- Stand poised .adj: stand completely still but ready to
move at any moment - On the brink of .n: extremely close to - Acronym .n: an abbreviation consisting of the first letter of each word in the name of sth, pronounced as a word - Terrestrial .adj: relating or similar to earth - Intermittently .adv: in a way that does not happen regularly or continuously; in a way that stops and start repeatedly or with periods in between - Foster .v: to encourage the development or growth of ideas or feeling - In this sense : = in this way - A cog in a/the machine: a member of a large organization whose job, although necessary, makes them feel as if they are not important - Horizon .n: the line at the farthest place that you can see, where the sky seems to touch land or sea - Tenuous .adj: thin, weak, easily broken - Last .v: to continue to exist - Wipe sth out .phrv: to destroy sth completely - Optimism .n: the quality of being full of hope and emphasizing the good parts of a situation, or a belief that sth good will happen - Pass on sth .phrv: to give sth to someone, after someone gave it to you - Well .adv: with good reason - Restrictive .adj: limiting the freesom of someone or prevent sth from growing - Conservative .adj: not usually liking or trusting change, esp sudden change - Severely .adv: very seriously - Inconceivable .adj: impossible to image or think of - Assumption .n: sth that you accept as true with out question or proof - Attenuate .v: to make sth less or weaker - Traverse .v: to move or travel through an area - To date : up to the present time - It turns out that .phrv: to be know or discovered finally and suprisingly - Draft .v: to write down a document for the first time, including the main points but not all the details - Ethical .adj: relating to beliefs about what is morally right and wrong