B2 English for Academic Purposes: Speaking Final Key Vocabulary

Essential academic vocabulary and key terminology extracted from the B2 English for Academic Purposes speaking exam cards, covering universal transitions, IT in education, media, health, and politics.

Pervasive

Present, existing, or spreading widely throughout an area or a group of people.

Detrimental

Tending to cause harm or damage; harmful.

Mitigate

To make something bad, severe, or painful less severe, serious, or painful.

Exacerbate

To make a problem, bad situation, or negative feeling worse.

Undermine

To lessen the effectiveness, power, or credibility of something gradually or insidiously.

Safeguard

To protect or defend someone or something from harm, risk, or damage.

Cognitive offloading

The practice of relying on external digital tools to perform mental tasks and thinking rather than doing them independently.

Intellectual passivity

A state of disengaged, uncritical acceptance of information without putting in mental effort to think or analyze.

Blended learning

An educational approach that combines online digital media and coursework with traditional, in-person campus sessions.

Remote proctoring

The use of digital monitoring software and supervision technology to oversee students taking online exams from home.

Academic misconduct

Any intentional or accidental violation of academic integrity rules, such as submitting AI-generated text or uncredited sources as one's own.

CRAAP test

A critical evaluation framework used to judge the credibility of sources based on Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose.

Digital divide

The inequality in access to modern information and communications technology, such as laptops and reliable high-speed internet, between different socioeconomic groups or regions.

AI hallucination

A situation where an artificial intelligence generates factually incorrect, fabricated, or nonsensical information while presenting it with confidence.

Misinformation

False, inaccurate, or misleading information that is spread without malicious intent.

Infodemic

An excessive amount of information—both true and false—that spreads rapidly during a health crisis, making it difficult for people to identify reliable guidance.

Synthetic media

Media assets, such as video, audio, text, or images, that are artificially created or modified using artificial intelligence algorithms.

Deepfake

A convincing synthetic video or audio recording generated by AI to clone and replace a real person's face, likeness, or voice.

Liar's dividend

The phenomenon where individuals guilty of misconduct can evade accountability by falsely claiming that authentic video or audio evidence is a synthetic fake.

Clickbait

Sensational, misleading, or shocking online headlines designed primarily to attract clicks and maximize advertising revenue.

Illusory truth effect

The psychological tendency to believe that a statement is true simply because it has been heard or read repeatedly.

Content moderation

The screening, monitoring, flagging, or removal of user-generated posts by online platforms to enforce rules and prevent the spread of harmful or illegal content.

Digital exclusion

The inability of certain populations, such as elderly or low-income individuals, to access essential online services due to lack of technology or digital skills.

Telemedicine

The remote delivery of healthcare services, consultations, and medical advice via telecommunications technology.

Ransomware

A type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system or encrypt data until a ransom is paid.

Black box (AI)

An opaque artificial intelligence system whose internal workings and decision-making logic cannot be seen or easily explained by humans.

Cyberchondria

An increase in anxiety about one's health resulting from excessive online searching for symptoms using search engines or AI chatbots.

Algorithmic bias

Systematic and repeatable errors in computer systems that create unfair outcomes, often by disadvantaging under-represented groups due to non-diverse training data.

E-government

The use of digital information technologies and online platforms by the state to deliver public services, benefits, and administrative procedures to citizens.

Disinformation

False information that is deliberately and intentionally created and disseminated to deceive or mislead people.

Filter bubble

A personalized online information environment created by recommendation algorithms that isolates users from opposing viewpoints by only showing content aligning with their preferences.

Astroturfing

The practice of using automated bots or paid troll accounts to fabricate the false impression of widespread grassroots public support for an issue or candidate.

Disenfranchisement

The state of being deprived of a legal right or privilege, especially the right to vote.

Legacy systems

Outdated computer hardware, equipment, or software systems that remain in use despite being vulnerable to errors and cyberattacks.

Audit trail

A secure, verifiable, step-by-step paper or digital record that documents the history of transactions, system access, or cast votes.