GRASP YOUR VOCABULARY – Lesson #21

Word focus
associate individual involve indulge
engage immerse stimulate mature

I. Before you read

Customers asssociate branded products with social supremacy.

Associate (V)
In the modern context, people no longer associate old age with wisdom.
The middle class in Vietnam tend to associate Apple products with social supremacy.
There are several problems (which are) associated with this social development.
Associate A with B: think of A when thinking of B (and vice versa)
Attach (v)
Attribute (v)
Associate (v)
Modern citizens have started to ATTACH importance to their mental health.
There is a growing body of opinion which ATTRIBUTES moral decline to the dominance of the left.
The middle class is oftentimes ASSOCIATED with social insecurity and high purchase power.

Attach value to sth = appreciate sth

Attach meaning to sth = appreciate sth
Attach importance to sth = respect/ appreciate sth

Attribute A to B = blame A on B

Engage (V)
In order to be a good public speaker you must be able to engage the audience/ make your speech engaging.
You should never be engaged to a specific ideology, because a mind that is not willing to change is considered dead.
After 8 years in prison, Chi Pheo started to engage in criminal activities.

Engage in sth (*) = do sth

Chính phủ cố tình đưa ra thông tin sai lệch để giữ trật tự xã hội.
The government gives incorrect information on purpose to maintain social order.
 The government ENGAGES IN misinformation…
misinformation (N): việc cố tình đưa ra thông tin sai (thường là để kiểm soát xã hội)

Nam giới chọn việc refrain from self-pleasuring vào tháng 11.
Men choose to refrain from self-pleasuring in November.
 Men choose to ENGAGE IN NNN.
NNN (N):

Các công ty cố tình làm cho sản phẩm của mình có tuổi thọ ngắn hơn.
Companies deliberately limit the lifespan of their products.
Planned obsolescence (N): chiến lược cố tình làm cho sản phẩm có tuổi thọ ngắn hơn
 Companies ENGAGE IN planned obsolescence … (obsolete)
Người dân có thể phân loại rác thải tại nguồn.
The people can classify garbage from the source.
Garbage classification (N): việc phân loại rác thải.
 The people can ENGAGE IN garbage classification.

Engage SB: tiếp cận ai đó (make someone interested/ make them feel included)
Engage sb TO DO sth: Pay sb to do sth
Be engaged to/with sth: never give up on sth/ be loyal to sth
GenZs are usually ENGAGED TO their group identities.
Companies ENGAGE celebrities and KOLs to endorse their products.

Immerse (V)
History should be taught in a more demonstrative way so that students would immerse themselves in the subject.
In order to attain English proficiency, you must be fully immersed in the language.
This course does not offer sufficient language immersion, as Mr.T speaks Vietnamese too much.
Immerse oneself in sth = be immersed in sth = engage in sth = get involved in sth = participate in sth

The subject must be taught demonstratively so that students can be immersed in the subject.
So that it can engage them.
So that it can involve them.
So that students can get involved in it.
So that students can commit to it.

(*) Involve (V)

A involve B: B is a part of A
 My job involves a lot of sitting.
Be involved in sth: có dính dáng, có liên quan đến cái gì đó.
 Do Kwon was involved in the collapse of LUNA.
 He was involved in the accident.
Get involved in sth = commit to sth = invest oneself in sth = immerse in sth = engage in sth
 He wants to get involved in the project.
 She has been (got) involved in environmental preservation for a long time.

Involve/ be involved in/ engage/ engage in/ be immersed in

Marketing a product INVOLVES determining the target customers, and how to sell it.
A good content creator knows how to ENGAGE his followers.
Mr.T wants the students to BE IMMERSED IN/ BE INVOLVED IN the lessons.
Do not ENGAGE IN hate speech if you don’t wanna get into legal trouble.
People should ENGAGE IN/ BE INVOLVED IN the practice of garbage classification to facilitate recycling.

Indulge (V)
Thanks to this wonderful job, I’m able to financially support my family and even indulge in my hobby a bit.
Allowing children to have autonomy does not mean indulging them.
During Tet holiday, Vietnamese are often more relaxed and indulgent than usual.
Indulge SB (with sth): nuông chiều ai đó (với việc gì đó)
I tend to indulge myself with 2 hours of gaming after 45 minutes of studying.
Indulge IN sth: (When you indulge in a leisure activity, you do it more than usual)
*Self-indulgence vs. self-pleasure
Stimulate (V)
The government plans to cut taxes interest rate in order to stimulate the economy.
When we overstimulate our brain with constant exposure to social media, we become desensitized.
Reading is the easiest way to achieve intellectual stimulation.

Mature (Adj) >< childish (adj)

Maturity does not automatically comes with age.
One might mature physically, but it takes serious effort to be mentally mature.

Individual (N/adj)
Individual freedom is very much valued in Western culture.
The small class size allows the teacher to give individual attention.
We interviewed each individual member of the group.

II. Reading Passage #9

The truth about happiness
Studies showed that there are various hormones that are accountable for happiness, of which the four
fundamental ones are:
1. Dopamine: A substance released when we accomplish something, giving us a temporary feeling of
satisfaction. For example, when you are finally able to submit your thesis, or when you have purchased a
new phone, your body rewards you with a dose of Dopamine. The problem, however, is that our dosage
keeps getting higher over time: eventually the body will need more of it to achieve the same effect. In
other word, as our familiarity with the same stimulation increases, those which we once perceived as
accomplishments would soon be associated with failure. For example, Mr.T, to whom you are listening,
has an entire collection of Ultraman figures that would leave most people in awe. You would assume
having something like that would make him happy. Well, yes, but actually, no. The poor guy always feels
like his collection is missing one piece, which is somehow ALWAYS the newest Ultraman figure, the one
that resembles one he already had, but whose horn bends backwards instead of forwards, and whose thigh
patterns are a bit different. Mr.T is not addicted to Ultraman figures. Of course, he is too emotionally
mature to be so. He is simply addicted to the FEELING he gets from collecting Ultraman figures: he is
addicted to dopamine.
2. Endorphin: A substance released during and after intense physical activities. After running 5 miles on the
treadmill, usually we can feel a sharp improvement in our mood thanks to Endorphin being pumped
naturally into our blood. During that state of euphoria, which is sometimes refered to as ‘runner’s high’, we
become more self-conscious and better able to detach ourselves from negative emotions. Apparently,
nobody would be bothered by that embarassing thing he did in highschool, or that Bill Gate might have
created Covid-19 as a part of his plan towards world domination, when he is immersed in his cardio
session and is trying to catch his breath.
3. Serotonin: A substance released by the brain when we feel good about ourselves, when we receive
praises or compliments, or, you’ve guessed it, ‘likes’ and ‘hearts’ on social media. For instance, by simply
being on stage and doing what he loves, a performer would experience a rush of Serotonin. Similarly,
showering themselves with online approvals earns narcissistic individuals a dose of ‘feel-good’ hormone,
which is why some of them are willing to bend backwards to the point of self-humiliation to appease
strangers on the Internet. There is one simpler alternative that does not require talents nor self-
deprecation: through millions years of evolution, human body has learned to associate seeing food,
especially protein, with reward: it reacts in basically the same way it does when getting positive feedbacks.
That’s right, the satisfying feeling you get when cutting through a tender steak, or pulling out a cheesy slice
of pizza is mainly attributed to serotonin.
4. Oxytocin: This is more commonly known as the ‘Love hormone’, since it is released through engaging in
intimacy. The truth might seem a little bit naked, but if sexual activity does not generate happiness,
humans would’ve been extinct a long time ago. Good news for those who are not involved in sexual
relationships: Scientists suggest that Oxytocin can also be released as much by petting or talking to (yes,
talking to) your dogs. Keeping a comfort animal has long been proved (to be) effective against stress. Now
you know what the solution to your problem is, loners!
No matter how ambiguous and romanticized its definition might have been, happiness is never
unattainable. Of course you cannot simply decide to be happy, but you can always decide what to do to be
happy: focus on yourself, do some exercise, have a dog or preferably two, and indulge yourself every once
in a while.

Exercise 1: Analyse these sentences, breaking them down to simple sentences if necessary.

1. Dopamine is a substance released (WHICH IS RELEASED) when we accomplish something, giving (AND IT GIVES) us
a temporary feeling of satisfaction.
 _____________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
2. In other word, as our familiarity with the same stimulation increases, those which we once perceived as
accomplishments would soon be associated with failure.
 We once perceived something as accomplishments BUT we would soon associate that thing with failure.

3. Mr.T, to whom you are listening, has an entire collection of Ultraman figures that would leave most people in awe.

 Mr.T has an entire collection of Ultraman figures.

 You are listening to Mr.T

 His collection would leave most people in awe.

4. The poor guy always feels like his collection is missing one piece, which is somehow ALWAYS the newest Ultraman
figure, (which is) the one that resembles one (that) he already had, but whose horn bends backwards instead of
forwards, and whose thigh patterns are a bit different.

 The poor guy always feels like his collection is missing one piece.
 That missing piece is always the newest Ultraman figure.
 The newest Ultraman figure is the one that resembles the one that he already had.
 But the newest Ultraman figure’s horn bends backwards instead of forwards.
 And the newest Ultraman figure’s thigh patterns are a bit different.

4. During that state of euphoria, which is sometimes refered to as ‘runner’s high’, we become more self-conscious
and better able to detach ourselves from negative emotions.
 During that state of euphoria, we become more self-conscious and better able to detach ourselves from negative
emotions.

 that state of euphoria is sometimes refered to as ‘runner’s high’.

5. Similarly, showering themselves with online approvals earns narcissistic individuals a dose of ‘feel-good’
hormone, which is why some of them are willing to bend backwards to the point of self-humiliation to appease
strangers on the Internet.
 Similarly, showering themselves with online approvals earns narcissistic individuals a dose of ‘feel-good’
hormone. THIS is why some of them are willing to bend backwards to the point of self-humiliation to appease
strangers on the Internet.