VOCABULARY UNIT 1

Track 1: Two conversations about cities.

 Buzzing: 1 MAKE A SOUND [intransitive] to make a continuous sound, like the
sound of a BEE: a loud buzzing noise.

 Get stuck in traffic: 1 impossible or unable to move from a particular position: Sara

tried to open the window but it was stuck.  They got stuck in a traffic jam. stuck
in  The boat was stuck in the mud.  I’ve  got  something  stuck  in my throat.

 Crawling along: 4 if a vehicle crawls, it moves forward very slowly crawl by/along
etc. The traffic was crawling along.

 Sounding their horns: 2 ON A CAR [countable] the thing in a vehicle that you use

to make a loud sound as a signal or warning sound/toot/honk/blow your
horn (=make a noise with your horn)

 Unbearably: too unpleasant, painful, or annoying to deal

with SYN intolerable: The  pain  was almost unbearable.  He was making life
unbearable for his parents.

 Length of time: 2 TIME [countable, uncountable] the amount of time that you

spend doing something or that something continues → duration length of  Your
pension will depend on your length of employment. What’s the average length of stay in
hospital?(not) for any length of time (=not for very long)  He wasn’t left alone for any
length of time.

 A fair amount of pollution: 3 QUITE LARGE a fair

size/amount/number/bit/distance etc especially British English quite a large size,
number etc:  I’ve still got a fair amount of work left to do.  We had travelled a fair
way  (=quite a long distance) by lunch time. there’s a fair chance (that)/of
something (=it is quite likely that something will happen) There’s a fair chance we’ll be
coming over to England this summer.

 Choke on the fumes: 1 [intransitive] to be unable to breathe properly because

something is in your throat or there is not enough air choke on  He choked on a piece of

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bread. Six people  choked to death on the fumes.2 [transitive] if something chokes
you, it makes you unable to breathe properly: I felt as if there was a weight on my
chest, choking me. The smoke was choking me.

 Drawback: a disadvantage of a situation, plan, product etc: It’s a great city – the

only drawback is the weather.
 Real buzz: a continuous noise like the sound of a BEE.

 Affluent: having plenty of money, nice houses, expensive things

etc SYN  wealthy:  affluent families an affluent society/area etc   the affluent Côte
d'Azur ► see THESAURUS at RICH

 Fur coats and posh cars: 2 [countable, uncountable] the skin of a dead animal
with the fur still attached: a fur coat.  A fur-lined jacket.
1 a posh restaurant, hotel, car etc is expensive and looks as if it is used or owned by
rich people: a posh private school

 Spotless: 1 completely clean → pristine: a spotless white handkerchief.  By the time

she had finished the house was  absolutely spotless. ► see THESAURUS at CLEAN
 Dull: 1 BORING not interesting or exciting:  Life is never dull when Elizabeth is
here.

 Run-down: 1 a building or area that is run-down is in very bad condition:  a run-

down inner-city area

 Bringing up: 2 to look after and influence a child until he or she is grown
up SYN  raise:  He was brought up by his grandparents.

 Smoothly: 1 in a steady way, without stopping and starting again: Traffic flowed

smoothly.2 if a planned event, piece of work etc goes smoothly, there are no problems
to spoil it:  It’ll take about three hours if everything goes smoothly.

 Trace of litter: 1 WASTE [uncountable] waste paper, cans etc that people have

thrown away and left on the ground in a public
place SYN rubbish, trash, garbage: People who  drop litter  can be fined in some
cities.

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Track 2: Three people telling urban myths.
 Report: to tell the police or someone in authority that an accident or crime has
happened:  I’d like to report a theft.

 Driveway: the hard area or road between your house and the street SYN drive.

 Though: used after adding a fact, opinion, or question which seems surprising after
what you have just said, or which makes what you have just said seem less true:  Two
heart attacks in a year. It hasn’t stopped him smoking, though.

 Collapse:  to suddenly fall down or become unconscious because you are ill or
weak: He collapsed with a heart attack while he was dancing.

 Driveway: the hard area or road between your house and the street SYN drive.

 Rush: to take or send someone or something somewhere very quickly, especially

because of an unexpected problem. rush somebody/something to something. Dan
was rushed to hospital  with serious head injuries.

 Work out: especially British English to think about something and manage to
understand it.

 Bit: a small piece of something.

 Aisle: a long passage between rows of seats in a church, plane, theatre etc, or
between rows of shelves in a shop.

 Grab: to take hold of someone or something with a sudden or violent movement.

 Loaf: bread that is shaped and baked in one piece and can be cut into SLICEs: a  loaf
of bread.

 Freak out: phrasal verb  informal To become very anxious, upset, or afraid, or make
someone very anxious, upset, or afraid: People just freaked out when they heard the
news.

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 Rush: to move very quickly, especially because you need to be somewhere very
soon SYN hurry: Mo rushed off down the corridor.

 Cashier: someone whose job is to receive or pay out money in a shop.

 Full to the brim: filled/full to the brim (=completely full) The cup was filled to the
brim with coffee.

 Be the spitting image of somebody: to look exactly like someone else.

 Wip: Bill  wiped  his eyes (=wiped the tears from his face)  and apologized.

 Tearful: someone who is tearful is crying a little, or almost crying.

 Struggle: to try extremely hard to achieve something, even though it is very difficult.

 Your good deed for the day: something kind or helpful that you do – used
humorously.

Track 3: How each story ends

 Burgle: to go into a building and steal things. SYN burglarize American

English:  We’ve been burgled three times.

 Spray: o force liquid out of a container so that it comes out in a stream of very small
drops and covers an area.

 Suck: to take air, liquid etc into your mouth by making your lips form a small hole
and using the muscles of your mouth to pull it in.

 If anything: used for saying how someone or something is different when you are

not sure whether there really is any change or difference
The  situation  is, if anything,  worsening rather than improving.
If anything, he  looks  younger  and fitter  than he  did before.

 To drug sth. down: phrasal verb To make someone feel unhappy and weak:  Joe’s
been ill for weeks now – it’s really dragging him down.

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Also, if someone or something bad drags you down, they make you become worse or get
into a worse situation:  Don’t let them  drag you down to their level.

 On/onto the defensive behaving in a way that shows that you think that someone is
criticizing you even if they are not:  In his presence, she was constantly on the
defensive.

 Put up barriers: Some kids have erected emotional barriers that stop them from
learning.

 Get on with: especially British English if people get on, they like each other and have
a friendly relationship with each other. Get on with I’ve always got on well with Henry.

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 VOCABULARY UNIT 2

Track 4: Three conversations about different people.