Advanced Vocabulary Booster 4 + Practical Exercises (for C1 level students)

Dear fellow English teachers,
Do you prepare students for C1 Advanced? Check this out!

ADVANCED VOCABULARY BOOSTER 4 + PRACTICAL EXERCISES. This time we´re going to focus on the following 10 words: SLOUCH (v.) – DOWNTURN (n.) – FOYER (n.) – RELINQUISH (v.) – HAZY (adj.) – ROWDY (adj.) – MINDSET (n.) – DAUNTING (adj.) – STAGGERING (adj.) – WANE (v.)

1. SLOUCH/ED/ED (v.): to assume or have a lazy drooping posture

Ex.:“I wish you would refrain from slouching when attending my lectures.”, Professor Raymond told his students.

2. DOWNTURN (n.): decline in business activity

Ex.: “Unfortunately many companies have been hit by the economic downturn.”, said Mr. Gibson to a coworker.

3. FOYER (n.): entrance hallway in a house or apartment

Ex.:The Robinsons have a coat rack in the foyer of their new house.

4. RELINQUISH/ED/ED (v.): to give up something such as power, control or possession to another person; to let go

Ex.: “Samuel is very bossy and always likes to be on top of things. I don´t think he would relinquish control of such an important project to someone else now.”, said Richard at the meeting.

5. HAZY (adj.): vague; not clear; uncertain

Ex.: “Can you fill me in on the details of the project? I have only a hazy notion of what we´re supposed to do.”, Matthews told a coworker.

6. ROWDY (adj.): noisy and rough; turbulent; disorderly

Ex.:“I wish we could get rid of those rowdy teenagers that hang around the square across from our house.”, said Martha to a neighbor.

7. MINDSET (n.): a characteristic mental, attitude; a way of thinking; mentality

Ex.: “The company offers many opportunities, but you will have to change your mindset if you want to be successful here and move up the corporate ladder.”, Howard told Larry.

8. DAUNTING (adj.): dismaying; intimidating; discouraging

Ex.: “Becoming a father at sixty-seven years old was a bit of a daunting experience, but I can truly tell you I´m enjoying it a lot.”, said Gregory to a friend.

9. STAGGERING (adj.): extremely surprising; overwhelming; shocking

Ex.: The hurricane caused a staggering amount of damage, but fortunately no one was hurt.

10. WANE/D/D (v.): to become weaker; to decrease gradually in strength or intensity

Ex.: “At first Jake was very gung ho-about the project, but it seems that his enthusiasm has waned now.”, Barry told a coworker.

 EXERCISES 

I – Fill in the gaps in the sentences below with a word presented in Vocabulary booster 4.

1. “Some __________ kids have been disturbing our neighborhood lately.”, Elaine told Mia.

2. “I don´t think he´ll be able to achieve his goals unless he changes his __________.”, said Brian.

3. The ____________ success of Mike´s first book took everyone by surprise, including his publisher.

4. The partners have been thinking about the possibility of selling their business and starting a new one since sales began to ___________.

5. Since she was married to a rich man, Sarah decided to _____________ possession of her mother´s house to her sisters.

6. Alfred has only ____________ memories of his childhood.

7. “You´ll have to do it all by yourself? Wow, seems like you´ve been given a _____________ task. I wish you good luck!”, Thomas told Nick.

8. “Hey, don´t ____________. Sit up straight!”, Nicholas told Bill.

9. “So far our company has not been affected by the _____________ in the economy.”, said Brian at the meeting.

10. “Can you, please, take off your shoes and leave them in the __________ before you come into the house?”, Daisy asked us.

II – Matching: Find the most appropriate definition for each word in the left-hand column.

1. Relinquish _____             a. entrance hallway in a house or apartment

2. Wane _____                      b. assume a drooping posture

3. Downturn _____              c. give up power, control or possession to another person

4. Slouch _____                    d. become weaker

5. Foyer _____                       e. decline in business activity

III– Choose the synonym.

1. Hazy
a. damp       b. unclear        c. wavy        d. shallow

2. Staggering
a. undecided       b. compelling       c. overwhelming       d. inevitable

3. Mindset
a. mentality       b. straight       c. wise       d. aware

4. Daunting
a. floating       b. boisterous       c. discouraging       d. enticing

5. Rowdy
a. pleasant       b. mild       c. ubiquitous       d. turbulent

Key to Exercises

I – Fill in the gaps in the sentences below with a word presented in Vocabulary booster 3.

1. rowdy      2. mindset     3. staggering        4. wane       5. relinquish     6. hazy     7. daunting     8. slouch     9. downturn     10. foyer

II – Matching: Find the most appropriate definition for each word in the left-hand column.

1. c       2. d        3. e        4. b        5. a

III – Choose the synonym.

1. b          2. c          3. a         4. c         5. d

Source: FALE TUDO EM INGLÊS AVANÇADO – Author: José Roberto A. Igreja / Disal Editora

José Roberto A. Igreja is the author and co-author of several ELT books, including:

LET´S TALK ABOUT IT! – The Ultimate ELT Conversation Book, now available on the Amazon stores of the following countries:

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600 Phrasal Verbs (with Jonathan T. Hogan)

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False Friends

English for Job Interviews (with Robert C. Young)

Essential American Idioms! (with Joe Bailey Noble III)