ACADEMIC WORDLIST

GROUP 1

GROUP 2

GROUP 3

GROUP 4

E
A. Read the passage. Then, match the words in bold with their definitions below. Words
that appear twice have two definitions for different meanings of the word.

Experts from several fields were assembled. Together they constituted a panel
tasked with studying the environment in the context of the economy, which was
contracting. The leader of the panel created a positive working environment in
which controversial issues could be discussed frankly. Political issues such as
environmental damage deriving from government contracts constituted a large
proportion of their work. They also defined important terminology for use in the
future laws and regulations. For the sake of economy, it was necessary to
outsource some of the data collection. When their work was complete, they
distributed their recommendations to local and national officials.

1. ................................... : The natural world

2. ...................................
3. ...................................
4. ...................................
5. ...................................
6. ...................................
7. ...................................
8. ...................................
9 ...................................
10. ...................................
11. ...................................
12. ...................................
13. ...................................
14. ...................................
: To become shorter and smaller
: To be part of the whole entity or unit
: To combine together to form a whole entity or unit
: To make something exist or happen
: A legal agreement to provide goods, services or labour
: The careful use of resources like money or time
: To come from a source, or to get something from a source
: To give or establish the meaning or limits something
: A collection of information, facts or statistics that can be
analysed
: The money, industry and trade system of a country or region
: To give things to or divide things among a number of people
: The people, things or conditions where a person or thing exists,
lives or works
: The conditions necessary to fully understand an idea, word,
statement or event

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B. Match the academic words list with their synonyms
1. constitute a. shrink
2. create b. be regarded as
3. contract c. surroundings
4. environment d. hand out
5. distribute e. circumstances
6. context f. Make

C. Match the sentences halves together

1. We’re planning to visit ..... a. purchase everything online
2. The average rainfall in this ... b. resource for all life on earth
3. Humans sweat in order to ... c. previous owner
4. Water is an essential... d. reside the same state
5. Prices for the new computers ... e. primary cause of the fire
6. Nowadays, it’s possible to ... f. potential locations to film our
video
7. I asked a librarian to help find ... g. range from hundreds to thousands
of dollars
8. Firefighters are investigating the ... h. region is about 150cm per year
9. My first car wasn’t new; it had a ... i. regulate our body temperature
10. Tuition is lower for students who... j. relevant books and articles for my
thesis

D. Sort the academic words in bold into nouns, verbs and adjective. Some words belong to
more than one category.

Nouns Verbs Adjectives

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E. Complete the sentences containing the AWL with your own ideas.
1. My last purchase was _______________________________________________________
2. I enjoy a range of __________________________________________________________
3. My school or company has rules to regulate _____________________________________
4. In the future I want to reside _________________________________________________.
5. English is relevant because ___________________________________________________
6. I have the potential to ______________________________________________________
7. If you visit my region, I recommend you ________________________________________
8. I learned _______________________________________ in my prestigious English lesson.
9. ________________________________________ is an important resource in my country.
10. ____________________________________________ is the primary importance for me.