / ʃɔːt-ˈsɜːkɪt /: to do something more
“Once again, Humane Society International calls quickly than usual, without going through all the
on the government to require increased use of usual processes
cryopreservation – the freezing of sperm or
embryos – to short-circuit this appalling breed- Appalling(adj) /əˈpɔːlɪŋ/: very bad; awfu
kill cycle.” Synonym: Bad, dreadful, awful, terrible
Experts say the atmosphere around animal

Tackle(v) /ˈtækl/: make determined efforts to deal
research has changed in recent years, largely
with (a problem or difficult task)
following the Serious and Organised Crime and
Synonym: Deal with, address, approach
Police Act 2005, which strengthened measures
for tackling animal rights extremists.
Extremist(n) /ɪkˈstriː.mɪst/: người cực đoan
appalling breed-kill cycle.”
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Why science is being more open about

animals in research
We need to show the public the high welfare Welfare(adj) /ˈwɛlfeə/: the health, happiness, and
standards and care all research animals receive fortunes of a person or group
to help build trust in scientists. Synonym: Well-being, comfort, health, safety
If you have ever taken a medicine, you have

benefited from the humane use of animals in
medical research. My research at the University of
Bath focuses on understanding how the brain
responds to stress and how we can use that
knowledge to develop new and better
antidepressants. We use mice to study how their
behaviour changes in response to stress, or Antidepressant(n) /ˌæn.ti.dɪˈpres.ənt/: a drug
potential new drug treatments, and then we used to reduce feelings of sadness and worry
analyse their brains to identify affected brain
circuits and the molecules involved in those
behaviours.
Over four million UK adults experience Depression(n) /dɪˈprɛʃən/: a medical condition in

depression at any one time, and only around half which a person feels very sad and anxious
of those will respond to the existing medications. Synonym: Stress, despair
There is a vital need to understand more about
the brain mechanisms that cause depression in Mechanism(n): cơ chế
order to develop new and better antidepressants.
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Animal research plays a key role in this.
In the UK the Home Office regulates animal

research under the Animals (Scientific
Procedures) Act. At the heart of the legislation is Enshrine(v)/ ɪnˈʃraɪn/: to make a law, right, etc.
the humane treatment of animals. This is respected or official, especially by stating it in an
enshrined in “the 3Rs” that regulate all research important written document
conducted with animals in the UK – replacement,
reduction and refinement. Regulate(v) /ˈrɛgjʊleɪt/: control or supervise
(something, especially a company or business
● Replacement: the act does not allow animal activity) by means of rules and regulations.
research to be done where alternatives exist. Synonym: Control, check, supervise
● Reduction: the minimum number of animals is Replacement(n) /rɪˈpleɪs.mənt/: sự thay thế

used to obtain valid results for any experiment. Synonym: Subtituition
Refinement(n) /rɪˈfaɪn.mənt/: the improvement
● Refinement: all techniques, from picking up an or clarification of something by the making of
animal to a simple injection, must be done in a small changes
way that minimises animal suffering and
emphasises the welfare of the animal.
Minimise(v) /ˈmɪnɪmaɪz/: reduce (something,
especially something unwanted or unpleasant) to
I grew up in a scientific environment that
the smallest possible amount or degree
encouraged people to be very cautious and not to
Synonym: Reduce, lessen, decrease
speak publicly about the use of animals in
research. There was a culture of secrecy. This
Emphasise(v) /ˈɛmfəsaɪz/: to give special
was understandable in an era when animal rights
importance to something
activists conducted violent personal attacks on
Synonym: Highlight, stress
scientists and organisations doing animal
research.
Secrecy(n) /ˈsiːkrɪsi/: state of being secret
Synonym: Silence, isolation
But surveys show that the vast majority of the UK
public supports the use of animals in medical
research where there is no alternative. Ipsos Mori
polls on public attitudes to animal research,
conducted every two years, consistently show that
over two-thirds of UK adults support the use
of animals in medical research where there is
no alternative. At the same time, Ipsos Mori also
shows an alarming loss of trust in scientists. Only
30-40% of the public trust scientists not to
cause unnecessary harm to the animals, trust
the regulatory system and trust organisations
as a source of reliable information on the topic
of animal research.
The result was the introduction in 2014 of

the Concordat on Openness on Animal Research
in the UK, which was developed by Understanding
Animal Research, working with UK-based life
sciences organisations, to support more
transparent and open communication with the
15
public about animal research. The concordat has Transparent(adj) /trænsˈpeərənt/: allowing you
more than 100 signatories including universities, to see the truth easily
industry, learned societies, medical charities and Synonym: Obvious, clear, apparent
government organisations that conduct research
with animals. As part of this agreement, these Concordat(n) /kənˈkɔːdæt/: giao ước
organisations now all have clear statements on Synonym: Agreement
their webpages about using animals in research.
The concordat also helped focus attention on

organisations engaged in animal research, rather
than on individual scientists, to commit to being
more open about how and why they use animals
in research. At the University of Bath you can now
Google “animal research” and “Bath” and access
a clear statement about the university’s humane
use of animals, learn about the ethical review
process for all animal research at the university,
read about the concordat and find case studies of
the kind of animal research conducted. This is a
huge step forward in the four years since the
concordat was introduced.
At the University of Bath the next steps are to find

ways to be more open with its own staff and Address(v) /əˈdres/: think about a problem or a
students about the use of animals in research on situation and decide how you are going to deal
campus. Many myths and misunderstandings with it
about how and why animals are used continue Synonym: Focus on, concentrate on
and can only be addressed by a more
transparent and open approach. In December Nominate(v) /ˈnɒmɪneɪt/: propose or formally
2017 the University of Bath was nominated in the enter as a candidate for election or for an honor
Media Engagement category for Understanding or award
Animal Research’s Openness Awards. This
highlighted the close cooperation of the press Cooperation(n) /kəʊˌɒpəˈreɪʃn/: the process of
office, staff in the animal facility and researchers working together to the same end
at Bath to enable a TV camera crew to access the
animal facilities. Synonym: collaboration, partnership, teamwork
King’s College London won the award in this Involvement(n) /ɪnˈvɒlvmənt/: the act of taking
category for its involvement in the part in something
documentary The Monkey Lab, allowing cameras Synonym: Participation
in to film its marmosets and tackling the
controversial issue of primates in research. Controversial(adj) /ˌkɒntrəˈvɜːʃəl/: causing a lot
Thinking back to my early days as a researcher, it of angry public discussion and disagreement
is inconceivable to my twentysomething self that Synonym: debatable, arguable
any university would allow cameras into their
animal units to film. This shows the culture Inconceivable(adj) /ˌɪnkənˈsiːvəbl/: impossible to
change that is under way, but there is still work to imagine or believe
be done. It is only by being more open with the Synonym: Unbelievable, unthinkable, incredible,
public that we can show them the high welfare unimaginable
standards and the care that all research animals
receive. In this way, I hope we can build trust in
16
the organisations, and the scientists, engaged in

animal research.
17
Eliminate animal experimentation?

Arguably one of the most heated debates in
science, efforts to reduce the number of
animals used in studies face many barriers,
says Alla Katsnelson.
Contentious(adj) /kənˈtɛnʃəs/: causing or likely to
One of the most, if not the most, contentious cause an argument
Synonym: Disputable, controversial, arguable
issues in science is the use of animals in
research. Scientists experiment on animals for
a host of different reasons, including basic
research to explore how organisms function,
investigating potential treatments for human
disease, and safety and quality control testing
of drugs, devices and other products. Its Proponent(n) /prəˈpəʊnənt /: a person who
proponents point to the long list of medical supports an idea or course of action
Synonym: Advocate, supporter, campaigner
advances made possible with the help of
animal research. Opponents believe it is
Opponent(n) /əˈpəʊnənt/: a person who is against
cruel and meaningless, as observations in
something and tries to change or stop it
animals often do not translate directly to Synonym: Oppose, objector
humans.
In 1959, William Russell and Rex Burch

proposed their “3Rs” guidelines for making the
use of animals in scientific research more
Refine(v) /rɪˈfaɪn/: improve something by making
humane: restrict the use of animals; refine small changes to it
experiments to minimise distress; and Synonym: Improve, perfect
replace tests with alternative techniques. Over Distress(n) /dɪsˈtrɛs/: extreme anxiety, sorrow, or
the course of five decades their guidelines pain
Synonym: Anguish, suffering, pain, agony
have become widely accepted worldwide, and
while the reliability of published reports on the
numbers used varies, they do at least provide
a snapshot of historical trends. Around 29
million animals per year are currently used in
experiments in the US and European Union
18
countries. (Rats and mice make up around

80% of the total.) This is less than half the
total in the mid-1970s – a significant drop, but Plateaued(v) /ˈplætəʊd/: stay at a steady level after
a period of growth or progress
one that has plateaued in the last decade. Synonym: Stable, constant
“In the late 1980s, people thought animal

research was singing its swan song,” says
Larry Carbone, a senior veterinarian at the
University of California in San Francisco.
Fresh out of veterinary school in 1987,
Carbone landed a job as an animal vet at
Cornell University, in New York State. At that
time the numbers of animals being used in
experiments and testing was on the decline:
the campus was building a new multi-storey
biotechnology facility, with just three rooms
containing animal breeding and living
facilities.
But then came the development of tools that

could selectively modify individual genes in Modify(v) /ˈmɒdɪfaɪ/: change something slightly
mice. This proved to be such a powerful and Synonym: Alter, change, adjust, adapt
popular technique that the decreasing trend in

animal use ground to a halt.
Halt(n) /hɔːlt/: an act of stopping the movement or
Now, a raft of novel experimental techniques progress of somebody/something
Synonym: Stop, standstill
may help to push numbers down again.
Improvements in imaging methods that offer a Novel(adj) /ˈnɒvəl/: different from anything known
before
peek inside the bodies of animals allow
scientists to get more and better data from Synonym: New, original unusual
each experiment than before. For example,
Cull(v) /kʌl/: select from a large quantity
researchers previously had to cull multiple Synonym: Select, choose, pick, take
mice at different stages of tumour
Tumour(n) /ˈtjuːmə(r)/: khối u
development, but now they can non-
invasively watch the disease unfold in a Non-invasively(adv) /ˌnɒn ɪnˈveɪsɪvli/: not involving
19
cutting into the body

single living animal using a fluorescent dye.
Similarly, as brain-imaging techniques Unfold(v) /ʌnˈfəʊld/: spread open or flat something
become more advanced, some questions that that has previously been folded; to become open
and flat
are now addressed with experiments in
monkeys might be better answered by Fluorescent(adj) /ˌflɔːˈresnt/:(of substances)
producing bright light
peering into the human brain. “My prediction
is that human volunteers will be able to
replace monkeys more and more in the next
10-20 years,” says Carbone.
Advance(n) /ədˈvɑːns/: progress or a development
Meanwhile in vitro advances are also pointing in a particular activity or area of understanding
Synonym: Development, progress
towards reliable alternative methods. One
such advance is the ability to re-program Reliable(adj) /rɪˈlaɪəbl/: that is likely to be correct or
true, can be trusted
human skin cells into a primordial, stem cell- Synonym: authentic, valid, genuine
like state. These “induced pluripotent cells”
Pluripotent cell(n) /ˌplʊə.rɪˈpəʊ.tənt sel /: (of an
could be converted into any specialised cell immature or stem cell) capable of giving rise to
in the body, like liver or kidney cells, and several different cell types; tế bào gốc
these could be generated from people with a
Specialised cell(n) /ˈspeʃ.əl.aɪzd sel /: cells that
particular illness, giving researchers a potent have developed certain characteristics to perform a
particular function
and patient-specific model of that disease in a
dish. Lab-on-a-chip technologies – and Generate(v)/ˈʤɛnəreɪt/: produce
perhaps one day, lab-grown organs – could Synonym: Create, cause, produce, make
also provide increasingly sophisticated ways
to identify disease mechanisms or test
Sophisticated(adj) /səˈfɪstɪkeɪtɪd/: developed to a
prospective medicines. high degree of complexity
Synonym: Advance, modern
Finding alternatives Prospective(adj) /prəsˈpɛktɪv/: expected to happen
soon
Synonym: Potential, possible, probable, likely,
Trends also show that some sectors are doing future
more than others to reduce animal use. Some
believe technological advances will one day
make animal studies unnecessary, while
others argue that “non-living” models will
never be capable of reliably replicating all of Capable(adj) /ˈkeɪpəbl/: having the ability or
the uses of laboratory mice and other qualities necessary for doing something
20
Synonym: Able, effective

creatures.
Replicate(v) /ˈrɛplɪkeɪt/: make an exact copy of;
When many people think about animal reproduce.
Synonym: Copy, reproduce, recreate, repeat,
testing, they imagine rows of rodent cages in duplicate
a pharmaceutical company lab. But according
to data from European Union countries, the
pharmaceutical sector uses almost half the
number of animals that academic labs do, and
animal use in drug development dropped
significantly between 2005 and 2008 – the
most recent statistics available. There are two
reasons for this, says Thomas Hartung,
Director of the Center for Alternatives to
Animal Testing at Johns Hopkins University,
in Baltimore, Maryland. First, drugs are
increasingly designed to target specific
molecular mechanisms, and these are best
identified in culture dishes rather than live
animals. Second, conducting experiments in
1,536-well cell culture dishes is vastly less
expensive than in animals, so companies are
motivated to use alternatives whenever they
are available.
In the US and the EU, a drug’s efficacy and Efficacy(n) /ˈɛfɪkəsi/: the ability of something to
safety must be tested in animals before it produce the results that are wanted
Synonym: Power, potency, effectiveness, success
enters human testing, though a 2010 directive
from the EU calls for alternatives to be used
when possible. Jan Ottesen, vice president of
lab animal science at Danish company Novo
Nordisk, which makes insulin and other drugs
for diabetes and haemophilia, says his
company actively seeks out tests that can
replace animal use without compromising
patient safety. Novo Nordisk decided 15 years
21
Compromise(v) /ˈkɒmprəmaɪz/: bring

ago to replace animal tests with cell cultures
somebody/something/yourself into danger
to verify the quality of each batch of drugs Synonym: Endanger, jeopardise
before it goes to market. The company had to
provide the authorities with data proving that
other tests worked just as well. It took until
2011 for the company to complete the switch.
However, for some types of experiments there

are no equivalent non-animal options, says
Equivalent(adj) /ɪˈkwɪvələnt/: equal in value,
Ottesen. For example, in searching for new amount, meaning, importance, etc.
drugs that decrease joint pain due to arthritis, Synonym: Equal, identical, same
you need a model that mimics the human
condition. The important thing, he stressed, is
to set up the experiment so as to avoid
unnecessary pain. For safety and toxicological
testing of drugs, he adds, “I cannot see for the
foreseeable future how we can completely
avoid it. Having said that, all the replacements
that can be implemented should be
Implement(v) /ˈɪmplɪmənt /: put (a decision, plan,
implemented."
agreement, etc.) into effect
Synonym: Execute, apply, perform, carry out
Under pressure
Safety testing of substances other than

human and veterinary drugs, such as
cosmetics, toiletries, household cleaning
products and industrial chemicals might be a
different story. Currently, says Hartung, such
tests are outdated and inaccurate, with
toxicity in rodents predicting problems in Outdated(adj) /aʊtˈdeɪtɪd/: out of date
Synonym: Old-fashioned, old
humans just 43% of the time. Meanwhile, tens
of thousands of these substances have
undergone no toxicity testing at all.
Addressing this gap with animal studies alone
22
would be expensive and impractical. An

overhaul of chemical safety regulations in the
EU called REACH and a toxicology Overhaul(n) /ˈəʊvəhɔːl /: an examination of a
machine or system, including doing repairs on it or
modernisation initiative led by the US making changes to it
National Institutes of Health, are driving the Synonym: Maintainace, examination
search for alternatives. Initiative(n) /ɪˈnɪʃɪətɪv/: a new plan for dealing with
a particular problem or for achieving a particular
purpose
Hartung believes that with enough investment Synonym: Action
and coordination, animal tests on products in
Coordination(n) /kəʊˌɔːdɪˈneɪʃən/: the act of
this category can be replaced completely. He making parts of something, groups of people, etc.
is leading the Human Toxome Project, an work together in an efficient and organized way
Synonym: Management, grouping, governance,
initiative that aims to map the ways arrangement
substances disrupt hormones and endanger
Disrupt(v) /dɪsˈrʌpt/: interrupt (an event, activity, or
health, as well as to develop advanced, non- process) by causing a disturbance or problem
animal lab tests for toxicity testing. It’s slow Synonym: Disturb, interrupt, break into
going, Hartung concedes. “We don’t have Endanger(v)/ ɪnˈdeɪnʤə/: put something/somebody
human data to compare with, or really high- at risk
Synonym: Risk, jeopardise
quality animal data,” he says, adding that this
makes it tough to evaluate the quality of the
Evaluate(v) /ɪˈvæljʊeɪt/: form an opinion of the
tests.
amount, value or quality of something after thinking
about it carefully
Meanwhile, almost four in ten animals are Synonym: Assess, judge, analyse, rate
used in basic, as opposed to applied,

biological research – and this proportion is
growing. Sarah Wolfensohn, a veterinary
surgeon who heads Seventeen Eighty Nine, a
consultancy advising researchers on animal
welfare, based in Swindon, UK, says this is in
part because a lot of this type of work is
carried out in academia where the financial
and performance pressures that motivate
interest in non-animal-based techniques are
weaker than in the commercial sector.
Other factors play a role too, she says. "For
23
example, if a senior professor in academia

has spent his entire career developing
experimental techniques on monkeys' brains
and young researchers now tell him 'actually
we don't need to do this, we can do it on a
computer', it undermines his approach."
But just as important as reducing the numbers Undermine(v) /ˌʌndəˈmaɪn/: make something,
of animals used, adds Wolfensohn, is “to especially somebody’s confidence or authority,
gradually weaker or less effective
make sure they are being used in the best Synonym: Weaken, compromise, ruin, damage
way and that their welfare is maximised, so as
to get the best quality results, to make sure
they are not wasted.”
Overall, pressure to limit the use of animals in

research – either for financial, scientific or
moral reasons – is rising. Meanwhile, the use
of animals in many areas of life-science
research is on the decline, experts note, even
if genetic work in mice is still keeping numbers
up. “I think this is temporary,” says Andrew
Rowan, President and Chief Executive Officer
of animal protection group Humane Society Temporary(adj) /ˈtɛmpərəri/: lasting for only a
International. “I think it is going to start going limited period of time
Synonym: Short-term, short-lived, momentary
down again as we improve our technologies.”
How soon this might happen is too difficult to
tell.
24
The Earth and

Space
Foundation
The community that focuses its efforts on the Exploration(n) /ˌɛksplɔːˈreɪʃən/: the action of traveling
exploration of space has largely been different in or through an unfamiliar area to learn about it
from the community focused on the study and Synonym: Investigation, study, research
protection of the Earth's environment, despite
the fact that both fields of interest involve what Dichotomous(adj) /daɪˈkɒtəməs/: involving two
might be referred to as "scientific exploration'. completely opposing ideas or things
The reason for this dichotomous existence is
chiefly historical. The exploration of the Earth Occur(v) /əˈkɜː(r)/: happen, take place
has been occurring over many centuries, and
the institutions created to do it are often very Discipline(n) /ˈdɪsəplɪn/: a branch of knowledge,
different from those founded in the second part typically one studied in higher education.
of the 20th century to explore space. This Synonym: field, are
separation is also caused by the fact that space
exploration has attracted experts from mainly Domain(n): an area of knowledge or activity
non-biological disciplines - primarily engineers Synonym: filed, are, discipline
and physicists - but the study of Earth and its
environment is a domain heavily populated by Uncommon(adj) /ʌnˈkɒmən/: out of the ordinary;
biologists. unusual
Synonym: Unusual, abnormal, rare, odd, unfamiliar
The separation between the two communities is
often reflected in attitudes. In the environmental Introspective(adj) /ˌɪntrəʊˈspɛktɪv/: tending to think a
community, it is not uncommon for space lot about your own thoughts, feelings, etc.
exploration to be regarded as a waste of money, Synonym: Introvert
distracting governments from solving major
environmental problems here at home. In the Divert(v)/ /daɪˈvɜːt/: take somebody’s thoughts or
space exploration community, it is not attention away from something
uncommon for environmentalists to be regarded Synonym: Distract, draw away
as introspective people who divert attention Expansive(adj) /ikˈspansiv/: covering a wide area in
from the more expansive visions of the terms of space or scope
exploration of space - the ‘new frontier’. These Synonym: Wide-ranging, extensive
perceptions can also be negative in Perception(n): a way of regarding, understanding, or
consequence because the full potential of both interpreting something; a mental impression; nhận
communities can be realised better when they
25
work together to solve problems. For example, thức

those involved in space exploration can provide Synonym: idea, concept, notion, thought, belief
the satellites to monitor the Earth’s fragile
environments, and environmentalists can Fragile(adj) /ˈfræʤaɪl/: easily damaged
provide information on the survival of life in Synonym: Weak, vulnerable
extreme environments.
Extreme(adj) /ɪkˈstriːm/: not ordinary or usual; serious
In the sense that Earth and space exploration or severe
both stem from the same human drive to Synonym: utmost, severe, acute
understand our environment and our place
within it, there is no reason for the split to exist. Continuum(n) /kənˈtɪnjuəm/: a series of similar items
A more accurate view of Earth and space in which each is almost the same as the ones next to
exploration is to see them as a continuum of it but the last is very different from the first
exploration with many interconnected and
mutually beneficial links. The Earth and Space Mutually(adv) /ˈmjuːtjʊəli/: felt or done equally by two
Foundation, a registered charity, was or more people
established for the purposes of fostering such Synonym: Together, commonly
links through field research and by direct
practical action. Foster(v) /ˈfɒstə/: encourage or promote the
Projects that have been supported by the development of (something, typically something
Foundation include environmental projects using regarded as good).
technologies resulting from space exploration: Synonym: Encourage, promote, stimulate, cultivate
satellite communications, GPS, remote sensing,
advanced materials and power sources. For
example, in places where people are faced with
destruction of the forests on which their Destruction(n) /dɪˈstrʌkʃn/: sự tàn phá
livelihood depends, rather than rejecting
economic progress and trying to save the Intrinsic(adj) /ɪnˈtrɪnsɪk/: belonging to or part of the
forests on their intrinsic merit, another real nature of something/somebody
approach is to enhance the value of the forests Synonym: Inherent, innate, natural, inborn
- although these schemes must be carefully
assessed to be successful. In the past, the Enhance(v)/ ɪnˈhɑːns/: increase or further improve
Foundation provided a grant to a group of the good quality, value or status of
expeditions that used remote sensing to plan somebody/something
eco-tourism routes in the forests of Guatemala, Synonym: Increase, intensify, boost, strengthen
thus providing capital to the local communities
through the tourist trade. This novel approach is Expendition(n) /ˌekspəˈdɪʃn/: an organized journey
now making the protection of the forests a with a particular purpose, especially to find out about
sensible economic decision. a place that is not well known
Synonym: voyage, journey
The Foundation funds expeditions making
astronomical observations from remote, Capital(n) /ˈkæpɪtl/: money
difficult-to-access Earth locations,
archaeological field projects studying the
development of early civilisations that made Astronomical(adj) /ˌæstrəˈnɒmɪkəl/:extremely large
significant contributions to astronomy and Synonym: Huge, enormous, vast, massive, gigantic
space sciences, and field expeditions studying Civilization(n) /ˌsɪvəlaɪˈzeɪʃn/: nền văn minh
the way in which views of the astronomical
environment shaped the nature of past Contribution(n) /ˌkɒntrɪˈbjuːʃn/: sự đóng góp
civilisations. A part of Syria - ‘the Fertile
Crescent’ - was the birthplace of astronomy,
accountancy, animal domestication and many
26
other fundamental developments of human

civilisation. The Foundation helped fund a large
archaeology project by the Society for Syrian
Archaeology at the University of California, Los
Angeles, in collaboration with the Syrian
government that used GPS and satellite imagery
to locate mounds, or ’tels’, containing artefacts
and remnants of early civilisations. These
collections are being used to build a better Artefact(n) /ˈɑːtɪfækt/: an object that is made by a
picture of the nature of the civilisations that gave person, especially something of historical or cultural
birth to astronomy. interest
Field research also applies the Earth’s Remnant(n) /ˈremnənt/: a small remaining quantity of
environmental and biological resources to the something
human exploration and settlement of space.
This may include the use of remote Synonym: Remain, residue, rest
environments on Earth, as well as physiological
and psychological studies in harsh
environments. In one research project, the Settlement(n) /ˈsetlmənt/: the process of people
Foundation provided a grant to an international making their homes in a place
caving expedition to study the psychology of
explorers subjected to long-term isolation in Remote(adj) /rɪˈməʊt/: situated far from the main
caves in Mexico. The psychometric tests on the centers of population; distant.
cavers were used to enhance US astronaut Synonym: Faraway, distant
selection criteria by the NASA Johnson Space
Center.
Space-like environments on Earth help us
understand how to operate in the space
environment or help us characterise
extraterrestrial environments for future Characterize(v) /ˈkærɪktəraɪz/: describe or show the
scientific research. In the Arctic, a 24-kilometre- qualities of somebody/something in a particular way
wide impact crater formed by an asteroid or Synonym: Define, identify
comet 23 million years ago has become home tc
a Mars- analogue programme. The Foundation Extraterrestrial (adj) /ˌɛkstrətɪˈrɛstrɪəl/: of or from
helped fund the NASA Haughton-Mars Project outside the earth or its atmosphere.
to use this crater to test communications and
exploration technologies in preparation for
the human exploration of Mars. The crater,
which sits in high Arctic permafrost, provides an
excellent replica of the physical processes
occurring on Mars, a permafrosted, impact-
altered planet. Geologists and biologists can Replica(n) /ˈrɛplɪkə/: an exact copy or model of
work at the site to help understand how impact something
craters shape the geological characteristics and
possibly biological potential of Mars.
In addition to its fieldwork and scientific
activities, the Foundation has award
programmes. These include a series of awards
for the future human exploration of Mars, a
location with a diverse set of exploration
challenges. The awards will honour a number of
27
‘firsts’ on Mars that include landing on the

surface, undertaking an overland expedition to Undertake(v) /ˌʌndəˈteɪk /: commit oneself to and
the Martian South Pole, undertaking an overland begin (an enterprise or responsibility); take on
expedition to the Martian North Pole, climbing Synonym: Begin, commence, launch, initiate
Olympus Mons, the highest mountain in the Expedition(n) /ˌɛkspɪˈdɪʃən/: a journey or voyage
solar system, and descending to the bottom of undertaken by a group of people with a particular
Valles Marineris, the deepest canyon on Mars. purpose
The Foundation will offer awards for expeditions Synonym: Journey, trip, voyage
further out in the solar system once these Mars
awards have been claimed. Together, they Descend(v) /dɪˈsɛnd/: move or fall downward.
demonstrate that the programme really has no Synonym: Go down, move down
boundary in what it could eventually support,
and they provide longevity for the objectives of Boundary(n) /ˈbaʊndəri/: a limit of a subject or
the Foundation. sphere of activity
Synonym: Limit, borderline
Longevity(n) /lɒnˈʤɛvɪti/: long life
Synonym: Life span, lifetime, shelf life
28
GRAVITY
Convection(n)/kənˈvekʃn/: sự đối lưu

A. Without forces of gravitation, Earth and other
Phenomenon(n) /fɪˈnɒmɪnən/: a fact or an event in
planets would be unable to stay in their orbits
nature or society, especially one that is not fully
around the Sun, the Moon would be unable to
understood
orbit the Earth, tidal waves would not occur and
the rising of hot air or water convection would
be impossible. Gravitation is a phenomenon Synonym: Occurrence, happening, event, situation
winch allows objects to attract other matter; the
physics behind it have been explained in The Hypothesis(n) /haɪˈpɒθəsɪs/: giả thiết
Theory of Relativity and Newton’s Law of
Universal Gravitation; though attempts to
explain gravity hail back to ancient times. In 4th Direct proportion(n) /dəˈrekt prəˈpɔːʃn/ /: the relation
Century B.C. the Greek philosopher Aristotle between quantities whose ratio is constant.
developed the hypothesis that all objects were
Propel(v) /prəˈpɛl/: drive, push, or cause to move in
drawn into their correct position by crystalline
a particular direction
spheres and that a physical mass would fall
Synonym: Move, push, drive
towards the earth in direct proportion to its
weight.
Resistance(n) /rɪˈzɪstəns/: lực cản
B. In the late 16th century Galileo deduced that
while gravitation propels all objects to the Contradict(v) /ˌkɒntrəˈdɪkt/: deny the truth of (a
ground at the same rate, air resistance resulted statement), especially by asserting the opposite
in heavier objects appearing to fall more quickly; Synonym: Deny, oppose, rebut, dispute
his theories contradicting earlier belief systems
put in place by Aristotle and others; so paving Formulation(n) /ˌfɔːmjʊˈleɪʃən/: the action of
the way for formulation of the modern theories devising or creating something
of today. Though the two terms are now used Synonym: Creation, construction, making
interchangeably in layman use, strictly by
scientific definition, there are distinct differences Interchangeably(adv) /ˌɪntə(ː)ˈʧeɪnʤəbli /: in a way
between ‘gravitation’ and ‘gravity’. The first that can be exchanged
relates to the influence exerted by different Synonym: Correspondently, conversely
objects which allow them to attract other objects,
29
whereas ‘gravity’ refers specifically to the force Possess(v) /pəˈzes/: have as belonging to one; own
possessed by such objects which facilitates Synonym: Own, have, hold
gravitation. Certain scientific theories hold that
gravitation may be initiated by a combination of Facilitate(v) /fəˈsɪlɪteɪt/: make (an action or process)
factors and not simply the existence of gravity easy or easier
alone; though doubts have been raised Synonym: Ease, aid, help
regarding some of these theories. Initiate(v) /ɪˈnɪʃieɪt/: make somthing begin
Synonym: begin, commence
C. Gravity is directly proportional to mass; a
smaller object possessing less gravity. To
illustrate, the Moon is a quarter of the Earth’s Quarter(n) /ˈkwɔːtə(r)/: 1/4
size and possesses only 1/6 of its gravity.
The mass of the Earth itself is not spread out
proportionally, being flatter at the poles than the Rotation(n) /rəʊˈteɪʃn/: sự xoay vòng
equator as a result of its rotation; gravity and
gravitational pull in different locations throughout Inexplicably(adv) /ɪnˈɛksplɪkəbli/: in a way that
the world also vary. In the 1960s, as a result of cannot be understood or explained
research into the worldwide gravity fields, it was Synonym: Strangely, unusually, oddly
discovered that inexplicably areas around and
including the Hudson Bay area of Canada Dissimilarity(n) /ˌdɪsɪmɪˈlærɪti/: the fact of not being
appeared to possess significantly lower levels of the same as somebody/something else
gravity than other parts of the globe; the reasons Synonym: Difference, variance
for this dissimilarity have since been
extensively investigated resulting in two Attribute(v) /ˈætrɪbjuːt /: regard something as being
explanations. caused by (someone or something)
D. The original theory presented attributed this Synonym: Refer, associate
anomaly to activity which occurs 100-200
kilometres below the Earth’s surface within the Anomaly(n) /əˈnɒməli/: something that deviates from
layer known as the ‘mantle’. The mantle is what is standard, normal, or expected
comprised of hot molten rock known as magma Synonym: Oddity, irregularity, peculiarity
which flows under the earth’s surface causing
convection currents. These convection currents Mantle(n) /ˈmæntl/: vỏ trái đất
can result in the lowering of the continental
plates which make up the Earth’s surface, as a
result when this occurs, the mass in that area
and its gravity is also reduced. Research
findings indicated that such activity had occurred
in the Hudson Bay region.
Conjecture(n) /kənˈʤɛkʧə /: an opinion or
E. More recently a second conjecture conclusion formed on the basis of incomplete
suggested that, in fact, lower levels of gravity in information
the area are a result of occurrences during the Presumption, assumption
Ice Age. The Laurentidelcesheet, which covered
most of Canada and the northern tip of the USA Occurrence(n) /əˈkərəns/: an incident or event
until it melted 10,000 years ago, is thought to Event, incident, matter, affair, happening
have been 3.2 kms thick in most parts and 3.7
kms thick over two areas of Hudson Bay. The
sheer weight of the ice layer weighed down the
surface of the earth below, leaving a deep Indentation(n) /ˌɪndɛnˈteɪʃən/: a cut or mark on the
indentation once it had melted, having caused edge or surface of something
the area around Hudson Bay to become thinner
as the earth’s surface was pushed to the edges
30
of the icesheet.
F. Extensive investigation has since been
carried out by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center
for Astrophysics using data collected by
satellites during the Gravity Recovery and
Climate Experiment (GRACE) between 2002
and 2006. The satellites are placed 220kms
apart and orbit 500kms above Earth. Being
extremely sensitive to even minor differences in
gravitational pull of the areas of earth they pass
over, as the first satellite enters an area with
decreased gravity it moves slightly away from
the earth as the gravitational pull is reduced and
also moves slightly further away from the sister
satellite that follows, such activity allowing
scientists to create maps of gravitational fields.
The GRACE findings also allowed scientists to
estimate the appearance of Hudson Bay over
10,000 years ago, prior to the great thaw. The
areas possessing the lowest gravity today
correlate with the areas covered in the thickest Correlate(adj) /ˈkɒrɪleɪt/: have a mutual relationship
layers of ice at that time. or connection, in which one thing affects or depends
G. Researchers now believe that both theories on another
regarding reduced gravity levels in the Hudson Correspond, associate, match, parallel
Bay region are accurate and that the area’s
characteristics are a result of both magma
activity and the impact of the
Laurentidelcesheet. It has been estimated that
the former has resulted in 55-75% of gravity
reduction and that pressure resulting from the
latter accounts for 25-45%.
H. The effects of the Laurentidelcesheet are Reversible(adj) /rɪˈvɜːsəbl/: that can be changed so
reversible due to the earth layer’s capability to that something returns to its original state or situation
‘rebound’ in response to removal of the weight Changeable
which once restricted it. Return to the original
position, however, is an extremely slow process; Capability(n) /ˌkeɪpəˈbɪlɪti/: power or ability
it is estimated that the area around Hudson Bay Capacity, power, ability
will take a further 5,000 years to recover the
altitude it once possessed prior to the
Laurentidelcesheet. The rebound activity in the
area is also measurable through observation of
sea levels; unlike the rest of the world, sea Observation(n) / ˌɒbzə(ː)ˈveɪʃən /: the action or
levels are not rising in the area as a result of process of observing something or someone
melting icecaps, but are dropping as the land carefully or in order to gain information.
recovers its previous form Examination, inspection, study, scrutiny
I. Research conducted into the
Laurentidelcesheet has significant implications Implication(n) / ˌɪmplɪˈkeɪʃən /: a possible effect or
on a global scale. The increased knowledge of result of an action or a decision
how that particular area has changed over time Meaning, result
31
and the long-term implications activity in the Ice

Age had, pave the way to a better
understanding of how current changes
elsewhere will manifest themselves over the Manifest(v) / ˈmænɪfɛst /: show something clearly,
long term. especially a feeling, an attitude or a quality
Display, demonstrate, show, exhibit
32
Astronaut ice cream, anyone
Freeze-drying is a technique that can help to

provide food for astronauts. But it also has
other applications nearer home.
Freeze-drying is like suspended animation for
food: you can store a freeze-dried meal for
years, and then, when you’re finally ready to eat Revitalize(v) /ˌriːˈvaɪtəlaɪz/: to give new life, energy,
it. you can completely revitalise it with a little activity, or success to something
hot water. Even after several years, the original Synonym: Revive, refresh, boost
foodstuff will be virtually unchanged.
The technique basically involves completely
removing the water from some material, such as Intact(adj) /ɪnˈtækt/: not damaged or impaired in
food while leaving the rest of the material any way
virtually intact. The main reason for doing this is Synonym: Complete, undamaged, unbroken, whole
either to preserve the food or to reduce its
weight. Removing the water from food keeps it Preserve(v) /prɪˈzɜːv/: maintain (something) in its
from spoiling, because the microorganisms original or existing state
such as bacteria that cause spoiling cannot Synonym: Protect, maintain
survive without it. Similarly, the enzymes which
occur naturally in food cannot cause ripening Spoil(v) /spɔːɪl/: diminish or destroy the value or
without water, so removing water from food will quality of
also stop the ripening process. Synonym: Damage, destroy
Freeze-drying significantly reduces the total
weight of the food because most food is Ripening (n) /ˈraɪpənɪŋ/: the state of being fully
largely made up of water; for example, many grown and ready to be eaten
fruits are more than 80% water. Removing this Synonym: Mature
makes the food much lighter and therefore
makes transportation less difficult. The military
and camping-supply companies freeze-dry
foods to make them easier for an individual to
33
carry and NASA has also freeze-dried foods for

the cramped quarters on board spacecraft.
Cramped(adj) /kræmpt/: does not have enough
The process is also used to preserve other sorts space for the people in it
of material, such as pharmaceuticals. Chemists Synonym: Small, tiny, restricted
can greatly extend pharmaceutical shelf life by
freeze-drying the material and storing it in a shelf life: the length of time for which an item
container free of oxygen and water. Similarly, remains usable, fit for consumption, or saleable.
research scientists may use freeze-drying to
preserve biological samples for long periods of
time. Even valuable manuscripts that had been Manuscript(n) /ˈmænjuskrɪpt/: bản thảo
water damaged have been saved by using this
process.
Freeze-drying is different from simple drying
because it is able to remove almost all the
water from materials, whereas simple drying
techniques can only remove 90-95%. This
means that the damage caused by bacteria and
enzymes can virtually be stopped rather than
just slowed down. In addition, the composition Composition(n) /ˌkɒmpəˈzɪʃən/: the nature of
and structure of the material is not significantly something's ingredients or constituents; the way in
changed, so materials can be revitalised without which a whole or mixture is made up.
compromising the quality of the original. Synonym: Constitution, formation, makeup
This is possible because in freeze-drying, solid Compromise(v) /ˈkɒmprəmaɪz/: to risk having

water - ice - is converted directly into water a harmful effect on something
vapour, missing out the liquid phase entirely. Synonym: Endanger, ruin
This is called ‘sublimation’, the shift from a solid
directly into a gas. Just like evaporation, Convert(v) /ˈkɒnvɜːt /: cause to change in form,
sublimation occurs when a molecule gains character, or function.
enough energy to break free from the molecules Synonym: Change, turn, transform
around it. Water will sublime from a solid (ice) to
a gas (vapour) when the molecules have
enough energy to break free but the conditions
aren't right for a liquid to form. These conditions
are determined by heat and atmospheric
pressure. When the temperature is above
freezing point, so that ice can thaw, but the
atmospheric pressure is too low for a liquid to
form (below 0.06 atmospheres (ATM)) then it
becomes a gas.
This is the principle on which a freeze-drying
machine is based. The material to be preserved
is placed in a freeze-drying chamber which is
connected to a freezing coil and refrigerator
compressor. When the chamber is sealed the
compressor lowers the temperature inside it.
The material is frozen solid, which separates the
water from everything around it on a molecular
level, even though the water is still present.
Next, a vacuum pump forces air out of the
34
chamber, lowering the atmospheric pressure

below to 0.06 ATM. The heating units apply a
small amount of heat to the shelves in the
chamber, causing the ice to change phase.
Since the pressure in the chamber is so low, the
ice turns directly into water vapour, which leaves
the freeze-drying chamber, and flows past the Vacuum(n)/ˈvækjuːm/: chân không
freezing coil. The water vapour condenses onto
the freezing coil in the form of solid ice, in the
same way that water condenses as frost on a
cold day.
The process continues for many hours (even
days) while the material gradually dries out. This
time is necessary to avoid overheating, which Condense(v) /kənˈdens/: ngưng tụ
might affect the structure of the material. Once it
has dried sufficiently, it is sealed in a moisture- Sufficiently(adv) /səˈfɪʃəntli/: to an adequate
free package. As long as the package is secure, degree
the material can sit on a shelf for years and Synonym: Adequately, enough
years without degrading, until it is restored to its
original form with a little hot water. If everything Secure(adj) /sɪˈkjʊə/: fixed or fastened so as not to
works correctly, the material will go through the give way, become loose, or be lost
entire process almost completely unscathed. Synonym: Fixed
In fact, freeze-drying, as a general concept, is
not new but has been around for centuries. The Degrade(v) /dɪˈgreɪd/: break down or deteriorate
ancient Incas of Peru used mountain peaks chemically
along the Andes as natural food preservers. The Synonym: Decay, deteriorate, break down
extremely cold temperatures and low pressure
at those high altitudes prevented food from Unscathed (adj) /dɪˈgreɪd/: without suffering any
spoiling in the same basic way as a modern injury, damage, or harm
freeze-drying machine and a freezer. Synonym: intact, unharmed, undamaged
35
The Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence
The question of whether we are alone in the

Universe has haunted humanity for
centuries, but we may now stand poised on the
brink of the answer to that question, as we
search for radio signals from other intelligent
civilisations. This search, often known by the
acronym SETI (search for extra-terrestrial
intelligence], is a difficult one. Although groups
around the world have been searching Intermittently(adv) /ˌɪntəˈmɪtəntli/: không ngừng
intermittently for three decades, it is only now nghỉ
that we have reached the level of technology
Synonym: sporadically
where we can make a determined attempt to
search all nearby stars for any sign of life.
A
The primary reason for the search is basic
curiosity - the same curiosity about the natural Curiosity (n) /ˌkjʊərɪˈɒsɪti/: a strong desire to know
world that drives all pure science. We want to or learn something
know whether we are alone in the Universe. We
want to know whether life evolves naturally if Synonym: Concern, interest
given the right conditions, or whether there is
something very special about the Earth to have Foster(v) /ˈfɒstə/: encourage or promote the
fostered the variety of life forms that we see development of something
around us on the planet. The simple detection
of a radio signal will be sufficient to answer this Synonym: Stimulate, promote, nurture
most basic of all questions. In this sense, SETI
is another cog in the machinery of pure science Detection(n) /dɪˈtɛkʃən/: the action or process of
which is continually pushing out the horizon of identifying the presence of something
our knowledge. However, there are other
reasons for being interested in whether life Synonym:Awareness, recognition
exists elsewhere. For example, we have had
civilisation on Earth for perhaps only a few
36
thousand years, and the threats of nuclear war

and pollution over the last few decades have
told us that our survival may be tenuous. Will
we last another two thousand years or will we
wipe ourselves out? Since the lifetime of a Tenuous(adj) /ˈtɛnjʊəs/: very weak or slight.
planet like ours is several billion years, we can
expect that, if other civilisations do survive in our Synonym: Weak, flimsy, fragile, vulnerable
galaxy, their ages will range from zero to several
billion years. Thus any other civilisation that we
hear from is likely to be far older, on average,
than ourselves. The mere existence of such a
civilisation will tell us that long-term survival is
possible, and gives us some cause for
optimism. It is even possible that the older
civilisation may pass on the benefits of their
experience in dealing with threats to survival Optimism(n) /ˈɒptɪmɪzm/: hopefulness and
such as nuclear war and global pollution, and confidence about the future or the successful
other threats that we haven’t yet discovered. outcome of something.
B Synonym: Hope, confidence

In discussing whether we are alone, most SETI
scientists adopt two ground rules. First, UFQs
(Unidentified Flying Objects) are generally
ignored since most scientists don’t consider the
evidence for them to be strong enough to bear
serious consideration (although it is also
important to keep an open mind in case any
really convincing evidence emerges in the Emerge(v) /ɪˈmɜːʤ/: to start to exist; to appear or
future). Second, we make a very conservative become known
assumption that we are looking for a life form
that is pretty well like us, since if it differs Synonym: Come up, appear, arise
radically from us we may well not recognise it as
a life form, quite apart from whether we are able Conservative(adj) /kənˈsɜːvətɪv/: holding to
to communicate with it. In other words, the life traditional attitudes and values and cautious about
form we are looking for may well have two green change or innovation
heads and seven fingers, but it will nevertheless
resemble us in that it should communicate Synonym: Traditional, conventional, old-fashioned
with its fellows, be interested in the Universe,
live on a planet orbiting a star like our Sun,
Assumption(n) /əˈsʌmpʃ(ə)n /: a thing that is
and perhaps most restrictively, have a
accepted as true or as certain to happen, without
chemistry, like us, based on carbon and water.
proof
C
Synonym: Presumption, belief, guess
Even when we make these assumptions, our
understanding of other life forms is still severely
Resemble(v) /rɪˈzɛmbl/: have qualities or features in
limited. We do not even know, for example, how
common with (someone or something)
many stars have planets, and we certainly do
not know how likely it is that life will arise
naturally, given the right conditions. However, Synonym: Look like, be similar to
when we look at the 100 billion stars in our
galaxy (the Milky Way), and 100 billion galaxies
37
in the observable Universe, it seems

inconceivable that at least one of these planets
does not have a life form on it; in fact, the best
educated guess we can make, using the little
that we do know about the conditions for
carbon-based life, leads us to estimate that
perhaps one in 100,000 stars might have a life-
bearing planet orbiting it. That means that our
nearest neighbours are perhaps 100 light years Inconceivable(adj) /ˌɪnkənˈsiːvəbl/: impossible to
away, which is almost next door in astronomical imagine or believe
terms.
D Synonym: Unbelievable, unimaginable
An alien civilisation could choose many different
ways of sending information across the galaxy,
but many of these either require too much
energy, or else are severely attenuated while Attenuated(adj) /əˈtɛnjʊeɪtɪd/: made weaker or less
traversing the vast distances across the galaxy. effective
It turns out that, for a given amount of
transmitted power, radio waves in the frequency Synonym: Weaken, constrict
range 1000 to 3000 MHz travel the greatest
distance, and so all searches to date have Traverse(v) /ˈtrævə(ː)s /: travel across or through
concentrated on looking for radio waves in this
frequency range. So far there have been a Synonym: Cross, travel through
number of searches by various groups around
the world, including Australian searches using
the radio telescope at Parkes, New South
Wales. Until now there have not been any
detections from the few hundred stars which
have been searched. The scale of the searches
has been increased dramatically since 1992,
when the US Congress voted NASA $10 million
per year for ten years to conduct a thorough
search for extra-terrestrial life. Much of the
money in this project is being spent on
developing the special hardware needed to
search many frequencies at once. The
project has two parts. One part is a targeted
search using the world’s largest radio
telescopes, the American-operated telescope in
Arecibo, Puerto Rico and the French telescope
in Nancy in France. This part of the project is
searching the nearest 1000 likely stars with
high sensitivity for signals in the frequency
range 1000 to 3000 MHz. The other part of
the project is an undirected search which is
monitoring all of space with a lower sensitivity,
using the smaller antennas of NASA’s Deep
Space Network.
E
38
There is considerable debate over how we

should react if we detect a signal from an alien
civilisation. Everybody agrees that we should Considerable(adj) /kənˈsɪdərəbl/: notably large in
not reply immediately. Quite apart from size, amount, or extent
the impracticality of sending a reply over such
large distances at short notice, it raises a host of Synonym: Significant, substantial, noticeable
ethical questions that would have to be
addressed by the global community before Impracticality (n) /ɪmˌpræktɪˈkæləti/: the fact of not
any reply could be sent. Would the human race being sensible or realistic
face the culture shock if faced with a
superior and much older civilisation? Luckily, Synonym: impossibility
there is no urgency about this. The stars
being searched are hundreds of light years
Superior(adj) /sju(ː)ˈpɪərɪə /: higher in rank, status,
away, so it takes hundreds of years for their
or quality.
signal to reach us, and a further few hundred
years for our reply to reach them. It’s not
important, then, if there’s a delay of a few years, Synonym: Senior, greater, better
or decades, while the human race debates
the question of whether to reply, and perhaps Urgency(n) /ˈɜːʤənsi/: importance requiring swift
carefully drafts a reply. action
39
The Triune Brain
The first of our three brains to evolve is what Sustain(v) /səsˈteɪn/: strengthen or support
scientists call the reptilian cortex. This brain physically or mentally
sustains the elementary activities of animal Synonym: Help, support
survival such as respiration, adequate rest
and a beating heart. We are not required to Elementary(adj) /ˌɛlɪˈmɛntəri/: of the most basic
consciously “think” about these activities. kind
Synonym: Basic, fundamental, easy
The reptilian cortex also houses the “startle
centre”, a mechanism that facilitates swift Respiration: the action of breathing
reactions to unexpected occurrences in our
surroundings. That panicked lurch you Consciously(adv) /ˈkɒnʃəsli/: in a way that is
experience when a door slams shut somewhere deliberate or controlled
in the house, or the heightened
awareness you feel when a twig cracks in a Swift(adj) /swɪft/: happening or done quickly and
nearby bush while out on an evening stroll immediately
are both examples of the reptilian cortex at work. Synonym: promt, suddent, immediate
When it comes to our interaction with
others, the reptilian brain offers up only the most Lurch(n) /lɜːʧ/: an abrupt uncontrolled movement
basic impulses: aggression, mating,
and territorial defence. There is no great Exert(v) /ɪgˈzɜːt/: use power or influence to affect
difference, in this sense, between a crocodile somebody/something
defending its spot along the river and a turf war Synonym: Apply, exercise
between two urban gangs.
Although the lizard may stake a claim to its Indifference(n) /ɪnˈdɪfrəns/: lack of interest,
habitat, it exerts total indifference toward the concern, or sympathy
well-being of its young. Listen to the anguished Synonym: Unconcern, disinterest
squeal of a dolphin separated from its
pod or witness the sight of elephants mourning Anguished(adj) /ˈæŋgwɪʃt/: showing severe pain,
their dead, however, and it is clear that a mental suffering or unhappiness
new development is at play. Scientists have Synonym: Pained, distressed
identified this as the limbic cortex. Unique to Witness(n) /ˈwɪtnɪs/: see (an event, typically a
40
mammals, the limbic cortex impels creatures to crime or accident) take place
nurture their offspring by delivering Synonym: See, view, observe, watch
feelings of tenderness and warmth to the parent Nurture(v)/ˈnɜːʧə/: care for and encourage the
when children are nearby. These same growth or development of; nuôi dưỡng
sensations also cause mammals to develop Synonym: Raise, support, foster
various types of social relations and kinship
networks. When we are with others of “our kind” - Tenderness(n) /ˈtɛndənɪs/: gentleness and
be it at soccer practice, church, school or a kindness
nightclub - we experience positive sensations of Synonym: Care, kindness, compassion
togetherness, solidarity and comfort. If we
spend too long away from these networks, then
loneliness sets in and encourages us to seek Kinship(n) /ˈkɪnʃɪp/: blood relationship
companionship. Synonym: Family, blood ties
Only human capabilities extend far beyond the Solidarity(n) /ˌsɒlɪˈdærɪti/: support by one person
scope of these two cortexes. Humans or group of people for another because they share
eat, sleep and play, but we also speak, plot, feelings, opinions, aims, etc
rationalise and debate finer points of Synonym: Unity, agreement, harmony
morality. Our unique abilities are the result of an
expansive third brain - the neocortex - Rationalize(v) /ˈræʃnəlaɪz/: attempt to explain or
which engages with logic, reason and ideas. The justify (one's own or another's behavior or attitude)
power of the neocortex comes from its with logical
ability to think beyond the present, concrete Synonym: Justify, explain
moment. While other mammals are mainly
restricted to impulsive actions (although some, Morality(n) /məˈrælɪti/: principles concerning the
such as apes, can learn and remember simple distinction between right and wrong or good and
lessons), humans can think about the “big bad behavior.
picture”. We can string together simple lessons Synonym: Ethics
(for example, an apple drops downwards from a
tree; hurting others causes unhappiness) to Impulsive(adj) /ɪmˈpʌlsɪv/: acting suddenly without
develop complex theories of physical or social thinking carefully about what might happen
phenomena (such as the laws of gravity and a because of what you are doing
concern for human rights). Synonym: Impetuous, spontaneous
The neocortex is also responsible for the process
by which we decide on and commit to particular
courses of action. Strung together over time,
these choices can accumulate into feats of
progress unknown to other animals. Anticipating
a better grade on the following morning’s exam, a Accumulate(v) /əˈkjuːmjʊleɪt/: gather together or
student can ignore the limbic urge to socialise acquire an increasing number or quantity of.
and go to sleep early instead. Over three years, Synonym: Gather, assemble, collect
this ongoing sacrifice translates into a first class
degree and a scholarship to graduate school;
over a lifetime, it can mean ground¬ breaking Sacrifice (v)(n) /ˈsækrɪfaɪs/: the fact of giving up
contributions to human knowledge and something important or valuable to you in order to
development. The ability to sacrifice our drive for get or do something that seems more important
immediate satisfaction in order to benefit later is Synonym: Give up, let go
a product of the neocortex.
Understanding the triune brain can help us
appreciate the different natures of brain
damage and psychological disorders. The most
41
devastating form of brain damage, for

example, is a condition in which someone is
understood to be brain dead. In this state a
person appears merely unconscious - sleeping, Devastating(adj) /ˈdɛvəsteɪtɪŋ /: highly destructive
perhaps - but this is illusory. Here, the reptilian or damaging
brain is functioning on autopilot despite the Synonym: Destructive, disastrous, catastrophic
permanent loss of other cortexes. Disturbances
to the limbic cortex are registered in a different Illusory(adj) /ɪˈluːsəri/: not real
manner. Pups with limbic damage can move Synonym: Unreal, delusive
around and feed themselves well enough but do
not register the presence of their littermates. Disturbance(n) /dɪsˈtɜːbəns/: a state in which
Scientists have observed how, after a limbic somebody’s mind or a function of the body is upset
lobotomy2, “one impaired monkey stepped on and not working normally
his outraged peers as if treading on a log or a Synonym: Trouble, upset
rock”. In our own species, limbic damage is
closely related to sociopathic behaviour. Impaired(adj) /ɪmˈpeəd/: become weaker
Sociopaths in possession of fully-functioning Synonym: Weakened, damaged
neocortexes are often shrewd and
emotionally intelligent people but lack any ability Outraged(adj) /ɪmˈpeəd/: angry
to relate to, empathise with or express concern
for others. Sociopath(n) / ˈsəʊ.si.ə.pæθ/: a person who has a
mental illness and behaves in an aggressive or
One of the neurological wonders of history dangerous way
occurred when a railway worker named
Phineas Gage survived an incident during which Possession(n) /pəˈzɛʃən/: the state of having,
a metal rod skewered his skull, taking a owning, or controlling something
considerable amount of his neocortex with it. Synonym: Ownership, control
Though Gage continued to live and work
as before, his fellow employees observed a shift Shrewd(adj) / ʃruːd /: clever at understanding and
in the equilibrium of his personality. making judgements about a situation
Gage’s animal propensities were now sharply Synonym: Smart, clever, intelligent
pronounced while his intellectual abilities
suffered; garrulous or obscene jokes replaced Equilibrium(n) / ˌiːkwɪˈlɪbrɪəm /: a calm state of
his once quick wit. New findings suggest, mind and a balance of emotions
however, that Gage managed to soften these Synonym: Balance, stability
abrupt changes over time and rediscover an Propensity(n) / prəˈpɛnsɪti /: natural tendency to
appropriate social manner. This would indicate behave in a particular way
that reparative therapy has the Synonym: Tendency, liability, disposition
potential to help patients with advanced brain Garrulous(adj) / ˈgærʊləs /: talkative
trauma to gain an improved quality of life. Synonym: Chatty, talkative
Obscene(adj) / ɒbˈsiːn /: offensive or disgusting by
accepted standards
Synonym: Disgust, dirty, rude
Wit(n) / wɪt /: the intelligence or good sense
Synonym: Intelligence, cleverness, wisdom
Trauma(n) / ˈtrɔːmə /: a mental condition caused
by severe shock
Synonym: Shock, confusion, damange
42
So you think humans are unique
There was a time when we thought humans Empathise(v) /ˈɛmpəθaɪz/: understand and share
were special in so many ways. Now we know the feelings of another
better. We are not the only species that feels Synonyn: Understand
emotions, empathises with others or abides
by a moral code. Neither are we the only ones Abide(v) /əˈbaɪd/: accept or act in accordance with
with personalities, cultures and the ability to (a rule, decision, or recommendation).
design and use tools. Yet we have steadfastly Synonyn: Accept, follow, obey
clung to the notion that one attribute, at least,
makes us unique: we alone have the capacity Attribute(n) /ˈætrɪbjuːt/: quality or feature regarded
for language. as a characteristic or inherent part of someone or
something.
Alas, it turns out we are not so special in this Synonyn: Quality, feature, characteristic
respect either. Key to the revolutionary
reassessment of our talent for communication Reassessment(n) /ˌriːəˈsɛsmənt/: the consideration
is the way we think about language itself. or assessment of something again
Where once it was seen as a monolith, a Synonyn: Revision, analysis
discrete and singular entity, today scientists
find it is more productive to think of language Entity(n) /ˈɛntɪti/: something that exists separately
as a suite of abilities. Viewed this way, it from other things and has its own identity
becomes apparent that the component parts of
language are not as unique as the whole. Apparent(adj) /əˈpærənt/: clearly visible or
understood; obvious
Take gesture, arguably the starting point for Synonyn: Visible, obvious, clear
language. Until recently, it was considered
uniquely human - but not any more. Mike Gesture(n) /ˈʤɛsʧə/: a movement of part of the
Tomasello of the Max Planck Institute for body, especially a hand or the head, to express an
Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, idea or meaning
Germany, and others have compiled a list of Synonyn: Sign, signal, gesticulation
gestures observed in monkeys, gibbons,
gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orang-
43
utans, which reveals that gesticulation plays a Gesticulation(n) /ʤɛsˌtɪkjʊˈleɪʃən/: gesture

large role in their communication. Ape gestures
can involve touch, vocalising or eye movement,
and individuals wait until they have another
ape’s attention before making visual or auditory
gestures. If their gestures go
unacknowledged, they will often repeat them Unacknowledged(adj) /ˌʌnəkˈnɒlɪdʒd/: that people
or touch the recipient. are not aware of
In an experiment carried out in 2006 by Erica

Cartmill and Richard Byrne from the University
of St Andrews in the UK, they got a person to Enclosure(n) /ɪnˈkləʊʒə/: an area that is sealed off
sit on a chair with some highly desirable food with an artificial or natural barrier.
such as banana to one side of them and some Synonyn: Area
bland food such as celery to the other. The
orang-utans, who could see the person and the Feign(v) /feɪn/: pretend to be affected by (a feeling,
food from their enclosures, gestured at their state, or injury)
human partners to encourage them to push the Synonyn: Fake, stimulate
desirable food their way. If the person feigned
incomprehension and offered the bland food, Incomprehension(n) /ɪnkɒmprɪˈhɛnʃən/: failure to
the animals would change their gestures - just understand something
as humans would in a similar situation. If the Synonyn: Unawareness
human seemed to understand while being
somewhat confused, giving only half the Exaggerate(v) /ɪgˈzæʤəreɪt/: represent (something)
preferred food, the apes would repeat and as being larger, greater, better, or worse than it really
exaggerate their gestures - again in exactly the is
same way a human would. Such findings Synonyn: Emphasise, magnify
highlight the fact that the gestures of non-
human primates are not merely innate reflexes
but are learned, flexible and under voluntary Innate(adj) /ɪˈneɪt/: inborn; natural.
control - all characteristics that are considered Synonyn: Intrinsic, inherent
prerequisites for human-like communication.
As well as gesturing, pre-linguistic infants Prerequisite(n) /ˌpriːˈrɛkwɪzɪt/: a thing that is
babble. At about five months, babies start to required as a prior condition for something else to
make their first speech sounds, which some happen or exist.
researchers believe contain a random selection Synonyn: Essential, must, requirement
of all the phonemes humans can produce. But
as children learn the language of their parents,
they narrow their sound repertoire to fit the Babble: talk rapidly and continuously in an excited,
model to which they are exposed, producing or incomprehensible way.
just the sounds of their native language as well
as its classic intonation patterns. Indeed, they
lose their polymath talents so effectively that
they are ultimately unable to produce some
sounds - think about the difficulty some
speakers have producing the English th.
Dolphin calves also pass through a babbling

phase, Laurance Doyle from the SETI Institute
in Mountain View, California, Brenda McCowan
from the University of California at Davis and
44
their colleagues analysed the complexity of

baby dolphin sounds and found it looked
remarkably like that of babbling infants, in that
the young dolphins had a much wider
repertoire of sound than adults. This suggests
that they practise the sounds of their species,
much as human babies do, before they begin
to put them together in the way characteristic of
mature dolphins of their species.
Of course, language is more than mere sound -

it also has meaning. While the traditional,
cartoonish version of animal communication Render(v) /ˈrendər/: cause to be or become; make.
renders it unclear, unpredictable and Synonyn: make
involuntary, it has become clear that various
species are able to give meaning to particular Involuntary(adj) /ɪnˈvɒləntəri/: done without will or
sounds by connecting them with specific ideas. conscious control
Dolphins use 'signature whistles’, so called Synonyn: Unconscious, unintentional, uncontrollable
because it appears that they name themselves.
Each develops a unique moniker within the first
year of life and uses it whenever it meets
another dolphin.
One of the clearest examples of animals

making connections between specific sounds
and meanings was demonstrated by Klaus
Zuberbuhler and Katie Slocombe of the
University of St Andrews in the UK. They Rudimentary(adj) /ˌruːdɪˈmɛntəri/: involving or
noticed that chimps at Edinburgh Zoo appeared limited to basic principles
to make rudimentary references to objects by Synonyn: Basic, elementary, primary, fundamental,
using distinct cries when they came across essential
different kinds of food. Highly valued foods
such as bread would elicit high- pitched grunts, Reference(n) /ˈrɛfrəns/: the action of mentioning or
less appealing ones, such as an apple, got low- alluding to something
pitched grunts. Zuberbuhler and Slocombe Synonyn: Mention
showed not only that chimps could make
distinctions in the way they vocalised about Distinction(n) /dɪsˈtɪŋkʃən/: a difference or contrast
food, but that other chimps understood what between similar things or people
they meant, when played recordings of grunts Synonyn: Difference, dissimilarity, variance
that were produced for a specific food, the
chimps looked in the place where that food was
usually found. They also searched longer if the
cry had signalled a prized type of food.
Clearly animals do have greater talents for

communication than we realised. Humans are
still special, but it is a far more graded, qualified
kind of special than it used to be.
45
Anesthesiology
Since the beginning of time, man has sought Sought(v): past and past participle of seek.
natural remedies for pain. Between 40 and 60 Synonym: find, look for
A.D., Greet? physician, Dioscorides traveled
with the Roman armies, studying the medicinal Remedy(n) /ˈrɛmɪdi/: a medicine or treatment for a
properties of plants and minerals. His book, De disease or injury
materia medica, written in five volumes and Synonym: Medicine, cure, treatment
translated into at least seven languages, was
the primary reference source for physicians for Property(n) /ˈprɒpəti/: an attribute, quality, or
over sixteen centuries. The field of characteristic of something
anesthesiology1, which was once nothing more Synonym: Quality, attribute, characteristic
than a list of medicinal plants and makeshift
remedies, has grown into one of the most Makeshift(adj) /ˈmeɪkʃɪft/: used temporarily for a
important fields in medicine. particular purpose because the real thing is not
available
Many of the early pain relievers were based on Synonym: Temporary, improvised
myth and did little to relieve the suffering of an
ill or injured person. The mandragora (now Relive(v) /riːˈlɪv/: cause (pain, distress, or difficulty) to
known as the mandrabe plant) was one of the become less severe or serious
first plants to be used as an anesthetic1. Due to Synonym: Alleviate, calm, comfort, soothe, ease
the apparent screaming that the plant made as it
was pulled from the ground, people in the Anesthetic(n) /ˌænɪsˈθɛtɪk/: a substance that induces
Middle Ages believed that the person who insensitivity to pain.
removed the mandrabe from the earth would
either die or go insane. This superstition may Insane(adj) /ɪnˈseɪn/: seriously mentally ill and unable
have resulted because the split root of the to live in normal society
mandrabe resembled the human form. In order Synonym: Crazy, idiotic, nuts, psychotic
to pull the root from the ground, the plant
collector would loosen it and tie the stem to an Superstition(n) / ˌsjuːpəˈstɪʃən /: the belief that
animal. It was believed that the safest time to particular events happen in a way that cannot be
uproot a mandrabe was in the moonlight, and explained by reason or science
the best animal to use was a black dog. In his
manual, Dioscorides suggested boiling the root Resemble(v) / rɪˈzɛmbl /: have qualities or features in
with wine and having a man drinb the potion to common with (someone or something)
remove sensation before cutting his flesh or Synonym: Look like, be similar to
burning his skin. Opium and Indian hemp were
later used to induce sleep before a painful
procedure or to relieve the pain of an illness. Induce(v) / ɪnˈdjuːs /: cause something
46
Other remedies such as cocaine did more harm Synonym: Cause, trigger, promote, foster, encourage
to the patient than good as people died from
their addictions. President Ulysses S. Grant
became addicted to cocaine before he died of Anesthetics(n) /ˌænəsˈθetɪk/: gây tê
throat cancer in 1885.
The modern field of anesthetics dates to the
incident when nitrous oxide (more commonly
known as laughing gas) was accidentally Euphoria(n) /juːˈfɔːriə/: an extremely strong feeling of
discovered. Humphrey Davy, the inventor of the happiness and excitement that usually lasts only a
miner’s lamp, discovered that inhaling the toxic short time
compound caused a strange euphoria, followed
by fits of laughter, tears, and sometimes
unconsciousness. U.S. dentist, Horace Wells, Extraction(n) / ɪksˈtrækʃən /: the action of taking out
was the first on record to experiment with something, especially using effort or force
laughing gas, which he used in 1844 to relieve Synonym: Withdrawal, removal
pain during a tooth extraction. Two years later.
Dr. William Morton created the first anesthetic Alternative(n) / ɔːlˈtɜːnətɪv /: one of two or more
machine. This apparatus was a simple glass available possibilities.
globe containing an ether-soaked sponge. Synonym: Option, choice
Morton considered ether a good alternative to
nitrous oxide because the numbing effect Numbing(adj) /ˈnʌmɪŋ/: making you unable to feel
lasted considerably longer. His apparatus anything
allowed the patient to inhale vapors1 whenever
the pain became unbearable. In 1846, during a Unbearable(adj) / ʌnˈbeərəbl /: not able to be
trial experiment in Boston, a tumor2 was endured or tolerated.
successfully removed from a man's jaw area Synonym: Intolerable, insufferable
while he was anesthetized with Morton’s
machine.
The first use of anesthesia in the obstetric field Irritate(v) / ˈɪrɪteɪt /: cause inflammation or other
occurred in Scotland by Dr. James Simpson. discomfort in (a part of the body).
Instead of ether, which he considered irritating Synonym: Inflame, aggravate
to the eyes, Simpson administered chloroform to
reduce the pain of childbirth. Simpson sprinkled Sprinkle(v) / ˈsprɪŋkl /: scatter or pour small drops or
chloroform on a handkerchief and allowed particles of a substance over (an object or surface)
laboring3 women to inhale the fumes at their Synonym: Splash, spray, power
own discretion. In 1853, Queen Victoria agreed
to use chloroform during the birth of her eighth
child. Soon the use of chloroform during
childbirth was both acceptable and fashionable.
However, as chloroform became a more popular Obsolete(adj) / ˈɒbsəliːt /: no longer produced or
anesthetic, knowledge of its toxicity surfaced, used; out of date
and it was soon obsolete. Synonym: Outdated, old-fashioned
47
The Revolutionary Bridges of Robert Maillart
Swiss engineer Robert Maillart built some of the Enormous(adj) /ɪˈnɔːməs/: very large in size,
greatest bridges of the 20th century. His designs quantity, or extent
elegantly solved a basic engineering Synonym: Vast, gigantic, huge, massive, giant
problem: how to support enormous weights
using a slender arch. Emblem(n) /ˈɛmbləm/: a thing serving as a symbolic
representation of a particular quality or concept.
A Just as railway bridges were the great Synonym: Image, symbol
structural symbols of the 19th century, highway
bridges became the engineering emblems of the Irresistible(adj) /ˌɪrɪˈzɪstəbl/: so attractive that you
20th century. The invention of the automobile feel you must have it
created an irresistible demand for paved roads Synonym: Inevitable, unavoidable, overwhelming
and vehicular bridges throughout the developed
world. The type of bridge needed for cars and Locomotive(n) /ˌləʊkəˈməʊtɪv/: a railway engine that
trucks, however, is fundamentally different from pulls a train
that needed for locomotives. Most highway
bridges carry lighter loads than railway bridges Embed(v) /əmˈbed/: fix (an object) firmly and deeply
do, and their roadways can be sharply curved or in a surrounding mass.
steeply sloping. To meet these needs, many turn- Synonym: Implant, plant, set, fix, insert
of-the-century bridge designers began working
with a new building material: reinforced concrete, Contemporary(n) /kənˈtɛmpərəri/: a person or thing
which has steel bars embedded in it. And the living or existing at the same time as another.
master of this new material was Swiss structural
engineer, Robert Maillart. Eschew(v) /ɪsˈʧuː/: deliberately avoid using
B Early in his career, Maillart developed a unique Synonym: Avoid, renounce
method for designing bridges, buildings and other
concrete structures. He rejected the complex Imitate(v) /ˈɪmɪteɪt/: copy somebody/something
mathematical analysis of loads and stresses that Synonym: Emulate, follow, copy
was being enthusiastically adopted by most of his Ornamentation(n) /ˌɔːnəmɛnˈteɪʃən/: things added to
contemporaries. At the same time, he also something to provide decoration
eschewed the decorative approach taken by Synonym: Decoration, embellishment
many bridge builders of his time. He resisted Intuition(n) /ˌɪntju(ː)ˈɪʃən /: the ability to know
imitating architectural styles and adding design something by using your feelings rather than
elements solely for ornamentation. Maillart’s considering the facts
48
method was a form of creative intuition. He had Synonym: Instinct

a knack for conceiving new shapes to solve
classic engineering problems. And because he
worked in a highly competitive field, one of his
goals was economy - he won design and
construction contracts because his structures
were reasonably priced, often less costly than all
his rivals’ proposals.
C Maillart’s first important bridge was built in the
small Swiss town of Zuoz. The local officials had
initially wanted a steel bridge to span the 30-
metre wide Inn River, but Maillart argued that he Incorporate(v) /ɪnˈkɔːpərɪt /: take in or contain
could build a more elegant bridge made of (something) as part of a whole
reinforced concrete for about the same cost. His Synonym: Include, integrate
crucial innovation was incorporating the
bridge’s arch and roadway into a form called the
hollow-box arch, which would substantially
reduce the bridge’s expense by minimising the
amount of concrete needed. In a conventional
arch bridge the weight of the roadway is
transferred by columns to the arch, which must
be relatively thick. In Maillart’s design, though,
the roadway and arch were connected by three
vertical walls, forming two hollow boxes running
under the roadway (see diagram). The big
advantage of this design was that because the
arch would not have to bear the load alone, Conventional(adj) /kənˈvɛnʃənl/: following what is
it could be much thinner - as little as one-third as traditional or the way something has been done for a
thick as the arch in the conventional bridge. long time
D His first masterpiece, however, was the 1905 Synonym: Traditional
Tavanasa Bridge over the Rhine river in the
Swiss Alps. In this design, Maillart removed the
parts of the vertical walls which were not
essential because they carried no load. This
produced a slender, lighter-looking form, which Publicity(n) /pʌbˈlɪsɪti/: the notice or attention given
perfectly met the bridge’s structural to someone or something by the media
requirements. But the Tavanasa Bridge gained Synonym: Attention, fame
little favourable publicity in Switzerland; on the
contrary, it aroused strong aesthetic objections Arouse(v) /əˈraʊz/: evoke or awaken (a feeling,
from public officials who were more comfortable emotion, or response)
with old-fashioned stone-faced bridges. Maillart,
who had founded his own construction firm in Synonym: Provoke, trigger, induce, prompt
1902, was unable to win any more bridge Aesthetic(adj) /iːsˈθɛtɪk/: concerned with beauty or
projects, so he shifted his focus to designing the appreciation of beauty.
buildings, water tanks and other structures made Synonym: Artistic
of reinforced concrete and did not resume his
work on concrete bridges until the early 1920s. Breakthrough(n) /ˈbreɪkˌθruː/: an important
development that may lead to an agreement or
E His most important breakthrough during this achievement
period was the development of the deck-stiffened Synonym: Advance, development, success,
arch, the first example of which was the
49
Flienglibach Bridge, built in 1923. An arch bridge improvement

is somewhat like an inverted cable. A cable
curves downward when a weight is hung from it,
an arch bridge curves upward to support the
roadway and the compression in the arch
balances the dead load of the traffic. For
aesthetic reasons, Maillart wanted a thinner arch
and his solution was to connect the arch to the
roadway with transverse walls. In this way,
Maillart justified making the arch as thin as he
could reasonably build it. His analysis accurately
predicted the behaviour of the bridge but the
leading authorities of Swiss engineering would
argue against his methods for the next quarter of
a century.
F Over the next 10 years, Maillart concentrated
on refining the visual appearance of the deck-
stiffened arch. His best-known structure is the Refine(v) /rɪˈfaɪn/: improve (something) by making
Salginatobel Bridge, completed in 1930. He won small changes
the competition for the contract because his Synonym: Perfect, improve
design was the least expensive of the 19
submitted - the bridge and road were built for
only 700,000 Swiss francs, equivalent to some
$3.5 million today. Salginatobel was also
Maillart’s longest span, at 90 metres and it had
the most dramatic setting of all his structures,
vaulting 80 metres above the ravine of the
Salgina brook. In 1991 it became the first
concrete bridge to be designated an international
historic landmark.
G Before his death in 1940, Maillart completed
other remarkable bridges and continued to refine
his designs. However, architects often
recognised the high quality of Maillart’s structures
before his fellow engineers did and in 1947 the
architectural section of the Museum of Modern
Art in New York City devoted a major exhibition
entirely to his works. In contrast, very few
American structural engineers at that time had
even heard of Maillart. In the following years,
however, engineers realised that Maillart’s
bridges were more than just aesthetically
pleasing - they were technically unsurpassed. Unsurpassed(adj) /ˌʌnsə(ː)ˈpɑːst /: as good as or
Maillart’s hollow-box arch became the dominant better than any other.
design form for medium and long- span concrete Synonym: Unparalleled, unrivalled, incomparable
bridges in the US. In Switzerland, professors
finally began to teach Maillart’s ideas, which then
influenced a new generation of designers.
50
Striking Back at Lightning With Lasers
Seldom is the weather more dramatic than when

thunderstorms strike. Their electrical fury
inflicts death or serious injury on around 500 Inflict(v) /inˈflikt/: make somebody/something suffer
people each year in the United States alone. something unpleasant
As the clouds roll in, a leisurely round of golf can Synonym: Administer
become a terrifying dice with death - out in the
open, a lone golfer may be a lightning bolt’s most
inviting target. And there is damage to
property too. Lightning damage costs
American power companies more than $100 Neutralize(v) /ˈnjuːtrəlaɪz/: stop something from
million a year. having any effect
But researchers in the United States and Japan Synonym: Balance, counteract
are planning to hit back. Already in laboratory
trials they have tested strategies for neutralising
the power of thunderstorms, and this winter they Brave: ready to face and endure danger or pain;
will brave real storms, equipped with an armoury showing courage.
of lasers that they will be pointing towards the
heavens to discharge thunderclouds before Heaven(n) /ˈhevn/: sky
lightning can strike. Discharge(v) /dɪsˈtʃɑːdʒ/: to release force or power
The idea of forcing storm clouds to discharge
their lightning on command is not new. In the
early 1960s, researchers tried firing rockets
trailing wires into thunderclouds to set up an easy
discharge path for the huge electric charges that
these clouds generate. The technique survives Generate(v) /ˈʤɛnəreɪt/: produce
to this day at a test site in Florida run by the
University of Florida, with support from the Synonym: Create, cause, produce, make
Electrical Power Research Institute (EPRI),
based in California. EPRI, which is funded by
51
power companies, is looking at ways to protect

the United States’ power grid from lightning
strikes. ‘We can cause the lightning to strike
where we want it to using rockets,’ says Ralph
Bernstein, manager of lightning projects at EPRI.
The rocket site is providing
precise measurements of lightning voltages and Precise(adj) /prɪˈsaɪz/: clear and accurate
allowing engineers to check how electrical
equipment bears up. Synonym: Exact, particular, specific
Bad behaviour
But while rockets are fine for research, they
cannot provide the protection from lightning
strikes that everyone is looking for. The rockets
cost around $1,200 each, can only be fired at a
limited frequency and their failure rate is about 40
per cent. And even when they do trigger
lightning, things still do not always go according
to plan. ‘Lightning is not perfectly well behaved,’
says Bernstein. ‘Occasionally, it will take a
branch and go someplace it wasn’t supposed to
go.’
And anyway, who would want to fire streams of
rockets in a populated area? ‘What goes up must
come down,’ points out Jean-Claude Diels of the
University of New Mexico. Diels is leading a
project, which is backed by EPRI, to try to use
lasers to discharge lightning safely- and safety is
a basic requirement since no one wants to put
themselves or their expensive equipment at risk.
With around $500,000 invested so far, a
promising system is just emerging from the Emerge(v) /ɪˈmɜːʤ/: start to exist; to appear or
laboratory. become known
The idea began some 20 years ago, when high- Synonym: Develop, appear
powered lasers were revealing their ability to
extract electrons out of atoms and create ions. If Reveal(v) /rɪˈviːl/: make something known to others
a laser could generate a line of ionisation in the Synonym: Uncover, disclose, release, leak
air all the way up to a storm cloud, this
conducting path could be used to guide lightning
to Earth, before the electric field becomes strong Surge(n) /sɜːʤ/: a sudden, strong forward or upward
enough to break down the air in an uncontrollable
movement
surge. To stop the laser itself being struck, it
would not be pointed straight at the clouds.
Instead it would be directed at a mirror, and from
there into the sky. The mirror would be protected
by placing lightning conductors close by. Ideally,
the cloud-zapper (gun) would be cheap enough
to be installed around all key power installations,
and portable enough to be taken to international
sporting events to beam up at brewing storm
52
clouds.
A stumbling block Portable(adj) /ˈpɔːtəbl/: able to be easily carried or
moved, especially because of being a lighter and
However, there is still a big stumbling block. smaller version than usual.
The laser is no nifty portable: it’s a monster that
takes up a whole room. Diels is trying to cut Synonym: Transportable, mobile
down the size and says that a laser around the
size of a small table is in the offing. He plans to Stumbling block(n) /ˈstʌmblɪŋˌblɒk/: something that
test this more manageable system on causes problems and prevents you from achieving
live thunderclouds next summer. Bernstein says your aim
that Diels’s system is attracting lots of interest Synonym: Obstacle, difficulty
from the power companies.
Nifty(adj) /ˈnɪfti/: fashionable; stylish
But they have not yet come up with the $5 million
that EPRI says will be needed to develop a
commercial system, by making the lasers yet
smaller and cheaper. I cannot say I have
money yet, but I’m working on it,’ says Bernstein.
He reckons that the forthcoming field tests will
Forthcoming(adj) /fɔːθˈkʌmɪŋ/: planned for or about
be the turning point - and he’s hoping for good
to happen in the near future.
news. Bernstein predicts ‘an avalanche of
interest and support’ if all goes well. He expects
to see cloud-zappers eventually costing $50,000
to $100,000 each.
Other scientists could also benefit. With a
lightning ‘switch’ at their fingertips, materials
scientists could find out what happens when
mighty currents meet matter. Diels also hopes
to see the birth of ‘interactive meteorology’ - not
just forecasting the weather but controlling it. ‘If
we could discharge clouds, we might affect the
weather,’ he says.
Confront(v) /kənˈfrʌnt/: face up to and deal with (a
And perhaps, says Diels, we’ll be able to problem or difficult situation)
confront some other meteorological menaces.
‘We think we could prevent hail by inducing Synonym: Tackle, address, face
lightning,’ he says. Thunder, the shock wave Menace(n) /ˈmɛnəs/: a person or thing that is likely to
that comes from a lightning flash, is thought to be cause harm
the trigger for the torrential rain that is typical of
storms. A laser thunder factory could shake the Synonym: Risk, harm, hazard
moisture out of clouds, perhaps preventing the
Torrential(adj) /tɒˈrɛnʃəl/: falling rapidly and in
formation of the giant hailstones that threaten
copious quantities
crops. With luck, as the storm clouds gather this
winter, laser-toting researchers could, for the first Synonym: Heavy, relentless, severe
time, strike back.
53
Green virtues of green sand
Revolution in gloss recycling could help keep

water clean
A For the past 100 years special high grade

white sand dug from the ground at Leighton Impurity(n) /ɪmˈpjʊərɪti/: a substance that is present
Buzzard in the UK. has been used to filter tap in small amounts in another substance, making it
water to remove bacteria and impurities but this dirty or of poor quality
may no longer be necessary. A new factory that
turns used wine bottles into green sand could Synonym: Contaminant, pollutant
revolutionise the recycling industry and help to Revolutionise(v) /ˌrɛvəˈluːʃnaɪz/: change
filter Britain’s drinking water. Backed by $1.6m (something) radically or fundamentally
from the European Union and the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), a Synonym: Transform
company based in Scotland is building the
Beverage(n) /ˈbevərɪdʒ/: any type of drink except
factory, which will turn beverage bottles back
water
into the sand from which they were made in the
first place. The green sand has already been
successfully tested by water companies and is
being used in 50 swimming pools in Scotland to
keep the water clean.
B The idea is not only to avoid using up an
increasingly scarce natural resource, sand but
also to solve a crisis in the recycling industry. Scarce(adj) /skeəs/: insufficient for the demand
Britain uses 5.5m tonnes of glass a year, but
Synonym: Insufficient, deficient inadequate, lacking
recycles only 750,000 tonnes of it. The
problem is that half the green bottle glass in
Britain is originally from imported wine and
beer bottles. Because there is so much of it, and
it is used less in domestic production than other Domestic(adj) /dəˈmestɪk/: nội địa
types, green glass is worth only $25 a tonne.
Clear glass, which is melted down and used for
whisky bottles, mainly for export, is worth double
54
that amount.
C Howard Drvden - a scientist and managing
director of the company, Drvden Aqua, of
Bonnyrigg, near Edinburgh, has spent six years Stigma(n) /ˈstɪgmə/: a mark of disgrace associated
working on the product he calls Active Filtration with a particular circumstance, quality, or person
Media, or AFM. He concedes that he has given Synonym: Shame, disgrace, dishonor
what is basically recycled glass a ‘fancy name' to
remove the stigma of what most people would Inferior(adj) /ɪnˈfɪərɪə/: lower in rank, status, or
regard as an inferior product. He says he needs quality
bottles that have already contained drinkable Synonym: Lesser, lower-ranking, minor
liquids to be sure that drinking water filtered
through the AFM would not be contaminated. Contaminate(v) /kənˈtæmɪneɪt/: make (something)
Crushed down beverage glass has fewer impure by exposure to or addition of a poisonous or
impurities than real sand and it performed better polluting substance.
in trials. *The fact is that tests show that AFM
Synonym: Pollute
does the job better than sand, it is easier to clean
and reuse and has all sorts of properties that
make it ideal for other applications.' he claimed.
D The factory is designed to produce 100 tonnes
of AFM a day, although Mr Dryden regards this
as a large-scale pilot project rather than full
production. Current estimates of the UK market
for this glass for filtering drinking water,
sewage, industrial water, swimming pools
and fish farming are between 175.000 to
217.000 tonnes a year, which will use up most
of the glass available near the factory. So he
intends to build five or six factories in cities where
there are large quantities of bottles, in order to
cut down on transport costs.
E The current factory will be completed this
month and is expected to go into full production
on January 14th next year. Once it is providing a
Inspectorate(n) /ɪnˈspektərət/: an official group of
‘regular’ product, the government’s drinking water
inspectors who work together on the same subject
inspectorate will be asked to perform tests and
or at the same kind of institution
approve it for widespread use by water
companies. A Defra spokesman said it was
hoped that AFM could meet approval within six
months. The only problem that they could Spokesman: a person who makes statements on
foresee was possible contamination if some behalf of a group or individual.
glass came from sources other than beverage
bottles.
Foresee: be aware of beforehand; predict.
F Among those who have tested the glass
already is Caroline Fitzpatrick of the civil and
environmental engineering department of
Contamination: the action or state of making or
University College London. ‘We have looked at a
being made impure by polluting or poisoning.
number of batches and it appears to do the job.'
she said. ‘Basically, sand is made of glass and
Mr Dryden is turning bottles back into sand. It
55
seems a straightforward idea and there is no

reason we can think of why it would not work.
Since glass from wine bottles and other
beverages has no impurities and clearly did not Leach /liːtʃ/: to be removed from soil, etc. by water
leach any substances into the contents of the passing through it; lọc
bottles, there was no reason to believe there
would be a problem,’ Dr Fitzpatrick added.
G Mr Dryden has set up a network of agents
round the world to sell AFM. It is already in use in
central America to filter water on banana
plantations where the fruit has to he washed Dispatch(v) /dɪsˈpæʧ/: send off to a destination or
before being dispatched to European markets. It for a purpose.
is also in use in sewage works to filter water
Synonym: Send, transmit, forward
before it is returned to rivers, something which is
becoming legally necessary across the European Sewage(n) /ˈsju(ː)ɪʤ /: waste water and excrement
Union because of tighter regulations on sewage conveyed in sewers.
works. So there are a great number of
applications involving cleaning up water. Application(n) /ˌæplɪˈkeɪʃn/: the practical use of
Currently, however, AFM costs $670 a tonne, something
about four times as much as good quality sand. Synonym: implementation, use, exercise,
‘Hut that is because we haven't got large-scale employment, administration, utilization,
production. Obviously, when we get going it will
cost a lot less, and be competitive with sand in practice
price as well.’ Mr Dryden said. ‘I believe it
performs better and lasts longer than sand, so it
is going to be better value too.'
H If AFM takes off as a product it will be a big
boost for the government agency which is
charged with finding a market for recycled
products. Crushed glass is already being used
in road surfacing and in making tiles and
bricks. Similarly. AFM could prove to have a
widespread use and give green glass a cash
value.
56
Beyond the blue horizon
Ancient voyagers who settled the far-flung

islands of the Pacific Ocean
(1)
An important archaeological discovery on the Reveal(v) /rɪˈviːl/: make (previously unknown or
island of Efate in the Pacific archipelago of secret information) known to others
Vanuatu has revealed traces of an ancient Synonym: Disclose, release, tell
seafaring people, the distant ancestors of todays,
Polynesians. The site came to light only by Traces(n) /ˈtreɪsɪz/: a mark, object, or other
chance. An agricultural worker, digging in the indication of the existence or passing of something.
grounds of a derelict plantation, scraped open a Synonym: Evidence, object, mark
grave – the first of dozens in a burial ground
some 3,000 years old. It is the oldest cemetery Derelict(adj) /ˈdɛrɪlɪkt/: in a very poor condition as a
ever found in the Pacific islands, and it harbors result of disuse and neglect
the remains of an ancient people archaeologists Synonym: Neglected, loomed
call the Lapita.
(2)
They were daring blue-water adventurers who
used basic canoes to rove across the ocean. But
they were not just explorers. They were also
Pioneer(n) /ˌpaɪəˈnɪə(r)/: người tiên phong
pioneers who carried with them everything they
would need to build new lives – their livestock,
taro seedlings and stone tools. Within the span of
several centuries, the Lapita stretched the
boundaries of their world from the jungle-clad
volcanoes of Papua New Guinea to the loneliest
coral outliers of Tonga.
57
(3)
The Lapita left precious few clues about
themselves, but Efate expands the volume of
data available to researchers dramatically. The Precious(adj) /ˈprɛʃəs/: of great value
remains of 62 individuals have been uncovered Synonym: Valuable, special
so far, and archaeologists were also thrilled to Uncover(v) /ʌnˈkʌvə/: discover
find six complete Lapita pots. Other items
included a Lapita burial urn with modeled birds Synonym: Detect, find, unearth
arranged on the rim as though peering down at
the human remains sealed inside. ‘It’s an
important discovery,’ says Matthew Spriggs, Seal(v)/siːl/: close securely
professor of archaeology at the Australian
Synonym: Shut, close, secure
National University and head of the international
team digging up the site, ‘for it conclusively
identifies the remains as Lapita.’
(4)
DNA teased from these human remains may help
answer one of the most puzzling questions in
Pacific anthropology: did all Pacific islanders
spring from one source or many? Was there only
one outward migration from a single point in Asia,
or several from different points? ‘This represents
the best opportunity we’ve had yet,’ says
Spriggs, ‘to find out who the Lapita actually were, Descendant(n) /dɪˈsɛndənt/: a
where they came from, and who their closest person’s descendants are their children, their
descendants are today.’ children’s children, and all the people who live after
them who are related to them
(5)
Accomplish(v) /əˈkɒmplɪʃ/: achieve or complete
There is one stubborn question for which
successfully.
archaeology has yet to provide any answers: how
did the Lapita accomplish the ancient Synonym: Fulfill, achieve, complete
equivalent of a moon landing, many times over?
No-one has found one of their canoes or any Equivalent(n) /ɪˈkwɪvələnt/: a person or thing that is
rigging, which could reveal how the canoes were equal to or corresponds with another in value,
sailed. Nor do the oral histories and traditions of amount, function, meaning, etc.
later Polynesians offer any insights, for they turn Insight(n) /ˈɪnsaɪt/: an understanding of what
into myths long before they reach as far back in something is like
time as the Lapita.
Synonym: Awareness, understanding, recognition
(6)
‘All we can say for certain is that the Lapita had
canoes that were capable of ocean voyages, and
they had the ability to sail them,’ says Geoff
Irwin, a professor of archaeology at the
University of Auckland. Those sailing skills, he
says, were developed and passed down over
thousands of years by earlier mariners who
worked their way through the archipelagoes of
the western Pacific, making short crossings to
58
nearby islands. The real adventure didn’t begin,

however, until their Lapita descendants sailed
out of sight of land, with empty horizons on every Descendant(n) /dɪˈsɛndənt/: a
side. This must have been as difficult for them as person’s descendants are their children, their
landing on the moon is for us today. Certainly it children’s children, and all the people who live after
distinguished them from their ancestors, but them who are related to them
what gave them the courage to launch out on
such risky voyages? Distinguish(v)/ dɪsˈtɪŋgwɪʃ/: phân biệt
(7) Synonym: differentiate
The Lap it as thrust into the Pacific was Ancestor(n) / ˈænsɪstə /: tổ tiên
eastward, against the prevailing trade winds,
Irwin notes. Those nagging headwinds, he
argues, may have been the key to their success.
‘They could sail out for days into the unknown
and assess the area, secure in the knowledge
that if they didn’t find anything, they could turn
about and catch a swift ride back on the trade
winds. This is what would have made the whole
thing work.’ Once out there, skilled seafarers Abundant(n) /əˈbʌndənt/: existing in large quantities;
would have detected abundant leads to follow to more than enough
land: seabirds, coconuts and twigs carried out to
Synonym: Plentiful, ample
sea by the tides, and the afternoon pile-up of
clouds on the horizon which often indicates an
island in the distance.
Indicate(v) /ˈɪndɪkeɪt/: point out, show, stipulate
(8)
For returning explorers, successful or not, the
geography of their own archipelagoes would
have provided a safety net. Without this to go by,
overshooting their home ports, getting lost and
sailing off into eternity would have been all too eternity(n) /i(ː)ˈtɜːnɪti /: infinite or unending time
easy. Vanuatu, for example, stretches more than
ever
500 miles in a northwest-southeast trend, its
scores of intervisible islands forming a backstop
for mariners riding the trade winds home.
(9)
All this presupposes one essential detail, says
Atholl Anderson, professor of prehistory at the Presuppose(v) /ˌpriːsəˈpəʊz/: accept something as
Australian National University: the Lapita had true or existing and act on that basis, before it has
mastered the advanced art of sailing against the been proved to be true
wind. ‘And there’s no proof they could do any Synonym: Mean, assume, imply
such thing,’ Anderson says. ‘There has been this
assumption they did, and people have built
canoes to re-create those early voyages based
on that assumption. But nobody has any idea
what their canoes looked like or how they were Rig(v) /riɡ/: make (a sailing ship or boat) ready for
rigged.’ sailing by providing it with sails and rigging.
(10) Synonym: Provide, equip, supply
59
Rather than give all the credit to human skill,

Anderson invokes the winds of chance. El Nino,
the same climate disruption that affects the Disruption(n) /dɪsˈrʌpʃən/: disturbance or problems
Pacific today, may have helped scatter the that interrupt an event, activity, or process
Lapita, Anderson suggests. He points out that Synonym:Disturbance, interruption
climate data obtained from slow-growing corals
around the Pacific indicate a series of unusually
frequent El Ninos around the time of the Lapita Scatter: cause (a group of people or animals) to
expansion. By reversing the regular east-to-west separate and move off quickly in different directions
flow of the trade winds for weeks at a time, these
super El Ninos might have taken the Lapita on
long unplanned voyages.
(11)
However they did it, the Lapita spread
themselves a third of the way across the Pacific,
then called it quits for reasons known only to
them. Ahead lay the vast emptiness of the central
Pacific and perhaps they were too thinly
stretched to venture farther. They probably never Encounter(v) /ɪnˈkaʊntə/: unexpectedly experience
numbered more than a few thousand in total, and or be faced with (something difficult or hostile).
in their rapid migration eastward they
encountered hundreds of islands – more than Experience, face, confront
300 in Fiji alone.
60
Reducing errors in memory
Sleep may reduce mistakes in

memory, according to a first-of-its-kind study led
by a scientist at Michigan State University.
The findings, which appear in the September Implications(n) /ˌɪmplɪˈkeɪʃənz/ : the conclusion
issue of the journal Learning El Memory, have that can be drawn from something, although it is not
practical implications for many people, from explicitly stated
students doing multiple-choice tests to elderly Synonym: Meaning, indication
people confusing their medicine, says Kimberly
Fenn, principal investigator and assistant
professor of psychology.
‘It’s easy to muddle things in your mind,’ Fenn Muddle(v) /ˈmʌdl/: bring into a disordered or
says. This research suggests that after sleep, confusing state
you’re better able to pick out the incorrect parts
of that memory.’ Fenn and colleagues from the Synonym: Confuse, disorder, disarrange
University of Chicago and Washington University
in St Louis studied the presence of incorrect or
false memory in groups of college students.
While previous research has shown that sleep
improves memory, this study is the first one that
looks at errors in memory, she said.
Study participants were ‘trained’ by being shown
or listening to lists of words. Then, twelve hours
later, they were shown individual words and
asked to identify which words they had seen or
heard in the earlier session. One group of
students was trained at 10 a.m. and tested at 10
61
p.m. after the course of a normal sleepless day.

Another group was trained at night and tested
twelve hours later in the morning, after about six
hours of sleep.
Three experiments were conducted. In each
experiment, the results showed that students
who had slept did not have as many problems
with false memory and chose fewer incorrect
words.
How does sleep help? The answer isn’t known,
Fenn said, but she suspects it may be due to
sleep strengthening the source of the memory.
The source, or context in which the information is
acquired, is a vital element of the memory
process.
In other words, it may be easier to remember
something if you can also remember where you
first heard or saw it. Or perhaps the people who
didn’t sleep as much during the study received so
much other information during the day that this
affected their memory ability, Fenn said.
Further research is needed, she said, adding that
she plans to study different population groups,
particularly the elderly. ‘We know older
individuals generally have worse memory
performance than younger individuals.
We also know from other research that elderly Prone(adj) /prəʊn/: likely to or liable to suffer from,
individuals tend to be more prone to false do, or experience something, typically something
memories,’ Fenn said. ‘Given the work we’ve regrettable or unwelcome.
done, it’s possible that sleep may actually help
them to reject this false information. And Synonym: Likely, vulnerable, susceptible, subject
potentially this could help to improve their quality
Reject(v) /rɪˈdʒekt/: refuse to accept or consider
of life.’
something
62
Johnson's Dictionary
For the century before Johnson's Dictionary was Compile(v) /kəmˈpaɪl/: produce (something,
published in 1775. there had been concern especially a list, report, or book) by assembling
about the state of the English language. There information collected from other sources
was no standard way of speaking or writing and
no agreement as to the best way of bringing Synonym: Assemble, collect, compose
some order to the chaos' of English spelling. Dr Convey(v) /kənˈveɪ/: to make ideas, feelings, etc.
Johnson provided the solution. known to somebody
There had, of course, been dictionaries in the Synonym: Communicate, tell
past, the first of these being a little book of some
120 pages, compiled by a certain Robert Associate(v) /əˈsəʊʃɪɪt /: connect (someone or
Cawdray, published in 1604 under the title A something) with something else
Table Alphabetical! ‘of hard usual English Synonym: Link, connect, relate
wordes'. Like the various dictionaries that came
after it during the seventeenth century, Anxious(adj) /ˈæŋkʃəs/: experiencing worry,
Cawdray's tended to concentrate on 'scholarly' unease, or nervousness
words; one function of the dictionary was to
Synonym: Worry, concerned, tense, distressed
enable its student to convey an impression of
fine learning. Circumscribe(v) /ˈsɜːkəmskraɪb/: restrict
(something) within limits
Beyond the practical need to make order out of
chaos, the rise of dictionaries is associated with Synonym: Restrict, limit, restrain
the rise of the English middle class, who were
anxious to define and circumscribe the various Conquer(v) /ˈkɒŋkə/: successfully overcome (a
worlds to conquer - lexical as well as social problem or weakness)
and commercial. It is highly appropriate that Dr Synonym: Control, surmount, overcome
Samuel Johnson, the very model of an
eighteenth-century literary man, as famous in Lexical(adj) /ˈlɛksɪkəl/: relating to the words or
his own time as in ours, should have published vocabulary of a language
his dictionary at the very beginning of the
Heyday(n) /ˈheɪdeɪ/: the time when
heyday of the middle class.
somebody/something had most power or success,
Johnson was a poet and critic who raised
63
common sense to the heights of genius. His or was most popular

approach to the problems that had worried
writers throughout the late seventeenth and Synonym: Prime
early eighteenth centuries was intensely
practical. Up until his time, the task of producing
a dictionary on such a large scale had seemed
impossible without the establishment of an Establishment(n) /ɪsˈtæblɪʃmənt/: the act of
academy to make decisions about right and starting or creating something
wrong usage Johnson decided he did not need
an academy to settle arguments about Synonym: Foundation, formation, creation,
language; he would write a dictionary himself; institution
and he would do it single-handed. Johnson
Settle(v) /ˈsɛtl/: resolve or reach an agreement
signed the contract for the Dictionary with the
about (an argument or problem)
bookseller Robert Dosley at a breakfast held at
the Golden Anchor Inn near Holbom Bar on 18 Synonym: Resolve, solve, reconcile, end
June 1764. He was to be paid £ 1.575 in
instalments, and from this he took money to
rent 17 Gough Square, in which he set up his
'dictionary workshop'.
James Boswell, his biographer described the
garret where Johnson worked as ‘fitted up like a
counting house' with a long desk running down
the middle at which the copying clerks would
work standing up. Johnson himself was
stationed on a rickety chair at an 'old crazy deal
table' surrounded by a chaos of borrowed
books. He was also helped by six assistants,
two of whom died whilst the Dictionary was still
in preparation. Immense(adj) /iˈmens/: extremely large or great,
especially in scale or degree
The work was immense; filling about eighty
large notebooks (and without a library to hand). Synonym: Huge, vast, massive, great, tremendous
Johnson wrote the definitions of over 40,000
Illustrate(v) /ˈɪləstreɪt/: minh hoạ
words, and illustrated their many meanings
with some 14.000 quotations drawn from Synonym: explain, demonstrate, clarify
English writing on every subject, from the
Elizabethans to his own time. He did not expect Originality(n) /əˌrɪʤɪˈnælɪti/: the quality of being
to achieve complete originality. Working to a novel or unusual
deadline, he had to draw on the best of all Synonym: Ingenuity, creativity, innovation, novelty
previous dictionaries, and to make his work one
of heroic synthesis. In fact, it was very much Heroic(adj) /hɪˈrəʊɪk/: showing extreme courage
more. Unlike his predecessors Johnson treated and admired by many people
English very practically, as a living language,
Synonym: Brave, courageous, intrepid
with many different shades of meaning. He
adopted his definitions on the principle of Synthesis(n) /ˈsɪnθɪsɪs/: a mixture or combination
English common law - according to precedent. of ideas, beliefs, styles
After its publication, his Dictionary was not
seriously rivalled for over a century. Synonym: Combination, union, mixture, fusion
After many vicissitudes the Dictionary was

finally published on 15 April 1775. It was Rival(v) /ˈraɪvl/: compete for superiority with; be or
instantly recognised as a landmark throughout
64
Europe. This very noble work.’ wrote the leading seem to be equal or comparable to.
Italian lexicographer; ‘will be a perpetual
monument of Fame to the Author, an Honour to Synonym: challenge, match, compete
his own Country in particular, and a general Vicissitude(n) /vɪˈsɪsɪtjuːd/: a change of
Benefit to the republic of Letters throughout circumstances or fortune, typically one that is
Europe.' The fact that Johnson had taken on the unwelcome or unpleasant
Academies of Europe and matched them
(everyone knew that forty French academics Synonym: Change, alteration, shift, downturn
had taken forty years to produce the first French Perpetual(adj) /pəˈpetʃuəl/: never ending or
national dictionary) was cause for much English changing.
celebration.
Synonym: everlasting, never-ending, eternal,
Johnson had worked for nine years.‘ with little
assistance of the learned, and without any permanent, unending, endless
patronage of the great; not in the soft Monument(n) /ˈmɒnjumənt/: a thing that remains as
obscurities of retirement, or under the shelter a good example of somebody’s qualities or of what
of academic bowers, but amidst they did; công trình
inconvenience and distraction, in sickness
Patronage(n) /ˈpætrənɪʤ/: the support, especially
and in sorrow'. For all its faults and
financial
eccentricities his two-volume work is a
masterpiece and a landmark, in his own words, Synonym: Sponsorship, funding
'setting the orthography, displaying the
analogy, regulating the structures, and Obscurity(n) /əbˈskjʊərɪti/: the state of being
ascertaining the significations of English unknown, inconspicuous, or unimportant
words’. It is the corner-stone of Standard Synonym: Insignificance, unimportance
English, an achievement which, in James
Boswell’s words, ‘conferred stability on the Retirement(n) /rɪˈtaɪəmənt/: the fact of stopping
language of his country'. work because you have reached a particular age;
the time when you do this
The Dictionary, together with his other writing,
made Johnson famous and so well esteemed Shelter(n) /ˈʃeltə(r)/: protection from something
that his friends were able to prevail upon King unpleasant and dangerous
George III to offer him a pension. From then on,
Bower(n) /ˈbaʊə(r)/: a pleasant place
he was to become the Johnson of folklore.
Amidst(preposition) /əˈmɪdst/: in the middle of or
during something
Inconvenience(n) /ˌɪnkənˈviːniəns/: trouble or
problems
Distraction(n) /dɪˈstrækʃn/: a thing that takes your
attention away from what you are doing or thinking
about
Sorrow(n) /ˈsɒrəʊ/: a feeling of great sadness
because something very bad has happened
Synonym: Grief
Eccentricity(n) /ˌɛksɛnˈtrɪsɪti/: the quality of being
unusual and different from other people
Synonym: Unusualness, peculiarity
Orthography(n) /ɔːˈθɒɡrəfi/: the system of spelling
65
in a language
Analogy(n) /əˈnælədʒi/: the process of comparing
one thing with another thing that has similar
features in order to explain it
Ascertain(v) /ˌæsəˈteɪn/: to find out the true or
correct information about something
Synonym: Discover, learn
Confer(v) /kənˈfɜː(r)/: grant or bestow (a title,
degree, benefit, or right), award to
Stability(n) /stəˈbɪlɪti/: the quality or state of being
steady and not changing or being disturbed in any
way
Synonym: Firmness, solidity, safety
Esteem(v) /ɪsˈtiːm/: respect and admire
Synonym: Value, respect, admire, regard,
appreciate
66
Nature or Nurture?
A Willingness(n) /ˈwɪlɪŋnɪs/: the quality of being

happy and ready to do something
A few years ago, in one of the most fascinating
and disturbing experiments in behavioural Synonym: Readiness, will, want, wish
psychology, Stanley Milgram of Yale University
tested 40 subjects from all walks of life for their Distaste(n) /sɪˈvɛrɪti/:a feeling that
willingness to obey instructions given by a somebody/something is unpleasant or offensive
‘leader’ in a situation in which the subjects might Synonym: Dislike, disapproval
feel a personal distaste for the actions they were
called upon to perform. Specifically, Milgram told Administer(v) /ədˈmɪnɪstə/: to give or to provide
each volunteer 'teacher-subject' that the something
experiment was in the noble cause of education, Synonym: Dispense, apply, issue, give, distribute
and was designed to test whether or not
punishing pupils for their mistakes would have a Severity(n) /səkˈsɛsɪv/: the fact or condition of
positive effect on the pupils' ability to learn. something being extremely bad or serious
B Synonym: Harshness, cruelty
Milgram’s experimental set-up involved placing Successive(adj) /ˈsɪmjʊleɪt/: following one another
the teacher-subject before a panel of thirty or following others.
switches with labels ranging from '15 volts of
Synonym: Consecutive, sequential, running
electricity (slight shock)' to ‘450 volts (danger -
severe shock)' in steps of 15 volts each. The Simulate(v) /ˈsimyəˌlāt/: imitate the appearance or
teacher-subject was told that whenever the pupil character of.
gave the wrong answer to a question, a shock
was to be administered, beginning at the lowest Synonym: Imitate, mimic, replicate
level and increasing in severity with each Spectrum(n) /ˈspektrəm/: a range of sound waves
successive wrong answer. The supposed 'pupil' or several other types of wave
was in reality an actor hired by Milgram to
simulate receiving the shocks by emitting a Assortment(n) /əˈsɔːtmənt/: a group of things and
spectrum of groans, screams and writhings people
together with an assortment of statements and
Expletive(n) /ɪkˈspliːtɪv/: a word, especially a rude
expletives denouncing both the experiment and
word, that you use when you are angry, or in pain;
the experimenter. Milgram told the teacher-
swear word
subject to ignore the reactions of the pupil, and to
administer whatever level of shock was called for
67
aas per the rule governing the experimental Synonym: Mixture, variety, array
situation of the moment.
Denounce(v) /dɪˈnaʊns/: strongly criticize
C somebody/something that you think is wrong, illegal,
etc.
As the experiment unfolded, the pupil would
deliberately give the wrong answers Synonym: Condemn, criticise
to questions posed by the teacher, thereby
bringing on various electrical punishments, even Unfold(v) /ʌnˈfəʊld/: to be gradually made known;
up to the danger level of 300 volts and beyond. to gradually make something known to other people
Many of the teacher-subjects balked at Synonym: reavel, disclose
administering the higher levels of punishment,
and turned to Milgram with questioning locks Deliberately(adv) /dɪˈlɪbərɪtli/: on purpose
and/or complaints about continuing the Synonym: Intentionally, purposely
experiment. In these situations, Milgram calmly
explained that the teacher-subject was to ignore Mercy(n) /ˈmɜːsi/: a kind or forgiving attitude
the pupil's cries for mercy and carry on with the towards somebody that you have the power to harm
experiment. If the subject was still reluctant to or right to punish
proceed, Milgram said that it was important for
Synonym: Compassion, grace, forgiveness
the sake of the experiment that the procedure
be followed through to the end. His final Reluctant(adj) /rɪˈlʌktənt/: unwilling and hesitant
argument was, ‘You have no other choice. You
must go on.' What Milgram was trying to discover Synonym: Unwilling, resistant, opposed
was the number of teacher-subjects who would Procedure(n) /prəˈsiːʤə/: a way of doing
be willing to administer the highest levels of something, especially the usual or correct way
shock, even in the face of strong personal and Synonym: system, method, strategy, policy
moral revulsion against the rules and conditions
of the experiment. Revulsion(n) /rɪˈvʌlʃən/: a sense of disgust and
loathing.
D
Synonym: Disgust, repulsion, distaste
Prior to carrying out the experiment, Milgram
explained his idea to a group of 39 psychiatrists Overwhelming(adj) /ˌəʊvəˈwɛlmɪŋ/: very great in
and asked them to predict the average amount
percentage of people in an ordinary population
Synonym: Enormous, massive, huge
who would be willing to administer the highest
shock level of 450 volts. The overwhelming Consensus(n) /kənˈsensəs/: general agreement.
consensus was that virtually all the teacher-
subjects would refuse to obey the experimenter. Agreement
The psychiatrists felt that 'most subjects would
not go beyond 150 volts' and they further
anticipated that only four per cent would go up to
300 volts. Furthermore, they thought that only a
lunatic fringe of about one in 1.000 would give
the highest shock of 450 volts.
E
What were the actual results? Well, over 60 per
cent of the teacher-subjects continued to obey
Milgram up to the 450-volt limit! In repetitions of
the experiment in other countries, the percentage Obedient(adj) /əˈbiːdiənt/: doing what you are told
of obedient teacher-subjects was even higher, to do; willing to obey
reaching 85 per cent in one country. How can we
68
possibly account for this vast discrepancy

between what calm, rational, knowledgeable
people predict in the comfort of their study and Discrepancy(n) /dɪsˈkrɛpənsi/: a lack of
what pressured, flustered, but cooperative compatibility or similarity between two or more facts.
teachers’ actually do in the laboratory of real life? Synonym: Difference, variation, variance,
F dissimilarity
One’s first inclination might be to argue that Inclination(n) /ˌɪnklɪˈneɪʃən/: a person's natural
there must be some sort of built-in animal tendency or urge to act or feel in a particular way
aggression instinct that was activated by the Synonym: Tendency
experiment, and that Milgram’s teacher- subjects
were just following a genetic need to discharge Aggression(n) /əˈgrɛʃ(ə)n /: hostile or violent
this pent-up primal urge onto the pupil by behavior or attitudes toward another
administering the electrical shock. A modern Synonym: Violence, hostility, aggressiveness
hard-core sociobiologist might even go so far as
to claim that this aggressive instinct evolved as Instinct(n) /ˈɪnstɪŋkt /: a natural tendency for people
an advantageous trait, having been of survival and animals to behave in a particular way
value to our ancestors in their struggle against
Synonym: Inclination, innate, nature
the hardships of life on the plains and in the
caves, ultimately finding its way into our genetic Discharge(v) /dɪsˈtʃɑːdʒ/: to release force or power;
make-up as a remnant of our ancient animal do everything that is necessary to perform and
ways. complete a particular duty
G
An alternative to this notion of genetic Remnant(n) /ˈremnənt/: a small remaining quantity
programming is to see the teacher-subjects' of something
actions as a result of the social environment
under which the experiment was carried out. As Synonym: Remain, residue, rest
Milgram himself pointed out. Most subjects in the Benevolent(adj) /bəˈnevələnt/: kind, helpful and
experiment see their behaviour in a larger generous
context that is benevolent and useful to society -
the pursuit of scientific truth. The psychological Kind, compassionate, caring, kind-hearted
laboratory has a strong claim to legitimacy and
Pursuit(n) /pəˈsjuːt/: the act of looking for or trying
evokes trust and confidence in those who
to find something
perform there. An action such as shocking a
victim, which in isolation appears evil, acquires a Searching, seeking, hunt
completely different meaning when placed in this
setting.’ Legitimacy(n) /lɪˈʤɪtɪməsi/: the quality of being
based on a fair or acceptable reason
H
Validity
Thus, in this explanation the subject merges his
unique personality and personal and moral code Surrender(v) /səˈrendər/: give up
with that of larger institutional structures, something/somebody when you are forced to
surrendering individual properties like loyalty, Give up, abandon
self-sacrifice and discipline to the service of
malevolent systems of authority. Malevolent(adj) /məˈlevələnt/: having or showing a
desire to harm other people
I
Wicked, malicious, evil, hostile
Here we have two radically different explanations
for why so many teacher-subjects were willing to
forgo their sense of personal responsibility for the
69
sake of an institutional authority figure. The Plausible(adj) /ˈplɔːzəbl/: seeming reasonable or

problem for biologists, psychologists and probable.
anthropologists is to sort out which of these two
polar explanations is more plausible. This, in Credible, reasonable, believable, conceivable
essence, is the problem of modem sociobiology - Dictate(v) /ˈdɪkteɪt /: to control or influence how
to discover the degree to which hard-wired something happens
genetic programming dictates, or at least
strongly biased, the interaction of animals and Rule, control
humans with their environment, that is, their Biased(adj) /ˈbaɪəst/: having a tendency to show
behaviour. Put another way, sociobiology is favour towards or against one group of people or
concerned with elucidating the biological basis one opinion for personal reasons; making unfair
of all behaviour. judgements
Elucidate(v) /ɪˈluːsɪdeɪt/: make (something) clear;
explain
Explain, clarify
70
A spark, a flint: How fire leapt to life
The control of fire was the first and perhaps

greatest of humanity’s steps towards a life-
enhancing technology.
To early man, fire was a divine gift randomly Divine(adj) /dɪˈvaɪn/: wonderful
delivered in the form of lightning, forest fire or
burning lava. Unable to make flame for Charcoal(n): than (củi)
themselves, the earliest peoples Primitive(adj) /ˈprɪmɪtɪv/: belonging to an early stage
probably stored fire by keeping slow burning in the development of humans or animals
logs alight or by carrying charcoal in pots. Synonym: Ancient, first, prehistoric, primal
How and where man learnt how to produce
flame at will is unknown. It was probably a Friction(n) /ˈfrɪkʃn/: ma sát
secondary invention, accidentally made during
tool-making operations with wood or stone. Peasant(n) /ˈpeznt/: farmer
Studies of primitive societies suggest that the
earliest method of making fire was through Rotate(v) /rəʊˈteɪt/: quay, xoay quanh
friction. European peasants would insert a
wooden drill in a round hole and rotate it Briskly(adv) /ˈbrɪskli/: in an active, quick, or
briskly between their palms. This process energetic way
could be speeded up by wrapping a cord Synonym: Rapidly, vigorously
around the drill and pulling on each end.
Concave(adj)/ kɒnˈkeɪv /: lõm
The Ancient Greeks used lenses or concave
mirrors to concentrate the sun’s rays and
burning glasses were also used by Mexican Percussion(n) /pəˈkʌʃn/: the striking of one solid
Aztecs and the Chinese. object with or against another with some degree of
Percussion methods of fire-lighting date back force.
to Paleolithic times, when some Stone Age
tool-makers discovered that chipping flints Flint(n): a type of hard, grey stone
produced sparks. The technique became more
Spark(n)/ spɑːk/: tia lửa
71
efficient after the discovery of iron, about 5000

years ago In Arctic North America, the Eskimos
produced a slow-burning spark by striking
quartz against iron pyrites, a compound that
contains sulphur. The Chinese lit their fires by
striking porcelain with bamboo. In Europe, the
combination of steel, flint and tinder remained
the main method of fire-lighting until the mid
19th century.
Transmute(v) /trænzˈmjuːt/: change in form, nature,
Fire-lighting was revolutionised by the or substance
discovery of phosphorus, isolated in 1669 by a Synonym: Change, alter, transform, convert
German alchemist trying to transmute silver
into gold. Impressed by the element’s Combustibility(n) /kəmˌbʌstəˈbɪlɪti/: capable of
combustibility, several 17th century chemists catching fire and burning
used it to manufacture fire-lighting devices, but
the results were dangerously inflammable. Inflammable(adj) /ɪnˈflæməbl/: easily set on fire
With phosphorus costing the equivalent of Synonym: Flammable, combustible
several hundred pounds per ounce, the
first matches were expensive.
The quest for a practical match really began
after 1781 when a group of French chemists
came up with the Phosphoric Candle or
Ethereal Match, a sealed glass tube containing
a twist of paper tipped with phosphorus. When Combust(v) /kəmˈbʌst/: start to burn; to start to burn
the tube was broken, air rushed in, causing the something
phosphorus to self-combust. An even more
hazardous device, popular in America, was the Hazardous(adj) /ˈhæzədəs/: risky; dangerous
Instantaneous Light Box — a bottle filled with
sulphuric acid into which splints treated with
chemicals were dipped.
Resemble(v) /rɪˈzɛmbl/: have qualities or features in
The first matches resembling those used common with (someone or something)
today were made in 1827 by John Walker, an
English pharmacist who borrowed the formula Synonym: Look like, be similar to
from a military rocket-maker called Congreve.
Costing a shilling a box, Congreves were Patent(v) /ˈpeɪtənt /: get the patent (an official right
splints coated with sulphur and tipped with to be the only person to make, use or sell a product
potassium chlorate. To light them, the user or an invention)
drew them quickly through folded glass paper.
Walker never patented his invention, and three Synonym: Get copyright, license
years later it was copied by a Samuel Jones,
who marketed his product as Lucifers. About Substitute(v) /ˈsʌbstɪtjuːt/: take the place of
the same time, a French chemistry student somebody/something else; to use
called Charles Sauria produced the first “strike- somebody/something instead of
anywhere” match by substituting white somebody/something else
phosphorus for the potassium chlorate in the
Walker formula. However, since white Synonym: Exchange, replace, swap
phosphorus is a deadly poison, from 1845
match-makers exposed to its fumes
succumbed to necrosis, a disease that eats
72
away jaw-bones. It wasn’t until 1906 that the Succumb(v) /səˈkʌm/: to not be able to fight an
substance was eventually banned. attack, an illness, a temptation, etc
That was 62 years after a Swedish chemist
Synonym: Surrender
called Pasch had discovered non-toxic red or
amorphous phosphorus, a development
exploited commercially by Pasch’s compatriot Exploit(v) /ˈɛksplɔɪt /: make full use of and derive
J E Lundstrom in 1885. Lundstrom’s safety benefit from
matches were safe because the red
phosphorus was non-toxic; it was painted on to Synonym: Utilize, harness, use
the striking surface instead of the match tip,
which contained potassium chlorate with a
relatively high ignition temperature of 182
degrees centigrade. Ignition(n) /ɪgˈnɪʃən/: the action of setting something
on fire or starting to burn
America lagged behind Europe in match
technology and safety standards. It wasn’t until
Synonym: Burning
1900 that the Diamond Match Company bought
a French patent for safety matches — but the
formula did not work properly in the different
climatic conditions prevailing in America and it
was another 11 years before scientists finally Prevailing(adj) /prɪˈveɪlɪŋ/: existing or most common
adapted the French patent for the US. at a particular time
The Americans, however, can claim several Synonym: Current, predominant

“firsts” in match technology and marketing. In
1892 the Diamond Match Company pioneered
book matches. The innovation didn’t catch on
until after 1896, when a brewery had the novel Brewery(n) /ˈbruːəri/: beer factory
idea of advertising its product in match books.
Today book matches are the most widely used
Novel(adj) /ˈnɒvəl/: different from anything known
type in the US, with 90 percent handed out free
before
by hotels, restaurants and others.
Other American innovations include an anti- Synonym: New, original unusual
after-glow solution to prevent the match from
smouldering after it has been blown out; and Smoulder(v) /ˈsməʊldə/: burn slowly with smoke but
the waterproof match, which lights after eight no flame
hours in water.
Synonym: Smoke, glow, burn
73
Right and left-handedness in humans
Why do humans, virtually alone among all Distinct(adj) / dɪsˈtɪŋkt /: clearly different or of a
animal species, display a distinct left or right- different kind
handedness? Not even our closest relatives
among the apes possess such decided lateral Synonym: Different
asymmetry, as psychologists call it. Yet about Possess(v) /pəˈzes/: to have or own something
90 per cent of every human population that
has ever lived appears to have been right- Lateral(adj) /ˈlætərəl/: of, at, toward, or from the
handed. Professor Bryan Turner at Deakin side or sides
University has studied the research literature on Synonym: Sideway, sideward
left-handedness and found that handedness
goes with sidedness. So nine out of ten people Asymmetry(n) /æˈsɪmɪtri/: lack of equality or
are right-handed and eight are right-footed. equivalence between parts or aspects of something;
He noted that this distinctive asymmetry in the lack of symmetry
human population is itself systematic. “Humans Synonym: Imbalance, inequality
think in categories: black and white, up and
down, left and right. Its a system of signs that Distinctive(adj) /dɪsˈtɪŋktɪv/: characteristic of one
enables us to categorise phenomena that are person or thing, and so serving to distinguish it from
essentially ambiguous.’ others.
Research has shown that there is a genetic or Synonym: Particular, special, unique, exclusive,
inherited element to handedness. But while left- distinguishing
handedness tends to run in families, neither left
nor right handers will automatically produce off- Ambiguous(adj) /æmˈbɪgjʊəs/: not clearly stated
spring with the same handedness; in fact about or defined
6 per cent of children with two right-handed
parents will be left-handed. However, among Synonym: Arguable, vague
two left-handed parents, perhaps 40 per cent
of the children will also be left-handed. With
one right and one left-handed parent, 15 to
20 per cent of the offspring will be left-
74
handed. Even among identical twins who have Offspring(n) /ˈɒfsprɪŋ/: children
exactly the same genes, one in six pairs will
differ in their handedness.
What then makes people left-handed if it is not
simply genetic? Other factors must be at work
and researchers have turned to the brain for
clues. In the 1860s the French surgeon and
anthropologist, Dr Paul Broca, made the
remarkable finding that patients who had lost Paralysis(n) /pəˈrælɪsɪs/: the loss of the ability to
their powers of speech as a result of a stroke (a move (and sometimes to feel anything) in part or
blood clot in the brain) had paralysis of the right most of the body
half of their body. He noted that since the left
hemisphere of the brain controls the right half of Synonym: Immobility, incapability
the body, and vice versa, the brain damage
must have been in the brain’s left hemisphere.
Psychologists now believe that among right-
handed people, probably 95 per cent have
their language centre in the left hemisphere,
while 5 per cent have right sided language. Majority(n) /məˈʤɒrɪti/: the greater number
Left-handers, however, do not show the reverse
pattern but instead a majority also have their Synonym: Most
language in the left hemisphere. Some 30 per
cent have right hemisphere language.
Preference(n) /ˈprɛfərəns/: a greater liking for one
Dr Brinkman, a brain researcher at the alternative over another or others
Australian National University in Canberra, has
suggested that evolution of speech went with Synonym: Liking, fondness, partiality, inclination
right-handed preference. According to
Brinkman, as the brain evolved, one
side became specialised for fine control of
movement (necessary for producing speech)
and along with this evolution came right-hand
preference. According to Brinkman, most left- Dominance(n) /ˈdɒmɪnəns/: the fact of being more
handers have left hemisphere dominance but important, powerful or noticeable than
also some capacity in the right hemisphere. She somebody/something else
has observed that if a left-handed person is
brain-damaged in the left hemisphere, the Synonym: Superiority, control
recovery of speech is quite often better and this
is explained by the fact that left-handers have a
Bilateral(adj) /baɪˈlætərəl/: having or relating to two
more bilateral speech function.
sides; affecting both sides
In her studies of macaque monkeys, Brinkman
has noticed that primates (monkeys) seem to
learn a hand preference from their mother in the
first year of life but this could be one hand or the Anatomical(adj): /ˌænəˈtɒmɪkl/: connected with the
other. In humans, however, the specialisation in structure of human
function of the two hemispheres results in
anatomical differences: areas that are involved
with the production of speech are usually larger
on the left side than on the right. Since monkeys
have not acquired the art of speech, one would
not expect to see such a variation but Brinkman
75
claims to have discovered a trend in monkeys Initially(adv) /ɪˈnɪʃəli/: at first

towards the asymmetry that is evident in the
human brain. Lateralized(adj) / ˈlat(ə)rəlʌɪz /: be largely under the
control of one side of the brain
Two American researchers, Geschwind and
Galaburda, studied the brains of human
embryos and discovered that the left-right Rationality(n) / ˌræʃəˈnælɪti /: the quality of being
asymmetry exists before birth. But as the brain based on or in accordance with reason or logic
develops, a number of things can affect it. Every
brain is initially female in its organisation and it Synonym: Logic
only becomes a male brain when the male
foetus begins to secrete hormones. Geschwind Abstraction(n) / æbˈstrækʃ(ə)n /: the quality of
and Galaburda knew that different parts of the dealing with ideas rather than events
brain mature at different rates; the right
hemisphere develops first, then the left. Consolation(n) / ˌkɒnsəˈleɪʃən /: comfort received
Moreover, a girl’s brain develops somewhat by a person after a loss or disappointment
faster than that of a boy. So, if something
happens to the brain’s development during Synonym: Comfort
pregnancy, it is more likely to be affected in a
male and the hemisphere more likely to be Reinforce(v) / ˌriːɪnˈfɔːs /: strengthen or support
involved is the left. The brain may become less
lateralised and this in turn could result in left- Boost, fortify
handedness and the development of certain
superior skills that have their origins in the left Virtue(n) / ˈvɜːtjuː/: behavior showing high moral
hemisphere such as logic, rationality and standards.
abstraction. It should be no surprise then that
among mathematicians and architects, left-
Synonym: Goodness, morality, advantage
handers tend to be more common and there are
more left-handed males than females.
Sinister(adj) /ˈsɪnɪstə(r)/: seeming evil or
The results of this research may be some dangerous
consolation to left-handers who have for
centuries lived in a world designed to suit right- Compliment(n) / ˈkɒmplɪmənt /: a remark that
handed people. However, what is alarming, expresses praise or admiration of somebody
according to Mr. Charles Moore, a writer and
journalist, is the way the word “right” reinforces Synonym: Praise, admiration
its own virtue. Subliminally he says, language
tells people to think that anything on the right Coincidence(n) / kəʊˈɪnsɪdəns /: the fact of two
can be trusted while anything on the left is things happening at the same time by chance, in a
dangerous or even sinister. We speak of surprising way
lefthanded compliments and according to
Moore, “it is no coincidence that lefthanded Synonym: Accident, chance
children, forced to use their right hand, often
develop a stammer as they are robbed of their
Stammer(n) /ˈstæmə(r)/: a problem that somebody
freedom of speech”. However, as more research
has in speaking in which they repeat sounds or
is undertaken on the causes of left-handedness,
words or often pause before saying things correctly
attitudes towards left-handed people are
gradually changing for the better. Indeed when
the champion tennis player Ivan Lendl was
asked what the single thing was that he would
choose in order to improve his game, he said he
would like to become a lefthander.
76
77
Young children's sense of identity
A
A sense of self develops in young children by
Emergence(n) /ɪˈmɜːʤəns/: the fact of starting to
degrees. The process can usefully be thought of
exist or becoming known for the first time
in terms of the gradual emergence of two
somewhat separate features: the self as a
subject, and the self as an object. William James Synonym: Appearance, arrival, coming
introduced the distinction in 1892, and
contemporaries of his, such as Charles Cooley, Distinction(n) /dɪsˈtɪŋkʃən/: a difference or
added to the developing debate. Ever since then contrast
psychologists have continued building on the Synonym: Dissimilarity, variance
theory.
B Contemporary(n) /kənˈtɛmpərəri/: a person or
thing living or existing at the same time as another.
According to James, a child's first step on the
road to self-understanding can be seen as the Recognition(n) /ˌrɛkəgˈnɪʃən/: the action or
recognition that he or she exists. This is an process of recognizing or being recognized, in
aspect of the self that he labelled 'self-as- particular
subject', and he gave it various elements. These
included an awareness of one's own agency (i.e.
Synonym: Identification
one's power to act), and an awareness of
one's distinctiveness from other people. These
features gradually emerge as infants explore Distinctiveness(n) /dɪsˈtɪŋktɪvnəs/: the quality of
their world and interact with caregivers. Cooley being individual or easily distinguishable
(1902) suggested that a sense of the self-as-
subject was primarily concerned with being able Synonym: Uniqueness, individuality
to exercise power. He proposed that the earliest
examples of this are an infant's attempts Infant(n) /ˈɪnfənt/: a very young child or baby
to control physical objects, such as toys or his or
her own limbs. This is followed by attempts to Synonym: Baby
affect the behaviour of other people. For
example, infants learn that when they cry or
78
smile someone responds to them.

C
Another powerful source of information for infants
about the effects they can have on the world Mimic(v) /ˈmɪmɪk/: to copy the way somebody
around them is provided when others mimic speaks, moves, behaves, etc.,
them. Many parents spend a lot of time,
particularly in the early months, copying their Synonym: Imitate, copy
infant's vocalizations and expressions. In
addition, young children enjoy looking in
mirrors, where the movements they can see are
dependent upon their own movements.
This is not to say that infants recognize the
reflection as their own image (a later
development). However, Lewis and Brooks-Gunn
(1979) suggest that infants' developing
understanding that the movements they see in
the mirror are contingent on their own, leads to Contingent(adj) /kənˈtɪnʤənt/: occurring or
a growing awareness that they are distinct from existing only if (certain other circumstances) are
other people. This is because they, and only the case
they, can change the reflection in the mirror.
D Synonym: dependent on, subject to, determined by
This understanding that children gain of

themselves as active agents continues to
develop in their attempts to co-operate with Empirical(adj) /ɛmˈpɪrɪkəl/: based on, concerned
others in play. Dunn (1988) points out that it is in with, or verifiable by observation or experience
such day-to-day relationships and interactions rather than theory or pure logic.
that the child's understanding of his- or herself
emerges. Empirical investigations of the self-as- Synonym: Experimental, pratical
subject in young children are, however, rather
scarce because of difficulties of communication: Scarce(adj) /skers/: insufficient for the demand
even if young infants can reflect on their
experience, they certainly cannot express this Synonym: Insufficient, deficient inadequate, lacking
aspect of the self directly.
E
Once children have acquired a certain level of
self-awareness, they begin to place themselves
in a whole series of categories, which together
play such an important part in defining them
uniquely as 'themselves'. This second step in
the development of a full sense of self is what
James called the 'self-as-object'. This has been
seen by many to be the aspect of the self which
is most influenced by social elements, since it is
made up of social roles (such as student, brother,
colleague) and characteristics which derive their
meaning from comparison or interaction Derive(v) /dɪˈraɪv/: obtain something from
with other people (such as trustworthiness,
79
shyness, sporting ability). Synonym: Obtain, take, get, acquire, attain

F
Cooley and other researchers suggested a close
connection between a person's own
understanding of their identity and other people's
understanding of it. Cooley believed that people
build up their sense of identity from the reactions
of others to them, and from the view they believe
others have of them. He called the self-as-object
the 'looking-glass self', since people come to see
themselves as they are reflected in others. Mead
(1934) went even further, and saw the self and
Inextricably(adv) /ɪnˈɛkstrɪkəbli/: it is impossible to
the social world as inextricably bound together:
separate them
'The self is essentially a social structure, and it
arises in social experience ... it is impossible to
Synonym: Inseparably, inevitably
conceive of a self arising outside of social
experience.'
G
Lewis and Brooks-Gunn argued that an important Milestone(n) /ˈmaɪlstəʊn/: an action or event
developmental milestone is reached when marking a significant change or stage in
children become able to recognize themselves development
visually without the support of seeing contingent
movement. This recognition occurs around Synonym: Highlight, achievement
their second birthday. In one experiment, Lewis
and Brooks-Gunn (1979) dabbed some red
powder on the noses of children who were
playing in front of a mirror, and then observed
how often they touched their noses. The
psychologists reasoned that if the children knew
what they usually looked like, they would be
surprised by the unusual red mark and would
start touching it. On the other hand, they found
that children of 15 to 18 months are generally not
able to recognize themselves unless other cues
such as movement are present.
H
Longitudinal: (of research or data) involving
Finally, perhaps the most graphic expressions of information about an individual or group gathered
self-awareness in general can be seen in the over a long period of time
displays of rage which are most common from 18
months to 3 years of age. In a longitudinal study Intensity(n) /ɪnˈtɛnsɪti/: the state or quality of
of groups of three or four children, being intense (very great, very strong)
Bronson (1975) found that the intensity of the
frustration and anger in their Synonym: Strength, power
disagreements increased sharply between the
ages of 1 and 2 years. Often, the
Frustration(n) /frʌsˈtreɪʃən/: the feeling of being
children's disagreements involved a struggle over
upset or annoyed
a toy that none of them had played with before or
after the tug-of-war: the children seemed to be
80
disputing ownership rather than wanting to play Synonym: Annoyance, anger

with it. Although it may be less marked in other
societies, the link between the sense of 'self' and Notable(adj) /ˈnəʊtəbl/: worthy of attention or
of 'ownership' is a notable feature of childhood in notice; remarkable
Western societies.
Synonym: Important, significant, noteworthy
81
Flawed Beauty: the problem with

toughened glass
On 2nd August 1999, a particularly hot day in

the town of Cirencester in the UK, a large pane
of toughened glass in the roof of a shopping Shatter(v) /ˈʃætə/: break or cause to break suddenly
centre at Bishops Walk shattered without and violently into pieces
warning and fell from its frame.
When fragments were analysed by experts at Synonym: Smash, break, fragment, crack
the giant glass manufacturer Pilkington. which
had made the pane, they found that minute Fragment(n) /ˈfrægmənt/: a small part broken
crystals of nickel sulphide trapped inside the
glass had almost certainly caused the failure. Synonym: Piece
'The glass industry is aware of the issue,' says Minute(adj) /ˈmɪnɪt /: extremely small
Brian Waldron, chairman of the standards
committee at tine Glass and Glazing Federation,
Synonym: Tiny
a British trade association, and standards
development officer at Pilkington. But he insists
that cases are few and far between. ‘It's a very
rare phenomenon.' he says.
Phenomenon(n) /fɪˈnɒmɪnən/: a fact or an event in
Others disagree. 'On average I see about one or nature or society, especially one that is not fully
two buildings a month suffering from nickel understood
sulphide related failures,' says Barrie Josie, a
consultant engineer involved in the Bishops Synonym: Occurrence, happening, event, situation
Walk investigation. Other experts tell of similar
experiences. Tony Wilmott of London based
consulting engineers Sandberg, and Simon
Armstrong at CladTech Associates in
82
Hampshire both say they know of hundreds of

cases. 'What you hear is only the tip of the
iceberg.' says Trevor Ford, a glass expert at
Resolve Engineering in Brisbane. Queensland.
He believes the reason is simple: 'No-one wants
bad press.'
Toughened glass is found everywhere, from
cars and bus shelters to the windows, walls and
roofs of thousands of buildings around the
world. It's easy to see why. This glass has five
times the strength of standard glass, and when it
does break it shatters into tiny cubes rather than
large, razor-sharp shards. Architects love it
because large panels can be bolted together to
make transparent walls, and turning it into
ceilings and floors is almost as easy.
It is made by heating a sheet of ordinary glass to Transparent(adj) /transˈperənt/: allowing you to see
about 620°C to soften it slightly, allowing its through it
structure to expand, and then cooling it rapidly
with jets of cold air. This causes the outer layer Synonym: Clear, see-through
of the pane to contract and solidify before the
interior. When the interior finally solidifies and
shrinks, it exerts a pull on the outer layer that
leaves. It’s in permanent compression and Solidify(v) /səˈlɪdɪfaɪ/: become solid or hard
produces a tensile force inside the glass. As
cracks propagate best in materials under Synonym: Freeze
tension, the compressive force on the surface
must be overcome before the pane will break, Permanent(adj) /ˈpɜːmənənt/: lasting or intended to
making it more resistant to cracking. last or remain unchanged indefinitely
The problem starts when glass contains nickel
sulphide impurities. Trace amounts of nickel Synonym: Lasting, eternal, constant
and sulphur are usually present in the raw
materials used to make glass, and nickel can Tensile(adj) /ˈtensaɪl/: used to describe the extent to
also be introduced by fragments of nickel alloys which something can stretch without breaking
falling into the molten glass. As the glass is
heated, these atoms react to form tiny crystals Propagate(v) /ˈprɒpəgeɪt/: produce
of nickel sulphide. Just a tenth of a gram of
nickel in the furnace can create up to 50,000 Resistant(adj) /rɪˈzɪstənt/: not affected by something
crystals.
Impurity(n) /ɪmˈpjʊərɪti/: a substance that is present
These crystals can exist in two forms: a dense
form called the alpha phase, which is stable at in small amounts in another substance, making it dirty
or of poor quality
high temperatures, and a less dense form called
Synonym: Contaminant, pollutant
the beta phase, which is stable at room
temperatures. The high temperatures used in
the toughening process convert all the crystals Dense(adj) /dens/: đặc
to the dense, compact alpha form. But the
subsequent cooling is so rapid that the crystals Stable(adj) /ˈsteɪbl/: staying the same
don't have time to change back to the beta
phase. This leaves unstable alpha crystals in the
83
glass, primed like a coiled spring, ready to revert Synonym: Fixed, steady
to the beta phase without warning.
When this happens, the crystals expand by up
to 4%. And if they are within the central, tensile
region of the pane, the stresses this unleashes Subsequent(adj) /ˈsʌbsɪkwənt/: coming after
can shatter the whole sheet. The time that something in time; following.
elapses before failure occurs is unpredictable.
It could happen just months after manufacture, Synonym: Next, following, coming
or decades later, although if the glass is heated
- by sunlight, for example - the process is Unleash(v) /ʌnˈliːʃ/: suddenly let a strong force,
speeded up. Ironically, says Graham Dodd, of emotion, etc. be felt or have an effect
consulting engineers Arup in London, the oldest
pane of toughened glass known to have failed Synonym: Release
due to nickel sulphide inclusions was in
Pilkington's glass research building in Lathom, Elapse(v) /ɪˈlæps/: pass or go by
Lancashire. The pane was 27 years old.
Unpredictable(adj) /ˌʌnprɪˈdɪktəbl/: không thể dự
Data showing the scale of the nickel sulphide
đón trước
problem Is almost Impossible to find. The picture
is made more complicated by the fact that these
crystals occur in batches. So even if, on
average, there is only one inclusion in 7 tonnes
of glass, if you experience one nickel sulphide
failure in your building, that probably means
you've got a problem in more than one pane.
Josie says that in the last decade he has worked
on over 15 buildings with the number of failures
into double figures.
One of the worst examples of this is Waterfront
Place, which was completed in 1990. Over the
following decade the 40- storey Brisbane block
suffered a rash of failures. Eighty panes of its
toughened glass shattered due to inclusions Contamination(n) /kənˌtæmɪˈneɪʃən/: the action or
before experts were finally called in. John Barry, state of making or being made impure by polluting or
an expert in nickel sulphide contamination at poisoning
the University of Queensland, analysed every
glass pane in the building. Using a studio Synonym: Pollution, poisoning
camera, a photographer went up in a cradle to
take photos of every pane. These were scanned
under a modified microfiche reader for signs of
nickel sulphide crystals. ‘We discovered at least
another 120 panes with potentially dangerous
inclusions which were then replaced,’ says
Barry. ‘It was a very expensive and time
consuming process that took around six months
to complete.'
Though the project cost A$1.6 million (nearly
£700,000), the alternative - re-cladding the
entire building - would have cost ten times as
84
much.
85
Play is a serious business
Does play help develop bigger, better brains?

Bryant Furlow investigates
A
Playing is a serious business. Children
Engrossed(adj) /ɪnˈgrəʊst/: so interested or involved
engrossed in a make-believe world, fox cubs
in something that you give it all your attention
play-fighting or kittens teasing a ball of string
aren’t just having fun. Play may look like a
carefree and exuberant way to pass the time Synonym: Engaged, captivated, enthralled
before the hard work of adulthood comes along,
but there’s much more to it than that. For a start, Exuberant(adj) /ɪgˈzjuːbərənt/: filled with or
play can even cost animals their lives. Eighty characterized by a lively energy and excitement
per cent of deaths among juvenile fur seals
occur because playing pups fail to spot Synonym: Buoyant, cheerful, excited, joyful
predators approaching. It is also extremely
expensive in terms of energy. Playful young Juvenile(n)(adj) /ˈʤuːvɪnaɪl/: a young person;
animals use around two or three per cent of related to young people
their energy cavorting, and in children that
figure can be closer to fifteen per cent. ‘Even Cavort(v) /kəˈvɔːt/: jump or dance around excitedly
two or three per cent is huge,’ says John Byers of
Idaho University. ‘You just don’t find animals Synonym: Dance, skip
wasting energy like that,’ he adds. There must be
a reason.
B
But if play is not simply a developmental hiccup,
as biologists once thought, why did it evolve? Hiccup(n) /ˈhɪkʌp/: a small problem or temporary
The latest idea suggests that play has evolved to delay
build big brains. In other words, playing makes
you intelligent. Playfulness, it seems, is common
only among mammals, although a few of the
larger-brained birds also indulge. Animals at
86
play often use unique signs - tail- wagging in Indulge(n) /ɪnˈdʌldʒ/: to allow yourself to have or do
dogs, for example - to indicate that activity something that you like, especially something that is
superficially resembling adult behaviour is not considered bad for you
really in earnest. A popular explanation of play
has been that it helps juveniles develop the skills Superficially(adv) /ˌsjuːpəˈfɪʃəli/: as to the outward
they will need to hunt, mate and socialise as appearance only; on the surface.
adults. Another has been that it allows young
animals to get in shape for adult life by improving Synonym: Apparently, seemingly
their respiratory endurance. Both these ideas
have been questioned in recent years. Endurance(n)/ ɪnˈdjʊərəns/: the ability to continue
C doing something painful or difficult for a long period
of time without complaining
Take the exercise theory. If play evolved to build
muscle or as a kind of endurance training, then Synonym: Toleration, patience, tolerance
you would expect to see permanent benefits. But
Byers points out that the benefits of increased Endurance(n)/ ɪnˈdjʊərəns/: the ability to continue
exercise disappear rapidly after training stops, so doing something painful or difficult for a long period
any improvement in endurance resulting from of time without complaining
juvenile play would be lost by adulthood. ‘If the
function of play was to get into shape,’ says
Synonym: Toleration, patience, tolerance
Byers, ‘the optimum time for playing would
depend on when it was most advantageous for
Optimum(adj)/ˈɒptɪməm/: the best possible;
the young of a particular species to do so. But it
producing the best possible results
doesn’t work like that.’ Across species, play
tends to peak about halfway through the
suckling stage and then decline. Synonym: Ideal, perfect, optimal
D Suckling(n) /ˈsʌklɪŋ/: a baby or young animal that is

Then there’s the skills-training hypothesis. At first still drinking milk from its mother
glance, playing animals do appear to be
practising the complex manoeuvers they will Manoeuver(n) / məˈnuː.vər/: a movement or series
need in adulthood. But a closer inspection of moves requiring skill and care
reveals this interpretation as too simplistic. In
one study, behavioural ecologist Tim Caro, from Synonym: Move, movement, action, activity
the University of California, looked at the
predatory play of kittens and their predatory Interpretation(n) / ɪnˌtɜːprɪˈteɪʃən /: an explanation
behaviour when they reached adulthood. He or way of explaining
found that the way the cats played had no
significant effect on their hunting prowess in Synonym: Understanding, meaning, explanation,
later life. connotation
E
Simplistic(adj) / sɪmˈplɪstɪk /: reating complex
Earlier this year, Sergio Pellis of Lethbridge issues and problems as if they were much simpler
University, Canada, reported that there is a than they really are
strong positive link between brain size and
playfulness among mammals in general. Synonym: Oversimple, superficial
Comparing measurements for fifteen orders of
mammal, he and his team found larger brains (for Prowess(n) /ˈpraʊəs/: great skill at something
a given body size) are linked to greater
playfulness. The converse was also found to be
true. Robert Barton of Durham University
87
believes that, because large brains are more

sensitive to developmental stimuli than smaller
brains, they require more play to help mould
them for adulthood. ‘I concluded it’s to do with
learning, and with the importance of
environmental data to the brain during
development,’ he says.
F
According to Byers, the timing of the playful
stage in young animals provides an important
clue to what’s going on. If you plot the amount of
time a juvenile devotes to play each day over the
course of its development, you discover a pattern
typically associated with a ‘sensitive period’ - a
brief development window during which the brain
can actually be modified in ways that are not
possible earlier or later in life. Think of the
relative ease with which young children - but not
infants or adults - absorb language. Other
researchers have found that play in cats, rats and
mice is at its most intense just as this ‘window of
opportunity’ reaches its peak.
G
‘People have not paid enough attention to the Activate(v) / ˈæktɪveɪt /: make (something) active or
amount of the brain activated by play,’ says operative
Marc Bekoff from Colorado University. Bekoff
studied coyote pups at play and found that the Synonym: Operate, initiate
kind of behaviour involved was markedly more
variable and unpredictable than that of adults. Kaleidoscope(n) /kəˈlaɪdəskəʊp/: a situation,
Such behaviour activates many different parts of pattern, etc. containing a lot of different parts that are
the brain, he reasons. Bekoff likens it to a always changing
behavioural kaleidoscope, with animals at play
jumping rapidly between activities. ‘They use Cognitive(adj) / ˈkɒgnɪtɪv /: connected with mental
behaviour from a lot of different contexts - processes of understanding
predation, aggression, reproduction,’ he says. Synonym: intellectual, mental
‘Their developing brain is getting all sorts of
stimulation.’ Assessment(n) / əˈsɛsmənt /: the evaluation or
H estimation of the nature, quality, or ability of
someone or something.
Not only is more of the brain involved in play than
was suspected, but it also seems to activate Synonym: Evaluation, judgment, rating, analysis
higher cognitive processes. ‘There’s enormous
cognitive involvement in play,’ says Bekoff. He Reciprocity(n) / ˌrɛsɪˈprɒsɪti /: a situation in which
points out that play often involves complex two people, countries, etc. provide the same help or
assessments of playmates, ideas of reciprocity advantages to each other
and the use of specialised signals and rules. He
believes that play creates a brain that has greater
Synonym: Cooperation, exchange
behavioural flexibility and improved potential for
learning later in life. The idea is backed up by the
88
work of Stephen Siviy of Gettysburg College. Flexibility(n) / ˌflɛksɪˈbɪlɪti /: the ability to change to
Siviy studied how bouts of play affected the suit new conditions or situations
brain’s levels of a particular chemical associated
with the stimulation and growth of nerve cells. Synonym: Adaptability
He was surprised by the extent of the activation.
‘Play just lights everything up,’ he says. By Stimulation(n) / ˌstɪmjʊˈleɪʃən /: encouragement of
allowing link-ups between brain areas that might something to make it develop or become more active
not normally communicate with each other, play
may enhance creativity. Incentive, stimulant
I
What might further experimentation suggest look-in: a chance to take part or succeed in
about the way children are raised in many something
societies today? We already know that rat pups
denied the chance to play grow smaller brain
components and fail to develop the ability to
apply social rules when they interact with their
peers. With schooling beginning earlier and
becoming increasingly exam-orientated, play is
likely to get even less of a look-in. Who knows
what the result of that will be?
89
In search of the holy grail
It has been called the Holy Grail of modern Ambitious(adj) /æmˈbɪʃəs/: having or showing a strong
biology. Costing more than £2 billion, it is the desire and determination to succeed
most ambitious scientific project since the
Apollo programme that landed a man on the Synonym: Aspiring, determined, committed
moon. And it will take longer to accomplish than
the lunar missions, for it will not be complete Lunar(adj) /ˈluːnə(r)/: moon
until early next century. Even before it is
finished, according to those involved, this project Ailment(n) /ˈeɪlmənt/: an illness, typically a minor one.
should open up new understanding of, and new
treatments for, many of the ailments that afflict Synonym: Illness, disease, disorder, sickness
humanity. As a result of the Human Genome
Project, there will be new hope of liberation
Afflict(v) /əˈflɪkt/: cause pain or suffering to
from the shadows of cancer, heart disease,
autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid
arthritis, and some psychiatric illnesses. Synonym: Trouble, distress, burden, harass, oppress
The objective of the Human Genome Project is Liberation(n) /ˌlɪbəˈreɪʃən/: the act or process of freeing
simple to state, but audacious in scope: to map somebody from something that restricts their control
and analyse every single gene within the double over or enjoyment of their own life
helix of humanity's DNA1. The project will reveal
a new human anatomy — not the bones, Synonym: Freedom
muscles and sinews, but the complete genetic
blueprint for a human being. Those working on Objective(n) /əbˈʤɛktɪv/: a thing aimed at or sought; a
the Human Genome Project claim that the new goal
genetical anatomy will transform medicine and
reduce human suffering in the twenty-first
Synonym: Goal, aim, target, purpose, intention
century. But others see the future through a
darker glass, and fear that the project may open
the door to a world peopled by Frankenstein's Audacious(adj) /ɔːˈdeɪʃəs/: willing to take risks or to do
monsters and disfigured by a new eugenics2. something shocking
The genetic inheritance a baby receives from its Synonym: Daring, bold, fearless, intrepid, courageous
parents at the moment of conception fixes much
of its later development, determining Anatomy(n) /əˈnætəmi/: the scientific study of the
90
characteristics as varied as whether it will have structure of human or animal bodies; or the body
blue eyes or suffer from a life- threatening structure
illness such as cystic fibrosis. The human
genome is the compendium of all these Compendium(n) /kəmˈpɛndɪəm/: a collection of concise
inherited genetic instructions. Written out along but detailed information about a particular subject
the double helix of DNA are the chemical letters
of the genetic text, it is an extremely long text, Synonym: Collection, compilation
for the human genome contains more than 3
billion letters:
On the printed page it would fill about 7,000
volumes. Yet, within little more than a decade,
the position of every letter and its relation to its
neighbours will have been tracked down,
analysed and recorded.
Crippling(adj) /ˈkrɪplɪŋ/: damaging somebody's body so
Considering how many letters there are in the
that they are no longer able to walk or move normally
human genome, nature is an excellent proof-
reader. But sometimes there are mistakes. An
Synonym: Injuring, immobilizing
error in a single 'word' — a gene - can give rise
to the crippling condition of cystic fibrosis, the
commonest genetic disorder among Fatal(adj) /ˈfeɪtl/: causing death
Caucasians. Errors in the genetic recipe for
haemoglobin, the protein that gives blood its Synonym: Deadly, mortal, lethal
characteristic red colour and which carries
oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body, Curative(adj) /ˈkjʊərətɪv/: able to cure something,
give rise to the most common single gene typically disease
disorder in the world: thalassaemia. More than
4,000 such single-gene defects are known to Synonym: Healing, corrective, medicinal
afflict humanity.
Defect(n) /dɪˈfɛkt/: a shortcoming, imperfection, or lack
The majority of them are fatal; the majority of
the victims are children.
Synonym: Fault, flaw, deficiency, weakness,
None of the single-gene disorders is a disease inadequacy, shortcoming, limitation
in the conventional sense, for which it would be
possible to administer a curative drug: the Underlie(v) /ˌʌndəˈlaɪ/: to be the basis or cause of
defect is pre-programmed into every cell of the something
sufferer's body. But there is hope of progress. In
1986, American researchers identified the Defective(adj) /dɪˈfɛktɪv/: imperfect or faulty
genetic defect underlying one type of muscular
dystrophy. In 1989, a team of American and Synonym: Faulty, flawed, imperfect
Canadian biologists announced that they had
found the site of the gene which, when
defective, gives rise to cystic fibrosis. Indeed,
not only had they located the gene, they had
analysed the sequence of letters within it and
had identified the mistake responsible for the
condition. At the least, these scientific advances
may offer a way of screening parents who might
be at risk of transmitting a single-gene defect to
any children that they conceive. Foetuses can
be tested while in the womb, and if found free of Relive(v) /riːˈlɪv/: cause (pain, distress, or difficulty) to
91
the genetic defect, the parents will be relieved become less severe or serious
of worry and stress, knowing that they will be Synonym: Alleviate, calm, comfort, soothe, ease
delivered of a baby free from the disorder.
Decipher(v) /dɪˈsaɪfə/: succeed in understanding,
In the mid-1980s, the idea gained currency
interpreting, or identifying (something)
within the scientific world that the techniques
which were successfully deciphering disorder-
related genes could be applied to a larger Synonym: Read, follow, understand, perceive,
project: if science can learn the genetic spelling comprehend, grasp
of cystic fibrosis, why not attempt to find out how
to spell 'human'? Momentum quickly built up Momentum(n) /məʊˈmɛntəm/: the ability to keep
behind the Human Genome Project and its increasing or developing
objective of 'sequencing' the entire genome -
writing out all the letters in their correct order. Synonym: Energy, strength, power
But the consequences of the Human Genome Extravagance(n) /ɪksˈtrævɪgəns/: something that is
Project go far beyond a narrow focus on impressive or noticeable because it is unusual or
disease. Some of its supporters have made extreme
claims of great extravagance - that the Project
will bring us to understand, at the most
Constitution(n) /ˌkɒnstɪˈtjuːʃən/: the composition of
fundamental level, what it is to be human. Yet
something
many people are concerned that such an
emphasis on humanity's genetic constitution
may distort our sense of values, and lead us to Synonym: Composition, makeup, structure, construction,
formation
forget that human life is more than just the
expression of a genetic program written in the
chemistry of DNA. Distort(v) /dɪsˈtɔːt/: give a misleading or false account or
impression of.
If properly applied, the new knowledge
generated by the Human Genome Project may Synonym: Twist, misrepresent, change
free humanity from the terrible scourge of
diverse diseases. But if the new knowledge is Scourge(n) /skɜːʤ/: a person or thing that causes great
not used wisely, it also holds the threat of trouble or suffering
creating new forms of discrimination and new
methods of oppression. Many characteristics, Synonym: Affliction, menace, evil, plague, burden
such as height and intelligence, result not from
the action of genes alone, but from subtle
Discrimination(n) /dɪsˌkrɪmɪˈneɪʃən/: the practice of
interactions between genes and the
treating somebody or a particular group in society less
environment. What would be the implications if
fairly than others
humanity were to understand, with precision,
the genetic constitution which, given the same
environment, will predispose one person Synonym: Prejudice, bias, unfairness, inequality, bigotry,
towards a higher intelligence than another favoritism
individual whose genes were differently
shuffled? Oppression(n) /əˈprɛʃən/: cruel and unfair treatment of
people
Once before in this century, the relentless
curiosity of scientific researchers brought to Synonym: Abuse, suppression
light forces of nature in the power of the atom,
the mastery of which has shaped the destiny of
nations and overshadowed all our lives. The Subtle(adj) /ˈsʌtl/: not very noticeable or obvious
Human Genome Project holds the promise that,
ultimately, we may be able to alter our genetic
92
inheritance if we so choose. But there is the

central moral problem: how can we ensure that Synonym: Slight, quite
when we choose, we choose correctly? That
such a potential is a promise and not a threat? Precision(n) /prɪˈsɪʒən/: the quality, condition, or fact of
We need only look at the past to understand the being exact and accurate.
danger.
---------- Synonym: Exactness, accuracy, correctness
Glossary Predispose(v) /ˌpriːdɪsˈpəʊz/: make someone liable or

1
inclined to a specified attitude, action, or condition.
DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid, molecules
responsible for the transference of Synonym: Incline
genetic characteristics.
2
eugenics The science of improving the Curiosity (n) /ˌkjʊərɪˈɒsɪti/: a strong desire to know or
qualities of the human race, especially the learn something
careful selection of parents.
Synonym: Concern, interest
Mastery(n) /ˈmɑːstəri/: control or superiority over

someone or something
Synonym: Control, dominance, superiority
Overshadow(v) /ˌəʊvəˈʃædəʊ/: appear much more

prominent or important than.
93
The harm that picture books can cause
A Decline(v) /dɪˈklaɪn/: become smaller, fewer, or less;

decrease.
There is a great concern in Europe and North
America about declining standards of literacy in
Synonym: Decrease, reduce, lessen, diminish,
schools. In Britain, the fact that 30 per cent of 16
dwindle, shrink
year olds have a reading age of 14 or less has
helped to prompt massive educational changes.
The development of literacy has far-reaching Literacy(n) /ˈlɪtərəsi/: the ability to read and write
effects on general intellectual development and
thus anything which impedes the development of Synonym: Education, learning
literacy is a serious matter for us all. So the hunt
is on for the cause of the decline in literacy. The Prompt(v) /prɒmpt/: cause or bring about (an action
search so far has focused on socioeconomic or feeling).
factors, or the effectiveness of 'traditional' versus
'modern' teaching techniques. Synonym: Cause, produce, induce, trigger, provoke
B
Massive(adj) /ˈmæsɪv/: extremely large or serious
The fruitless search for the cause of the increase
in illiteracy is a tragic example of the saying Synonym: Big, huge, great
'They can't see the wood for the trees'. When
teachers use picture books, they are simply Intellectual(adj) /ˌɪntɪˈlɛktjʊəl/: connected with or
continuing a long-established tradition that is using a person’s ability to think in a logical way and
accepted without question. And for the past two understand things
decades, illustrations in reading primers have
become increasingly detailed and obtrusive, Synonym: Logical, mental, cognitive
while language has become impoverished —
sometimes to the point of extinction. Impede(v) /ɪmˈpiːd/: to delay or stop the progress of
C something
Amazingly, there is virtually no empirical Synonym: Hinder, obstruct, hamper, delay, interrupt
evidence to support the use of illustrations in
teaching reading. On the contrary, a great deal of Tragic(adj) /ˈtræʤɪk/: causing or characterized by
empirical evidence shows that pictures interfere
94
in a damaging way with all aspects of learning to extreme distress or sorrow

read. Despite this, from North America to the
Antipodes, the first books that many school Synonym: Catastrophic, terrible, awful, devastating
children receive are totally without text.
D Illustration(n) /ˌɪləsˈtreɪʃən/: a picture illustrating a
book, newspaper, etc
A teacher's main concern is to help young
beginner readers to develop not only the ability to Synonym: Picture, drawing, image, sketch, figure,
recognise words, but the skills necessary to artwork
understand what these words mean. Even if a
child is able to read aloud fluently, he or she may Obstructive(adj) /əbˈstrʌktɪv/: noticeable in an
not be able to understand much of it: this is unpleasant way
called 'barking at text'. The teacher's task of
improving comprehension is made harder by Synonym: Conspicuous, prominent, noticeable,
influences outside the classroom. But the obvious
adverse effects of such things as television,
video games, or limited language experiences at
Impoverished(adj) /ɪmˈpɒvərɪʃt/: very poor
home, can be offset by experiencing 'rich'
language at school.
Synonym: Poor
E
Extinction(n) /ɪksˈtɪŋkʃən/: a situation in which a
Instead, it is not unusual for a book of 30 or more
plant, an animal, a way of life, etc. stops existing
pages to have only one sentence full of
repetitive phrases. The artwork is often
marvellous, but the pictures make the language Synonym: Disappearance, vanishing
redundant, and the children have no need to
imagine anything when they read such books. Empirical(adj) /ɛmˈpɪrɪkəl/: based on, concerned
Looking at a picture actively prevents children with, or verifiable by observation or experience rather
younger than nine from creating a mental image, than theory or pure logic.
and can make it difficult for older children. In
order to learn how to comprehend, they need to Synonym: Experimental, pratical
practise making their own meaning in response
to text. They need to have their innate powers of Interfere(v) /ˌɪntəˈfɪə/: prevent (a process or activity)
imagination trained. from continuing or being carried out properly
F Synonym: Impede, obstruct, hinder, restrict,
As they grow older, many children turn aside constraint, hamper, handicap
from books without pictures, and it is a situation
made more serious as our culture becomes more Comprehension(n) /ˌkɒmprɪˈhɛnʃən/: the action or
visual. It is hard to wean children off picture capability of understanding something.
books when pictures have played a major part
throughout their formative reading experiences, Synonym: Understanding, grasp, interpretation
and when there is competition for their attention
from so many other sources of entertainment. Adverse(adj) /ˈædvɜːs/: preventing success or
The least intelligent are most vulnerable, but development
tests show that even intelligent children are being
affected. The response of educators has been to Synonym: Unfavourable, disadvantageous, harmful
extend the use of pictures in books and to
simplify the language, even at senior levels. The Repetitive(adj) /rɪˈpɛtɪtɪv/: repeated many times
Universities of Oxford and Cambridge recently
held joint conferences to discuss the noticeably
95
rapid decline in literacy among their Marvelous(adj) /ˈmɑːvələs/: causing great wonder;
undergraduates. extraordinary
G
Synonym: Amazing, astonishing, astounding,
Pictures are also used to help motivate children spectacular, remarkable
to read because they are beautiful and eye-
catching. But motivation to read should be Redundant(adj) /rɪˈdʌndənt/: not or no longer
provided by listening to stories well read, where needed or useful
children imagine in response to the story. Then,
as they start to read, they have this experience to Synonym: Unnecessary, unneeded, inessential
help them understand the language. If we
present pictures to save children the trouble of Vulnerable(adj) /ˈvʌlnərəbl/: susceptible to physical
developing these creative skills, then I think we or emotional attack or harm
are making a great mistake.
H Synonym: Weak, susceptible, powerless
Academic journals ranging from educational Rapid(adj) /ˈræpɪd/: happening in a short time or at a
research, psychology, language learning, fast pace
psycholinguistics, and so on cite experiments
which demonstrate how detrimental pictures are Synonym: Quick, fast, swift, speedy
for beginner readers. Here is a brief selection:
I Detrimental(adj) /ˌdɛtrɪˈmɛntl/: tending to cause
harm
The research results of the Canadian
educationalist Dale Willows were clear and Synonym: Harmful, damaging, destructive, ruinous,
consistent: pictures affected speed and accuracy bad, adverse, unfavourable
and the closer the pictures were to the words, the
slower and more inaccurate the child's reading
became. She claims that when children come to
a word they already know, then the pictures are
unnecessary and distracting. If they do not Distracting(adj) /dɪsˈtræktɪŋ/: preventing
know a word and look to the picture for a clue to concentration or diverting attention
its meaning, they may well be misled by aspects
of the pictures which are not closely related to Synonym: Disturbing
the meaning of the word they are trying to
understand.
J
Jay Samuels, an American psychologist, found
that poor readers given no pictures learnt
significantly more words than those learning to
read with books with pictures. He examined the
work of other researchers who had reported
problems with the use of pictures and who found
that a word without a picture was superior to a
word plus a picture. When children were given Superior(adj) /sju(ː)ˈpɪərɪə /: higher in rank, status,
words and pictures, those who seemed to ignore or quality.
the pictures and pointed at the words learnt more
words than the children who pointed at the Synonym: Better, greater, excellent
pictures, but they still learnt fewer words than the
96
children who had no illustrated stimuli at all.
97
Psychology and personality ASSESSMENT
A
Our daily lives are largely made up of contacts
with other people, during which we are
constantly making judgments of their Accommodate(v) /əˈkɒmədeɪt/: consider something
personalities and accommodating our and be influenced by it when you are deciding what to
behaviour to them in accordance with these do or explaining something
judgments. A casual meeting of neighbours on
the street, an employer giving instructions to an Interpretation(n) /ɪnˌtɜːprɪˈteɪʃən/: an explanation or
employee, a mother telling her children how to way of explaining
behave, a journey in a train where strangers
eye one another without exchanging a word – Synonym: Meaning, understanding, connotaion,
all these involve mutual interpretations of explanation
personal qualities.
B Outwit(v) / aʊtˈwɪt/: deceive or defeat by greater
ingenuity
Success in many vocations largely depends on
skill in sizing up people. It is important not only Synonym: Outplay, trick
to such professionals as the clinical
psychologist, the psychiatrist or the social Rival(n) /ˈraɪvəl/: a person or thing competing with
worker, but also to the doctor or lawyer in another for the same objective or for superiority in the
dealing with their clients, the businessman same field of activity.
trying to outwit his rivals, the salesman with
potential customers, the teacher with his pupils,
Synonym: Opponent, challenger, competitor
not to speak of the pupils judging their teacher.
Social life, indeed, would be impossible if we
Motive(n) /ˈməʊtɪv/: a reason for doing something
did not, to some extent, understand, and react
to the motives and qualities of those we meet;
98
and clearly we are sufficiently accurate for most Synonym: Reason, motivation, cause, purpose,
practical purposes, although we also recognize intention
that misinterpretations easily arise –
particularly on the pare of others who judge us! Misinterpretation(n) /ˌmɪsɪnˌtɜːprɪˈteɪʃən/: the action
of interpreting something wrongly
C
Errors can often be corrected as we go along. Synonym: Misunderstanding
But whenever we are pinned down to a definite
decision about a person, which cannot easily Apparent(adj) /əˈperənt/: clearly visible or understood
be revised through his ‘feed-back’, the
inadequacies of our judgments become Synonym: Evident, obvious, clear, visible
apparent. The hostess who wrongly thinks Hostess(n) /ˈhəʊstəs/: bà chủ
that the Smiths and the Joneses will get on well
together can do little to retrieve the success of Retrieve(v) /rɪˈtriːv/: get or bring (something) back;
her party. A school or a business may be
regain possession of
saddled for years with an undesirable
member of staff, because the selection
Synonym: Recover, repossess, redeem
committee which interviewed him for a quarter
of an hour misjudged his personality.
Saddle(v) /ˈsædl/: burden (someone) with an onerous
D responsibility or task.
Just because the process is so familiar and
taken for granted, it has aroused little scientific Synonym: Burden, charge, encumber
curiosity until recently. Dramatists, writers and
artists throughout the centuries have excelled Undesirable(adj) /ˌʌndɪˈzaɪərəbl/: not wanted or
in the portrayal of character, but have seldom desirable because harmful, objectionable, or
stopped to ask how they, or we, get to know unpleasant
people, or how accurate is our knowledge.
However, the popularity of such unscientific Synonym: Unpleasant, unwanted
systems as Lavater’s physiognomy in the
eighteenth century, Gall’s phrenology in the Misjudge(v) /ˌmɪsˈʤʌʤ/: form a wrong opinion or
nineteenth, and of handwriting interpretations conclusion about
by graphologists, or palm-readings by Gypsies,
show that people are aware of weaknesses in Synonym: Misunderstand
their judgments and desirous of better
methods of diagnosis. It is natural that they Curiosity (n) /ˌkjʊərɪˈɒsɪti/: a strong desire to know or
should turn to psychology for help, in the belief learn something
that psychologists are specialists in ‘human
nature’. Synonym: Concern, interest
E
Excel(v) /ɪkˈsɛl/: be exceptionally good at or proficient
This belief is hardly justified: for the primary in an activity or subject
aim of psychology had been to establish the
general laws and principles underlying Synonym: Be excellent, be prominent, shine
behaviour and thinking, rather than to apply
these to concrete problems of the individual Desirous(adj) /dɪˈzaɪərəs/: having a wish for
person. A great many professional something; wanting something
psychologists still regard it as their main
function to study the nature of learning, Synonym: Yearning, craving, desiring
perception and motivation in the abstracted or
average human being, or in lower organisms,
99
and consider it premature to put so young a Justify(v) /ˈʤʌstɪfaɪ/: show or prove to be right or
science to practical uses. They would disclaim reasonable
the possession of any superior skill in judging
their fellow-men. Indeed, being more aware of Synonym: Explain
the difficulties than is the non-psychologist,
they may be more reluctant to commit Premature(adj) /ˈpremətʃə(r)/: happening or made
themselves to definite predictions or decisions too soon
about other people. Nevertheless, to an
increasing extent psychologists are moving into Disclaim(v) /dɪsˈkleɪm/: refuse to acknowledge
educational, occupational, clinical and other
applied fields, where they are called upon to Synonym: Deny, disown
use their expertise for such purposes as fitting
the education or job to the child or adult, and
Possession(n) /pəˈzɛʃən/: the state of having,
the person to the job. Thus a considerable
owning, or controlling something
proportion of their activities consists of
personality assessment.
Synonym: Ownership, control
F
Reluctant(adj) /rɪˈlʌktənt/: unwilling and hesitant
The success of psychologists in personality
assessment has been limited, in comparison Synonym: Unwilling, resistant, opposed
with what they have achieved in the fields of
abilities and training, with the result that most Expertise(n) /ˌekspɜːˈtiːz/: expert knowledge or skill in
people continue to rely on unscientific methods a particular subject, activity or job
of assessment. In recent times there has been
a tremendous amount of work on personality Considerable(adj) /kənˈsɪdərəbl/: notably large in
tests, and on carefully controlled experimental size, amount, or extent
studies of personality. Investigations of
personality by Freudian and other ‘depth’ Synonym: Significant, substantial, noticeable
psychologists have an even longer history. And
yet psychology seems to be no nearer to Assessment(n) /əˈsesmənt/: the evaluation or
providing society with practicable techniques estimation of the nature, quality, or ability of someone
which are sufficiently reliable and accurate to or something
win general acceptance. The soundness of
the methods of psychologists in the field of Synonym: Evaluation, judgment, rating, analysis,
personality assessment and the value of their estimation
work are under constant fire from other
psychologists, and it is far from easy to prove Tremendous(adj) /trəˈmendəs/: very great in amount,
their worth. scale, or intensity
G
Synonym: Enormous, immense, massive
The growth of psychology has probably helped
responsible members of society to become Soundness(n) /ˈsaʊndnəs/: the quality of being
more aware of the difficulties of assessment. sensible; the fact that something can be relied on and
But it is not much use telling employers, will probably give good results
educationists and judges how inaccurately they
diagnose the personalities with which they
have to deal unless psychologists are sure that
they can provide something better. Even when
university psychologists themselves appoint a
new member of staff, they almost always resort
to the traditional techniques of assessing the
100
candidates through interviews, past records,

and testimonials, and probably make at least
as many bad appointments as other employers
do. However, a large amount of experimental
development of better methods has been
carried out since 1940 by groups of
psychologists in the Armed Services and in the
Civil Service, and by such organizations as the
(British) National Institute of Industrial
Psychology and the American Institute of
Research.
101
A Remarkable Beetle
More than 4,000 species of these remarkable

creatures have evolved and adapted to the
world’s different climates and the dung of its Bettle(n)/ˈbiːtl/: bọ cánh cứng
many animals. Australia’s native dung beetles
are scrub and woodland dwellers, specialising in Evolve(v) /ɪˈvɒlv/: develop gradually, especially
coarse marsupial droppings and avoiding the soft from a simple to a more complex form.
cattle dung in which bush flies and buffalo flies
breed. Some of the most remarkable beetles are Synonym: Develop
the dung beetles, which spend almost their whole Scrub(n) /skrʌb/: an area of dry land covered with
lives eating and breeding in dung’. small bushes and trees
In the early 1960s George Bornemissza, then a Dweller(n) /ˈdwelə(r)/: a person or an animal that
scientist at the Australian Government’s premier lives in the particular place that is mentioned
research organisation, the Commonwealth
Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Marsupial(n) /mɑːˈsuːpiəl/: động vật có túi
(CSIRO), suggested that dung beetles should be
introduced to Australia to control dung-breeding
flies. Between 1968 and 1982, the CSIRO
imported insects from about 50 different species
of dung beetle, from Asia, Europe and Africa, Integrate(v) /ˈɪntɪgreɪt/: to become or make
aiming to match them to different climatic zones in somebody/someting become accepted as a
Australia. Of the 26 species that are known to member of a group, especially when they come
have become successfully integrated into the from a different environment.
local environment, only one, an African species Synonym: Accommodate, assimilate, blend
released in northern Australia, has reached its
natural boundary. Boundary(n) /ˈbaʊndəri/: a limit of a subject or
sphere of activity
Introducing dung beetles into a pasture is a Synonym: Limit, borderline
simple process: approximately 1,500 beetles are
released, a handful at a time, into fresh cow Pasture(n) /ˈpɑːstʃə(r)/: land covered with grass that
pats2 in the cow pasture. is suitable for feeding animals on
The beetles immediately disappear beneath the
pats digging and tunnelling and, if they
successfully adapt to their new environment, soon
102
become a permanent, self sustaining part of the

Permanent(adj) /ˈpɜːmənənt/: lasting or intended to
local ecology. In time they multiply and within
last or remain unchanged indefinitely
three or four years the benefits to the pasture are
obvious.
Synonym: Lasting, eternal, constant
Dung beetles work from the inside of the pat so
they are sheltered from predators such as birds Self-sustaning(adj) /sɛlfsəˈsteɪnɪŋ/: able to
and foxes. Most species burrow into the soil and continue in a healthy state without outside
bury dung in tunnels directly underneath the pats, assistance.
which are hollowed out from within. Some large
species originating from France excavate tunnels Ecology /iˈkɒlədʒi/: the relation of plants and living
to a depth of approximately 30 cm below the dung creatures to each other and to their environment
pat. These beetles make sausage-shaped brood Multiply(v) /ˈmʌltɪplaɪ/: increase or cause to
chambers along the tunnels. The shallowest increase greatly in number or quantity
tunnels belong to a much smaller Spanish species
that buries dung in chambers that hang like fruit Synonym: Accumulate, increase, grow
from the branches of a pear tree. South African
Shelter(v) /ˈʃɛltə/: protect or shield from something
beetles dig narrow tunnels of approximately 20 cm
harmful
below the surface of the pat. Some surface-
dwelling beetles, including a South African Synonym: Protect, defend, save, guard
species, cut perfectly-shaped balls from the pat,
which are rolled away and attached to the bases Predator(n) /ˈprɛdətə/: an animal that naturally
of plants. preys on others
For maximum dung burial in spring, summer and Excavate(v) /ˈɛkskəveɪt/: make (a hole or channel)
autumn, farmers require a variety of species with by digging
overlapping periods of activity. In the cooler Synonym: Dig
environments of the state of Victoria, the large
French species (2.5 cms long) is matched with
smaller (half this size), temperate-climate Spanish
species. The former are slow to recover from the
winter cold and produce only one or two
generations of offspring from late spring until
autumn. The latter, which multiply rapidly in early
spring, produce two to five generations annually. Annually(adv) /ˈænjuəli/: once a year
The South African ball-rolling species, being a
subtropical beetle, prefers the climate of northern Pupation(n): /pju:'peit/: sự thành nhộng
and coastal New South Wales where it commonly
works with the South African tunnelling species. In
Residue(n) /ˈrɛzɪdjuː/: a small amount of something
warmer climates, many species are active for
that remains after the main part has gone or been
longer periods of the year.
taken or used
Dung beetles were initially introduced in the late
1960s with a view to controlling buffalo flies by Synonym: Rest, remainder
removing the dung within a day or two and so
preventing flies from breeding. However, other Fertilizer(n) /ˈfɜːtəlaɪzə(r)/: phân bón
benefits have become evident. Once the beetle
larvae have finished pupation, the residue is a Aeration(n)/,eiə'reiʃn/: the process of making it
first-rate source of fertiliser. The tunnels possible for air to become mixed with soil, water,
abandoned by the beetles provide excellent etc.
aeration and water channels for root systems. In
addition, when the new generation of beetles has
left the nest the abandoned burrows are an
103
attractive habitat for soil-enriching earthworms.

The digested dung in these burrows is an
excellent food supply for the earthworms, which
decompose it further to provide essential soil Decompose(v) /ˌdiːkəmˈpəʊz/: phân huỷ
nutrients. If it were not for the dung beetle,
chemical fertiliser and dung would be washed by
rain into streams and rivers before it could be
absorbed into the hard earth, polluting water
courses and causing blooms of blue-green algae. Inedible(adj)/ɪnˈedəbl/: that you cannot eat because
Without the beetles to dispose of the dung, cow it is of poor quality, or poisonous
pats would litter pastures making grass inedible
Deprive(v) /dɪˈpraɪv/: prevent somebody from
to cattle and depriving the soil of sunlight.
having or doing something, especially something
Australia’s 30 million cattle each produce 10-12
important
cow pats a day. This amounts to 1.7 billion tonnes
a year, enough to smother about 110,000 sq km Smother(v) /ˈsmʌðə(r)/: to cover
of pasture, half the area of Victoria. something/somebody thickly or with too much of
Dung beetles have become an integral part of the something
successful management of dairy farms in Integral(adj) /ˈɪntɪgrəl/: necessary to make a whole
Australia over the past few decades. A number of complete
species are available from the CSIRO or through
a small number of private breeders, most of whom Synonym: Essential, fundamental
were entomologists with the CSIRO’s dung beetle
unit who have taken their specialised knowledge
of the insect and opened small businesses in
direct competition with their former employer.
Glossary
1. dung: the droppings or excreta of animals
2. cow pats: droppings of cows
104
A Chronicle of Timekeeping
Our conception of time depends on the way we Advent(n) /ˈædvənt/: the arrival of a notable
measure it person, thing, or event
A Synonym: Arrival, appearance, emergence,
occurrence
According to archaeological evidence, at least
5,000 years ago, and long before the advent of
Coordinate(v) /kəʊˈɔːdɪneɪt/: organize the different
the Roman Empire, the Babylonians began to
parts of an activity and the people involved in it so
measure time, introducing calendars to co-
that it works well
ordinate communal activities, to plan the
shipment of goods and, in particular, to regulate
planting and harvesting. They based their Regulate(v) /ˈrɛgjʊleɪt/: control or supervise
calendars on three natural cycles: the solar day, (something, especially a company or business
marked by the successive periods of light and activity) by means of rules and regulations.
darkness as the earth rotates on its axis; the
lunar month, following the phases of the moon as Synonym: Control, check, supervise
it orbits the earth; and the solar year, defined by
the changing seasons that accompany our Successive(adj) /səkˈsɛsɪv/: following one another
planet's revolution around the sun. or following others.
B Synonym: Consecutive, sequential, running
Before the invention of artificial light, the moon Accompany(v) /əˈkʌmpəni/: be present or occur at
had greater social impact. And, for those living the same time as (something else)
near the equator in particular, its waxing and
waning was more conspicuous than the passing Synonym: Occur with, go together with
of the seasons. Hence, the calendars that were
Artificial(adj) /ˌɑːtɪˈfɪʃ(ə)l /: made or produced by
developed at the lower latitudes were influenced
human beings rather than occurring naturally
more by the lunar cycle than by the solar year. In
more northern climes, however, where seasonal Synonym: Manmade
agriculture was practised, the solar year became
more crucial. As the Roman Empire expanded Equator(n) /ɪˈkweɪtə(r)/: đường xích đạo
northward, it organised its activity chart for the Conspicuous(adj) / /: easy to see or notice
most part around the solar year. Synonym: Obvious, clear, noticeable
105
C Latitude(n) /ˈlætɪtjuːd/: vĩ độ
Centuries before the Roman Empire, the
Egyptians had formulated a municipal calendar
having 12 months of 30 days, with five days
added to approximate the solar year. Each period
of ten days was marked by the appearance of
special groups of stars called decans. At the rise
of the star Sirius just before sunrise, which Cosmic(adj) /ˈkɒzmɪk/: very great and important
occurred around the all-important annual flooding
of the Nile, 12 decans could be seen spanning
the heavens. The cosmic significance the
Egyptians placed in the 12 decans led them to
develop a system in which each interval of
darkness (and later, each interval of daylight)
was divided into a dozen equal parts. These Duration(n) /djuˈreɪʃn/: the length of time that
periods became known as temporal hours something lasts or continues
because their duration varied according to the
changing length of days and nights with the
passing of the seasons. Summer hours were Equinoxes(n) /ˈekwɪnɒks/: xuân phân, thu phân
long, winter ones short; only at the spring and
autumn equinoxes were the hours of daylight
and darkness equal. Temporal hours, which were
first adopted by the Greeks and then the
Romans, who disseminated them through Disseminate(v) /dɪˈsɛmɪneɪt/: spread or disperse
Europe, remained in use for more than 2,500 (something, especially information) widely
years. Synonym: Spread, circulate, distribute
D
In order to track temporal hours during the day,
inventors created sundials, which indicate time
by the length or direction of the sun's shadow. Counterpart(n) /ˈkaʊntəpɑːt/: a person or thing that
The sundial's counterpart, the water clock, was has the same position or function as
designed to measure temporal hours at night. somebody/something else in a different place or
One of the first water clocks was a basin with a situation
small hole near the bottom through which the Synonym: Peer, mate, fellow
water dripped out. The falling water level
denoted the passing hour as it dipped below
Denote(v) /dɪˈnəʊt/: be a sign of; indicate
hour lines inscribed on the inner surface.
Although these devices performed satisfactorily Synonym: Symbolize, represent, mean, indicate
around the Mediterranean, they could not always
be depended on in the cloudy and often freezing
weather of northern Europe.
E
The advent of the mechanical clock meant that
although it could be adjusted to maintain
temporal hours, it was naturally suited to keeping
equal ones. With these, however, arose the
question of when to begin counting, and so, in
the early 14th century, a number of systems
106
evolved. The schemes that divided the day into

24 equal parts varied according to the start of the
count: Italian hours began at sunset, Babylonian
hours at sunrise, astronomical hours at midday Supersede(v) /ˌsjuːpəˈsiːd/: take the place of (a
and 'great clock' hours, used for some large person or thing previously in authority or use)
public clocks in Germany, at midnight. Eventually
these were superseded by 'small clock', or Synonym: Replace
French, hours, which split the day into two 12- Commence(v) /kəˈmens/: begin, start
hour periods commencing at midnight.
F
The earliest recorded weight-driven mechanical
clock was built in 1283 in Bedfordshire in Descend(v) /dɪˈsend/: to come or go down from a
England. The revolutionary aspect of this new higher to a lower level
timekeeper was neither the descending weight
Synonym: decline
that provided its motive force nor the gear wheels
(which had been around for at least 1,300 years)
that transferred the power; It was the part called
the escapement. In the early 1400s came the
invention of the coiled spring or fusee which
maintained constant force to the gear wheels of
the timekeeper despite the changing tension of Devise(v) /dɪˈvaɪz/: invent something new or a new
its mainspring. By the 16th century, a pendulum way of doing something
clock had been devised, but the pendulum
Synonym: Invent, formulate, think up
swung in a large arc and thus was not very
efficient.
G
To address this, a variation on the original
escapement was invented in 1670, in England. It
was called the anchor escapement, which was a
lever-based device shaped like a ship's anchor.
The motion of a pendulum rocks this device so
that it catches and then releases each tooth of
the escape wheel, in turn allowing it to turn a
precise amount. Unlike the original form used in
early pendulum clocks, the anchor escapement Permit(v) /pərˈmit/: give authorization or consent to
permitted the pendulum to travel in a very small (someone) to do something
arc. Moreover, this invention allowed the use of a
long pendulum which could beat once a second Synonym: Allow, enable
and thus led to the development of a new
floorstanding case design, which became known
as the grandfather clock.
H
Today, highly accurate timekeeping instruments
set the beat for most electronic devices. Nearly Calibrate(v) /ˈkælɪbreɪt/: carefully assess, set, or
all computers contain a quartz-crystal clock to
adjust (something abstract)
regulate their operation. Moreover, not only do
time signals beamed down from Global Navigation(n) /ˌnævɪˈgeɪʃən/: the skill or the
Positioning System satellites calibrate the process of planning a route for a ship or other
107
functions of precision navigation equipment, vehicle and taking it there

they do so as well for mobile phones, instant
stock-trading systems and nationwide power- Integral(adj) /ˈɪntɪgrəl/: necessary to make a whole
distribution grids. So integral have these time- complete
based technologies become to day-to-day Synonym: Essential, fundamental
existence that our dependency on them is
recognised only when they fail to work.
108
Endless Harvest
More than two hundred years ago, Russian

explorers and fur hunters landed on the
Aleutian Islands, a volcanic archipelago in the
North Pacific, and learned of a land mass that
lay farther to the north. 'The islands’ native
inhabitants called this land mass Aleyska, the
‘Great Land’; today, we know it as Alaska.
The forty-ninth state to join the United States of
America (in 1959), Alaska is fully one-fifth the
size of the mainland 48 states combined. It
shares, with Canada, the second longest river
system in North America and has over half the
coastline of the United States. The rivers feed
into the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska - cold,
nutrient-rich waters which support tens of
millions of seabirds, and over 400 species of Bounty(n)/ˈbaʊnti/: generous actions; something
fish, shellfish, crustaceans, and molluscs. provided in large quantities
Taking advantage of this rich bounty, Alaska’s
commercial fisheries have developed into some
of the largest in the world.
According to the Alaska Department of Fish
and Game (ADF&G), Alaska’s commercial
fisheries landed hundreds of thousands of
tonnes of shellfish and herring, and well
over a million tonnes of groundfish (cod,
sole, perch and pollock) in 2000. The true
cultural heart and soul of Alaska’s fisheries,
however, is salmon. ‘Salmon,’ notes writer
Susan Ewing in The Great Alaska
Nature Factbook, ‘pump through Alaska like
blood through a heart, bringing rhythmic,
circulating nourishment to land, animals and
109
people.’ The ‘predictable abundance of salmon Nourishment(n) /ˈnʌrɪʃmənt/: the food or other
allowed some native cultures to flourish,’ and substances necessary for growth, health, and good
‘dying spawners* feed bears, eagles, other condition
animals, and ultimately the soil itself.’ All five
species of Pacific salmon - chinook, or king; Synonym: Food, nutrition
chum, or dog; coho, or silver; sockeye, or red;
and pink, or humpback - spawn** in Alaskan
waters, and 90% of all Pacific salmon Abundance(n) /əˈbʌndəns/: a very large quantity of
commercially caught in North America are something
produced there. Indeed, if Alaska was Synonym: Affluent, plenty, property, wealth
an independent nation, it would be die largest
producer of wild salmon in the world. During Flourish(v) /ˈflʌrɪʃ/: grow or develop in a healthy or
2000, commercial catches of Pacific salmon vigorous way, especially as the result of a
in Alaska exceeded 320,000 tonnes, with an particularly favorable environment.
ex-vessel value of over $US 260 million.
Synonym: Grow, thrive, increase
Catches have not always been so healthy.
Between 1940 and 1959, overfishing led to
crashes in salmon populations so severe that Exceed(v)/ ɪkˈsiːd/: be greater in number or size than
in 1953 Alaska was declared a federal disaster
area. With the onset of statehood, however, the Synonym: Surpass, outstrip
State of Alaska took over management of its
own fisheries, guided by a state constitution Severe(adj): /sɪˈvɪə/ (of something bad or
which mandates that Alaska’s natural undesirable) very great; intense
resources be managed on a sustainable
basis. At that time, statewide harvests totalled Synonym: Terrible, dreadful, tough, difficult, harsh
around 25 million salmon. Over the next few
Mandate(v) /ˈmændeɪt/: to order to do something
decades average catches steadily increased as
a result of this policy of sustainable Synonym: Instruct, order, direct, tell, command
management, until, during the 1990s, annual
harvests were well in excess of 100 million, and Sustainable(adj) /səˈsteɪnəbl/: involving the use of
on several occasions over 200 million fish. natural products and energy in a way that does not
harm the environment
The primary reason for such increases is what
is known as ‘In-Season Abundance-Based
Management’. There are biologists throughout
the state constantly monitoring adult fish as
they show up to spawn. The biologists sit in
streamside counting towers, study sonar, watch
Spawn(v) /spɔːn/: lay eggs
from aeroplanes, and talk to fishermen. The
salmon season in Alaska is not pre-set. The
fishermen know the approximate time of year
when they will be allowed to fish, but on any Halt(n)/ hɔːlt/: an act of stopping the movement or
given day, one or more field biologists in a progress of somebody/something
particular area can put a halt to fishing. Even
sport fishing can be brought to a halt. It is this Synonym: Stop
management mechanism that has allowed
Alaska salmon stocks - and, accordingly, Prosper(v) /ˈprɒspə/: flourish physically; grow strong
Alaska salmon fisheries — to prosper, even as and healthy
salmon populations in the rest of the United
Synonym: Thrive, grow, bloom
States are increasingly considered threatened
or even endangered.
110
In 1999, the Marine Stewardship Council

(MSC)*** commissioned a review of the Alaska
salmon fishery. The Council, which was
founded in 1996, certifies fisheries that meet
high environmental standards, enabling them to
use a label that recognises their environmental
responsibility. The MSC has established a set
of criteria by which commercial fisheries can
be judged. Recognising the potential benefits of Criterion(n) /kraɪˈtɪərɪən/: a principle or standard by
being identified as environmentally responsible, which something may be judged or decided
fisheries approach the Council requesting to
Synonym: Standard, measure, scale
undergo the certification process. The MSC
then appoints a certification committee,
composed of a panel of fisheries experts, which
gathers information and opinions from Appoint(v) /əˈpɔɪnt/: assign a job or role to
fishermen, biologists, government officials, (someone)
industry representatives, non- Synonym: Nominate, name, resignate
governmental organisations and others.
Gather(v) /ˈgæðə/: thu thập
Some observers thought the Alaska salmon
fisheries would not have any chance of Synonym: Collect, accumulate
certification when, in the months leading up to
MSC’s final decision, salmon runs throughout
western Alaska completely collapsed. In the
Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers, chinook and
chum runs were probably the poorest since Subsistence(n) /səbˈsɪstəns/: he state of having just
statehood; subsistence communities enough money or food to stay alive
throughout the region, who normally Priority(n) /praɪˈɒrɪti/: ưu tiên
have priority over commercial fishing, were
devastated. Synonym: Preference
The crisis was completely unexpected, but Devastated(adj) /ˈdɛvəsteɪtɪd/: extremely upset and
researchers believe it had nothing to do with shocked
impacts of fisheries. Rather, they contend, it
Synonym: Overwhelm, shattered, distressed
was almost certainly the result of climatic shifts,
prompted in part by cumulative effects of the
el niño/la niña phenomenon on Pacific Ocean
temperatures, culminating in a harsh winter in Cumulative(adj) /ˈkjuːmjələtɪv/: having a result that
which huge numbers of salmon eggs were increases in strength or importance each time more
frozen. It could have meant the end as far as of something is added
the certification process was concerned. Synonym: Acucmulative, mounting
However, the state reacted quickly, closing
down all fisheries, even those necessary for Culminate(v) /ˈkʌlmɪneɪt/: reach a climax or point of
subsistence purposes. highest development.
In September 2000, MSC announced that the Synonym: Peak, climax
Alaska salmon fisheries qualified for
certification. Seven companies producing
Alaska salmon were immediately granted
permission to display the MSC logo on their
products. Certification is for an initial period of
five years, with an annual review to ensure that
the fishery is continuing to meet the required
111
standards. Initial(adj)/ɪˈnɪʃəl/: existing or occurring at the

beginning
* spawners: fish that have released eggs
Synonym: Beginning, opening
** spawn: release eggs
*** MSC: a joint venture between WWF (World
Wildlife Fund) and Unilever, a Dutch-based
multi-national
112
The nature and aims of archaelogy
Archaeology is partly the discovery of the

treasures of the past, partly the careful work of
the scientific analyst, partly the exercise of the
creative imagination. It is toiling in the sun on an Excavation(n)/ ˌɛkskəˈveɪʃən/: the activity of digging
excavation in the Middle East, it is working with in the ground to look for old buildings or objects that
living Inuit in the snows of Alaska, and it is have been buried for a long time
investigating the sewers of Roman Britain. But it
is also the painstaking task of interpretation, so Synonym: Unearthing, digging
that we come to understand what these things Painstaking(adj) /ˈpeɪnzˌteɪkɪŋ/: done with or
mean for the human story. And it is the employing great care and thoroughness
conservation of the world's cultural heritage
against looting and careless harm. Synonym: Careful, meticulous, thorough, diligent,
rigorous
Archaeology, then, is both a physical activity out
in the field, and an intellectual pursuit in the Conservation(n) /ˌkɒnsə(ː)ˈveɪʃən /: bảo tồn
study or laboratory. That is part of its great
Synonym: Preservation, protection
attraction. The rich mixture of danger and
detective work has also made it the perfect Loot(v) /luːt/: steal things from shops/stores or
vehicle for fiction writers and film-makers, from buildings after a riot, fire, etc
Agatha Christie with Murder in Mesopotamia to
Stephen Spielberg with Indiana Jones. However Synonym: Plunder, raid
far from reality such portrayals are, they capture Heritage(n)/ˈherɪtɪdʒ/: bản sắc văn hoá
the essential truth that archaeology is an
exciting quest - the quest for knowledge about Pursuit(n) /pəˈsjuːt/: the act of looking for or trying to
ourselves and our past.
find something
But how does archaeology relate to disciplines
such as anthropology and history, that are also Synonym: Searching, seeking, hunt
concerned with the human story? Is archaeology
Detective(n) /dɪˈtektɪv/: a person, especially a police
itself a science? And what are the
officer, whose job is to examine crimes and catch
responsibilities of the archaeologist in today's
criminals
world?
Anthropology, at its broadest, is the study of
humanity - our physical characteristics as
animals and our unique non-biological
113
characteristics that we call culture. Culture in

this sense includes what the anthropologist,
Edward Tylor, summarised in 1871 as
'knowledge, belief, art, morals, custom and any
other capabilities and habits acquired by man as
a member of society'. Anthropologists also use
the term 'culture’ in a more restricted sense
when they refer to the ‘culture1 of a particular
society, meaning the non-biological
characteristics unique to that society, which
Distinguish(v)/ dɪsˈtɪŋgwɪʃ/: phân biệt
distinguish it from other societies.
Anthropology is thus a broad discipline - so
broad that it is generally broken down into three
smaller disciplines: physical anthropology,
cultural anthropology and archaeology.
Physical anthropology, or biological
anthropology as it is also called, concerns the
study of human biological or physical
characteristics and how they evolved. Cultural
anthropology - or social anthropology - analyses
human culture and society. Two of its branches
are ethnography (the study at first hand of
individual living cultures) and ethnology (which
sets out to compare cultures using ethnographic Derive(v)/dɪˈraɪv/: obtain something from (a specified
evidence to derive general principles about source)
human society).
Synonym: Obtain, get, take, gain, acquire
Archaeology is the ‘past tense of cultural
anthropology’. Whereas cultural anthropologists
will often base their conclusions on the
experience of living within contemporary
communities, archaeologists study past
societies primarily through their material remains
- the buildings, tools, and other artefacts that Constitute(v) /ˈkɒnstɪtjuːt/: to be the parts that
constitute what is known as the material culture together form something
left over from former societies. Synonym: Form, comprise
Nevertheless, one of the most important tasks
for the archaeologist today is to know how to
interpret material culture in human terms. How Interpret(v) /ɪnˈtɜːprɪt/: understand
were those pots used? Why are some dwellings
round and others square? Here the methods of
archaeology and ethnography overlap.
Archaeologists in recent decades have
developed ‘ethnoarchaeology’, where, like
ethnographers, they live among contemporary Settlement(n) /ˈsɛtlmənt/: a place where people have
communities, but with the specific purpose of come to live and make their homes
learning how such societies use material culture
- how they make their tools and weapons, why Synonym: Accommodation
they build their settlements where they do, and
so on. Moreover, archaeology has an active role
to play in the field of conservation. Heritage
114
studies constitutes a developing field, where it is Diminish(v) /dɪˈmɪnɪʃ/: becom less

realised that the world's cultural heritage is a
diminishing resource which holds different Synonym: Decrease, lessen, decline, reduce
meanings for different people.
If, then, archaeology deals with the past, in what
way does it differ from history? In the broadest
sense, just as archaeology is an aspect of
anthropology, so too is it a part of history -
where we mean the whole history of humankind
from its beginnings over three million years ago.
Indeed, for more than ninety-nine per cent of
that huge span of time, archaeology - the study
of past material culture - is the only significant
source of information. Conventional historical
sources begin only with the introduction of
written records around 3,000 BC in western
Asia, and much later in most other parts of the
world.
A commonly drawn distinction is between pre- Distinction(n) /dɪsˈtɪŋkʃən/: a difference or contrast
history, i.e. the period before written records -
Synonym: Dissimilarity, variance
and history in the narrow sense, meaning the
study of the past using written evidence. To
archaeology, which studies all cultures and
periods, whether with or without writing, the
distinction between history and pre-history is a
convenient dividing line that recognises the
importance of the written word, but in no way
lessens the importance of the useful information
contained in oral histories.
Since the aim of archaeology is the
understanding of humankind, it is a humanistic
study, and since it deals with the human past, it
is a historical discipline. But it differs from the
study of written history in a fundamental way.
The material the archaeologist finds does not tell
us directly what to think. Historical records make
statements, offer opinions and pass judgements.
The objects the archaeologists discover, on the
other hand, tell us nothing directly in
themselves. In this respect, the practice of the
archaeologist is rather like that of the scientist,
who collects data, conducts experiments,
formulates a hypothesis, tests the hypothesis
against more data, and then, in conclusion,
devises a model that seems best to summarise
the pattern observed in the data. The
archaeologist has to develop a picture of the
past, just as the scientist has to develop a
coherent view of the natural world. Coherent(adj) /kəʊˈhɪərənt/: logical and consistent
115
Synonym: Logical, reasoned
116
The life and work of Marie Curie
Marie Curie is probably the most famous woman

scientist who has ever lived. Born Maria
Sklodowska in Poland in 1867, she is famous for
her work on radioactivity, and was twice a winner
of the Nobel Prize. With her husband, Pierre Curie,
and Henri Becquerel, she was awarded the 1903
Nobel Prize for Physics, and was then sole winner
of the 1911 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. She was the
first woman to win a Nobel Prize.
From childhood, Marie was remarkable for her Prodigious(adj) /prəˈdɪʤəs/: extremely great in
prodigious memory, and at the age of 16 won a ability
gold medal on completion of her secondary
Synonym: Astonishing, extraordinary, amazing
education. Because her father lost his savings
through bad investment, she then had to take work
as a teacher. From her earnings she was able
to finance her sister Bronia's medical studies in
Paris, on the understanding that Bronia would,
in turn, later help her to get an education.
In 1891 this promise was fulfilled and Marie went
to Paris and began to study at the Sorbonne (the Fulfill(v) /fʊlˈfɪl/: to do or achieve what was hoped
University of Paris). She often worked far into the for or expected
night and lived on little more than bread and butter
Synonym: Complete, achieve, accomplish,
and tea. She came first in the examination in the
actualize
physical sciences in 1893, and in 1894 was placed
second in the examination in mathematical
sciences. It was not until the spring of that year that
she was introduced to Pierre Curie.
Their marriage in 1895 marked the start of a
partnership that was soon to achieve results of
world significance. Following Henri Becquerel's
discovery in 1896 of a new phenomenon,
117
which Marie later called 'radioactivity', Marie Curie

decided to find out if the radioactivity discovered in
uranium was to be found in other elements. She
discovered that this was true for thorium.
Turning her attention to minerals, she found her
interest drawn to pitchblende, a mineral whose Superior(adj) /sju(ː)ˈpɪərɪə /: higher in quality
radioactivity, superior to that of pure uranium,
could be explained only by the presence in the ore Synonym: Greater, better
of small quantities of an unknown substance of
very high activity. Pierre Curie joined her in the Presence(n) /ˈprɛzns/: the state or fact of existing,
work that she had undertaken to resolve this occurring, or being present in a place or thing
problem, and that led to the discovery of the new
elements, polonium and radium. While Pierre Curie Synonym: Existence
devoted himself chiefly to the physical study of the
new radiations, Marie Curie struggled to obtain Devote(v) /dɪˈvəʊt/: give all or a large part of one's
pure radium in the metallic state. This was time or resources to (a person, activity, or cause)
achieved with the help of the chemist André-Louis
Debierne, one of Pierre Curie's pupils. Based on Synonym: Assign, commit
the results of this research, Marie Curie received
her Doctorate of Science, and in 1903 Marie and Struggle(v) /ˈstrʌgl/: to try very hard to do
Pierre shared with Becquerel the Nobel Prize for something when it is difficult or when there are a lot
Physics for the discovery of radioactivity. of problems
The births of Marie's two daughters, Irène and Eve,
in 1897 and 1904 failed to interrupt her scientific Synonym: Attempt, effort
work. She was appointed lecturer in physics at the
École Normale Supérieure for girls in Sèvres,
France (1900), and introduced a method of
teaching based on experimental demonstrations. In
December 1904 she was appointed chief assistant
in the laboratory directed by Pierre Curie.
The sudden death of her husband in 1906 was a
bitter blow to Marie Curie, but was also a turning
point in her career: henceforth she was to devote
all her energy to completing alone the scientific
work that they had undertaken. On May 13, 1906,
she was appointed to the professorship that had Vacant(adj) /ˈveɪkənt/: (of a position or office) not
been left vacant on her husband's death, filled
becoming the first woman to teach at the
Sorbonne. In 1911 she was awarded the Nobel Synonym: Empty, unoccupied
Prize for Chemistry for the isolation of a pure form
of radium.
During World War I, Marie Curie, with the help of
her daughter Irène, devoted herself to the
development of the use of X-radiography, including
the mobile units which came to be known as ‘Little
Curies', used for the treatment of wounded
soldiers. In 1918 the Radium Institute, whose staff
Irène had joined, began to operate in earnest, and
became a centre for nuclear physics and
118
chemistry. Marie Curie, now at the highest point of

her fame and, from 1922, a member of the
Academy of Medicine, researched the chemistry of
radioactive substances and their medical
applications.
In 1921, accompanied by her two daughters, Marie
Curie made a triumphant journey to the United
States to raise funds for research on radium.
Women there presented her with a gram of radium
for her campaign. Marie also gave lectures in
Belgium, Brazil, Spain and Czechoslovakia and, in
addition, had the satisfaction of seeing the
Inauguration(n) /ɪˌnɔːgjʊˈreɪʃən/: the beginning or
development of the Curie Foundation in Paris, and
introduction of a system, policy, or period
the inauguration in 1932 in Warsaw of the Radium
Institute, where her sister Bronia became director. Synonym: Commencement, induction, initiation
One of Marie Curie's outstanding achievements
was to have understood the need to accumulate
intense radioactive sources, not only to treat illness Accumulate(v)/ əˈkjuːmjʊleɪt/: gather together or
but also to maintain an abundant supply for acquire an increasing number or quantity of
research. The existence in Paris at the Radium Synonym: Gather, collect, assemble
Institute of a stock of 1.5 grams of radium made a
decisive contribution to the success of the
experiments undertaken in the years around 1930.
This work prepared the way for the discovery of the
neutron by Sir James Chadwick and, above all, for Exposure(n)/ ɪksˈpəʊʒə/: the state of being in a
the discovery in 1934 by Irène and Frédéric Joliot- place or situation where there is no protection from
Curie of artificial radioactivity. A few months after something harmful or unpleasant
this discovery, Marie Curie died as a result of
leukaemia caused by exposure to radiation. She
had often carried test tubes containing radioactive Immense(adj) /iˈmens/: extremely large or great,
isotopes in her pocket, remarking on the pretty especially in scale or degree
blue-green light they gave off.
Synonym: Huge, vast, massive, great, tremendous
Her contribution to physics had been immense,
not only in her own work, the importance of which Subsequent(adj) /ˈsʌbsɪkwənt/: coming after
had been demonstrated by her two Nobel Prizes, something in time; following
but because of her influence on subsequent
Synonym: Next
generations of nuclear physicists and chemists.
119
Trends and prospects for European

transport systems
A It is difficult to conceive of vigorous economic

growth without an efficient transport system. Conceive(v) /kənˈsiːv/: to form an idea, a plan, etc.
Although modern information technologies can in your mind; to imagine something
reduce the demand for physical transport by Synonym: Perceive, understand
facilitating teleworking and teleservices, the
requirement for transport continues to increase. Vigorous(adj) /ˈvɪgərəs/: strong and full of energy
There are two key factors behind this trend. For Synonym: Active, energetic, forceful, dynamic,
passenger transport, the determining factor is the efficient
spectacular growth in car use. The number of
cars on European Union (EU) roads saw an Substantial(adj) /səbˈstænʃəl/: large in amount,
increase of three million cars each year from value or importance
1990 to 2010, and in the next decade the EU will
see a further substantial increase in its fleet. Synonym: Consideration, significant, notable
Frontier(n) /ˈfrʌntɪə/: an extreme limit of something
B As far as goods transport is concerned, growth
is due to a large extent to changes in the Synonym: Boundary, border
European economy and its system of production.
In the last 20 years, as internal frontiers have Abolish(v) /əˈbɒlɪʃ/: formally put an end to
been abolished, the EU has moved from a
”stock” economy to a ”flow” economy. This Synonym: End, eradicate, destroy
phenomenon has been emphasised by the
relocation of some industries, particularly those Emphasise(v) /ˈɛmfəsaɪz/: to give special
which are labour intensive, to reduce production importance to something
costs, even though the production site is hundreds Synonym: Highlight, stress
or even thousands of kilometres away from the
final assembly plant or away from users. Labour intensive(adj) /ˈleɪbə ɪnˈtɛnsɪv/: needing a
large workforce or a large amount of work in
C The strong economic growth expected in relation to output
countries which are candidates for entry to the EU
will also increase transport flows, in particular Haulage: the commercial transport of goods.
120
road haulage traffic. In 1998, some of these

countries already exported more than twice their
1990 volumes and imported more than five times
their 1990 volumes. And although many candidate
countries inherited a transport system which
encourages rail, the distribution between modes
has tipped sharply in favour of road transport
since the 1990s. Between 1990 and 1998, road
haulage increased by 19.4%, while during the
same period rail haulage decreased by 43.5%,
although – and this could benefit the enlarged EU
– it is still on average at a much higher level than Imperative(n) /ɪmˈpɛrətɪv/: an essential or urgent
in existing member states. thing
D However, a new imperative-sustainable Synonym: Importance
development – offers an opportunity for adapting
the EU, common transport policy. This objective, Integrate(v) /ˈɪntɪgreɪt/: to become or make
agreed by the Gothenburg European Council, has somebody/someting become accepted as a
to be achieved by integrating environmental member of a group, especially when they come
considerations into Community policies, and from a different environment.
shifting the balance between modes of transport Synonym: Accommodate, assimilate, blend
lies at the heart of its strategy. The ambitious
objective can only be fully achieved by 2020, but
proposed measures are nonetheless a first
essential step towards a sustainable transport
system which will ideally be in place in 30 years‟ Emission(n) /ɪˈmɪʃən/: the production and
time, that is by 2040. discharge of something, especially gas or radiation
E In 1998, energy consumption in the transport Synonym: Excretion, discharge, release
sector was to blame for 28% of emissions of
CO2, the leading greenhouse gas. According to Reverse(v) /rɪˈvɜːs/: to change something
the latest estimates, if nothing is done to reverse completely so that it is the opposite of what it was
the traffic growth trend, CO2 emissions from before
transport can be expected to increase by around Culprit(n) /ˈkʌlprɪt/: the cause of a problem
50% to 1,113 billion tonnes by 2020, compared
with the 739 billion tonnes recorded in 1990. Once Synonym: Cause, reason
again, road transport is the main culprit since it
Attributable(adj) /əˈtrɪbjuːtəbl/: probably caused
alone accounts for 84% of the CO2 emissions
by the thing mentioned
attributable to transport. Using alternative fuels
and improving energy efficiency is thus both an Deterioration(n) /dɪˌtɪərɪəˈreɪʃən/: the process of
ecological necessity and a technological becoming progressively worse
challenge.
Synonym: Decline, collapse, downturn, drop
F At the same time greater efforts must be made
to achieve a modal shift. Such a change cannot Marginalization(n) /ˌmɑːdʒɪnəlaɪˈzeɪʃn/: treatment
be achieved overnight, all the less so after over of a person, group, or concept as insignificant or
half a century of constant deterioration in favour peripheral
of road. This has reached such a pitch that today
rail freight services are facing marginalisation,
with just 8% of market share, and with
international goods trains struggling along at an
average speed of 18km/h. Three possible options
121
have emerged.
G The first approach would consist of focusing on
road transport solely through pricing. This option
would not be accompanied by complementary Curb(v) /kɜːb/: control or limit something
measures in the other modes of transport. In the Synonym: Restrain
short term it might curb the growth in road
transport through the better loading ratio of goods Occupancy(n) /ˈɒkjəpənsi/: the act of living in or
vehicles and occupancy rates of passenger using a building, room, piece of land, etc
vehicles expected as a result of the increase in Synonym: Living, residence, habition
the price of transport. However, the lack of
measures available to revitalise other modes of Revitalize(v) /ˌriːˌvaɪtəlaɪˈzeɪʃn/: the process of
transport would make it impossible for more making something stronger, more active or more
sustainable modes of transport to take up the healthy
baton.
Synonym: Revival, recovery, rejuvenation
H The second approach also concentrates on
road transport pricing but is accompanied by
measures to increase the efficiency of the other
modes (better quality of services, logistics,
technology). However, this approach does not Infrastructure(n) /ˈɪnfrəstrʌktʃə(r)/: cơ sở hạ tầng
include investment in new infrastructure, nor Cohesion(n) /kəʊˈhiːʒn/: unity, state of being
does it guarantee better regional cohesion. It together
could help to achieve greater uncoupling than the
first approach, but road transport would keep the
lion’s share of the market and continue to
concentrate on saturated arteries, despite being
the most polluting of the modes. It is therefore not
enough to guarantee the necessary shift of the
balance.
I The third approach, which is not new, comprises
a series of measures ranging from pricing to
revitalising alternative modes of transport and
targeting investment in the trans-European
network. This integrated approach would allow the
market shares of the other modes to return to their
1998 levels and thus make a shift of balance. It is
far more ambitious than it looks, bearing in mind
the historical imbalance in favour of roads for the
last fifty years, but would achieve a marked break Mobility(n) /məʊˈbɪlɪti/: the ability to move or be
in the link between road transport growth and moved freely and easily
economic growth, without placing restrictions on
the mobility of people and goods. Synonym: Transportation
122
THE DEPARTMENT OF ETHNOGRAPHY
The Department of Ethnography was created Deportment(n): the way in which a person stands
as a separate deportment within the British and moves
Museum in 1946, offer 140 years of gradual
development from the original Department of
Antiquities. If is concerned with the people of
Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Pacific and parts
of Europe. While this includes complex
kingdoms, as in Africa, and ancient empires,
such as those of the Americas, the primary
focus of attention in the twentieth century has
been on small-scale societies. Through its
collections, the Department's specific interest is
to document how objects are created and used, Extraordinary(adj) /ɪkˈstrɔːdnri/: unexpected,
and to understand their importance and surprising or strange
significance to those who produce them. Such
objects can include both the extraordinary and Synonym: astonishing, remarkable, exceptional,
the mundane, the beautiful and the banal. stunning, incredible
The collections of the Department of Mundane(adj) /mʌnˈdeɪn/: not interesting or exciting

Ethnography include approximately 300,000 Synonym: Dull, ordinary, boring
artefacts, of which about half are the product of
the present century. The Department has a Banal(adj) /bəˈnɑːl/: very ordinary and containing
vital role to play in providing information on nothing that is interesting or important
non-Western cultures to visitors and scholars.
Synonym: Common, ordinary, dull
To this end, the collecting emphasis has often
been less on individual objects than on groups
of material which allow the display of a broad
range of society's cultural expressions. Collaboration(n) /kəˌlæbəˈreɪʃn/: the act of working
with another person or group of people to create or
Much of the more recent collecting was carried produce something
out in the field, sometimes by Museum staff
working on general anthropological projects in Synonym: Association
collaboration with a wide variety of national
governments and other institutions. The
123
material collected includes great technical

series - for instance, of textiles from Bolivia,
Guatemala, Indonesia and at areas of West
Africa - or of artefact types such as boats. The
latter include working examples of coracles
from India, reed boars from Lake Titicaca in the
Andes, kayaks from the Arctic, and dug-out Assemblage(n) /əˈsemblij/: a collection or gathering
canoes from several countries. The field of things or people
assemblages, such as those from the Sudan,
Madagascar and Yemen, include a whole Synonym: Collection, gathering
range of material culture representative of one
people. This might cover the necessities of life
of an African herdsman or on Arabian farmer, Necessity(n) /nəˈsesəti/: the fact that something
ritual objects, or even on occasion airport art. must happen or be done; the need for something
Again, a series of acquisitions might represent
a decade's fieldwork documenting social Synonym: Essential, basic
experience as expressed in the varieties of Acquisition(n) /ˌækwɪˈzɪʃ(ə)n /: an asset or object
clothing and jewellery styles, tents and camel bought or obtained, typically by a library or museum
trappings from various Middle Eastern
countries, or in the developing preferences in Synonym: Possession
personal adornment and dress from Papua
New Guinea. Particularly interesting are a
series of collections which continue to Possess(v) /pəˈzes/: have as belonging to one;
document the evolution of ceremony and of own
material forms for which the Department
already possesses early (if nor the earliest) Synonym: Own
collections formed after the first contact with Acquisition(n) /ˌækwɪˈzɪʃn/: the act of getting
Europeans. something, especially knowledge, a skill, etc.
The importance of these acquisitions extends Absence(n) /ˈæbsəns/: the fact of
beyond the objects themselves. They come fo somebody/something not existing or not being
the Museum with documentation of the social available
context, ideally including photographic records.
Such acquisitions have multiple purposes. Synonym: Nonexistence, unavailability, lack,
Most significantly they document for future deficiency
change. Most people think of the cultures
Ingenuity(n) /ˌɪndʒəˈnjuːəti/: the quality of being
represented in the collection in terms of the
clever, original, and inventive
absence of advanced technology. In fact,
traditional practices draw on a continuing Synonym: Creativity, innovation, imagination
wealth of technological ingenuity. Limited
resources and ecological constraints are often Constraint(n) /ˌækwɪˈzɪʃ(ə)n /: a limitation or
overcome by personal skills that would be restriction
regarded as exceptional in the West. Of Synonym: Curb, restrain, control
growing interest is the way in which much of
what we might see as disposable is, Disposable(adj) /ˌækwɪˈzɪʃ(ə)n /: made to be
elsewhere, recycled and reused. thrown away after use
With the Independence of much of Asia and Synonym: Throwaway
Africa after 1945, if was assumed that
economic progress would rapidly lead to the
disappearance or assimilation of many small-
scale societies. Therefore, it was felt that the
Assimilation(n) /əˌsɪmɪˈleɪʃ(ə)n /: Sự đồng hoá.
124
Museum should acquire materials representing Become, or allow somebody to become, a part of a
people whose art or material culture, ritual or country or community rather than remaining in a
political structures were on the point of separate group
irrevocable change. This attitude altered with
the realisation that marginal communities can
survive and adapt. In spire of partial integration Irrevocable(adj) /ɪˈrɛvəkəbl/: that cannot be
into a notoriously fickle world economy. Since changed
the seventeenth century, with the advent of
trading companies exporting manufactured Synonym: Unchangeable, irreversible, final,
textiles to North America and Asia, the permanent
importation of cheap goods has often Marginal(adj) /ˈmɑːdʒɪnl/: not part of a main or
contributed to the destruction of local skills and important group or situation
indigenous markets. On the one hand modern
imported goods may be used in an everyday Fickle(v) /ˈfɪkl/: changing frequently
setting, while on the other hand other traditional
Synonym: Changeable, capricious
objects may still be required for ritually
significant events. Within this context trade and Indigenous(adj) /ɪnˈdɪʤɪnəs/: bản xứ
exchange attitudes are inverted. What are
utilitarian objects to a Westerner may be Synonym: Native, original
prized objects in other cultures - when Invert(v)/ɪnˈvɜːt/: to change the normal position of
transformed by local ingenuity - principally for something, especially by turning it upside down or
aesthetic value. In the some way, the West by arranging it in the opposite order
imports goods from other peoples and in
certain circumstances categorises them as Utilitarian(adj) /ˌjuːtɪlɪˈteəriən/: designed to be
‘art'. useful and practical rather than attractive
Collections act as an ever-expanding database, Ingenuity(n) /ˌɪndʒəˈnjuːəti/: the ability to invent
nor merely for scholars and anthropologists, things or solve problems in clever new ways
bur for people involved in a whole range of
Aesthetic(adj) /iːsˈθetɪk/: concerned with beauty
educational and artistic purposes. These
and art and the understanding of beautiful things
include schools and universities as well as
colleges of art and design. The provision of Synonym: Artistic
information about non-Western aesthetics and
techniques, not just for designers and artists Circumstance(n) / ˈsɜːkəmstəns /: hoàn cảnh,
but for all visitors, is a growing responsibility for trường hợp, tình huống
a Department whose own context is an Synonym: Situation
increasingly multicultural European society.
Provision(n) / prəˈvɪʒən /: the action of providing or
supplying something for use
Synonym: Supply, providing
125
Mind readers
Mutter(v) /ˈmʌtə/: say something in a low or barely

It may one day be possible to eavesdrop on audible voice
another person’s inner voice.
Murmur, mumble, whistle
As you begin to read this article and your eyes
follow the words across the page, you may be Internal(adj) /inˈtərnl/:of or situated on the inside
aware of a voice in your head silently muttering Inner, interior, inside
along. The very same thing happens when we
write: a private, internal narrative shapes the Narrative(n) /ˈnærətɪv/: a description of events
words before we commit them to text. Description, report, record, story
What if it were possible to tap into this inner Decode(v) /ˌdiːˈkəʊd/: find the meaning of
voice? Thinking of words does, after all. create something, especially something that has been
characteristic electrical signals in our brains, and written in code
decoding them could make it possible to piece
together someone’s thoughts. Such an ability Solve, interpret, translate
would have phenomenal prospects, not least
Phenomenal(adj) /fɪˈnɒmɪnl/: very remarkable;
for people unable to communicate as a result of
extraordinary
brain damage. But it would also carry profoundly
worrisome implications for the future of Exceptional, astonishing, amazing, incredible
privacy.
Prospect(n) /ˈprɒspɛkt/: the possibility or likelihood
The first scribbled records of electrical activity in of some future event occurring; triển vọng tương lai
the human brain were made in 1924 by a
German doctor called Hans Berger using his Likelihood, probability, possibility, promise
new invention - the electroencephalogram Worrisome(adj) /ˈwʌrɪsəm/: causing anxiety or
(EEG). This uses electrodes placed on the skull concern
to read the output of the brain's billions of nerve
cells or neurons. By the mid-1990s, the ability to Worrying, troublesome, daunting
translate the brain's activity into readable signals
had advanced so far that people could move Implication(n) /ˌɪmplɪˈkeɪʃən/: a possible effect or
computer cursors using only the electrical fields result of an action or a decision
created by their thoughts.
Meaning, result
The electrical impulses such innovations tap into
are produced in a part of the brain called the Cursor(n) /ˈkɜːsə(r)/: a small mark on a computer
motor cortex, which is responsible for muscle screen that can be moved and that shows the
movement. To move a cursor on a screen, you position on the screen where, for example, text will
do not think 'move left’ in natural language.
126
Instead, you imagine a specific motion like be added

hitting a ball with a tennis racket. Training the
machine to realise which electrical signals
correspond to your imagined movements,
however, is time consuming and difficult. And
while this method works well for directing
objects on a screen, its drawbacks become
apparent when you try using it to communicate.
At best, you can use the cursor to select letters Correspond(v) /ˌkɒrɪsˈpɒnd/: tương ứng
displayed on an on-screen keyboard. Even a
Agree
practised mind would be lucky to write 15 words
per minute with that approach. Speaking, we Apparent(adj) /əˈperənt/: clearly visible or
can manage 150. understood
Matching the speed at which we can think and Evident, obvious, clear, visible
talk would lead to devices that could instantly
translate the electrical signals of someone’s
inner voice into sound produced by a speech
synthesiser. To do this, it is necessary to focus
only on the signals coming from the brain areas
that govern speech. However, real mind reading
Intercept(v) /ˌin(t)ərˈsept/: stop
requires some way to intercept those signals
before they hit the motor cortex.
The translation of thoughts to language in the
brain is an incredibly complex and largely
mysterious process, but this much is known:
before they end up in the motor cortex, thoughts Destine(v) /ˈdestɪnd/: intend or choose (someone or
destined to become spoken words pass something) for a particular purpose or end.
through two ‘staging areas’ associated with the
perception and expression of speech. Intent, predetermine
The first is called Wernicke’s area, which deals
with semantics - in this case, ideas based in
meaning, which can include images, smells or
emotional memories. Damage to Wernicke’s
area can result in the loss of semantic
associations: words can’t make sense when
they are decoupled from their meaning. Suffer Decouple(v) / ˌdiːˈkʌp.əl /: to end the connection or
a stroke in that region, for example, and you will relationship between two things
have trouble understanding not just what others
are telling you, but what you yourself are Seperate, disengae, disassociate
thinking.
The second is called Broca’s area, agreed to be
the brain’s speech-processing centre. Here,
semantics are translated into phonetics and
ultimately, word components. From here, the
assembled sentences take a quick trip to the
motor cortex, which activates the muscles that
will turn the desired words into speech.
Injure Broca’s area, and though you might know
127
what you want to say. you just can’t send those

impulses.
When you listen to your inner voice, two things
are happening. You ‘hear’ yourself producing
language in Wernicke’s area as you construct it
in Broca’s area. The key to mind reading seems
to lie in these two areas.
The work of Bradley Greger in 2010 broke new
ground by marking the first-ever excursion Excursion(n) /ɪkˈskɜːʃn/: a short period of trying a
beyond the motor cortex into the brain’s new or different activity
language centres. His team used electrodes
placed inside the skull to detect the electrical Exploration
signatures of whole words, such as 'yes’, ’no’,
’hot’, ‘cold’, 'thirsty', ‘hungry’, etc. Promising as it
is, this approach requires a new signal to be
learned for each new word. English contains a
quarter of a million distinct words. And though
this was the first instance of monitoring Distinct(adj) / dɪsˈtɪŋkt /: clearly different or of a
Wernicke’s area, it still relied largely on the different kind
facial motor cortex.
Different
Greger decided there might be another way.
The building blocks of language are called
phonemes, and the English language has about
40 of them - the ‘kuh’ sound in ‘school’, for
example the ’$h' in ‘shy’. Every English word Subset(n) /ˈsʌbset/: a smaller group of people or
contains some subset of these components. things formed from the members of a larger group
Decode the brain signals that correspond to the
phonemes, and you would have a system to
unlock any word at the moment someone thinks
it.
In 2011, Eric Leuthardt and his colleague
Gerwin Schalk positioned electrodes over the
language regions of four fully conscious people
and were able to detect the phonemes ’oo’, ‘ah’,
‘eh’ and ‘ee’. What they also discovered was
that spoken phonemes activated both the
language areas and the motor cortex, while
imagined speech - that inner voice - boosted the
activity of neurons in Wernike’s area. Leuthardt
had effectively read his subjects' minds. ‘I would
call it brain reading,’ he says. To arrive at whole
words. Leuthardt’s next step is to expand his
library of sounds and to find out how the
production of phonemes translates across
different languages.
For now, the research is primarily aimed at
improving the lives of people with locked-in
syndrome, but the ability to explore the brain’s
Ripple(v) /ˈrɪpl/: to spread through a person or a
128
language centres could revolutionise other group of people.

fields. The consequences of these findings
could ripple out to more general audiences who Spread
might like to use extreme hands-free mobile Manipulate(v) / ˈlɪŋgwɪst /: to control or influence
communication technologies that can be somebody/something
manipulated by inner voice alone. For
linguists, it could provide previously Control, influence, direct
unobtainable insight into the neural origins and Linguist(n) / ˈlɪŋgwɪst /: a person skilled in foreign
structures of language. Knowing what someone languages
is thinking without needing words at all would be
functionally indistinguishable from telepathy. Unobtainable(adj) / ˌɪndɪsˈtɪŋgwɪʃəbl /: that cannot
be obtained
Unreachable, inaccessible
Indistinguishable(adj) / tɪˈlɛpəθi (ə)l/: not able to be
identified as different or distinct
Identical, similar
Telepathy (n) / tɪˈlɛpəθi /: thần giao cách cảm
129
The History of Bicycles
The bicycle was not invented by one individual

or in one country. It took nearly 100 years and
many individuals for the modern bicycle to be
born. By the end of those 100 years, bicycles
had revolutionized the way people travel from Revolutionize(v) /ˌrɛvəˈluːʃnaɪz/: change
place to place. (something) radically or fundamentally
Synonym: Transform, restructure, reorganise
Bicycles first appeared in Scotland in the early
1800s, and were called velocipedes. These
early bicycles had two wheels, but they had no
pedals. The rider sat on a pillow and walked his Pedal(n) /ˈpɛdl/: bàn đạp
feet along the ground to move his velocipede
forward.
Soon a French inventor added pedals to the
front wheel. Instead of walking their vehicles,
riders used their feet to run the pedals.
However, pedaling was hard because
velocipedes were very heavy. The framework Framework(n) /ˈfreɪmwɜːk/: an essential supporting
was made of solid steel tubes and the wooden structure of a building, vehicle, or object.
wheels were covered with steel. Even Synonym: Structure, skeleton
so, velocipedes were popular among rich young
men, who raced them in Paris parks.
Because of the velocipedes were so hard to
ride, no one thought about using them for
transportation. People didn’t ride velocipedes to
the market or to their jobs. Instead, people
thought velocipedes were just toys.
Around 1870, American manufacturers saw that
velocipedes were very popular overseas. They Alteration(n) /ˌɔːltəˈreɪʃ(ə)n/: a change to something
began building velocipedes, too, but with one that makes it different
difference. They made the frameworks from Synonym: Change, adjustment, modification
hollow steel tubes. This alteration made
velocipedes much lighter, but riders still had to Bumpy(adj) /ˈbʌmpi/: (đường)xóc, gồ ghề
work hard to pedal just a short distance. In
addition, roads were bumpy so steering was Steer(v) /stɪə/: control the direction in which a boat,
difficult. In fact, most riders preferred car, etc. moves
indoor tracks where they could rent a velocipede Synonym: Drive, ride
130
for a small fee and take riding lessons.

Subsequent(adj) /ˈsʌbsɪkwənt/:coming after
Subsequent changes by British engineers
something in time; following.
altered the wheels to make pedaling more
efficient. They saw that when a rider turned the
pedals once, the front wheel turned once. If the Synonym: Next, following, coming
front wheel was small, the bicycle traveled just a
small distance with each turn. They reasoned Efficient(adj) /ɪˈfɪʃənt/: hiệu quả
that if the front wheel were larger, the bicycle
would travel a greater distance. So they Synonym: Effective, productive
designed a bicycle with a giant front wheel.
They made the rear wheel small. Its primary Balance(n) /ˈbæləns/: thẳng bằng
purpose was to help the rider balance.
Balancing was hard because the rider had to sit Synonym: Stability, equilibrium
high above the giant front wheel in order to
reach the pedals.
This meant he was in danger of falling off the
bicycle and injuring himself if he lost his
balance. Despite this inherent danger, “high
wheelers” became very popular in England.
American manufacturers once again tried to
design a better bicycle. Their goal was to make Substitute(v) /ˈsʌbstɪtjuːt/: take the place of
a safer bicycle. They substituted a small wheel somebody/something else; to use
for the giant front wheel and put the driving somebody/something instead of
mechanism in a larger rear to wheel. It would be somebody/something else
impossible for a rider to pedal the rear wheel, so
engineers designed a system of foot levers. By Synonym: Exchange, replace, swap
pressing first the right one and then the left, the
rider moved a long metal bar up and down. This
bar turned the rear axle1. This axle turned the
rear wheel and the bicycle minimized the
dangers inherent in bicycle riding, more and
more people began using bicycles in their
daily activities.
The British altered the design one last time.
They made the two wheels equal in size and
created a mechanism that uses a chain to turn
the rear wheel. With this final change, the
modern bicycle was born.
Improvement(n) /ɪmˈpruːvmənt/: a change in
Subsequent improvements, such as brakes, something that makes it better
rubber tires, and lights were added to make
bicycles more comfortable to ride. By 1900, Synonym: Advance, change, upgrade, refinement
bicycle riding had become very popular with
men and women of all ages. Bicycles
revolutionized the way people worldwide ride
bicycles for transportation, enjoyment, sport,
and exercise.
131
Pulling strings to build pyramids
No one knows exactly how the pyramids were

built. Marcus Chown reckons the answer could
be 'hanging in the air'.
The pyramids of Egypt were built more than three
thousand years ago, and no one knows how.
The conventional picture is that tens of Evidence(n) /ˈɛvɪdəns/: bằng chứng
thousands of slaves dragged stones on sledges. Synonym: Proof, verification, confirmation
But there is no evidence to back this up. Now a
Californian software consultant called Maureen
Clemmons has suggested that kites might have Peruse(v) /pəˈruːz/: read in a carfeful way
been involved. While perusing a book on the Synonym: Read, study, inspect
monuments of Egypt, she noticed a hieroglyph
that showed a row of men standing in odd Posture(n) /ˈpɒsʧə/: the position in which someone
postures. They were holding what looked like holds their body when standing or sitting
ropes that led, via some kind of mechanical
system, to a giant bird in the sky. She wondered
if perhaps the bird was actually a giant kite, and
the men were using it to lift a heavy object.
Intrigued, Clemmons contacted Morteza Gharib,
aeronautics professor at the California Institute of
Technology. He was fascinated by the idea. Fascinated(adj) /ˈfæsɪneɪtɪd/: interested
'Coming from Iran, I have a keen interest in Synonym: Captivated, mesmerized, enthralled,
Middle Eastern science/ he says. He too was excited
puzzled by the picture that had sparked
Clemmons's interest. The object in the sky
apparently had wings far too short and wide for a
bird. The possibility certainly existed that it was
a kite/ he says. And since he needed a summer Possibility(n) /ˌpɒsəˈbɪlɪti/: a thing that may
project for his student Emilio Graff, investigating happen or be the case
the possibility of using kites as heavy lifters Synonym: Chance, likelihood, probability
seemed like a good idea.
Gharib and Graff set themselves the task of Horizontal(adj) /ˌhɒrɪˈzɒntl/: theo chiều dọc
132
raising a 4.5-metre stone column from horizontal

to vertical, using no source of energy except the Vertical(adj) /ˈvɜːtɪkəl/: theo chiều ngang
wind. Their initial calculations and scale-model
wind-tunnel experiments convinced them they Modest(adj) /ˈmɒdɪst/: relatively moderate, limited,
wouldn't need a strong wind to lift the 33.5-tonne or small
column. Even a modest force, if sustained over Synonym: Moderate, fair, limited
a long time, would do. The key was to use a
pulley system that would magnify the applied Sustain(v) /səsˈteɪn/: to make something continue
force. So they rigged up a tent-shaped scaffold for some time without becoming less
directly above the tip of the horizontal column, Synonym: Maintain, carry on
with pulleys suspended from the scaffold's apex.
The idea was that as one end of the column rose, Magnify(v) /ˈmægnɪfaɪ/: make something bigger,
the base would roll across the ground on a larger or stronger
trolley. Synonym: Enlarge, enhance, boost, increase,
maximize
Earlier this year, the team put Clemmons's
unlikely theory to the test, using a 40-square-
metre rectangular nylon sail. The kite lifted the
column clean off the ground. 'We were absolutely
stunned,' Gharib says. The instant the sail
opened into the wind, a huge force was
generated and the column was raised to the
vertical in a mere 40 seconds.'
The wind was blowing at a gentle 16 to 20
kilometres an hour, little more than half what they
thought would be needed. What they had failed Reckon(v) /ˈrɛkən/: to think something or have an
to reckon with was what happened when the kite opinion about something
was opened. There was a huge initial force - five Synonym: Imagine, guess, consider
times larger than the steady state force,' Gharib
says. This jerk meant that kites could lift huge
weights, Gharib realised. Even a 300-tonne
column could have been lifted to the vertical with
40 or so men and four or five sails. So Clemmons
was right: the pyramid, builders could have used
kites to lift massive stones into place. 'Whether
they actually did is another matter,' Gharib says. Construction(n) /kənˈstrʌkʃən/: the process or
There are no pictures showing the construction method of building or making something
of the pyramids, so there is no way to tell Synonym: Building, erection, establishment
what really happened. The evidence for using
kites to move large stones is no better or
worse than the evidence for the brute force
method,' Gharib says.
Indeed, the experiments have left many
specialists unconvinced. The evidence for
kitelifting is non-existent,' says Willeke Wendrich,
an associate professor of Egyptology at the
University of California, Los Angeles. Harness(v) /ˈhɑːnɪs/: control and make use of
Others feel there is more of a case for the theory. (natural resources)
Harnessing the wind would not have been a Synonym: Use, utilize, exploit, control, employ
problem for accomplished sailors like the
133
Egyptians. And they are known to have used

wooden pulleys, which could have been made
strong enough to bear the weight of massive
blocks of stone. In addition, there is some
physical evidence that the ancient Egyptians
were interested in flight. A wooden artefact Artefact(n) /ˈɑːtɪfækt/: an object that is made by a
found on the step pyramid at Saqqara looks person, especially something of historical or
uncannily like a modern glider. Although it dates cultural interest
from several hundred years after the building of
the pyramids, its sophistication suggests that Sophistication(n) /səˌfɪstɪˈkeɪʃən/: the quality of
the Egyptians might nave been developing ideas being sophisticated (complicated in the way that it
of flight for a long time. And other ancient works or is presented)
civilisations certainly knew about kites; as early
as 1250 BC, the Chinese were using them to
deliver messages and dump flaming debris on
their foes.
The experiments might even have practical uses
nowadays. There are plenty of places around the
globe where people have no access to heavy
machinery, but do know how to deal with wind,
sailing and basic mechanical principles. Gharib
has already been contacted by a civil engineer in
Nicaragua, who wants to put up buildings with
adobe roofs supported by concrete arches on a
site that heavy equipment can't reach. His idea is
to build the arcnes horizontally, then lift them into
place using kites. 'We've given him some design
hints,' says Gharib. We're just waiting for him to
report back.' So whether they were actually used
to build the pyramids or not, it seems that kites
may make sensible construction tools in the 21 st
century AD.
134
What destroyed the civilisation of Easter Island?
A
Easter Island, or Rapu Nui as it is known locally, is
home to several hundred ancient human statues -
the moai. After this remote Pacific island was Isolated(adj) /kɑːv/: without much contact with
settled by the Polynesians, it remained isolated for other people or other countries
centuries. All the energy and resources that went Synonym: Remote, secluded, outlying
into the moai - some of which are ten metres tall
and weigh over 7,000 kilos - came from the island
itself. Yet when Dutch explorers landed in 1722, Carve(v) /aɪˈdɛntɪti/: cut (a hard material) in order
they met a Stone Age culture. The moai were to produce an aesthetically pleasing object or
carved with stone tools, then transported for many design
kilometres, without the use of animals or wheels, to Synonym: Sculpt, sculpture
massive stone platforms. The identity of the moai
builders was in doubt until well into the Identity(n) /ˌɛkstrətɪˈrɛstrɪəl/: danh tính
twentieth century. Thor Heyerdahl, the Norwegian
ethnographer and adventurer, thought the statues
had been created by pre-Inca peoples from Peru.
Bestselling Swiss author Erich von Daniken
believed they were built by stranded
extraterrestrials. Modern science - linguistic, Extraterrestrial(n) /ˌɛkstrətɪˈrɛstrɪəl/: a creature
archaeological and genetic evidence - has that comes from another planet
definitively proved the moai builders were
Polynesians, but not how they moved their
creations. Local folklore maintains that the statues
walked, while researchers have tended to assume
the ancestors dragged the statues somehow, using
ropes and logs.
B
135
When the Europeans arrived, Rapa Nui was

grassland, with only a few scrawny trees. In the
1970s and 1980s, though, researchers found
pollen preserved in lake sediments, which proved Sediment(n)/ˈsedɪmənt/: sand, stones, mud, etc.
the island had been covered in lush palm forests carried by water or wind and left, for example, on
for thousands of years. Only after the Polynesians the bottom of a lake, river, etc.
arrived did those forests disappear. US scientist
Jared Diamond believes that the Rapanui people -
descendants of Polynesian settlers - wrecked their Wreck(v) /rɛk/: damage or destroy something
own environment. They had unfortunately settled Synonym: Ruin, destroy, devastate, shatter
on an extremely fragile island - dry, cool, and too
remote to be properly fertilised by windblown Fragile(adj) /ˈfrædʒaɪl/: weak and uncertain; easily
volcanic ash. When the islanders cleared the destroyed or spoilt
forests for firewood and farming, the forests didn’t Synonym: Vulnerable, flimsy, breakable, weak
grow back. As trees became scarce and they
could no longer construct wooden canoes for Scarce(adj) /skers/: insufficient for the demand
fishing, they ate birds. Soil erosion decreased their
crop yields. Before Europeans arrived, the Rapanui Synonym: Insufficient, deficient inadequate, lacking
had descended into civil war and cannibalism, he Erosion(n) /ɪˈrəʊʒn/: sự sói mòn
maintains. The collapse of their isolated civilisation,
Diamond writes, is a ’worst-case scenario for what
may lie ahead of us in our own future’.
C Accelerate(v) /əkˈseləreɪt/: to happen or to make
The moai, he thinks, accelerated the self- something happen faster or earlier than expected
destruction. Diamond interprets them as power Synonym: Speed up, momentum
displays by rival chieftains who, trapped on a
remote little island, lacked other ways of asserting Assert(v) /əˈsɜːt/: state clearly and firmly that
their dominance. They competed by building ever something is true
bigger figures. Diamond thinks they laid the moai Synonym: Declare, state, claim
on wooden sledges, hauled over log rails, but that
required both a lot of wood and a lot of people. To Dominance(n) /ˈdɒmɪnəns/: power and influence
feed the people, even more land had to be cleared. over others
When the wood was gone and civil war began, the Synonym: Superiority, control
islanders began toppling the moai. By the
nineteenth century none were standing.
D
Excavation(n)/ ˌɛkskəˈveɪʃən/: the activity of
Archaeologists Terry Hunt of the University of digging in the ground to look for old buildings or
Hawaii and Carl Lipo of California State University objects that have been buried for a long time
agree that Easter Island lost its lush forests and
that it was an ‘ecological catastrophe' - but they Synonym: Unearthing, digging
believe the islanders themselves weren’t to blame. Heroic (adj) /hɪˈrəʊɪk/: showing extreme courage
And the moai certainly weren’t. Archaeological and admired by many people
excavations indicate that the Rapanui went to
heroic efforts to protect the resources of their Synonym: Brave, courageous, intrepid
wind-lashed, infertile fields. They built thousands
Infertile(adj) /ɪnˈfɜːtaɪl/: not able to produce good
of circular stone windbreaks and gardened inside
crops
them, and used broken volcanic rocks to keep the
soil moist. In short, Hunt and Lipo argue, the
prehistoric Rapanui were pioneers of sustainable
136
farming.
E
Hunt and Lipo contend that moai-building was an
activity that helped keep the peace between
islanders. They also believe that moving the moai
required few people and no wood, because they
were walked upright. On that issue, Hunt and Lipo
say, archaeological evidence backs up Rapanui
folklore. Recent experiments indicate that as few Manoeuvre(v) /məˈnuːvə/: move or turn skilfully or
as 18 people could, with three strong ropes and a carefully
bit of practice, easily manoeuvre a 1,000 kg moai
replica a few hundred metres. The figures’ fat Synonym: Move
bellies tilted them forward, and a D-shaped base
allowed handlers to roll and rock them side to side. Replica (n) /ˈrɛplɪkə/: an exact copy or model of
something
F
Moreover, Hunt and Lipo are convinced that the
settlers were not wholly responsible for the loss of
the island’s trees. Archaeological finds of nuts from
the extinct Easter Island palm show tiny grooves,
made by the teeth of Polynesian rats. The rats
arrived along with the settlers, and in just a few
years, Hunt and Lipo calculate, they would have
overrun the island. They would have prevented
the reseeding of the slow-growing palm trees and
thereby doomed Rapa Nui’s forest, even without
the settlers’ campaign of deforestation. No doubt Deforestation(n) /dɪˌfɒrɪˈsteɪʃ(ə)n/: the action of
the rats ate birds’ eggs too. Hunt and Lipo also see clearing a wide area of trees
no evidence that Rapanui civilisation
collapsed when the palm forest did. They think its Decimate(v) /ˈdɛsɪmeɪt/: kill, destroy, or remove a
population grew rapidly and then remained more or large percentage or part of
less stable until the arrival of the Europeans, who Synonym: Destroy, annihilate
introduced deadly diseases to which islanders had
no immunity. Then in the nineteenth century Shrivel(v) /ˈʃrɪvl/: to become much smaller
slave traders decimated the population, which
Ingenious(adj) / ɪnˈʤiːniəs /: clever, original, and
shriveled to 111 people by 1877.
inventive
G
Synonym: Inventive, creative innovation, original
Hunt and Lipo’s vision, therefore, is one of an
Reckless(adj) / ˈrɛklɪs /: showing a lack of care
island populated by peaceful and ingenious moai
about danger and the possible results of your
builders and careful stewards of the land, rather
actions
than by reckless destroyers ruining their own
environment and society. ‘Rather than a case of Synonym: Rash, careless, hasty
abject failure, Rapu Nui is an unlikely story of
success’, they claim. Whichever is the case, there Steward(n) /ˈstjuːəd/: a person whose job is to
are surely some valuable lessons which the world arrange for the supply of food
at large can learn from the story of Rapa Nui.
137
When evolution runs backwards
Evolution isn’t supposed to run backwards - yet Evolution(n) /ˌiːvəˈluːʃən/: sự tiến hoá
an increasing number of examples show that it Synonym: Development, advancement, growth,
does and that it can sometimes represent progress
the future of a species.
The description of any animal as an ‘evolutionary Controversial(adj) /ˌkɒntrəˈvɜːʃl/: gây tranh cãi
throwback’ is controversial. For the better part Synonym: Disputable, debatable, arguable
of a century, most biologists have been reluctant
to use those words, mindful of a principle of Reluctant(adj): /rɪˈlʌktənt/: unwilling and hesitant
evolution that says ‘evolution cannot run
backwards. But as more and more examples Synonym: Unwilling, resistant, opposed
come to light and modern genetics enters the
scene, that principle is having to be rewritten. Not
only are evolutionary throwbacks possible, they
sometimes play an important role in the forward
march of evolution.
The technical term for an evolutionary throwback

is an ‘atavism’, from the Latin atavus, meaning
forefather. The word has ugly connotations Connotation(n) /ˌkɒnəˈteɪʃn/: an idea suggested
thanks largely to Cesare Lombroso, a 19th- by a word in addition to its main meaning
century Italian medic who argued that criminals Synonym: Implication, suggestion
were born not made and could be identified by
certain physical features that were throwbacks to
a primitive, sub-human state.
While Lombroso was measuring criminals, a
Belgian palaeontologist called Louis Dollo was
studying fossil records and coming to the
opposite conclusion. In 1890 he proposed that
evolution was irreversible: that ‘an organism is Irreversible(adj) /ˌɪrɪˈvɜːsəbl/: not able to be
unable to return, even partially, to a previous undone or altered
stage already realised in the ranks of its Synonym: Irreparable, permanent
ancestors. Early 20th-century biologists came to
a similar conclusion, though they qualified it in
terms of probability, stating that there is no
138
reason why evolution cannot run backwards -it is Probability(n) /ˌprɒbəˈbɪlɪti/: the extent to which
just very unlikely. And so the idea of irreversibility something is probable; the likelihood of something
in evolution stuck and came to be known as happening or being the case
‘Dollo’s law. Synonym: Possibility, likelihood, chance
If Dollo’s law is right, atavisms should occur only
very rarely, if at all. Yet almost since the idea
took root, exceptions have been cropping up. In Exception(n) /ɪkˈsepʃn/: a person or thing that is
1919, for example, a humpback whale with a pair not included in a general statement
of leglike appendages over a metre long, Synonym: Irregularity, special case, abnormalty,
complete with a full set of limb bones, was oddity, peculiarity
caught off Vancouver Island in Canada. Explorer
Roy Chapman Andrews argued at the time that
the whale must be a throwback to a land-living
ancestor. ‘I can see no other explanation, he
wrote in 1921.
Since then, so many other examples have been
discovered that it no longer makes sense to say
that evolution is as good as irreversible. And this
poses a puzzle: how can characteristics that
disappeared millions of years ago suddenly
reappear?
In 1994, Rudolf Raff and colleagues at Indiana
University in the USA decided to use genetics to
put a number on the probability of evolution going
into reverse. They reasoned that while some
evolutionary changes involve the loss of genes Trait(n) /treɪt /: a distinguishing quality or
and are therefore irreversible, others may be the characteristic, typically one belonging to a person
result of genes being switched off. If these silent Synonym: Characteristic, attribute, feature,
genes are somehow switched back on, they quality, property
argued, longlost traits could reappear. Accumulate(v) /əˈkjuːmjʊleɪt/: gather together or
acquire an increasing number or quantity of
Raff’s team went on to calculate the likelihood of
it happening. Silent genes accumulate random Synonym: Gather, collect, assemble
mutations, they reasoned, eventually rendering Render(v) /ˈrɛndə/: cause to be or become; make.
them useless. So how long can a gene survive in
a species if it is no longer used? The team Synonym: Make
calculated that there is a good chance of silent
genes surviving for up to 6 million years in at Amphibian(n) /ˌmɛtəˈmɔːfəʊz/: động vật lưỡng cư
least a few individuals in a population, and that
some might survive as long as 10 million years. Juvenile(adj) /ˈʤuːvɪnaɪl/: related to young
In other words, throwbacks are possible, but only people/animals
to the relatively recent evolutionary past.
Young
As a possible example, the team pointed to the
mole salamanders of Mexico and California. Like Metamorphose(v) /ˌmetəˈmɔːfəʊz/: change or
most amphibians these begin life in a juvenile make something/somebody change into
‘tadpole’ state, then metamorphose into the something completely different, especially over a
adult form – except for one species, the axolotl, period of time
which famously lives its entire life as a juvenile.
The simplest explanation for this is that the Synonym: Transform
axolotl lineage alone lost the ability to
139
metamorphose, while others retained it. From a Retain(v) /ˈmɪnəskjuːl/: continue to have
detailed analysis of the salamanders’ family tree, (something); keep possession of
however, it is clear that the other lineages Synonym: Maintain, keep, conserve, preserve
evolved from an ancestor that itself had lost the
ability to metamorphose. In other words,
metamorphosis in mole salamanders is an
atavism. The salamander example fits with Raff’s
10million-year time frame.
More recently, however, examples have been
reported that break the time limit, suggesting that
silent genes may not be the whole story. In a
paper published last year, biologist Gunter
Wagner of Yale University reported some work
on the evolutionary history of a group of South
American lizards called Bachia. Many of these Minuscule(adj) /ˈmɪnəskjuːl/: extremely small; tiny
have minuscule limbs; some look more like Synonym: Tiny, minute, microscopic, micro,
snakes than lizards and a few have completely nanoscale
lost the toes on their hind limbs. Other species,
however, sport up to four toes on their hind legs.
The simplest explanation is that the toed lineages
never lost their toes, but Wagner begs to differ.
According to his analysis of the Bachia family
tree, the toed species re-evolved toes from
toeless ancestors and, what is more, digit loss Ancestor(n) / ˈænsɪstə /: an early type of animal
and gain has occurred on more than one or plant from which others have evolved
occasion over tens of millions of years.
So what’s going on? One possibility is that Possibility(n): / ˌpɒsəˈbɪlɪti /: a thing that may
these traits are lost and then simply reappear, in happen or be the case
much the same way that similar structures can Synonym: Chance, likelihood, probability
independently arise in unrelated species, such
as the dorsal fins of sharks and killer whales. Unrelated(adj) / ˌʌnrɪˈleɪtɪd /: not related or linked
Another more intriguing possibility is that the Synonym: Unassociated, separate, unconnected,
genetic information needed to make toes distinct
somehow survived for tens or perhaps hundreds
of millions of years in the lizards and was Intriguing(adj) /ɪnˈtriːgɪŋ/: arousing one's curiosity
reactivated. These atavistic traits provided an or interest
advantage and spread through the population, Synonym: Fascinating, appealing
effectively reversing evolution.
Degrade(v) / ˌriːˈæktɪveɪt /: break down or
But if silent genes degrade within 6 to million deteriorate
years, how can long-lost traits be reactivated Synonym: Degenerate, deteriorate
over longer timescales? The answer may lie in
the womb. Early embryos of many species Reactivate(v) / ˌriːˈæktɪveɪt /: restore (something)
develop ancestral features. Snake embryos, for to a state of activity; bring back into action.
example, sprout hind limb buds. Later in Synonym: Revive
development these features disappear thanks to
developmental programs that say ‘lose the leg’. If Embryo(n) / ˈɛmbrɪəʊ /: phôi thai
for any reason this does not happen, the
ancestral feature may not disappear, leading to
an atavism.
140
Research using twins
To biomedical researchers all over the world, Untangle(v) /ˌʌnˈtæŋɡl/: make something that is
twins offer a precious opportunity to untangle the complicated or confusing easier to deal with or
influence of genes and the environment - of understand
nature and nurture. Because identical twins Synonym: Solve, resolve
come from a single fertilized egg that splits into Nurture(v) /ˈnɜːʧə/: care for and encourage the
two, they share virtually the same genetic code. growth or development of
Any differences between them -one twin having Synonym: Raise, support, foster
younger looking skin, for example - must be due Identical twin(n)/ aɪˈdɛntɪkəl twɪn/: sinh đôi cùng
to environmental factors such as less time spent trứng
in the sun.
Alternatively, by comparing the experiences of Fraternal twin(n)/ frəˈtɜːnl twɪn/: sinh đôi khác trứng
identical twins with those of fraternal twins, who
come from separate eggs and share on Ailment(n) /ˈeɪlmənt/: an illness, typically a minor
average half their DNA, researchers can one
quantify the extent to which our genes affect our Synonym: Illness, disease, sickness
lives. If identical twins are more similar to each
other with respect to an ailment than fraternal Vulnerability(n) ˌvʌlnərəˈbɪləti/: the quality of being
twins are, then vulnerability to the disease must weak and easily hurt physically or emotionally
be rooted at least in part in heredity. Synonym: Susceptibility
These two lines of research - studying the Heredity(n) /hɪˈrɛdɪti/: the passing on of physical or
differences between identical twins to pinpoint mental characteristics genetically from one
the influence of environment, and comparing generation to another
identical twins with fraternal ones to measure the Pinpoint(v) /ˈpɪnpɔɪnt/: find or locate exactly
role of inheritance - have been crucial Synonym: Identify, detect, spot, determine, locate,
to understanding the interplay of nature recognize, discover
and nurture in determining our Inheritance(n) /ɪnˈherɪtəns/: something from the
personalities, behavior, and vulnerability to past or from your family that affects the way you
disease. behave, look, etc
Interplay(v) /ˈɪntə(ː)pleɪ /: the way in which two or
The idea of using twins to measure the influence more things have an effect on each other
of heredity dates back to 1875, when the English Synonym: Interaction, interchange, exchange
scientist Francis Galton first suggested the
141
approach (and coined the phrase 'nature and

nurture'). But twin studies took a surprising twist
in the 1980s, with the arrival of studies
into identical twins who had been separated at
birth and reunited as adults. Over two decades
137 sets of twins eventually visited Thomas Reunite(v) /ˌriːjuːˈnaɪt/: come together or cause to
Bouchard's lab in what became known as the come together again after a period of separation or
Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart. disunity
Numerous tests were carried out on the twins,
and they were each asked more than 15,000
questions.
Bouchard and his colleagues used this mountain
of data to identify how far twins were affected by
their genetic makeup. The key to their approach
was a statistical concept called heritability. In
broad terms, the heritability of a trait measures
the extent to which differences among members
of a population can be explained by differences
in their genetics. And wherever Bouchard and
other scientists looked, it seemed, they found the
invisible hand of genetic influence helping to
shape our lives.
Lately, however, twin studies have helped lead Invisible(v) /ɪnˈvɪzəbl/: that cannot be seen
scientists to a radical new conclusion: that nature Synonym: Imperceptible
and nurture are not the only elemental forces at
work. According to a recent field called
epigenetics, there is a third factor also in play,
one that in some cases serves as a bridge
between the environment and our genes, and in
others operates on its own to shape who we are.
Epigenetic processes are chemical reactions tied
to neither nature nor nurture but representing
what researchers have called a 'third
component'. These reactions influence how our
genetic code is expressed: how each gene
is strengthened or weakened, even turned on or
off, to build our bones, brains and all the other
parts of our bodies.
If you think of our DNA as an immense piano
keyboard and our genes as the keys - each key Immense(adj): /ɪˈmɛns/: extremely large or great,
symbolizing a segment of DNA responsible for a especially in scale or degree
particular note, or trait, and all the keys Synonym: Huge, vast, massive, great, tremendous
combining to make us who we are - then
epigenetic processes determine when and how
each key can be struck, changing the tune being Symbolize(v) /ˈsɪmbəlaɪz/: be a symbol of
played. something
One way the study of epigenetics Synonym: Represent, exemplify
is revolutionizing our understanding of biology is
142
by revealing a mechanism by which the

environment directly impacts on genes. Studies Reveal(v) /rɪˈviːl/: make (previously unknown or
of animals, for example, have shown that when a secret information) known to others
rat experiences stress during pregnancy, it can Synonym: Disclose, release, tell
cause epigenetic changes in a fetus that lead
to behavioral problems as the rodent grows up.
Other epigenetic processes appear to occur Rodent(n)/ ˈrəʊdənt/: động vật gặm nhấm
randomly, while others are normal, such as those
that guide embryonic cells as they become heart,
brain, or liver cells, for example.
Geneticist Danielle Reed has worked with many
twins over the years and thought deeply about
what twin studies have taught us. 'It's very clear Hardwired(adj) /ˌhɑːdˈwaɪəd/: present when you are
when you look at twins that much of what they born and not changing during your life
share is hardwired,' she says. 'Many
things about them are absolutely the same Unalterable(adj) /ʌnˈɔːltərəbl/: not able to be
and unalterable. But it's also clear, when you get changed
to know them, that other things about them are Synonym: Unchangeable, permanent
different. Epigenetics is the origin of a lot of those
differences, in my view.'
Reed credits Thomas Bouchard's work for
today's surge in twin studies. 'He was
the trailblazer,' she says. 'We forget that 50 years
ago things like heart disease were thought to be
caused entirely by lifestyle. Schizophrenia was
thought to be due to poor mothering. Twin
studies have allowed us to be more reflective Reflective(adj) /rɪˈflɛktɪv/: thinking deeply about
about what people are actually born with things
and what's caused by experience.' Synonym: Thoughtful
Having said that, Reed adds, the latest work in

epigenetics promises to take our understanding
even further. 'What I like to say is that nature
writes some things in pencil and some things in
pen,' she says. 'Things written in pen you can't
change. That's DNA. But things written in
pencil you can. That's epigenetics. Now
that we're actually able to look at the DNA and
see where the pencil writings are, it's sort of a
whole new world.'
143
Venus in transit
June 2004 saw the first passage, known as a

‘transit’, of the planet Venus across the face of
the Sun in 122 years. Transits have helped
shape our view of the whole Universe, as
Heather Cooper and Nigel Henbest explain
A
On 8 June 2004, more than half the population
of the world were treated to a rare astronomical
event. For over six hours, the planet Venus
steadily inched its way over the surface of the Inch(v) /ɪnʧ/: move slowly and carefully in a
Sun. This ‘transit’ of Venus was the first since 6 specified direction
December 1882. On that occasion, the
American astronomer Professor Simon
Newcomb led a party to South Africa to Allege(v) /ˌaʊtpəˈfɔːm/: state as a fact but without
observe the event. They were based at a girls’ any proof
school, where - it is alleged - the combined Synonym: Suppose, profess
forces of three schoolmistresses
outperformed the professionals with Outperform(v) /ˌaʊtpəˈfɔːm/: perform better than
the accuracy of their observations. Synonym: Surpass, exceed
B
Extraordinary(adj): /ɪkˈstrɔːdnri/: unexpected,
For centuries, transits of Venus have drawn surprising or strange
explorers and astronomers alike to the four Synonym: astonishing, remarkable, exceptional,
corners of the globe. And you can put it all stunning, incredible
down to the extraordinary polymath Edmond
Halley. In November 1677, Halley observed a Transit(n) /ˈtrænzɪt /: the carrying of people, goods,
transit of the innermost planet, Mercury, from or materials from one place to another.
the desolate island of St Helena in the South Synonym: Transportation, movement, shipping
Pacific. He realised that, from different
latitudes, the passage of the planet across the Desolate(adj) /ˈdɛsəlɪt /: empty and without people
Sun’s disc would appear to differ. By timing the Synonym: Bare, uninhabited, isolated
transit from two widely-separated locations,
teams of astronomers could calculate the Latitude(n) /əˈpærənt/: độ vĩ; đường vĩ
144
parallax angle - the apparent difference in

position of an astronomical body due to a Apparent(adj)/ əˈpærənt/: clearly visible or
difference in the observer’s position. understood
Calculating this angle would allow astronomers Synonym: Evident, obvious, clear, visible
to measure what was then the ultimate goal:
the distance of the Earth from the Sun. This
distance is known as the astronomical unit’ or
AU. Ultimate(adj) /ˌɛkspɪˈdɪʃən/: being or happening at
the end of a process; final.
C Synonym: Eventual, final
Halley was aware that the AU was one of the
most fundamental of all
astronomical measurements. Johannes Kepler,
in the early 17th century, had shown that the
distances of the planets from the Sun governed
their orbital speeds, which were
easily measurable. But no-one had found a
way to calculate accurate distances to the
planets from the Earth. The goal was to
measure the AU; then, knowing the orbital
speeds of all the other planets round the Sun,
the scale of the Solar System would fall into
place. However, Halley realised that Mercury
was so far away that its parallax angle would Parallax(adj) /ˈpærəlæks/: the effect by which the
be very difficult to determine. As Venus was position or direction of an object appears to change
closer to the Earth, its parallax angle would when the object is seen from different positions
be larger, and Halley worked out that by using
Venus it would be possible to measure
the Suns distance to 1 part in 500. But there
was a problem: transits of Venus, unlike those
of Mercury, are rare, occurring in pairs roughly
eight years apart every hundred or so years.
Nevertheless, he accurately predicted that
Venus would cross the face of the Sun in both
1761 and 1769 - though he didn’t survive to
see either. Expedition(n) /ˌɛkspɪˈdɪʃən/: a journey or voyage
undertaken by a group of people with a particular
D purpose
Inspired by Halley’s suggestion of a way to pin Synonym: Journey, trip, voyage
down the scale of the Solar System, teams of
British and French astronomers set out on Diverse(adj) /daɪˈvɜːs/: showing a great deal of
expeditions to places as diverse as India and variety; very different.
Siberia. But things weren’t helped by Britain Synonym: Various
and France being at war. The person who
deserves most sympathy is the French Thwart(v) /θwɔːt/: prevent somebody from doing
astronomer Guillaume Le Gentil. what they want to do
Synonym: Frustrate
He was thwarted by the fact that the British Besiege(v) /bɪˈsiːʤ/: surround (a place) with armed
were besieging his observation site at forces in order to capture it or force its surrender;
Pondicherry in India. Fleeing on a French lay siege to
warship crossing the Indian Ocean, Le Synonym: Surround
145
Gentil saw a wonderful transit - but the ship’s

pitching and rolling ruled out any attempt Undaunted(adj) /klaʊd/: till enthusiastic and
at making accurate observations. Undaunted, determined, despite difficulties or disappointment
he remained south of the equator, Synonym: Fearless, intrepid, courage, brave, bold,
keeping himself busy by studying the islands of unafraid
Mauritius and Madagascar before setting off to Cloud(v) /klaʊd/: make a matter unclear or
observe the next transit in the Philippines. uncertain; confuse
Ironically after travelling nearly Synonym: Confuse
50,000 kilometres, his view was clouded out at Dispiriting(adj) /prɪˈsaɪz/: causing someone to lose
the last moment, a very dispiriting experience. enthusiasm and hope
Synonym: Disheartening
E Precise(adj) /smɪə/: clear and accurate
While the early transit timings were as precise Synonym: Exact, particular, specific
as instruments would allow, the measurements
were dogged by the ‘black drop’ effect. When Smear(v) /smɪə/: rub writing, a drawing, etc. so that
Venus begins to cross the Sun’s disc, it looks it is no longer clear; to become not clear in this way
smeared not circular - which makes it difficult
to establish timings. This is due to diffraction Diffraction(n) /dɪˈfrækʃən/: sự nhiễu xạ
of light. The second problem is that Venus
exhibits a halo of light when it is seen just
outside the Sun’s disc. While this showed
astronomers that Venus was surrounded by a
thick layer of gases refracting sunlight around
it, both effects made it impossible to obtain
accurate timings.
F
But astronomers laboured hard to analyse the
results of these expeditions to observe Venus
transits. Johann Franz Encke, Director of the
Berlin Observatory, finally determined a value
for the AU based on all these parallax
measurements: Supersede(v) /ˈkɒzmɪk/: take the place of (a person
153,340,000 km. Reasonably accurate for the or thing previously in authority or use)
time, that is quite close to today’s value of Synonym: Replace
149,597,870 km, determined by radar, which
has now superseded transits and all Cosmic(adj) /ˈkɒzmɪk/: relating to the universe or
other methods in accuracy. The AU is a cosmos
cosmic measuring rod, and the basis of how
we scale the Universe today. The parallax
principle can be extended to measure the
distances to the stars. If we look at a star in
January - when Earth is at one point in its orbit
- it will seem to be in a different position from
where it appears six months later. Knowing
the width of Earth’s orbit, the parallax shift lets
astronomers calculate the distance.
G
June 2004’s transit of Venus was thus more of
146
an astronomical spectacle than a scientifically

important event. But such transits have paved
the way for what might prove to be one of the Breakthrough(n) /ˈbreɪkˌθruː/: a sudden, dramatic,
most vital breakthroughs in the cosmos - and important discovery or development.
detecting Earth-sized planets orbiting other Synonym: Advance, development, improvement
stars.
147
Dino discoveries
When news breaks of the discovery of a new

species of dinosaur, you would be forgiven for
thinking that the scientists who set out in
search of the fossils are the ones who made Fossil(n) /ˈfɒsl/: hoá thạch
die find. The reality tells a different story, as
Cavan Scott explains.
The BBC series Planet Dinosaur used state-of-
the-art computer graphics to bring to life the
most impressive of those dinosaurs whose
remains have been discovered in the past
decade. One of these is Gigantoraptor
erlianensis. Discovered in 2005. It stands more
than three metres high at the hip and is the Unearth(v) /ˈstægərɪŋ/: discover (something hidden,
biggest bird-like dinosaur ever unearthed Yet lost, or kept secret) by investigation or searching
its discoverer, Xu Xing of Beijing's Institute of Synonym: Discover, find
Vertebrate Palaeontology and
Paleoanthropology, was not even looking for it
at the time. He was recording a documentary in
the Gobi Desert. Inner Mongolia.
'The production team were filming me and a
geologist digging out what we thought were
sauropod bones.' says Xu. 'when I realised the Staggering(adj) /ˈstæɡərɪŋ/: so great, shocking or
fossils were something else entirely.' surprising that it is difficult to believe
Gigantoraptor, as it later became known, Synonym: Amazing, astonishing, astounding,
turned out to be an oviraptorid, a therapod with shocking
a bird-like beak. Its size was staggering. The Sheer(adj) /ˈɒpətjuːnɪzm/: used to emphasize the
largest oviraptorid previously discovered had size, degree or amount of something; nothing other
been comparable in size to an emu: the than
majority were about as big as a turkey. Here Synonym: Utter, absolute, total
was a creature that was probably about eight Opportunism(n) /ˈbəʊgəs/: the taking of
metres long, if the bone analysis was anything opportunities as and when they arise, regardless of
to go by. planning or principle
Synonym: Expediency, exploitation
Sometimes it is sheer opportunism that plays
148
a part in the discovery of a new species. In

1999. the National Geographic Society
announced that the missing link between
dinosaurs and modern birds had finally been
found. Named Archaeoraptor lianoingensis, the
fossil in question appeared to have the head
and body of a bird, with the hind legs and tail of
a 124-million-year-old dromaeosaur - a family
of small theropods that include the bird-like
Velociraptor made famous by Jurassic Park
films.
There was a good reason why the fossil looked Bogus(adj) / ˈboʊ.ɡəs /: not genuine or true; fake
half-bird, half-dinosaur. CT scans almost
immediately proved the specimen was bogus Synonym: False, fake
and had been created by an industrious
Chinese farmer who had glued two separate Hoax(n) /həʊks/: an act intended to make somebody
fossils together to create a profitable hoax. believe something that is not true
But while the palaeontologists behind the Synonym: Joke, prank
announcement were wiping egg off their faces,
others, including Xu were taking note. The
head and body of the fake composite
belonged to Yanornis martini, a primitive fish- Composite(n) /ˈprɪmɪtɪv/: a thing made up of several
eating bird from around 120 million years ago. parts or elements
The dromaeosaur tail and hind legs, however, Synonym: Compound, combination, mixture
were covered in what looked like fine proto
feathers. That fossil turned out to be something Primitive(adj) /ˈprɪmɪtɪv/: belonging to an early stage
special. In 2000. Xu named it Microraptor and in the development of humans or animals
revealed that it had probably lived in the Synonym: Ancient, first, prehistoric, primal
treetops. Although it couldn't fly. Its curved
claws provided the first real evidence that
dinosaurs could have climbed trees. Three
years later. Xu and his team discovered a
closely related Microraptor species which
changed everything. 'Microraptor had two
salient features.' Xu explains, long feathers
were attached not just to its forearms but to its
legs and claws. Then we noticed that these
long feathers had asymmetrical vanes, a
feature often associated with flight capability.
This meant that we might have found a flying Associate(v) /bliːk/: connect (someone or
dinosaur.' something) with something else
Some extraordinary fossils have remained Synonym: Link, connect, relate

hidden in a collection and almost forgotten. For Bleak(adj) /bliːk/: exposed, empty, or with no
the majority of the 20th century, the pleasant features
palaeontology community had ignored the
frozen tundra of north Alaska. There was no Synonym: Bare, desolate, desert, empty
way, scientists believed, that cold-blooded
dinosaurs could survive in such bleak, frigid Frigid(adj) /ˈfrɪʤɪd/: very cold in temperature
conditions. But according to Alaskan dinosaur Synonym: Frozen, freezing, frosty
expert Tony Fiorillo. they eventually realised
149
they were missing a trick.

The first discovery of dinosaurs in Alaska was
actually made by a geologist called Robert
Liscomb in 1961.' says Fiorillo. 'Unfortunately,
Robert was killed in a rockslide the following Languish(v) /ˈpɜːməfrɒst/: suffer from being forced
year, so his discoveries languished in a to remain in an unpleasant place or situation
warehouse for the next two decades.' In the Synonym: Waste away, abandon, neglect
mid-1980s, managers at the warehouse
stumbled upon the box containing Liscomb's
fossils during a spring clean. The bones were
sent to the United States Geological Survey, Permafrost(n) /ˈkaʊntəpɑːt/: a thick subsurface layer
where they were identified as belonging to of soil that remains frozen throughout the year,
Edmontosaurus, a duck-billed hadrosaur. occurring chiefly in polar regions.
Today, palaeontologists roam this frozen Counterpart(n) /ˈkaʊntəpɑːt/: a person or thing that
treasure trove searching for remains locked has the same position or function as
away in the permafrost. somebody/something else in a different place or
The rewards are worth the effort. While situation
studying teeth belonging to the relatively Synonym: Peer, mate, fellow
intelligent Troodon therapod. Fiorillo discovered
the teeth of the Alaskan Troodon were double Dawn(n) /dɔːn /: the first appearance of light in the
the size of those of its southern counterpart. sky before sunrise
'Even though the morphology of individual teeth Synonym: Sunrise
resembled that of Troodon. The size was
significantly larger than the Troodon found in Dusk(n) /dʌsk/: the darker stage of twilight
warmer climates. Fiorillo says that the reason Synonym: Twilight, evening, sunset
lies in the Troodon's large eyes, which allowed
it to hunt at dawn and at dusk - times when Struggle(v) /ˈdɒmɪnənt/: to try very hard to do
other dinosaurs would have struggled to see. something when it is difficult or when there are a lot
In the polar conditions of Cretaceous Alaska, of problems
where the Sun would all but disappear for
months on end, this proved a useful talent. Synonym: Attempt, effort
Troodon adapted for life in the extraordinary
light regimes of the polar world. With this Regime(n) /reɪˈʒiːm/: a method or system of
advantage, it took over as Alaska's dominant organizing or managing something
therapod.' explains Fiorillo.
Finding itself at the top of the food chain, the Dominant(adj) /prəˈpɔːʃən/: most important,
dinosaur evolved to giant proportions. powerful, or influential
It is true that some of the most staggering of Synonym: Ruling, supreme

recent developments have come from
palaeontologists being in the right place at the Proportion(n) /prəˈpɔːʃə/: the measurements of
right time, but this is no reflection on their something; its size and shape
knowledge or expertise. After all, not everyone Synonym: Dimension, portion
knows when they've stumbled upon something
remarkable. When Argentine sheep farmer Stumble(v) /ˈstʌmbl/: hit your foot against something
Guillermo Heredia uncovered what he believed while you are walking or running and almost fall
was a petrified tree Irunk on his Patagonian
farm in 1988. he had no way of realising that
he'd found a 1.5-metre- long tibia of the largest
sauropod ever known to walk the Earth.
150
Argenlinosaurus was 24 metres long and

weighed 75 tonnes. The titanosaur was brought
to the attention of the scientific community in
1993 by Rodolfo Coria and Jose Bonaparte of Ordinary(adj) /ˈɔːdnri/: with no special or distinctive
the National Museum of Natural Sciences in features; normal
Buenos Aires. Coria points out that most Synonym: Usual, normal, day-to-day, common
breakthroughs are not made by scientists, but
by ordinary folk. 'But the real scientific Folk(n) /ˈdɛdɪkeɪtɪd/: people
discovery is not the finding; it's what we learn
from that finding.' While any one of us can Dedicated(adj)/ ˈdɛdɪkeɪtɪd/: devoted to a task or
unearth a fossil, it takes dedicated scientists to purpose; having single-minded loyalty or integrity
see beyond the rock. Synonym: Committed, devoted
151
The psychology of innovation
Why are so few companies truly innovative?

Innovation is key to business survival, and Survival(n) /səbˈstænʃəl/: the state or fact of
companies put substantial resources into continuing to live or exist, typically in spite of an
inspiring employees to develop new ideas. There accident, ordeal, or difficult circumstances.
are, nevertheless, people working in luxurious, Synonym: Endurance, continuity
state-of-the-art centres designed to stimulate
innovation who find that their environment Substantial(adj) /səbˈstænʃl/: large in amount,
doesn’t make them feel at all creative. And there value or importance
are those who don’t have a budget, or much
space, but who innovate successfully. Synonym: Consideration, significant, notable
For Robert B. Cialdini, Professor of Psychology Luxurious(adj) /ˈstɪmjʊleɪt/: extremely
at Arizona State University, one reason that comfortable, elegant, or enjoyable, especially in a
companies don’t succeed as often as they should way that involves great expense
is that innovation starts with recruitment. Synonym: Deluxe, grand, magnificent, fancy
Research shows that the fit between an
employee’s values and a company’s values Stimulate(v) /ˈstɪmjʊleɪt/: encourage interest or
makes a difference to what contribution they activity in (a person or animal)
make and whether, two years after they join, Synonym: Encourage, motivate, trigger, prompt,
they’re still at the company. Studies at Harvard spark
Business School show that, although some
individuals may be more creative than others, Recruitment(n) /ˈsɜːkəmstəns/: the action of
almost every individual can be creative in the finding new people to join an organization
right circumstances.
Circumstance(n)/ ɪnˈstɪŋktɪvli/: hoàn cảnh,
One of the most famous photographs in the story trường hợp, tình huống
of rock’n’roll emphasises Ciaidini’s views. The Synonym: Situation
1956 picture of singers Elvis Presley, Carl
Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis
jamming at a piano in Sun Studios in Memphis
tells a hidden story. Sun’s ‘million-dollar quartet’
could have been a quintet. Missing from the
picture is Roy Orbison’ a greater natural singer
than Lewis, Perkins or Cash. Sam Phillips, who
owned Sun, wanted to revolutionise popular
152
music with songs that fused black and white

music, and country and blues. Presley, Cash, Instinctively(adj) /(/: without conscious thought;
Perkins and Lewis instinctively understood by natural instinct
Phillips’s ambition and believed in it. Orbison Synonym: Intuitively, naturally
wasn’t inspired by the goal, and only ever
achieved one hit with the Sun label. Ambition(n) /æmˈbɪʃ(ə)n /: a strong desire to do
or to achieve something
The value fit matters, says Cialdini, because Synonym: Desire, aspiration, intention, purpose
innovation is, in part, a process of change, and
under that pressure we, as a species, behave Counterintuitive(adj) /ˌkaʊntər ɪnˈtjuːɪtɪv/: the
differently, ‘When things change, we are hard- opposite of what you would expect or what seems
wired to play it safe.’ Managers should therefore to be obvious
adopt an approach that appears Synonym: Unreasonable
counterintuitive -they should explain what
stands to be lost if the company fails to seize a Invariably(adv) / ˈgæmbl /: always
particular opportunity. Studies show that we
invariably take more gambles when threatened Gamble(n) /ˈɡæmbl/: an action that you take
with a loss than when offered a reward. when you know there is a risk but when you hope
Managing innovation is a delicate art. It’s easy for that the result will be a success
a company to be pulled in conflicting directions
as the marketing, product development, and
finance departments each get different feedback
from different sets of people. And without a
system which ensures collaborative exchanges Collaborative(adj) /kəˈlab(ə)rədiv/: produced or
within the company, it’s also easy for small conducted by two or more parties working
‘pockets of innovation‟ to disappear. Innovation is together
a contact sport. You can‟t brief people just by Synonym: Synergic, cooperative
saying, ‘We’re going in this direction and I’m
going to take you with me.’
Cialdini believes that this ‘follow-the-leader
syndrome, is dangerous, not least because it Syndrome(n) /ˈsɪndrəʊm/: a set of opinions or a
encourages bosses to go get it alone. ‘It’s been way of behaving that is typical of a particular type
scientifically proven that three people will be of person, attitude or social problem
better than one at solving problems, even if that
one person is the smartest person in the field.’ To
prove his point, Cialdini cites an interview with
molecular biologist James Watson. Watson,
together with Francis Crick, discovered the
structure of DNA, the genetic information carrier
of all living organisms. ‘When asked how they
had cracked the code ahead of an array of highly
accomplished rival investigators, he said
something that stunned me. He said ”he and
Crick had succeeded because they were aware
that they weren’t the most intelligent of the Pursue(v) / pəˈsjuː /: seek to attain or accomplish
scientists pursuing the answer. The smartest (a goal), especially over a long period.
scientist was called Rosalind Franklin who, Synonym: Seek
Watson said, “was so intelligent she rarely
sought advice”.’
Teamwork taps into one of the basic drivers of
153
human behaviour. ‘The principle of social proof is

so pervasive that we don’t even recognise it,’ Pervasive(adj) / pɜːˈveɪsɪv /: existing in all parts
says Cialdini. ‘If your project is being resisted, for of a place or thing; spreading gradually to affect
example, by a group of veteran employees, ask all parts of a place or thing
another old-timer to speak up for it.’ Cialdini is Synonym: Widespread, general, prevalent
not alone in advocating this strategy. Research
shows that peer power, used horizontally not old-timer: an old man, or someone who has been
vertically, is much more powerful than any or worked in a place for a longtime
boss’s speech.
Advocate(v) / ˈvɪzjʊəlaɪz /: publicly recommend
Writing, visualising and prototyping can or support
stimulate the flow of new ideas. Cialdini cites Synonym: Recommend, urge
scores of research papers and historical events
that prove that even something as simple as Visualize(v) / ˈvɪzjʊəlaɪz /: form a mental image
writing deepens every individual’s engagement in of; imagine
the project. It is, he says, the reason why all Synonym: Envisage, imagine, picture, see,
those competitions on breakfast cereal packets envision
encouraged us to write in saying, in no more than
10 words: ‘I like Kellogg’s Com Flakes because… Prototype(v) /ˈprəʊtətaɪp/: make a prototype (the
.’ The very act of writing makes us more likely to first design of something from which other forms
believe it. are copied or developed)
Authority doesn’t have to inhibit innovation but it
often does. The wrong kind of leadership will lead
to what Cialdini calls ”captainitis, the regrettable Inhibit(v) /ɪnˈhɪbɪt/: hinder, restrain, or prevent
tendency of team members to opt out of team (an action or process)
responsibilities that are properly their’. He calls it Synonym: Discourage, hamper, impede, hinder,
captainitis because, he says, ”crew members of obstruct
multipilot aircraft exhibit a sometimes deadly
passivity when the flight captain makes a clearly
wrong-headed decision”. This behaviour is not, Passivity(n) /pæˈsɪvəti/: the state of accepting
he says, unique to air travel, but can happen in what happens without reacting or trying to fight
any workplace where the leader is overbearing. against it
At the other end of the scale is the 1980s Overbearing(adj) /ˌəʊvəˈbeərɪŋ/: trying to control
Memphis design collective, a group of young other people in an unpleasant way
designers for whom ”the only rule was that there Synonym: Bossy, autocratic, oppressive
were no rule”. This environment encouraged a
free interchange of ideas, which led to more Interchange(n) / ˌsɪməlˈteɪniəsli /: the action of
creativity with form, function, colour and materials exchanging things, especially information
that revolutionised attitudes to furniture design. Synonym: Trade, exchange
Many theorists believe the ideal boss should lead
from behind, taking pride in collective
accomplishment and giving credit where it is due.
Cialdini says:”Leaders should encourage
everyone to contribute and simultaneously
assure all concerned that every recommendation Simultaneously(adv) / ˌsɪməlˈteɪniəsli /: at the
is important to making the right decision and will same time
be given full attention” The frustrating thing about
innovation is that there are many approaches,
but no magic formula.
154
The Rise and Fall of the British

Textile Industry
Textile production in Britain can be said to Textile(n) /ɪsˈtæblɪʃ/: a type of cloth or woven fabric
have its roots as an industry at the beginning of Synonym: Fabric, material, cloth
the 18th century, when Thomas Crotchet and
George Sorocold established what is thought Establish(v) /ˈmænjʊəli/: set up (an organization,
to be the first factory built in Britain. It was a system, or set of rules) on a firm or permanent basis
textile mill with a waterwheel as its source of Synonym: Start, initiate, commence, form, create
power, the latest machinery, and even
accommodation for the workers. As well as
possibly being the first sweatshop in the
modem sense, it was the beginning of the end
for traditional textile production.
For hundreds of years the spinning and Manually(adv) /ˈmænjʊəli/: by hand
weaving of cloth had been done manually by
men, women and children in their own homes.
The yarn would be combed and spun using a
spindle, then woven on a hand loom, and what Consumption(n) /səˈfɪstɪkeɪtɪd/: the using up of a
they produced would be mainly for local resource; sự tiêu thị
consumption. Technology far more Synonym: Use, utilization
sophisticated than the spindle and hand-loom
would change all that. Sophisticated(adj) /ˈfæbrɪk/: developed to a high
The demand for cotton textiles had been degree of complexity
growing since the Middle Ages, fostered by the Synonym: Advance, modern
importation of high quality cotton fabrics from
the Middle East and India. So how were local Fabric(n) /ˈsʌbstɪtjuːt /: cloth, typically produced by
producers to fight off the competition? The weaving or knitting textile fibers
imported fabrics were of course expensive, so Synonym: Material, textile
155
textile makers (not just in Britain but throughout Substitute(n) /bæn/: a person or thing acting or
Europe) produced mixed fabrics and cotton serving in place of another.
substitutes. They also had foreign textiles Synonym: Replacement
banned. But the key to the increased
productivity needed to meet the demand, was Ban(v) /kənˈsɪstənt/: officially or legally prohibit
machine production. It would be faster, cheaper Synonym: Prohibit, block, stop, disallow
and the finished products would be consistent
in quality. Not least of the advantages was that Consistent(adj) /kənˈsɪstənt/: unchanging in nature,
it would allow manufacturers to market their standard, or effect over time
goods on a large, if not yet global, scale. Synonym: Unchanging, constant, uniform, steady,
stable
The story of the growth of the British textile
industry from about 1733 and for the next two
hundred years is one of constant technological
innovation and expansion. In 1733 John Kay
invented the fly-shuttle, which made the hand-
loom more efficient, and in 1764 James
Hargreaves came up with the spinning jenny,
which among other things had the effect of Eightfold(adj) /ˈeɪt.fəʊld/: being eight times as great
raising productivity eightfold. The next great
innovator was Richard Arkwright, who in 1768
employed John Kay (of the fly-shuttle) to help Vision(n) /ˈvɪʒn/: the ability to think about or plan
him build more efficient machinery. He was a the future with great imagination and intelligence
man with a vision – to mechanise textile Synonym: Foresight, insight
production – and by 1782 he had a network of
mills across Britain. As the water-powered Mechanise(v) /ˈmɛkənaɪz/: introduce machines or
machinery, though not yet fully mechanised, automatic devices into (a process, activity, or place)
became more complex, Kay began to use
steam engines for power.The first power-loom,
however, which was invented in 1785 by Dr
Edmund Cartwright, really did mechanise the
weaving stage of textile manufacture.
The pace of growth quickened with the
expansion of Britain’s influence in the world Acquisition(n) /ˈkwɒdrʊpl/: the act of getting
and the acquisition of colonies from which something
cheap raw materials could be imported. For Synonym: Gain, possession
example, in a single decade, from 1781 to
1791, imports of cotton into Britain Quadruple(v) /sɔː/: increase or be increased
quadrupled, going on to reach 100 million fourfold
pounds in weight in 1815 and 263 million in
1830. The increase in exports is equally
impressive; in 1751 £46,000 worth of cloth was
exported and by the end of the century this had
risen to £5.4 million. By the end of the Soar(v) /sɔː/: increase rapidly above the usual level
19th century the figure had soared to close on Synonym: Increase, escalate, rise, spiral
£50 million. Britain was now supplying cheaper
and better quality clothing to a global market.
Yet during the course of the 20th century Britain
lost its position as a major textile manufacturer.
So what happened? There are a number of
views on this question, not all of them
156
conflicting, and where there is disagreement it

is usually about when the decline began.
Whether it began before the First World War
(1914-18), or during the inter-war years (1919-
1939), or after 1945, most economists would
give roughly the same reasons. To start with,
there was competition from abroad, especially
from developing countries in the Far East,
notably Japan. It was thought by manufacturers
that the best way to combat this increased Combat(v) /ˈkɒmbæt /: take action to reduce,
competition was to modernise. However, destroy, or prevent (something undesirable)
management and the labour unions were Synonym: Fight, battle, counter, attack
unable to agree on how to handle this situation.
Modernize(v) /prɪˈdɒmɪnənt/: adapt (something) to
Modernisation would mean people losing their modern needs or habits, typically by installing
jobs and possibly a change in labour practices. modern equipment or adopting modern ideas or
Such changes as were made served only to methods.
slow down the industry’s decline rather than Synonym: Update
help regain its predominant position.
Economically less developed countries, on the
other hand, had the advantage of being able to Predominant(adj) /ˈnəʊtɪsəbl/: having or exerting
provide low wage competition, without the control or power
problem of powerful labour unions. Synonym: Preeminent, leading, dominant, superior
There are, of course, many other reasons for
the textile industry’s decline, two of which
became particularly noticeable in the late Noticeable(adj) /ˌaʊtˈsɔːs/: easily seen or noticed;
twentieth century and are related. The first is clear or apparent
outsourcing, when manufacturers establish Synonym: Apparent, obvious, evident
factories in countries where there is cheap
labour. This obviously leads to less demand Outsource(v) /ˌaʊtˈsɔːs/: obtain (goods or a
for locally-produced goods. Related to this, the service) from an outside or foreign supplier,
textile and clothing industries have acquired a especially in place of an internal source.
bad reputation for exploiting workers, often
illegal immigrants, in sweatshops where they Reputation(n) /ˌrɛpju(ː)ˈteɪʃən /: the beliefs or
are forced to work long hours and are paid far opinions that are generally held about someone or
less than the minimum wage. something
Synonym: Name, image, standing, position
We seem to be back with Crotchet and Exploit(v) /ˈɪmɪgrənt/: make full use of and derive
Sorocold and their first live-in factory. The benefit from (a resource); bóc lột
globalising trend of out sourcing, however, was Synonym: Use, utilize, harness
a rational response to the growing competition Immigrant(n) /ˈræʃənl/: a person who comes to live
from overseas, which, it goes without saying, permanently in a foreign country
does not excuse the exploitation of workers. Synonym: Migrant, settler
The British industry itself, while no longer Rational(adj) /ˈræʃənl/: based on or in accordance
holding a key place in the global textile market, with reason or logic
has adapted itself and now concentrates more Synonym: Reasonable, logical, sensible
on the world of fashion and design, where it
seems to be doing quite well.
157
Spoken Corpus comes to life
The compiling of dictionaries has been Compile(v) /kəmˈpaɪl/: produce (something,

historically the provenance of studious especially a list, report, or book) by assembling
professorial types - usually bespectacled - information collected from other sources.
who love to pore over weighty tomes and Synonym: Assemble, compose, arrange
make pronouncements on the finer nuances Provenance(n) /ˈprɒvɪnəns/: the beginning of
of meaning. They were probably good at something's existence; something's origin.
crosswords and definitely knew a lot of words, Synonym: Origin, source
but the image was always rather dry and Studious(adj) /ˈstjuːdiəs/: spending a lot of time
dusty. The latest technology, and simple studying or reading
technology at that, is revolutionising the Synonym: Academic, scholarly, intellectual
content of dictionaries and the way they are Bespectacled(adj) /bɪˈspɛktəkld/: wearing
put together. eyeglasses
Pore over(phr v) /pɔː ˈəʊvə/: look at and study
For the first time, dictionary publishers are something
incorporating real, spoken English into their Synonym: Study, learn
data. It gives lexicographers (people who write Pronouncement(n) /prəˈnaʊnsmənt/: a formal or
dictionaries) access to a more vibrant, up-to- authoritative announcement or declaration
date vernacular language which has never Synonym: Announcement, assertion, proclamation,
really been studied before. In one project, 150 affirmation
volunteers each agreed to discreetly tie a
Walkman recorder to their waist and leave it Incorporate(v) /ɪnˈkɔːpərɪt /: take in or contain
running for anything up to two weeks. Every (something) as part of a whole
conversation they had was recorded. When Synonym: Include, integrate
the data was collected, the length of tapes
was 35 times the depth of the Atlantic Ocean. Vibrant(adj) /ˈvaɪbrənt/: full of energy and
Teams of audio typists transcribed the tapes enthusiasm
to produce a computerised database of ten Synonym: Energetic, lively, passionate, dynamic
million words.
Vernacular(adj) /vəˈnækjʊlə/: tiếng bản xứ; spoken
This has been the basis - along with an as one's mother tongue
existing written corpus - for the Language Synonym: Native, indigenous
Activator dictionary, described by
lexicographer Professor Randolph Quirk as Transcribe(v) /trænsˈfɔːm/: put (thoughts, speech, or
“the book the world has been waiting for”. It data) into written or printed form
shows advanced foreign learners of English
how the language is really used. In the
dictionary, key words such as “eat” are
followed by related phrases such as “wolf
158
down” or “be a picky eater”, allowing the

student to choose the appropriate phrase.
“This kind of research would be impossible

without computers,” said Delia Summers, a
director of dictionaries. “It has transformed Transform(v) /trænsˈfɔːm/: make a thorough or
the way lexicographers work. If you look at the dramatic change in the form, appearance, or
word “like”, you may intuitively think that the character of something
first and most frequent meaning is the verb, as Synonym: Change, alter, convert, mutate
in “I like swimming”. It is not. It is the
preposition, as in: “she walked like a duck”. Intuitively(adv) /ɪnˈtju(ː)ɪtɪvli /: without conscious
Just because a word or phrase is used doesn’t reasoning
mean it ends up in a dictionary. The sifting Synonym: Instinctively
out process is as vital as ever. But the
database does allow lexicographers to search Sift out(phr v) /sɪft aʊt/: to remove one part of
for a word and find out how frequently it is something
used - something that could only be guessed Synonym: Remove, exclude
at intuitively before.
Researchers have found that written English
works in a very different way to spoken
English. The phrase “say what you like”
literally means “feel free to say anything you
want”, but in reality it is used, evidence shows,
by someone to prevent the other person
voicing disagreement. The phrase “it”s a Enquiry(n) /ɪnˈkwaɪəri/: act of asking question
question of crops up on the database over and Synonym: Query, inquiry, question
over again. It has nothing to do with enquiry,
but it’s one of the most frequent English Inventive(adj) /ɪnˈvɛntɪv/: having the ability to create
phrases which has never been in a language or design new things or to think originally
learner’s dictionary before: it is now. Synonym: Original, creative, innovative
The Spoken Corpus computer shows how
inventive and humorous people are when Humorous(adj) /ˈhjuːmərəs/: having or showing a
they are using language by twisting familiar sense of humor
phrases for effect. It also reveals the power of Synonym: Amusing, funny, comic, hilarious
the pauses and noises we use to play for time,
convey emotion, doubt and irony. Convey(v) /kənˈveɪ/: to make ideas, feelings, etc.
For the moment, those benefiting most from known to somebody
the Spoken Corpus are foreign learners.
“Computers allow lexicographers to search Synonym: Communicate, tell
quickly through more examples of real Irony(n) /ˈaɪərəni/: the expression of one's meaning
English,” said Professor Geoffrey Leech of by using language that normally signifies the
Lancaster University. “They allow dictionaries opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect
to be more accurate and give a feel for how
language is being used.” The Spoken Corpus Initiative(n) /ɪˈnɪʃɪətɪv/: a new plan for dealing with a
is part of the larger British National Corpus, an particular problem or for achieving a particular
initiative carried out by several groups purpose
involved in the production of language learning Synonym: Action
materials: publishers, universities and the
British Library
159
This Marvellous Invention
Manifold(adj) /ˈædvənt/: many and various

A Synonym: Many, various, multiple, several, diverse
Advent(n) /ˈædvənt/: the arrival of a notable
Of all mankinds manifold creations, language person, thing, or event
must take pride of place. Other inventions -the Synonym: Arrival, appearance, occurrence, birth,
wheel, agriculture, sliced bread - may have rise, development
transformed our material existence, but the Pale(v) /peɪl/: seem less impressive or important
advent of language is what made us human. Originate(v) /əˈrɪʤɪneɪt/: have a specified
Compared to language, all other inventions beginning
pale in significance, since everything we have Synonym: Arise, start, begin, emerge
ever achieved depends on language and Embark(v) /ɪmˈbɑːk/: begin (a course of action,
originates from it. Without language, we could especially one that is important or demanding)
never have embarked on our ascent to Synonym: Begin, start, commence, undertake
unparalleled power over all other animals, and Ascent(n) /əˈsɛnt /: the process of moving forward
even over nature itself. to a better position or of making progress
B Synonym: Progress, improvement
Foremost(adj) /ˈfɔːməʊst/: most prominent in rank,
But language is foremost not just because it importance, or position
came first. In its own right it is a tool Synonym: Leading, best, outstanding
of extraordinary sophistication, yet based on Sophistication(n)/ səˌfɪstɪˈkeɪʃən/: the quality of
an idea of ingenious simplicity: ‘this being sophisticated (complicated in the way that it
marvellous invention of composing out of works or is presented)
twenty-five or thirty sounds that infinite variety Ingenious(adj) /ɪnˈʤiːniəs/: clever, original, and
of expressions which, whilst having in inventive
themselves no likeness to what is in our mind,
allow us to disclose to others its whole secret, Synonym: Inventive, creative innovation, original
and to make known to those who cannot Simplicity(n) /sɪmˈplɪsɪti/: the quality or condition of
penetrate it all that we imagine, and all the being easy to understand or do
various stirrings of our soul’ This was how, in
1660, the renowned French grammarians of the Synonym: Clarity, intelligibility, accessibility
Port-Royal abbey near Versailles distilled
the essence of language, and no one since has Penetrate(v) /ˈpɛnɪtreɪt/: to be understood or
celebrated more eloquently the magnitude of realized by somebody
its achievement. Even so, there is just one flaw Synonym: Understand, comprehend
in all these hymns of praise, for the homage
160
to languages unique accomplishment conceals Distill(v) /dɪˈstɪl/: extract the essential meaning or
a simple yet critical incongruity. Language most important aspects of
is mankind’s greatest invention - except, of Essence(n) /ˈɛsns/: the most important quality or
course, that it was never invented. This feature of something, that makes it what it is
apparent paradox is at the core of our Synonym: Nature
fascination with language, and it holds many of Magnitude(n) /ˈmægnɪtjuːd/: the great size or
its secrets. extent of something
Synonym: Immensity, enormity, vastness
C Homage(n) /ˈhɒmɪʤ/: special honor or respect
Language often seems so skillfully drafted that shown publicly
one can hardly imagine it as anything other than Synonym: Admiration, respect, honor, worship
the perfected handiwork of a master craftsman. Conceal(v) /kənˈsiːl/: keep (something) secret;
How else could this instrument make so much prevent from being known or noticed
out of barely three dozen measly morsels of Synonym: Hide, cover
sound? In themselves, these configurations of Critical(adj) /ˈkrɪtɪkəl/: extremely important
mouth p,f,b,v,t,d,k,g,sh,a,e and so on - amount Synonym: Crucial, essential fundamental, vital,
to nothing more than a few haphazard spits and decisive
splutters, random noises with no meaning, no Incongruity(n) /ˌɪnkɒŋˈgru(ː)ɪti /: the fact of being
ability to express, no power to explain. But run strange and not suitable in a situation
them through the cogs and wheels of the Synonym: Inappropriateness
language machine, let it arrange them in some
very special orders, and there is nothing that Paradox(n) /ˈpærədɒks/: a person, thing or situation
these meaningless streams of air cannot do: that has two opposite features and therefore seems
from sighing the interminable boredom of strange
existence to unravelling the fundamental order Synonym: Contradiction
of the universe.
Configuration(n) /kənˌfɪgjʊˈreɪʃən/: an arrangement
D of elements in a particular form, figure, or
the most extraordinary thing about language, combination
however, is that one doesn’t have to be a genius Synonym: Arrangement, layout, order, grouping
to set its wheels in motion. The language Haphazard(adj) /ˈhæpˈhæzəd/: lacking any obvious
machine allows just about everybody from pre- principle of organization
modern foragers in the subtropical savannah, to Synonym: Random, chaotic, irregular, disorganized
post-modern philosophers in the suburban Interminable(n) /ɪnˈtɜːmɪnəbl/: endless
sprawl - to tie these meaningless sounds Synonym: Unending, nonstop, ceaseless,
together into an infinite variety of subtle senses, everlasting
and all apparently without the slightest exertion. Unravel(v) /ʌnˈrævəl/: to explain something that is
Yet it is precisely this deceptive ease which difficult to understand or is mysterious; to become
makes language a victim of its own success, clearer or easier to understand
since in everyday life its triumphs are usually Synonym: Solve, resolve, clarify
taken for granted. The wheels of language run
so smoothly that one rarely bothers to stop and Exertion(n) /ɪgˈzɜːʃən/: physical or mental effort; the
think about all the resourcefulness and expertise act of making an effort
that must have gone into making it tick. Synonym: Effort, struggle, endevour
Language conceals art.
Deceptive(adj) /dɪˈsɛptɪv/: giving an appearance or
E impression different from the true one
Synonym: Misleading
Often, it is only the estrangement of foreign
Estrangement(n) /ɪsˈtreɪnʤmənt/: the fact of no
tongues, with their many exotic and
longer being on friendly terms or part of a social
outlandish features, that brings home the
group.
wonder of languages design. One of the
161
showiest stunts that some languages can pull Exotic(adj) /ɪgˈzɒtɪk/: originating in or characteristic
off is an ability to build up words of breath- of a distant foreign country
breaking length, and thus express in one word Synonym: Foreign
what English takes a whole sentence to say. Outlandish(adj) /aʊtˈlændɪʃ/: strange or extremely
The Turkish word unusual
çehirliliçtiremediklerimizdensiniz, to take one Synonym: Weird, queer, bizarre
example, means nothing less than ‘you are one Stunt(n) /stʌnt/: an action displaying spectacular
of those whom we can’t turn into a town- skill and daring
dweller’. (In case you were wondering, Monstrosity(n) /mɒnsˈtrɒsɪti/: something that is
this monstrosity really is one word, not merely very large and very ugly
many different words squashed together - most Synonym: Eyesore
of its components cannot even stand up on their
own.)
F
And if that sounds like some one-off freak, then
consider Sumerian, the language spoken on the
banks of the Euphrates some 5,000 years ago
by the people who invented writing and thus
enabled the documentation of history. A
Sumerian word like munintuma'a (‘when he had
made it suitable for her’) might seem rather trim
compared to the Turkish colossus above. What
is so impressive about it, however, is not its
lengthiness but rather the reverse - the thrifty Thrifty(adj) /ˈθrɪfti/: carefully using something, not
compactness of its construction. The word is wasting
made up of different slots, each corresponding Compactness(n) /ˈkɒmpæktnəs /: the fact of using
to a particular portion of meaning. This sleek or filling only a small amount of space
design allows single sounds to convey useful
information, and in fact even the absence of a
sound has been enlisted to express something Enlist(v)/ ɪnˈlɪst/: engage (a person or their help or
specific. If you were to ask which bit in the support)
Sumerian word corresponds to the pronoun ‘it’ in Synonym: Obtain
the English translation ‘when he had made it
suitable for her’, then the answer would have to
be nothing. Mind you, a very particular kind of
nothing: the nothing that stands in the empty slot
in the middle. The technology is so fine-tuned Nifty(adj) /ˈnɪfti/: particularly good, skillful, or
then that even a non-sound, when carefully effective
placed in a particular position, has been Synonym: Skillful, capable
invested with a specific function. Who could
possibly have come up with such a nifty Contraption(n) /kənˈtræpʃən/: a machine or piece
contraption? of equipment that looks strange
162
Listening section
163
Creating artificial gills
In my talk today I’ll be exploring the idea of artificial gills. I’ll start by introducing the concept, giving
some background and so forth and then I’ll go on to explain the technological applications, including
a short, very simple, experiment I conducted.
Starting with the background ... As everyone knows, all living creatures need oxygen to live.
Mammals take in oxygen from the atmosphere by using their lungs, and fishes take oxygen from
water by means of their gills, which of course in most fishes are located either side of their head.
But human beings have always dreamt of being able to swim underwater like the fishes, breathing
without the help of oxygen tanks. I don’t know whether any of you have done any scuba diving but
it’s a real pain having to use all that equipment. You need special training, and it’s generally agreed
that tanks are too heavy and big to enable most people to move and work comfortably underwater.
So scientists are trying a different tack: rather than humans carrying an oxygen supply as they go
underwater, wouldn’t it possible to extract oxygen in situ, that is, directly from the water, whilst
swimming?
In the nineteen sixties the famous underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau, for example, predicted
that one day surgery could be used to equip humans with gills. He believed our lungs could be
bypassed and we would learn to live underwater just as naturally as we live on land. But of course,
most of us would prefer not to go to such extremes.
I’ve been looking at some fairly simple technologies developed to extract oxygen from water - ways
to produce a simple, practical artificial gill enabling humans to live and breathe in water without
harm. Now, how scientists and inventors went about this was to look at the way different animals
handled this - fairly obviously they looked at the way fishes breathe but also how they move down
and float up to the surface using inflatable sacs, called swim bladders. Scientists also looked at
animals without gills, which use bubbles of air underwater, notablybeetles. These insects contrive to
stay underwater for long periods by breathing from this bubble which they hold under their wing
cases.
164
By looking at these animal adaptations, inventors began to come up with their own ‘artificial gills’.
Now making a crude gill is actually rather easy - more straightforward than you would think. You take
a watertight box ... which is made of a material which is permeable to gas, that is, it allows it to pass
through, inwards and outwards. You then fill this with air, fix it to the diver’s face and go down
underwater. But a crucial factor is that the diver has to keep the water moving, so that water high in
oxygen is always in contact with the gill, so he can’t really stay still. And to maximise this contact it’s
necessary for your gill to have a big surface area. Different gill designers have addressed this
problem in different ways but many choose to use a network or lattice-arrangement of tiny tubes as
part of their artificial gills. Then the diver is able to breathe in and out - oxygen from the water passes
through the outer walls of the gill and carbon-dioxide is expelled. In a nut-shell, that’s how the
artificial gill works.
So, having read about these simple gill mechanisms, I decided to create my own. I followed the
procedure I’ve just described and it worked pretty well when I tried it out in the swimming pool ... I
lasted underwater for nearly forty minutes! However, I’ve read about other people breathing through
their gill for several hours.
So the basic idea works well, but the real limitation is that these simple gills don’t work as the diver
descends to any great depth because the pressure builds and a whole different set of problems are
caused by that ... Research is being done into how these problems might be overcome . but that’s
another story which has to be the subject of another talk!
Despite this serious limitation, many people have high hopes for the artificial gill and they think it
might have applications beyond simply enabling an individual to stay underwater for a length of time.
For example, the same technology might be used to provide oxygen for submarines ... enabling
them to stay submerged for months on end without resorting to potentially dangerous technologies
such as nuclear power. Another idea is to use oxygen derived from the water as energy for fuel cells.
These could power machinery underwater, such as robotic devices ...
So, in my view, this is an area of technology with great potential. Now, if anyone has any questions,
I’d be happy to answer ...
165
166
Questions 1-10 Listen from here

You will hear a woman giving a talk at a popular science convention. She is describing research into
artificial gills designed to enable humans to breathe underwater.
Complete the notes below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
Creating artificial gills

Background
 Taking in oxygen; mammals - lungs; fish - gills

 Long-held dreams - humans swimming underwater without oxygen tanks
 Oxygen tanks considered too 1 and large
 Attempts to extract oxygen directly from water
 1960s - prediction that humans would have gills added by 2
 Ideas for artificial gills were inspired by research on
o fish gills
o fish swim bladders
o animals without gills - especially bubbles used by 3
Building a simple artificial gill
 Make a watertight box of a materiaI which lets 4 pass through

 Fill with air and submerge in water Important that the diver and the water
keep 5
 The gill has to have a large 6
 Designers often use a network of small 7 on their gill
Main limitation - problems caused by increased 8 in deeper water

Other applications
 Supplying oxygen for use on 9

 Powering 10 cells for driving machinery underwater
167
Researching the origin of medieval manuscripts
You will hear a historian giving a presentation about techniques to identify the origin of handwritten
books from the middle ages.
Historian: My presentation today is on how the science of genetics is being used to shed light on
the origin of manuscripts - anything written by hand - produced in the medieval period ... that is ...
the period between the fifth and fifteenth centuries AD.
As many of you know, thousands of medieval handwritten books still exist today. Some of them have
a clear provenance, that is, we know exactly where and when they were written, but the origin of
many manuscripts has been a complete mystery, that is, until two thousand and nine when
geneticists started using DNA testing to shed light on their origins.
But before looking at the new research, I need to explain something about the way the manuscripts
were produced - particularly what they were written on. Virtually all were written on treated animal
skins and there were essentially two types. The first was parchment, which is made of sheep skin. It
has the quality of being very white but also being thin. It has a naturally greasy surface which meant
it was hard to erase writing from it. This made it much sought after for court documents in medieval
times.
The second type is vellum, which is calf skin. This was most often used for any very ‘high- status’
documents because it provided the best writing surface so scribes could achieve lettering of high
quality.
So, once the animal hides had been chosen, they had to be prepared. Where the right materials
were on hand, the skins were put into large barrels or vats of lime, where they were agitated or
stirred frequently. But if lime wasn’t available, then the hides were buried. Both these techniques
were designed to cause the hair to slough off, and the skins to become gelatinous and therefore
more flexible.
The next stage was to put the hides on stretcher frames and pull them very tight. While on the frame
they were scraped with a moon-shaped knife in order to create a uniform thickness. For parchment,
that was the end of the process, but for vellum there was an additional stage where it was bleached,
in order to achieve the desired colour.
Historian: So, what does all this preparation mean for the quest to identify the origins of
‘mystery’ manuscripts? Well, until recently the only way historians and other academics were able to
guess at origins was either through the analysis of the handwriting style, or from the dialect in which
the piece was written. But these techniques have proven unreliable, for a number of reasons.
168
It was thus decided to try to look at the problem from a different angle ... to start from what is known,
that is, the small number of manuscripts whose origins we do already know. Because these
parchments and vellum are both made from animal hides, it was possible to subject them to DNA
testing and to identify the genetic markers for the date and location of production. From this was
created what is known as a ‘baseline’. The next stage was to test the mystery manuscripts, finding
their DNA characteristics and then making comparisons between the known and the mystery scripts.
Genetic similarities and differences enabled the scientists to gain more information about the origins
of the many manuscripts we had known virtually nothing about up to that point.
Now you might ask - what are the potential uses of this new information? Well, obviously, it can shed
light on the origin of individual books and manuscripts. But that’s not all. It can also shed light on
the evolution of the whole of the manuscripts production industry in medieval times. And because
that was such a thriving business, involving very large-scale movements right across the globe, the
new data, in turn, help historians establish which trade routeswere in operation during the whole
millennium.
Now if anyone has any questions ...
169
170
171
Questions 1-10
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
Researching the origin of medieval

manuscripts
Background
 Medieval manuscripts - handwritten books produced between the fifth and fifteenth
centuries
 Origin of many manuscripts unknown until 2009; scientists started using DNA testing
Animal hides - two types

Parchment
Sheep skin: white in colour and 1
Greasy - writing can’t be erased so often used for 2

Vellum
Calf skin: most popular for prestigious work because you can get 3 lettering.
Preparation of hides
 Treated in barrels of lime - where this was not available, skins

were 4 (removed hair -> more flexible)
 Stretched tight on a frame
 Scraped to create same 5
 Vellum was 6
Genetic testing - finding origins
Previously - analysed handwriting and 7 used by the writer
Now - using genetic data from ‘known manuscripts’ to create a 8

Uses of new data
Gives information on individual books
Shows the 9 of the book industry
Helps define 10 in medieval period
172
Self-regulatory focus theory
Today, I want to talk about self-regulatory focus theory and how the actions of leaders can affect the
way followers approach different situations. Self-regulatory focus theory is a theory developed by
Tori Higgins. He says that a person’s focus at any given time is to either approach pleasure or avoid
pain. These are two basic motivations that each and every one of us has, and they cause us to have
different kinds of goals. Promotion goals in different life situations emphasise achievement.
Prevention goals are oriented towards the avoidance of punishment.
In a specific situation, our thoughts might focus more on promotion goals or more on prevention
goals. The theory suggests that two factors affect which goals we are focusing on. First, there is a
chronic factor. This factor is connected to a person's personality
and says that each person has a basic tendency to either focus more on promotion goals or focus
more on prevention goals as part of his or her personality. Second, there is a situational factor which
means that the context we are in can make us more likely to focus on one set of goals or the other.
For example, we are more likely to be thinking about pleasure and to have promotion goals when we
are spending time with a friend.
In contrast, if we are working on an important project for our boss, we are more likely to try to avoid
making mistakes and therefore have more prevention goals in our mind.
Research has shown that the goals we are focusing on at a given time affect the way we think. For
example, when focusing on promotion goals, people consider their ideal self. their aspirations and
gains.
They don't think about what they can lose, so they think in a happier mode. They feel more inspired
to change.
When people are focusing on prevention goals, they think about their “ought" self. What are they
supposed to be? What are people expecting from them? They consider their obligations to others.
As a result, they experience more anxiety and try to avoid situations where they could lose.
Now that I have talked about the two focuses and how they affect people, I want to look at the idea
that the way leaders behave, or their style of leading, can affect the focus that followers adopt in a
specific situation.
173
In talking about leadership, we often mention transformational leaders and transactional

leaders. Transformational leaders, when interacting with their followers, focus on their development.
In their words and actions transformational leaders highlight change. Their speech is passionate and
conveys a definitive vision.
All of these things can encourage followers to think about what could be. In other words, they
inspire a promotion focus in their followers.
In contrast, transactional leaders focus on developing clear structures that tell their followers exactly
what is expected of them.
While they do explain the rewards people will get for following orders, they emphasise more how a
follower will be punished or that a follower won't get rewarded if his or her behaviour doesn’t change.
In short, they emphasise the consequences of making a mistake. This emphasis will clearly lead
followers to focus on avoiding punishment and problems. This is clearly a prevention focus.
In conclusion, it is important to understand that one focus is not necessarily better than the other
one. For a designer who works in a field where a lot of innovation is needed,
a promotion focus is probably better. In contrast, a prevention focus which causes people to work
more cautiously and produce higher quality work might be very appropriate for a job like a surgeon,
for example. The main point of the research, though, is that the actions of leaders can greatly
influence whether people approach a situation with more of a promotion focus or more of a
prevention focus.
174
175
176
Questions 1-10
Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.
'Self-regulatory focus theory' and leadership

Self-regulatory focus theory
People's focus is to approach pleasure or avoid pain
Promotion goals focus on 1

Prevention goals emphasise avoiding punishment
Factors that affect people's focus
The Chronic Factor
 comes from one's 2
The 3 Factor
 we are more likely to focus on promotion goals when with a 4

 we are more likely to focus on prevention goals with our boss
How people's focus affects them
Promotion Focus: People think about an ideal version of themselves, their 5 and their
gains.
Prevention Focus: People think about their 'ought' self and their obligations
Leaders
Leadership behaviour and 6 affects people's focus

Transformational Leaders:
 pay special attention to the 7 of their followers

 passionately communicate a clear 8
 inspire promotion focus in followers
Transactional Leaders:
 create 9 to make expectations clear

 emphasise the results of a mistake
 inspire prevention focus in followers
177
Conclusion
Promotion Focus is good for jobs requiring 10

Prevention Focus is good for work such as a surgeon Leaders' actions affect which focus people use
178
Study on Gender in Physics
LISA:
OK, Greg, so I finally managed to read the article you mentioned - the one about the study on
gender in physics.
GREG:
About the study of college students done by Akira Miyake and his team? Yeah. I was interested that
the researchers were actually a mix of psychologists and physicists. That’s an unusual combination.
LISA:
Yeah. I got a little confused at first about which students the study was based on.
They weren’t actually majoring in physics - they were majoring in what’s known as the STEM
disciplines. That’s science, technology. engineering and ...
GREG:
... and math. Yes, but they were all doing physics courses as part of their studies
LISA:
That’s correct. So as I understood it, Miyake and co started from the fact that women are
underrepresented in introductory physics courses at college, and also that on average, the women
who do enrol on these courses perform more poorly than the men. No one really knows why this is
the case.
GREG:
Yeah. But what the researchers wanted to find out was basically what they could do about the
relatively low level of the women’s results. But in order to find a solution they needed to find out
more about the nature of the problem.
179
LISA:
Right - now let’s see if I can remember... it was that in the physics class, the female students thought
the male students all assumed that women weren’t any good at
physics ... was that it? And they thought that the men expected them to get poor results in their tests.
GREG:
That’s what the women thought, and that made them nervous, so they did get poor results. But
actually they were wrong ... No one was making any assumptions about the female students at all.
LISA:
Anyway, what Miyake’s team did was quite simple - getting the students to do some writing before
they went into the physics class. What did they call it?
GREG:
Values-affirmation they had to write an essay focusing on things that were significant, to them not
particularly to do with the subject they were studying but more general, things like music, or people
who mattered to them.
LISA:
Right. So the idea of doing the writing is that this gets the students thinking in a positive way.
GREG:
And cutting these thoughts into words can relax them and help them overcome the psychological
factors that lead to poor performance. Yeah. But what the researchers, in the study hadn’t expected
was that this one activity raised the women’s physics grades from the C to the B range
LISA:
A huge chance. Pity it wasn’t to an A, but still! No, but it does suggest that the women were seriously
underperforming beforehand, in comparison with the men.
GREG:
Yes. Mind you, Miyake’s article left out a lot of details. Like, did the students do the writing just once,
or several times? And had they been told why they were doing the writing? That might have affected
the results.
LISA:
You mean, if they know the researchers thought it might help them to improve, then they’d just try to
fulfil that expectation?
GREG:
Exactly.
GREG:
So anyway, I thought for our project we could do a similar study, but investigate whether it really was
the writing activity that had that result.
LISA:
OK. So we could ask them to do a writing task about something completely different... something
more factual? Like a general knowledge topic.
180
GREG:
Maybe ... or we could have half the students doing a writing task and half doing something else, like
an oral task.
LISA:
Or even half do the same writing task as in the original research and half do a factual writing task.
Then we’d see if it really is the topic that made the difference, or something else.
GREG:
That’s it. Good. So at our meeting with the supervisor on Monday we can toll him we’ve decided on
our project. We should have our aims ready by then. I suppose we need to read the original study —
the article’s just a summary.
LISA:
And there was another article I read, by Smolinsky. It was about her research on how women and
men perform in mixed teams in class, compared with single-sex teams and on their own.
GREG:
Let me guess ... the women were better at teamwork.
LISA:
That’s what I expected, but actually the men and the women got the same results, whether they
were working in teams or on their own, But I guess it's not that relevant to us.
GREG:
What worries me anyway is how we’re going to get everything done in the time.
USA:
We’ll be OK now we know what we re doing. Though I’m not clear how we assess whether the
students in our experiment actually make any progress or not...
GREG:
No. We may need some advice on that. The main thing's to make sure we have the right size
sample, not too big or too small.
LISA:
That shouldn’t be difficult. Right, what do we need to do next? We could have a look at the timetable
for the science classes ... or perhaps we should just make an appointment to see one of the science
professors. That'd be better.
GREG:
Great. And we could even get to observe one of the classes.
LISA:
What for?
GREG:
Well ... OK maybe let’s just go with your idea. Right, well …
181
182
183
Questions 1-10 Listen from here

Choose the correct letter, A, B C.
Study on Gender in Physics

1 The students in Akira Miyake’s study were all majoring in
A physics.
B psychology or physics.
C science, technology, engineering or mathematics.
2 The aim of Miyake’s study was to investigate
A what kind of women choose to study physics.
B a way of improving women’s performance in physics.
C whether fewer women than men study physics at college.
3 The female physics students were wrong to believe that
A the teachers marked them in an unfair way.
B the male students expected them to do badly.
C their test results were lower than the male students’.
4 Miyake’s team asked the students to write about
A what they enjoyed about studying physics.
B the successful experiences of other people.
C something that was important to them personally.
5 What was the aim of the writing exercise done by the subjects?
A to reduce stress
B to strengthen verbal ability
184
C to encourage logical thinking
6 What surprised the researchers about the study?
A how few students managed to get A grades
B the positive impact it had on physics results for women
C the difference between male and female performance
7 Greg and Lisa think Miyake’s results could have been affected by
A the length of the writing task.
B the number of students who took part.
C the information the students were given.
8 Greg and Lisa decide that in their own project, they will compare the effects of
A two different writing tasks.
B a writing task with an oral task.
C two different oral tasks.
9 The main finding of Smolinsky’s research was that class teamwork activities
A were most effective when done by all-women groups.
B had no effect on the performance of men or women.
C improved the results of men more than of women.
10 What will Lisa and Greg do next?
A talk to a professor
B observe a science class
C look at the science timetable
185
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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary Vol.

Lời nói đầu:

Lời cảm ơn:

Nguyễn Đình Hạnh – Khóa 9 - UNETI

Hoàng Phương Linh: Du học sinh Úc

Vũ Thị Ba: K57 - FTU

Nguyễn Thu Phương: K60 - NEU

Lời nói đầu:.............................................................................................................................................. 2

What is animal testing?

An animal test is any scientific experiment or

 injecting or force feeding animals with Radiation(n) /ˌreɪdiˈeɪʃn/: phóng xạ

Animals used Anxiety(n) /æŋˈzaɪəti/: a feeling of worry,

as octopuses are defined as ‘animals’ by Synonym: Stress, despair

Animals used in experiments are usually bred

Some monkeys are still trapped in the wild in

Horses and other animals such as cows, sheep

A large proportion of animal experiments in the

Sterile(adj) /ˈsteraɪl/: completely clean and free from

Animal Testing 101

Right now, millions Barren(adj) /ˈbær.ən/: cằn cỗi

Conduct(v) /kənˈdʌkt/: thực hiện

More than 100 million animals suffer and die

Animals also suffer and die in

Examples of animal tests include forcing mice

The federal government and many health

What You Can Do

Each of us can help prevent animal suffering

Scientific procedures involving animals at

Scientific procedures involving animals are at

“We are not having lots and lots of very painful

While the number of experiments Primate(n) /ˈpraɪ.meɪt/: a member of the most

Wells said this reflected the reuse of animals,

The Humane Society International said the

Experts say the atmosphere around animal

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If you have ever taken a medicine, you have

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● Reduction: the minimum number of animals is Replacement(n) /rɪˈpleɪs.mənt/: sự thay thế

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the organisations, and the scientists, engaged in

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In 1959, William Russell and Rex Burch

countries. (Rats and mice make up around

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But then came the development of tools that

popular technique that the decreasing trend in

cutting into the body

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would be expensive and impractical. An

used in basic, as opposed to applied,

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example, if a senior professor in academia

Overall, pressure to limit the use of animals in

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work together to solve problems. For example, thức

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