General Vocabulary
Sink in- to become completely understood, known or realized.
Sentence-He paused a moment for his words to sink in.
Sparingly- in an economical way; in small quantities.
Sentence- Sweeten dishes sparingly with honey, or con-centrated apple or pear juice.
Sponsor- a person or organization that pays for or contributes to the costs of an event.
Sentence- We have to make the states that sponsor terrorism pay a price.
Stuffed bear-a stuffed toy in the shape of a bear.
Sentence- Holly showed us a small white stuffed bear named Lucy.
The shore- the land along the edge of a sea, lake or river.
Sentence-We wandered along the shore, stepping over the flotsam that had washed up in the night.
Simplify-make something simple/less complicated and easy to do or understand.
Sentence- Mission-driven budgets simplify the budget process enormously.
To some degree- to some extent.
Sentence- The risks of these complications depend, to some degree, on whether the condition is primary or secondary.
Sensitivity- the ability to understand the feelings of others.
Sentence- Don’t be fooled by his kindness and sensitivity – it’s just a front.
Storytelling- the art of telling stories.
Sentence- The boundaries between history and storytelling are always being blurred and muddled.
Setback- a difficulty or problem that delays something or makes a situation worse.
Sentence- King had been dealt a setback in Albany, Ga., which was not moved to integrate by civil rights demonstrations.
Superb- excellent; very good.
Sentence- The house has a superb staircase made from oak and marble.
To stem from- to be caused by/ as the result of something.
Sentence- These benefits are held to stem from three separate but connected effects of removing the barriers to free movement.
(To) surround- to be all around someone or something.
Sentence- the River of liquid rock threatened to surround him completely, but Tazieff managed to escape just in time.
To squander a chance/an opportunity- to waste/fail to use a chance, by not taking advantage of it.
Sentence-He squandered a chance by not retaking his CPF test, and he totally regretted it.
Substandard- below the required standard.
Sentence- Many of the tenants lived in substandard adobe apartments, some with backyard outhouses.
To sift information- to remove unwanted or less useful information.
Sentence- Health and corporate preparedness experts sift information from around the world and distill it to produce the Weekly Pandemic Monitor service.
To strike somebody as- to give somebody a particular impression.
Sentence- His appearance struck him as strange.
Self-explanatory-easy to understand and needs no more explanation.
Sentence- The further subdivision of natural hazards is self-explanatory as is that of individual technological hazards.
Secure in the knowledge- feeling safe or secure because you know something well.
Sentence- We huddled together, secure in the knowledge that the rescue helicopter was on its way.
Spot- a particular area or place.
Sentence- He erected a monument on the spot where his daughter was killed.
Second to none- as good as or better than all others of the same kind.
Sentence- Leven has a playing field second to none which is the envy of many villages in the area.
Suit someone down to the ground- to be completely suitable, convenient or right for someone.
Sentence- This new job suits her down to the ground.
To seat- to arrange for someone to sit somewhere.
Sentence- Ferry ticket and hotel accommodation are subject to seat and room availability.
Souvenir- something you buy or keep as a reminder of a place, an occasion or a holiday/vacation.
Sentence- There were her souvenir mugs from the 1984 miners’ strike.
To stand out-to be prominent or more important than somebody/something.
Sentence- Simeon was so desperate to stand out that he would show up in all sorts of strange costumes.
