SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ……….
TRƯỜNG THPT ….

BÁO CÁO CHUYÊN ĐỀ
TEACHING VOCABULARIES THROUGH
COLLOCATION

Tác giả: ………..

……

THÔNG TIN CHUNG VỀ CHUYÊN ĐỀ
1. Tên chuyên đề: Teaching vocabularies through collocation (Dạy từ vựng qua
collocation- cụm từ cố định)
2. Đối tượng dạy chuyên đề: Học sinh lớp 12
3. Thời gian dạy chuyên đề: 2 buổi (3 tiết/ buổi)
1 tiết= 45 phút
4. Người thực hiện:
Họ và tên: ............
6. Đơn vị áp dụng dạy chuyên đề:
Tên đơn vị:..............
7. Thực trạng:
1


Do những yêu cầu ngày càng cao đặc trưng môn Tiếng Anh và theo kịp
những đổi mới về kì thi Quốc gia trung học phổ thông năm 2019. Bên cạnh đó,
do thực trạng dạy và học phần từ vựng Tiếng Anh đang gặp rất nhiều khó khăn
nên tôi xây dựng và thực hiện dạy chuyên đề này sẽ giúp giáo viên dạy ôn thi
nâng cao vốn từ vựng cho học sinh lớp 12 ôn thi THPT Quốc Gia để các em
chuẩn bị tốt tham dự kỳ thi.

2


TABLES OF CONTENTS
Content

Page

PART I: Introduction
I. Name of the topic
II. Rationale
III. Aim
IV. Scope
V. Problems
PART II: CONTENT
I. An overview of English collocations
II. Methods of teaching collocations
III. Listing collocations
IV. Exercises
V. Test
PART III: Conclusion and suggestion
1. Conclusion
2. Suggestion
References

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PART I. INTRODUCTION
I. Rationale.
Nowadays, English is playing a very important role in the global
development. Besides, English has become one of the major and compulsory
subjects at schools in Vietnam. Together with the expansion of teaching and
learning English, many great efforts have been made to help students learn
English more effectively.
3


Vocabulary has been regarded as a fundamental element of learning
English. It is one of the elements that link the four skills of Speaking, Listening,
Reading and writing together. Richards and Rernandya (2002, p. 255) stated that
“Vocabulary is one of the core components of language proficiency and provides
much of the basis for how well learners speak, listen, read and write. Therefore,
without an extensive vocabulary and strategies for acquiring new vocabulary,
learners often achieve less than their potencial and may be discouraged from
making use of language learning opportunities around them such as listening to

the radio, listening to native speakers, using the language in different contexts,
reading or watching television”.
In fact, students, at Tran Hung Dao High School, they found it difficult to
master vocabulary because they have not paid enough attention to vocabulary
learning even though they realised how important they are. In any course books,
vocabulary is considered as the most boring part, in both teachers and students’
opinions. Whenever I asked my students to tell me how they learn vocabulary,
they mostly answered that they tried to learn but they could not memorize
words, and while reading they found some words familiar but they could not
remember their meanings. In addtion, materials in textbooks, sometimes, are not
interesting and suitable for all students. They cannot provide enough vocabulary
sources.
In order to motivate students to learn vocabulary effectively, therefore, I
think it is necessary to provide students with collocations that help students get
a pleasant and less stressful atmosphere to learn vocabulary and infer word
meaning in context.
As far as I am concerned, the major problems students encountered are:
1.
They cannot express exactly what they really mean.
2.
They find it difficult to have good word choices, so it is common to
repeat familiar words such as good, nice or help.
II. Aim:
In view of what have been mentioned earlier, I carry out this little study
with an aim to:
1.
Help students get an overview of English collocations.
4



2.

Help them improve their range of vocabulary through doing

exercises through topics.
III. Scope: Learning English collocations are part of learning English
vocabulary. It is difficult to cover so many collocations here. Therefore the study
will focus on only the collocations related to the national exam.
IV. Problems English Learners Have with Collocation
One of the biggest problems with collocation is its arbitrary nature: there is no
“rule” or reason that it’s “in regard to” and not “on regard to”—it just is.
1. Lack of awareness: students need to have a problem brought to their attention
before they even know it is a problem. They may be unaware that some words
go together better than others, especially as this doesn’t tend to be emphasized in
language instruction.
2. First language transfer is another ESL problem with collocation—students
transfer the appropriate collocation from their first language. “Make” and “do”
confusion is common, for example, among students of Latin language
backgrounds: e.g., “make my homework” rather than “do my homework.”

5


PART II: CONTENT
I. An overview of English collocations.
1. Definition of collocation.
Collocation means a natural combination of words; it refers to the ways English
words are closely associated with each other. For example, do and homework go
together, as do make and mistakes; tall goes with man/ woman and high goes
with mountain.

2. Distinction between a collocation and an idiom.
Idioms are groups of words in a fixed order that have a meaning that cannot be
guessed by knowing the meaning of the individual words. For example, a storm
in a tea cup is an idiom meaning “a lot of anger or worry about something that is
not important”
The meaning of collocations can be easily guessed by the meaning of the
individual words, which is different from idioms. Collocations are pairs or
groups of words that often go together naturally.
3. Importance of learning collocations.
An appreciation of collocation will help you to：
• use the words you know more accurately. In other words, you’ll make (NOT
do) fewer mistakes.
• sound more natural when you speak and write.
• vary your speech and, probably more importantly, your writing. Instead of
repeating everyday words like very good or nice, you will he able to exploit a
wider range of language.
• understand when a skilful writer departs from normal patterns of collocation
4. Types of collocations.
Students should know that there are many different types of collocations.
Type 1: Adjectives and nouns.
For example: Jean always wears red or yellow or some other bright color.
We had a brief chat about the exams but didn’t have time to discuss it properly.
Type 2: Nouns and verbs.
For example: The economy boomed in the 1990s. (the economy was very
strong)
The company has grown and now employs 50 more people than last year.
The company launched the product in 2002. (introduced the product)
Type 3: Noun and noun.
For example: I felt a pang of nostalgia when I saw the old photos of the village
where I was born.

6


Every parent feels a sense of pride when their child does well or wins
something.
Type 4: Verbs and expressions with prepositions.
For example: I was filled with horror when I read the newspaper report of the
explosion.
When she split juice on her new skirt, the little girl burst into tears.
Type 5: Verbs and adverbs.
For example: She smiled proudly as she looked at the photos of her new
grandson.
“I love you and want to marry you”, Derek whispered softly to Marsha.
Type 6: Adverbs and adjectives.
For example: They are happily married.
I am fully aware that there are serious problems.
Harry was blissfully unaware that he was in danger.
II. Methods of teaching collocations:
Apart from classroom lessons, teachers should to learn collocations by
themselves. Students should get the habit of finding, recording and afterwards
learning them. How to do this well ought to be instructed by teachers as follows.
a. Finding collocations: There are two ways in which collocations can be
found:
- Students can find them in any text in English they read or hear and then
make a note of good collocations.
In the short text below, there are 12 collocations.
After giving Mark a lift to the airport, Cathy made her way home. What an
exciting life he led! At times, Cathy felt desperately jealous of him. She spent
her time doing little more than taking care of him and the children. Now her
sister was getting divorced and would doubtless be making demands on her

too. Cathy had promised to give her sister a call as soon as she got home but she
decided to run herself a bath first. She had a sharp pain in her side and hoped
that a hot bath might ease the pain.
- Students can also find collocations in a good learner’s dictionary, like
Oxford Collocations Dictionary for students of English. For example, when they
look up the word use , they will find many combinations with it, some of which
are:
considerable/ extensive/ great/ full use
make use of/ come into use/ ban the use of
7


medicinal / intended/ potential use
b. Recording collocations.
When students record a collocation, it is a great idea to do it in a phrase or a
sentence showing how it is used. Then, highlight the collocation by underlining
it or by using a highlighting pen.
For example: I don’t have access to that kind of secret information.
Jim gave me a very useful piece of advice
c. Learning collocations.
Learning collocations is not so different from learning any vocabulary item.
Teachers should remind students to:
- Regularly revise what they want to lean.
- Practise using what they want to learn in contexts that are meaningful for
them personally.
- Learn collocations in groups to help fix them in students’ memory.
Students might together collocations relating to the same topic. Or they can
group collocations based on the same word, for example:
I must find a way to help him
Can you find your way back to my house?

I learnt the hard way that Jack can’t be trusted.
Please tell me if I’m getting in your way.
You must give way to traffic from the left.
You’ve tried every possible way to get him to change his mind.
III. Listing collocations.
1. Common collocations used in Textbook 10,11,12
No.
1

Collocation
Extremely
excited

Example
Meaning
On my birthday my father gave me Cực kì vui
some money, so that I could buy a sướng
hat for myself, which made me
extremely excited.

2

Far better

Life will be far better than it is

Tốt hơn nhiều

today.
A.Adverb + adjective

B. Adjective + noun
No.

Collocation

Example

Meaning

8


1

General

Marie Curie received general

Giáo dục

education

education in local school and

phổ thông

some scientific training from her
father.

2


Tragic death

After the tragic death of Pierre

Cái chết

Curie in 1906, she took up the

thương tâm.

position which her husband had
obtained at the Sorbonne.
3

4

Heavy rain

Heavy rain during the night will

Mưa to/ mưa

occur all over the country today.

rào

Endangered

Howletts Zoo in Kent is owned By Những động


animals

John Aspinall, who is famous for

vật quý hiếm/

his program of breeding endangered có nguy cơ
animals and reintroducing them into tuyệt chủng
the wild.
5

True friendship

What is the first quality for true

Tình bạn thực

friendship and what does it tell

sự

you?
6

Mutual friend

How many mutual friends do

Bạn chung


you have with her?
7

A sneaky look

There was a sneaky look on his
face, but I didn’t think much
about it.

9

1 cái nhìn trộm


8

Remote and

During summer vacations, they

Vùng núi,

mountainous

volunteer to work in remote and

vùng sâu

area


mountainous areas to provide

vùng xa

education for children.
9

Close-

We are a very close-knit family.

Khăng khít,

knit/close

bền chặt, gắn

10

family
A noisy party

bó
Bữa tiệc ồn ào.

11

A slight nod


We are at a noisy party

A slight nod will do.

1 cái gật đầu
nhẹ

12

Core subject

English, math and science are

Môn học chính

core subjects.

C.

Noun + noun
No. Collocation
1
Plot of land

Example
We repair the banks of our plot of

Meaning
Mảnh đất


land.
2

Bumper crop

The scientists introduced new

Vụ mùa bội

farming methods which resulted

thu

in bumper crops.
3

Cash crop

The scientists also helped the

Nông sản

villagers grow cash crops for

thương mại

export.
4

A wad of dollar


Inside his bag, I saw a wad of

notes

dollar notes exactly like ones
10

1 cuộn tiền


5

Low-income

I think we should ask the

Các gia đình

families

school head- master to provide

có thu nhập

free textbooks for students

thấp

from low-income families.

6

7

8

9

Birth-control

Safe birth-control methods are

Các phương

method(s)

not available to some people in

pháp kiểm

poor nations.

soát sinh đẻ

Household

I try to help with the household

Việc vặt của


chores

chores.

gia đình

Night shift

Once a week, she has to work

Ca đêm

on a night shift.

(việc làm)

Body language includes our

Ngôn ngữ cơ

posture, facial expressions and

thể

Body language

gestures.
10

11


School system

There are two parallel school

Hệ thống

systems in England.

trường học

Lack of +

A person who doesn't look at

Thiếu sự

interest

you is expressing lack of

quan tâm,

interest or is shy

thích thú

D.Verb + noun
No. Collocation
1

Have a cold

Example
I think I’ve got a cold.

11

Meaning
Bị cảm lạnh


2

3

Receive

There are some ways of

Tiếp nhận

information

receiving information,

thong tin qua

aurally

including receiving

information aurally.

tai.

Keep a secret

There are people who cannot

Giữ bí mật

keep a secret, either of their
4

Make a fuss

own or of others’.
He had stolen my money; I

Làm ồn lên,

didn’t want to make a fuss, so

làm to chuyện

I decided just to take my

lên

money back from his
5


Blow out the

schoolbag.
When
everybody finished

candle(s)

singing, Lisa blew out the

Thổi tắt nến

candles.
6

Take photo(s)

I had decided to bring my

Chụp ảnh

camera to take some photos of
the happy family.
7

Have a good time

The host and the wife moved


Có thời gian

around to make sure that

vui vẻ

everyone was having a good
time.
Spend time/money

In the USA, college students

Giành thời

often spend many hours as

gian, tiền bạc

volunteers in hospitals,
orphanages or homes

12


9

10

11


Receive a

I am very happy to have

Nhận được 1

donation

received a donation of $

khoản quyên

500 from your company

góp

Express

Isome
would
likeago.
to express our
days

Bày tỏ lời

thank(s)

thanks for the donation.


cảm ơn

Eradicate

By the year of 2000, only 70%

Xóa mù chữ

illiteracy

of the population was able to
read and write; this means that
more work had to be done to
eradicate illiteracy in the

12

Offer

Think
of three or four
country.

Đưa ra cách

solution(s)

problems your class is

giải quyết


experiencing; talk about them
13

14

Limit

and
offer limit
solutions.
We must
population

Giới hạn tăng

population

growth because our resources

trưởng dân số

growth

are limited.

Win a place

I am now in my final year at


Giành lấy 1

the secondary school, and in

chỗ

my attempt to win a place at
university.
15

Hurry home/get

In the afternoon, after

Nhanh về

home

hospital, she rushes to the

nhà/ về nhà

market, then hurries home so
that dinner is ready on the
16

Maintain

table by the time Dad gets
They also agree that a


beauty/

wife should maintain

appearance

her beauty and
appearance after
marriage.

13

Duy trì vẻ đẹp


17

Share

It is better and wiser for a

Chia sẻ suy

thoughts/opinions
ideas

couple not to share

nghĩ, quan


certain thoughts

điểm, ý kiến.

18

Fall off horse

The cowboy fell off his horse.

Ngã ngựa

19

Lead a life

Those people led a poor life.

Sống 1 cuộc
sống ( giàu

20

21
22

Remain a

The desert remained a


có/ nghèo
Vẫn
còn là 1

mystery

mystery until Madigan made

bí ẩn

Enact laws

an aerial survey in 1929.
Government has enacted laws

Ban hành

Make great

to protect wildlife.
The parents realized that the

luật pháp
Có những nỗ

effort

young teacher was making great


lực to lớn

efforts to help their poor kids.

E. Verbs and expressions with prepositions.

No. Collocation
Example
1
Scream in panic The plane seemed to dip and many
2

people screamed in panic.
Make ends meet The villagers had to work hard in the

Meaning
La hét
trong sự
Đủ
để sống
hoảng
sợ

fields all day and could hardly make
3

ends meet.
Come to an end The party came to an end at about 11
p.m.


14

Kết thúc


4

Look forward to I went home feeling that it had been

Mong chờ

a delightful evening and looking

1 điều gì

forward to the next day to have the

đó

film developed.
5

Bring

Volunteers believe that some of the

Đem lại

happiness to


happiest people in the world are those

hạnh phúc

someone

who help to bring happiness to

cho ai đó

others.
6

7

Grow in

Although established not long

Nhanh

popularity

ago, the Women’s World Cup is

chóng phát

growing in popularity.

triển./


Reach the

In 1850, the world population

được yêu
Đạt tới con

figure of

reached the figure of 1.3 billion

số

people.
8

Communicate
through words/
body language

9

Go out with

We can communicate not
only through words but also through
body language.
I went out with my new friends.


someone

Giao tiếp
bằng
lời/ngôn
Đi
ngữchơi
cơ với
ai đó

15


10

11

12

Run on sth

Cars will still be with us, but,

Chạy/hoạ

(machine)

instead of petrol, they will run on

t động


anything from electricity to methane

bằng

gas.
Lead a

Three years later Madigan led a

( nguyên
/nhiên
Dẫn đầu

scientific

scientific expedition across the sand

cuộc

expedition

dunes on a more northern route.

khảo cứu

Over 8300 plan species and 7200

khoa học
Loài


animal species around the globe are

động

threatened with extinction.

with

thực vật/
Bị đe dọa

extinction

có nguy

across the sand
Plant/animal
species
Be threatened

F.

Verb + adverb
No. Collocation
1
Go off

Example
The alarm goes off at 4:30 a.m.


2

Slowly gain

When we had given up all hope, we (máy bay)dần

height

felt the plane slowly gained height.

3
4

Meaning
đổ chuông

lấy lại được độ

Work extremely In spite of her difficult living

cao ( độ cao an
Làm
toàn) việc cực kì/

hard

conditions, she worked extremely

hết sức chăm


Move

hard.
Some are swimming animals such

chỉ.
Di chuyển tự do

independently

á fishes and sharks that move
independently of water currents.

5

Gradually

At present, the number of illiterate

decrease

people in the remote and
mountainous areas is gradually
decreasing.

16

Giảm dần



6

Fall

While the number of literate males

dramatically

went up sharply between 1998 and

Giảm mạnh

2007, the number of literate
females fell dramatically.
7

Go smoothly

At first, things went smoothly....

Diễn ra êm
đềm/êm thấm

8

completely

Offices, too, will go electronic


Biến mất hoàn

disappear

with the result that paper will

toàn

almost completely disappear.
9

10

11

12

Be Better

We will also be better looked

Được chăm sóc

looked after

after by a modern medical

tốt hơn

Raise hands


system.
We can raise our hands slightly

Khẽ giơ tay.

slightly

to show that we need assistance.

Look

John looked anxiously at his

Nhìn một cách lo

anxiously

watch.

lắng

Listen carefully You won't know what to do

Nghe chăm chú

unless you listen carefully.

2. Expansions
2.1 SỰ KẾT HỢP TỪ VỚI CÁC ĐỘNG TỪ THÔNG DỤNG:

 DO: (= accomplish, carry out – hoàn thành, thực hiện một công việc)
Do an assignment: làm một nhiệm vụ được giao
Do business (with): kinh doanh
Do one’s best: cố gắng hết sức
Do a crossword: chơi ô chữ
Do damage: gây thiệt hại
Do a course: theo một khóa học
Do history/economics: học lịch sử/ kinh tế học…
Do an experiment: làm thí nghiệm
Do good: bổ ích
Do harm: gây hại
17


Do a job: làm một công việc
Do one’s duty: làm nghĩa vụ
Do one’s hair: làm tóc
Do one’s homework: làm bài tập về nhà
Do research: nghiên cứu
Do someone a favour: làm giúp ai điều gì
Do the shopping: mua sắm
Do wonders/ miracles: mang lại kết quả kì diệu
Do without: làm mà không có cái gì
Do wrong: làm sai
 MAKE: (= produce, manufacture- làm ra, chế tạo ra)
Make an appointment: thu xếp một cuộc hẹn
Make an attempt: cố gắng, nỗ lực
Make an announcement: thông báo
Make the bed: dọn giường
Make a cake: làm bánh

Make changes: thay đổi
Make a choice: chọn lựa
Make a decision: quyết định
Make a comment: nhận xét
Make a complaint: phàn nàn, than phiền
Make a comparision: so sánh
Make a contribution: đóng góp vào
Make a decision: quyết định
Make a differrence: tạo sự khác biệt
Make a distinction: tạo sự khác biệt/sự tương phản
Make an effort: nỗ lực
Make an excuse: viện cớ
Make a law: thông qua đạo luật
Make a mistake: mắc sai lầm
Make money: kiếm tiền
Make progress: tiến bộ
Make a plan: lập kế hoạch
Make a phone call: gọi điện thoại
Make preparations for: chuẩn bị cho
Make a profit: thu lợi nhuận
Make a promise: hứa hẹn
Make a speech: đọc bài diễn văn
Make noise: làm ồn
Make a start: khởi hành
Make a suggestion: đề nghị
Make a will: làm di chúc
Make up one’s mind: quyết định
Make use of: sử dụng
18



 TAKE:
Take sb/sth for granted: xem ai/ cái gì là tất nhiên
Take place: xảy ra
Take part in: tham gia vào
Take effect: có hiệu lực
Take advantage of sth: tận dụng cái gì
Take notice of sth: chú ý dến cái gì
Take responsibility for sth: chịu trách nhiệm về cái gì
Take interest in: quan tâm đến
Take offence: thất vọng, phật ý
Take powder/office: nhận chức
Take a pity on sb: thông cảm cho ai
Take a view/ attitude: có quan điểm/ thái độ
Take sth as a compliment: xem cái gì như lời khen tặng
Take sth as an insult: xem cái gì như lời sỉ nhục
 HAVE:
Have difficulty (in) doing something: gặp khó khăn khi làm cái gì
Have a problem: có vấn đề, gặp khó khăn
Have a go/ try: thử
 PAY:
Pay attention to: chú ý dến
Pay a compliment: khen
Pay a visit to sb: đến thăm ai
Pay tribute to: bày tỏ long kính trọng
2.2 OTHER COLLOCATIONS
also / in addition
ex: I’m a very sociable person. I prefer team sports. such as basketball and football, in
addition, I like going to English club with my friends.
I prefer cycling rather than driving a car because it helps me keep fit, in addition, it’s

better for the environment and it’s also cheaper.
besides
postscript: “besides” at the beginning of a phrase means “as well as”, whereas at the
beginning of a clause it means “anyway”.
ex: I like riding a bike as it’s a very convenient way to travel. Besides, it’s cheap and I can’t
afford a car.
golden opportunity
expand / broaden / widen (sb’s) horizons
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as opposed to
ex: Students discuss ideas, as opposed to just copying from books.
generally speaking = in most situations = ordinarily
as for: còn như, về phần
ex: I love playing golf and tennis. As for cooking, I have no real interest in it.
as a rule
rarely = once in a blue moon
be quite into = be keen on = have a strong interest in = be into
other countries = faraway places
find oneself doing st = suddenly realise that you are doing st unintentionally
regarding = in / with regard to = in terms of: về
ex: She said nothing regarding your request .
I've nothing to say in / with regard to your complaints
regardless of: bất kể
ex: They are allowed to have whatever they want, regardless of price and to behave as they
please.
in other words
or more precisely = or rather: hay chính xác hơn
rather than = instead of

take up further education: học lên cao
ought to
“ought to” có dạng phủ định là “ought not” hoặc “oughtn’t”

get in the way (of st) = prevent (st) from happening ex:
We had almost reached an agreement, but some
unimportant details got in the way.
have difficulty v-ing: khó khăn trong việc
burst out: thốt lên, òa lên
ex: He suddenly bursts out laughing (Anh ta đột nhiên cười phá lên).

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shrink from (st / doing st): lưỡng lự (làm cái gì)
be dumped by partner: bị người yêu đá
grim reaper: thần chết
speed up: tăng tốc độ
sunbathe topless: cởi trần tắm nắng
do + B-I
“do” ở đây để nhấn mạnh “B-I”
ex: I do know this (Tôi thực sự biết điều này).
freeze someone's blood: làm ai sợ hết hồn
a chain of: một loạt / dãy
ex: a chain of mountains
a chain of events
far from it
ex: Do you think you need a new car? Far from it. The old one is fine.
in the region of: trong khoảng
ex: This costs in the region of 500 dong.

These clouds form in the region of mountains.
slow down: làm chậm lại, làm trì hoãn
ex: They slow down a process.
hail sb / st as: hoan hô, hoan nghênh (ai đó / thứ gì đó) như
ex: The crowd hailed him as a hero.
chain reaction: phản ứng dây chuyền
come under st: be forced to experience st unpleasant
ex: We have to come under pressure (Chúng ta phải chịu nhiều áp lực).
the embodiment of: hiện thân của
ex: She's the embodiment of kindness.
physical force: sức mạnh vật chất
in form: sức khỏe tốt, sung sức
out of form: sức khỏe không tốt
moral force: sức mạnh tinh thần
down below
sharp practice: những chuyện làm ăn không lương thiện
ex: The building industry brought in rules to protect customers from sharp practice.
a growing tendency: một xu hướng đang phát triển
in outline: những nét chính
ex: I like your idea in outline but would like some time to study the details.
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not quite: không hẳn
be on the anvil: đang làm / xem xét / nghiên cứu
by force of circumstances: do hoàn cảnh bắt buộc
force a smile: gượng cười
as sharp as a needle: rất thông minh và nhanh trí
ex: His response was as sharp as a needle.
in force: có hiệu lực

ex: The law remains in force (Điều luật đó còn hiệu lực).
rarer still: còn hiếm hơn nữa (trạng từ)
take a sharp walk: đi bộ rảo bước
sharp remark: lời nhận xét gay gắt
be shorn of (st): bị lấy đi, bị tước mất (cái gì)
a good anvil does not fear the hammer: cây ngay không sợ chết đứng
for a long stretch of time: lâu lắm rồi
stretch a point: chiếu cố, nhân nhượng
stoop so low as to do (st): hạ mình làm (điều gì)
from time to time = occasionally
hardly ever = almost never
all year round: all year; at all times of the year
ex: I could tell my grandmother's health all year round wasn't very good because she felt
cold all year round.
more often than not
ex: Businessmen drive cars to work more often than not.
depth of winter
get into = be able to concentrate on: có thể tập trung vào
provide the perfect conditions for
express oneself
ex: Although I play the music somebody else wrote, I can express myself through the
piano, so each time I play it's different..
from scratch: từ đầu, từ bàn tay trắng
ex: There were so many spelling mistakes, I had to write the letter out again from scratch.
come over: come to a place to visit for a short time (often used with the meaning of come
to my/our house)
ex: Ever since my boy friend argued with my father, he's been unwilling to come over to
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our house.
keep sb from doing st
go to plan = go according to plan = happen in the way you want
get to grips with = learn the basics of
ex: I found the guitar a little hard at first, but with patience and practice, I got to grips with
it.
learn by trial and error
every other day: ngày có ngày không, cách ngày
ex: I go to the gym every other day.
be a burden to (someone): là gánh nặng (cho ai)
the grown up people
inspire sb to st: truyền cảm hứng (cho ai đó làm gì đó)
inspire sb with st = inspire st in sb : gây ra những ý nghĩ
ex: Our first sight of the dingy little hotel didn’t inspire us with much confidence / inspire
much confidence in us (Cái khách sản nhỏ bẩn thỉu ấy mới trông thấy khiến chúng tôi
không tin tưởng lắm)
a glance at: cái nhìn thoáng qua về
ex: A glance at the graph provided reveals some striking similarities between the Chinese
and US birth rates.
great fertility of mind: đầu óc có sức sáng tạo phong phú
be in low spirits: buồn rầu, chán nản
be in low water: cạn tiền
at a low ebb: sa sút, xuống dốc
be low on (st): gần cạn kiệt (cái gì)
household chore: việc nhà, viêc vặt trong nhà
take the plunge: quyết tâm hành động, liều
exponential growth: sự tăng theo cấp số nhân
a vast amount of: một lượng lớn
plunge to a low of: sụt giảm đến mức thấp
ex: China’s birth rate then plunged to a low of just 5% in the 1940.

as though: dường như, như thể là
ex: He ran as though the devil were after him (Anh ta chạy như thể có ma đuổi).
rapid climb = rapid growth = zoom
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reach a peak of: đạt đến đỉnh cao
ex: That rate reached a peak of 20% in 1950
equally importantly: quan trọng không kém
by force of = by = owing to = thanks to : nhờ, bằng cách
ex: Disputes were sometimes settled by force of arms (Sự tranh chấp đôi khi được giải
quyết bằng vũ lực).
subject to: tùy thuộc vào, với giả thuyết là
ex: Subject to your consent (Tuỳ theo anh có đồng ý hay không).
far outweigh: vượt xa, lớn hơn nhiều so với
ex: The benefits of the Internet far outweigh its drawbacks.
come up with (st) = think of an idea / a solution
ex: I’ve come up with a perfect plan for the weekend.
be subject to damage: dễ / khó tránh khỏi bị hư hại
the latter half of: nửa cuối của
ex: the latter half of the century
in isolation: một cách riêng biệt, một mình
ex: examine each piece of evidence in isolation (xem xét riêng từng chứng cớ)
sustained decline: sự giảm liên tục
every so often = sometimes = not very often = every once in a while
object to = oppose = protest = raise objections : phản đối
about = approximately = somewhere in the vicinity of
come up = happen unexpectedly
ex: Something has come up and I must leave.
come out = be published /released for sale

ex: Their new album came out last month.
come on to (sb) = flirt with (sb) = seduce (sb)
ex: She tried to come on to me but I blanked her.
plunge into: lao vào, chìm vào
ex: plunge into darkness (chìm ngập trong bóng tối).
plunge into a difficulty (lao vào một công việc khó khăn).
it is public/common knowledge that: ai cũng biết rằng
at (someone’s) fingertips: trong tầm tay (của ai đó)
busy = engaged = over head and ears in
tool along: lái xe một cách đủng đỉnh và thư giãn
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come across (st) = find (st) by chance
ex: She came across some old love letters.
social unrests: những bất ổn về mặt xã hội
outbound tourists: khách du lịch nước ngoài
sustainable tourism development: sự phát triển du lịch bền vững
human trafficking: tệ nạn buôn người
increase / grow by (…%): tăng (…%)
by contrast = in contrast
increase from (…%) to (…%): tăng từ (…%) đến (…%)
increase / grow steadily: tăng đều đặn
in my power: trong khả năng của mình
confide a secret to (sb): chia sẻ bí mật với (ai đó)
make immense progress: tiến bộ vượt bậc
conform to the law: tuân thủ pháp luật
entice (sb) to (do st): xúi giục (ai đó) (làm việc gì)
handset device: thiết bị cầm tay
technologically-inclined: nghiện công nghệ

tech-savvy: giỏi về công nghệ
be over-dependence on technology: lệ thuộc vào công nghệ
apply technology wisely: ứng dụng công nghệ một cách khôn ngoan
the advent of technology: bước tiến của công nghệ
ten a penny: rất phổ biến
living environment = living surrounding: môi trường sống
eco - products: những sản phẩm thân thiện với môi trường
green solutions: giải pháp bảo vệ môi trường
keep our planet healthy: giữ gìn môi trường sạch đẹp
environmental degradation: sự xuống cấp về môi trường
master key: bài toán then chốt
lights-off event: ngày hội tắt đèn
seemingly trivial activities: những hành động tưởng chừng như là nhỏ nhặt
make a futile attempt: một sự cố gắng vô ích
bite off more than one can chew: ôm đồm quá nhiều công việc
fill in for (sb): tạm thay thế cho (ai đó đang đi làm công việc khác)
in the black = be profitable >< in the red: hoạt động kinh doanh bị thua lỗ
sleep on (st): suy nghĩ kỹ về (vấn đề gì đó) trước khi trả lời
get the ball rolling: khởi động một công việc hoặc dự án
cause / contribute to climate change /global warming: gây ra/góp phần vào sự biến đổi
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