4000 Essential English Words 5 » Unit 5: a Famous Accident

Word List
  • assess [əˈses] v.
    To assess something means to judge the structure, purpose, or quality of it.
    → She assessed the condition of the toy car before buying it.
  • astonish [əˈstɒniʃ] v.
    To astonish someone means to greatly surprise them.
    → The amount of people that came to her party astonished her.
  • commence [kəˈmens] v.
    To commence something means to begin it.
    → His speech commenced with a “thankyou” to all who had helped him succeed.
  • essence [ˈesəns] n.
    The essence of something is its important qualities or basic characteristics.
    → The essence of the argument was that both sides felt they had lost money.
  • extract [ikˈstrӕkt] v.
    To extract something means to remove it.
    → The dentist extracted the woman’s damaged tooth and put in a fake one.
  • fabulous [ˈfæbjələs] adj.
    If something is fabulous, it is extremely good.
    → This strawberry is the best I’ve ever had. It’s fabulous.
  • haste [heist] n.
    Haste is speed in movement or action.
    → In order to get to the meeting in time, he proceeds with haste.
  • impulse [ˈimpʌls] n.
    An impulse is a sudden thoughtless urge to do something.
    → Because of the scary noise, she had an impulse to run somewhere and hide.
  • latter [ˈlætə:r] adj.
    Latter describes something last in a series or the second choice of two things.
    → In the latter minutes of the game, the visitors scored the winning goal.
  • molecule [ˈmɒləkjuːl] n.
    A molecule is the smallest basic unit that makes up a physical substance.
    → A tiny drop of water is made up of thousands of molecules of water.
  • ongoing [ˈɒnˌgouiŋ] adj.
    If something is ongoing, then it is still happening or still growing.
    → The development of plants is ongoing because it takes time for them to mature.
  • pharmaceutical [ˌfɑːrməˈsuːtikəl] adj.
    If something is pharmaceutical, then it is related to the development of drugs.
    → Pharmaceutical companies discover new cures to illnesses all the time.
  • precise [priˈsais] adj.
    If someone is precise, then they are exact and careful about their work.
    → The builder was very precise about where he placed the nails.
  • proximity [prɒkˈsiməti] n.
    Proximity is closeness in time, space, or relationships.
    → All the trees in the proximity of the beach had been cut down.
  • publicity [pʌbˈlisəti] n.
    Publicity is public attention given to someone or something by the media.
    → She received a lot of publicity after her performance in the film.
  • remedy [ˈremədi] n.
    A remedy is a cure for a disease, argument, or problem.
    → A good remedy for a headache is an aspirin and a glass of water.
  • significance [sigˈnifikəns] n.
    The significance of something is the quality that makes it important.
    → The significance of the snowy weather was that we didn’t have to go to school.
  • subsequent [ˈsʌbsikwənt] adj.
    If something is subsequent, then it comes after something else in time.
    → The flood and the subsequent rescue of those caught in the flood were on TV.
  • synthetic [sinˈθetik] adj.
    If something is synthetic, then it is made to be like something natural.
    → Clothing made out of synthetic fabrics is very effective at keeping people warm.
  • terminal [ˈtəːrmənəl] adj.
    If something is terminal, then it causes or results in death.
    → Since his condition was not terminal, he felt a great sense of relief.
Exercise 1

Choose the one that is opposite in meaning to the given word.

  1. remedy
    • a. island
    • b. instance
    • c. movie
    • d. poison
  2. latter
    • a. first
    • b. rough
    • c. temporary
    • d. trivial
  3. terminal
    • a. brief
    • b. chilly
    • c. pleasant
    • d. curable
  4. commence
    • a. rescue
    • b. finish
    • c. require
    • d. twirl
  5. precise
    • a. moist
    • b. insane
    • c. messy
    • d. hungry
  6. synthetic
    • a. natural
    • b. rhythmic
    • c. shiny
    • d. harmless
  7. extract
    • a. manage
    • b. anger
    • c. insert
    • d. explode
  8. publicity
    • a. gravity
    • b. privacy
    • c. bravery
    • d. energy
  9. impulse
    • a. truck
    • b. music
    • c. revenge
    • d. plan
  10. fabulous
    • a. rude
    • b. noisy
    • c. fertile
    • d. awful
Exercise 2

Fill in the blanks with the correct words from the word bank.

WORD BLANK
subsequent fabulous impulse publicity
extract astonished assess terminal
essence ongoing    

The patient’s illness seemed like it might be 1___________. To save him, doctors had to 2___________ the infected tissue.

On an 3___________ he kicked the wall and it revealed a secret pass. It led to his 4___________ escape from the prison.

It was difficult to 5___________ in which direction the forest fire would go. One reason was that anything could happen while the fire was 6___________ .

The 7___________ of the mayor’s speech was about building the new library. The building would be a(n) 8___________ addition to the scenery downtown.

His amazing skills during the last half of the game 9___________ the crowd. Then that night, he received a lot of 10___________ from all the news shows.

Exercise 3

Write a word that is similar in meaning to the underlined part.

  1. Because she took the test with such speed, she made several silly mistakes.
    ____________
  2. Her anniversary had a quality that made it important because it was also her birthday.
    ____________
  3. Though the smallest basic units in ice and steam are similar, their shapes are different.
    ____________
  4. They began the ceremony at 9:00 in the evening.
    ____________
  5. The closeness in space of her office is only a short distance from mine.
    ____________
  6. He could sleep late that day or get up early and start his work. He chose the second choice.
    ____________
  7. The noises on the computer sounded like they were made to sound like real ones.
    ____________
  8. Please judge the quality of his proposal before we decide to meet with him.
    ____________
  9. The best cure for a slightly injured foot is putting ice on it.
    ____________
  10. Most of the advertisements on TV are related to the development of drugs commercials.
    ____________
Answer Key
Exercise 1
  1. d
  2. a
  3. d
  4. b
  5. c
  6. a
  7. c
  8. b
  9. d
  10. d
Exercise 2
  1. terminal
  2. extract
  3. impulse
  4. subsequent
  5. assess
  6. ongoing
  7. essence
  8. fabulous
  9. astonished
  10. publicity
Exercise 3
  1. haste
  2. significance
  3. molecules
  4. commenced
  5. proximity
  6. latter
  7. synthetic
  8. assess
  9. remedy
  10. pharmaceutical
Answer Key
a Famous Accident

One of the greatest pharmaceutical discoveries happened by accident. In his haste to go on vacation, Alexander Fleming had left his laboratory in a mess. The essence of his ongoing work involved a type of bacteria. An infection caused by the bacteria was often terminal, and he was looking for a remedy. He had left the bacteria out while he was away.

When he returned from vacation, he found that his lab was covered in fungus. He started cleaning up the mess. While he was cleaning, he had an impulse to examine the fungus. He saw that whenever the fungus was in close proximity to the bacteria, the bacteria died.

Though he was a messy scientist, his experiments were precise. He thought that there might be some significance to the fungus. He immediately commenced an experiment to assess what had happened to the bacteria. It had either died by accident or the fungus had killed it. The subsequent tests proved it was the latter reason.

What he found astonished him. The fungus actually killed the bad bacteria. All this time, he had been looking for a synthetic material to kill the bacteria. Instead, a common fungus did the job.

He knew that something in the fungus had killed the bacteria. His next step was to find those molecules that had done it. When he found them, he extracted them and put them into a pill. The drug proved to be very effective. It also worked against other types of harmful bacteria.

The discovery received a lot of publicity. Soon after, the new drug was being used all over the world. Because of the success, the scientist was able to develop even more fabulous drugs to help people. His accidental discovery changed the world and helped save many people’s lives.

Reading Comprehension

Part A: Mark each statement T for true or F for false. Rewrite the false statements to make them true.

  1. _____ One of the most fabulous pharmaceutical discoveries was an accident.
    • _____________________________________________________
  2. _____ The essence of the scientist’s ongoing work was to find a remedy for a terminal infection.
    • _____________________________________________________
  3. _____ The infection caused by the bacteria he was working on was not terminal.
    • _____________________________________________________
  4. _____ Fleming examined the fungus on an impulse.
    • _____________________________________________________
  5. _____ Whenever the synthetic material was far from the bacteria, the bacteria died.
    • _____________________________________________________

Part B: Answer the questions.

  1. In his haste to go on vacation, how had Alexander Fleming left his laboratory?
    _____________
  2. What was the significance of the fungus?
    _____________
  3. When did the scientist get an impulse to examine the fungus?
    _____________
  4. What did the scientist extract molecules from?
    _____________
  5. What received a lot of publicity?
    _____________
Answer Key
Answer Key
Reading Comprehension
Part A
  1. T
  2. T
  3. F / The infection caused by the bacteria he was working on was terminal.
  4. T
  5. F / Whenever the fungus was close to the bacteria, the bacteria died.
Part B
  1. In his haste to go on vacation, Alexander Fleming left his laboratory in a mess.
  2. The significance of the fungus was that it could kill the bacteria.
  3. While he was cleaning, he had an impulse to examine the fungus.
  4. The scientist extracted molecules from the fungus.
  5. The discovery received a lot of publicity.
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