Word lists for the Proficiency
Unit 4 Relationship
1. to relieve – to stop smth unpleasant
2. apart from – except, besides
3. resource – ability to find solutions
4. stamina – resilient energy and strength
5. capacity – mental or physical ability
6. obsession – an idea or feeling that completely occupies the mind
7. fractious – bad-tempered, irritable and likely to complain or misbehave
8. siblings – brothers or sisters
9. attrition – process of tiring or weakening
10. pretext – made-up excuse, untrue reason for doing sth in an attempt to conceal
the real reason
11. conciliation – action taken to reach agreement or restore trust
12. sifting – examining closely
13. fraud – deliberately deceiving people
14. neophyte – a beginner or novice at some task or work
15. spouse – husband or wife
16. be denied to – be refused to
17. tenacious – persistent, very determined or stubborn
18. to have time on one’s hands – to have free time
19. laboriously – requiring a great deal of effort
20. remorse – a strong feeling of guilt
21. to blight – to spoil, damage sth
22. compulsory – caused by force, required by law or an authority
23. breach – a hole in sth
24. retaliate – to hurt smb in return, in revenge
25. sue – to undertake legal proceedings
26. prosecute – to have smb tried in court of law for a criminal or civil offence
27. recourse – chance to seek assistance
28. onslaughts – a powerful attack or force that overwhelms smb or sth
Unit 6 Crime and Punishment
Indictable offence – serious crime
Fraud – criminal deception
Forgery – making a copy (of a document) in order to deceive
Caution – warning
Probation – system by which offenders, esp young, are allowed to go unpunished for
their first offence while they continue to live without breaking the law
6. Shop-lifting =hoisting – stealing things from shops while pretending to be customers
7. Noose – loop of rope with a running knot that becomes tighter when the rope is pulled
- Put one’s head in the noose – allow oneself to be caught
8. Blatant – too obvious, noisy and rough
9. Vault – jump in a single movement
10. Nick – small
11. Loot – goods taken away unlawfully
12. Rack – shelf for the goods in a shop
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13. Divert – turn in another direction
14. Obstruct – be in the way, make sth difficult
15. Give-away – sth that exposes for detection
16. Loiter – go slowly and stop frequently on the way
17. Dither – hesitate
18. Angle – here – point of view
19. For my liking – to my taste
20. On the discrete side – secretly
21. To be in possession of – to have
22. Hacking – breaking into secured computer system in order to cheat
23. Getaway – help to escape
24. To be held to ransom – to be threatened until money is paid
25. To be the scourge of – to cause a lot of trouble
26. Allege – put forward as an excuse or reason
27. Tampering – interfering with
28. Fiddle – make aimless movements
29. Unconditional discharge – allowing to leave without any conditions
30. Flaw – crack, sth that lessens the value or beauty
31. Proceeds – financial results, profits
32. Prosecute – start legal actions against smb
33. Crook – dishonest person
34. To mingle with – to mix with smb
35. Ruse – trick, deceitful way of doing sth
36. Bidder – a person who tries to obtain sth at an auction offering some price for the object
Proficiency Unit 7
1. to emerge – to come into view
2. innovation – a new idea, method
3. conscientious – scrupulous, careful
4. dismiss – set free
5. resolve itself - to gradually change into something else [= become]:
6. with a view to – with intention of
7. redress – compensate for
8. glimpse – a brief, quick view of
9. elusive – difficult to find or to achieve
10. stumble - to walk in an unsteady way and often almost fall
11. keen resentment – bitter resentment
12. at the drop of a hat – to act immediately without any hesitation
13. dwindle – become gradually smaller
14. prod - to make someone do something by persuading or reminding them that it is
necessary, especially when they are lazy or unwilling
15. rush - to do or decide something too quickly, especially so that you do not have time to
do it carefully or well
16. doom - to make someone or something certain to fail, die, be destroyed etc
17. to hog - to keep, use, or have all of something that should be shared
18. to dog - if a problem or bad luck dogs you, it causes trouble for a long time
19. to fox - to confuse or deceive someone in a clever way
20. to worm - to move through a small place or a crowd slowly, carefully, or with difficulty
21. to wolf - to eat something very quickly, swallowing it in big pieces
22. to swan - to enjoy yourself and behave in a relaxed way that is annoying to other people
Unit 8
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stalk - to walk in a proud or angry way, with long steps
ailing - ill and not likely to get better
proprietor - an owner of a business
vehicle - something you use to express and spread your ideas, opinions etc
crave - to have an extremely strong desire for something
cajole - to gradually persuade someone to do something by being nice to them, or making
promises to them
7. circulation - the average number of copies of a newspaper or magazine that are usually
sold each day, week, month etc
8. specious - seeming to be true or correct, but actually false
9. corrode - to gradually make something weaker or destroy it completely
10. etch on - if an experience, name etc is etched on your memory or mind, you cannot
forget it and you think of it often
11. bevy - a large group of people of the same kind, especially girls or young women
12. contractor - a person or company that agrees to do work or provide goods for another
company
13. argot - expressions used by a particular group of people [= jargon]
14. flattery - praise that you do not really mean
15. duly - in the proper or expected way
16. pastiche - a piece of writing, music, film etc that is deliberately made in the style of
someone or something else [↪ parody]
17. front stalls - the seats on the main level of a theatre or cinema:
18. hypocrite - someone who pretends to have certain beliefs or opinions that they do not
really have - used to show disapproval
19. shallow - not interested in or not showing any understanding of important or serious
matters - used to show disapproval
20. acquisitive - wanting to have and keep a lot of possessions
21. sloppy - not done carefully or thoroughly [= careless]
22. infatuation - a strong feeling of love for someone or interest in something, especially a
feeling that is unreasonable and does not continue for a long time
23. advent - the time when something first begins to be widely used
24. detractor - someone who says bad things about someone or something, in order to make
them seem less good than they really are
25. retain - to keep something or continue to have something
26. brutality - cruel and violent behavior, or an event involving cruel and violent treatment
27. sheer - used to emphasize that something is very heavy, large etc
28. to impart - to give information, knowledge, wisdom etc to someone
29. deteriorating - to develop into a bad or worse situation:
30. amenable - willing to accept what someone says or does without arguing
31. to take your mind off - to make someone stop thinking and worrying about something
32. a scrap - a small amount of information, truth etc
33. former - having a particular position in the past
34. startle - to make someone suddenly surprised or slightly shocked
35. glamour - the attractive and exciting quality of being connected with wealth and success
36. disregard for - when someone ignores something that they should not ignore
37. lure - something that attracts people, or the quality of being able to do this
38. stem - to develop as a result of something else
39. crumble - to break apart into lots of little pieces, or make something do this,
crumble away - to lose power, become weak, or fail
40. elapse - if a particular period of time elapses, it passes