WORD FORMATION

Dickens and his world

It was with the circulation of Pickwick Papers in 1836 that young Dickens began to enjoy a truly (1.
PRECEDENT) _________ ascent into the favour of the British reading public. He magnificently (2.
PROVE) _________ a theory that his fame would disappear just as quickly as it had come. He remained
until his death 34 years later (3. DENY) _________ the most popular novelist the English- speaking world
had ever known.
The public displayed a/an (4. SATIATE) _________ appetite for his works, and there was also a
great diffusion of them through (5. NUMBER) _________ dramatic adaptations (nearly all completely (6.
AUTHORITY) _________ the copyright laws being much weaker in those days).
His immense popularity was based on the widespread perception of him as a great champion of the
poor and the (7. POSSESS) _________ against all forms of (8. JUST) _________ and abuse of power. In
his personal life, however, he was (9. CAPACITY) _________ of achieving the level of fulfilment he
enjoyed with the public, and all his close emotional relationships with women (10. VARY) _________
ended in failure. Yet, he created an extraordinary range and variety of female characters who live on in our
minds and culture unlike any others created by Victorian novelists

One of the most lethal poisons on Earth,ten thousand times more (0) deadly than cyanide is tetrodotoxin,
more concisely known as TTX. Its potency is well known in East Asia, where it regularly kills (1- DINE)
__________ who have braved the capricious (2- DELICATE) ________ known as fugu or pufferfish.

This toxin has a (3- TERROR) ________ method of operation: twenty-five minutes after exposure it begins
to (4- PARALYSIS) _______its victims, leaving the victim fully aware of what is happening. Death
usually results, within hours, from suffocation or heart failure.

There is no known antidote. If lucky patients can (5- STAND) ________ the symptoms for twenty-four
hours, they usually recover without further (6-COMPLICATE) _________It is no ordinary poison.

What is strange about its (7-OCCUR)_______is that it is found in such a wide range of creatures, from
algae to angelfish spanning entire kingdoms of life. It is rather unlikely that such an unusual toxin evolved
(8-DEPEND)________in so many unrelated animals.

Marine biologists have discovered that the poison is produced by bacteria living in the gut of its host. The
best explanation is that a (9-SYMBIONT) ________ relationship exists between host and not the
unwelcome guest, where microbes exchange poison for nutrients, providing a valuable (10-DEFEND)
________weapon for its host.
AGEING WORLD

The UN predicts over-60s will outnumber under-15s by 2050. In a (1- START) __________ report, titled
'Ageing in the 21st Century: a celebration and a challenge', the UN revealed that the number of people over
60 is set to hit 2 billion by 2050, and the number of (2- CENTURY) __________ is set to rise nearly
tenfold to three million. Population ageing is a (3- PRODUCE) __________of the demographic transition
in which both mortality and fertility decline from higher to lower levels. Currently, the total fertility rate is
below (4- PLACE) __________ levels in virtually all industrialised countries. As life expectancy increases
across the planet, thanks to welcome advances in healthcare and rising economic prosperity., it is
imperative that countries start preparing now so that they can adequately care for their over-60s in the years
to come. The social and economic (5- IMPLY) __________ of population ageing are profound and nations
across the world will be affected in (6- PRECEDE) __________ways. For example, there will be major
challenges for nations in areas ilke healthcare and pensions. Developing countries especially need to start
preparing as (7- PROJECT) __________ show 80% of the world's elderly will live in less developed
regions by 2050. The UN also predicts a very large increase in age.related chronic disease across the world.
In a few decades, the loss of health worldwide will actually be greater from (8- COMMUNICATE)
__________ or chronic diseases (e.g. cardiovascular disease, cancer, arthritis) than from infectious diseases
for the first time in history.

POLONIUM - 210

Historically called radium F, the element polonium-210 (Po-210) is a naturally-occurring radioactive

element that emits highly harzardous alpha particles. Po-210 was discovered in 1898 by Marie and Pierre
Curie. It is (1- EXCEED) __________ rare in nature (tiny amounts exist in the soil and in the atmosphere)
and it does not (2- CUSTOM) __________ present a risk to humans. Today, Po-210 is studied in nuclear
research laboratories where its high radioactivity requires special handling techniques and (3- CAUTIOUS)
__________. Po-210 is fantastically toxic but it does not represent a risk to human health, as long as it
remains outside the body. Internal exposure is the concern. In order to get into the human body, Po-210
must be ingested or inhaled as It cannot pass through the skin.

It has been known since the 1960s that Po-210 is present in tobacco smoke as a contaminant. Tobacco
plants which are fertilised with phosphate fertilisers absorb Po-210 through their roots. Even though direct
root (4- TAKE) __________ of Po-210 by tobacco plants is small, Po-210 is still estimated to cause some
11,700 lung cancer deaths annually worldwide. (5- DEPOSIT) __________ of Po-10 from the atmosphere
on tobacco leaves also results in elevated concentrations of Po-210 in tobacco smoke.