IELTS Reading Vocabulary Practice

This flashcard set covers high-level vocabulary and paraphrasing derived from lecture notes on philanthropy (Andrew Carnegie), the theory and practice of translation, and the environmental history of Easter Island.

Philanthropist

A person who gives money or help to those in need; a charitable person or donor.

Fortune

A large amount of money, wealth, or riches.

Institutions

Organizations or establishments, often of a public or educational nature.

Settled in

Moved to or relocated to a new place of residence.

Quit to + V

To leave or resign from a job in order to do something else.

Avid reader

A person who is very enthusiastic about reading; a keen reader.

Superintendent

A director, manager, or person in charge of an organization or department.

Military

Relating to the armed forces or soldiers.

Investments

Financial commitments or the act of putting money into something to gain a profit.

Shaking off

The act of getting rid of or escaping from something, such as poverty.

Accomplishments

Achievements or things that have been successfully completed.

Welfare

The health, happiness, and well-being of a person or group.

Bargain

To negotiate terms; or a thing bought or offered for sale more cheaply than is usual.

Confrontation

A conflict, clash, or hostile situation between opposing groups.

Invade territories

In a business context, to enter a competitor's markets; or literally to enter a country by force.

Interpreting

The process of oral translation.

Connotations

The implied meanings or ideas that a word invokes in addition to its literal meaning.

Contemporary

Modern-day or belonging to the present time.

Habitual

Done or fixed by habit; regular use.

Semantic equivalence

Similarity or equality in meaning between language expressions.

Precise

Exact and accurate in form and detail.

Abstracting

The process of summarizing or generalizing information.

Parallel

Equivalent or similar in style, structure, or meaning.

Puns

A form of wordplay that exploits multiple meanings of a term.

Allusions

Indirect references to something, such as a person, place, or literary work.

Suffice

To be enough or adequate for a purpose.

Scrupulous

Extremely attentive to details; careful or meticulous.

Pragmatic

Practical and sensible, rather than theoretical.

Cognitive

Relating to mental processes such as thinking, knowing, and remembering.

Embedded

Firmly fixed into a surrounding mass or contained within something.

Literal

Taking words in their usual or most basic sense; word-for-word.

Dialecticisms

Words or phrases specific to a particular regional dialect.

Archaisms

Words or styles that are very old or old-fashioned.

Invisible

Unnoticed or not seen; in translation, it refers to a translation that doesn't seem like a translation.

Menial

Work that is low-status and requires little skill; often manual labor.

Clerical

Relating to office work or administrative duties.

Perplexed

Feeling confused, puzzled, or baffled.

Comprehend

To understand or grasp the meaning of something.

Devoid of

To be completely lacking or without something (e.g., devoid of timber).

Timber

Wood used for building or carpentry.

Frail

Weak, delicate, or easily broken.

Cultivation

The act of farming or growing crops.

Extraterrestrial

Originating from outside the Earth or its atmosphere; alien.

Indigenous

Originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native.

Denuded

Stripped of its covering or vegetation.

Triggered

Caused something to happen; initiated a process like environmental degradation.

Indisputable

Undeniable or unable to be challenged.

Slavery

The state of being a slave or the practice of owning slaves.

Radio-carbon dating

A scientific method used to determine the age of organic materials.

Ecocide

The extensive destruction of the environment.

Germinate

The process of a seed beginning to grow and sprout.

Refutes

To prove a statement or theory to be wrong; to reject a skeptics' argument.

Sceptics

People who doubt or question accepted beliefs.

Subtropical

Relating to regions bordering on the tropics.