Unit 12: Chance and nature (C1 and C2 - phrases, patterns and collocations)

bet (sth) on

(v) đặt cược sth vào

ex) He bet $2 000 on the final score of the game.

make a bet (with sb)

(v) đánh cược với sb

safe bet

(n) something that is likely to happen, to succeed or to be suitable

ex) It's a safe bet that Martin will be the last to arrive.

ex) Clothes are a safe bet as a present for a teenager

ex) The movie looks like a safe bet for Best Film.

know/say for certain

(v) biết/nói chắc chắn

ex) I don’t know for certain whether he will come

ex) I can’t say for certain if I love him or not.

certain to do

(adj) chắc chắn sẽ làm gì đó

ex) She say she is certain to wake me up.

make certain

(v) chắc chắn

ex) You must make certain that you will turn off TV when you leave your bedroom. OK?

certain of/about

(adj) chắc chắn về một cái gì đó

ex) I am quite certain of/about the percentage of your win.

a certain (amount of sth)

(n) một phần nào đó

ex) You need a certain amount of money to go shopping. Hey!!!

ex) I experienced a certain amount of relief.

take a chance (on)

(v) to decide to do sth, knowing that it might be the wrong choice (đánh liều, mạo hiểm)

ex) He was taking a chance on a relatively new young actor.

leave to chance

(v) phó mặc cho số phận, thả trôi mọi thứ (to wait and see what happens without planning)

ex) Plan your day. Don't leave anything to chance. It is not a good idea to leave any of this to chance.

by chance

(adv) tình cờ, ngẫu nhiên

ex) I just meet him by chance.

by any chance

(adv) liệu (​used especially in questions, to ask whether sth is true, possible, etc.)

ex) By any chance, can you help me? => Liệu cậu có thể giúp mình không?

ex) Are you by any chance Mr Ludd?

the/sb’s chances of doing

(n) how likely it is that sb will succeed

ex) England’s chances of winning the series have all but disappeared. (cơ hội vô địch)

the chance to do

(n) cơ hội để làm gì đó

ex) Can I get the chance to retstart everything?

ex) I missed the chance to say my love to him.

second chance

(n) cơ hội thứ hai (especially after sb has made a mistake)

ex) Can I get a second chance.

ex2) I give her a second chance.

last chance

(n) cơ hội cuối cùng

pure/sheer chance

(n) sự hoàn toàn tình cờ, ngẫu nhiên

ex) It was pure chance that they ended up working in the same office in the same town.

there’s every/no chance that

(n) có nhiều cơ hội/ không có cơ hội, không thể nào có chuyện

ex) I set 3 different alarm clocks so there’s no chance that I will oversleep!

by dint of

(adv) by means of

ex) By dint of hard work and persistence, she had got the job of manager.

ex) She became an honorary member by dint of winning the championship.

waste disposal

(n) việc quản lí, xử lí chất thải

ex) The problem of radioactive waste disposal.

ex) Proper waste disposal is crucial for environmental protection

at sb’s disposal

(adv) available for use as you prefer/sb prefers 

ex) My friend has a lot of cash at her disposal.

ex) Well, I'm at your disposal (= I am ready to help you in any way I can).

at the disposal of

(adv) ready and available to help or serve someone. (thuộc quyền sử dụng của)

ex) This elevator is at the disposal of the CEO.

find yourself doing

(v) cảm thấy bản thân đang làm gì đó

ex) You find yourself having had a hard time after breaking up.

ex) You know, I find myself in such a mess.

find sb doing

(v) thấy, bắt gặp ai đó đang làm gì

ex) I find him reading books in he library.

find sth adj

(v) thấy sth thế nào đó

ex) You may find it hard to accept your illness.

ex) I found this booking very interesting.

find your way

(v) to discover the right route

ex) I hope you can find your way home.

green politics

(n) chính trị xanh (hay chính trị sinh thái, là một hệ tư tưởng chính trị nhằm mục đích thúc đẩy một xã hội bền vững về mặt sinh thái bắt nguồn từ chủ nghĩa môi trường, bất bạo động, công bằng xã hội và dân chủ cơ sở)

green belt

(n) an area of open land around a city where there are strict controls about building (Vành đai xanh là một chính sách được sử dụng trong kế hoạch giữ lại phần lớn các khu vực chưa phát triển, hoang dã, hoặc đất nông nghiệp xung quanh hoặc lân cận đô thị.)

ex) The goverment promised to keep the green belt.

(give sb) the green light

(v) to allow a project, plan, etc to begin or continue (bật đèn xanh)

ex) The goverment has given the green light to the new shopping centre

greenhouse

(n) a building with roof and sides made of glass, used for growing plants that need warmth and protection (nhà kính)

ex) I wish that I will have my greenhouse in the future that I can grow some favorite plants.

the greenhouse effect

(n) hiệu ứng nhà kính (the problem of the slow steady rise in temperature of the earth’s atmosphere, caused by an increase of gases such as CO2 in the air surrounding the earth, which trap the heat of the sun)

ex) The deforestation is contributing to the greenhouse effect.

guess at

(v) đoán mò (try to imagine because you just have little knowledge or information about it)

ex) We just can guess at his reason for leaving.

ex) There are no photographs of him, so we can only guess at what he looked like.

guess that

(v) đoán rằng

ex) I guess that you had a good dating.

guess adj

(v) đoán như thế nào đó.

ex) guess right/wrong/etc

take/make a guess (at)

(v) đoán, dự đoán

ex) I just make a guess at this question.

hazard a guess (at)

(v) phỏng đoán, đoán (mang sắc thái tự tin hoặc mạo hiểm khi đoán — tương đương guess roughly trong ngữ cảnh không chắc chắn)

ex) Ok. I will hazard a guess

rough guess

(n) một ước tính sơ bộ (Diễn tả một ước tính không chính xác, thường là sơ bộ, dựa trên một số thông tin hoặc kinh nghiệm có sẵn nhưng không đủ để đưa ra một con số chính xác.)

ex) This is just a rough guess, but I think it will cost about 50$.

lucky guess

(n) sự đoán may mắn chính xác

ex) ‘How did you know?’ ‘It was just a lucky guess.’

wild guess

(n) đoán mò (đoán mò hoàn toàn, không dựa trên bất kỳ căn cứ hay thông tin nào cả, gần giống với "guess randomly", mang tính tùy tiện và may rủi cao)

ex) I made a wild guess and I got the answer right first time.

educated guess

(n) sự suy đoán, phỏng đoán có cơ sở

ex) I made educated guess, not wild guess.

at a guess

(adv) used when saying that you are making a guess

ex) At a guess, there were forty people at the party.

=> Tôi đoán có 40 người đang ở bữa tiệc.

ex) I don't know where he is, but at a guess, he's at home

happen to do

(v) to do or be sth by chance

ex) She happened to be out when we visited her

it so happens that

(meaning): by chance

ex) You want to buy a car. It so happens that I’m selling car. Do you want to see it?

ex) It just so happened (Thật tình cờ là) they'd been invited too.

as it happens

(adv) used when you say sth that is surprising, or sth connected with what sb else has just said.

ex) I agree with you, as it happens.

ex) She called Amy to see if she had any idea of her son's whereabouts. As it happened, Amy did.

thunder and lightning

(n) sấm sét

ex) Do you see thunder and lightning!!?

a bolt/flash of lightning

(n) một tia chợp, một tia sét

ex) Mom!! I have seen a bolt of lightning.

struck by lightning

(meaning) bị sét đánh

ex) The house is struck by lightning.

at lightning speed

(adv) extremely fast or suddenly (tốc độ tia chớp, nhanh như chớp)

ex) I was really surprised. He wonder that “Did he come to my school at lightning speed?”

push you luck

(v) to take a risk because you have successfully avoided problems in the past

ex) You didn’t get caught last time, but don’t push your luck.

wish sb luck

(v) chúc ai đó may mắn

ex) The only thing I can do is wishing him luck in life.

trust to luck

(v) to put your confidence in luck because there is nothing else to help you (trông đợi vào sự may mắn)

ex) I stumbled along in the dark, trusting to luck to find the right way.

bring you luck

(v) mang lại may mắn

ex) I don’t want to be superstitious, but I think that this pen brings you luck.

the luck of the draw

(n) the fact that chance decides sth, in a way that you cannot control (hên xui, may rủi hoặc do may mắn)

ex) That team got an easy opponent in the first round—it was just the luck of the draw.

ex) Hey, don’t be sad. We can’t decide what will happen. It’s the luck of the draw.

a stroke/piece of luck

(n) sth good that happens to you by chance

ex) By a stroke of luck, someone else was walking along the trail and heard my shouts for help.

ex) It was a piece of luck that he could find his keys.

as luck would have it

(meaning) in the way that chance decides what will happen (may mắn thay/xui xẻo là, thật không may)

ex) As luck would have it, the train was late.

in luck

(meaning) lucky

ex) You’re in luck - there’s only one ticket left.

with any luck

(meaning) used before describing an event or a result that you are hoping for (if you are fortunate)

ex) With any luck (I hope that), we will be back before dark.

ex) With any luck, we’ll finish homework on time.

completely/totally natural

(adj) hoàn toàn tự nhiên, bình thường

ex) It’s completely natural if you feel not good.

natural causes

(n) nguyên nhân tự nhiên (not human-made)

ex) According to the Home Office, your brother died of natural causes. (old or ill)

natural ability

(n) describe abilities that are part of the character that a person or an animal was born with (khả năng bẩm sinh)

ex) The Sixth sense is a natural ability of many women.

natural resources

(n) tài nguyên thiên nhiên (not made or caused by human, existing in the nature)

ex) A country’s natural resources (coal, oil, forest, etc)

natural selection

(n) quá trình chọn lọc tự nhiên (quá trình mà các loài sinh vật có đặc điểm giúp chúng thích nghi với môi trường sống mới, sau đó sinh sản. Chúng sẽ thay đổi cấu trúc gen từ từ trong các thế hệ sau để thích nghi tốt hơn)

the nature of

(n) the basic qualities of a thing

ex) His work explores the nature of the mother-child relationship.

by nature

(adv) the usual way that a person or an animal behaves that is part of their character (vốn)

ex) She is very sensitive by nature.

(adv) people who can do things without much practice and still be good at them.

ex) You’re basket ball player by nature.

in nature

(adv) as a basic qualities (vốn)

ex) My work is specialized in nature.

Mother Nature

(n) Mẹ Thiên Nhiên (a force that controls everything in nature)

human nature

(n) the ways of behaving, thinking and feeling that are shared by most people and are considered to be normal (bản chất con người?)

ex) Her kindness has restored my faith in human nature.

ex) It's only human nature to be worried about change.

second nature

(n) sth that you do very easily and naturally, because it is part of your character or you have done it so many times

ex) For my friend, speaking is her second nature.

the odds of doing

(n) tỉ lệ của hành động gì đó

ex) The odds of winning the game is 1 in 10

the odds are (that)

(meaning) it’s likely that

ex) The odds are that he loves you.

the odds are in favour of/against

(meaning) it’s likely to succeed or not

ex) The odds are in favour of us. (we’re likely to succeed)

ex) The odds are against him (he’s not likely to succeed)

against all the odds

(adv) sth seems to be impossible to do or achieve (bất chấp mọi điều kiện, hoàn cảnh bất lợi)

ex) Against all the odds, he made a full recovery.

rain hard/heavily

(v) mưa nặng hạt, mưa rất to

pour with rain

(v) mưa xối xả (= rain very hard) (=> pouring rain)

ex) It’s pouring with rain.

heavy/light rain

(n) cơn mưa to/nhỏ

rainbow

(n) cầu vồng

rainwater

(n) nước mưa

caught in the rain

(meaning) you were outside when it started to rain, and you were unable to get to shelter, or you did not have an umbrella on you when it’s raining. (bị mắc mưa)

ex) I was caught in rain.

risk sth on

(v) mạo hiểm sth vào

ex) He risked all money on a game of cards