Make a gave suitable for late teens or early 20 students with the following phrasal verbs: given up 2 get over 3 signed up 4 taken up 5 tried out 6 cut down on

Make a vocabulary quiz with below.Crisis: a very difficult situation or emergency; “Investors are worried that continuing problems in the stock market might lead to another financial crisis.” Short-staffed: not having enough employees or workers; “We laid off dozens of employees to save money, but now we’re short-staffed and can’t fill orders quickly.” To drive someone nuts: to make someone upset or annoyed; “The autocorrect feature on my mobile phone really drives me nuts.” To arise: to happen or start to develop, especially for problems or situations; “Problems arose for the developers when local residents voted against construction of the new shopping mall.” To moan: to complain about something, especially in a way that bothers other people; “Every Monday morning my colleagues moan about having to come to the office so early.” Optimism: the feeling or belief that good things will happen; “Analysts are expressing optimism that the real estate market will bounce back quickly.” Pessimism: the tendancy or belief that the worst will happen. “Now is not the time for pessimism, we need to believe we can do this or we will fail.” Hurdle: a problem that must be overcome or dealt with in order to reach a goal or do something; “Lack of capital is a major hurdle for many young entrepreneurs with good business ideas.” © 2013 All rights reserved: www.businessenglishpod.com 2 To give up: to stop trying to do or achieve something; “After being rejected by over a dozen universities, Roger gave up on his plans to study for an MBA.” To keep your eye on the prize: to stay motivated and focused on your final goal or reward; “Okay folks, I know things have been really busy, but let’s keep our eye on the prize and we’ll get this done before Christmas.” Down the road: in the future; “Sales our good in our retail outlets, but 10 years down the road we’re going to have to be more competitive in the online market.” To overcome: to deal with a problem successfully; “You are going to have to overcome your lack of confidence if you want to be a good salesman.” Decisiveness: having the ability to make decisions and act firmly. “Decisiveness is a quality we look for in new managers.” Bumpy: we can use “bumpy” to describe a road or process that has many problems; “We had a pretty bumpy start-up phase, but we finally managed to turn a profit in our fifth year of operations.” To display: to show a feeling, emotion, or characteristic; “David displayed tremendous preparation and diplomacy during the negotiations.” On the fence: someone who is “on the fence” is having difficulty making a decision or taking a position; “While the executives support expansion wholeheartedly, the shareholders are still on the fence about it.” All-in: in poker, if you are “all-in” you put all your money on one bet, but we can use this expression more generally to say you are completely committed to something, especially a plan; “This sounds like a good idea, but before I go all-in I need to know more about the project partners.” To have what it takes: to have the ability or intelligence to do something; “I thought I’d enjoy law, but after a few years as a junior lawyer I realized I don’t really have what it takes.

Out Came A Mole! Owen woke up at noon. Owen put on a robe and went to the kitchen. Owen gave his dog a special bone. Owen took his camera and left his home with his dog. Owen drove to the park in his car. Owen found some beautiful roses. Owen asked his dog to make a pose. Owen took a funny photo. Next to the roses was a hole. Owen’s dog looked down below. Wow! Out came a mole.

There was a girl. Her name was Ginger. She lived in a big house in Spain. Ginger had a friend. Her friend was Molly. Molly had a problem. She didn’t have a BMW. Molly was not happy. Ginger wanted a BMW for Molly. Ginger went to Las Vegas. There was a girl in Las Vegas. Her name was Jessica. Jessica worked in the BMW company. Ginger spoke with Jessica and said, “I had a friend called Molly. She was not happy because she didn’t have a BMW.” Jessica said, “Yes, I had a new BMW. It cost one million dollars.” Ginger said, “It is very expensive. Could you make a discount?” Jessica thought 🤔 She said, “Only if Molly is special.” Ginger said, “Molly dances with cars.” 💃🚗 Jessica was shocked 😲 She said, “OK. The BMW is cheap now. It costs ten dollars.” Ginger was happy. She went back to Spain. She gave the BMW to Molly. Molly saw the BMW. She clapped 👏. She hugged the BMW 🚗. She danced with the BMW 💃🚗. The BMW was happy 😄. Ginger laughed 😂. Everyone was happy

Riding with Rosa Parks On the Bus. Marissa and her mother were riding the bus. They were on their way to Grandma's house. They had to sit in the back seats. Marissa didn't like the back seats. There was a law that black people had to sit at the back of the bus. Her mother said it was unfair. Some white people came on the bus. So some of the black people stood up and gave them their seats. That was another part of the law. Refusing to Stand. But one black woman didn't stand up. Her name was Rosa Parks. She didn't want to move from her seat. The driver told Rosa she had to move, but she said, "No." Then the driver called the police! The police came and arrested Rosa Parks. Marissa was very confused. Why didn't Rosa Parks get up? Everybody knew the law, even if it wasn't fair. Taking Steps. When other people heard what happened to Rosa, they got very upset. They decided to stop riding the city buses! Marissa asked her mom why they had to walk. Her mother said people stopped riding the buses to show that the law was unfair. For a long time they walked everywhere. Marissa's legs were sometimes very tired. Still, they didn't ride the bus. Making a Difference. Finally, an amazing thing happened. The law was changed! Marissa and her mom could now sit at the front of the bus. Marissa learned that one person could make a difference. She learned people could join together to change things. Today, people of all colors in the United States have the same rights. It all started with one woman saying no to something that was unfair.

MYTH The British helped the Jews displace the native Arab population of Palestine. FACT Herbert Samuel, a British Jew who served as the first High Commissioner of Palestine, placed restrictions on Jewish immigration “in the ‘interests of the present population’ and the ‘absorptive capacity’ of the country.”1 The influx of Jewish settlers was said to force the Arab fellahin (native peasants) from their land. This was when less than a million people lived in an area that now supports more than nine million. The British limited the absorptive capacity of Palestine when, in 1921, Colonial Secretary Winston Churchill severed nearly four-fifths of Palestine—some thirty-five thousand square miles—to create a new Arab entity, Transjordan. As a consolation prize for the Hejaz and Arabia (which are both now Saudi Arabia) going to the Saud family, Churchill rewarded Sharif Hussein’s son Abdullah for his contribution to the war against Turkey by installing him as Transjordan’s emir. The British went further and placed restrictions on Jewish land purchases in what remained of Palestine. By 1949, the British had allotted 87,500 acres of the 187,500 acres of cultivable land to Arabs and only 4,250 acres to Jews. This contradicted Article 6 of the Mandate which stated that “the Administration of Palestine…shall encourage, in cooperation with the Jewish Agency…close settlement by Jews on the land, including State lands and waste lands not acquired for public purposes.”2 Ultimately, the British admitted that the argument about the country’s absorptive capacity was specious. The Peel Commission said, “The heavy immigration in the years 1933–36 would seem to show that the Jews have been able to enlarge the absorptive capacity of the country for Jews.”3 MYTH The British allowed Jews to flood Palestine while Arab immigration was tightly controlled. FACT The British response to Jewish immigration set a precedent of appeasing the Arabs, which was followed for the duration of the Mandate. The British restricted Jewish immigration while allowing Arabs to enter the country freely. Apparently, London did not feel that a flood of Arab immigrants would affect the country’s “absorptive capacity.” During World War I, the Jewish population in Palestine declined because of the war, famine, disease, and expulsion by the Turks. In 1915, approximately 83,000 Jews lived in Palestine among 590,000 Muslim and Christian Arabs. According to the 1922 census, the Jewish population was 83,000, while the Arabs numbered 643,000.4 Thus, the Arab population grew exponentially while that of the Jews stagnated. In the mid-1920s, Jewish immigration to Palestine increased primarily because of anti-Jewish economic legislation in Poland and Washington’s imposition of restrictive quotas.5 The record number of immigrants in 1935 (see table) was a response to the growing persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany. The British administration considered this number too large, however, so the Jewish Agency was informed that less than one-third of the quota it asked for would be approved in 1936.6 The British gave in further to Arab demands by announcing in the 1939 White Paper that an independent Arab state would be created within ten years and that Jewish immigration was to be limited to 75,000 for the next five years, after which it was to cease altogether. It also forbade land sales to Jews in 95% of the territory of Palestine. The Arabs, nevertheless, rejected the proposal. Jewish Immigration to Palestine7 1919 1,806 1931 4,075 1920 8,223 1932 12,533 1921 8,294 1933 37,337 1922 8,685 1934 45,267 1923 8,175 1935 66,472 1924 13,892 1936 29,595 1925 34,386 1937 10,629 1926 13,855 1938 14,675 1927 3,034 1939 31,195 1928 2,178 1940 10,643 1929 5,249 1941 4,592 1930 4,944 By contrast, throughout the Mandatory period, Arab immigration was unrestricted. In 1930, the Hope Simpson Commission, sent from London to investigate the 1929 Arab riots, said the British practice of ignoring the uncontrolled illegal Arab immigration from Egypt, Transjordan, and Syria had the effect of displacing the prospective Jewish immigrants.8 The British governor of the Sinai from 1922 to 1936 observed, “This illegal immigration was not only going on from the Sinai, but also from Transjordan and Syria, and it is very difficult to make a case out for the misery of the Arabs if at the same time their compatriots from adjoining states could not be kept from going in to share that misery.”9 The Peel Commission reported in 1937 that the “shortfall of land is…due less to the amount of land acquired by Jews than to the increase in the Arab population.”10 MYTH The British changed their policy to allow Holocaust survivors to settle in Palestine. FACT The gates of Palestine remained closed for the duration of the war, stranding hundreds of thousands of Jews in Europe, many of whom became victims of Hitler’s “Final Solution.” After the war, the British refused to allow the survivors of the Nazi nightmare to find sanctuary in Palestine. On June 6, 1946, President Truman urged the British government to relieve the suffering of the Jews confined to displaced persons camps in Europe by immediately accepting 100,000 Jewish immigrants. Britain’s foreign minister Ernest Bevin replied sarcastically that the United States wanted displaced Jews to immigrate to Palestine “because they did not want too many of them in New York.”11 Some Jews reached Palestine, many smuggled in on dilapidated ships organized by the Haganah. Between August 1945 and the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948, sixty-five “illegal” immigrant ships, carrying 69,878 people, arrived from European shores. In August 1946, however, the British began to intern those they caught in camps on Cyprus. Approximately 50,000 people were detained in the camps, and 28,000 remained imprisoned when Israel declared independence.12 MYTH As the Jewish population grew, the plight of the Palestinian Arabs worsened. FACT In July 1921, Hasan Shukri, the mayor of Haifa and president of the Muslim National Associations, sent a telegram to the British government in reaction to a delegation of Palestinians that went to London to try to stop the implementation of the Balfour Declaration. Shukri wrote: We are certain that without Jewish immigration and financial assistance there will be no future development of our country as may be judged from the fact that the towns inhabited in part by Jews such as Jerusalem, Jaffa, Haifa, and Tiberias are making steady progress while Nablus, Acre, and Nazareth where no Jews reside are steadily declining.13 The Jewish population increased by 470,000 between World War I and World War II, while the non-Jewish population rose by 588,000.14 The permanent Arab population increased by 120% between 1922 and 1947.15 This rapid growth of the Arab population was a result of several factors. One was immigration from neighboring states—constituting 37% of the total immigration to pre-state Israel—by Arabs who wanted to take advantage of the higher standard of living the Jews had made possible.16 The Arab population also grew because of the improved living conditions created by the Jews as they drained malarial swamps and brought improved sanitation and health care to the region. Thus, for example, the Muslim infant mortality rate fell from 201 per thousand in 1925 to 94 per thousand in 1945, and life expectancy rose from 37 years in 1926 to 49 in 1943.17 The Arab population increased the most in cities where large Jewish populations had created new economic opportunities. From 1922–1947, the non-Jewish population increased by 290% in Haifa, 131% in Jerusalem, and 158% in Jaffa. The growth in Arab towns was more modest: 42% in Nablus, 78% in Jenin, and 37% in Bethlehem.18 MYTH Jews stole Arab land. FACT Despite the growth in their population, the Arabs continued to assert they were being displaced. From the beginning of World War I, however, part of Palestine’s land was owned by absentee landlords who lived in Cairo, Damascus, and Beirut. About 80% of the Palestinian Arabs were debt-ridden peasants, semi-nomads, and Bedouins.19 Jews went out of their way to avoid purchasing land in areas where Arabs might be displaced. They sought land that was largely uncultivated, swampy, cheap, and—most important—without tenants. In 1920, Labor Zionist leader David Ben-Gurion expressed his concern about the Arab fellahin, whom he viewed as “the most important asset of the native population.” He insisted that “under no circumstances must we touch land belonging to fellahs or worked by them.” Instead, he advocated helping liberate them from their oppressors. “Only if a fellah leaves his place of settlement,” Ben-Gurion added, “should we offer to buy his land, at an appropriate price.”20 Jews only began to purchase cultivated land after buying all the uncultivated territory. Many Arabs were willing to sell because of the migration to coastal towns and because they needed money to invest in the citrus industry.21 When John Hope Simpson arrived in Palestine in May 1930, he observed, “They [the Jews] paid high prices for the land and, in addition, they paid to certain of the occupants of those lands a considerable amount of money which they were not legally bound to pay.”22 In 1931, Lewis French conducted a survey of landlessness for the British government and offered new plots to any Arabs who had been “dispossessed.” British officials received more than 3,000 applications, of which 80% were ruled invalid by the government’s legal adviser because the applicants were not landless Arabs. This left only about 600 landless Arabs, 100 of whom accepted the government land offer.23 In April 1936, a new outbreak of Arab attacks on Jews was instigated by local Palestinian leaders who were later joined by Arab volunteers led by a Syrian guerrilla named Fawzi al-Qawuqji, the commander of the Arab Liberation Army. By November, when the British finally sent a new commission headed by Lord Peel to investigate, 89 Jews had been killed and more than 300 wounded.24 The Peel Commission’s report found that Arab complaints about Jewish land acquisition were baseless. It pointed out that “much of the land now carrying orange groves was sand dunes or swamp and uncultivated when it was purchased…There was at the time of the earlier sales little evidence that the owners possessed either the resources or training needed to develop the land.”25 Moreover, the Commission found the shortage was “due less to the amount of land acquired by Jews than to the increase in the Arab population.” The report concluded that the presence of Jews in Palestine, along with the work of the British administration, had resulted in higher wages, an improved standard of living, and ample employment opportunities.26 It is made quite clear to all, both by the map drawn up by the Simpson Commission and by another compiled by the Peel Commission, that the Arabs are as prodigal in selling their land as they are in useless wailing and weeping (emphasis in the original). —Transjordan’s king Abdullah27 Even at the height of the Arab revolt in 1938 (which began in April 1936 with the murder of two Jews by Arabs and the subsequent murder of two Arab workers by members of the Jewish underground28), the British high commissioner to Palestine believed the Arab landowners were complaining about sales to Jews to drive up prices for lands they wished to sell. Many Arab landowners had been so terrorized by Arab rebels they decided to leave Palestine and sell their property to the Jews.29 The Jews paid exorbitant prices to wealthy landowners for small tracts of arid land. “In 1944, Jews paid between $1,000 and $1,100 per acre in Palestine, mostly for arid or semiarid land; in the same year, rich black soil in Iowa was selling for about $110 per acre.”30 By 1947, Jewish holdings in Palestine amounted to about 463,000 acres. Approximately 45,000 were acquired from the mandatory government, 30,000 were bought from various churches, and 387,500 were purchased from Arabs. Analyses of land purchases from 1880 to 1948 show that 73% of Jewish plots were purchased from large landowners, not poor fellahin.31 Many leaders of the Arab nationalist movement, including members of the Muslim Supreme Council, and the mayors of Gaza, Jerusalem, and s sold land to the Jews. As’ad el-Shuqeiri, a Muslim religious scholar and father of Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Ahmed Shuqeiri, took Jewish money for his land. Even King Abdullah leased land to the Jews.32 MYTH The British helped the Palestinians to live peacefully with the Jews. FACT In 1921, Haj Amin el-Husseini first began to organize fedayeen (“one who sacrifices himself”) to terrorize Jews. El-Husseini hoped to duplicate the success of Kemal Atatürk in Turkey by driving the Jews out of Palestine just as Kemal had driven the invading Greeks from his country.33 Arab radicals gained influence because the British administration was unwilling to take effective action against them until they began a revolt against British rule. Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen, former head of British military intelligence in Cairo, and later chief political officer for Palestine and Syria, wrote in his diary that British officials “incline towards the exclusion of Zionism in Palestine.” The British encouraged the Palestinians to attack the Jews. According to Meinertzhagen, Col. Bertie Harry Waters-Taylor (financial adviser to the military administration in Palestine 1919–23) met with el-Husseini in 1920, a few days before Easter, and told him that “he had a great opportunity at Easter to show the world…that Zionism was unpopular not only with the Palestine administration but in Whitehall.” He added that “if disturbances of sufficient violence occurred in Jerusalem at Easter, both General [Louis] Bols [chief administrator in Palestine, 1919–20] and General [Edmund] Allenby [commander of the Egyptian force, 1917–19, then high commissioner of Egypt] would advocate the abandonment of the Jewish Home. Waters-Taylor explained that freedom could only be attained through violence.”34 El-Husseini took the colonel’s advice and instigated a riot. The British withdrew their troops and the Jewish police from Jerusalem, allowing the Arab mob to attack Jews and loot their shops. Because of el-Husseini’s overt role in instigating the pogrom, the British decided to arrest him. He escaped, however, and was sentenced to ten years in absentia. A year later, some British Arabists convinced High Commissioner Herbert Samuel to pardon el-Husseini and to appoint him Mufti (a cleric in charge of Jerusalem’s Islamic holy places). By contrast, Vladimir Jabotinsky and several followers, who had formed a Jewish defense organization during the unrest, were sentenced to 15 years. They were released a few months later.35 Samuel met with el-Husseini on April 11, 1921, and was assured “that the influences of his family and himself would be devoted to tranquility.” Three weeks later, riots in Jaffa and elsewhere left forty-three Jews dead.36 El-Husseini consolidated his power and took control of all Muslim religious funds in Palestine. He used his authority to gain control over the mosques, the schools, and the courts. No Arab could reach an influential position without being loyal to the Mufti. His power was so absolute that “no Muslim in Palestine could be born or die without being beholden to Haj Amin.”37 The Mufti’s henchmen also ensured he would have no opposition by systematically killing Palestinians who discussed cooperation with the Jews from rival clans. As the spokesman for Palestinian Arabs, el-Husseini did not ask that Britain grant them independence. On the contrary, in a letter to Churchill in 1921, he demanded that Palestine be reunited with Syria and Transjordan.38 The Arabs found rioting an effective political tool because of the lax British response toward violence against Jews. In handling each riot, the British prevented Jews from protecting themselves but made little effort to prevent the Arabs from attacking them. After each outbreak, a British commission of inquiry would try to establish the cause of the violence. The conclusion was always the same: The Arabs feared being displaced by the Jews. To stop the rioting, the commissions would recommend that restrictions be placed on Jewish immigration. Thus, the Arabs learned they could always stop the influx of Jews by staging riots. This cycle began after a series of riots in May 1921. After failing to protect the Jewish community from Arab mobs, the British appointed the Haycraft Commission to investigate the cause of the violence. Although the panel concluded the Arabs had been the aggressors, it rationalized the cause of the attack: “The fundamental cause of the riots was a feeling among the Arabs of discontent with, and hostility to, the Jews, due to political and economic causes, and connected with Jewish immigration, and with their conception of Zionist policy.”39 One consequence of the violence was the institution of a temporary ban on Jewish immigration. The Arab fear of being “displaced” or “dominated” was an excuse for their attacks on Jewish settlers. Note, too, that these riots were not inspired by nationalistic fervor—nationalists would have rebelled against their British overlords—they were motivated by economics, the radical Islamic views of the Mufti, and misunderstanding. In 1929, Arab provocateurs convinced the masses that the Jews had designs on the Temple Mount (a tactic still used today to incite violence). A Jewish religious observance at the Western Wall, which forms a part of the Temple Mount, served as a pretext for rioting by Arabs against Jews, which spilled out of Jerusalem into other villages and towns, including Safed and Hebron. Again, the British administration made no effort to prevent the violence, and, after it began, the British did nothing to protect the Jewish population. After six days of mayhem, the British finally brought troops in to quell the disturbance. By this time, most of Hebron’s Jews had fled or been killed. In all, 133 Jews were killed and 399 wounded in the pogroms.40 After the riots, the British ordered an investigation, resulting in the Passfield White Paper. It said the “immigration, land purchase and settlement policies of the Zionist Organization were already or were likely to become, prejudicial to Arab interests. It understood the mandatory government’s obligation to the non-Jewish community to mean that Palestine’s resources must be primarily reserved for the growing Arab economy.”41 This meant it was necessary to restrict Jewish immigration and land purchases. MYTH The Mufti was not a Nazi collaborator. FACT In 1941, Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem, fled to Germany and met with Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Joachim Von Ribbentrop, and other Nazi leaders. He wanted to persuade them to extend the Nazis’ anti-Jewish program to the Arab world. The Mufti sent Hitler fifteen drafts of declarations he wanted Germany and Italy to make concerning the Middle East. One called on the two countries to declare the illegality of the Jewish home in Palestine. He also asked the Axis powers to “accord to Palestine and to other Arab countries the right to solve the problem of the Jewish elements in Palestine and other Arab countries in accordance with the interest of the Arabs, and by the same method that the question is now being settled in the Axis countries.”42 In November 1941, the Mufti met with Hitler, who told him the Jews were his foremost enemy. The Nazi dictator rebuffed the Mufti’s requests for a declaration in support of the Arabs, however, telling him the time was not right. The Mufti offered Hitler his “thanks for the sympathy which he had always shown for the Arab and especially Palestinian cause, and to which he had given clear expression in his public speeches.” He added, “The Arabs were Germany’s natural friends because they had the same enemies as had Germany, namely…the Jews.” Hitler told the Mufti he opposed the creation of a Jewish state and that Germany’s objective was destroying the Jewish element in the Arab sphere.43 In 1945, Yugoslavia sought to indict the Mufti as a war criminal for his role in recruiting twenty thousand Muslim volunteers for the SS, who participated in the killing of Jews in Croatia and Hungary. He escaped French detention in 1946, however, and continued his fight against the Jews from Cairo and later Beirut where he died in 1974. MYTH The bombing of the King David Hotel was part of a deliberate terror campaign against civilians. FACT British troops seized the Jewish Agency compound on June 29, 1946, and confiscated large quantities of documents. At about the same time, more than 2,500 Jews from all over Palestine were arrested. A week later, news of a massacre of 40 Jews in a pogrom in Poland reminded the Jews of Palestine how Britain’s restrictive immigration policy had condemned thousands to death. In response to the British provocations, and a desire to demonstrate that the Jews’ spirit could not be broken, the United Resistance Movement planned to bomb the King David Hotel, which housed the British military command and the Criminal Investigation Division in addition to hotel guests. The Haganah pulled out of the plot and left it up to the Irgun. Irgun leader Menachem Begin stressed his desire to avoid civilian casualties and the plan was to warn the British so they would evacuate the building before it was blown up. Three telephone calls were placed on July 22, 1946, one to the hotel, another to the French Consulate, and a third to the Palestine Post warning that explosives in the King David Hotel would soon be detonated. The call to the hotel was received and ignored. Begin quotes one British official who supposedly refused to evacuate the building, saying, “We don’t take orders from the Jews.”44 As a result, when the bombs exploded, the casualty toll was high: 91 killed and 45 injured. Among the casualties were 15 Jews. Few people in the main part of the hotel were injured.45 For decades, the British denied they had been warned. In 1979, however, a member of the British Parliament provided the testimony of a British officer who heard other officers in the King David Hotel bar joking about a Zionist threat to the headquarters. The officer who overheard the conversation immediately left the hotel and survived.46 In contrast to Arab attacks against Jews, which Arab leaders hailed as heroic actions, the Jewish National Council denounced the bombing of the King David.47 1 Aharon Cohen, Israel and the Arab World, (NY: Funk and Wagnalls, 1970), p. 172

refreshment (n): (small amounts of food and drink ( Refreshments will be available during the interval.) stimulant (n): a substance which temporarily arouses physiological or organic activity ( Caffeine is a natural stimulant .) reinforcement (n): the act of making sth stronger / (plural) soldiers sent to join an army to make it stronger ( Constructors have been hired to add reinforcement to the foundations of the old bridge.) initiative (n): the ability to make decisions without waiting to be told what to do (Being a successful entrepreneur requires one to have great initiative.) inhibition (n): a shy or nervous feeling that stops you from expressing your real feelings (She drinks alcohol at parties to get over her inhibitions.) initiation (n): a ceremony, ritual, test, or period of instruction with which a new member is admitted to an organization or office (The initiation period for new employees lasts approximately six weeks.) initial (n): the first letter of a name, esp. when used to represent a name (Do you know what Ms Rowling's initials, J and K, stand for?) concise (adj): short and clear, expressing what needs to be said without unnecessary words (She gave a concise overview of the points she was about to make in her speech. ) direct (adj): happening or done without involving other people, actions, etc. in between ( You will only be hired if you have direct experience in this field.) devious (adj): not straightforward, sincere and honest about your intentions or motives; shifty (They came up with a devious plan to overthrow the chairman of the company.) circuitous (adj): not straight or direct (The professor gave a circuitous explanation confusing his students.) diluted (adj): (of a liquid) made weaker or less pure by being mixed with sth else( Orange squash should be diluted with water before it is served.) delicate (adj): easily hurt or destroyed.( This silk shirt is too delicate to put in the washing machine.) desolate (adj): extremely sad and feeling lonely. (After the death of his wife he led a desolate life.) diffused (adj): widely spread or scattered; not concentrated/ wordy ( He spoke in such a diffused manner that it was impossible to take notes on his lecture.) might (n): the power, force, or influence held by a person or group (The captive struggled with all of his might and managed to free himself of the chains.) plot (n): a secret plan made by several people to do sth that is wrong, harmful or not legal, esp. to do damage to a person or a government / a storyline ( The plot of the forthcoming Harry Potter book has yet to be revealed.) glaze (n): a thin clear liquid put on objects before they are finished, to give them a shiny surface ( She mixed sugar and lemon to make the glaze of the cake.) plight (n): an unpleasant condition, esp. serious, sad or difficult one ( Last night's documentary dealt with the plight of political asylum seekers.) comprise (v): to consist of be composed of( The final exam is comprised of three parts.)

Vocabulary List 1. Avocation Definition: A hobby or activity someone enjoys doing in addition to their main work. Example: Drawing cartoons was his favorite avocation after school. 2. Supercolossal Definition: Extremely large; even bigger than enormous. Example: They ordered a supercolossal pizza to share. 3. Repress Definition: To hold back or keep feelings or thoughts hidden. Example: She tried to repress her anger during the argument. 4. Subliminally Definition: In a way that affects the mind without someone realizing it. Example: The music subliminally made the store feel calmer. 5. Thrombosis Definition: A medical condition where a blood clot forms inside a blood vessel. Example: The doctor warned that lack of exercise can increase the risk of thrombosis. 6. Sclerosis Definition: A hardening of body tissue, especially arteries or organs. Example: The patient was diagnosed with sclerosis that affected his mobility. 7. Distortion Definition: A change that makes something appear different from what it really is. Example: The funhouse mirror caused a distortion of her reflection. 8. Philanthropy Definition: The act of giving money or help to improve the lives of others. Example: His philanthropy helped build a new library for the town. 9. Prevarications Definition: Lies or evasive statements used to avoid telling the truth. Example: The teacher grew tired of the student’s prevarications about missing homework. 10. Syndrome Definition: A group of symptoms or behaviors that occur together. Example: The doctor studied the syndrome to better understand the illness. 11. Schizophrenic Definition: Relating to a mental disorder where a person may have difficulty distinguishing reality from imagination. Example: The character in the story showed schizophrenic behavior. 12. Subsidize Definition: To support financially, usually with money from the government or an organization. Example: The city decided to subsidize public transportation. 13. Phenomenal Definition: Very remarkable or impressive. Example: The athlete gave a phenomenal performance in the race. 14. Demented Definition: Showing disturbed or irrational behavior. Example: The villain in the movie had a demented laugh. 15. Patron Definition: A person who supports or regularly visits a business, artist, or organization. Example: She was a loyal patron of the local bookstore. 16. Cultural Lag Definition: When ideas and beliefs take longer to change than technology or society. Example: Cultural lag can make it hard for laws to keep up with new technology. 17. Omens Definition: Signs believed to predict something that will happen in the future. Example: Some people think black cats are omens of bad luck. 18. Antagonistic Definition: Showing hostility or opposition. Example: The rival teams were antagonistic toward each other. 19. Voluptuous Definition: Curvy and attractive in a full, rich way. Example: The sculpture showed a voluptuous figure. 20. Oscilloscope Definition: A device used to view and measure electrical signals. Example: The scientist used an oscilloscope to study the sound waves. 21. Putrid Definition: Rotting and giving off a very bad smell. Example: The garbage smelled putrid after sitting in the sun. 22. Fixated Definition: Focused or obsessed with something. Example: He became fixated on winning the competition. 23. Mundane Definition: Ordinary, dull, or routine. Example: She was tired of the mundane chores she had to do every day. 24. Ghouls Definition: Evil or ghost-like creatures that feed on the dead in stories or legends. Example: The haunted house story was filled with ghouls and monsters. 25. Maladjusted Definition: Unable to cope well with the demands of life or society. Example: The counselor helped the maladjusted student deal with stress. 26. Incongruous Definition: Not fitting in; out of place. Example: The fancy chandelier looked incongruous in the small cabin. 27. Tribute Definition: Something done or given to show respect or admiration. Example: The concert was a tribute to the famous musician. 28. Audibly Definition: In a way that can be heard clearly. Example: He audibly sighed when the test ended. 29. Proficiency Definition: Skill or competence in doing something. Example: Her proficiency in math helped her tutor other students.

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