abandon [verb]
to leave or give up

• I've decided to abandon the idea of starting writing a book. I just don't have the time.
• Many people have to abandon their houses when war breaks out in their country.
• The settlers decided to abandon the settlement and sail back to Cuba.
• Lispeth took to Christianity readily, and did not abandon it when she reached womanhood.

ability [noun]
ableness to do something; a skill for doing something well

• She has a lot of ability in tennis; in fact she's the best player in her grade!
• I'm sorry but the school has no ability to educate children with severe learning problems.
• This finding may explain why increasing numbers of people in the United States lack the natural ability to regulate food intake and body weight.
• Strong families possess the ability to manage both daily stressors and difficult life crises creatively and effectively.

abnormal [adjective]
not normal, unusual

• Is there anything wrong with him? His behaviour has been very abnormal recently.
• We got some very abnormal results in our science experiment. I think the thermometer was not working correctly.
• Abnormal results do not diagnose birth defects, they just suggest that follow-up tests are necessary for further clarification.
• Drug abusers also show prefrontal cortex abnormalities; it is possible that abnormal behaviour may be linked to drug use.

absent [adjective]
being not there; missing

• If you are absent much more often, you are in danger of failing the class.
• What is absent in your essay is any reference to the source of your ideas
• Groups should advise the instructor if a member is unexpectedly absent and try to save materials for that person.
• Curiously absent from the report is any mention of the type of action that the State would have taken against the diverse sources of TCE.

absolutely [adverb]
completely; 100%

• Are you absolutely sure that you gave me your homework?
• The employees are absolutely opposed to the management's plans to increase working hours.
• Imagine being surrounded by hundreds of people who are absolutely convinced you can do anything.
• How did you decide that some items were absolutely necessary?

absorb [verb]
to take in; to take up

• The teacher spoke so fast that it was difficult to absorb all the information he was giving.
• The high price of oil will absorb much of the company's profits this year.
• The World Bank said China has the capacity to absorb the impact of the recent international financial market fluctuations.
• He claimed that Arab countries could not absorb Palestinians.

abstract [adjective]
not specific or concrete

• Infinity is an abstract idea that many students find difficult to understand.
• I find your arguments too abstract. Can you give me some specific examples of what you mean?
• Audio software can help students to record their spoken words describing an abstract concept or how to perform a computation.
• The book is at its best when it delves energetically into some particular event, and draws out its abstract meaning with reference to the grand themes.

abundant [adjective]
existing in large quantities

• You have had abundant chances to improve your behaviour. Now it's too late.
• Some scientists believe that there is an abundant supply of oil waiting to be discovered at the bottom of deep oceans.
• Given the abundance of oxygen and silicon in the crust, it should not be surprising that the most abundant minerals in the earth's crust are the silicates.
• A student seeking a career in this field of study will have abundant opportunities to develop personal and professional skills.

abuse [verb]
to treat someone or something badly

• If you abuse your calculator like that, you'll break it.
• Parents who abuse by their children have often been abused by their own parents.
• TSU Employees who abuse University network and computing resources may be subject to disciplinary action.
• Government troops continued to abuse human rights. Clashes between security and rebel forces caused civilian deaths.

accelerate [verb]
to get or make faster

• If you push down on the right pedal in your car, you will accelerate.
• The rise in the price of oil is set to accelerate in future years due to increased demand in countries such as China and India.
• The xenon atoms need to accelerate to a speed of 30 km/s.
• This program will accelerate entry to the field and to advanced study of nutrition.

accept [verb]
to agree (to have)

• I don't accept your conclusion. I think you have made a mistake.
• Germany had to accept a harsh peace treaty after being defeated in the first world war.
• If you accept a housing assignment in the Summer Allocation and subsequently cancel it or fail to move in you are charged an administrative fee.
• Assad did not want to accept a cease-fire until Israel evacuated at least those parts of the Golan Heights occupied in the October war.

access [noun]
the right to enter or use

• There will be no access to the school on Saturday morning. The fire alarms are being tested.
• I didn't have my identity card with me so I was not allowed access to the building.
• Students must have access to a PC that has at least a 700 MHz processor.
• The pharmacy does not have access to your medical record, thus is unable to obtain insurance information from the health forms.

accompany [verb]
to go with someone or something; to exist together

• Mike is feeling very unwell. Can you please accompany him to the nurse?
• Problems in school often accompany problems at home.
• If submitted in other languages, an English version must accompany the submission.
• All the forms below can be electronically filled and submitted with the exception of Form B, which must accompany personal copies of material.

accomplish [verb]
to do or achieve

• It is surprising what you can accomplish if you make an effort.
• The government failed to accomplish its goal of reducing unemployment among young people.
• The union was not able to accomplish all of its goals in this budget session.
• What did Louis XIV hope to accomplish in his domestic and foreign policies?

accordingly [adverb]
appropriate to; in compliance with

• Those are the rules of the school and I expect you to behave accordingly.
• If you change your address or place of study, please amend your log-in details accordingly.
• This page has moved. Please update your bookmark accordingly!
• The procession enters the arena promptly at 9:30 a.m., so plan your time accordingly.

account [noun]
a written or spoken report of a happening

• Can you please give me an account of what happened while I was out of the classroom?
• Different newspapers will often have a different account of the same event - especially newspapers from different parts of the world.
• Chapter 6 gives a sketchy and rather incomplete account of molecular genetics.
• This book provides the definitive account of the origins of coffee drinking.

accumulate [verb]
to grow; to gather together

• If you learn a few new words every day, your vocabulary will soon accumulate.
• The only goal of some people is to accumulate as much money as possible.
• Under the new programme, employees will continue to accumulate the same amount of paid time off as they did in the old programme.
• Because of their mobile lifestyle, they did not accumulate many objects.

accurate [adjective]
exact, containing no mistakes

• Your writing is very accurate; in fact, it contains no mistakes at all.
• If you want to make an accurate measurement of the weight of very small objects, you will need a special electronic balance.
• The evidence is overwhelming that prediction markets provide a more accurate prediction than polls.
• Some tests may be very accurate but too costly to run, while others are less costly but not as precise.

accuse [verb]
to blame

• If you accuse a student of plagiarism, you must have strong evidence.
• Some people accuse the USA of starting the war in Iraq in order to gain control of its oilfields.
• Students should not accuse others of cheating unless there is clear evidence.
• From then on, the government tried to accuse the communists of being enemies of the fatherland.

achieve [verb]
to gain or get something (often academic success)

• If you worked hard you would achieve a better grade.
• It is difficult to achieve success in school if you are absent so often.
• Girls and boys achieve at similar levels in mathematics through school and at the undergraduate level.
• To achieve this goal, planning must apply the best available scientific information and analysis.

acknowledge [verb]
to agree with; admit to; give credit to

• He had to acknowledge the fact that teaching was not the right job for him.
• The government had to acknowledge that it had not succeeded in its plans to reduce child poverty.
• I would set my classes up for failure if I did not acknowledge this very clear, but often overlooked, fact.
• She claimed, furthermore, that the item did not acknowledge the positive developments in the industry since the turn of the century.

acquire [verb]
to get or obtain

• Where did you acquire your knowledge of ocean ecology?.
• I tried to acquire the information on the internet, but could find nothing useful.
• We designed an experiment to acquire blood from embryonic rats.
• The course aims at helping students acquire a working familiarity with the Federal Rules of Evidence.

actual [adjective]
real

• The new teacher looks quite young but his actual age is 55.
• There are a few meetings next week but the actual conference doesn't start until on Monday 23.
• In the event of an actual disaster a new virtual bulletin board will help the campus take roll.
• Class data will be collected to compare perceived overweight and attempt at dieting with actual weight risk classification.

adapt [verb]
to change (often in response to a changed situation)

• Some students find it difficult to adapt to a new school in a new country.
• It is possible to adapt cars so that they can be driven by people who have lost an arm or a leg.
• If you choose to do nothing to adapt to the changing conditions, you will probably make yourself miserable.
• The monks found it difficult to adapt to changes in society and in the economy, and they also found it difficult to adapt to challenges presented by the new learning made available through translations of ancient Greek texts by way of Arabic.

add [verb]
to include; to give or say extra

• Your report is good, but you need to add a paragraph on the causes of the accident.
• Please add Einstein to your list of famous scientists.
• This means that you will be able to add money from your bank account to your StanfordCardPlan using this new online service.
• This form is to be used by students who seek to add or drop a course during the first two weeks of the trimester.

address [verb]
to give attention to (an issue)

• The school needs to address the serious problem of bullying among grade 7 students.
• Some people are unwilling to address the issue of global warming. They claim it is not happening.
• We need to address the issue of absenteeism and lower productivity among working parents who worry that their kids are not safe.
• Although the amendment claimed to reduce opportunities for voter fraud, it did not address the more common problems of fraudulent voter registration.

adequate [adjective]
(good) enough; ok

• Your work is adequate, but I think you can do a better job next time.
• Many schools in poorer parts of the world do not have adequate books and computers to give their students a good education.
• Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, and shelter.
• Therefore, if a calf has not received an adequate amount of quality colostrum, the calf may not be able to resist disease.

adhere [verb]
to keep to; to follow

• If you do not adhere to the rules of the school, you will be asked to leave.
• Because of the increase in the price of oil the company was unable to adhere to its plans to employ new workers.
• Media center users must adhere to the same standards of behavior expected of other library visitors.
• He did not adhere to one set of religious beliefs and pioneered a new artistic style known today as symbolism.

adjacent [adjective]
next to

• The computer lab is adjacent to the library.
• You will find reference books on this shelf and the adjacent ones.
• Bradley Hall provides backyard access to the lakeshore path, and tennis courts are adjacent to the building for your recreational enjoyment.
• To accurately determine mass balance, stakes were placed in the adjacent clean ice areas of the glacier.

adjust [verb]
to change (often in order to make something work properly)

• If the picture on your TV is not very clear, you need to adjust the controls.
• It took the Brazilian football player a little while to adjust to the speed and hardness of the English football league.
• Photoshop provides you with techniques used to adjust the quality of graphics and photographs.
• Most older cultures seem to accept volcanoes as a natural part of life and adjust their habits accordingly.

administration [noun]
the people responsible for running an organization such as the government or a school

• The administration is planning to extend the school day until 4pm.
• Not all the decisions of the administration have been welcomed by the workers.
• Such web content does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the University administration.
• The Bush administration has failed to address the matter urgently, spending only €1.3 billion per year.

admit [verb]
to allow to enter

• After much debate the school has decided to admit students with physical disabilities.
• The government does not plan to admit any more immigrants unless they can prove that their life is in danger in their own country.
• Each graduate receives three tickets that will admit guests into the auditorium.
• In fact, most nations do not admit immigrants for permanent settlement.

adopt [verb]
to take in; to start

• The school decided to adopt the plan after a meeting with the parents.
• We need to adopt a new strategy. This one isn't working.
• It is never too late to adopt healthy habits! American Institute for Cancer Research.
• Banks that adopt the Equator Principles apply them globally to project financing in all industry sectors including mining, oil and gas, and forestry.

advance [verb]
to go or move forward; to get better

• The German army planned to advance as far as Moscow, but were then stopped by the severe Russian winter.
• You will advance more rapidly if you make more effort.
• Here you can recommend areas for investment of resources to advance the University in its health sciences, education, research, service and outreach missions.
• The goals are to answer some of the most urgent questions to advance significantly our scientific knowledge about Mars.

advantage [noun]
benefit

• The most important advantage of living near the school is that I can go home for lunch every day.
• If you want to be successful in business, it is certainly an advantage to be able to speak more than one language.
• Humor can be advantage in politics.
• Previous experience in such areas, especially microscopy, would be an advantage but is not essential.

advise [verb]
to say what someone should do; to give advice

• I advise you to prepare more carefully for tests.
• The government can advise people to save money for old age, but it cannot force them to do it.
• Tilghman has appointed a group of faculty members to advise her on how the University can best respond to the challenges and opportunities in the international arena.
• What would you advise the patient so that the injury not recur?

advocate [verb]
to speak or write on behalf of someone or something

• Part of the job of an ESL teacher in an international school is to advocate the need to make work comprehensible to non-native speakers.
• Some people advocate government elections every four years instead of every five as at present.
• We do not advocate a unilateral ban on cosmetic testing on animals, nor do we reject the use of animals in biomedical research.
• People with mental disabilities are so marginalized that even human rights activists have failed to advocate for them.

affair [noun]
an event or series of events

• Several students are suspected of sending offensive emails to teachers. The school is investigating the affair.
• World leaders met in Bali to discuss global warming. Many people say that the whole affair was a waste of time and money.
• The writer Emile Zola exposed the affair to the general public in the literary newspaper L'Aurore (The Dawn) in a famous open letter to the President.
• Its president tried to play down the affair, saying that what is going on is probably illegal, but that an international agreement was allowing the practice.

affect [verb]
to have an influence on

• If you fail the last test, this will seriously affect your overall grade for the year.
• Even very low temperatures do not affect the strength of this material.
• Because of the interactive nature of the classroom, absences will significantly affect your performance in the course.
• Color did not affect the perceived sweetness of the drink and did not affect the drink's ability to quench thirst.

afford [verb]
to be able to pay for something

• My family can't afford a new house. They're so expensive in Germany.
• Due to the recent increase in student numbers, the school can now afford to build a new science laboratory.
• The monthly mortgage payment is just one of the costs to consider when deciding if you can afford a home.
• What we are really discussing is whether the industrialized countries can afford the pensions promised by their respective governments.

against [preposition]
opposed to; not for or in favour

• The head teacher is thinking of introducing a school uniform. Most students are against the idea.
• Although nuclear power does not pollute the air, many people are against it because they fear an accident or terrorist attack on a nuclear power station.
• I think this the first time that the administration has done something almost totally against student interest.
• The majority of American voters have turned against the war in Iraq but not against the American troops and not against patriotism.

agent [noun]
a person who is paid to do a job for someone

• Most people employ an agent when they want to buy or sell a house.
• Most famous footballers and film stars need an agent to take care of their contracts.
• The United Mine Workers was the recognized bargaining agent for the coal miners in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
• FLO plays the key role as an agent for ethically sensitive consumers.

aid [noun]
help (often financial help)

• The government decided to increase its aid to the countries of eastern Africa.
• You should contact the office to see if you can get aid.
• Financial aid is the term we use to describe a variety of funds available to help students and their families finance the cost of a Berry College education.
• Evidently both species can discriminate depth by differential motion alone, with no aid from texture density and probably little help from other cues.

aim [noun]
goal or intention

• The main aim of teaching should be to teach the students how to teach themselves.
• The company's aim in the second half of the year is to increase its export business.
• Our aim was to determine whether the association between HPV infection and cervical cancer is consistent worldwide.
• This political biography has fully succeeded in its aim of restoring Shevardnadze's place in history.

albeit [conjuntion]
although, but

• She works well, albeit very slowly.
• The government has had some success in reducing unemployment, albeit not as much as it had promised.
• He was a visual thinker and an artist, albeit a rather unsuccessful one.
• Many of the research questions involved are similar to more mainstream systems research, albeit larger in scale.

align [verb]
to bring into line with; to make similar

• Frankfurt International School needs to align its curriculum with that of German state schools.
• The European Union attempts to align commercial and financial practices in its member countries.
• If UVA is to increase level of satisfaction among junior faculty, it must make an effort to align its policies and practices more closely with the needs and expectations of the faculty.
• He was unable to align the methods and texts advocated by these educators with the powerful ideas of the critical pedagogues shaping his opinions.

allege [verb]
to claim or state

• The teachers allege that the school administration is secretly planning to increase working hours.
• Some people allege that the reasons for invading Iraq were to gain control of its oil.
• Specifically, you allege that you were not provided with academic adjustments and auxiliary aids, and were not provided access to other services and programs at the College.
• Unilateralism may not be destroying American foreign policy as some allege. But it does have its price.

allocate [verb]
to give to (to promise to give)

• The school plans to allocate €10,000 to buy new computers next year for the science lab.
• It is difficult for the government to allocate money fairly to all the organizations that need financial help.
• The website shows how schools allocate and use their resources.
• The points that you allocate should be proportional to the individual's contribution to your team for the quarter to date.

alter [verb]
to change

• The government decided to alter its economic policy after three years of very slow growth.
• In the next 50 years the world's weather could alter significantly if the polar ice continues to melt.
• These budgets must be very carefully designed as it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to alter the amount of the award once it has been granted.
• The significant differences between the traditional and non-traditional student has prompted the question whether institutions need to alter their teaching methods to fit the needs of the non-traditional student.

alternative [noun]
other possibility

• Sorry, you have no alternative. You must do the work and you must do it by Friday.
• For the last 30 years scientists have been searching for a good alternative to gasoline (petrol) as a fuel to run cars.
• If breastfeeding is not possible, commercial infant milk formulas are a good alternative.
• This section is not an alternative to reading course materials or attending lectures, but rather an opportunity explore topics in greater detail.

ambiguous [adjective]
not clear; open to more than one interpretation

• The sentence "I saw a man with a telescope" is ambiguous. Was the telescope used to see the man or was the man carrying a telescope?
• The minister gave an ambiguous answer when asked if the government intended to raise taxes.
• This also helps you determine which variables it is essential to control to avoid an ambiguous answer.
• The data is ambiguous as some analysts measure this figure according to different moments of the year, geographic regions and other variables.

ambitious [adjective]
having high goals (especially in a career; challenging

• In my opinion you are being too ambitious if you think you can learn a language in less than a year.
• The government has set the ambitious target of halving child poverty by the year 2020.
• The Director develops and oversees an ambitious program of professional development and leadership training for history and social science teachers.
• My overall impression is that this plan describes a very ambitious attempt to address an important issue in a scientifically credible manner.

amend [verb]
to change (usually to improve something)

• If he doesn't start to amend his behaviour, he is in danger of being asked to leave the school.
• The company had to amend their profit predictions after the cost of oil doubled within 6 months.
• If we accept your request to amend the information, we will make reasonable efforts to inform others, including people you have authorized, of the amendment.
• It is unclear why the Massachusetts legislature has refused to amend the Zoning Act.

among [preposition]
in, between

• There have been problems in the school among students of different nationalities.
• The decision on whether to shut down its nuclear power stations is among the most serious issues facing the government.
• The report was designed to measure computer and Internet use among people with disabilities.
• Human rights activist John Prendergast, who will present the lecture "Stopping Genocide", is among the notable speakers coming to campus.

amount [noun]
how much there is of something

• You have to measure the amount of salt in the water.
• The government has given €10 million to fight AIDS in Africa, but some people believe that this amount is not sufficient.
• Little association is found between the amount of homework young students complete and achievement.
• Participants donate a small amount of blood or saliva, which will be used as a comparison to blood from children with genetic diseases.

analyze [verb]
to look at something in detail in order to understand it

• If you analyze the figures carefully, you will see some strong patterns.
• Modern computers can analyze huge amounts of information every second.
• When you analyze a primary source, you are undertaking the most important job of the historian.
• Critical thinking is the ability of students to analyze carefully and logically information and ideas from multiple perspectives.

ancient [adjective]
very old

• In history lessons we learn about many ancient peoples such as the Egyptians who built the pyramids, and Roman emperors like Julius Caesar.
• This page unites the texts on various aspects of the history of law in the ancient world.
• As ancient pottery workers experimented with the effects of higher temperatures on ceramics, they began to develop methods to produce a high enough temperature that copper could be melted.
• This course traces the ancient concept of the hero by reading selected works by authors such as Homer, Plutarch and Caesar,

annotate [verb]
to make notes on a piece of writing

• Using a computer program makes it easier to annotate long pieces of writing.
• The author had failed to annotate his report, so it was impossible to check the truth of his claims.
• Many students who receive a grade lower than they want, do so because they fail to annotate their texts.
• You will need to annotate the images and present them as a narrative or the story of destruction in New Orleans after Katrina.

announce [verb]
to state (often in an official way)

• The teacher thought about the best opportunity to announce that she was leaving to have a baby.
• The prime minister is today expected to announce the date of the next election.
• The instructor is expected to announce his or her grading policy at the beginning of the course.
• We held that the entry was illegal because police failed to announce their purpose before using the crowbar to pry the door open.

annual [adjective]
yearly

• The government will today publish its annual report on crime statistics.
• The Tour de France is an annual bike race that is watched by millions of people on the roads and on TV.
• At our 10th annual symposium in late 2005, we posed this set of questions about Space Exploration: Who, What, When, Where, Why?
• Typically held the 3rd week of February, this is an annual event that helps College of Fine Arts students explore careers, develop strategies to pursue career and artistic goals successfully.

anomaly [noun]
an unexpected happening or piece of data

• Women often earn less money that men doing the same job. This anomaly must be stopped.
• The business manager could not explain the anomaly in the company's finances, and was asked to resign.
• Mathews touches on an anomaly that has puzzled students of American regional religious history.
• Worse yet, 1992 was no anomaly but the culmination of bad trends, most of them directly related to the company's lack of focus.

anonymous [adjective]
having no name or known author

• The school received an anonymous email with complaints against one of the teachers.
• In all democratic countries voting in government elections is anonymous.
• Many of the faculty and students we talked with wanted to remain anonymous and asked that they not be listed by name in our report.
• On December 4, 1955, the anonymous decision was made to boycott the bus system until they were treated with courtesy and black drivers could be hired.

anticipate [verb]
to expect

• The government does not anticipate an improvement in unemployment figures until the beginning of the new year.
• The number of refugees rose faster than anyone could anticipate.
• The construction of the Interstate Highway System ran into serious financial problems because Congress did not anticipate the cost of inflation.
• Because multicultural audiences will likely become more and more common, you will need to anticipate cultural differences when you analyze your audience.

apart [adjective]
not together, separate

• People who love each other do not like to be apart.
• The house was built so carelessly that it began to fall apart after only a couple of years.
• It was in 1827, near the beginning of his time apart from the Allan family, that Poe witnessed his first collection of poetry.
• The United States is a nation pulling apart to a degree unknown in the last 25 years.

apparatus [noun]
equipment; things you need to do a job

• At the end of the lesson please put the apparatus back in the storeroom.
• In Iraq the whole apparatus of government was destroyed and had to be rebuilt.
• He both provided a message service and the apparatus needed to send and receive wireless messages.
• In the 20th century, if you wanted to kill lots of people, you needed a government apparatus to do it.

apparent [adjective]
clear; obvious

• It is apparent that you made no effort to learn the words for the test.
• The soldier shot the dog for no apparent reason.
• The need for regulation is quite evident today but was not apparent before the early years of the 20th century.
• Kaiya reminds him that they have never been apart before, and it is apparent that Willow is experiencing feelings of guilt.

appeal [verb]
to complain against an official judgment; to make a strong request

• The parents decided to appeal against the school's expulsion their son.
• Radio and TV stations often appeal for money from their audience in order to help people suffering from disasters.
• Students are strongly recommended to seek assistance from the Student Rights Officer at their campus should they decide to appeal against exclusion.
• It has no alternative but to appeal to more sources and additional help from all those who are keen to support Palestinian education.

appear [verb]
to come, be seen

• The President will appear on TV this evening to talk about the riots in the capital city.
• Venus will next appear in the night sky in August 2007.
• Study suggests macroscopic bilaterian animals did not appear until 555 million years ago.
• A new class of antibiotic drugs is not expected to appear in the immediate future.

append [verb]
to add to the end (of a piece of writing)

• You must append a bibliography to all reports that are based on information found in books or on the internet.
• The chairman forgot to append a list of election regulations as promised.
• You must append copies of the primary literature that you are citing to your paper, and you should highlight the pertinent sections.
• However, because The Dream intends to interest both lay and professional readers, it is unfortunate that she failed to append a glossary of significant terms.

apply [verb]
to be relevant (to)

• The advice does not apply to adults, only to children.
• The new rules will apply to anyone who has come to Germany in the last 10 years.
• The decision does not usually apply to aliens who are under mandatory detention.
• They argued that the law did not apply to Cheney's task force, since all of its members were government officials, not outsiders.

appoint [verb]
to give a job to someone

• Due to a rapid increase in the number of students the school needs to appoint 4 new teachers.
• If you appoint someone who is not qualified for the job, you cannot be surprised if they have problems.
• Dr. Potts announced that he planned to appoint a broadly based committee of representatives to study the Indian issue.
• Sunnis believe that the Prophet Mohammed did not appoint a successor and therefore gave permission to Muslims to elect or choose their own leader after his death.

appreciate [verb]
to understand (the value of someone or something)

• I appreciate the reasons for your failure to hand in the work on time. Nevertheless, our policy requires me to give you a zero.
• Some parents do not appreciate how difficult it is to provide an education that will meet the needs of all students.
• Students will learn to appreciate what epidemiologists mean when they say that an exposure and an outcome are associated.
• She was raised by a family that did not appreciate the significance of racial differences and the importance of developing a positive racial identity.

approach [verb]
to near; to get closer

• When you approach the city, you will notice the many disused factories.
• As we approach the end of the school year, it's time you started to work a little harder!
• Be sure to ask if this is a good time to approach the professor for your specific need.
• Despite his success, Salieri's musical talent did not approach that of Mozart.

appropriate [adjective]
right (for the occasion; suitable

• Sorry but low-cut T-shirts are not appropriate clothes for school.
• This is not an appropriate test for ESL beginners. It is far too difficult.
• The CLAS Institute identifies, evaluates, and promotes effective and appropriate early intervention and preschool practices that are sensitive to diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
• Having a primarily peasant background, their training was not appropriate to more skilled positions in an industrial city.

approve [verb]
to agree to

• Do you think that the school will approve the suggestion to increase the number of holidays?
• The boss decided not to approve her employee's request to leave work early.
• The Board of Trustees met in April 2006 to discuss this report, and decided to approve the construction of a 500 kW turbine.
• Unfortunately NIH did not approve the funding request.

approximately [adverb]
about; not exactly

• There are approximately 350 students in high school. I'm not sure of the exact number.
• Prices have risen by approximately 4% over the last 10 years.
• The professor meets with each student for a half-hour private tutorial approximately three times during the semester.
• In 1996, approximately 805 million Smart cards were issued, with an estimated 2.8 billion to be distributed in 2000.

arbitrary [adjective]
not planned or thought-out; not considering the wishes of others

• The pass / fail grade is not arbitrary. It was set at 45% after much thought and discussion.
• The boss took the arbitrary decision to close the factory for a week.
• The Tower of Hanoi is an ancient puzzle involving three pegs, and an arbitrary number of circular discs, each of a different size, and with holes in their centers.
• For my next step I would propose to the students certain distinctions that might at first glance seem to be completely arbitrary or valueless.

area [noun]
field, sphere

• Religion is an area in which many people have very strong feelings.
• I don't have very much knowledge in the area of electronics.
• Though this is not an area where government can go it alone, it can and must set a good example.
• The book is an educational and approachable reference in a difficult area of medicine where clinicians often feel uncertain.

argument [noun]
justification or reason (for an idea)

• His argument is that if we don't cut taxes, then unemployment will rise.
• In my opinion the government's argument for banning smoking is very weak. Surely they don't expect people to agree!
• A thought- provoking argument suggests we should expect the extinction of intelligent life on Earth soon.
• This is, once again, not an argument against bilingual education, because studies have shown that children in well- designed bilingual programs do well.

arise [verb]
to happen

• His problems at school started to arise when he began spending hours on the internet every evening.
• The difficulties that arise from time to time in the business can be solved by good management.
• The latest problems to arise with the red maple tree are a result of the extreme weather patterns and environmental stress.
• Bodde's main concern, it turns out, is to elucidate why modern science did not arise in China as it did in Europe.

arrange [verb]
to plan to happen; to group together

• Please arrange yourselves in groups of 3 or 4, and then do the problem in the middle of the table.
• The chairman needs to arrange a better meeting next time. The last one was very disorganized.
• If you are accepted you will need to arrange to have an official copy of your scores sent to the Program address below.
• He flew in with 500 rolls of film and 1400 pounds of provisions but forgot to arrange for the pilot to pick him up again.

artificial [adjective]
not real or natural

• People who suffer from hay fever cannot have real flowers in their house. They have artificial ones instead.
• The study of how computers are similar to human brains is called artificial intelligence or AI.
• In the heat of election campaigning, it is in no-one's interest to impose an artificial crisis upon the economy.
• This is an artificial example to illustrate how the method works. In real data, the sequences are much longer, and there's no mistaking a match.
• Samuel Huang, a professor of chemistry and materials science, has created an artificial tendon out of biodegradable materials.

aspect [noun]
feature, part of

• An aspect of English that many learners find difficult is verb grammar.
• One aspect of the problem that no-one has yet considered is: Who is going to pay?
• "In the modern business world, the most important aspect of leadership is the ability to create an environment that lifts people up," says Jain.
• Freedom of speech is not the only aspect of democracy.

assemble [verb]
to get, put or bring together

• Please assemble in the cafeteria after lunch.
• In most modern car factories robots assemble the larger parts.
• In order to claim a project, you must assemble a team of 3 to 6 people within a class and get verbal approval from your professor.
• Due to the severe shortage of highly trained nursing staff, Hopkins was unable to assemble a full team of qualified personnel.

assent [noun]
agreement

• You will need to get your parents' assent for your attendance at the sex education classes.
• Governments cannot govern without the broad assent of the people.
• Counselors will begin on-going sessions with a student only after having obtained signed assent of the student and signed consent of the parent.
• If children of seven years and older will be included in the study, an assent agreement is necessary.

assert [verb]
to claim, to say strongly

• The students assert that I promised to show a DVD on in class today, but I cannot remember doing so.
• Insurance salesmen often assert profits that they know are very unlikely.
• In closing, I want to assert that I know that our community is up to meeting these challenges and I know that the bold and inspiring decisions that will be made.
• We sat at dinner and talked about Twain, and Hawthorne, and Robert Frost, but I could not assert that every American would know these poets.

assess [verb]
to judge or test

• Most students agree that teachers need assess them on how much they have learned.
• It is still too soon to assess how important this invention will be.
• Imagine a bridge that can self - diagnose cracks or a building able to assess its own health after an earthquake without any help from humans.
• If the adult victim acknowledges having experienced abuse, it is important to assess the potential for future violence, as well as the danger involved.

asset [noun]
advantage

• Your ability to speak 4 languages will be an asset when you try to find well-paid work.
• It is an asset to live in a house near to one's work and the shops.
• Note that undergraduate research experience is not an asset for many programs, it is a requirement.
• Nowadays, knowledge is viewed as a significant asset for organizations.

assignment [noun]
a task; the giving of a task

• This assignment is due on September 23.
• Not everyone approved of the government's assignment of the important position to a former sports star.
• The research addresses teacher attitudes toward the assignment of homework.
• I am an American clergywoman with the unusual assignment of teaching these young people the Hebrew language, in Arabic.

assimilate [verb]
to take in

• On your first day in a new school it is difficult to assimilate all the information that you are given.
• The government should do more to assimilate immigrants who do not speak English.
• You need to assimilate the material covered by the homework problems in order to pass the quizzes and final examination.
• Yet there were conflicts there too, and the immigrants did not assimilate easily and completely into Israeli culture.

assist [verb]
to help

• If you can't do your homework, you should ask your parents to assist you.
• The government has set up a programme to assist refugees on entry to the country.
• The data center will assist researchers through the application of mathematics and computer science to biological problems.
• If you cannot obtain such a statement, you must verify that you have contacted your employer and that the employer was unable to assist you with the refund.

associate [verb]
to link to; to make a connection to

• Many economists associate the rise in prices with the government's decision to tax imports.
• Even today some Russian people refuse to associate Stalin with the terrible crimes that were committed when he was Russian leader.
• Many people do not associate a top engineering education with a liberal arts setting.
• It is often necessary to associate a complex set of "metadata" with each data point in order to make that datum useful.

assume [verb]
to believe to be true; to presume or predict

• I assume his strange behaviour recently is the result of his parents' divorce.
• The boss was right to assume that his workers would return to work once it was clear that they would otherwise lose their jobs.
• You should not assume that the test questions this semester will be on the same topics.
• However, it would be foolish to assume that our planet has seen the last of this powerful and frightening virus.

assure [verb]
to make sure; to say that something will certainly happen

• The head teacher could not assure parents that there would be no increase in school fees.
• This famous victory will assure her place in the history of sport.
• Students must assure that at least one of the three courses they take to satisfy the general and school cores is a Humanities course.
• They were unable to assure the distribution of food supplies because of the deteriorating security situation.

atmosphere [noun]
mood among people or groups

• It is important for teachers to create a positive learning atmosphere in the classroom.
• The atmosphere between the workers and the management improved when flexible working time was introduced.
• How the atmosphere changed when he entered a room: it was warm, electric, somehow bigger.
• Rexhepi said the incident damaged the atmosphere for the upcoming talks on practical matters between Kosovar and Serbian officials.

attach [verb]
to put together with

• Many people attach pictures to the emails they send.
• Most employers expect you to attach a photograph when you apply for a job.
• Computer viruses attach themselves to documents such as word processing files and spreadsheets.
• Unlike normal children she cannot attach its ordinary meaning to the word "blue", so she cannot fully understand basic sentences.

attack [noun]
to criticize; to attempt to harm or damage

• The administration's proposal to extend the school day came under attack from the teachers.
• The government must be prepared for an attack from people who oppose its decision.
• It's a serious attack on any community's authority to develop and implement housing policies without consultation.
• We had to make sure that our customers in China knew that what we were doing was not an attack on Chinese industry, but a dispute over a legitimate issue.

attain [verb]
to get, achieve

• If you work harder, you will attain a better grade next term.
• To attain the highest positions in American politics it is necessary to come from a rich family.
• What skills did you attain in the process of completing your course?
• Unfortunately, some states will not be able to attain the new ozone standard, partly because of pollution not originating in their state.

attempt [verb]
to try

• If you don't make the basketball team this year, you should attempt it again next year when you are in grade 8.
• The President accepts full responsibility for the decision to attempt the rescue.
• Despite the fact that this was a simple questionnaire, the researchers did not even attempt to translate it for use with less educated deaf people.
• The student was hardly active with the experiment and did not attempt to contribute.

attend [verb]
to go to, to be present at

• Did you attend the meeting after school yesterday?
• The government's plan is for at least 50% of school leavers to attend a university or college.
• If you are unable to attend a class for any reason, and would prefer to work directly from the student guide, please contact the Training Coordinator.
• As a general rule, all persons wishing to attend the conference must register and pay for participation.

attention [noun]
focus

• A common teacher request to students who are not listening in class is: Pay attention.
• Once the conference is over the government will turn its attention to the problems of urban crime.
• If there is a group that we have paid no attention to, it's old women, says Hawkes.
• After the attacks of September 11, 2001, Pat Cornell turned her attention to detecting and preventing terrorism.

attitude [noun]
what someone thinks about something (and how their behaviour is influenced by their thinking)

• The government has changed its attitude to nuclear power now that the cost of oil has been so high for the past few years.
• What is your attitude to paying higher taxes in order that more schools and hospitals can be built?
• A negative attitude toward yourself as a writer can make you anxious and lead you to "block."
• This is the wrong attitude to have when considering the true dangers the culture of alcohol presents to the campus.

attract [verb]
to be interesting; to cause to like

• His new book is sure to attract a lot of attention.
• Many stores have special offers to attract new customers.
• There are many attempts to attract more women and minorities to the field, but people's perceptions must be altered before changes can happen.
• The paper was unable to attract sufficient support and ceased publication after a few months.

attribute [noun]
characteristic; property

• The main attribute of a good teacher is knowledge of his or her subject.
• Honesty is not an attribute that most people associate with occupations such as politician or used-car salesman.
• While mastery of both written and spoken English is considered to be an essential attribute, students with documented hearing, speech and other disabilities will be reasonably accommodated in accordance with law.
• Ambition was not an attribute of the female characters in his earlier films.

authentic [adjective]
real, genuine; not made-up or artificial

• Many language teachers believe that their learners should use only authentic materials, not ones especially made for ESL students.
• These documents have an official stamp, but I'm not convinced they are authentic.
• This past summer, after a vacation to Japan, I realized that what I had been eating in America was not authentic Japanese food.
• In order to make student learning relevant to real life experiences, learning environments must be authentic.

authority [noun]
control (right to control)

• Parents have authority over their children until the children leave home.
• The government has no authority to tell people how to live.
• The owner of the organization has the authority to make decisions.
• The Department Coordinator, elected by peers, has the same one vote as the others and has no authority over her peers.

automatic [adjective]
happening by itself; happening naturally or usually

• Many shops these days have automatic doors. They open as soon as you approach.
• If you are caught drinking and driving, this results in an automatic driving ban of at least 3 months.
• In this article I will discuss the possible use of automatic speech recognition (ASR) for training students to improve their accents in a foreign language.
• At no point in our deliberations are numbers employed in a way that would trigger an automatic decision to offer or deny admission.

available [adjective]
can be had (bought or obtained)

• Microsoft's new operating system will not be available until the beginning of September.
• Digital television is not yet available in many parts of the country.
• The practice test materials will become available just prior to the class.
• Certain items are not available at this time since the originals have been put into storage for the duration of the construction.

average [adjective]
ordinary, typical

• The average student at our school spends about 90 minutes doing homework every evening.
• The average German family has 1.8 children.
• Each section of the book, is represented by a family, which was chosen as an average family representing that country.
• What's the average time needed to finish a course?

averse [adjective]
against

• Most teachers are averse to students wearing hats or chewing gum in the classroom.
• Doctors these days are not averse to advising patients about poor lifestyle choices such as smoking or lack of exercise.
• While I am not in favor of teaching creationism in public schools, I am also not averse to having it presented and examined.
• The bulk of the urban districts, particularly in the Northern states, were totally averse to this development.

avoid [verb]
to not do something or go somewhere

• I avoid the cafeteria at lunchtime. It's too crowded and noisy.
• The government should avoid making promises that it cannot keep.
• To prevent this from happening, it is very helpful for patients to avoid talking unless absolutely necessary for three days following surgery.
• Those who will be attending the event should try to make it to the Speedway early to avoid the rush hour traffic.

aware [adjective]
knowing

• I am aware of her problems at home, but this doesn't mean that she can be rude and disruptive in school.
• The workers were not aware of the management's plans to relocate the factory.
• A high percentage of students are not aware of tutoring services offered by the College of Engineering.
• While you may not admit to political pressure, you must be aware of its almost constant presence; and you must recognize it and be prepared to deal with it.

background [noun]
family experiences; circumstances

• With her background it is not surprising that she has had problems in her new school.
• You need to know a little more about the background before you criticize the government's decision.
• Furthermore, as an educational institution, the College cannot ignore the background and perspectives of its students and must attempt to promote teaching practices and a campus atmosphere that benefits and ensures the success of all of its learners.
• These questions are meant to help you research the background information you will need to evaluate some of the water quality issues in NYC

balance [noun]
equalness

• You must try to achieve a balance between work and play. At the moment it's too much play!
• Good teaching is a balance of fairness, firmness and friendliness.
• Below are some suggestions for achieving a balance between your work and personal life.
• The idea that there is balance in nature is part of most world views.

ban [verb]
to prohibit or forbid

• My parents have decided to ban me from eating in my room.
• The government is considering whether to ban smoking in all public places.
• Certain questions must be answered before it becomes politically feasible, or even necessary, to ban cellular phones.
• Schwarzenegger said he wanted to ban junk food from school vending machines.

barely [adverb]
not very much; hardly

• It's no surprise that she is so quiet in class. She can barely speak a word of English.
• The government has made barely any progress towards reducing environmental pollution.
• The B grade had come to signify work that was barely acceptable.
• San Francisco's justice reform program is barely alive, says a UC Berkeley report.

base [verb]
to use as a way of doing or deciding something

• School need to base their curricula on the needs of the students who attend them.
• The government should not base its tax policies on what newspaper editors tell it to do.
• You are being quizzed on how well you understand the information in your required readings, so base your answers on what is written in the Hunt textbook.
• We did not base our selections on an author's nationality, religion, politics, or field of study; nor on an author's race or gender.

basic [adjective]
first or easy

• You have not yet mastered basic grammar. You still make mistakes like "he go" or she don't".
• The basic problem is that we don't have enough money.
• The most basic technique to develop is observational drawing skills.
• The basic issue is, and always has been, one of parenting.

battle [noun]
fight, part of a war

• I'm in a battle with John's parents. They want me to give him more homework, but I know he won't do it.
• The government will never win the battle against drug-taking.
• They are currently involved in a battle against Occidental Petroleum to save their land and their way of life.
• A battle to save life has recently been waged at the Kwangtze Hospital in Shanghai. This battle is not yet over, but it has already caused a great sensation.

behalf [noun]
as a representative of; for the benefit of

• Mrs Cho spoke on behalf of the Korean Parents Group and thanked the school for buying Korean books for the library.
• The lawyer was acting on behalf of the two children who had lost their parents in a car accident.
• Some information is collected on our behalf by outside agencies in order to provide services to our visitors.
• Erving Goffman pointed out that when one person speaks on behalf of another, the former steals the latter's conversational role.

behave [verb]
to act or do things in a certain way

• Standing on the table is certainly no way to behave in the cafeteria!
• One of the most important jobs of a parent is to teach the child how to behave in different situations.
• What might cause my computer to behave oddly and even insult me, and how can I fix it?
• His research helped establish that identical DNA sequences may behave differently depending on context and condition.

belief [noun]
what you think; what you believe in

• It is my belief that he copied large parts of your writing from the internet.
• Many people who are old and sick are comforted by their belief in God.
• They have developed a strong belief in themselves which provides them with the energy, the drive, and the tools they need to face challenges.
• The result of such abuse was increased poverty in Russia and lost belief in the fairness of governmental institutions.

belong [verb]
to be part of something or owned by someone

• Almost all of the world's countries belong to the United Nations organization.
• The sports hall is on the school grounds but it doesn't belong to the school.
• This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth.
• He may belong to any political party he pleases, or he may belong to none.

beneath [preposition]
below

• Archaeologists found some Roman coins beneath the town wall.
• There is land beneath the ice in Antarctica, but water beneath it at the North Pole.
• Spending months at a time in orbit, the scientists will be able to observe changes on the earth beneath them from day to day.
• The men searched the entire camp, digging beneath the snow and even into the earth, but no paper was found, no diaries and no documents.

benefit [noun]
advantage

• With her good grades she is now getting the benefit of all her hard work.
• I know the disadvantages of living far from the city and my work, but there is an important benefit: fresh air!
• Customers found no benefit in comparison -shopping, since price uniformity was nearly absolute.
• Janice Walker wanted to examine further ways to continue this great benefit to the company's staff as well as the company's productivity.

besides [preposition]
in addition to; as well as

• I was surprised that besides me there were only about three or four people in favour of the proposal.
• And besides failing to reduce unemployment, the government has also increased the tax on food.
• These two-word verbs present one other problem, besides not appearing as separate entries in the dictionary.
• What do western Louisville and the Appalachian region have in common besides being two of the poorest areas in Kentucky?

beyond [preposition]
further than: past

• She always goes beyond what is expected of her. No wonder she gets such good grades.
• The school is constructing a new science block beyond the sports field.
• Many new astronomy learners, students and adults alike, are unfamiliar with the universe beyond the solar system.
• Art is every artist's attempt to communicate in a way beyond words what they feel, see, and think about life.

bias [noun]
favouring one more than another, prejudice

• Her family were persecuted by the Nazis, so it's no surprise that she shows bias against the Germans.
• He has a strong bias against religion since suffering badly as a child in a strictly religious school.
• APA offers specific recommendations for eliminating bias in language concerning race, disability, and sexuality.
• Recent research shows bias against African American mothers of any class who don't work.

blame [verb]
to accuse

• I blame my teacher for not preparing us properly for the test.
• It's too easy to blame all of the country's problems on the government.
• The media and the public should not blame the music industry for the jobs that parents are not fulfilling.
• I blame the linguists, for not insisting that anyone who claims to be an educated person needs elementary competence in describing and analyzing the sound, form and meaning of human language.

block [verb]
to not allow; to stop or prevent

• After listening to the students' assurance, the principal decided not to block their plan for a sleepover in the school gym.
• The government has decided to block financial aid to the African country until the civil war is over.
• The king could delay implementing a new law, but could not block it entirely.
• The filter must block out all but about one part in a million of the light that hits it, and must do so all across the spectrum.

bold [adjective]
brave

• The government took the bold decision to decrease tax.
• It was bold of him to criticize the boss in front of all the workers.
• It was a bold move, but frankly we didn't have a choice.
• A group of artists who were working and teaching in the Boston area had a bold idea: to create a new kind of school for professional education in the visual arts.

bond [noun]
link; tie

• There is usually a close bond between students of the same nationality at an international school.
• The bond between mother and child is said to be the strongest of any personal relationships.
• Most simply, the strength of a bond is measured by determining how much energy is required to break the bond.
• Its plot centers on how the bond between two female "mates" is almost broken because both love the same man.

boundary [noun]
limit, extent

• The boundary to the school grounds is the stream. You must not cross it.
• Children who have no boundary to their behaviour are often unhappy.
• The boundary between the United States and Mexico represents one of the greatest divisions of wealth on Earth.
• We are often right on the boundary of warm and cold or moist and dry air masses. So we get some very difficult weather conditions to try to forecast.

brief [adjective]
short

• Please write a brief summary of the causes of the first world war. Write no more than 300 words.
• Give me a brief explanation of how the accident happened.
• These notes are intended as a brief introduction to some of the main ideas and methods of calculus.
• Since most employers spend less than a minute scanning a resume, it is necessary to be brief and to highlight all that is important.

broad [adjective]
wide, extensive

• He has a broad knowledge of computer technology.
• The Mississippi is a broad river.
• The two scholars are impressed with the broad audience of readers their blog drew after their first three postings on Dec. 5, 2004.
• The goal is to produce world-class scholars with capabilities in research, teaching, and service within the broad area of Information and Decision Sciences.

broadcast [verb]
to tell or transmit (often by means of a television programme)

• The school chose not to broadcast news of the teacher's accident.
• The government broadcast a warning about the dangers of terrorist attack in the capital city.
• He was highly confidential and did not broadcast his (personal) accomplishments.
• We also want to speak openly about the question of whether the German radio should broadcast so-called jazz music.

bulk [noun]
majority; largest part

• The bulk of doctors are hard-working and competent, but there are some who are not.
• The bulk of the aid money that has been allocated to Afghanistan has been wasted.
• The bulk of the students' time is spent performing experiments, with required one-on-one mentorship by a graduate student, fellow, or faculty member.
• On the whole the great bulk of Canadian immigration of the past generation has been drawn from the English-speaking countries.

cancel [verb]
to cut or stop from happening

• The director had to cancel the school play when 4 of the cast fell ill the day before the first performance.
• The prime minister has decided to cancel the planned visit to Batavia in view of the outbreak of war in the country.
• If the student contacts you before or after the experiment with a valid excuse, you can cancel the appointment without penalty.
• With regret, we have had to cancel the upcoming program on "The Nervous System" due to an unavoidable change in schedules.

capable [adjective]
able

• You are capable of much better grades if you make more effort.
• The police were not capable of controlling the street demonstrations. They had to call in the army.
• Open Office Writer is capable of saving documents in many different formats.
• So when Solomon died (sometime around 920 BC) he left a vacuum of power which his weak son Rehoboam was not capable of filling.

career [noun]
a long-term job

• Teaching is the career of the people who work at FIS.
• A career in science or engineering usually pays more than one in manufacturing.
• Our primary mission is to help you identify, plan for, and achieve your career goals.
• Preparing yourself for a career in oceanography is probably one of the most interesting and rewarding (yet difficult) paths to travel.

case [conjuntion]
.. for the event that, because maybe .. will

• I always take my dictionary to class in case I have to look up a word.
• The weather forecast warned people to stay at home in case the storm got even worse.
• In case of an emergency, leave your classroom as quickly as possible and follow the Exit signs to the nearest exit.
• A back-up plan is recommended in case the system fails to operate as expected.

category [noun]
group of similar items

• Run, eat and think are words in the same category, namely: verbs.
• Illegal drugs are grouped into one or other category according to how dangerous they are considered.
• A link is provided in case the visitor wishes to return to the Search page to review other products in the same category.
• He is an American citizen which obviously puts him in a different category from the kinds of individuals that the president has suggested might be suitable.

cause [noun]
the reason why something happens

• The main cause of her poor grades are her frequent absences from school.
• It is a well-known fact that smoking is a cause of lung cancer.
• Poor diet itself is not a cause of scoliosis, but maintaining a healthy diet can diminish the symptoms of scoliosis.
• It should be obvious that the consumption habits of the wealthy countries are the prime cause of environmental problems.

cautious [adjective]
careful

• We must be cautious in how we interpret the data. It would be easy to draw false conclusions.
• It is a fact that cautious drivers have fewer accidents than reckless ones.
• Congress seems to have taken a cautious approach to regulating a technology that is reinventing the very manner in which ideas are expressed.
• If a person tends to be cautious in relationships or at work, it is likely that her investment decisions will also be cautious.

cease [verb]
to stop

• If your disruptive behaviour does not cease, you are in danger of being expelled.
• The fighting is expected to cease when the United Nations sends in its observers.
• All campus party noise must cease by 12:00 Midnight.
• In proof of this, we may note that slavery did not cease immediately on the reception of Christianity.

certain [adjective]
sure

• You are certain to fail unless you put in more effort.
• The professor was not certain that the work contained the student's own ideas.
• Be certain to answer the question in its entirety. Be certain to explain how and why you came to a particular conclusion.
• Since the U.S. flu vaccine supply was cut in half early this month, shots are scarce, lines long and some people are certain to miss out.

challenge [noun]
difficult situation; problem

• The school faces a real challenge in educating students from poor backgrounds.
• The greatest challenge that we face is to reduce global warming.
• The University of California library system faces a challenge in relation to the costs of online journal subscriptions.
• Delivery of safe and timely care is a huge challenge given the complexities of modern medicine.

characteristic [adjective]
typical

• It was characteristic of him to fail to prepare properly for the test.
• Headaches and sleeplessness are characteristic of someone suffering from culture shock.
• The siting and design are a typical characteristic of ancient buildings that belong to a self-enclosed precinct.
• This was not characteristic of Serbia alone; the population felt similar frustration in other parts of Yugoslavia and in Eastern Europe.

chief [adjective]
most important

• Our chief problem is how to convince the governors that we are right.
• The chief danger to the soldiers is suicide bombers at the checkpoints.
• As large and difficult as it was, it was not the chief problem. The deeper problem was conceptual.
• A half century ago the conflict over state regulation of railroads was the chief issue in Alabama politics.

choice [noun]
decision, selection

• Younger students usually have no choice in what they study.
• Should the government invest more in solar energy or nuclear energy? It's a difficult choice.
• Their research draws a connection between school choice and segregation, but hasn't yet tackled the "whys."
• To use or not use alcohol is a personal choice.

circulate [verb]
to move from one place or person to another (often in a circle)

• Rumours about teachers circulate quickly through schools.
• It is possible to circulate the world by boat in about three days.
• You are recommended to circulate quickly throughout the classroom to make sure that everyone understands the task, then return to help students who are having difficulty.
• In the 1850s, texts did not circulate widely enough to provoke a revolution.

circumstances [noun]
situation

• The circumstances that led to the train crash are being investigated by the police.
• With his difficult family circumstances it is not really surprising that he's having trouble in school.
• We recognize that circumstances beyond a family's control may inhibit a family's ability to contribute to educational expenses.
• The role of doctors as a conscience of the community deserves more consideration in times of stress and under difficult circumstances such as war.

citizen [noun]
person (member of a country)

• In Ancient Rome not every citizen had equal rights.
• A foreigner who wants to become a citizen of the USA cannot have a criminal record.
• Various approaches to environmental justice are discussed, along with steps in the planning process when citizen involvement is particularly effective.
• In this way, Cohen embodies the ideal student and model citizen; he speaks up when he perceives injustice regardless of the consequences.

claim [verb]
to state to be true

• They claim that they did the work independently of each, but I don't believe them.
• The cyclist tried to claim that he had not used drugs, but the blood tests proved the opposite.
• The Committee determines, in its sole discretion, whether the College is entitled to claim ownership of the invention.
• Some Western scholars have erroneously tried to claim that Theravada is primarily a monastic religion.

clarify [verb]
to make something clear, explain

• Could you please clarify the homework for me? I'm not sure I understand.
• The government needs to clarify its tax proposals. They are less than clear to most people.
• The syllabus must clarify how attendance and participation affect, if at all, the student's course grade.
• Your supervisor has been provided with the above information and should be able to clarify any questions you may have.

classic [adjective]
very good, the best or most used

• A classic method of learning vocabulary is to write words and their translations in a small notebook.
• The government's election defeat is a classic case of failure to learn from past mistakes.
• A classic example of ambiguity is the sentence: "I do not like visiting aunts."
• The classic way of attacking the security of computer programs is to feed them unexpected and deceptive inputs.

classify [verb]
to put into a category or class

• A common task in the English classroom is to classify the parts of speech into nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc.
• There are many small organisms that scientists find difficult to classify.
• Starting during the 18th century, attempts have been made to classify the world's languages into one comprehensive genetic system of families.
• Therefore, it is important to classify low birth weight infants according to their weight for their gestational age.

code [noun]
a set of rules

• The UK Highway code is the book of road rules that must be learned by new drivers.
• Most countries have a code by which parents can decide if a film is suitable for their children.
• D. perceives this as deviation from what she considers the traditional code of behaviour of Greek women.
• Princeton University computer scientist Edward Felton has decided not to publish a paper on how his research team broke the code of copyright protection.

coincidence [noun]
an uncommon happening of two things

• Three people in my class were born on the same day. That's quite a coincidence!
• Some people think it was no coincidence that there was a terror alarm two days before the election.
• It is no coincidence that the early proponents of so-called public education were socialists.
• Luckily, due to total coincidence, the men's and women's basketball teams started most of their games on the road.

collaborate [verb]
to work together

• Some new students to the school find it unusual that teachers expect them to collaborate with other students to complete homework assignments.
• European countries have decided to collaborate in an effect to reduce illegal immigration.
• We need to put our minds together and decide if we need to collaborate among our institutions to provide a new service.
• The two departments have failed to collaborate and coordinate their efforts in implementing the laws and regulations on the use of wetland areas.

collapse [verb]
to fall down completely and heavily; to fail

• Many buildings collapse during earthquakes and kill the people inside.
• The computer system did not collapse, even though more than a million people tried to access the website at the same time.
• The debate over whether North Korea will collapse and whether the United States should promote its collapse has paralyzed American policymaking.
• The regime, which is bound to collapse under the deadweight of its own internal contradictions, is going to collapse on our heads.

combine [verb]
to put or go together

• When two atoms of hydrogen combine with one of oxygen, then the result is H₂O, water.
• If you can combine your intelligence with hard work, you have a good chance of success.
• Click here to review the rules of comma usage when you combine two independent clauses.
• The UCLA Philharmonia, however, is bridging the gap between North and South campuses with two concerts that combine symphony with science and history.

command [noun]
control

• He will never be a good teacher. He has no command of the class.
• The UN soldiers lost command of the village when it was invaded by terrorist fighters.
• Even the older generation does have some command of the Indonesian language.
• In his view, the Empire was less a place where England exerted control than where it lost command of its own identity.

commence [verb]
to start

• The meeting will commence at 8.30.
• The company's problems did not commence until the price of oil increased.
• Their acquaintance, therefore, it may be presumed, did not commence till towards the end of this year 1754.
• The journey to peace and prosperity in the region can only commence when the civic authority is brought back in.

comment [noun]
a short written or spoken statement or opinion

• The principal made no comment on the reasons for asking the student to leave the school.
• The government minister expressed regret at her thoughtless comment about 'lazy incompetent teachers'.
• She listened attentively, but made no comment.
• That's probably the most fatuous comment I've read on this website.

commercial [adjective]
to do with business

• The commercial area of Frankfurt is to the south east of the city center.
• Some people say that there were commercial reasons for the invasion of Iraq.
• Many of these strategies have already been adopted by the commercial airlines, which operate in an intensely competitive environment.
• But when planned and deliberate policy forces the price of oil down without good commercial reasons, then that means another war against Iraq.

commit [verb]
to do (often an offense)

• Do not commit the serious error of believing you can pass the course without doing the coursework.
• The pressure of examinations leads some young people to commit suicide.
• The most significant risk factor in predicting whether a person will commit a violent crime in the future is whether the person has previous offenses.
• When all the edits are done, click the button to commit the changes to the database.

committee [noun]
a group of people meeting to discuss an issue

• The school established a committee to discuss the introduction of a bilingual programme.
• The government set up a committee to investigate the reasons for the riots.
• He reported that the presidential search committee has been formed and thanked some groups for forwarding diverse nominees.
• The current timing left the committee with only one working week to review the applications.

commodity [noun]
a product; something you can buy

• Respect is not a commodity. You have to earn it; you cannot buy it.
• Most economists believe that oil is the most important commodity in today's world.
• Water is a useful and necessary thing, but it is not a commodity until someone builds a fence around the water source.
• Vegetable crops are the most important commodity group for small farms in southern states and their importance is expected to increase.
• When parents decide to send their children to a fee -paying school, education becomes a commodity.

common [adjective]
often seen or happening

• Volkswagen is a very common car in Germany.
• Graffiti is common on the buildings in big German cities.
• In fact, most of the errors discussed on this site are common in the writing of privileged middle-class Americans.
• Plants that possess certain traits or characteristics not common to the entire species are referred to as biotypes.

communicate [verb]
to convey information

• In an international school it is important to communicate to the parents in their own languages.
• The government is having difficulty trying to communicate the reasons for its change of policy.
• This illustrated publication introduces the different ways deaf people can communicate, including gestures and facial expressions, speechreading, etc.
• Even though the right hemisphere could not communicate to observers what stimuli it had been presented with, it did show some verbal comprehension.

community [noun]
a group of people

• Frankfurt International School has invited the local community to its Open Day.
• The internet has made it possible for a community of people with similar interests to get together online, even if they don't live close to each other.
• Unidata is a diverse community of education and research institutions vested in the common goal of sharing data, tools to access the data, and software to use and visualize the data.
• The situation is such that not only is the Muslim community conflicted with the outside pressures to conform, but it is conflicted within itself.

comparison [noun]
a statement of how two things are similar or different

• In this report you must write a comparison of FIS and your previous school.
• If I make a comparison of England and Germany, I have to say I prefer Germany. The weather is better and the people are more friendly.
• There have been several reviews done regarding the comparison of online course delivery tools that are on the market today.
• What is the comparison between continental and oceanic volcanic eruptions?

compatible [adjective]
able to work with someone or something else

• The school made a mistake when buying new computers. They are not compatible with the printers we have.
• If you have an aquarium you must be careful to ensure that you stock it with fish that are compatible.
• Factory farming is just not compatible with animal welfare.
• In order to match you up with the most compatible roommate we can, please fill out the Housing Intake Questionaire.

compel [verb]
to force or make happen

• I cannot compel you to listen, but I will ask you to leave the room if you talk while I do.
• I don't really like science but my parents decided to compel me to take biology and chemistry in grade 10.
• Most programs have experienced the need to develop mechanisms to compel involvement of parents and/or guardians in the juvenile drug court process.
• But you are forgetting one thing, gentlemen of the law, you are driving a horse to water but you cannot compel him to drink.

compensation [noun]
money (or some other reward) given to someone who has suffered a loss or injustice

• The factory worker was awarded €30,000 compensation for losing his arm in an accident.
• Victims of terrorist attacks are usually given compensation by the government.
• An employee is entitled to no compensation for the first seven calendar days of disability unless the disability continues for more than 21 days.
• Historically, there was compensation for crop and livestock losses, but the problem of estimating the damage and lack of funds for compensation programs has been significant.

compete [verb]
to try and win against someone or something

• This is an activity in which I expect you to work together. Do not try to compete with each other.
• Many Western businesses are finding it difficult to compete with Asian companies which pay their workers far less money.
• An athlete may begin training at age 6 but cannot compete until age 8.
• The U.S. firms selling steel in India must compete against the firms from not merely India but Europe, Japan, Korea and China as well.

competent [adjective]
good at something (often a job)

• When you employ an electrician to do a job in your house, you hope they will be competent at their job.
• The new government has not yet proved itself competent of making the right decisions in its foreign policy.
• I experienced her as a very competent teacher who had empathy for her students.
• It is especially important to remember that parents as a group have not usually taken the riding lessons and are not competent to supervise their children.

compile [verb]
to put together (often in a list

• The school plans to compile a list of the local doctors who can speak English.
• The committee was asked to compile a report listing the reasons in favour of invading Iraq.
• Students will undertake comprehensive analysis of several works and will compile a database of quality literature.
• If you decide to apply, you will need to compile a full application including: cover sheet, goals and plan letter, and project statement.

complete [adjective]
full or finished

• The list of students who have signed up for the ski trip is now complete. There are no places left.
• Your report is not complete. You have failed to include a bibliography.
• The Iowa State Theater group will present "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare" five times during the festival.
• Unfortunately, the data was not complete and often inaccurate.

complex [adjective]
difficult, complicated

• This is a very complex problem. We need more time to think of a good solution.
• This issue is more complex than we expected; we're going to need some outside help.
• You either are or are not married; it's not a complex question.
• This is especially true in the environmental sciences where many of the systems are dynamic and extremely complex.

complicate [verb]
to make things more complex or difficult

• The fact that she doesn't speak English did much to complicate the situation.
• The German government should have realized that it would complicate matters by allowing the different German states to have their own regulations about smoking in public buildings.
• We conclude the year with a story that shows how severance from one's cultural past can complicate the search for a sense of self.
• Including future irrelevant costs generally will not lead to a poor choice; it will only complicate the analysis.

comply [verb]
to do what someone asks or orders

• The government has banned smoking in public places, but not all smokers are going to comply.
• I would be more prepared to comply with the rules if I understood the reasons for them.
• Administrators and supervisors are expected to see that those who report to them are informed about, understand and comply with regulations.
• She receives so many requests similar to yours that she finds it impossible to comply with all of them, much as she would like to do so.

component [noun]
part of; an element of

• A sound card is an essential component of a games computer.
• An important component of the course is the unit on grammar.
• Iron is a major component of hemoglobin that carries oxygen to all parts of the body.
• While the Spartans were principally responsible for the victory, the Athenian fleet was probably the most important component of that victory.

comprehend [verb]
to understand

• It's difficult to comprehend why he made such a foolish decision.
• If you want to comprehend what is happening in Afghanistan, it is necessary to go there yourself.
• The human mind cannot comprehend the true nature of God, nor can the angels.
• As migration is a spatial choice process, it is important to comprehend how migrants perceive space and choose a destination in the space.

comprehensive [adjective]
full, complete

• You have written a very clear and comprehensive report. Well done!
• The company has comprehensive plans to increase its business by 50% in the next two years.
• This guide is not comprehensive; it does not list all of the resources covering Endangered Species.
• The Catherwood Library is the most comprehensive resource of its type in North America.

comprise [verb]
to be made up of; to include

• Your composition must comprise an introduction, a conclusion and three body paragraphs.
• Immigrants comprise more than 20% of the total population.
• The project itself may grow out of course work, but it must comprise achievement that is over and above regular course activities.
• The document was intended to comprise everything from minerals, through the kingdom of plants, to the highest animals.

compulsory [adjective]
required, must be done

• In most countries of the world education is compulsory for all children.
• Israel and Korea are two countries that have compulsory military service for their male citizens.
• Working with the Teacher Assistant is not compulsory but recommended.
• Although the agreement was compulsory rather than voluntary, it led to substantial military reforms along French lines.

conceal [verb]
to hide

• She was unable to conceal her sadness when she only came third in the music competition.
• Many students doing an important test try to conceal their answers with their hand or a book. They don't want their neighbour seeing what they have written.
• The White House has been engaged in an image war, trying to conceal the motives and strategies of the real war on Iraq.
• But his son, who had hoped to occupy the throne of Armenia, could not conceal his discontent.

concept [noun]
idea; understanding

• Some students may find it difficult to understand the concept of democracy.
• You have no concept how difficult this problem is.
• In any economy in which individuals, firms and governments have the time preference, the time value of money is an important concept.
• The proponents of disability rights and design professionals have come to realize that the concept of accessible design has to be rethought.

concern [noun]
worry, fear

• My concern is that she has started working too late to pass her examinations.
• As the number of old people increases, so has the concern that there is not enough money in the health system to take proper care of them.
• If a child consistently begs to stay home from school, has extreme fear of being away from a parent etc., there may be a cause for concern about the child.
• Computer disk drives have been known to suffer from power cycle failure, but this is not a concern for broadband modems.

concise [adjective]
short, not detailed

• I asked for a concise summary of what happened. So why have you given me a 20-page report?
• It is an advantage for a politician to be able to give a clear but concise statement of what he or she believes in.
• Good writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences.
• There is not a concise answer to your question. The most complete explanation I have found is at the Howstuffworks site.

conclude [verb]
to finish; to make a judgment

• I will conclude my presentation with an example of sea pollution.
• Since you have not attended class for the last seven weeks, I conclude that you are not interested in graduating.
• Since the discovery of cave paintings, we can conclude what animals looked like thousands of years ago.
• Although two weeks are dedicated to its development at the end of the semester you should not conclude that this is enough time for the entire project.

condemn [verb]
to express strong disapproval

• European governments strongly condemn the kidnapping of a German aid worker in Afghanistan.
• I condemn the way that animals are used in medical experiments.
• Plagiarism is easy to condemn but often hard to define. This is partly because the legal rules differ sharply from the ethical ones.
• The Bible laid down some rules for the humane treatment of slaves but did not condemn the practice.

condition [noun]
state

• Look at the condition of your homework planner! You will have to buy a new one.
• The company was in a very strong condition after winning a million dollar contract to build its machines.
• The libraries are in a poor condition and are in urgent need of restocking with new books and journals in both Arabic and English.
• Applying the engineering feedback concept, we can search and reach the optimum condition with a very small number of tests.

conduct [verb]
to do or perform; to behave

• That is no way to conduct yourself in the library.
• Researchers at the university plan to conduct a survey into what makes people over-drink.
• The United Nations Commission of Human Rights did not conduct an investigation.
• This document explains why it is important to conduct a community assessment during a sustainability project.

confident [adjective]
sure that something will happen

• I am confident that you will do well in the examinations.
• The company directors are confident that business will improve in the new year.
• We are not confident that those who do less well on high-stakes tests in fact do worse in school or on the job.
• Dr. Pruitt said that he was very confident that all aspects of the law, as well as any other concerns, would be closely looked at prior to any deal being made.

confine [verb]
to limit

• Please confine your answer to a maximum of 100 words.
• Many parents confine their children to the bedroom when they behave badly.
• One factor was political: because we had decided to confine the project at first to the six northernmost counties in our region
• But he did not confine himself to theoretical matters alone. He now drew attention to the lack of American minority students on campus.

confirm [verb]
to agree that something is correct

• Can you please confirm that you will be at the school next year?
• The government official wrote to confirm that the new law applied only to people born after the year 1990.
• Lebanese security officials said the soldiers' tank drove over a mine, but Israel said it could not confirm that.
• We wanted to confirm that the resonators worked, and our major theoretical assumptions were correct.

conflict [noun]
problem, struggle or battle

• She was in conflict with her parents at home and this was having a negative effect on her schoolwork.
• The most serious kind of conflict is war. Many people die when countries have problems that cannot be solved in peaceful ways.
• We are in the middle of the most serious conflict with the governments of these peoples and nations.
• The conflict ended with a rebellion against the East India Company in 1857, and the firm eventually was nationalized.

conform [verb]
to do what is required

• If you wish to remain at this school, you will have to conform to its rules.
• Every new car that is produced must conform to standards that minimize pollution.
• The format for references must conform to the guidelines in the approved style manual.
• He came to the conclusion that Mexico's constitutions did not last because they simply did not conform to Mexico's customs and traditions.

confront [verb]
to deal with someone or something (often a problem or unpleasant situation)

• Teachers do not always immediately confront bad behaviour in class. Sometimes it is better to have a quiet talk with the student at the end of the lesson.
• How to increase employment and reduce crime are the two most serious problems that confront the new government.
• Testing personnel will not confront any tester who is cheating, but will complete the Testing Incident Report and submit to the supervisor.
• Bailey decided to confront the problem head-on by scheduling an open public meeting.

connect [verb]
to bring or put together

• No wonder your computer doesn't work. You must connect it to the monitor!
• The government needs to do more to connect people without jobs to business that are looking for workers.
• As each hydrogen only has one electron to share in the formation of chemical bonds, it is impossible to connect more than two hydrogen atoms to each other.
• When they did investigations after 9-11, one of the major things that they came up with was that the various government agencies did not connect the dots.

conscious [adjective]
aware, knowing

• Are you conscious of the fact that you may fail the course?
• People today have become more conscious of their individual responsibility to protect the environment.
• Emma was conscious of these various and strongly held opinions, through professional periodicals.
• The writer was not careful when taking notes because he does not understand what plagiarism is, or because he is not conscious of what he is doing.

consent [verb]
to agree

• In most school parents are asked to consent to their child participating in sex education lessons.
• The employee requested a day off to take his cat to the vet, but his manager did not consent.
• The principle behind this policy is that the rights of the individuals should be respected; subjects must consent to participation in research.
• Before having a major surgical procedure patients must always consent.

consequence [noun]
result

• The consequence of all your hard work is an excellent exam score. Well done!
• She stopped smoking and started exercising. As a consequence her health improved considerably.
• Unless we reverse the trend, the consequence will be a sustained contraction in the number and quality of staff scientists and research faculty.
• All this progress was a consequence of the advance of technology and also of advances in government and other social organizations in capitalist society.

conserve [verb]
to preserve; to not use

• In sports events it is a good idea at the start of the game to conserve energy that you are going to need later.
• The blue whale may be extinct by the end of the century unless we do all we can to conserve it.
• By signing the pledge, students make a personal commitment to conserve energy and help contribute to Yale's goal of reducing greenhouse gases by 10 percent.
• In many cases print journals are disappearing as librarians strive to conserve money and shelf space.

consider [verb]
to think

• You must consider how much it is going to cost and whether you really need it
• The government should consider the effects of its proposal on poor people.
• What do I need to consider in deciding if this course is right for me?
• Adults who did not consider nutrition very important when buying food, as compared to adults who considered nutrition very important, were less likely to eat a good quality diet.

considerable [adjective]
very big; very much

• If you want to start a business you need a considerable amount of money.
• It took him a considerable time to finish the project.
• We have a considerable amount of information about the National Forests in North Carolina on this web site.
• Individuals with communication disorders have considerable difficulty making themselves clearly understood.

consist [verb]
to have in it; to have as part of it

• The cakes consist of flour, sugar, eggs and milk.
• The committee needs to consist of both teachers and parents.
• The documentation must consist of a comprehensive, typed report that states a specific, current diagnosis.
• The problem for France was that the population did not consist of responsible citizens which were necessary for the desired liberal system.

consistent [adjective]
regular or predictable; remaining the same

• Her behaviour is not very consistent. Sometimes she works hard in class and gets good grades, but quite often she can be rude and disruptive.
• Performance in the money markets has been consistent in recent months, but prices are expected to fluctuate in the near future.
• This review found that some guidelines and standards for reprocessing rigid laryngoscopes are incomplete, inadequate, and not consistent with one another.
• It was found that only 10 of these comparisons were acceptably consistent, meaning that their inconsistency ratio exceeded 35%.

constant [adjective]
not changing; long-lasting

• There was a constant noise coming from the classroom above.
• The athlete was in constant pain from the metal plate in her leg.
• She resisted the constant pressure to take a husband because she regarded marriage as fundamentally incompatible with the objectives of her reign.
• While it is true that as people get older, their taste buds are not as sensitive, this does not usually result in a constant bad taste in your mouth.

constitute [verb]
to be; to make up

• Two grade B's and three grade A's constitute an excellent set of scores for the trimester.
• The scientists that constitute the committee all work in the field of cancer research.
• The set of elective courses must constitute a well-defined focus and must be approved by the student's advisor.
• The immigrants probably did not constitute more than ten per cent of the population.

constraint [noun]
to hold back; to prevent

• There is no constraint upon her behaviour at home. She is allowed to do whatever she wants.
• Lack of financial aid is a significant constraint on the chances of success in Afghanistan.
• Shortage of research space remains a significant constraint for future development.
• More than 70 percent of the surveyed firms said that the lack of housing was not a constraint on their ability to expand.

construct [verb]
to make

• They are planning to construct a new bridge behind the school.
• Children like to construct cars or buildings from plastic bricks.
• Each student must construct a Web site based upon his or her major research project.
• Despite the enormous amount of effort invested in her language teaching she was not able to construct grammatical sentences.

consult [verb]
to get the advice of someone ( often an expert)

• If you are in constant pain you should consult a doctor.
• Before buying a new house you need to consult a tax advisor.
• Please consult the Timetable for class times and locations.
• Government agencies and aid organizations often failed to consult people in affected communities about aid distribution and reconstruction.

consume [verb]
to use, or use up

• The new Smartboard in my classroom must consume a lot of energy. I've already had to change the bulb 3 times.
• If we do not start to consume less oil, there is likely to be none left by the end of the century.
• Occasional personal use of university computing resources for other purposes is permitted when it does not consume a significant amount of those resources.
• As long as the person did not consume large amounts of protein and carbohydrates, the effect on fat digestion was negated.

contact [verb]
to get in touch (e.g. by phone or email)

• Please contact me by email if you need help understanding your assignment.
• The police would like to contact everyone who was in the area when the accident happened.
• All students whose college/university will be forwarding tuition payments will need to contact the OSA to find out the exact procedure.
• He claimed that the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre knew about the tsunami ahead of time but failed to contact affected countries.

contain [verb]
to have in it; to hold inside

• The test will contain all of the topics that we have covered this trimester.
• Your password should contain only letters or numbers.
• The ethnographic reports were clear and did not contain conflicting information.
• The text should contain a concise description of the aims and scope of your thesis.

contemplate [verb]
to think about; to consider

• You need to contemplate the reasons for your lack of success.
• It is not pleasant to contemplate the results of a German victory in World War II.
• History is filled with examples of military leaders who have suffered at the mercy of climate conditions that they failed to contemplate adequately.
• It is a truism that death - not just our own - affects all of us, even if it is a topic most people do not want to contemplate for long.

contemporary [adjective]
of this time, happening now

• I cannot think of any contemporary writers who are better than her.
• A popular type of TV programme shows people who escape the contemporary world and pretend to live as farmers did 100 years ago.
• Students who take the class are expected to choose a contemporary problem they would like to address and collaborate with each other in researching it.
• This irregularity strongly suggests that the two constructions are not contemporary, but rather that one was constructed later.

context [noun]
the place or situation in which something is found

• A good way to guess the meaning of a new word is to examine its context in the sentence.
• It is essential to consider her difficulties at school in the context of her chaotic home life.
• Ever since 9/11, the word "terrorist" has been thrown around so much that it is being used way too much out of context.
• Game reasoning is simply moral reasoning that occurs in the context of competitive sports, and perhaps elsewhere as well.

continue [verb]
to carry on, not stop

• When you get to the end of the page, do not stop. Please continue reading on the next side.
• The government must continue to make every effort to prevent young people from becoming addicted to drugs.
• The review of applications will continue until all positions are filled.
• Martin Luther King was killed simply for insisting that America could not continue with people isolated on lonely islands of poverty.

contract [noun]
a written agreement, binding in law

• Any student who continues to do poor work or show a bad attitude is put on a contract. If the contract is broken, then the student is asked to leave the school.
• The company won the contract to supply the government with 30,000 special computers for primary schools
• Ordinarily, physicians cannot legally make a contract with a patient that excuses the physician from performing his legal duties to the patient.
• The court also held that because of the contract between the classification society and the shipyard, the owners operated the ship under the French flag.

contradict [verb]
to say or show that what someone has said is wrong

• Please do not contradict me. I know what I said is correct.
• The latest employment figures contradict the government's recent claim that more people now have jobs than for many years.
• The findings directly contradict the assertion that some verbal areas of the brain are larger in women than in men.
• During various stages of a planning process, review and crosscheck the goals and objectives in the plan elements so that they do not contradict one another.

contrary [noun]
opposite

• She says she's not a very good pianist, but I know that the contrary is true and she's just being modest.
• The director was not prepared to even listen to ideas contrary to his own.
• The results on the tests are contrary to expectations.
• A wife's going out to work is not deemed a violation of her marital obligations if her working is not contrary to her family's interests.

contrast [noun]
difference

• You have not made a clear enough contrast between the causes and effects of the disaster.
• There is a strong contrast between what the government promised to do and what it has actually achieved.
• You do not need to consider the whole of human psychology, but you should make a contrast between good excuses and bad excuses.
• Though all of them are presented in English, there is a significant contrast in clarity between the various reports.

contribute [verb]
to give (for example: money, help or ideas); to play a part in

• Could you please contribute to our Christmas collection for flood victims in Bangladesh?
• They sit there in every meeting but they never contribute their own ideas.
• If you wish to contribute material that is copyrighted by someone besides yourself, then you will need to document that the copyright holder has agreed.
• It is during adolescence that clear gender differences arise which might contribute to the varying rates of depression.

control [verb]
to have and exercise power over something or someone

• The new teacher found it difficult to control the class.
• Terrorists control large areas of the country outside of the main towns.
• You can't always control what happens to you, but you can always control how you react to what happens to you.
• While most adults with phobias know that these fears are extreme and irrational, they are unable to control them.

controversy [noun]
an issue on which their are strong and conflicting opinions

• The expulsion of a student for smoking in the toilets caused a big controversy in the school.
• A controversy in the USA at the moment is whether to allow illegal immigrants to stay or not.
• This page includes materials relating to the continuing controversy over the teaching of evolution and creationism in schools.
• The controversy resulted from the fact that the Jews agreed to the resolution but the local Arabs refused to acknowledge the Israeli State.

convenient [adjective]
easy, not causing problems

• Electronic dictionaries are very convenient. They are much smaller than paper dictionaries with the same number of entries, and can even pronounce the words.
• It was difficult for the two sides in the dispute to find a convenient time to meet.
• If the departure times are not convenient for you, there is a list of recommended car and taxi services available as well.
• Burning of coal is a convenient way to obtain energy, but it creates a serious amount of pollution.

conversely [adverb]
opposite to what was just said; on the other hand

• He works very hard; his sister, conversely, never makes an effort.
• The government has succeeded in reducing unemployment among older people; conversely, young people are having ever more difficulty finding a job.
• The contributors examine the impact of rivers on humans and, conversely, the impact of humans on rivers.
• His concerts in the U.S. often include works by Scandinavian composers; conversely, he introduces American organ works to Scandinavian audiences.

convert [verb]
to change from one thing to another

• Can you convert these dollars to Yen for me?
• When he left home he planned to convert from Christianity to Buddhism, but then he decided he didn't believe in any god.
• The technology to convert carbon monoxide into liquid fuel has been around a long time.
• The Wildcats, however, were unable to convert the scoring opportunities into points.

convey [verb]
to pass on to another person (often by speaking)

• Can you please convey this letter to your parents?
• The director planned to convey the information to the workforce at the next general assembly.
• In general, when you paraphrase, you use about the same number of words to convey the idea that the writer uses in the text.
• However, the video does not convey much real information; it was also not very emotionally compelling.

convince [verb]
to (try and) get someone to believe something

• It's no use trying to convince me that your father speaks 10 languages. I just don't believe you.
• She wanted to expand and to reorganize the departmental program but was not able to convince the school administration.
• Austen does not convince us that a woman with Jane's mind, integrity, emotional intensity could fall and remain in love with such a dubious character.
• Engineers were deeply concerned about the O-ring design on the booster rocket before the launch, but were unable to convince managers at NASA of the importance of that problem.

cooperate [verb]
to work (well) with another person

• In this next task you need to cooperate with the person sitting next to you.
• The council has put out containers for recycled glass and paper. Some people do not cooperate, however, and leave their rubbish on the street.
• Why do some children seem willing to cooperate while others do not?
• Many British citizens and their political and military leaders were suspicious of Napoleon's motives and would not cooperate, so the tunnel project was abandoned.

coordinate [verb]
to bring things or people together so that they work well

• If we want this plan to be a success, we need to coordinate our resources very carefully.
• It is the job of the brain to coordinate all the body systems.
• The naval and air forces failed to coordinate their schedules and the carrier planes arrived a half hour later than expected.
• It is extremely important to coordinate the installation with all parties involved.

correlate [verb]
to have a close connection

• Your final writing must correlate to your research notes, otherwise you risk being accused of plagiarism.
• Research shows that earnings correlate strongly with IQ levels.
• The applicant's qualifications must correlate to the qualifications required to perform the duties of the position as indicated in the job description.
• It is well-known that knowledge of formal grammar rules does always not correlate with the ability to teach the language.

correspond [verb]
to be related to

• I don't understand it. His test scores do not correspond to what I know he knows
• Cor-----nd: The dashes correspond to the number of letters missing from the word.
• Furthermore, the text of the paragraph should correspond to the topic sentence.
• If the number of sections to be taught does not correspond to the number of students, you need to explain the reason.

counsel [noun]
advice; advisor

• Students who have problems at home often seek the counsel of a trusted teacher at school.
• It is essential that governments take counsel before making the decision to go to war.
• The OCC provides counsel and legal advice in the development of policy, procedures, and strategy related to the management and operation of the UC Riverside campus.
• We engage outside counsel to work on particular matters when considerations such as cost and highly specialized subject matter make it appropriate to do so.

course [noun]
a subject or period of study

• This year you cannot choose which science course to do, but when you are in grade 9 you can select chemistry, physics or biology.
• The government has introduced a compulsory language course for immigrants who cannot speak English.
• If you fail the midterm exam and the first homework then you fail the course.
• After an initial period of introduction and practice, the German course begins with Chapter 1 in the text Deutsch: Na klar!

cover [verb]
to do; to complete

• In history class this year, we will cover the French and Russian revolutions.
• The meeting ended very late but the administration still did not have time to cover all the issues it wanted to.
• The unit did not cover nuclear weapons in as much detail as some of my students would have liked.
• Biology courses will cover all major human or animal body systems.

create [verb]
to make; to use your imagination to make something new

• Many scientists are working hard to create a robot that can understand spoken language and do jobs around the house.
• We must face the reality that we will have to create systems out of components that are far less than perfect.
• The developing world does not create many industrial wastes; thus it has had little opportunity to develop proper disposal techniques.
• Most recently, he has focused on discarded metal objects, hundreds or even thousands of which are joined together to create remarkable works of art.

credible [adjective]
believable

• It is not credible that he could have gained such a good grade without help from someone else.
• As yet there has been no credible example of the sighting of a spacecraft from another world.
• Beyond this, if you have a credible reason for absence or coming in late, such as a documented medical excuse, you should provide that information to the instructor.
• The first of the allegations came from a woman who, in the opinion of the Committee, was not a credible witness.

credit [noun]
.. gained on completing a course of study; praise

• You will gain no credit for work that has simply been copied from the internet.
• It is to the government's credit that they refused to participate in the invasion of Iraq.
• Students with Advanced Placement scores of 4 or 5 in English Language receive a credit toward graduation but not toward the English major.
• As a simple soldier he gained much credit by conducting a retreat after all the superior officers had been killed or wounded.

crisis [noun]
very dangerous situation, catastrophe

• There was a crisis in the cafeteria at lunch today. The oil for cooking French fries ignited and set fire to the wooden ceiling.
• Yes, it is quite a dangerous situation, but I wouldn't call it a crisis.
• We are heading for a crisis in our health system. Not enough people want to be doctors.
• The government met this morning to debate how to help people who have been hit by the flood crisis.

criterion [noun]
a way to judge the value or importance of something

• What is your main criterion for a happy life? - Good health!
• The essential criterion for successful teaching is the ability to interest the students.
• The most important criterion for selecting a research topic is that you are really interested in it!
• You are advised to undertake serious language study both before and during the course of the program but prior language study is not a criterion for selection.

criticize [verb]
to express disapproval; to say what you don't like or think is good about something or someone

• Parents often criticize their children's choice of clothes or music..
• It is easy to criticize the government for its failures, but no-one has come up with any better ideas.
• Bernstein thinks the survey is very important to students and that schools should not criticize it.
• Compliment employees in public but always criticize them in private; this shows your respect for them and avoids embarrassment.

crucial [adjective]
extremely important

• It is crucial that you hand in the essay on time. If you don't, you will fail the course.
• There is a crucial difference between the sports of mountain-climbing and table tennis. In the first you can get killed; in the second usually not.
• TOEFL is not the most crucial part of the application, but it is an unavoidable part, which sometimes can be quite painful and time- consuming.
• One crucial reason for this persistent problem is that Europe is trailing behind the US in labour productivity growth.

culminate [verb]
to end

• This project will culminate in a major research essay of 2000 words.
• Sports events such as the World Cup or the Olympic Games often culminate in an enormous firework display.
• The group work done during these workshops will culminate in a series of papers, presented by project participants, at a one-day conference.
• The first effort to produce a revised policy started during the mid-1980s and failed to culminate in a new agreement.

current [adjective]
happening now

• The current prediction is that there will be no more oil by the end of the century.
• The director has called a meeting to discuss current problems in the computer labs.
• Parental assistance should be just sufficient to get the learner past his current difficulties.
• The aim of the course is to have students discuss current events in Germany.

custom [noun]
a habit (often particular to a culture)

• It is a custom at our school to have a pizza party for the new students.
• Some families who emigrate to Germany are surprised at the custom of sweeping the street in front of your house every Saturday morning.
• It is not our custom to send guests away without offering them something to eat.
• The custom was abandoned in 1842 because the speeches had become too long and because students refused to shorten them.

cycle [noun]
a complete series of events or processes

• The water cycle is one of the natural processes that are familiar to most students.
• The government is finding it difficult to break the cycle of poverty and poor school performance.
• The comprehensive and multidisciplinary International Lincoln Center for American Studies offers a year-round cycle of events to students and the community.
• Users are guided through a complete cycle of statistical computing: preparing data, performing analysis, viewing output.

damage [verb]
to spoil or break

• If you damage a computer, you will not be allowed to use the lab.
• It is feared that disagreement about what to do in Iraq will damage the relationship between the USA and the UK.
• The radioactivity in the drugs works to destroy the tumor but usually does not damage healthy organs.
• Not any of these persons shall perform or permit any practice that may damage the reputation of the university.

deal [noun]
agreement

• The students made a deal that they would speak to each other only in English.
• The government has done a deal with the nurses union in order to avoid strikes in hospitals.
• China won't take strong action against Iran's nuclear program because China just made a deal to buy lots of Iranian oil.
• The Hershey Corporation, however, already had a deal to provide chocolate for the troops.

debate [noun]
formal discussion

• The students took part in a debate to decide whether Germany should continue to use nuclear power to generate electricity.
• There is a lively debate in the country at the moment on whether cannabis should be made legal or not.
• One of the earliest uses of coffee was actually as a medicine, although there was also a debate as to whether it was helpful or harmful.
• For the second meeting of the Forum, we have arranged a debate between two legal professionals who must struggle with the death penalty regularly.

debt [noun]
something owed to another person (often money)

• Thank you for helping me. I shall forever be in your debt.
• The company was heavily in debt after investing a lot of money in new machinery.
• A student who is in debt to the University at the end of any academic term shall not be permitted to register in the University again
• We southerners, and especially we white southerners, owe a huge debt to valiant civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King.

decade [noun]
a period of ten years

• It can take as much as a decade or more of hard study in a foreign language to become as fluent as a native speaker of that language.
• The last decade of the twentieth century started in 1990 and ended on 31 December 1999.
• The most powerful typhoon in over a decade should break south of Shanghai early on Wednesday.
• The industry will move to a 42-volt electrical system within this decade.

decision [noun]
intention to do something, choice

• The school has made the difficult decision to ban the wearing of religious symbols in the classroom.
• Because of massive protest, the government had to go back on its decision to put up the tax on petrol.
• This illustrates the variety of rational choices that a criminal would make in the decision to commit a crime.
• The recent switch from Webmail to the express mail interface was a poor decision.

declare [verb]
to state

• All students must declare at the beginning of the school year that they understand and will follow the plagiarism policy.
• In tomorrow's TV broadcast the government will declare its intention to reduce taxes during its time in office.
• A student should declare a Literature minor by the first semester of his or her junior year.
• Under these treaties, US warships did not have to declare the nature of the weapons they carried.

decline [verb]
to go down or get worse

• The number of students at the school with learning difficulties has begun to decline in the last few years.
• Smoking will probably decline in popularity in most western countries now that smoking bans are in force.
• Production of oil and gas will decline unless new reserves of oil and gas are discovered and developed.
• Strauss said his health started to decline and he was placed on the transplant recipient waiting list.

decrease [verb]
to get smaller, to go down

• His grades have started to decrease since he has missed so much school.
• The population of a country will decrease if more people die than are born.
• Since the early 1990s, the number of smokers has continued to decrease but at the more gradual rate of 5.2% annually.
• Employees' levels of intrinsic motivation will decrease if they feel they are being controlled by their employers through extrinsic rewards.

dedicate [verb]
to devote (time and attention)

• You need to dedicate a little more time to your studies and a little less time to your sports.
• The government should dedicate all its energy to reducing unemployment.
• We dedicate all our efforts and resources to the education and preparation of all students.
• Once Grace Albee arrived in New York City in 1933, she was able to dedicate herself to full-time printmaking and her art began to command serious national attention.

deduce [verb]
to come to a conclusion about someone or something

• You should be able to deduce the answer if you think carefully enough.
• The detective was able to deduce from the size of the footprints that the thief was probably a woman or child.
• The pictures presented aspects of the objects they could not deduce from the equations alone.
• Using computer modeling, he was able to deduce the relationship between the strength of a stellar wind and the age of a star.

deed [noun]
an action

• Helping the new student on her first day at the school was a good deed.
• It was not a deed of which he was particularly proud.
• This is the single most important deed a district judge can perform in the administration of his duties.
• It was not a deed that anybody in the world would consider wise.

defeat [noun]
a loss (often in a battle or sports event)

• There is no shame in defeat if you have tried your best.
• The government blamed its defeat in the elections on failure to communicate its policies clearly enough.
• The Soviet workers have suffered a terrible defeat of a world-historical significance.
• Rubin did not suffer defeat but learned to use anger and pride to fight for what was right.

defect [noun]
problem; mistake

• She has a defect in one eye that makes it difficult for her to read from the board.
• A major defect in the proposal is that there is not sufficient money to finance it.
• This is not a defect in the notion of economic development as much as it is a problem with the fiscal structure of Alaska.
• Hacking's book suffers from a serious defect, namely he does not understand the nature of hypnosis.

defend [verb]
to give reasons for

• The headmaster was unable to defend his proposal to lengthen the school day.
• It is difficult to defend the government's decision to invade Iraq.
• The student must defend the thesis before a committee of three or more faculty members.
• Aschoff's trip failed because he was unable to defend his concept against the competitive approach favored by German and Russian scientists.

deficient [adjective]
poor, lacking in quantity or quality

• This work is deficient. I don't think you spent very much time on it.
• The city's public transportation system is becoming more and more deficient.
• The department may admit students of superior promise but deficient preparation, provided that such students correct their deficiencies.
• Oddly, however, the book is almost completely deficient in fictional representations of invalids.

define [verb]
to state what something is or means

• ESL teachers often ask their students to define words in class.
• Many arguments would not develop if people would define the words they use.
• I'm not sure how to define any of these abstract terms, and yet I recognize some of the components of forgiveness.
• If you try to define something that is beyond the comprehension of your paper or your own experience, the task will become overwhelming.

definitely [adverb]
certainly; without doubt

• I'm sorry, but I will definitely not be able to come to the meeting next week.
• You are definitely going to fail the course unless you start working harder.
• A student enrolled in these types of courses really didn't get to know the instructor well and definitely did not feel any sense of community.
• Attendance will not constitute a specific percentage of your final grade, but if you miss more than two classes you will definitely fail this course.

degenerate [verb]
to get worse

• Her work has continued to degenerate since the divorce of her parents.
• Muscles degenerate unless they are exercised; just like the brain!
• The value of books would certainly degenerate if they could simply be produced and reproduced in cyberspace at an extremely minimal cost.
• The political system must not be allowed to degenerate into unlimited majority rule, which could result in the erosion of individual liberty.

degree [noun]
amount

• To a certain degree I think you are right, but not 100%.
• To what degree do you believe that the government has made the right decision?
• Most of Africa suffers to some degree from similar issues: weak institutions, stagnant economies, ethnic conflict, etc.
• The hypothesis put forward in this paper depends in no degree upon the completeness of our knowledge of the former condition of the organic world.

delay [noun]
lateness

• You must turn in the assignment by next Friday. There can be no delay.
• Because of computer problems there will be a delay in the announcement of the winner.
• If the applicant waits until the time of decision to complete this form, it can cause a serious delay in obtaining the visa document.
• If you submit your application in person, there will be a delay of up to 48 hours following receipt of your application before you can enroll for classes.

deliberate [adjective]
intentional, not by accident

• He was expelled from school for a deliberate attempt to cheat in the end of year exams.
• She broke the classroom clock, but I don't believe it was deliberate.
• A student who fails to cite sources in a deliberate attempt to conceal the source of the work should be considered to be cheating.
• The government of Israel again stated that the attack was not deliberate and that it would be investigated.

deliver [verb]
to provide (often by bringing to people)

• The school needs to deliver the students' project work to the examination board before the end of the month.
• The new government plans to deliver the best possible health service for all of its citizens.
• This certificate program is a series of fully online courses that will show you how to design and deliver a quality course via the Internet.
• Bali has failed to deliver a proposed ten year program to work on sustainable production and consumption.

demand [noun]
a need or desire for

• The school offers Latin but there is no demand for the subject among teachers and parents.
• The demand for oil is likely to increase as people in developing countries such as China and India acquire cars.
• Simply exporting surplus graduates is not itself a policy problem if there is a demand for those graduates.
• The new economies of Chile and Costa Rica have little demand for poor, unskilled and uneducated workers.

demonstrate [verb]
to show

• The science teacher planned to demonstrate how water evaporates more quickly in hot temperatures.
• Can you please demonstrate how to make a table in Microsoft Word. I've read the instructions but don't understand them.
• Candidates must demonstrate a high level of responsibility, the ability to work independently, and a strong commitment to customer service.
• We were not able to demonstrate statistically significant differences in performance or quality.

denote [verb]
to mean; to be a sign of

• It is not clear what these symbols at the end of the webpage denote.
• The word 'gay' did not come to denote 'homosexual' until quite recently.
• These grades denote that the student has attained an acceptable level of competence.
• The use of this seemingly simple system does not denote an undeveloped technological ability on the part of 9th century Hindus.

dense [adjective]
thick; full; detailed

• This book has much dense text that will make it difficult for ESL students.
• Before the ban on smoking in public places there was usually a dense cloud of smoke at the end of the evening in bars and restaurants.
• Obviously the result of many years of reading and reflection, this dense study contains detailed summaries of dozens of works, both major and minor.
• When the moisture condenses, heat is released into the air, making it warmer and less dense than its surroundings.

deny [verb]
to refuse ( responsibility for doing or saying something); to say that something is not correct

• They still deny copying the work from the internet, but I ran a Google search and found it immediately.
• The government was unable to deny that it was considering invading North Korea.
• He certainly could not deny the existence of major problems.
• The Committee will deny the request for disability payment if the disability is not adequately documented.

depart [verb]
to leave; to be different from

• The late bus will depart at 5:30 today, not at 5:15 as usual.
• It is important that the government does not depart significantly from what it promised during the elections.
• The court concluded that the order did not depart from the essential requirements of law.
• The tour bus will depart from Eisenstadt to travel over the border to Hungary to visit the summer palace built by Prince Nicolaus.

depend [verb]
be influenced (by)

• Do you think I will pass the test? - It will depend how hard you work from now until the day of the examination.
• The profits of most industrial companies depend on the price of oil.
• Your final course grade will depend on your grades in the 3 trimester exams.
• A company's success or continuation should not depend on the service of outside independent contractors.

deprive [verb]
to take away (the opportunity)

• Your low grades will deprive you of the chance of taking part in sports trips.
• The aim of the proposal is to deprive people of the liberty to download songs and videos from the internet.
• The proposal will not deprive students of the appropriate protections to which they are entitled.
• It is not in employers' interest to get rid of cheap illegal immigrants - only to deprive them of any rights.

derive [verb]
to come from or get from

• Telephone and telegraph derive from the Greek words meaning far speak and far write.
• My parents derive a lot of money from their investments in internet companies.
• They derive their nutrients from the air and not from the plant on which they are growing.
• This is to be expected, of course, since natural selection is a natural process, and one cannot derive moral principles from scientific findings.

descend [verb]
to go down

• If you descend the stairs by the nurse's office, you will see the cafeteria in front of you.
• Scientists are working on a robot that can descend to the deepest parts of the Pacific Ocean.
• When a block of wood is gently put into still water, it will descend by the force of gravity, until it has displaced a quantity of water, equal to its own.
• Although the mountain was not steep, the raging river could not descend with sufficient rapidity to prevent its overflowing its banks.

description [noun]
an account of what something is like or looks like

• Thanks to the accurate description of the witnesses, the police were able to identify the bank robbers.
• You will see the description of the problem on the left and the solution on the right.
• Newton's Laws provide a good description of the flight of a baseball.
• The lesson plans contained an incomplete description of learners, their background and prior knowledge.

deserve [verb]
to have the right to something

• These poems deserve a good grade, but because you gave them in late I have to give you a 0.
• The workers did not deserve to lose their jobs. It was the managers who made the mistakes, not them.
• They will have to live without their family member for the rest of their life due to this terrible form of cancer and they will deserve to be compensated.
• Al Gore absolutely did not deserve the Nobel peace prize. On a personal level, he has not reduced his own carbon dioxide emissions.

design [noun]
planning (drawing)

• Students have been invited to comment on the design of the school's new sports facility.
• For some people the design of a car is more important than its price or performance.
• Poor web page design occurs when a writer does not follow accepted standards.
• After the war, Turing joined the National Physical Laboratory to work on the design of a computer.

desire [noun]
a want or wish for something

• Which do you desire the more: health or wealth?
• It's not enough to desire something; you have to work hard to achieve it.
• Humans have a strong desire to help each other, but is spite also part of the human condition?
• He has lost the desire to consider what is right and wrong because he was hurt, indeed devastated, when the love of his life disappeared.

despite [preposition]
although

• She came to school yesterday despite feeling very unwell.
• The government has failed to reduce unemployment despite all its efforts over the last 5 years.
• Dairy farmers have led the latest in a long series of protests by agricultural associations, despite the record high prices for farm products.
• The Bush administration will not back down on pursuing new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program despite questions about their effectiveness.

destroy [verb]
to break or damage completely

• Some young people destroy their lives when they become addicted to drugs..
• She will destroy her chances of attending university if she doesn't start working harder.
• Major Smith occupied the city as ordered but was unable to destroy the bridge, lacking both a drill and powder.
• Melting glaciers will destroy Alpine ski resorts within 45 years, says report.

detail [noun]
a small piece of information

• This is an excellent piece of work. You forgot just one detail - your name at the top!
• We should agree on our general plan first. We can talk later about the important detail of who will pay.
• You are recommended to record every significant detail about each of your customers.
• She found that the document had no detail and conflicted with the assessments of military intelligence.

detect [verb]
to see, find or notice

• All around the school are small white boxes which can detect smoke and set off the fire alarm.
• The computer manager is trying to detect who has been sending email spam to all the teachers and students.
• We could not detect any significant effect of our dietary recommendations in terms of birth weight and duration of pregnancy.
• When traveling off-road, the car sensors must be able to detect negative obstacles such as holes and ditches as well as positive ones such as trees or other cars.

deteriorate [verb]
to get worse

• Your grades will continue to deteriorate unless you start working harder.
• The government has invested little money in the health system. The quality of hospital care is sure to deteriorate more and more.
• Over the past 30 years, the environment in Africa has continued to deteriorate.
• The interpretation fits well with the fact that his mental health did not deteriorate.

determine [verb]
to find out; to establish or identify; state

• There are two possible answers to this question. You have to determine which one makes more sense in the world of today.
• The intelligence service is finding it very difficult to determine which young men are likely to become terrorists and which are not.
• Then you will need to determine the selection criteria you want to use.
• The Coroner who made the investigation, was unable to determine whether it was suicide or accidental death.

detriment [noun]
disadvantage

• We must hope that her heavy involvement in the school's sporting programme will not be to the detriment of her studies.
• Some people claim that the growth of the internet has been to the detriment of students' ability and willingness to read.
• The lack of available parking spaces is a significant detriment to faculty and students.
• This could substantially change the nature of the Internet we have come to know, to the detriment of both the consumers and the providers of information.

develop [verb]
to grow or improve

• If you learn 6 or 7 words a day, your vocabulary will develop very quickly.
• Most car companies are putting money into research into alternative forms of fuel. It will take a number of years, however, before anyone can develop a car that runs on water.
• Why have these countries failed to develop despite receiving billions of dollars in assistance?
• The best assurance that Iran will not develop nuclear weapons is to allow it to have a full civilian nuclear program under IAEA supervision.

deviate [verb]
to be different

• How could his final test scores deviate so strongly from the predictions we made?
• It would not be wise to deviate from our planned course of action.
• We will deviate from this schedule throughout the semester, but the hand-out gives a good impression of our general focus.
• Rarely do any of the numbers in any of the four columns deviate by more than five.

device [noun]
object; method

• The Smartboard is an excellent device for teaching language.
• The government needs to find a better device for restricting the enormous amounts of money earned by top directors.
• The University of Maryland team is particularly focused on using their device to test drugs that may block cell-to-cell "quorum-sensing".
• This is just a device to get your attention.

devise [verb]
to create or think up

• She is trying to devise a new way to open tin cans.
• We need to devise a test to measure the improvement in ESL students' English from one year to the next.
• The winner of the competition must devise a plan to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere without creating adverse effects.
• Newspaper headline: MIT scientists devise a new way to deliver gene therapy.

devote [verb]
to give (time) to

• The twins devote most of the weekend to their fishing hobby.
• The company has decided to devote its main attention to increasing business in the developing Chinese market.
• Students needed to devote considerable time to recognizing the three basic tenses (past, present, and future) and using the appropriate tense in their own writing.
• They have other business interests to which they devote their attention, and they may be expected to continue to do so.

diagnosis [noun]
assessment of a situation (particularly of a problem)

• It is too early to make an accurate diagnosis of her problems in learning English.
• A doctor will usually ask her patient many questions in order to make a diagnosis of the illness.
• In order to self-correct your writing, you need to get an accurate diagnosis of your problems.
• A poorly selected specimen or inaccurate information may result in an erroneous diagnosis or an inappropriate control recommendation.

diagram [noun]
a type of picture or chart

• The diagram was unclear. It had been hand-drawn and then copied using weak ink.
• If you are trying to understand the instructions of a new piece of equipment like a camera, it helps to have a diagram to look at.
• Visit our web page Phases of the Moon for a more detailed explanation and a clear diagram that shows the phases of our moon.
• The study included a diagram of the main concepts of the authors' model on connecting children with nature and community.

dictate [verb]
to tell someone what to do

• Teachers can suggest that students get a minimum of 8 hours sleep per night, but they cannot dictate it.
• The government has no right to dictate how much people should or should not drink.
• I do not feel that the possible applications of a line of research should be allowed to dictate the directions of research in my laboratory.
• The government has no right to dictate what a woman should do with her body.

differentiate [verb]
to make different; to see the difference

• It is not always easy for teachers to differentiate poor work that is due to laziness and poor work that is due to inability.
• People with eye problems often cannot differentiate the colors red and green.
• In my school district it is emphasized that teachers must differentiate instruction for students.
• I think Kerry's biggest error, as a politician, is that he failed to differentiate himself from Bush in any meaningful way.

dimension [noun]
importance; amount

• The issue is of a dimension that cannot be solved by the school alone.
• The government failed to recognize the dimension of the public's unhappiness with the new law.
• If we assume that the dimension of a hydrogen atom is about 0.2 nm, then the corresponding confinement energy is about 38 eV.
• The Euro has taken on a dimension far greater than its economic substance.

diminish [verb]
to get smaller or less important

• Her efforts have continued to diminish in the last few months. I think she may be having problems at home.
• The amount of time that policeman spend on the streets must not diminish.
• The cost of establishing links will diminish as improvements are made to the underlying communication infrastructure.
• Although Katrina affected the material environment of Louisiana, it did not diminish the great spirit of the people here.

directions [noun]
instructions

• I gave him clear directions how to do the experiment, but he obviously wasn't listening.
• You should follow the directions that the doctor has given you.
• She did not follow the directions on the label, despite carefully reading it.
• While this was a great idea, the directions were unclear about the requirements and how it would be graded.

disaster [noun]
a huge problem or failure

• Most people agree that the government's decision to invade Iraq has ended in disaster.
• The festival was a complete disaster: there was no food, no medical assistance, the rain and overpopulation made the place a living hell.
• For some observers, globalization is a terrible disaster and for others a wonderful world of possibilities and innovation.
• Bogart and Methot got married and the result was total disaster for both of them.

discern [verb]
to see; to perceive

• It is usually easy for teachers to discern if an ESL student has copied text from a webpage.
• Her parents failed to discern the bad influence of her new friends until it was too late.
• Upon completion of the course, students will be able to discern how grammar and usage errors can interfere with meaning.
• The links between commodity price declines and food prices are not easy to discern.

discover [verb]
to find out; to find something for the first time (esp. land or scientific knowledge)

• Who was the first person to discover America? Most people say it was Columbus.
• The government will discover in the coming election how unpopular its politics have been.
• Through the exhibit and its constant updating, people will be able to discover new, thought- provoking works of art from around the globe.
• I was unable to discover the reason for Angelica's sudden departure at the beginning of the second trimester.
• The study did not discover any significant relationship between the type of music and the amount of stress.

discrete [adjective]
separate

• Your answer should include three discrete causes of the disaster.
• Not all scientists agree that thought disorder and language disorder are discrete problems.
• Discussion and analysis in this area has covered a number of discrete issues, including the effect of shifting trade patterns on employment levels.
• Hopkins argues that the district court committed three discrete errors in determining his sentence.

discuss [verb]
to talk about

• Can I come and see you after school today? I would like to discuss my math project.
• He said that he did not want to discuss the issue until the committee meeting.
• Students should discuss appropriate options with their academic advisor.
• Lilly initiated a conversation with Smith in an attempt to resolve the conflict, but Smith did not wish to discuss the issues.

dismiss [verb]
to reject, to treat as unimportant

• The teacher did not completely dismiss the students' suggestion, but she first needed to discuss it with the principal.
• The US government plan to develop weapons that can be used from space. Many scientists, however, dismiss the proposals as unworkable.
• We cannot dismiss the traditions and experiences which in many cases date back thousands of years.
• Let's dismiss the idea that you can actually teach critical thinking skills to primary school children.

disperse [verb]
to spread out; to move apart

• At lunchtime students disperse to all parts of the school building and play areas.
• The police had difficulty in trying to disperse the enormous crowd after the pop concert.
• Very often, in the early summer, the hills are covered during the night by clouds, which do not always disperse until the sun has risen.
• Students and non-students alike can be criminally charged if they don't comply with police orders to disperse from riot or crowd situations.

displace [verb]
to push out or take the place of something or someone

• The new swimming facility for the 2008 Olympics in Peking will displace many people from their current homes.
• The amount of water that you displace when you get into the bath is equal to the mass of your body.
• By performing better than humanly possible, the robots will displace humans from essential roles.
• This is principally because they displace the church and family as sources of emotional support.

display [noun]
a show, demonstration, illustration

• There is a display of student work in the corridor outside of the cafeteria.
• Many people like to change the display on their computer desktop.
• There will be a display of Chinese art, literature, instruments, calligraphy, and fashion from noon to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, February 27.
• Based on his research, Healey developed a system that combined the display of multiple values into a single visual element.

dispose [verb]
to get rid of

• You can dispose of old batteries in the container outside the cafeteria.
• A serious problem of nuclear power is where and how to dispose of the radioactive waste.
• We have never in history needed to dispose of so much waste as we do today.
• Despite the fact that there was a stream on the land, he could not dispose of the property at any price.

dispute [noun]
argument; conflict

• A common cause of dispute between the teacher and a student, when the student comes late to class for no good reason.
• The police arrested two men last night after a dispute outside a bar.
• The two companies have settled their dispute over patent issues and dropped legal actions.
• Facts surrounding the diagnosis of the child's condition are in serious dispute.

disrupt [verb]
to interrupt an event; to damage

• The student was reported to the headmaster for continually trying to disrupt the class.
• This unnecessary war will disrupt the government plans to reduce tax.
• Students, staff and faculty have a right to privacy and neither reporters nor the public should be allowed to disrupt classroom instruction.
• The protests failed to disrupt Castro's arrival.

distance [noun]
how far it is from one place to another

• The distance from Frankfurt to Oberursel is about 12 kilometers.
• When the earth is closest to the sun, the distance between the earth and sun is 147000000k.
• The eagle is capable of carrying animals nearly as heavy as itself a great distance.
• Over the course of her journey in the program she has come a great distance from her primary focus as an agent for FEMA.

distinct [adjective]
clear and strong

• There is a distinct difference between learning your first language and learning a second one.
• There is a distinct possibility that she will lose her job unless she becomes more reliable.
• Students gain professional experience before graduation so that they enter the job market with a distinct advantage.
• With noise levels of this magnitude, hearing damage is a distinct problem unless some sort of hearing protection is used.

distinguish [verb]
to make clear the differences between two things

• Exam question: Distinguish between the function of the iris and the function of the cornea.
• It is not always possible to distinguish a cause of a conflict from a consequence of that conflict.
• The Latin alphabet did not distinguish between the vowel and consonant sounds of i and u.
• Children are able to distinguish between reality and fantasy between the ages of 3 and 5, according to new research.

distort [verb]
to change or affect something (negatively)

• If you talk through a cloth it will distort the sound of your voice.
• The conclusion did not distort the truth of the situation even though the student distorted some of the data that he collected.
• Omitting the transportation costs would distort the company's financial position.
• She claimed that the disproportionate number of non-native speakers in the survey did not distort the results.

distribute [verb]
to give out

• Please distribute these papers - two sheets to each student.
• The army sent 2,000 of its soldiers to distribute clothing to the refugees driven out of their homes by fighting.
• They distribute the food directly to needy families and individuals.
• We will not be able to distribute additional copies of the guide until the printers strike is ended.

district [noun]
region of a city

• The banking district of Frankfurt is right in the city centre.
• The district of most big cities around the main train station is often a dangerous place to be at night.
• The government district was cleared of protesters by riot police and police horses.
• He also was able to assist in identifying outstanding science curriculum materials for the teachers in the district to review.

disturb [verb]
to interrupt, stop from working

• This will be a reading lesson. Please do not disturb it by trying to talk.
• The angry shouts from demonstrators at the back of the hall did not disturb the politician in his speech.
• Doubt and mistakes must not be allowed to disturb us because it is from them that we learn.
• They further alleged that the removal of the soil would disturb the quality of the district's drinking water.

diverge [verb]
to move apart; to be different from

• Parents and children often diverge in their opinions on the importance of keeping bedrooms clean and tidy.
• The government refused to diverge from its plan to ban smoking in public places.
• The tax system must not discourage economic activity and it must not diverge from the tax systems in other countries.
• For reasons that are not yet completely clear, practice and theory usually diverge at this point.

diverse [adjective]
many and different

• There are diverse reasons for his academic success. The most important one is his willingness to work very hard.
• The most diverse animal class is the insect. Insects come in thousands of shapes and colors.
• These instruction and assessment strategies meet the needs of learners who are diverse (e.g., in culture, ethnicity, race, language, special needs).
• Children behave aggressively in a variety of ways, for diverse reasons, and with varying outcomes.

domain [noun]
area (of interest)

• Educational websites have the domain suffix: .edu. For example, the URL of this website is: esl.fis.edu.
• Government ministers should not comment on matters outside of their own domain; they often do not know enough about such topics.
• The images in this collection are in the public domain. You do not need to ask for permission to use them.
• They all use tools from well outside the natural domain of the problem.

domestic [adjective]
home

• Most children take a share of domestic duties such as washing the dishes.
• Instead of getting involved in the affairs of other countries, the government should concentrate on its domestic problems.
• It is hardly a surprise that national governments have failed to solve global problems, since they have also failed to solve their own domestic problems.
• While we are less concerned with the politics of Nigeria, we understand that a stable domestic situation would be to our advantage.