Ready for CAE unit 10 "The Joy of Plumbing"

Mr Baechi (Switzerland)
This list features the most important words from the text "The Joy of Plumbing" in "Ready for CAE", p.130.
35 words 46 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. plumbing
    utility consisting of the pipes and fixtures for the distribution of water or gas in a building and for the disposal of sewage
    His parents were schoolteachers, and he grew up in a house without electricity or plumbing.
    understandable definition: "plumbing" are the tubes and pipes that bring water into the house, distribute it there, and lead the waste water or "sewage" out of the house.
    The person who repairs this system is called a "plumber". (you don't pronounce the "b")
  2. slick
    having a smooth, gleaming surface reflecting light
    ...where slick green fields roll out on either side to the horizon. (The idea is that the fields look really nice and proper, deceiving us into believing that everything is like that. But the place we are going to see is not so nice.)
    "Slick" can also contain the idea of "too smooth", that is, superficial or only superficially shiny.
  3. prosperous
    marked by peace and success
    prosperous-looking farms
    noun: prosperity, verb: to prosper
    elements of meaning: do well, be successful, grow, expand
  4. shabby
    showing signs of wear and tear
    And then I pull up outside a rather shabby bungalow.
    also: of poor moral or human quality: The shabby treatment we got from our boss made everyone demotivated.
  5. ditch
    a long narrow excavation in the earth
    At least 14 people died and 23 others were injured when a truck fell into a ditch in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
    The verb "to ditch" is used to say that you abandon something or someone: ditch an idea, a project, a boy- or girlfriend
  6. choke
    struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake
    Banks have money to lend, but even profitable small businesses often cannot access it, choking growth.
    Metaphorically, this word can mean any situation in which a thing is deprived from the necessary conditions to live and prosper. Growth, rebellions, motivation and many other things can be choked.
  7. trickle
    run or flow slowly, as in drops or in an unsteady stream
    Between the road and the bungalow there is a ditch, choked with weeds, with a little muddy stream trickling along it.
  8. cylinder
    a surface generated by rotating a line around a fixed line
    AlbertJuttus, a gentle-looking 73-year-old, sitting in his front room before a tiny heater running off a cylinder of Calor gas.
    This is the correct word for the large, red gas bottles that you can get at the petrol station. In many countries they are used with gas heaters when there is no central heating.
  9. source
    the place where something begins
    He's lived in this house for 46 years, and in all that time his only source of water has been that muddy ditch.
  10. obscurity
    the state of being indistinct due to lack of light
    He had lived his life in total obscurity until last week, when the local council awarded him its biggest-ever grant, over £40,000, to transform his tiny property.
  11. council
    a body serving in an administrative capacity
    He had lived his life in total obscurity until last week, when the local council awarded him its biggest-ever grant, over £40,000, to transform his tiny property.
  12. award
    give as judged due or on the basis of merit
    He had lived his life in total obscurity until last week, when the local council awarded him its biggest-ever grant, over £40,000, to transform his tiny property.
    This verb can be used for something you win, and for something that is your right to have. The two meanings are quite different.
  13. grant
    any monetary aid
    He had lived his life in total obscurity until last week, when the local council awarded him its biggest-ever grant, over £40,000, to transform his tiny property.
    Grants are often given to students to help them financially, or to artists to support their projects.
  14. temporarily
    for a limited time only; not permanently
    His wife, Grace, has moved temporarily into a nursing home while the work is in progress.
  15. belated
    after the expected or usual time
    Since the announcement of that grant, the council has been rather embarrassed by the interest that Albert Juttus's belated journey into the 21 '' century has attracted.
  16. humble
    marked by meekness or modesty; not arrogant or prideful
    ...front-page coverage in the local paper and visits to his humble dwelling by television journalists.
  17. dwelling
    housing that someone is living in
    ...front-page coverage in the local paper and visits to his humble dwelling by television journalists.
    This is a formal word for "place where you live". You would never say, "I'll invite you to my dwelling next week.", but you would say, "He used his regular income to purchase a dwelling that was more in accord with his newly gained social status."
  18. frail
    physically weak
    Having become rather frail and vulnerable in the last few years, he and his wife were heavily reliant on the good nature of one neighbour, who declines to be named.
  19. vulnerable
    capable of being wounded or hurt
    Having become rather frail and vulnerable in the last few years, he and his wife were heavily reliant on the good nature of one neighbour, who declines to be named.
  20. reliant
    depending on another for support
    Having become rather frail and vulnerable in the last few years, he and his wife were heavily reliant on the good nature of one neighbour, who declines to be named.
  21. decline
    show unwillingness towards
    Having become rather frail and vulnerable in the last few years, he and his wife were heavily reliant on the good nature of one neighbour, who declines to be named.
  22. neglected
    lacking a caretaker
    Her tales of their neglected life strike a chill into your heart.
    better definition: suffering a lack of proper care (OED)
  23. cope
    come to terms with
    For two people in their seventies, coping without running water and electricity had already become too much many years ago.
  24. improvement
    a change for the better; progress in development
    The couple, who have no family, did not realize they were entitled to an improvement grant.
  25. pity
    a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for misfortunes of others
    And it would be wrong to see AibertJuttus as just someone to be pitied.
    The definition is for the noun; here we have the verb, but the meaning is the same.
  26. flee
    run away quickly
    Fleeing from Estonia in 1946, he came to Britain without knowing a word of English . ( with participle clause)
  27. succession
    a following of one thing after another in time
    After a succession of low-paid jobs on farms and in mills, he found work in a nearby tyre factory.
  28. tyre
    hoop that covers a wheel
    But the tyres were changed after and Vettel has won seven out of eight races since. BBC (Oct 29, 2013)
    "Hoop" means the black rubber ring that is filled with air and rolls on the road.
  29. proper
    having all the qualities typical of the thing specified
    Albert Juttus, in his bizarrely modest but oddly practical way, decided that it was indeed pretty hard getting water out of the ditch, but that it would be easier if he had a proper well.
  30. rectify
    make right or correct
    Shocked beyond belief by what they saw when they visited the house, these people began to put pressure on the council to rectify the situation.
  31. ambivalent
    uncertain or unable to decide about what course to follow
    And clearly something in him even feels ambivalent about the new life that looms ahead.
  32. loom
    come into view indistinctly, often threateningly
    And clearly something in him even feels ambivalent about the new life that looms ahead.
  33. estate
    extensive landed property retained by the owner
    It wo uld have been a lot easier for the council if he had agreed to move into a spanking new home on a smart estate, but he wouldn't do that.
    The vocabulary.com definition is wrong here. An estate in Britain is "an area of land and modern buildings developed for residential, industrial, or commercial purposes" (OED) A housing estate in London could be a group of large blocks of flats with dozens of flats and hundreds of people living in them.
  34. fringe
    decorate with an ornamental border
    At the back of his house the view sweeps on and on over green fields and to the soft surge of low hills fringed with trees.
  35. surge
    rise and move, as in waves or billows
    At the back of his house the view sweeps on and on over green fields and to the soft surge of low hills fringed with trees.
    "Soft surge" is a contradiction in itself. Usually a surge is a sudden and powerful upward movement, but it can be used to simply mean "upward movement".
Created on Sun Jan 05 08:05:28 EST 2014 (updated Mon Jan 06 04:05:02 EST 2014)

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