TOEFL Vocabulary [Set 1]

Are you familiar with any of these words?  What part of speech is each?

bizarre        coalesce
affinity        monopolize
condone      immune

Now take each vocabulary word and change it into a different part of speech (i.e. change a noun into a verb).

1.                    4.
2.                    5.
3.                    6.

Now complete the sentences with one of the vocabulary words.

1. “Native Americans were not _________ to the same diseases that     Europeans had been exposed to, and so died in great numbers     when they first came in contact with the new viruses.”
2.“At the turn of the century industrialist Andrew Carnegie     _______     the steel industry, owning the four major steel works and mills     in the United States.”
3. “I could tell something was wrong with him because of his _____    behavior, but I wasn’t sure if it was psychological or drug-induced.”
4.   “The individual lines ______ into a beautiful poem.”
5.  “He has such an ______  for classical music.”
6. “The president of the university stated officially that he does not     ______ underage drinking on or off campus.”

On your own
Re-write each of the sentences using a the vocabulary word as a different part of speech.  For example:
“The immunity of the Native Americans…”

Words (and phrases) to know: ‘in the dark’

This idiom means to be kept without information.

  •  Adam has know all along just how serious their money situation is, but he’s kept Lauren in the dark because he didn’t want her to worry.
  • Voters complain that the government wants to keep them in the dark about that is really going on.

Notice that the pronoun is always inside the phrase: “to keep them in the dark” (not “to keep in the dark them“). LES leaf

Are you superstitious?

A superstitious person believes in stories or traditions that have no explanation.  Here are a few common superstitions you’ll hear in English:

  • knock on wood (by knocking on wood, you prevent something bad from happening when you’ve just mentioned "Black cat"something good)

“So far I’ve done really well on each of my biology exams…knock on wood.”

  • jinx (Very similar to ‘knock on wood’)

“What a nice day for our hike…and not a cloud in the sky!”

“Don’t jinx us! Now it’ll rain for sure!”

  • beginner’s luck (A person does well on their first try)

“Adam’s won almost $200 in his card game, and he’s never even played before. Amazing!”

“Oh, I bet it’s just beginner’s luck.  Just wait.”

  • bad luck comes in threes 

“First my alarm didn’t go off this morning, then I spilled coffee on myself and now I’ve missed the bus home.  Like they say, bad luck comes in threes…”

  • 13 (The number is thought to be unlucky)

“Did you know that many American elevators go from the 12th floor to the 14th, and skip over the 13th? It’s thought that the 13th floor would be too unlucky!”

In your own words…

Tell us about some of the superstitions in your country.  Are they very similar to these?