Reception test 1, sem. 2

By/through Word of mouth

when ppl hear abt sth from friends, clients, family etc./poczta pantoflowa

Accomplishment

an ability to do sth well or the skill involved in doing sth well

Persistence

determination to do sth even though it is difficult or other people oppose it

Glory in

to get great pleasure from sth; to enjoy or be proud of sth

Detail

to list things or give all the facts or information about something

Perseverance

to keep trying to achieve sth in spite of difficulties

Dropout

someone who leaves school or college before they have finished

Adversity

a situation in which you have a lot of problems that seem to be cause by bad luck

Troubled

having many problems

Bleak

without anything to make you feel happy or hopeful

Wearing

making you feel tired or annoyed

Relentlessly

endless; without ever stopping

Come down to

sth is the single most important thing

Mean

poor or looking poor

Acclaimed

publicly praised by a lot of people; recognisable

Granted

you admit that sth is true; admittedly

Elbow grease

hard work and effort

Putt your back into it

to work extremely hard at sth

Legwork

the hard boring work that has to be done in order to achieve sth

Upbeat

positive and making you feel that good things will happen

Personable

attractive and pleasant

Stretch

use all of one's skills, abilities or intelligence

Uphill

towards the top of a hill

Rooting for

to want someone to succeed in sth

Cohesion

all parts of sth are connected or related in a reasonable way to form a whole

Pull oneself up by one's bootstraps

to improve one's situation without any help from other people

Glimmer (of hope)

a small sign of sth such as hope or understanding

Go between

someone who takes messages from one person or group to another because the two sides cannot meet or do not want to meet

Inauspicious

seeming to show that success in the future is unlikely

Joviality

friendly and happy

Beam at

to smile very happily

Smirking

to smile in an unpleasant way that shows that you are pleased by someone else's bad luck or think you are better than other people

Be down in the mouth

unhappy

Perk up

to become more cheerful, active and interested in what is happening around you, or to make someone feel this way

Incivility

impolite behaviour, remarks

Gloom

a feeling of great darkness and lack of hope

Stark

unpleasantly clear and impossible to avoid

Lot

a group of people or things considered together

Ingrate

an ungrateful person

Wake up to

to start to realize and understand a danger, an idea etc

Keep up with the Joneses

to always want to own the same expensive objects and do the same things as your friend or neighbours, because you are worried about seeming less important socially than they are

Beam

a line of light shining from the sun, a lamp, TV etc.

Affluent

having plenty of money, nice houses, expensive things; wealthy

Jumpstart

to help a process or activity to start or become more successful

Wear off

the novelty wears off used to say that you stop feeling interested or excited abt sth because it is no longer new

Studded

decorated with a lot of studs or small jewels

A cool million

a surprisingly large amount of money

Dejected

unhappy, disappointed, sad

Glum

to feel unhappy and do not talk a lot

Encircle

to surround someone or sth completely

Inclusive

a price or cost that includes everything

Commodity

a substance or product that can be traded, bought or sold; a thing or a quality that is useful

Alleviated

to make sth less painful or difficult to deal with

Endowed with

to have a particular quality or feature

A case in point

an example that shows that what you are saying is true or helps to explain why you are saying it

Child prodigy

a child that is unusually skilful at doing sth such as playing a musical instrument

Pushy

someone who does everything they can to get what they want from other people

Downright

used to emphasize that something is completely bad or untrue

Retreat

to go away to a place that is quiet or safe

Overwhelmed

if work or a problem is too much or too difficult to deal with; if someone is overpowered by an emotion the feel it so strongly that they cannot think clearly

Make your mark

to have an important effect on sth

Readily

quickly, willingly, easily, without complaining

Dewy eyed

having eyes that are slightly wet with tears

Be called to the bar

to gain a qualification as a lawyer who can argue a case in a higher court; to become a barrister/a lawyer

Stark

unpleasantly clear and impossible to avoid

High profile

attracting a lot of public attention usually deliberately

Persuasions

a particular type of belief, especially a political or religious one

Feature film

a full length that has a story and is acted by professional actors and which is usually shown in a cinema

In the same breath

someone has said two things at once that are so different from each other they cannot both be true; feeling two conflicting emotions at the same time

Release

to express or get rid of feelings such as anger or worry

Putting your heads together

to discuss a difficult problem together

Wooed away

try to persuade someone to do sth such as buy sth from you, vote for you or work for you

Dotcom

relating to a person or company whose business is done using the Internet or involves the Internet

Bust somebody's bubble

to make someone suddenly realise that sth is not good as they thought it was

Garnered

to take or collect sth especially information or support

Hindrance

sth or someone that makes it difficult for you to do sth

Boats to rock

to cause problems for other members of a group by criticizing something or trying to change the way something is done

GM

genetically modified

Rocked

to make the people in a place or organisation feel very shocked; shake

Enthuse

to talk abt sth in a very interested or excited way

Tenure

the right to stay permanently in a teaching job

Sustained

to suffer damage, an injury or loss of money

Committed to

willing to work very hard at sth

Kick start

to do sth to help the process or activity start or develop more quickly

Harnessed

to fasten two people together or to fasten a human to sth using a harness; join two people together using a harness

Serene

very calm or peaceful

Snap out of

to stop being sad or upset and make yourself feel better

Bear a striking resemblance to

to be similar to someone or sth else

Perfect pitch

the ability of a musician to play or sing a note at exactly the correct level

Titbits of information

a small but interesting piece of information, news

Insightful

able to understand, or showing that you understand, what a situation or person is really like

Flaw

a mistake, mark, or weakness that makes sth imperfect

Dispense with

to not use sth that people usually use or do, because it is not necessary

Sound

complete and thorough; sensible or good and likely to produce the right results

Layperson

someone who is not an expert in or does not have a detailed knowledge of a particular subject

Unashamedly

not feeling embarrassed or ashamed abt sth that ppl might disapprove of

Set out to

to start an activity with a particular aim

Snippet of

a small piece of news, information or conversation

Trivia

detailed facts abt history, sport, famous ppl etc.

A jewel of

sth or someone that is very valuable, attractive or important