Outcomes Advanced Vocabulary Builder  Unit 4

4 POLITICS
Pages 32–33 Noun:  bid | Noun:  bidder
Collocates:  make a bid (for something/to do something)
charisma  /kəˈrɪzmə/ Noun uncount
charisma is the quality some people have which makes they’ll only waste money on the bid | London’s bid for the
other people notice them and admire them 2012 Olympics was successful | a takeover bid (when
one company tries to buy another company) | Qatar also
Collocates:  natural/personal charisma | lack charisma
made a bid to host the Olympics in 2020
he relied on his personal charisma more than his
policies during the election | she is friendly and talented, compound  /kəmˈpaʊnd/ Verb
and has a natural charisma | he’s a good actor, but if something compounds a bad situation, it makes
lacks charisma | Kennedy was known for his charisma it worse
and charm if anything, it will compound the existing social problems
Adjective:  charismatic | Adverb:  charismatically | the financial crisis has compounded the misery of many
a natural and charismatic leader | I had never had such struggling companies | don’t compound your mistake
a charismatic teacher | the charismatically handsome by pretending it wasn’t you | losing his wallet simply
Clint Eastwood compounded his problems that day

compassion  /kəmˈpæʃ(ə)n/ Noun uncount devil’s advocate  /ˌdev(ə)lz ˈædvəkət/ Noun

compassion is a feeling of sympathy and understanding if someone plays devil’s advocate, they pretend to
for someone who is suffering support an idea which they don’t actually believe in,
in order to make a discussion about the subject more
Collocates:  feel/have/show compassion (for someone)
thorough
he views any display of kindness or compassion
Collocates:  play devil’s advocate
as weakness | they deserve compassion and help,
not punishment | she felt great compassion for let me play devil’s advocate here and say that nuclear
her grandchildren | it’s difficult for anyone to show power might be the answer to our energy crisis | to
compassion for such ruthless killers ensure that our ideas don’t go unchallenged, I’ve asked
Henry to be devil’s advocate this afternoon | I’m only
Adjective:  compassionate | Adverb:  compassionately
asking the question as a devil’s advocate
a caring and compassionate teacher | unfortunately,
they did not conduct themselves in a professional or distort  /dɪˈstɔː(r)t/ Verb
compassionate way | doctors said he had six months to distort something means to change it from what it is
left to live, and he was released from prison on or what it is meant to be into something that is not as
compassionate grounds (because it would be cruel to natural or good
continue his punishment) the human ear starts to distort sounds at very high levels
| the profit figures were distorted by the purchase of
ruthlessness  /ˈruːθləsnəs/ Noun uncount
a new factory site | some journalists distort reality by
ruthlessness is the quality of not caring if other people
making scientific errors | the government’s response
are hurt as you make sure you achieve what you want
seriously distorts the committee’s recommendations
he was known for his ruthlessness and cruelty | both
leaders showed ruthlessness in the way they treated division  /dɪˈvɪʒ(ə)n/ Noun
their enemies | he achieved his aims thanks to a if there is division between people, they do not agree
combination of ruthlessness and skill and they fight or argue with each other
Adjective:  ruthless | Adverb:  ruthlessly it will create division and lead to tension | there was
the newspaper described him as a ruthless killer | Stalin often division within the leadership group | deep
was a ruthless dictator | we were ruthlessly punished for divisions within the government meant that several
the smallest offences | the ruthlessly ambitious daughter policies had to be abandoned
of King Uther
outweigh  /ˌaʊtˈweɪ/ Verb
if one consideration outweighs another, it is considered
Pages 34–35 to be more important or useful than the other thing
bid  /bɪd/ Verb Collocates:  far outweigh something | outweigh the
a bid is an attempt to do something. If an organisation benefits/advantages/disadvantages
bids for something such as a contract, they say why they I think the negatives far outweigh the positives | it seems
think they should be allowed to have that thing these fears are outweighed by real concern about rising
Collocates:  bid for something | bid to do/have something food costs | but the possible gains outweigh any risks
Paris bid unsuccessfully for the 2012 Olympics | they’re that might be made | the needs of the group outweigh
going to bid to have the next world championships in the needs of the individual | the benefits of quitting
Newcastle | we spent months preparing to bid for the smoking outweigh the disadvantage of weight gain
new bridge building contract

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 Outcomes Advanced Vocabulary Builder  Unit 4

privatise  /ˈpraɪvətaɪz/ Verb Pete’s constant chatter was beginning to annoy her |
if a government privatises a company or industry that it he could hear the nervous chatter of the guests | John
controls, it sells it or gives it to a private company was very quiet, but his brother was a real chatterbox
I read somewhere that they’re going to start privatising (someone who is always talking, especially about
more of the health service | there are proposals to unimportant things) | I left Hampstead to get away from
privatise the prison service | the railways were privatised the chattering classes (educated, middle-class people
in the 1990s who talk a lot about politics and the arts but who don’t
know much about manual work or “real life”)
Adjective:  privatised | Noun:  privatisation
the newly privatised company has plans to develop clutch  /klʌtʃ/ Verb
new markets in Asia | privatised industries, such as if you clutch someone or something, you hold them with
gas, electricity, and phone networks | the government a very firm grip
planned further privatisation after the election | the he arrived at the door clutching a bunch of flowers |
opposition called for an end to the privatisation he twisted his knee and clutched his leg in pain | she
programme clutched tightly to the handle of the suitcase | he closed
his eyes and clutched her hand
reservation  /ˌrezə(r)ˈveɪʃ(ə)n/ Noun
if you have reservations about something, you have Noun:  clutch
doubts about it and are not sure that it is a good thing he kept me close with a tight clutch on my wrist
Collocates:  reservations about something | serious
creep  /kriːp/ Verb
reservations | minor reservations
if you creep somewhere, you move slowly and quietly
I am in favour, but I just have a few reservations about it there so that people cannot hear you or see you
| I think most people will support the government in this,
he crept slowly out of the kitchen | I thought I saw
whatever their reservations | my only reservation is that
someone creeping into the garden | she crept quietly
the colour is too bright | the foreign ministry expressed
out of bed, trying not to wake her sister | staying on
serious reservations about military action | I have a few
the grass, he crept silently to the back of the garage |
minor reservations about her proposal
someone crept up behind me
strengthen  /ˈstreŋθ(ə)n/ Verb
emergence  /ɪˈmɜː(r)dʒ(ə)ns/ Noun uncount
to strengthen something means to make it stronger
the emergence of something is when it first comes into
Collocates:  strengthen someone’s resolve existence
we hope to strengthen relations between our two Collocates:  the emergence of something
countries | the defeat only served to strengthen my
they believe that humour can prevent the emergence of
resolve (my determination) | this exercise will strengthen
dictators | the 1960s saw the emergence of new political
your leg muscles | security measures at the stadium
organisations | the emergence of digital learning has
have been considerably strengthened
transformed higher education | the sudden emergence
trigger  /ˈtrɪɡə(r)/ Verb of new technologies in the music industry
if something triggers an event, it causes it to start Verb:  emerge | Adjective:  emerging
happening more details about the bombing have emerged | new
it might trigger an election earlier than they wanted | if political parties emerged after the country gained
they get 50,000 signatures, it will trigger an automatic independence | the gallery shows work by young
referendum | the announcement triggered protests and emerging artists (artists who are just beginning
outside the presidential palace | the change in interest to be recognised) | the gap between rich nations and
rates could trigger an increase in house-buying emerging economies (countries that are still developing)
Noun:  trigger
engagement  /ɪnˈɡeɪdʒmənt/ Noun uncount
common triggers for this illness include tobacco if you engage in something, you take part in it in a
and coffee | these changes can be caused by an serious way. Engagement is the act of engaging in
environmental trigger something
as a result, political engagement is discouraged |
Pages 36–37 teachers try to encourage student engagement in
social clubs and societies | democracy requires active
chatter  /ˈtʃætə(r)/ Verb
engagement and participation | her direct engagement
if people chatter, they talk quickly and in a friendly and
in party politics led to her becoming an MP in 2005
excited way to each other
Verb:  engage | Adjective:  engaged
they were sitting by the pool chattering to each other
| the girls chattered happily to each other while they Collocates:  engage (someone) in something
waited for the bus to arrive | we were too excited to we need to engage people in politics before it’s too
sleep and chattered away until it was nearly light | we late | at university I began to engage in environmental
could hear the children laughing and chattering in the campaigning | elsewhere, it seems, humour can
next room engage voters | many British companies are engaged
Noun:  chatter | Noun:  chatterbox | Noun:  chattering in the arms trade | it will keep your employees actively
classes engaged | I never felt so engaged as I did during the
last election
Collocates:  constant chatter | lively chatter

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 Outcomes Advanced Vocabulary Builder  Unit 4

gasp  /ɡɑːsp/ Verb mere  /mɪə(r)/ Adjective

if you gasp, you take air into your mouth quickly and you use mere to emphasise how unimportant something
loudly, for example because you are surprised, excited, or someone is
or in pain. You also say that someone gasps when they this is just politics being turned into mere entertainment
say something in a surprised or excited way | at the time, he was a mere van driver for the company;
the politician gasps “But what are you doing?” | “it now he’s the managing director | these were mere
sounds incredible,” gasped Tom | what she saw made words, but what was needed was action | they were
her gasp in surprise | people gasped when they heard soldiers, but looked like mere boys
the announcement Adverb:  merely
Noun:  gasp I’m merely saying that we can’t afford another holiday
Collocates:  an audible gasp | give a gasp this year | we’re merely friends (we aren’t having a
there was an audible gasp from everyone in the room romantic relationship)
(a gasp that you could hear easily) | she gave a gasp
mumble  /ˈmʌmb(ə)l/ Verb
of delight
if you mumble, you say something in a way that is
giggle  /ˈɡɪɡ(ə)l/ Verb difficult for people to hear clearly
if you giggle, you laugh in a quiet way because she mumbled something without raising her head | stop
something is funny or because you are nervous or mumbling! | he doesn’t say much to other people, but he’s
embarrassed often mumbling to himself | he didn’t answer directly, just
they waited outside the stage door, giggling nervously mumbled something we couldn’t understand
| we giggled and whispered secrets to each other long Noun:  mumble
into the night | he giggled and pretended he hadn’t there was a low mumble of voices
heard | Vince tried to look serious but the rest of us
were giggling uncontrollably | Jo’s latest tweet made me murmur  /ˈmɜː(r)mə(r)/ Noun
giggle a murmur is a low, quiet sound, usually made by the
Noun:  giggle voices of people speaking quietly or a long way away
Collocates:  a nervous giggle | get the giggles | a fit of soft music and the murmur of gentle conversation | there
the giggles was a confused murmur of voices | from nearby came
the gentle murmur of a stream | there was a little murmur
I had a giggle when I read his email | there were a few
of approval
nervous giggles from the audience | when I saw his new
haircut I got the giggles (was not able to stop laughing) Verb:  murmur
Arthur murmured something softly in her ear | Corbett
glare  /ɡleə(r)/ Verb murmured his thanks and left the room
if you glare at someone, you look at them in a very angry
and unfriendly way mutter  /ˈmʌtə(r)/ Verb
Collocates:  glare at someone if you mutter, you say something very quietly in a way
that is difficult for people to hear clearly
the other driver glared at him and shouted something
rude | the stranger turned and glared at him | why are he walked out of the room muttering to himself | she
you glaring at me like that? | he glared angrily into my muttered an apology | he heard several voices muttering
face | Betty shook her head and just glared angrily | still muttering, he got out of the car and opened
the gate
Noun:  glare
Noun:  mutter | Noun:  muttering
I looked away to avoid his glare | she gave him an
angry glare we could hear the mutter of his voice in the next room
| there were angry mutterings from the boys, but they
grow out of  /ɡrəʊ ˈaʊt əv/ Phrasal verb calmed down when they saw the food arriving
if something grows out of an earlier thing, it develops
because of that thing opposition  /ˌɒpəˈzɪʃ(ə)n/ Noun uncount
if there is opposition to something, people do not agree
the Black Power movement grew out of the civil rights
with it and want to stop it or change it. In British politics,
struggle in America | French opera grew out of the ballet
the opposition is the political parties that are not part
| the idea for the book grew out of a painting I saw in an
of the government. The leader of the opposition is the
art gallery
leader of the largest of these parties
identity  /aɪˈdentɪti/ Noun the leader of the main opposition party, Mr Corbyn | the
someone’s identity is all the qualities and beliefs that they leader of the opposition hopes to become prime minister
have, which makes them different from everyone else after the election | when the economy is in trouble, the
Collocates:  a sense of identity | an identity crisis opposition gain more supporters | after 18 years in
opposition, Labour finally formed a government in 1997
the only time I feel conflicted about my identity is when
Pakistan play England at cricket | everyone in society representation  /ˌreprɪzenˈteɪʃ(ə)n/ Noun uncount
contributes equally to a nation’s identity | an identity if a group has representation on a committee, in a
crisis (a time when you start to have doubts about things parliament, or in other positions of responsibility, there
that you have always believed about yourself) | I grew are people there who represent them or who are the
up with a strong sense of identity same as them

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 Outcomes Advanced Vocabulary Builder  Unit 4

there’s still insufficient representation of women in stagger  /ˈstæɡə(r)/ Verb

parliament (there are not enough women in parliament) if you stagger, you walk in a slightly uncontrolled way,
| political parties must work together to promote almost falling over, because you are hurt or unwell
women’s involvement and representation in all he staggered home and rang the police | she got up and
levels of government | there needs to be increased staggered into the bathroom | the boxer staggered back
representation of parents on the school governing board after the punch, but soon came back on the attack | he
Verb:  represent | Noun:  representative stumbled, staggered forward a few feet, then fell over
a total of 38 countries were represented at the
stroll  /strəʊl/ Verb
conference | your member of parliament is elected
if you stroll somewhere, you walk there slowly and in a
to represent your interests | there are two student
relaxed way for pleasure
representatives on the campus catering committee
| each town can send three representatives to the he strolled happily along the beach | you could stroll
national meeting round the lake before dinner | we strolled around the
old town | I strolled down to the station to meet them
satirical  /səˈtɪrɪk(ə)l/ Adjective off the train | after an early breakfast, we strolled up the
satirical writing, films, opinions, etc. use humour to make hill to watch the sun rise | there was my father, strolling
fun of people in authority, especially politicians casually towards us
until the 1960s there were no satirical shows on British Noun:  stroll
TV | the satirical magazine Private Eye has had only Collocates:  take a stroll | a leisurely stroll | a(n) morning/
two editors in its 54 years of existence | Catch-22 is afternoon/evening stroll
a satirical novel about US soldiers during the war in
I took a leisurely stroll around the park | the beach is
Korea | the film was a satirical version of Shakespeare’s
only a short stroll from the hotel | an afternoon stroll
Macbeth
Adverb:  satirically | Noun:  satire | Noun:  satirist struggle  /ˈstrʌɡ(ə)l/ Noun
I’m still not sure if the article was intended satirically | the a struggle is a long period of time when people are
play satirically explores the influence of social media in trying hard to achieve something which is very difficult to
modern politics | political satire can be very dangerous achieve
in some countries | she uses wit and gentle satire in her Collocates:  an armed struggle | an uphill struggle
poems | Peter Cook, the satirist and comedian, died in the Black Power movement grew out of the civil rights
1995 | a political satirist struggle in America | the story of their struggle for
freedom | the victory of the liberation struggle | his
settle  /ˈset(ə)l/ Verb
uncles were involved in the armed struggle against
if you settle or settle down somewhere, you make
apartheid | after he lost his job, daily life became a bitter
yourself as comfortable as you can because you are
struggle | she faced an uphill struggle (an especially
likely to be there for a few hours
difficult struggle) to get staff to agree to a pay freeze
he settled into bed and fell asleep | she settled down in
front of the television and waited for the programme to trudge  /trʌdʒ/ Verb
begin | settle yourselves down by the fire and I’ll bring if you trudge somewhere, you walk there slowly and
you a nice cup of tea sadly because you are tired or unhappy
Collocates:  trudge along/off/back, etc.
skip  /skɪp/ Verb
if you skip, you move forward in little jumps, first on one he saw his friends trudging along in front of him | he
foot then on the other. If you say that someone skips left the house and trudged off towards the bus stop |
somewhere, you mean that they go there quickly and we trudged back to the house through the rain | Peter
cheerfully trudged miserably through the city streets looking for a
hotel
he waved goodbye and skipped happily into the lift | she
skipped downstairs to say hello to her aunt | school had Noun:  trudge
finished, and the children were running and skipping in it was a long trudge back to the campsite round the lake
the street
yell  /jel/ Verb
Noun:  skip
if you yell, you shout in a very loud and angry or excited
it does not walk like other animals but takes funny voice
little skips
Collocates:  yell (something) at someone
spot  /spɒt/ Verb they trudged along while the devil yelled, “Work harder!”
if you spot someone or something, you notice them | the crowd started yelling at the referee | what are they
he peered into the distance and spotted some people yelling about? | they yelled insults at us as they drove
on the horizon | I spotted an empty table at the far end away
of the restaurant | we spotted the England football Noun:  yell
manager when we were at the airport | Madonna was I heard yells of warning from outside
spotted going into a theatre in Hammersmith

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 Outcomes Advanced Vocabulary Builder  Unit 4

Pages 38–39 bribery  /ˈbraɪb(ə)ri/ Noun uncount

bribery is illegally paying money to someone in authority
abolish  /əˈbɒlɪʃ/ Verb so that they will do something useful for you
to abolish a law, system, or tradition means to officially
Sanders was found not guilty of bribery charges | the
end it
bribery scandal made headlines in the newspapers the
thanks to the student council we were able to abolish next day | bribery is illegal in most countries | steps were
school uniform | many people want to abolish the House taken to prevent bribery | political corruption and police
of Lords | slavery was abolished in Britain in 1833 | the bribery were common
death penalty was abolished in the 1960s
Noun:  bribe | Verb:  bribe
Noun:  abolition
Collocates:  accept/take a bribe | offer a bribe
the abolition of slavery | the EU opposes capital
a minister was sent to jail for taking bribes | he refused
punishment and has proposed its worldwide abolition |
to change his mind, even when he was offered a
campaigning for the abolition of the monarchy
substantial bribe | city officials and police officers
allege  /əˈledʒ/ Verb were bribed | he bribed the prison guard who helped
if you allege something bad, or allege that someone has him escape
done something wrong, you say that you think it is true
broad  /brɔːd/ Adjective
but you do not have proof yet
if there is broad agreement about something, most
he is alleged to have faked the experiments | the paper people agree about it
alleged that he had deliberately avoided paying tax on
a broad consensus | the proposal won broad support
the income | the prosecutors alleged that witnesses had
from all political parties
been bribed | he alleged that his son died as a result of
police actions Adverb:  broadly
Noun:  allegation | Adjective:  alleged | Adverb:  allegedly his arrival as manager was broadly welcomed by
the fans
he defended himself against allegations of dishonesty
| he was arrested on false allegations | none of these call  /kɔːl/ Verb
allegations were ever proven | the alleged incident took to call an election, a meeting, etc. means to officially
place in the early hours of the morning | he allegedly announce that it must happen and say when it will be
came up with the idea after he nearly crashed into
Collocates:  call a meeting | call an election
a wall | the video allegedly shows the mayor taking
banned drugs the government called an election for the 10th of May |
the chairman called an emergency meeting to discuss
allocate  /ˈæləkeɪt/ Verb the crisis | President Wilson called a special session of
to allocate things means to decide which person or Congress in 1919
organisation should receive them and what they should
use them for cast  /kɑːst/ Verb
if you cast a vote, you officially vote
each area is allocated a number of seats according
to its population | the government has allocated you can cast your votes by phone or online | the majority
another £3m to flood prevention in the region | we of votes are cast by post | they received over 60% of all
need to allocate more resources to primary education | the votes cast | only 30% of voters actually cast a ballot
supermarkets allocate large budgets to advertising | in
consensus  /kənˈsensəs/ Noun
total, the agency allocated £16m to the project
if there is consensus, everybody agrees about
Noun:  allocation something
Collocates:  an allocation of something Collocates:  achieve/reach consensus | build a
fair allocation of resources is a difficult thing to achieve consensus | a consensus emerges | general/broad
| each club will receive an allocation of 4,000 tickets for consensus
the cup final a tradition of consensus has been established in
Switzerland | no consensus has emerged among
ballot  /ˈbælət/ Noun
scientists on the topic | there needs to be a willingness
a ballot is a vote in which people choose a
to achieve political consensus | there is no broad
representative, or vote for or against a particular
consensus on what a typical student could be expected
proposal
to know | building public consensus will be essential
Collocates:  cast a ballot | a secret ballot
the union held a strike ballot at the factory | votes cover up  /ˌkʌvə(r) ˈʌp/ Phrasal verb
were cast by secret ballot and counted in public view to cover something up means to stop people from
| counting of ballot papers (the pieces of paper where knowing about it, especially when it is something that is
voters marked their choice) went on all night | the illegal or embarrassing
election was conducted by postal ballot (where people attempts were made to cover up the scandal | some
send their votes in through the post) | the leadership believe the police covered up the facts, but we’ll never
ballot was held on 29th November know | he was lying to cover up his mistakes | he was
Verb:  ballot covering up for his son’s activities | news of the crash
leaked out to the press and it was too late to cover it up
they now have to ballot their members before calling an
official strike Noun:  cover-up

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 Outcomes Advanced Vocabulary Builder  Unit 4

the papers were convinced there had been a police line  /laɪn/ Noun
cover-up | the Watergate cover-up finally led to the a party line, government line, etc., is a set of beliefs and
resignation of Nixon attitudes that a political party or a government holds, and
that its members are expected to follow
federal  /ˈfed(ə)rəl/ Adjective
Collocates:  the official/party/government line | toe the line
a federal system of government involves states which
have a lot of control over their own affairs, but which all MPs are expected to follow the party line | he went on
belong to the same country with a central government radio to explain the government line | the official line
that makes decisions for everyone on important matters was that no serious error had been made | most schools
such as foreign policy take a hard line against drugs (are very strict) | if you
don’t toe the party line (agree with the party’s views) you
the Swiss have a federal parliament with two bodies –
risk being thrown out
the National Council and the Senate | total US federal
debt now exceeds $16 trillion | there are state taxes lobby  /ˈlɒbi/ Verb
collected locally, and there are federal taxes | such a to lobby politicians or governments means to talk to
move requires approval from the federal government them in an organised way to try and get them to change
| the school system became dependent on federal a law or introduce a new law
funding
Collocates:  lobby hard | lobby the government/MPs/
Noun:  federation Congress/parliament | lobby for/against something
the Russian Federation came into being in 1991 hundreds of rail workers lobbied MPs at Westminster
about the changes to their pensions | they’re lobbying
hollow  /ˈhɒləʊ/ Adjective
the government to build more houses | publishers have
a statement, event, or person that is hollow does not
been lobbying hard to prevent open access to research
have any real value, effectiveness, or sincerity
papers | environmentalists unsuccessfully lobbied
a hollow victory | he finally discovered the solution, but parliament for a ban on the practice
it was a hollow success as his rival had got there before
Noun:  lobby | Noun:  lobbying | Noun:  lobbyist
him | she answered in a hollow voice
after pressure from an industry lobby group, the
inclusivity  /ˌɪnkluːˈsɪvəti/ Noun uncount government scrapped the idea | the powerful agricultural
inclusivity is a policy of accepting the widest possible lobby in France | a professional lobbying organisation
range of people within a culture or organisation | heavy lobbying finally succeeded in getting the law
we are committed to increasing inclusivity | her job changed | tobacco lobbyists fought the ban on advertising |
was to promote inclusivity within the organisation | a former MP who became an industry lobbyist
inclusivity should be the goal of any group working
loose end  /luːs ˈend/ Phrase
towards equality | the colours of the Olympic rings carry
if you are at a loose end, you do not have anything you
a message of inclusivity
need to do and can’t decide what to do
Adjective:  inclusive
Collocates:  be at a loose end
the main aim is to make our society more inclusive | an
I was at a bit of a loose end when the researcher called
inclusive approach to politics
| for the first time in weeks I was at a loose end | take a
landslide  /ˈlæn(d)ˌslaɪd/ Noun book in case you find yourself at a loose end
a landslide or a landslide victory is when someone wins
outspoken  /ˌaʊtˈspəʊkən/ Adjective
an election with a very big majority
someone who is outspoken is not afraid to say what they
Collocates:  a landslide victory | by a landslide think, even when they know people will not agree with
they won the election by a landslide | Labour won a them
landslide victory in the 1997 election | in 1945, there an outspoken MP | an outspoken critic of the president
was a Labour landslide | voters re-elected him in an | my father was always outspoken about his political
electoral landslide in 1972 views | an outspoken opponent of gun control | he
became even more outspoken about the political
leak  /liːk/ Verb
situation
if secret or private information leaks, or if someone leaks
it, it is made public Phrasal verb:  speak out
the story leaked out before they could stop it | the they spoke out against the war | several staff members
letter was leaked to the press by someone inside the who spoke out lost their jobs
department | several of the documents were leaked
persist  /pə(r)ˈsɪst/ Verb
to the BBC | he leaked secrets to at least two other
if you persist in doing something, you continue to do it,
newspapers
even if it is difficult or unpopular
Noun:  leak | Adjective:  leaked
Collocates:  persist in doing something | persist with
the leaked documents were published by several something
national newspapers | the team spent six months
the management is persisting with a ridiculous offer
investigating the leak of sensitive information to the
that will see wages fall | he persisted in calling me Mrs
press | the leak obviously came from inside the ministry
Savage | she persisted in her belief that her husband
was innocent

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 Outcomes Advanced Vocabulary Builder  Unit 4

Adjective:  persistent | Adverb:  persistently | rep  /rep/ Noun

Noun:  persistence a rep is a representative - someone who represents a
she was very persistent in her attempts to get into company or a group of people
university | he refused to answer my persistent pupil reps can decide on policy | I was elected student
questions | the practice continued despite persistent rep on the university council last year | ask your union
complaints from customers | he called persistently for rep for details about membership | he was a sales rep
a change in the law | the man persistently refused to for a furniture company
give any information about himself | her hard work and
persistence paid off when she won a scholarship to rig  /rɪɡ/ Verb
Cambridge to rig an election or competition means to cheat in order
to get a result that would not be the case if everything
petition  /pəˈtɪʃ(ə)n/ Noun was run fairly
a petition is a document signed by a lot of people FIFA were accused of rigging the election | the
demanding that a government or other authority take opposition claimed the vote was rigged | ballot-rigging
action about something was common in the 19th century
Collocates:  sign a petition | hand in/submit a petition Adjective:  rigged
individuals can challenge the decision by collecting the country has a history of rigged elections
50,000 signatures on a petition | will you sign our
petition to stop them closing the hospital? | campaigners stand  /stænd/ Verb
submitted a petition to the president when he visited the to stand in an election means to be a candidate in the
university | the petition was signed by 20,000 people | election
an e-petition (one that is done online, not on paper) | to Collocates:  stand for something
sign the petition, click here
she stood for parliament three times before she was
Verb:  petition finally elected | she decided to stand for President |
campaigners petitioned the local authority to keep the a total of seven candidates are standing in this local
hospital open election

prominent  /ˈprɒmɪnənt/ Adjective take aback  /ˌteɪk əˈbæk/ Phrasal verb

someone who is prominent is one of the most important if something takes you aback, it surprises you
people in their field of work, and is well-known and when the results were published, I was a bit taken aback
successful | it just took me aback when I first saw you | she was
a prominent figure in the anti-war movement | the group clearly taken aback by my question | it was his rudeness
was composed of prominent local business people | a that took her aback
group of nationally prominent researchers | she became
a prominent member of the Liberal Party turnout  /ˈtɜː(r)naʊt/ Noun
at an election, the turnout is the number of people who
Noun:  prominence
actually go and vote
Collocates:  rise to prominence
this may explain why voter turnout was down this time
Blair rose to prominence in the early 1990s | she came to | turnout at elections has been steadily falling | a 64%
international prominence after she won the Nobel Prize turnout for a general election was very disappointing
| in the 1950 election, the turnout was 84% | an
ratings  /ˈreɪtɪŋz/ Noun plural
unexpectedly high turnout at the council elections
the TV or radio ratings is a list which shows how many
people watch or listen to each individual programme Phrasal verb:  turn out
Collocates:  a ratings war fewer than 400 voters turned out for the council
referendum | supporters turned out in force in Thursday’s
the programme’s ratings were falling | the BBC’s evening
election
news programme was winning the ratings war with ITV
(the competition to get the largest number of viewers) unanimous  /juːˈnænɪməs/ Adjective
| it helped their ratings to have a kind of hate figure | a unanimous decision is one that is agreed to by
the series was taken off air after three weeks because everyone who is involved in making it
of poor ratings | ratings for the show have never been
Collocates:  a unanimous decision
higher
a unanimous vote | the committee reached a unanimous
referendum  /ˌrefəˈrendəm/ Noun decision | the proposal won unanimous approval | this
a referendum is an occasion when every adult is asked was not a unanimous view among party members
to vote about one particular issue, and the government Adverb:  unanimously | Noun:  unanimity
has to accept what the majority of voters say
the request was approved unanimously | union members
Collocates:  hold/conduct a referendum voted unanimously to go on strike | after hours of
the UK will hold another referendum on membership discussion we were no nearer unanimity | there was
of the EU | in the 1975 referendum, they voted to stay almost complete unanimity when it came to the vote
in | the Scottish referendum had a very close result |
Georgia conducted a NATO membership referendum in
2008 | in the referendum, voters rejected the proposal
to expand the airport

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 Outcomes Advanced Vocabulary Builder  Unit 4

Pages 40–41
civilise  /ˈsɪvəlaɪz/
to civilise people means to teach them how to live well
and sensibly and have a good life. Be careful if you
use this word. It was often used by people in the West
to suggest that people in Africa or Asia are not as well
developed culturally or politically
European attempts to ‘civilise’ the Aborigines had tragic
consequences | the British mistakenly thought they were
civilising the people in their Empire
Adjective:  civilised | Adjective:  civilising
a highly civilised country | let’s talk about this in a
civilised way | without these rules, civilised life would
be impossible | she had a civilising influence on her
brothers

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 Outcomes Advanced Vocabulary Builder  Unit 4

EXERCISES E Complete the missing adjectives.

1 a h _ _ _ _ w victory
Prepositions 2 a s _ _ _ _ _ _ _ l magazine
3 an o _ _ _ _ _ _ _ n critic
A Complete the sentences with the correct 4 a p _ _ _ _ _ _ _ t figure
preposition. Look up the word in bold if
you need help. 5 a r _ _ _ _ d election
1 Paris bid unsuccessfully the 2012 Olympics. 6 a u _ _ _ _ _ _ _ s decision
2 I have a few minor reservations her suggestion. F Complete the sentences with the correct form of
3 The 1960s saw the emergence new political the verbs in the box. Look up the nouns if you
organisations. need help.
4 She glared me before getting up and leaving hold play call lack show sign
the room.
5 They yelled insults us as they drove away. 1 She’s a good politician, but she
6 All my friends had gone on holiday, so I was a bit charisma.
of a loose end. 2 They will always great compassion
7 He persisted trying to mend the gate, but I could for people in need.
see it was impossible. 3 When he said he thought Tom was right, he was only
devil’s advocate.
Word families 4 The government has an election for
next month.
B Complete the expressions on the right with the 5 The petition had been by 20,000
correct form of the word in bold. people.
1 a unanimous agreement they agreed 6 The country will a referendum on
membership of the EU.
2 rig an election a
election ‘Ways of’ verb groups
3 a prominent figure rise to
4 a charismatic leader a leader with great G Complete the definitions with the correct
descriptive verb from the box.
5 feel no compassion a nurse trudge gasp giggle stroll glare clutch
6 a satirical article a clever use of
1 If you at someone, you look at them
in a very angry and unfriendly way.
C Tick the words in the unit that are both a verb
and a noun. 2 If you  , you laugh in a quiet way
because something is funny.
1 bid
3 If you  , you say something in a
2 trigger surprised or excited way.
3 clutch 4 If you someone or something, you
4 abolish hold them with a very firm grip.
5 allocate 5 If you somewhere, you walk there
slowly and in a relaxed way for pleasure.
6 bribery
6 If you somewhere, you walk there
7 leak
slowly and sadly because you are tired or unhappy.
8 engagement

Collocations
D Match the adjectives (1–6) with the nouns (a–f).
Look up the nouns if you need help.
1 a nervous a) consensus
2 a high b) giggle
3 a secret c) struggle
4 an armed d) ballot
5 a broad e) gasp
6 an audible f) turnout

© 2017 National Geographic Learning  9