Week 8 – Audio Lesson: Vocabulary

Peter May 19, 2020

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Turn something up – increase the volume of something, e.g. music or audio.
A classic – (Aussie slang) something incredibly funny.
A Tassie Devil – A Tasmanian Devil, a carnivorous marsupial found on the Island of Tasmania, Australia.
Just as well – a good or fortunate thing; good even if not expected or intended.
You mongrel! – (Aussie slang) you bastard; you nasty person/thing!
Google something – search for something using the Google search engine.
Dark chocolate – slightly bitter chocolate, of a deep brown colour, without added milk.
A marsupial – mammals who are born incompletely developed and are typically carried and suckled in a pouch on the mother’s belly.
Caffeine – an alkaloid compound which is found especially in tea and coffee plants and is a stimulant of the central nervous system.
Adversely affect something – negatively affected; affected in a bad way.
Holy shit! – (informal) used to show shock, surprise, awe, etc.
A share house – a house rented by multiple people who share it together.
A heap of something – a lot of something.
A cardiac arrest – a heart attack; where your heart stops beating.
CPR – short for ‘cardiopulmonary resuscitation’, a technique used to try to keep someone alive.
A lap dog – a small pampered pet dog.
Not have a chance – have no hope of something, e.g. survival.
Tasmania – an island state of Australia in the south east.
Become extinct – (of an organism) completely die out.
A fossil – the remains or impression of a prehistoric plant or animal embedded in rock and preserved in petrified form.
Pre- something – before something.
Around – approximately; roughly.
An ice age – a glacial episode during a past geological period.
A predator – an animal that hunts and eats other animals.
A thylacine – an Australian marsupial carnivore similar in morphology to a dog.
On its way out – in the process of going extinct/dying out.
Hear mixed things – hear multiple opinions about something, often that conflict.
The Mainland – the main island of the continent of Australia, i.e. not including Tasmania and other smaller surrounding islands.
From memory – based on my memory.
A dingo – a native Australian dog.
Push off the Mainland – forced off of the Mainland of Australia.
Introduce something into somewhere – (of an organism) brought to a location and released into the wild.
Evolutionary biology – the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes that produced the diversity of life on Earth.
The Smithsonian – a large museum in America.
A skin – the thin layer of tissue forming the natural outer covering of the body of a person or animal.

At museums, ‘skins’ are the specimens that are dried and stored as a record of an organism for reference.

Bottlenecked – where a population of organisms is reduced significantly in size and loses genetic diversity.
I suspect… – I believe…
Exacerbate something – cause something to get worse.
A lamb – a baby sheep.
Prey – an animal that is hunted and killed by another for food.
Tassie Devil-wise – with regards to Tasmanian Devils.

-wise = with regards to something; concerning something.

Genetically diverse – (of a population) have a large amount of genetic characteristics.
A tumour – a swelling of a part of the body caused by an abnormal growth of tissue (cancer), whether benign or malignant.
A cancer – a disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of the body.
Highly infectious – (of a disease) very easily spread amongst individuals.
Assert dominance – display that you’re the dominant individual.
A courtship ritual – behaviour displayed by organisms to determine if they’re going to mate or not.
A tragic end – a very sad death.
Resistant to something – immune or impervious to something.
Sponsor something – give money to something.
A breeding program – the planned captive breeding of a group of organisms to be released into the wild.
Prevalent – widespread in a particular area or at a particular time.
Repopulate (a location) – introduce individuals of a previously extinct population (to a location)
Reintroduce something (to a location) – introduce individuals of a previously extinct population to a location) where they were previously.
Directly compete (with something) – fight for the same resources (as something else).
Pristine – in its original condition; unspoilt.
Log (a forest) – cut down the large trees (of a forest) for timber.
A regrowth forest – a forest which has had many if not most of its mature trees cleared or cut and felled for timber or woodchips.
Viable – capable of working successfully; feasible.
My Spidey-senses are tingling – (from the Spiderman comic) my intuition tells me something is wrong.
Lo and behold – something that you say when you tell someone about something surprising that happened, often that was expected.
Have gas – (of a baby) need to fart.
Drop the ball – make a mistake; mishandle things.
Screw up – make a mistake; do something wrong.
Looney Tunes – an American animated comedy series produced by Warner Bros.
One’s introduction to something – the first time someone experiences or is shown something.
A European settler – a person from Europe who moves with a group of others to live in a new country or area, usually which has been recently colonised.
Set up camp somewhere – (literal) establish your tent, fire, etc. at your campsite; (figurative) establish a place to live somewhere.

Real English Discussions Course

Real English Discussions Course

Week 8 – Audio Lesson: Vocabulary

Peter May 19, 2020

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