Language pills

LANGUAGE PILLS

UNIT 1

TO GET BY means to be minimally capable surviving

TRACEUR is a man who does parkour.

TRACEURESE is a woman who practices parkour.

SKILLS are things we learn, while ABILITIES are things we are born with.

If you HAVE A KNACK for something, this means you have a natural talent for a kind of activity.

TO BE UP TO THE CHALLENGE means to be able to do what is requested.

UNIT 2

An ASSET is a valuable or useful quality.

TO GIVE IT A GO means to make an attempt at something. (..and say whether or not you are convinced to give it a go. Justify your opinion)

TO MAKE UP ONE’S MIND means to reach a decision or conclusion.

In informal conversation a psychologist or a psychiatrist may be referred to as a SHRINK.

TO DRAW THE LINE means to set a limit. (What do you believe makes people want to use body modifiers? Where should the line be draw?)

UNIT 3

Something is BIASED when it is not impartial. (…the news in general frequently serves someone’s interest and is therefore biased.)

TO UNVEIL is the same as to uncover, to make visible (Unveil the hidden interests.)

A CLAUSE is any group of words containing a subject and a verb.

A HOAX is a big deception to convince a person of something that is not true. (The real McCartney died in a the summer of 1966)

UNIT 4

If you are SKEPTICAL about something, it means you don’t believe it to be true or possible ( in a travel…Roger is a bit skeptical about the whole thing).

When a person (or a thing) STICKS OUT LIKE A SORE THUMB, he/she (or it) is clearly and obviously different from everything around it. They are separate from the people and the places thay they visit (…tourists STICKS OUT LIKE A SORE THUMB or a sunburned nose/ turistas se destaca como uma ferida polegar ou um nariz sunburned)

Another less frequent example of paired conjunction is NEITHER….NOR. We use it to indicate that neither of the two existing options is true or possible. Look at this