IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary

Vol.4 Science

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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary

Vol.4 Science

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 (30), Business & Economy (30), 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 cịn 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 – Lean Vocabulary

Vol.4 Science

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
Hoàn thành highlight từ vựng học thuật, giải thích và synonym
cho 45 bài đọc cho Vol.4 - Environment của bộ LEAN
VOCABULARY.

Nguyễn Thu Loan: K58 – NEU (bạn thứ 2 bên trái sang
nhé :P )
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
Hoàn thành highlight từ vựng học thuật, giải thích và synonym
cho 45 bài đọc cho Vol.6 - 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.3 – Sports and Health - của bộ LEAN
VOCABULARY

Nguyễn Thu Phương: K60 - NEU
Hoàn thành highlight từ vựng học thuật, giải thích và synonym
cho 30 bài đọc cho Vol.2 – Business & Economy của bộ LEAN
VOCABULARY

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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary

Vol.4 Science

Lời nói đầu:.............................................................................................................................................. 2
Lời cảm ơn: ............................................................................................................................................. 3
Reading 1: What is animal testing? ............................................................................................... 6
Reading 2: What is animal testing? ............................................................................................... 6
Reading 3: Animal Testing 101...................................................................................................... 9
Reading 4: Scientific procedures involving animals at lowest level since 2010 ....... 12
Reading 5: Why science is being more open about animals in research ...................... 14
Reading 6: Eliminate animal experimentation?..................................................................... 18
Reading 7: The Earth and Space Foundation......................................................................... 25
Reading 8: Astronaut ice cream, anyone ................................................................................. 33
Reading 9: The Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence .................................................. 36
Reading 10: The Triune Brain ...................................................................................................... 40
Reading 11: So you think humans are unique ....................................................................... 43
Reading 12: Anesthesiology ........................................................................................................... 46
Reading 13: The Revolutionary Bridges of Robert Maillart .............................................. 48
Reading 14: Striking Back at Lightning With Lasers .......................................................... 51
Reading 15: Green virtues of green sand................................................................................. 54
Reading 16: Beyond the blue horizon........................................................................................ 57
Reading 17: Reducing errors in memory ................................................................................. 61
Reading 18: Johnson's Dictionary ............................................................................................... 63
Reading 19: Nature or Nurture? ................................................................................................. 67
Reading 20: A spark, a flint: How fire leapt to life ............................................................. 71
Reading 21: Right and left-handedness in humans ............................................................ 74
Reading 22: Young children's sense of identity ..................................................................... 78
Reading 23: Flawed Beauty: the problem with toughened glass .................................... 82

Reading 24: Play is a serious business ....................................................................................... 86
Reading 25: In search of the holy grail..................................................................................... 90
Reading 26: The harm that picture books can cause .......................................................... 94
Reading 27: Psychology and personality ASSESSMENT .................................................... 98
Reading 28: A Remarkable Beetle ........................................................................................... 102
Reading 29: A Chronicle of Timekeeping .............................................................................. 105
Reading 30: Endless Harvest ...................................................................................................... 109
Reading 31: The nature and aims of archaelogy ............................................................... 113

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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary

Vol.4 Science

Reading 32: The life and work of Marie Curie ................................................................... 117
Reading 33: Trends and prospects for European transport systems ........................ 120
Reading 34: THE DEPARTMENT OF ETHNOGRAPHY .................................................... 123
Reading 35: Mind readers ........................................................................................................... 126
Reading 36: The History of Bicycles ........................................................................................ 130
Reading 37: Pulling strings to build pyramids.................................................................... 132
Reading 38: What destroyed the civilisation of Easter Island? .................................... 135
Reading 39: When evolution runs backwards ..................................................................... 138
Reading 40: Research using twins............................................................................................ 141
Reading 41: Venus in transit ..................................................................................................... 144
Reading 42: Dino discoveries...................................................................................................... 148
Reading 43: The psychology of innovation ........................................................................... 152

Reading 44: The Rise and Fall of the British Textile Industry .................................... 155
Reading 45: Spoken Corpus comes to life ............................................................................. 158
Reading 46: This Marvellous Invention .................................................................................. 160
Listening section .............................................................................................................................. 163

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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary

Vol.4 Science

What is animal testing?

An animal test is any scientific experiment or
test in which a live animal is forced to undergo
something that is likely to cause them pain,
suffering, distress or lasting harm.
Animal experiments are not the same as taking
your companion animal to the vet. Animals
used in laboratories are deliberately harmed,
not for their own good, and are usually killed at
the end of the experiment.

Undergo (v) /ˌʌndəˈgəʊ/: experience or be subjected
to (something, typically something unpleasant, painful,
or arduous)
Synonym: Go through, experience, face, endure, bear,

tolerate, withstand
Deliberately(adv) /dɪˈlɪbərɪtli/: on purpose
Synonym: Intentionally, purposely
Inject(v) /ɪnˈʤɛkt /: tiêm

Animal experiments
Animal experiments include:






injecting or force feeding animals with
potentially harmful substances
exposing animals to radiation
surgically removing animals’ organs or
tissues to deliberately cause damage
forcing animals to inhale toxic gases
subjecting animals to frightening
situations to create anxiety and
depression.

Animals used
Only vertebrate animals (mammals, birds, fish
and amphibians) and some invertebrates such

Expose(v) /ɪksˈpəʊz /: leave or put (someone) in an
unprotected and vulnerable state
Radiation(n) /ˌreɪdiˈeɪʃn/: phóng xạ

Surgically(adv) /ˈsɜːdʒɪkli/: Phẫu thuật
Inhale(v) /ɪnˈheɪl /: hít vào
Synonym: Breathe in
Toxic(adj) /ˈtɒksɪk /: poisonous
Synonym: Dangerous, deadly, harmful
Anxiety(n) /æŋˈzaɪəti/: a feeling of worry,
nervousness, or unease
Synonym: Worry, concern, fear
Depression(n) /dɪˈprɛʃən/: a medical condition in
which a person feels very sad and anxious

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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary
as octopuses are defined as ‘animals’ by
European legislation governing animal
experiments. Shockingly, in the USA rats, mice,
fish, amphibians and birds are not defined as
animals under animal experiments
regulations. That means no legal permission to
experiment on them is needed and they are not
included in any statistics.

Vol.4 Science
Synonym: Stress, despair

Animals used in experiments are usually bred

for this purpose by the laboratory or in breeding
facilities. It’s a cruel, multi-million dollar
industry. Cruelty Free International believes
that all animals are equally important. A dog
bred for research is still a dog who could
otherwise live a happy life in a loving home.
Some monkeys are still trapped in the wild in
Africa, Asia and South America to be used in
experiments or imprisoned in breeding
facilities. Their children are exported to
laboratories around the world. The use of wildcaught monkeys in experiments is generally
banned in Europe but is allowed elsewhere.
Horses and other animals such as cows, sheep
and pigs are often supplied by dealers and may
originate from racing stables or farms for use in
animal experiments. The rules preventing the
use of stray companion animals like dogs and
cats vary from country to country.

Imprison(v) /ɪmˈprɪzn/: put or keep in prison or a place
like a prison
Synonym: Lock up, hold, remain

Stray(adj) /streɪ/: having no home or having wandered
away from home
Synonym: Homeless, abandoned

Animal suffering
A large proportion of animal experiments in the
EU are reported to cause ‘moderate’ or ‘severe

suffering’ to the animals - according to the
researchers who carry them out. In the UK in
2016, 35% of animal experiments involved
moderate or severe suffering.
Some experiments require the animal to die as
part of the test. For example, regulatory tests
for, vaccines and chemical safety are
essentially variations of the cruel Lethal
Dose 50 test in which 50% of the animals
die or are killed very close to death.

Moderate(adi) /ˈmɒdərɪt/: average in amount,
intensity, quality, or degree
Synonym: Average, neutral, modest
Severe(adj) /sɪˈvɪə/: (of something bad or undesirable)
very great; intense
Synonym: Terrible, dreadful, tough, difficult, harsh

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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary

Laboratories
Laboratories are no place for any animal. They
are typically sterile, indoor environments in
which the animals are forced to live in cages –
denied complete freedom of movement and

control over their lives. Some animals in
laboratories are confined on their own, without
the companionship of others.

Vol.4 Science
Sterile(adj) /ˈsteraɪl/: completely clean and free from
bacteria
Confine(v) /kənˈfaɪn /: keep or restrict someone or
something within certain limits of (space, scope,
quantity, or time)
Synonym: Enclose, imprison, trap
Companionship(n) /kəmˈpæniənʃɪp/: the pleasant
feeling that you have when you have a friendly
relationship with somebody and are not alone

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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary

Vol.4 Science

Animal Testing 101

Right now, millions
of mice, rats, rabbits, primates, cats, dogs, and
other animals are locked inside barren cages
in laboratories across the country. They

languish in pain, suffer from extreme
frustration, ache with loneliness, and long to be
free.

Barren(adj) /ˈbær.ən/: cằn cỗi

Instead, all they can do is sit and wait in fear of
the next terrifying and painful procedure that will
be performed on them. The complete lack of
environmental enrichment and the stress of
their living situation cause some animals to
develop neurotic types of behavior such as
incessantly spinning in circles, rocking back
and forth, pulling out their own fur, and even
biting themselves. After enduring a life of pain,
loneliness, and terror, almost all of them will be
killed.

Long(v) /lɒŋ/: want something very much especially if
it does not seem likely to happen soon
Synonym: Want, desire, yearn, crave

There are many non-animal test methods that
can be used in place of animal testing. Not only
are these non-animal tests more humane, they
also have the potential to be cheaper, faster,
and more relevant to humans.
While some of the experimentation conducted
on animals today is required by law, most of it
isn’t. In fact, a number of countries have

implemented bans on the testing of certain types
of consumer goods on animals, such as the
cosmetics-testing bans in the European Union,
India, Israel, New Zealand, Norway, and

Laboratory(n) /ləˈbɒr.ə.tər.i/: Phịng thí nghiệm
Languish(v) /ˈlỉŋgwɪʃ/: suffer from being forced to
remain in an unpleasant place or situation
Synonym: Suffer

Enrichment(n)/ ɪnˈrɪʧmənt/: the action of improving or
enhancing the quality or value of something
Synonym: Advancement, enhancement
Neurotic(adj) /njʊəˈrɒt.ɪk/: loạn thần kinh chức năng
Incessantly(adv) /ɪnˈses.ənt/: never stopping,
especially in an annoying or unpleasant way
Synonym: ceaseless, unceasing
Humane(adj) /hjuːˈmeɪn/: nhân văn
Conduct(v) /kənˈdʌkt/: thực hiện
Synonym: implement
Implement(v) /ˈɪmplɪmənt /: put (a decision, plan,
agreement, etc.) into effect
Synonym: Execute, apply, perform, carry out
Ban(n) /bæn/: lệnh cấm

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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary

Vol.4 Science

elsewhere.

More than 100 million animals suffer and die
in the U.S. every year in cruel chemical,
drug, food, and cosmetics tests as well as
in medical training exercises and curiositydriven medical experiments at universities.
Animals also suffer and die in
classroom biology experiments and
dissection, even though modern non-animal
tests have repeatedly been shown to have more
educational value, save teachers time, and save
schools money. Exact numbers aren’t available
because mice, rats, birds, and cold-blooded
animals—who make up more than 99 percent of
animals used in experiments—are not covered
by even the minimal protections of the Animal
Welfare Act and therefore go uncounted.
Examples of animal tests include forcing mice
and rats to inhale toxic fumes, force-feeding
dogs pesticides, and dripping corrosive
chemicals into rabbits’ sensitive eyes. Even if a
product harms animals, it can still be marketed
to consumers. Conversely, just because a
product was shown to be safe in animals does
not guarantee that it will be safe to use in
humans.


Suffer(v) /ˈsʌfə/: experience or be subjected to
(something bad or unpleasant)
Synonym: Tolearate, bear, stand
Dissection(n) /dɪˈsɛkʃən/: the act of cutting up a dead
person, animal or plant in order to study it
Synonym: Cutting up/open

Toxic (adj) /ˈtɒksɪk/: poisonous
Synonym: Dangerous, deadly, harmful
Corrosive(adj) /kəˈrəʊsɪv/: tending to destroy
something slowly by chemical action
Guarantee(v) /ˌgærənˈtiː/: provide a formal assurance
Synonym: Ensure

Animals are also used in toxicity tests conducted
as part of massive regulatory testing programs
that are often funded by U.S. taxpayers’ money.
The Environmental Protection Agency, the Food
and Drug Administration, the National
Massive(adj) /ˈmæsɪv/: extremely large or serious
Toxicology Program, and the U.S. Department
of Agriculture are just a few of the government
Synonym: Big, huge, great
agencies that subject animals to crude, painful
tests.
The federal government and many health
charities waste precious dollars from taxpayers Precious(adj) /ˈprɛʃəs/: of great value
and well-meaning donors on animal experiments Synonym: Valuable, special
at universities and private laboratories, instead

of supporting promising clinical, in vitro,
epidemiological, and other non-animal studies
that could actually benefit humans.

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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary

Vol.4 Science

What You Can Do

Each of us can help prevent animal suffering
and deaths by buying cruelty-free products,
donating only to charities that don’t experiment
on animals, requesting alternatives to animal
dissection, demanding the immediate
implementation of humane, effective nonanimal tests by government agencies and
corporations, and calling on our alma maters to
stop experimenting on animals.
With the help of our members and supporters,
PETA campaigns globally to expose and end
the use of animals in experiments. Some of our
efforts include the following:

Alternative(n) /ɔːlˈtɜːnətɪv/: one of two or more
available possibilities

Synonym: Choice, option, other posibility
Implementation(n) /ˌɪmplɪmɛnˈteɪʃən/: the process of
putting a decision or plan into effect
Synonym: Execution, operation, carrying out



Conducting groundbreaking
eyewitness investigations and colorful
advocacy campaigns to educate the public

Pushing government agencies to
stop funding and conducting experiments on
animals

Encouraging pharmaceutical,
chemical, and consumer product
companies to replace tests on animals with
more effective non-animal methods

Helping students and teachers end
dissection in the classroom

Funding humane non-animal research

Publishing scientific papers on the
superiority of non-animal test methods

Urging health charities not to invest in
dead-end tests on animals

This multifaceted approach yields scores
of victories for animals imprisoned in
laboratories every year.

Groundbreaking(adj) /ˈgraʊndˌbreɪkɪŋ/: making new
discoveries; using new methods
Synonym: Innovative, new, unusual, pioneering
Advocacy(n) /ˈædvəkəsi/: the giving of public support
to an idea, a course of action or a belief
Synonym: support for, backing of, promotion of

Superiority(n) /sju(ː)ˌpɪərɪˈɒrɪti /: the state or quality
of being better, more skilful, more powerful, greater,
etc. than others
Synonym: Advantage, lead, dominance
Multifaceted(adj) /ˌmʌltɪˈfæsɪtɪd/: having many
different aspects to be considered
Synonym: Varied, various

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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary

Vol.4 Science

Scientific procedures involving animals at
lowest level since 2010


Scientific procedures involving animals are at
their lowest level since 2010, but animal rights
groups say the government is not doing enough
to reduce the number of animals bred with
genetic alterations.

Procedure(n) /prəˈsiːʤə/: a way of doing something,
especially the usual or correct way
Synonym: system, method, strategy, policy

Alteration(n) /ˌɔːltəˈreɪʃ(ə)n /: a change to something
New statistics released by the Home Office show
that makes it different
there were almost 3.8m scientific procedures
Synonym: Change, adjustment, modification
involving animals in 2017, a 4% drop on the
previous year. These included 1.89m
experiments on live animals – with reasons
ranging from legally required drug testing to
surgical training. The latest figures represent a
7% drop in the number of such experimental
procedures compared with 2016, and a 17% drop
compared with 10 years ago. Last year 5% of the
experiments were classed as involving “severe
suffering”, with a further 50% classed as mild.
“We are not having lots and lots of very painful
experiments going on – we are actually having
really quite a small percentage,” said Prof
Dominic Wells, chair of the animal sciences

group of the Royal Society of Biology. “Most of
the severe cases are within the regulatory
element – that would be things like toxicology [of
drugs]. If you don’t have toxicity [data], you don’t
know what the safety limit of that drug is.”

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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary
While the number of experiments
using primates has fallen 17% since 2016, the
report shows a sharp uptick in the use of
horses – an 18% increase in the same time
period.
Wells said this reflected the reuse of animals,
with the number of horses used for the first time
in fact having decreased from 373 to 288 in
2017. “That’s because some of these horses are
used essentially as blood donors to produce
blood products,” he said, noting the practice was
similar to the procedure in which blood can be
repeatedly taken from humans.
However, 1.9m procedures involved the
creation or breeding of genetically altered
animals – a 37% uptick over the past decade. Of
these animals, 99% were mice, fish or rats.


Vol.4 Science
Primate(n) /ˈpraɪ.meɪt/: a member of the most
developed and intelligent group of mammals,
including humans, monkeys, and apes
Uptick(n) /ˈəptik/: small increase

Donor(n) /ˈdəʊ.nər/: a person who gives some of
their blood or a part of their body

Alter(v) /ˈɔːltə/: change or cause to change in
character or composition
Synonym: Change, adjust, modify, amend

The Humane Society International said the
Lip service: To just say something but not actually
figures showed that a 2011 government
do it
commitment to reduce the number of animals
used in scientific research had been fruitless, and
that advice on the efficient breeding of genetically
Disgraceful(adj) /dɪsˈgreɪsfʊl/: shockingly
altered animals was simply lip service.
unacceptable
Synonym: Shocking, mean, shameful
“It is disgraceful that seven years after the UK
government’s pledge to reduce animal use in
scientific research, the animal body count
remains high year-on-year, with no meaningful or
effective strategy in place to address the number
one cause: out-of-control breeding of engineered

animals,” said Troy Seidle, vice president for
research and toxicology at the organisation.
“Once again, Humane Society International calls
on the government to require increased use of
cryopreservation – the freezing of sperm or
embryos – to short-circuit this appalling breedkill cycle.”
Experts say the atmosphere around animal
research has changed in recent years, largely
following the Serious and Organised Crime and
Police Act 2005, which strengthened measures
for tackling animal rights extremists.
appalling breed-kill cycle.”

Pledge(n) /plɛʤ/: a serious promise
Synonym: Commitment, promise, guarantee,
assurance.
Short-circuit(v) / ʃɔːt-ˈsɜːkɪt /: to do something more
quickly than usual, without going through all the
usual processes
Appalling(adj) /əˈpɔːlɪŋ/: very bad; awfu
Synonym: Bad, dreadful, awful, terrible

Tackle(v) /ˈtækl/: make determined efforts to deal
with (a problem or difficult task)
Synonym: Deal with, address, approach
Extremist(n) /ɪkˈstriː.mɪst/: người cực đoan

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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary

Vol.4 Science

Why science is being more open about
animals in research

We need to show the public the high welfare
standards and care all research animals receive
to help build trust in scientists.
If you have ever taken a medicine, you have
benefited from the humane use of animals in
medical research. My research at the University of
Bath focuses on understanding how the brain
responds to stress and how we can use that
knowledge to develop new and better
antidepressants. We use mice to study how their
behaviour changes in response to stress, or
potential new drug treatments, and then we
analyse their brains to identify affected brain
circuits and the molecules involved in those
behaviours.
Over four million UK adults experience
depression at any one time, and only around half
of those will respond to the existing medications.
There is a vital need to understand more about
the brain mechanisms that cause depression in
order to develop new and better antidepressants.


Welfare(adj) /ˈwɛlfeə/: the health, happiness, and
fortunes of a person or group
Synonym: Well-being, comfort, health, safety

Antidepressant(n) /ˌæn.ti.dɪˈpres.ənt/: a drug
used to reduce feelings of sadness and worry

Depression(n) /dɪˈprɛʃən/: a medical condition in
which a person feels very sad and anxious
Synonym: Stress, despair
Mechanism(n): cơ chế

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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary

Vol.4 Science

Animal research plays a key role in this.
In the UK the Home Office regulates animal
research under the Animals (Scientific
Procedures) Act. At the heart of the legislation is
the humane treatment of animals. This is
enshrined in “the 3Rs” that regulate all research
conducted with animals in the UK – replacement,
reduction and refinement.

● Replacement: the act does not allow animal
research to be done where alternatives exist.
● Reduction: the minimum number of animals is
used to obtain valid results for any experiment.
● Refinement: all techniques, from picking up an
animal to a simple injection, must be done in a
way that minimises animal suffering and
emphasises the welfare of the animal.
I grew up in a scientific environment that
encouraged people to be very cautious and not to
speak publicly about the use of animals in
research. There was a culture of secrecy. This
was understandable in an era when animal rights
activists conducted violent personal attacks on
scientists and organisations doing animal
research.
But surveys show that the vast majority of the UK
public supports the use of animals in medical
research where there is no alternative. Ipsos Mori
polls on public attitudes to animal research,
conducted every two years, consistently show that
over two-thirds of UK adults support the use
of animals in medical research where there is
no alternative. At the same time, Ipsos Mori also
shows an alarming loss of trust in scientists. Only
30-40% of the public trust scientists not to
cause unnecessary harm to the animals, trust
the regulatory system and trust organisations
as a source of reliable information on the topic
of animal research.


Enshrine(v)/ ɪnˈʃraɪn/: to make a law, right, etc.
respected or official, especially by stating it in an
important written document
Regulate(v) /ˈrɛgjʊleɪt/: control or supervise
(something, especially a company or business
activity) by means of rules and regulations.
Synonym: Control, check, supervise
Replacement(n) /rɪˈpleɪs.mənt/: sự thay thế
Synonym: Subtituition
Refinement(n) /rɪˈfaɪn.mənt/: the improvement
or clarification of something by the making of
small changes
Minimise(v) /ˈmɪnɪmaɪz/: reduce (something,
especially something unwanted or unpleasant) to
the smallest possible amount or degree
Synonym: Reduce, lessen, decrease
Emphasise(v) /ˈɛmfəsaɪz/: to give special
importance to something
Synonym: Highlight, stress
Secrecy(n) /ˈsiːkrɪsi/: state of being secret
Synonym: Silence, isolation

The result was the introduction in 2014 of
the Concordat on Openness on Animal Research
in the UK, which was developed by Understanding
Animal Research, working with UK-based life
sciences organisations, to support more
transparent and open communication with the


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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary
public about animal research. The concordat has
more than 100 signatories including universities,
industry, learned societies, medical charities and
government organisations that conduct research
with animals. As part of this agreement, these
organisations now all have clear statements on
their webpages about using animals in research.

Vol.4 Science
Transparent(adj) /trænsˈpeərənt/: allowing you
to see the truth easily
Synonym: Obvious, clear, apparent
Concordat(n) /kənˈkɔːdæt/: giao ước
Synonym: Agreement

The concordat also helped focus attention on
organisations engaged in animal research, rather
than on individual scientists, to commit to being
more open about how and why they use animals
in research. At the University of Bath you can now
Google “animal research” and “Bath” and access
a clear statement about the university’s humane
use of animals, learn about the ethical review
process for all animal research at the university,

read about the concordat and find case studies of
the kind of animal research conducted. This is a
huge step forward in the four years since the
concordat was introduced.
At the University of Bath the next steps are to find
ways to be more open with its own staff and
students about the use of animals in research on
campus. Many myths and misunderstandings
about how and why animals are used continue
and can only be addressed by a more
transparent and open approach. In December
2017 the University of Bath was nominated in the
Media Engagement category for Understanding
Animal Research’s Openness Awards. This
highlighted the close cooperation of the press
office, staff in the animal facility and researchers
at Bath to enable a TV camera crew to access the
animal facilities.
King’s College London won the award in this
category for its involvement in the
documentary The Monkey Lab, allowing cameras
in to film its marmosets and tackling the
controversial issue of primates in research.
Thinking back to my early days as a researcher, it
is inconceivable to my twentysomething self that
any university would allow cameras into their
animal units to film. This shows the culture
change that is under way, but there is still work to
be done. It is only by being more open with the
public that we can show them the high welfare

standards and the care that all research animals
receive. In this way, I hope we can build trust in

Address(v) /əˈdres/: think about a problem or a
situation and decide how you are going to deal
with it
Synonym: Focus on, concentrate on
Nominate(v) /ˈnɒmɪneɪt/: propose or formally
enter as a candidate for election or for an honor
or award
Cooperation(n) /kəʊˌɒpəˈreɪʃn/: the process of
working together to the same end
Synonym: collaboration, partnership, teamwork
Involvement(n) /ɪnˈvɒlvmənt/: the act of taking
part in something
Synonym: Participation
Controversial(adj) /ˌkɒntrəˈvɜːʃəl/: causing a lot
of angry public discussion and disagreement
Synonym: debatable, arguable
Inconceivable(adj) /ˌɪnkənˈsiːvəbl/: impossible to
imagine or believe
Synonym: Unbelievable, unthinkable, incredible,
unimaginable

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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary


Vol.4 Science

the organisations, and the scientists, engaged in
animal research.

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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary

Vol.4 Science

Eliminate animal experimentation?
Arguably one of the most heated debates in
science, efforts to reduce the number of
animals used in studies face many barriers,
says Alla Katsnelson.
One of the most, if not the most, contentious
issues in science is the use of animals in

Contentious(adj) /kənˈtɛnʃəs/: causing or likely to
cause an argument
Synonym: Disputable, controversial, arguable

research. Scientists experiment on animals for
a host of different reasons, including basic
research to explore how organisms function,

investigating potential treatments for human
disease, and safety and quality control testing
of drugs, devices and other products. Its
proponents point to the long list of medical
advances made possible with the help of

Proponent(n) /prəˈpəʊnənt /: a person who
supports an idea or course of action
Synonym: Advocate, supporter, campaigner

animal research. Opponents believe it is
cruel and meaningless, as observations in
animals often do not translate directly to

Opponent(n) /əˈpəʊnənt/: a person who is against
something and tries to change or stop it
Synonym: Oppose, objector

humans.
In 1959, William Russell and Rex Burch
proposed their “3Rs” guidelines for making the
use of animals in scientific research more
humane: restrict the use of animals; refine
experiments to minimise distress; and
replace tests with alternative techniques. Over
the course of five decades their guidelines
have become widely accepted worldwide, and

Refine(v) /rɪˈfaɪn/: improve something by making
small changes to it

Synonym: Improve, perfect
Distress(n) /dɪsˈtrɛs/: extreme anxiety, sorrow, or
pain
Synonym: Anguish, suffering, pain, agony

while the reliability of published reports on the
numbers used varies, they do at least provide
a snapshot of historical trends. Around 29
million animals per year are currently used in
experiments in the US and European Union

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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary

Vol.4 Science

countries. (Rats and mice make up around
80% of the total.) This is less than half the
total in the mid-1970s – a significant drop, but
one that has plateaued in the last decade.

Plateaued(v) /ˈplætəʊd/: stay at a steady level after
a period of growth or progress
Synonym: Stable, constant

“In the late 1980s, people thought animal

research was singing its swan song,” says
Larry Carbone, a senior veterinarian at the
University of California in San Francisco.
Fresh out of veterinary school in 1987,
Carbone landed a job as an animal vet at
Cornell University, in New York State. At that
time the numbers of animals being used in
experiments and testing was on the decline:
the campus was building a new multi-storey
biotechnology facility, with just three rooms
containing animal breeding and living
facilities.
But then came the development of tools that
could selectively modify individual genes in
mice. This proved to be such a powerful and

Modify(v) /ˈmɒdɪfaɪ/: change something slightly
Synonym: Alter, change, adjust, adapt

popular technique that the decreasing trend in
animal use ground to a halt.
Now, a raft of novel experimental techniques
may help to push numbers down again.
Improvements in imaging methods that offer a
peek inside the bodies of animals allow
scientists to get more and better data from
each experiment than before. For example,
researchers previously had to cull multiple
mice at different stages of tumour
development, but now they can noninvasively watch the disease unfold in a


Halt(n) /hɔːlt/: an act of stopping the movement or
progress of somebody/something
Synonym: Stop, standstill
Novel(adj) /ˈnɒvəl/: different from anything known
before
Synonym: New, original unusual
Cull(v) /kʌl/: select from a large quantity
Synonym: Select, choose, pick, take
Tumour(n) /ˈtjuːmə(r)/: khối u
Non-invasively(adv) /ˌnɒn ɪnˈveɪsɪvli/: not involving

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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary
single living animal using a fluorescent dye.
Similarly, as brain-imaging techniques
become more advanced, some questions that

Vol.4 Science
cutting into the body
Unfold(v) /ʌnˈfəʊld/: spread open or flat something
that has previously been folded; to become open
and flat

are now addressed with experiments in
monkeys might be better answered by

peering into the human brain. “My prediction

Fluorescent(adj) /ˌflɔːˈresnt/:(of substances)
producing bright light

is that human volunteers will be able to
replace monkeys more and more in the next
10-20 years,” says Carbone.
Meanwhile in vitro advances are also pointing
towards reliable alternative methods. One
such advance is the ability to re-program
human skin cells into a primordial, stem celllike state. These “induced pluripotent cells”
could be converted into any specialised cell
in the body, like liver or kidney cells, and
these could be generated from people with a
particular illness, giving researchers a potent
and patient-specific model of that disease in a

Advance(n) /ədˈvɑːns/: progress or a development
in a particular activity or area of understanding
Synonym: Development, progress
Reliable(adj) /rɪˈlaɪəbl/: that is likely to be correct or
true, can be trusted
Synonym: authentic, valid, genuine
Pluripotent cell(n) /ˌplʊə.rɪˈpəʊ.tənt sel /: (of an
immature or stem cell) capable of giving rise to
several different cell types; tế bào gốc
Specialised cell(n) /ˈspeʃ.əl.aɪzd sel /: cells that
have developed certain characteristics to perform a
particular function


dish. Lab-on-a-chip technologies – and

Generate(v)/ˈʤɛnəreɪt/: produce

perhaps one day, lab-grown organs – could

Synonym: Create, cause, produce, make

also provide increasingly sophisticated ways
to identify disease mechanisms or test
prospective medicines.
Finding alternatives
Trends also show that some sectors are doing

Sophisticated(adj) /səˈfɪstɪkeɪtɪd/: developed to a
high degree of complexity
Synonym: Advance, modern
Prospective(adj) /prəsˈpɛktɪv/: expected to happen
soon
Synonym: Potential, possible, probable, likely,
future

more than others to reduce animal use. Some
believe technological advances will one day
make animal studies unnecessary, while
others argue that “non-living” models will
never be capable of reliably replicating all of
the uses of laboratory mice and other


Capable(adj) /ˈkeɪpəbl/: having the ability or
qualities necessary for doing something

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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary
creatures.
When many people think about animal
testing, they imagine rows of rodent cages in

Vol.4 Science
Synonym: Able, effective
Replicate(v) /ˈrɛplɪkeɪt/: make an exact copy of;
reproduce.
Synonym: Copy, reproduce, recreate, repeat,
duplicate

a pharmaceutical company lab. But according
to data from European Union countries, the
pharmaceutical sector uses almost half the
number of animals that academic labs do, and
animal use in drug development dropped
significantly between 2005 and 2008 – the
most recent statistics available. There are two
reasons for this, says Thomas Hartung,
Director of the Center for Alternatives to
Animal Testing at Johns Hopkins University,

in Baltimore, Maryland. First, drugs are
increasingly designed to target specific
molecular mechanisms, and these are best
identified in culture dishes rather than live
animals. Second, conducting experiments in
1,536-well cell culture dishes is vastly less
expensive than in animals, so companies are
motivated to use alternatives whenever they
are available.
In the US and the EU, a drug’s efficacy and
safety must be tested in animals before it
enters human testing, though a 2010 directive

Efficacy(n) /ˈɛfɪkəsi/: the ability of something to
produce the results that are wanted
Synonym: Power, potency, effectiveness, success

from the EU calls for alternatives to be used
when possible. Jan Ottesen, vice president of
lab animal science at Danish company Novo
Nordisk, which makes insulin and other drugs
for diabetes and haemophilia, says his
company actively seeks out tests that can
replace animal use without compromising
patient safety. Novo Nordisk decided 15 years

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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary
ago to replace animal tests with cell cultures
to verify the quality of each batch of drugs

Vol.4 Science
Compromise(v) /ˈkɒmprəmaɪz/: bring
somebody/something/yourself into danger
Synonym: Endanger, jeopardise

before it goes to market. The company had to
provide the authorities with data proving that
other tests worked just as well. It took until
2011 for the company to complete the switch.
However, for some types of experiments there
are no equivalent non-animal options, says
Ottesen. For example, in searching for new
drugs that decrease joint pain due to arthritis,

Equivalent(adj) /ɪˈkwɪvələnt/: equal in value,
amount, meaning, importance, etc.
Synonym: Equal, identical, same

you need a model that mimics the human
condition. The important thing, he stressed, is
to set up the experiment so as to avoid
unnecessary pain. For safety and toxicological
testing of drugs, he adds, “I cannot see for the
foreseeable future how we can completely
avoid it. Having said that, all the replacements

that can be implemented should be
implemented."

Implement(v) /ˈɪmplɪmənt /: put (a decision, plan,
agreement, etc.) into effect
Synonym: Execute, apply, perform, carry out

Under pressure
Safety testing of substances other than
human and veterinary drugs, such as
cosmetics, toiletries, household cleaning
products and industrial chemicals might be a
different story. Currently, says Hartung, such
tests are outdated and inaccurate, with
toxicity in rodents predicting problems in
humans just 43% of the time. Meanwhile, tens

Outdated(adj) /aʊtˈdeɪtɪd/: out of date
Synonym: Old-fashioned, old

of thousands of these substances have
undergone no toxicity testing at all.
Addressing this gap with animal studies alone

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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary


Vol.4 Science

would be expensive and impractical. An
overhaul of chemical safety regulations in the
EU called REACH and a toxicology
modernisation initiative led by the US
National Institutes of Health, are driving the
search for alternatives.
Hartung believes that with enough investment
and coordination, animal tests on products in
this category can be replaced completely. He
is leading the Human Toxome Project, an
initiative that aims to map the ways

Overhaul(n) /ˈəʊvəhɔːl /: an examination of a
machine or system, including doing repairs on it or
making changes to it
Synonym: Maintainace, examination
Initiative(n) /ɪˈnɪʃɪətɪv/: a new plan for dealing with
a particular problem or for achieving a particular
purpose
Synonym: Action
Coordination(n) /kəʊˌɔːdɪˈneɪʃən/: the act of
making parts of something, groups of people, etc.
work together in an efficient and organized way
Synonym: Management, grouping, governance,
arrangement

substances disrupt hormones and endanger

health, as well as to develop advanced, nonanimal lab tests for toxicity testing. It’s slow
going, Hartung concedes. “We don’t have
human data to compare with, or really highquality animal data,” he says, adding that this

Disrupt(v) /dɪsˈrʌpt/: interrupt (an event, activity, or
process) by causing a disturbance or problem
Synonym: Disturb, interrupt, break into
Endanger(v)/ ɪnˈdeɪnʤə/: put something/somebody
at risk
Synonym: Risk, jeopardise

makes it tough to evaluate the quality of the
tests.
Meanwhile, almost four in ten animals are

Evaluate(v) /ɪˈvæljʊeɪt/: form an opinion of the
amount, value or quality of something after thinking
about it carefully
Synonym: Assess, judge, analyse, rate

used in basic, as opposed to applied,
biological research – and this proportion is
growing. Sarah Wolfensohn, a veterinary
surgeon who heads Seventeen Eighty Nine, a
consultancy advising researchers on animal
welfare, based in Swindon, UK, says this is in
part because a lot of this type of work is
carried out in academia where the financial
and performance pressures that motivate
interest in non-animal-based techniques are

weaker than in the commercial sector.
Other factors play a role too, she says. "For

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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary

Vol.4 Science

example, if a senior professor in academia
has spent his entire career developing
experimental techniques on monkeys' brains
and young researchers now tell him 'actually
we don't need to do this, we can do it on a
computer', it undermines his approach."
But just as important as reducing the numbers
of animals used, adds Wolfensohn, is “to
make sure they are being used in the best

Undermine(v) /ˌʌndəˈmaɪn/: make something,
especially somebody’s confidence or authority,
gradually weaker or less effective
Synonym: Weaken, compromise, ruin, damage

way and that their welfare is maximised, so as
to get the best quality results, to make sure
they are not wasted.”

Overall, pressure to limit the use of animals in
research – either for financial, scientific or
moral reasons – is rising. Meanwhile, the use
of animals in many areas of life-science
research is on the decline, experts note, even
if genetic work in mice is still keeping numbers
up. “I think this is temporary,” says Andrew
Rowan, President and Chief Executive Officer
of animal protection group Humane Society
International. “I think it is going to start going
down again as we improve our technologies.”

Temporary(adj) /ˈtɛmpərəri/: lasting for only a
limited period of time
Synonym: Short-term, short-lived, momentary

How soon this might happen is too difficult to
tell.

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IELTS thầy Kiên iFIGHT – Lean Vocabulary

Vol.4 Science

The Earth and
Space

Foundation

The community that focuses its efforts on the
exploration of space has largely been different
from the community focused on the study and
protection of the Earth's environment, despite
the fact that both fields of interest involve what
might be referred to as "scientific exploration'.
The reason for this dichotomous existence is
chiefly historical. The exploration of the Earth
has been occurring over many centuries, and
the institutions created to do it are often very
different from those founded in the second part
of the 20th century to explore space. This
separation is also caused by the fact that space
exploration has attracted experts from mainly
non-biological disciplines - primarily engineers
and physicists - but the study of Earth and its
environment is a domain heavily populated by
biologists.
The separation between the two communities is
often reflected in attitudes. In the environmental
community, it is not uncommon for space
exploration to be regarded as a waste of money,
distracting governments from solving major
environmental problems here at home. In the
space exploration community, it is not
uncommon for environmentalists to be regarded
as introspective people who divert attention
from the more expansive visions of the

exploration of space - the ‘new frontier’. These
perceptions can also be negative in
consequence because the full potential of both
communities can be realised better when they

Exploration(n) /ˌɛksplɔːˈreɪʃən/: the action of traveling
in or through an unfamiliar area to learn about it
Synonym: Investigation, study, research
Dichotomous(adj) /daɪˈkɒtəməs/: involving two
completely opposing ideas or things
Occur(v) /əˈkɜː(r)/: happen, take place
Discipline(n) /ˈdɪsəplɪn/: a branch of knowledge,
typically one studied in higher education.
Synonym: field, are
Domain(n): an area of knowledge or activity
Synonym: filed, are, discipline
Uncommon(adj) /ʌnˈkɒmən/: out of the ordinary;
unusual
Synonym: Unusual, abnormal, rare, odd, unfamiliar
Introspective(adj) /ˌɪntrəʊˈspɛktɪv/: tending to think a
lot about your own thoughts, feelings, etc.
Synonym: Introvert
Divert(v)/ /daɪˈvɜːt/: take somebody’s thoughts or
attention away from something
Synonym: Distract, draw away
Expansive(adj) /ikˈspansiv/: covering a wide area in
terms of space or scope
Synonym: Wide-ranging, extensive
Perception(n): a way of regarding, understanding, or
interpreting something; a mental impression; nhận


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