Synonyms for adjectives

Adjectives	Synonyms	Examples
Bad	Negative, detrimental, inferior, inadequate, incorrect, poor, unsatisfactory, harmful, unacceptable, unpleasant, discouraging, terrible	Dumping waste exerts a negative effect on environment Passive smoking can have a detrimental effect on anyone’s health.
Big	Sizable,  enormous, huge, immense, gigantic, vast, large, sizable, grand, great, tall, substantial, mammoth, astronomical, ample, broad, expansive, spacious, stout, tremendous, titanic, mountainous	The mechanic spent an immense amount of time getting the engine into perfect condition. Global warming influences a large number of people living in this area.
Amazing	Unbelievable, improbable, fantastic, fabulous, incredible,  wonderful, astonishing, astounding, extraordinary	This extraordinary event is held occasionally by the government. John has already had an incrediblemoment with his friends in England.
Awful	Dreadful, terrible, abominable, bad, poor, unpleasant	The dreadful service could decrease the number of visitors booking rooms in the summer. Bad attitude may lead people into trouble in every ocasions.
Angry	Mad, furious, wrathful, indignant, exasperated, aroused, inflamed	He could have been mad to decide to do this risky project. This furious decision could lead us into trouble.
Happy	Pleased, contented, satisfied, delighted, elated, joyful, cheerful, ecstatic, jubilant, gay, tickled, gratified, glad, blissful, overjoyed	He is pleased to come to New Zealand to study MBA. She is gratified to except this invitation.
Unhappy	Miserable, uncomfortable, heart-broken, unfortunate, downhearted, sorrowful, depressed, gloomy, dismal, discouraged, sad	What has led to this miserable state of affairs? He did not know the reason why an unfortunate coincidence happens.
Interesting	Fascinating , gripping, arresting, enthralling,         engaging, attractive, inviting, intriguing, provocative, though-provoking, challenging, inspiring, titillating, tantalizing, exciting, entertaining, piquant, engrossing, absorbing	This challenging sport brings certain benefits to trainees. He had a fascinating idea to support this next project.
Boring	Mundane, dull, monotonous, tiresome, humdrum	This book is a little bit tiresome to read. Grinding is all well and good, but after a while, the monotonous repetition wears away at your soul.
Lazy	Indolent, slothful, idle, inactive, sluggish	He lifted his dark face, indolent dark eyes. An inactive FED and low bond yields are effectively buoying the stock market and driving major US indexes to record highs.
Great	Noteworthy, worthy, distinguished, remarkable, grand, considerable, powerful, much, mighty	” To hear people call me a word record holder, it sounds remarkable. “ Mr Deeds became a powerful advocate for Representative Murphy’s mental health bill.
Good	Acceptable, adroit, commendable, competent, excellent, exceptional, fabulous, fantastic, favorable, first-class, great, marvelous, proficient, satisfactory, skillful, splendid, stupendous, super, superb, superior, tip-top, valuable, wonderful	This immediately fulfilled my need to collect things but was also cheaper, more socially acceptable, and more fun than cardboard. ” The US right now is in a very favorable position.”
Important	Chief, critical, crucial, essential, imperative, key, necessary, urgent, weighty, vital	She was taken to a local hospital where she was listed in critical but stable condition. That would be nice, but in many ways, it is kind of an imperative.
Beautiful	Attractive, breathtaking, wonderful, picturesque (landscape/view) Attractive, glowing, gorgeous, good-looking (person)	This means that the garden is no breathtaking work of land art. Behold the warrior women power, a sword hidden in a gorgeous dress, and so, so, so many classic Wonder Woman trappings.
Brave	Courageous, fearless, dauntless, intrepid, plucky, daring, heroic, valorous, audacious, bold, gallant, valiant, doughty, mettlesome	Transgender children and adults are the strongest and most courageous people I have ever met. Glaring into a bottomless mining cycle, the acquisition may seem daring.
Bright	Shining, shiny, gleaming, brilliant, sparkling, shimmering, radiant, vivid, colorful, lustrous Intelligent, knowing, smart, intellectual (person)	They were left with vivid memories of him. While healthy competition is an intellectual stimulus, a cutthroat environment is disruptive.
Calm	Quiet, peaceful, still, tranquil, mild, serene, smooth, composed, collected, unruffled, level-headed, unexcited, detached, aloof	Smaller demonstrations, community policing tactics and the use of officers on bikes all played a role in the largely peaceful outcome. The product lines of Joy and Komatsu are mostly complimentary, which should smooth antitrust concerns.
Strong	Powerful, intense, firm, solid, potent	She couldn’t predict the intense political climate and debate surrounding Syrian refugees in the US and abroad. She recognizes the risks inherent in the most potent relationship of her life, yet is unwilling to relinquish it.
Weak	Frail, feeble, shaky, flimsy, fragile	It’s the only known member of the group to have feeble arms with two fingers. My years in public offices have taught me that progress can be fragile.
Dangerous	Perilous, hazardous, risky, uncertain, unsafe	The most perilous situation came in the fourth, when the Giants loaded the bases with one out. The sequence of events surrounding the collapse remain uncertain.
Delicious	Savory, delectable, appetizing, luscious, scrumptious, palatable, delightful, enjoyable, toothsome, exquisite	The chicken has just the right amount of savory tang, the pickle brine playing nicely against the sweetness of the maple. That doesn’t make it, or her, less political, even if, for her admirers, her presentation is more palatable.
Famous	Well-known, renowned, celebrated, famed, eminent, illustrious, distinguished, noted, notorious	So far, however, there has been no sign of Knight, the famed Indiana basketball coach. Rabbi is among the most eminent and respected Rabbis in the country.
Fast	Quick, rapid, speedy, fleet, hasty, snappy, mercurial, swiftly, rapidly, quickly, snappily, speedily, posthaste, hastily, expeditiously, like a flash	For every snappy scene or exchange, there are three or four that feel baggy and haft-written. He sent a hasty, mistake-filled letter to Kent, hoping to lessen the potential damage.
Fat	Plump, stout, corpulent, fleshy, beefy, paunchy, elephantine	Some form plump landscapes, a la Grant Wood. The three fleshy nudes are at once solid and kinetic.
Funny	Humorous, amusing, droll, comic, comical, laughable, silly	The idea for a humorous ad came from Adam Barth, Felix’s predecessor. It needed to be unlike any traditional greeting, but it couldn’t be at all comical.
Serious	Alarming, grave, pressing, pressuring, severe, urgent	His grave is located at the edge of of the settlement and remains a pilgrimage site for extremists. The most urgent tasks involve the key institutions of education, business and government.
Small	Insignificant, insubstantial, minimal, minor, tiny	The model shows that increasing the share of immigrants with, say, college degrees had only a minimal effect on GDP and employment. A minor in dramatic arts, this is Norman’s stage.
New	Fresh, unique, original, unusual, novel, modern, current, recent, up-to-date	Mr Trump is a unique and present danger. The movie, airing Saturday night, is a continuation of a vibe that’s special and unusual for TV.
Old	Feeble, ancient, aged, used, worn, dilapidated, former, old-fashioned, outmoded,  venerable, primitive, traditional, archaic, outdated, antiquated, obsolete	It’s true that society will probably always have devices to read DNA, so that gets around the problem of obsolete readers. The reason, suggested Tom Mann, a political scholar at the Brookings Institution, is downright primitive.
False	Fake, fraudulent, counterfeit, spurious, untrue, unfounded, erroneous, deceptive, groundless, fallacious	This is another problem with this game: It gives you erroneous notions of evolution. The accusations may be spurious, but they are serious and need to be addressed.
Wrong	Amiss, arguable, askew, awry, bad, debatable, dubious, erroneous, fallacy, fallacious, false, inaccurate, incorrect, miscalculated, misconstrued, misguided, mistaken, on the wrong track, off target, perverse, spurious, unsatisfactory, untrue	All of the proposed solutions are debatable, and the next shooting has already happened before those debates are over. The bright colors help them avoid being mistaken for game and shot.
Right	Correct, accurate, factual, true, good, just, honest, upright, lawful, moral, proper, suitable, apt, legal, fair	It is always one step ahead of you, yet virtually everyone gets faster and more accurate with practice. The appeals court responded with a judicial shrug to the trial court’s factual findings.
Easy	Simple, effortless, straightforward, uncomplicated, child’s play	The new tools aim to reverse that pattern, by using technology to make saving as effortless as spending. He left a lot of uncomplicated pleasure in his wake, and some complicated pleasure, too.
Difficult	Taxing, tough, challenging, daunting,  tricky	He recently won an appeal against the tough regime of his incarceration. It’s possible to serve draught beer on a plane – but the physics are tricky.

From: Ieltsmaterial.com

MIT new 2016

Paragraph:

Blocks make programming more intuitive for people who don’t necessarily have the background. Some of the biggest issues the team has encountered are with interfaces that control zooming and scrolling. It’s easy to see that some of her inspiration comes from Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki.

“Computer graphics is that in-between space,” she says. “You need to have some kind of aesthetic sensibility, since the whole point is still to tell a story, but you’re using computer science and math to do that.”

New Words:

more intuitive : Trực quan hơn

to complete a series of challenges:  hoàn thành chuỗi mục tiêu, thách thức

encounter : to have or experience (problems, difficulties, etc.) đương đầu,

interfaces: a connection between two pieces of electronic equipment, or between a person and a computer: giao tiếp

inspiration: a sudden good idea: cảm hứng

aesthetic sensibility: /esˈθet.ɪk/ nhạy cảm về thẩm mỹ

Paragraph:   http://news.mit.edu/2015/better-probabilistic-programming-0413

To make machine-learning applications easier to build, computer scientists have begun developing so-called probabilistic programming languages, which let researchers mix and match machine-learning techniques that have worked well in other contexts. In 2013, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, an incubator of cutting-edge technology, launched a four-year program to fund probabilistic-programming research.

By the standards of conventional computer programs, those “models” can seem absurdly vague. One of the tasks that the researchers investigate, for instance, is constructing a 3-D model of a human face from 2-D images. Kulkarni and his colleagues considered four different problems in computer vision, each of which involves inferring the three-dimensional shape of an object from 2-D information.

New words:

an incubator of cutting-edge technology : vườn ươm công nghệ

probabilistic-programming: lập trình xác suất

pioneer: a person who is one of the first people to do something:  người tiên phong

By the standards of conventional computer programs: theo tiêu chuẩn của chương trình máy tính thông thường.

absurdly vague: vô lý mơ hồ

infer:  to form an opinion or guess that something is true because of the information that you have : suy luận

Example:

Everything will ultimately depend on what is said at the meeting with the directors next week.

Ultimately (adv) = the last but one:  /ˈʌl.tɪ.mət.li/ conclusion, finally

Economist Jul 18th 2016

America’s growing temporary workforce

AMERICA’S temporary help industry first emerged after the second world war, when companies like Manpower and Kelly Girl Service began “renting out” office workers on a short-term basis. In those early years, temps numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Today, the industry employs some 2.9m people, over 2% of America’s total workforce. Since the country’s economic recovery began in 2009, temporary employment has been responsible for nearly one in ten net new jobs. But as temping has grown, the quality of the jobs it provides has deteriorated. According to government statistics, temps earn 20-25% less per hour than their permanent counterparts in similar roles. And few are covered by health-care or pension plans.

The proliferation of ill-paid temp work also affects permanent staff. Many of the costs that employers of temps avoid, such as health insurance, are now borne in part by taxpayers in the form of increased social-benefits spending. Temp work may also suppress the wages of permanent employees. In states where less than 2% of the workforce was employed by temping firms in 2000, full-time workers’ salaries grew by an average of 3% a year between 2000 and 2015. In contrast, they rose by just 2.6% annually in states with a higher proportion of temp workers. Such findings lend support to the view of David Autor of MIT that the use of temping agencies, while beneficial to individual workers and firms, “may exert a negative externality on the aggregate labour market—that is, it is a ‘public bad’.”

New words:

first emerged           : lần đầu xuất hiện
deteriorated             : xấu đi
pension                   : tiền trợ cấp =  allowance
wages                      : tiền lương
suppress                  : đàn áp
proliferation of       : sự gia tăng của 
According to government statistics:  theo thống kê của chính phủ

Vocabulary building

Affixes and roots

Adding affixes to existing words (the base or root) to form new words is common in academic English. Prefixes are added to the front of the base ( like 

->dislike), whereas suffixes are added to the end of the base (active

-> activate). Prefixes usually do not change the class of the base word, but suffixes usually do change the class of the word.

The most common prefixes used to form new verbs in academic English are: re-, dis-, over-, un-, mis-, out-. The most common suffixes are: -ise, -en, -ate, -(i)fy. By far the most common affix in academic English is -ise.

Verbs

e.g. prefix + verb -> verb

Prefix	Meaning	Examples
re-	again or back	restructure, revisit, reappear, rebuild, refinance
dis-	reverses the meaning of the verb	disappear, disallow, disarm, disconnect, discontinue
over-	too much	overbook, oversleep, overwork
un-	reverses the meaning of the verb	unbend, uncouple, unfasten
mis-	badly or wrongly	mislead, misinform, misidentify
out-	more or better than others	outperform, outbid
be-	make or cause	befriend, belittle
co-	together	co-exist, co-operate, co-own
de-	do the opposite of	devalue, deselect
fore-	earlier, before	foreclose, foresee
inter-	between	interact, intermix, interface
pre-	before	pre-expose, prejudge, pretest
sub-	under/below	subcontract, subdivide
trans-	across, over	transform, transcribe, transplant
under-	not enough	underfund, undersell, undervalue, underdevelop

Exercise:

1.He became a porter, was __________, often not paid at all, but did not complain. (pay)

-> underpay

2 Nevertheless, this peculiar combination had a long life and was destined to ______in the Middle Ages. (appear)

->reappear

3 Eduardo Duhalde, Argentina's caretaker president, today said that he would _______ the peso as he prepared to unveil a high-risk plan to end the country's economic turmoil. (value)

->devalue

4 Of themselves, of course, the rules are normative, and their validity is thus __________ by issues of fact. (affect)     

-> unaffected

5 In Garner's case the formal elements often go unnoticed because they are __________ and made almost invisible by the emotional power and urgency of the story. (merge)   

-> submerged

6 The Maya priests discovered, however, that they had slightly __________ the average synodic period of Venus. (estimate)  

-> overestimated

7.In essence, the systems involve diffusing chemicals that __________ with one another. (act)

-> interact

8.The concept of entities that appear for only an instant and then __________ was used by Buddhists to prove that all is merely appearance. (appear)

-> disappear

9.A man's useless tuxedo could be __________ into a woman's smart town suit. (form) 

-> transformed

10.There is nothing harmful or threatening in institutionalizing, and thereby recognizing, a relationship which some fear, many object to, and most still __________. (understand)  

-> misunderstand

e.g. Suffix used to form verbs with the meaning "cause to be".

Suffix	Example
-ise	stabilise, characterise, symbolise, visualise, specialise
-ate	differentiate, liquidate, pollinate, duplicate, fabricate
-fy	classify, exemplify, simplify, justify
-en	awaken, fasten, shorten, moisten

Exercise

1.The society may be __________ by such dealings, and experienced through them. (symbol)

2.There remained a distinctive philosophy of liberalism which could __________ the Liberals from other political parties. (differ)

3.To __________ a rather complex historical phenomenon, it can be said that the present political division between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael originates in positions taken by opponents in that war. (simple)

4.Berkeley's ideas were __________ early. (formula)

5.Frederick's reforms, however, __________ a major flaw in the progressive infatuation with scientific management. (example)

6.They __________ other flowers within the same fig. (pollen)

7.In a black leather notebook __________ with a metal clasp, he wrote: Oswestry July 18th 1829... (fast)

8.It seems probable that some doctors carry out mercy killings by administering large doses of pain-killing drugs which __________ life significantly, and the law may well protect them from liability. (short)

9.The only miracle left in the nuclear dream is that more people have not __________ to the fact that nuclear power is economically - and increasingly, in that it takes much-needed funds away from renewables and efficiency - ethically, redundant. (wake)

10.Some more theologically articulate members of the provisional movement __________ violence on traditional Roman catholic ethical grounds, the theory of the just war against the unjust oppressor. (just)

11.In the second draft of this letter Marx says: "the archaic formation of society reveals a number of different types which __________ different and successive epochs." (character)

12.This conversion of sound symbols in time to __________ symbols in space was the greatest single step in the quest for permanence. (visual)

13.To __________ all reckless killings as murder might be too broad, but the point remains that some reckless killings may be thought no less heinous than intentional killings. (class)

Answers:

1.symbolized or symbolised

2.differentiate

3.simplify

4.formulated

5.exemplify

6.pollinate

7.fastened

8.shorten

9.awakened  or  awoken

10.justify

11.characterise  or  characterize

12.visualize  or  visualse

13.classify

Nouns

The most common prefixes used to form new nouns in academic English are: co- and sub-. The most common suffixes are: -tion, -ity, -er, -ness, -ism, 

-ment, -ant, -ship, -age, -ery. By far the most common noun affix in academic English is -tion.

e.g. prefix + noun -> noun

Prefix	Meaning	Examples
anti-	against	anticlimax, antidote, antithesis
auto-	self	autobiography, automobile
bi-	two	bilingualism, biculturalism, bi-metalism
co-	joint	co-founder, co-owner, co-descendant
counter-	against	counter-argument, counter-example, counter-proposal
dis-	the converse of	discomfort, dislike
ex-	former	ex-chairman, ex-hunter
hyper-	extreme	hyperinflation, hypersurface
in-	the converse of	inattention, incoherence, incompatibility
in-	inside	inpatient,
inter-	between	interaction, inter-change, interference
kilo-	thousand	kilobyte
mal-	bad	malfunction, maltreatment, malnutrition
mega-	million	megabyte
mis-	wrong	misconduct, misdeed, mismanagement
mini-	small	mini-publication, mini-theory
mono-	one	monosyllable, monograph, monogamy
neo-	new	neo-colonialism, neo-impressionism
out-	separate	outbuilding,
poly-	many	polysyllable
pseudo-	false	pseudo-expert
re-	again	re-organisation, re-assessment, re-examination
semi-	half	semicircle, semi-darkness
sub-	below	subset, subdivision
super-	more than, above	superset, superimposition, superpowers
sur-	over and above	surtax
tele-	distant	telecommunications,
tri-	three	tripartism
ultra-	beyond	ultrasound
under-	below, too little	underpayment, under-development, undergraduate
vice-	deputy	vice-president

Exercise


e.g. Suffix added to a verb (V), noun (N) or adjective (A) -> noun

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
-tion -sion	action/instance of V-ing	alteration, demonstration expansion, inclusion, admission
-er	person who V-s something used for V-ing	advertiser, driver computer, silencer
-ment	action/instance of V-ing	development, punishment, unemployment
-ant -ent	person who V-s	assistant, consultant student
-age	action/result of V	breakage, wastage, package
-al	action/result of V	denial, proposal, refusal, dismissal
-ence -ance	action/result of V	preference, dependence, interference attendance, acceptance, endurance
-ery/-ry	action/instance of V-ing place of V-ing	bribery, robbery, misery refinery, bakery

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
-er	person concerned with N	astronomer, geographer
-ism	doctrine of N	Marxism, Maoism, Thatcherism
-ship	state of being N	friendship, citizenship, leadership
-age	collection of N	baggage, plumage

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
-ity	state or quality of being A	ability, similarity, responsibility, curiosity
-ness	state or quality of being A	darkness, preparedness, consciousness
-cy	state or quality of being A	urgency, efficiency, frequency

Exercise

Adjectives

Many adjectives are formed from a base of a different class with a suffix (e.g.

-less, -ous). Adjectives can also be formed from other adjectives, especially by the negative prefixes (un-, in- and non-).

The most common suffixes are -al, -ent, -ive, -ous, -ful, -less.

e.g. Suffix added to verbs or nouns -> adjective

Suffix	Example
-al	central, political, national, optional, professional
-ent	different, dependent, excellent
-ive	attractive, effective, imaginative, repetitive
-ous	continuous, dangerous, famous
-ful	beautiful, peaceful, careful
-less	endless, homeless, careless, thoughtless
-able	drinkable, countable, avoidable,

Exercise

e.g. negative + adjective -> adjective

Prefix	Examples
un-	unfortunate, uncomfortable, unjust
im-/in-/ir-/il-	immature, impatient, improbable, inconvenient, irreplaceable, illegal
non-	non-fiction, non-political, non-neutral
dis-	disloyal, dissimilar, dishonest

Exercise

Mixed

e.g. base with both prefix and suffix
Adjectives: uncomfortable, unavoidable, unimaginative, inactive, semi-circular
Nouns: disappointment, misinformation, reformulation

Word formation

Formal written English uses nouns more than verbs. 

For example, judgement rather than judge, development rather than develop, admiration rather than admire.

There appeared to be evidence of differential treatment of children.

This is reflected in our admiration for people who have made something of their lives, sometimes against great odds, and in our somewhat disappointed judgment of those who merely drift through life.

All airfields in the country would be nationalised, and the government would continue with the development of new aircraft as recommended by the Brabazon Committee.

Associated with nominalisation is the occurrence of prepositional phrases, introduced by of:

judgment of those

treatment of children

development of new aircraft

-tion is the most common suffix used in this way. For example: alteration, resignation.

However others are: -ity ability, similarity, complexity; -ness blindness, darkness, preparedness; -ment development, encouragement; 

-ship friendship; -age mileage; -eryrobbery, bribery; -al arrival; 

-ance assistance, resemblance.

                                                                       From: http://www.uefap.com/