IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT

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IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT

Lời nói đầu:
Từ vựng là phần chủ yếu cản trở bạn đến với điểm số IELTS mong muốn. Đa phần
các cuốn sách về vocabulary hiện tại dành cho IELTS chỉ list ra những từ “học thuật”
theo chủ đề, ít ví dụ về cách dùng, ít hoặc khơng có các từ đồng nghĩa với những từ
vựng học thuật đó. Phần thiếu sót có lẽ lớn nhất của các cuốn sách từ vựng hiện tại là
“collocations” và topic vocabulary, đây là các cụm từ hay đi cùng nhau và dùng đặc
biệt trong cách topic nhất định.
Việc thiếu từ đồng nghĩa sẽ làm bạn đọc hiểu rất khó vì từ vựng dùng trong bài đọc
thường được paraphrase ở trong câu hỏi để kiểm tra được độ rộng và mức độ hiểu của
người học.
Ngoài ra việc thiếu collocations sẽ làm bạn diễn đạt vơ cùng khó khăn và thiếu tự
nhiên khi viết hoặc nói. Nhưng từ trình độ <8.0 thì lại khó nhận ra những collocations
nào nên học. Do đó cuốn sách này, mình đã trực tiếp highlight tất cả các collocations
hay, hay gặp và có giá trị dùng lại rất nhiều trong q trình nói và viết của các bạn.
Sau khi học xong 6 cuốn trong bộ “LEAN VOCABULARY”, chắc chắn bạn sẽ nhận
biết được một lượng collocations đủ lớn để có thể nghe hiểu, đọc hiểu tốt và nhất là
dùng được tốt khi nói và viết.

Để học tốt cuốn sách:
Bước 1: Chọn 1 bài đọc bất kì, tập trung đọc hiểu và xem phần “synonym – từ đồng
nghĩa” của các từ được in đậm, đây là các từ ảnh hưởng trực tiếp đến mức độ hiểu của
bạn khi đọc 1 câu văn.
Bước 2: Đọc lại thật kĩ và chú ý các “cụm từ được gạch chân” – đây là các
collocations hay dùng.

Bước 3: Chọn 3-5 cụm THẬT SỰ ẤN TƯỢNG và luyện nói hoặc viết bằng cách đặt
câu hoàn chỉnh. Các câu đặt cần đảm bảo: Là câu đơn và ít bị thay đổi so với câu gốc
nhất, có liên quan đến bản thân nhất. (Nên có bút highlight để lưu lại những cụm đó)
Bước 4: Đọc lại 1 lần vào ngày hôm sau trước khi học bài mới.
(Sách có 210 bài đọc chia thành 6 chủ đề lớn: Technology (30), Health & Sports (30),
Environment (45), Education (45), Business & Economy (45), Science (45), nên với
các bạn còn thời gian (6 tháng), hãy chọn chủ đề mình yếu từ vựng nhất, hoặc từ cuốn
dễ nhất: Education → Business → Health → Evironment → Tech → Science - học ít
nhất 1 bài 1 ngày và ít nhất 30 bài, học thật sâu và đọc hiểu. Với các bạn còn 3 tháng
thì có thể học 1 ngày 3 bài, nhưng nên chia ra 3 lần học, không nên học 1 lúc 2 bài)
Không cần làm đề nhiều. Chỉ cần 1 tháng làm 1 đề để kiểm tra lại khả năng tiếng Anh.
Sẽ có những collocations các bạn thấy có highlight nhưng khơng hiểu, khi đó hãy
đánh dấu nháy nháy và cụm đó lên google: “…………” thì sẽ có ví dụ và giải nghĩa
của nó.
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IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT

Lời cảm ơn:
Công sức của các bạn sẽ giúp nhiều, rất nhiều các bạn khác đạt được
mục tiêu.
Nguyễn Đình Hạnh – Khóa 9 - UNETI
Hồn thành highlight từ vựng học thuật, giải thích và
synonym cho hơn 45 bài đọc cho Vol.6 - Environment
của bộ LEAN VOCABULARY.

Nguyễn Thu Loan: K58 – NEU
Hoàn thành highlight từ vựng học thuật, giải thích và
synonym cho 30 bài đọc cho Vol.1 - Education - của bộ

LEAN VOCABULARY.

Hoàng Phương Linh: Du học sinh Úc
Hồn thành highlight từ vựng học thuật, giải thích và
synonym cho hơn 45 bài đọc cho Vol.5 - Science của bộ LEAN VOCABULARY

Vũ Thị Ba: K57 - FTU
Hoàn thành highlight từ vựng học thuật, giải thích và
synonym cho 30 bài đọc cho Vol.2 – Sports and Health của bộ LEAN VOCABULARY

Nguyễn Thu Phương: K60 - NEU
Hoàn thành highlight từ vựng học thuật, giải thích và
synonym cho hơn 30 bài đọc cho Vol.3 – Business &
Economy của bộ LEAN VOCABULARY

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IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT

Content:

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IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT

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IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT

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IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT

The romantic notion that early humans lived
in harmony with their environment has taken
quite a battering lately. Modem humans may
have started eliminating other species right
from the start; our ancestors stand accused
of wiping out mega fauna – from giant
flightless birds in Australia to mammoths in
Asia and the ground sloth of North America –
as they spread across the planet.
Even so, by around 6,000 years ago there
were only about 12 million people on earth.
That’s a far cry from today’s 6.6 billion, many
of us guzzling fossil fuels, churning out
greenhouse gases and messing with our
planet’s climate like there’s no tomorrow. So it
may seem far-fetched to suggest that
humans have been causing global warming
ever since our ancestors started burning and
cutting forests to make way for fields at least
7,000 years ago
.
Yet that’s the view of retired climate scientist
William Ruddiman, formerly of the University

of Virginia, Charlottesville. Ancient farmers
were pumping climate-warming carbon
dioxide and methane into the atmosphere
long before recorded history began, he says.
Far from causing catastrophe, however,
early farmers halted the planet’s descent into
another ice age and kept Earth warm and
stable for thousands of years.
Could a few primitive farmers really have
changed the climate of the entire globe? If
you find this hard to believe, you’re not the
only one. Ruddiman’s idea has been hugely
controversial ever since he proposed it in

Harmony /ˈhɑːməni /: the combination of
simultaneously sounded musical notes to produce
chords and chord progressions having a pleasing
effect
synonyms:euphony, polyphony, consonance, tunefu
lness...
eliminating/ ɪˈlɪmɪneɪtɪŋ /: completely remove or
get rid of (something)
synonyms: remove, get rid of, abolish, put an end
to, do away with, end,terminate, eradicate, destroy
accused/əˈkjuːzd /: charge (someone) with an
offense or crime
synonyms:charge with, indict for, arraign for, take to
court for, put on trial for…
fauna/ˈfɔːnə /: the animals of a particular region,
habitat, or geological period

guzzling/ ˈgʌzlɪŋ /: eat or drink (something)
greedily
churning/ ˈʧɜːnɪŋ /: to produce large amounts of
something quickly, usually something oflow quality
far-fetched / ˈfɑːˈfɛʧt /: unlikely and unconvincing;
implausible
pumping / ˈpʌmpɪŋ /: force (liquid, gas, etc.) to
move by or as if by means of a pump
synonyms:force, drive, push, send, transport, raise,
inject,...
catastrophe/ kəˈtæstrəfi /: an event causing great
and often sudden damage or suffering
halted / ˈhɔːltɪd /: bring or come to an abrupt stop

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IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT
2003. ‘Most new ideas, especially
controversial ones, die out pretty fast. It
doesn’t take science long to weed them out,’
he says. Yet five years on, his idea is still not
dead. On the contrary, he says the latest
evidence strengthens his case. ‘It has
become clear that natural explanations for the
rise in greenhouse gases over the past few
thousand years are the ones that are not
measuring up, and we can reject them,’he
claims.
There is no doubt that the soaring levels of

carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases
that we see in the atmosphere today –
causing a 0.7° C rise in average global
temperature during the 20thcentury – are the
result of human activities. In the late 1990s,
however, Ruddiman started to suspect that
our contribution to the global greenhouse
began to become significant long before the
industrial age began. This was when an ice
core drilled at the Vostok station in Antarctica
revealed how atmospheric C02 and methane
levels have changed over the past 400,000
years. Bubbles trapped in the ice provide a
record of the ancient atmosphere during the
past three interglacials.
What we see is a regular pattern of rises and
falls with a period of about 100,000 years,
coinciding with the coming and going of ice
ages. There are good explanations for these
cycles: periodic changes in the planet’s orbit
and axis of rotation alter the amount of
sunlight reaching the Earth. We are now in
one of the relatively brief, warm interglacial
periods that follow an ice age.
Within this larger pattern there are regular
peaks in methane every 22,000 years that
coincide with the times when the Earth’s orbit
makes summers in the northern hemisphere
warmest. This makes sense, because warm
northern summers drive strong tropical

monsoons in southern Asia that both
encourage the growth of vegetation and
cause flooding, during which vegetation
rotting in oxygen-poor water will emit
methane. Around the Arctic, hot summers
thaw wetlands for longer, again promoting
both vegetation growth and methane
emission.

synonyms:stop, come to a halt, come to a
stop, come to a standstill, come to rest..
primitive / ˈprɪmɪtɪv /:
being the first or earliest of the kind or
in existence, especially in an early age of the world
synonyms:
prehistoric, primal, primary, original, aboriginal
weed / wiːd /: remove unwanted plants from (an
area of ground or the plants cultivated in it)
suspect / ˈsʌspɛkt /: have an idea or impression of
the existence, presence, or truth of (something)
without certain proof
synonyms:have a suspicion, have a feeling, feel, be
inclined to think, fancy…
drilled / drɪld /: produce (a hole) in something by or
as if by boring with a drill
synonyms:bore a hole in, make a hole in, cut a hole
in, drill a hole in, bore, pierce,puncture..
revealed / rɪˈviːld /: make (previously unknown or
secret information) known to others
synonyms:divulge, disclose, tell, let out, let

slip, report, declare, post, communicate..
interglacials /ɪntɝːˈɡleɪ.si.ɚ/ relating to a period of
milder climate between two glacial periods
orbit / ˈɔːbɪt /: the curved path of a celestial object
or spacecraft around a star, planet, or moon,
especially a periodic elliptical revolution
synonyms:course, path, track, rotation, cycle, round
monsoons / mɒnˈsuːnz /: gió mùa ^^
thaw / θɔː /: become liquid or soft as a result of
warming
synonyms:melt, unfreeze, soften, dissolve,
defrost..

In recent times, however, this regular pattern
has changed. The last methane peak
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IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT
occurred around 11,000 years ago, at about
700 parts per billion (ppb), after which levels
began to fall. But instead of continuing to fall
to what Ruddiman says should have been a
minimum of about 450 ppb today, the
atmospheric methane began to climb again
5,000 years ago.
Working with climate modellers Stephen
Verves and John Kutzbach, Ruddiman has
shown that if the levels of these gases had
continued to fall rather than rising when they

did, ice sheets would now cover swathes of
northern Canada and Siberia. The world
would be heading into another ice age.

swathes / sweɪðz /: a piece or strip of material in
which something is wrapped

So why did both methane and C02 rise over
the past few thousand years? In other words,
why has this interglacial period been different
from previous ones? Could humans be to
blame?
Agriculture emerged around the eastern
Mediterranean some 11,000 years ago, then
shortly afterwards in China and several
thousand years later in the Americas.
Farming can release greenhouse gases in
various ways: clearing forests liberates lots
of stored carbon as the wood rots or is
burned, for instance, while flooded rice
paddies release methane just as wetlands do.
To find out more about early farming,
Ruddiman began to dig around in studies of
agricultural history.These revealed that there
was a sharp rise in rice cultivation in Asia
around 5,000 years ago, with the practice
spreading across China and south-east Asia.
Here at least was a possible source for the
unexpected methane rise.


liberates/ ˈlɪbəreɪts /: oscillate or seem to oscillate (
giải phóng, phóng thích )

cultivation/ ˌkʌltɪˈveɪʃən /: the action of cultivating
land, or the state of being cultivated
synonyms:growing, raising, farming, planting

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IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT

It was the summer, scientists now realise, when
global warming at last made itself
unmistakably felt. We knew that summer 2003
was remarkable: Britain experienced its record
high temperature and continental Europe saw
forest fires raging out of control, great rivers
drying to a trickle and thousands of heat-related
deaths. But just how remarkable is only now
becoming clear.
The three months of June, July and August
were the warmest ever recorded in western and
central Europe, with record national highs in
Portugal, Germany and Switzerland as well as
in Britain. And they were the warmest by a very
long way. Over a great rectangular block of the
earth stretching from west of Paris to northern
Italy, taking in Switzerland and southern
Germany, the average temperature for the

summer months was 3.78°C above the longterm norm, said the Climatic Research Unit
(CRU) of the University of East Anglia in
Norwich, which is one of the world's leading
institutions for the monitoring and analysis of
temperature records.
That excess might not seem a lot until you are
aware of the context - but then you realise it is
enormous. There is nothing like this in
previous data, anywhere. It is considered so
exceptional that Professor Phil Jones, the
CRU's director, is prepared to say openly - in a
way few scientists have done before - that the
2003 extreme may be directly attributed, not to

unmistakably / ˌʌnmɪsˈteɪkəbli /: in a way that
cannot be mistaken for anything else
raging /ˈreɪʤɪŋ /: showing violent uncontrollable
anger
synonyms:angry, furious, enraged, incensed, irate
…

stretching / ˈstrɛʧɪŋ /: straighten or extend one's
body or a part of one's body to its full length
synonyms:extend, straighten, straighten
out, unbend, lie down, recline
norm/ nɔːm /: something that is usual, typical, or
standard
synonyms:standard, usual, normal, typical, averag
e...
institutions / ˌɪnstɪˈtjuːʃənz /: a society or

organization founded for a religious, educational,
social, or similar purpose
synonyms:organization, establishment, foundation
enormous/ ɪˈnɔːməs /: very large in size,
quantity, or extent
attributed/ əˈtrɪbjuːtɪd /: regard something as
being caused by

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IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT
natural climate variability, but to global warming
caused by human actions. Meteorologists
have hitherto contented themselves with the
formula that recent high temperatures are
“consistent with predictions” of climate change.
For the great block of the map - that stretching
between 35-50N and 0-20E - the CRU has
reliable temperature records dating back to
1781. Using as a baseline the average summer
temperature recorded between 1961 and 1990,
departures from the temperature norm, or
“anomalies”, over the area as a whole can
easily be plotted. As the graph shows, such is
the variability of our climate that over the past
200 years, there have been at least half a
dozen anomalies, in terms of excess
temperature - the peaks on the graph denoting
very hot years - approaching, or even

exceeding, 2°C. But there has been nothing
remotely like 2003, when the anomaly is nearly
four degrees. “This is quite remarkable,’
Professor Jones told The Independent. “It’s
very unusual in a statistical sense. If this series
had a normal statistical distribution, you
wouldn’t get this number. The return period
[how often it could be expected to recur would
be something like one in a thousand years. If
we look at an excess above the average of
nearly four degrees, then perhaps nearly three
degrees of that is natural variability, because
we’ve seen that in past summers. But the final
degree of it is likely to be due to global
warming, caused by human actions.”
The summer of 2003 has, in a sense, been
one that climate scientists have long been
expecting. Until now, the warming has been
manifesting itself mainly in winters that have
been less cold than in summers that have been
much hotter. Last week, the United Nations
predicted that winters were warming so quickly
that winter sports would die out in Europe’s
lower-level ski resorts. But sooner or later, the
unprecedented hot summer was bound to
come, and this year it did.
One of the most dramatic features of the
summer was the hot nights, especially in the
first half of August. In Paris, the temperature
never dropped below 23°C (73.4°F) at all

between 7 and 14 August, and the city

Meteorologists / ˌmiːtiəˈrɒləʤɪsts /: an expert in
or student of meteorology; a weather forecaster
reliable / rɪˈlaɪəbl /: consistently good in quality or
performance; able to be trusted
synonyms:dependable, good, well founded,
well grounded, authentic..
anomalies/ əˈnɒməliz /: something that deviates
from what is standard, normal, or expected.
plotted/ ˈplɒtɪd /: to mark or draw something on
a piece of paper or a map
denoting /dɪˈnəʊtɪŋ /: be a sign of; indicate
synonyms:designate, indicate, be a sign of,
be a mark of, signify

recur/ rɪˈkɜː /: occur again periodically or
repeatedly

manifesting /ˈmænɪfɛstɪŋ/: display or show (a
quality or feeling) by one's acts or appearance;
demonstrate
synonyms:display, show, exhibit, demonstrate, bet
ray
unprecedented /ʌnˈprɛsɪdəntɪd/: never done or
known before
dramatic /drəˈmætɪk/: sudden and striking
synonyms:considerable, substantial, sizeable,
goodly, reasonable…


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IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT
recorded its warmest-ever night on 11-12
August, when the mercury did not drop below
25.5°C (77.9°F). Germany recorded its
warmest-ever night at Weinbiet in the Rhine
Valley with a lowest figure of 27.6°C (80.6°F)
on 13 August, and similar record-breaking
nighttime temperatures were recorded in
Switzerland and Italy.
The 15,000 excess deaths in France during
August, compared with previous years, have
been related to the high night-time
temperatures. The number gradually increased
during the first 12 days of the month, peaking at
about 2,000 per day on the night of 12-13
August, then fell off dramatically after 14
August when the minimum temperatures fell by
about 5°C. The elderly were most affected, with
a 70 per cent increase in mortality rate in
those aged 75-94.
For Britain, the year as a whole is likely to be
the warmest ever recorded, but despite the high
temperature record on 10 August, the summer
itself - defined as the June, July and August
period - still comes behind 1976 and 1995,
when there were longer periods of intense
heat. “At the moment, the year is on course to

be the third hottest ever in the global
temperature record, which goes back to 1856,
behind 1998 and 2002, but when all the records
for October, November and December are
collated, it might move into second place/'
Professor Jones said. The ten hottest years in
the record have all now occurred since 1990.
Professor Jones is in no doubt about the
astonishing nature of European summer of
2003. “The temperatures recorded were out of
all proportion to the previous record," he said.

mortality / mɔːˈtælɪti /: the state of being subject
to death
synonyms:impermanence, temporality,
transience, ephemerality, impermanency

intense / ɪnˈtɛns/: of extreme force, degree, or
strength
synonyms:great, acute, enormous, fierce, severe
collated/ kɒˈleɪtɪd/: collect and combine (texts,
information, or sets of figures) in proper order
synonyms:collect, gather, accumulate, assemble,
astonishing / əsˈtɒnɪʃɪŋ/: extremely surprising or
impressive; amazing

“It was the warmest summer in the past 500
years and probably way beyond that. It was
His colleagues at the University of East
Anglia's Tyndall Centre for Climate Change

Research are now planning a special study of
it. “It was a summer that has not been
experienced before, either in terms of the
temperature extremes that were reached, or the
range and diversity of the impacts of the
extreme heat," said the centre's executive
director, Professor Mike Hulme.

executive / ɪgˈzɛkjʊtɪv/: a person with senior
managerial responsibility in a business
organization
synonyms:chief, head, principal, senior
official, senior manager, senior
administrator,director...

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IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT
“It will certainly have left its mark on a number
of countries, as to how they think and plan for
climate change in the future, much as the 2000
floods have revolutionised the way the
Government is thinking about flooding in the
UK. The 2003 heatwave will have similar
repercussions across Europe."

revolutionised / ˌrɛvəˈluːʃnaɪzd/: change
(something) radically or fundamentally
repercussions /ˌriːpɜːˈkʌʃənz/: an unintended

consequence occurring some time after an event
or action, especially an unwelcome one

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IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT

A
Besides the earth’s oceans, glacier ice is the
largest source of water on earth. A glacier is a
massive stream or sheet of ice that moves
underneath itself under the influence of gravity.
Some glaciers travel down mountains or
valleys, while others spread across a large
expanse of land. Heavily glaciated regions such
as Greenland and Antarctica are called
continental glaciers. These two ice sheets
encompass more than 95 percent of the
earth’s glacial ice. The Greenland ice sheet is
almost 10,000 feet thick in some areas, and the
weight of this glacier is so heavy that much of
the region has been depressed below sea level.
Smaller glaciers that occur at higher elevations
are called alpine or valley glaciers. Another
way of classifying glaciers is in terms of their
internal temperature. In temperate glaciers, the
ice within the glacier is near its melting point.
Polar glaciers, , always maintain temperatures
far below melting.

B
The majority of the earth’s glaciers are located
near the poles, though glaciers exist on all
continents, including Africa and Oceania. The
reason glaciers are generally formed in high
alpine regions is that they require cold
temperatures throughout the year. In these
areas where there is little opportunity
for summer ablation (loss of mass), snow
changes to compacted fim and then
crystallized ice. During periods in which melting
and evaporation exceed the amount of
snowfall, glaciers will retreat rather than
progress. While glaciers rely heavily on
snowfall, other climactic conditions including
freezing rain, avalanches, and wind, contribute
to their growth. One year of below average
precipitation can stunt the growth of a glacier
tremendously. With the rare exception of
surging glaciers, a common glacier flows about
10 inches per day in the summer and 5 inches
per day in the winter. The fastest glacial surge
on record occurred in 1953, when the Kutiah

glacier / ˈglæsiə /: a slowly moving mass or river
of ice formed by the accumulation and compaction
of snow on mountains or near the pole

encompass /ɪnˈkʌmpəs /: surround and have or
hold within

synonyms:surround, enclose, ring, encircle,
consist of
alpine/ ˈælpaɪn /: relating to high mountains
poles/ pəʊlz /: a linear or square rod
ablation /æbˈleɪʃ(ə)n /: the removal of snow and
ice by melting or evaporation, typically from a
glacier or iceberg
synonyms: abscission, cutting,
removal,extirpation..
compacted / kəmˈpæktɪd/: exert force on
(something) to make it more dense; compress
synonyms:dense, packed close, closepacked, tightly packed, pressed together
firmly packed or pressed together; compressed
evaporation / ɪˌvæpəˈreɪʃən /: the process of
turning from liquid into vapor
synonyms: dying
up,loss,vanishing,dissappearance,loss…
avalanches/ ˈævəlɑːnʃɪz /: a mass of snow, ice,
and rocks falling rapidly down a mountainside.
synonyms:snowslide, snow
slip, rockslide,icefall, landslide,
precipitation/ prɪˌsɪpɪˈteɪʃən /: rain, snow, sleet,
or hail that falls to the ground
synonyms: rain,
rainfall,drizzle,rainstorm,sleet,snow..

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IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT

Glacier in Pakistan grew more than 12
kilometers in three months.
C
The weight and pressure of ice accumulation
causes glacier movement. Glaciers move out
from under themselves, via plastic deformation
and basal slippage. First, the internal flow of ice
crystals begins to spread outward and
downward from the thickened snow pack also
known as the zone of accumulation. Next, the
ice along the ground surface begins to slip in
the same direction. Seasonal thawing at the
base of the glacier helps to facilitate this
slippage. The middle of a glacier moves faster
than the sides and bottom because there is no
rock to cause friction. The upper part of a
glacier rides on the ice below. As a glacier
moves it carves out a U-shaped valley similar to
a riverbed, but with much steeper walls and a
flatter bottom.

deformation / ˌdiːfɔːˈmeɪʃən/: action or process of
changing in shape or distorting, especially through
the application of pressure
synonyms:hurt,harm,damage…
thawing /ˈθɔːɪŋ/: a period of warmer weather that
thaws ice and snow
synonyms:melt, unfreeze, soften, liquefy, dissolve,
defrost


erosion /ɪˈrəʊʒən/: the process of eroding or
being eroded by wind, water, or other natural
agents

D

synonyms: deterioration; wearing away

Besides the extraordinary rivers of ice, glacial
erosion creates other unique physical features
in the landscape such as horns, fjords,
hanging valleys, and cirques. Most of these
landforms do not become visible until after a
glacier has receded. Many are created by
moraines, which occur at the sides and front of
a glacier. Moraines are formed when material is
picked up along the way and deposited in a
new location. When many alpine glaciers occur
on the same mountain, these moraines can
create a horn. The Matterhorn, in the Swiss
Alps is one of the most famous horns. Fjords,
which are very common in Norway, are coastal
valleys that fill with ocean water during a glacial
retreat. Hanging valleys occur when two or
more glacial valleys intersect at varying
elevations. It is common for waterfalls to
connect the higher and lower hanging valleys,
such as in Vosemite National Park. A cirque is
a large bowlshaped valley that forms at the
front of a glacier. Cirques often have a lip on

their down slope that is deep enough to hold
small lakes when the ice melts away.

fjords/ fjɔːdz/: a long, narrow, deep inlet of the
sea between high cliffs, as in Norway and Iceland,
typically formed by submergence of a glaciated
valley.

E
Glacier movement and shape shifting typically
occur over hundreds of years. While presently
about 10 percent of the earth’s land is covered
with glaciers, it is believed that during the last
Ice Age glaciers covered approximately 32

Receded/ ri(ː)ˈsiːdɪd/: go or move back or further
away from a previous position
synonyms:retreat, go back, move back, move
further off,
moraines/ mɒˈreɪnz /: Băng tích
intersect / ˌɪntə(ː)ˈsɛkt /: divide (something) by
passing or lying across it
synonyms:bisect, divide, halve, cut in two, cut in
half,
slope / sləʊp /: a surface of which one end or side
is at a higher level than another; a rising or falling
surface
synonyms:gradient, incline, angle, slant,
shifting / ˈʃɪftɪŋ/: a slight change in position,
direction, or tendency

synonyms:movement, move, shifting, transference

15


IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT
percent of the earth’s surface. In the past
century, most glaciers have been retreating
rather than flowing forward. It is unknown
whether this glacial activity is due to human
impact or natural causes, but by studying
glacier movement, and comparing climate and
agricultural profiles over hundreds of years,
glaciologists can begin to understand
environmental issues such as global warming.

16


IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT

From the results of an annual Alaskan betting contest to sightings of migratory birds,
ecologists are using a wealth of unusual data to predict the impact of climate change.

A Tim Sparks slides a small leather-bound
notebook out of an envelope. The book's
yellowing pages contain bee-keeping notes made
between 1941 and 1969 by the late Walter Coates
of Kilworth, Leicestershire. He adds it to his
growing pile of local journals, birdwatchers' lists

and gardening diaries. "We're uncovering about
one major new record each month," he says, "I
still get surprised." Around two centuries before
Coates, Robert Marsham, a landowner from
Norfolk in the east of England, began recording
the life cycles of plants and animals on his estate when the first wood anemones flowered, the dates
on which the oaks burst into leaf and the rooks
began nesting. Successive Marshams continued
compiling these notes for 211 years.
B Today, such records are being put to uses that
their authors could not possibly have expected.
These data sets, and others like them, are proving
invaluable to ecologists interested in the timing of
biological events, or phenology. By combining the
records with climate data, researchers can reveal
how, for example, changes in temperature affect
the arrival of spring, allowing ecologists to make
improved predictions about the impact of climate
change. A small band of researchers is combing
through hundreds of years of records taken by
thousands of amateur naturalists. And more
systematic projects have also started up,
producing an overwhelming response. "The
amount of interest is almost frightening," says
Sparks, a climate researcher at the Centre for
Ecology and Hydrology in Monks Wood,
Cambridgeshire.

landowner / ˈlændˌəʊnə /: a person who owns land,
especially a large amount of land

burst / bɜːst /: break suddenly and violently apart,
spilling the contents, typically as a result of an impact or
internal pressure
synonyms:split open, burst open, break open, tear
open, rupture

reveal / rɪˈviːl /: make (previously unknown or secret
information) known to others
synonyms:divulge, disclose, tell, let out, let slip
predictions / prɪˈdɪkʃənz /: a thing predicted; a forecast
synonyms: estimation,guess,forecast,projection…
frightening/ ˈfraɪtnɪŋ /: making someone afraid or
anxious; terrifying
synonyms: scary, terrifying,alarming,fearful,upsetting…

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IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT
C Sparks first became aware of the army of
"closet phenologists”, as he describes them, when
a retiring colleague gave him the Marsham
records. He now spends much of his time
following leads from one historical data set to
another. As news of his quest spreads, people tip
him off to other historical records, and more
amateur phenologists come out of their closets.
The British devotion to recording and collecting
makes his job easier - one man from Kent sent
him 30 years' worth of kitchen calendars, on which

he had noted the date that his neighbour's
magnolia tree flowered.
D Other researchers have unearthed data from
equally odd sources. Rafe Sagarin, an ecologist at
Stanford University in California, recently studied
records of a betting contest in which participants
attempt to guess the exact time at which a
specially erected wooden tripod will fall through
the surface of a thawing river. The competition has
taken place annually on the Tenana River in
Alaska since 1917, and analysis of the results
showed that the thaw now arrives five days earlier
than it did when the contest began.
E Overall, such records have helped to show that,
compared with 20 years ago, a raft of natural
events now occur earlier across much of the
northern hemisphere, from the opening of leaves
to the return of birds from migration and the
emergence of butterflies from hibernation. The
data can also hint at how nature will change in the
future. Together with models of climate change,
amateurs' records could help guide conservation.
Terry Root, an ecologist at the University of
Michigan in Ann Arbor, has collected birdwatchers'
counts of wildfowl taken between 1955 and 1996
on seasonal ponds in the American Midwest and
combined them with climate data and models of
future warming. Her analysis shows that the
increased droughts that the models predict could
halve the breeding populations at the ponds. "The

number of waterfowl in North America will most
probably drop significantly with global warming,"
she says.
F But not all professionals are happy to use
amateur data. "A lot of scientists won't touch them,
they say they're too full of problems," says Root.
Because different observers can have different
ideas of what constitutes, for example, an open
snowdrop. "The biggest concern with ad hoc
observations is how carefully and systematically
they were taken," says Mark Schwartz of the
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, who studies

spreads/ sprɛdz /: the fact or process of spreading over
an area
synonyms:expansion, proliferation, extension,
growth, mushrooming
devotion / dɪˈvəʊʃən /: love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a
person, activity, or cause
synonyms:loyalty, faithfulness, fidelity, trueness, staunchn
ess
magnolia / mægˈnəʊliə /: cây Mộc Lan
participants / pɑːˈtɪsɪpənts /: a person who takes part in
something
synonyms: member,contributor,applicant,partaker
erected / ɪˈrɛktɪd /: rigidly upright or straight
synonyms:upright, bolt upright, straight, vertical
tripod / ˈtraɪpɒd/: a stool, table, or cauldron resting on
three legs.
raft / rɑːft /: a flat buoyant structure of timber or other

materials fastened together, used as a boat or floating
platform
synonyms : bundle,range,host,amount..
hibernation/ ˌhaɪbɜːˈneɪʃən /: the condition or period of
an animal or plant spending the winter in a dormant state
wildfowl / ˈwaɪldfaʊl/: game birds, especially aquatic
ones; waterfowl
ponds/ pɒndz/: a small body of still water formed naturally
or by hollowing or embanking
synonyms: pool,fishpond,millpond,tarn…
constitutes/ ˈkɒnstɪtjuːts /: be (a part) of a whole
synonyms:amount to, add up to, account for, form, make
up
ad hoc/ æd hɒk /: created or done for a particular
purpose as necessary

18


IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT
the interactions between plants and climate. "We
need to know pretty precisely what a person's
been observing - if they just say 'I noted when the
leaves came out', it might not be that useful."
Measuring the onset of autumn can be particularly
problematic because deciding when leaves
change colour is a more subjective process than
noting when they appear.
G Overall, most phenologists are positive about
the contribution that amateurs can make. "They

get at the raw power of science: careful
observation of the natural world," says Sagarin.
But the professionals also acknowledge the need
for careful quality control. Root, for example, tries
to gauge the quality of an amateur archive by
interviewing its collector. "You always have to
worry - things as trivial as vacations can affect
measurement. I disregard a lot of records because
they're not rigorous enough," she says. Others
suggest that the right statistics can iron out some
of the problems with amateur data. Together with
colleagues at Wageningen University in the
Netherlands, environmental scientist Arnold van
Vliet is developing statistical techniques to
account for the uncertainty in amateur
phenological data. With the enthusiasm of
amateur phenologists evident from past records,
professional researchers are now trying to create
standardised recording schemes for future efforts.
They hope that well-designed studies will generate
a volume of observations large enough to drown
out the idiosyncrasies of individual recorders.
The data are cheap to collect, and can provide
breadth in space, time and range of species. "It's
very difficult to collect data on a large geographical scale without enlisting an army of
observers," says Root.
H Phenology also helps to drive home messages
about climate change. "Because the public
understand these records, they accept them,"
says Sparks.

It can also illustrate potentially unpleasant
consequences, he adds, such as the finding that
more rat infestations are reported to local
councils in warmer years. And getting people
involved is great for public relations. "People are
thrilled to think that the data they've been
collecting as a hobby can be used for something
scientific - it empowers them," says Root.

onset / ˈɒnsɛ /: the beginning of something, especially
something unpleasant

gauge / geɪʤ /: estimate or determine the magnitude,
amount, or volume of:
synonyms:assess, evaluate, appraise, analyze, weigh up
trivial / ˈtrɪvɪəl /: of little value or importance
synonyms:unimportant, insignificant,
inconsequential, minor, of no/little account
rigorous / ˈrɪgərəs /: extremely thorough, exhaustive, or
accurate
synonyms:meticulous, punctilious, conscientious,
careful, diligent,
schemes / skiːmz /: a large-scale systematic plan or
arrangement for attaining some particular object or putting
a particular idea into effect
synonyms:plan, project, plan of action, program, strategy
idiosyncrasies / ˌɪdɪəˈsɪŋkrəsiz /: a mode of behavior or
way of thought peculiar to an individual
synonyms: characteristics,features,quirk,peculiarities..
breadth / brɛdθ /: the distance or measurement from side

to side of something; width
synonyms:width, broadness, wideness, thickness, span
illustrate / ˈɪləstreɪ /: provide (a book, newspaper, etc.)
with pictures synonyms:decorate,
exemplify, show, demonstrate, display
infestations / ˌɪnfɛsˈteɪʃənz /:
the presence of an unusually large number of insects or
animals in a place, typically so as to cause damage or
disease
synonyms: influenza , infection,contagion,curse,invasion...

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IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT

A
Orcas, also known as killer whales, are
opportunistic feeders, which means they will
take a variety of different prey species. J, K,
and L pods (specific groups of orcas found in
the region) are almost exclusively fish eaters.
Some studies show that up to 90 percent of
their diet is salmon, with Chinook salmon being
far and away their favorite. During the last 50
years, hundreds of wild runs of salmon have
become extinct due to habitat loss and
overfishing of wild stocks. Many of the extinct
salmon stocks are the winter runs of chinook
and coho. Although the surviving stocks have

probably been sufficient to sustain the resident
pods, many of the runs that have been lost
were undoubtedly traditional resources favored
by the resident orcas. This may be affecting the
whales’ nutrition in the winter and may require
them to change their patterns of movement in
order to search for food.

Exclusively/ ɪksˈkluːsɪvli /: to the exclusion of
others; only; solely
habitat / ˈhæbɪtæt /: the natural home or
environment of an animal, plant, or other organism
stocks / stɒks /: Quần thể
synonyms:merchandise, goods, wares, items/articles
for sale, commodities,
sufficient / səˈfɪʃənt /: enough; adequate

Other studies with tagged whales have shown
that they regularly dive up to 800 feet in this
area.
Researchers tend to think that during these
deep dives the whales may be feeding on
bottomfish. Bottomfish species in this area
would include halibut, rockfish, lingcod, and
greenling. Scientists estimate that today’s
lingcod population in northern Puget Sound and
the Strait of Georgia is only 2 percent of what it
was in 1950. The average size of rockfish in the
recreational catch has also declined by several
inches since the 1970s, which is indicative of


Indicative/ ɪnˈdɪkətɪv /: serving as a sign or
indication of something

20


IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT
overfishing. In some locations, certain rockfish
species have disappeared entirely. So even if
bottomfish are not a major food resource for the
whales, the present low numbers of available
fish increases the pressure on orcas and all
marine animals to find food. (For more
information on bottomfish see the San Juan
County Bottomfish Recovery Program.)
B
Toxic substances accumulate in higher
concentrations as they move up the food chain.
Because orcas t are the top predator in the
ocean and are at the top of several different
food chains in the environment, they tend to be
more affected by pollutants than other sea
creatures. Examinations of stranded killer
whales have shown some extremely high levels
of lead, mercury, and polychlorinated
hydrocarbons. Abandoned marine toxic waste
dumps and present levels of industrial and
human refuse pollution of the inland waters
probably presents the most serious threat to the

continued existence of this orca population.
Unfortunately, the total remedy to this huge
problem would be broad societal changes on
many fronts. But because of the fact that orcas
are so popular, they may be the best species to
use as a focal point in bringing about the many
changes that need to be made in order to
protect the marine environment as a whole from
further toxic poisoning.'

disappeared / ˌdɪsəˈpɪəd /: cease to be visible
synonyms:vanish, pass from sight
marine / məˈriːn /: of, found in, or produced by the
sea
synonyms: sea, oceanic, aquatic,
substances / ˈsʌbstənsɪz /: a particular kind of
matter with uniform properties
synonyms:material, matter, stuff, medium, fabric
pollutants /pəˈluːtənts /: a substance that pollutes
something, especially water or the atmosphere:
Abandoned / əˈbændənd/: leave (a place or
vehicle) empty or uninhabited, without intending to
return
synonyms:vacate, leave, quit
refuse / ˈrɛfjuːs /: the worthless or useless part of
something ( trash, rubbish..)
fronts/ frʌnts /: the side or part of an object that
presents itself to view or that is normally seen or
used first; the most forward part of something
focal / ˈfəʊkəl /: relating to the center or main point

of interest:
commercial / kəˈmɜːʃəl /: concerned with or
engaged in commerce

C

synonyms:trade, trading, business

The waters around the San Juan Islands are
extremely busy due to international
commercial shipping, fishing, whale watching,
and pleasure boating. On a busy weekend day
in the summer, it is not uncommon to see
numerous boats in the vicinity of the whales as
they travel through the area. The potential
impacts from all this vessel traffic with regard to
the whales and other marine animals in the
area could be tremendous.

vicinity/ vɪˈsɪnɪti /: the area near or surrounding a
particular place

The surfacing and breathing space of marine
birds and mammals is a critical aspect of their
habitat, which the animals must consciously
deal with on a moment-to-moment basis
throughout their lifetimes. With all the boating
activity in the vicinity, there are three ways in
which surface impacts are most likely to affect
marine animals: (a) collision, (b) collision


synonyms: surrounding district, surrounding
area, neighborhood,
tremendous/ trɪˈmɛndəs /: very great in amount,
scale, or intensity
synonyms:very
great, huge, enormous, immense, colossal,
mammals / ˈmæməlz /: Động vật có vú
Collision/ kəˈlɪʒən /: an instance of one moving
object or person striking violently against another
synonyms:crash, accident, smash, bump, knock,

21


IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT
avoidance, and (c) exhaust emissions in
breathing pockets.
The first two impacts are very obvious and don’t
just apply to vessels with motors. Kayakers
even present a problem here because they’re
so quiet. Marine animals, busy hunting and
feeding under the surface of the water, may not
be aware that there is a kayak above them and
actually hit the bottom of it as they surface to
breathe.
The third impact is one most people don’t even
think of. When there are numerous boats in
the area, especially idling boats, there are a lot
of exhaust fumes being spewed out on the

surface of the water. When the whale comes up
to take a nice big breath of “fresh" air, it instead
gets a nice big breath of exhaust fumes. It’s
hard to say how greatly this affects the animals,
but think how breathing polluted air affects us
(i.e., smog in large cities like Los Angeles,
breathing the foul air while sitting in traffic jams,
etc)._
D
Similar to surface impacts, a primary source of
acoustic pollution for this population of orcas
would also be derived from the cumulative
underwater noise of vessel traffic. For
cetaceans, the underwater sound environment
is perhaps the most critical component of their
sensory and behavioral lives. Orcas
communicate with each other over short and
long distances with a variety of clicks, chirps,
squeaks, and whistles, along with using
echolocation to locate prey and to navigate.
They may also rely on passive listening as a
primary sensory source. The long-term impacts
from noise pollution would not likely show up as
noticeable behavioral changes in habitat use,
but rather as sensory damage or gradual
reduction in population health. A new study at
The Whale Museum called the SeaSound
Remote Sensing Network has begun studying
underwater acoustics and its relationship to
orca communication.


numerous / ˈnjuːmərəs /: great in number; many
spewed / spjuːd /: expel large quantities of
(something) rapidly and forcibly
synonyms:emit, discharge, eject, expel, belch out,

derived / dɪˈraɪvd /: obtain something from (a
specified source
synonyms:obtain, get, take, gain, acquire,
cumulative / ˈkjuːmjʊlətɪv /: increasing or
increased in quantity, degree, or force by successive
additions
sensory / ˈsɛnsəri /: relating to sensation or the
physical senses; transmitted or perceived by the
senses
echolocation / ˌek.oʊ.loʊˈkeɪ.ʃən /:
the location of objects by reflected sound, in
particular that used by animals such as dolphins and
bats.

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IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT

The climate of the Earth is always changing.
In the past it has altered as a result of natural causes. Nowadays, however, the term
‘climate change’ is generally used when
referring to changes in our climate which
have been identified since the early part of

the twentieth century. The changes we’ve
seen over recent years and those which are
predicted to occur over the next 100 years
are thought by many to be largely a result of
human behavior rather than due to natural
changes in the atmosphere. And this is what
is so significant about current climactic
trends; never before has man played such a
significant role in determining long-term
weather patterns – we are entering the
unknown and there is no precedent for what
might happen next.
B
The greenhouse effect is very important
when we talk about climate change as it
relates to the gases which keep the Earth
warm. Although the greenhouse effect is a
naturally occurring phenomenon, it is
believed that the effect could be intensified
by human activity and the emission of gases
into the atmosphere. It is the extra greenhouse gases which humans have released
which are thought to pose the strongest
threat. Certain researchers, such as Dr
Michael Crawley, argue: ‘even though this
natural phenomenon does exist it is without a
doubt human activity that has worsened its

altered / ˈɔːltəd /: changed in character or composition,
typically in a comparatively small but significant way


predicted / prɪˈdɪktɪd/: stated or estimated as likely to
happen in the future; forecast

precedent / ˈprɛsɪdənt /: an earlier event or action that is
regarded as an example or guide to be considered in
subsequent similar circumstances
greenhouse / ˈgriːnhaʊs /: the trapping of the sun's
warmth in a planet's lower atmosphere
intensified / ɪnˈtɛnsɪfaɪd /: increase the opacity of (a
negative) using a chemical
pose / pəʊz /: present or constitute (a problem,
danger, or difficulty)
synonyms:constitute, present, create, cause, produce,
worsened / ˈwɜːsnd /: make or become worse
synonyms:aggravate, exacerbate, make worse

23


IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT
effect; this is evident when comparing data
regarding the earth’s temperature in the last
one hundred years with the one hundred
years prior to that.’ Some scientists,
however, dispute this as Dr Ray Ellis
suggests: ‘human activity may be
contributing a small amount to climate
change but this increase in temperature is an
unavoidable fact based on the research data
we have compiled.


dispute / dɪsˈpjuːt/: a disagreement, argument, or
debate
synonyms:debate, discussion, discourse,
disputation, argument,

C
Scientists around the globe are looking at all
the evidence surrounding climate change
and using advanced technology have come
up with predictions for our future environment
and weather. The next stage of that work,
which is just as important, is looking at the
knock-on effects of potential changes. For
example, are we likely to see an increase in
precipitation and sea levels? Does this mean
there will be an increase in flooding and what
can we do to protect ourselves from that?
How will our health be affected by climate
change, how will agricultural practices
change and how will wildlife cope? What will
the effects on coral be? Professor Max
Leonard has suggested, ‘while it may be
controversial some would argue that climate
change could bring with it positive effects as
well as negative ones’.

coral / ˈkɒrəl /: a hard stony substance secreted by
certain marine coelenterates as an external skeleton,
typically forming large reefs in warm seas


D
There are many institutions around the world
whose sole priority is to take action against
these environmental problems. Green Peace
is the organisation that is probably the most
well-known. It is an international organisation
that campaigns in favour of researching and
promoting solutions to climate change,
exposes the companies and governments
that are blocking action, lobbies to change
national and international policy, and bears
witness to the impacts of unnecessary
destruction and detrimental human activity.
E
The problem of climate change is without a
doubt something that this generation and the
generations to come need to deal with.
Fortunately, the use of renewable energy is
becoming increasingly popular, which means

campaigns / kæmˈpeɪnz/: work in an organized and
active way toward a particular goal, typically a political
or social one
synonyms:crusade, fight, battle, work, push
lobbies / ˈlɒbiz/: a room providing a space out of which
one or more other rooms or corridors lead, typically one
near the entrance of a public building.
synonyms:entrance
hall, hallway, hall, entrance, vestibule,

renewable / rɪˈnjuːəbl/: (of a natural resource or source
of energy) not depleted when used

24


IELTS – thầy Kiên iFIGHT
that less energy is consumed as renewable
energy is generated from natural resources—
such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat—which can be naturally
replenished. Another way to help the
environment, in terms of climate change, is
by travelling light. Walking or riding a bike
instead of driving a car uses fewer fossil fuels
which release carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere. In addition, using products that
are made from recycled paper, glass, metal
and plastic reduces carbon emissions
because they use less energy to
manufacture than products made from
completely new materials. Recycling paper
also saves trees and lets them continue to
limit climate change naturally as they remain
in the forest, where they remove carbon from
the atmosphere. Professor Mark Halton, who
has completed various studies in this field,
has stated: ‘with all this information and the
possible action that we can take, it isn’t too
late to save our planet from over-heating and
the even worse side-effects of our own

activity.

geothermal / dʒiː.oʊ- ˈθɜːməl /: relating to or produced
by the internal heat of the earth:
replenished/ rɪˈplɛnɪʃt /: fill (something) up again
synonyms:refill, top up, fill up, recharge, reload,

manufacture / ˌmænjʊˈfækʧə /: the making of articles
on a large scale using machinery
synonyms:make, produce, mass
produce, build, construct

stated/ ˈsteɪtɪd /: clearly expressed or identified;
specified

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