Academic Vocabulary for Those - Kien Tran

Academic Vocabulary for those who hate spending hate  spending too much time on bullsh*t IELTS books

 Kien

Tran 

Dear Customers and Shareholders, First of all, you may be scratching your head wondering why I addressed you as shareholders and customers. In case you are unaware, customers and investors (or shareholders) are not the terms I arbitrarily call you all. I did that for a good reason. In essence, from business's perspectives, you are both my customers and my shareholders, not my students. On the flip side, I am not your coach, not even your teacher so to speak. I instead prefer to address myself as your CEO, who has the responsibility to live up to the expectations of shareholders and customers-you. As shareholders, you have "invested" your money to "the company" and expect a decent return on your investment, which in this case your IELTS performance. As per general principles, the goal is to maximize shareholders' value or your return on investment. As customers, you have purchased my product using your hardearned money and expect the product to work to your great benefit, thereby in return taking the company's reputation to the next levels. Increasing customer satisfaction has always been my primary goal. I have always been impelled to create the product that suits your educational needs and serve your purposes well enough. Therefore I really wish this book can offer you the best guidance you need for your success. Due to limited time and intense work schedule, my apology for any possible errors. Now let's enjoy and have fun!

Preface*

*Introduction

You right now might be wondering why just reading lazily like what you are doing at this very moment, without taking any notes, can help you remember all the fancy academic vocabulary. Is that even possible? My answer is YES, YES, YES. And I'm not just saying that.. The way it works is extremely simple, yet, not a lot that of folks folks know  know about and even if they do, not many of  them will make use of  it.   it. I am going to explain to you in later section of the book. But for now, just keep in mind that this book WILL make a big change in your life. Don't tell me you only need English to pass the bullshit IELTS exam that you will have to pay a fortune for fortune for the fees and not to mention you don't necessarily enjoy the experience it gives you. You will need English for the rest of your life, hands down. down. Until you die. Let's be honest, 10 years ago, no English was okay. Now, if you don't speak and write in English properly and professionally, you will never get ahead of the game. game. So, you might notice I mark some words or phrases as RED RED,, good question, they are words that are informal. You should NOT use them in formal writing like IELTS. But feel free to use them in daily conversation or informal writing. They are very very common. But wait, isn't this book supposed to be for Academic vocabulary learning purpose? Oh yeah, I'm glad you mention that. It IS for academic vocab learning. Just wanna chill chill a  a little bit as this is just a preface section. I'm gonna get more serious later on and it will, in fact, turn you on as on as you will learn big time. time. So the question is... Are you ready? Ok dumb question. I know you are 100% ready. LOL. Let's jump right into it.

 Essays with Kien Tran

Before

Legalize => Legalization Add more specific Add cause-effect

 After

1. Naturally and Repeatedly Now, I will use academic vocab in REAL LIFE, naturally and repeatedly. See the word "naturally" and "repeatedly"? These are vitally important (1) for the success of learning vocabulary in a short period of  time. Therefore, do not take them lightly (2). HAHA. Okay, have you noticed what's going on right now? These two above phrases are the very first two academic phrases that you are gonna learn. You will see them every so often (3) as you go through the book. Why do you have to see them again? Remember repetition? It's key. It's vitally important (1). That's why you will have to see them over and over again, coupled with (4) new phrases. This will, of  course, produce desirable learning outcomes (5) since you will familiarize yourself (6) with a myriad of (7) useful vocab that you will finally have a chance to use in formal writing. In conclusion of this page, you have already learned seven vitally important phrases that cannot be taken lightly in IELTS writing. You will see more vitally important ones later on because this is what this book is all about. Just by reading, you will succeed.

(1) Very important (2) Take them seriously

(3) from time to time, often (4) beside (5) give good results (6) get familiar with (7) a lot of/many

 A lot of 

a myriad of  *use with prudence, may not be altered in some specific cases

2. Talking with Kien Tran Do you like talking to me? Hmm... You don't say anything so I take it as a YES. In this book, it's like you are talking to me. Oh, I'm sorry, I'm talking to you directly. We will have a chat about anything you can think of. The environment, food and beverages, animals, the universe, movies, music, you name it. This book is interesting, making normal stuff  academic. An unprecedented (8) book (8) book about learning vocabulary just for you, my friend. I hope you don't take it lightly as lightly as this is all my expertise (9) dedicated to (10) creating (10) creating the best learning experience so you can enjoy and have fun.

(8) Never done or known before (9) expert knowledge in a particular field (10) devote time and effort to

You will see a myriad of topics that topics that I will do my best (11) make it simple and easy to understand to simplify (11) and (11) and at the same time utilize (12) as many academic words as possible so you can easily (12) use familiarize yourself with them with them as well as you ever dream of.

Tip!

Expertise = knowledge + skill + experience Knowledge = knowledge

Be careful

dedicated to LEARNING dedicated to learn

3. Should students wear uniform? What do you think? Should students wear uniform? This is such a classic essay question, not unprecedented at unprecedented  at all. It's so basic that everyone wants to take it as an example to illustrate their point (13) prove their point, or (13)   in essay writing. The answer to that question can use as example (13) be yes or no depending on what view you want to take. Whether students should wear uniform or not (14) Does not have any does not have anything to do with (14) our current relation with, does not lives. Remember our job is to choose a viewpoint and affect answer that and then move on with life. Nobody cares so you don't need to worry about any essay questions from now on. Just answer and that's it. No right or wrong answer. Okay, I guess you may have a myriad of ideas in your mind right now as this is an extremely easy topic. To me, the answer to that is NO. I don't think students should wear uniform because 1. That will compromise will compromise (15)  (15)  their individuality their individuality (16). (16). 2. Not every student likes it 3. Uniforms are not usually of good quality (17)

(15) ~lose (16) uniqueness of  character (17) ~This shirt is of high quality = The quality of this shirt is high

Or I can say YES if I agree if I want to. Either way, I don't care and neither should you. No one cares if  not “wa s” they wear uniform or not, you can control that. The same goes for other topics (18), (18), don't be scared, any (18) Other topics as well, no difference idea is a good idea. The choice is all yours.

Individuality US, Canada, UK Australia, Europe

Collectiveness Vietnam, China, Japan

4. Quick Grammar #1 This is the quick grammar section where I show you some...of course, quick grammar notes you might need to bear in mind (19) as they are vitally (19) remember/ important to your success in writing. You cannot take keep in mind them lightly. You have to familiarize yourself with all of them because every so often you may make mistakes that can be detrimental (20) to your IELTS (20) bad, negative grade. Remember: Nobody, no one, somebody, someone, everyone, everybody, anyone are NOT plural. They are singular. Therefore, it's must be like Everyone IS, everyone DOES, everyone takes Somebody IS, somebody DOES, somebody takeS Anyone IS, anyone DOES, anyone takeS. Every animal IS nice, every job IS, every love IS Don't compromise your grade by not knowing them. This is so fundamental, vitally important and has a lot to do with your grades. So now you know it. How cool!

bad

Detrimental salt, sugar, red meats

Beneficial Veggies, flaxseeds, fruits

. Thinkin' in English A By-product Reading this book can also create a by-product (21). Your primary purpose of reading this book is to grasp as many vocabulary as you can in your head. But you also start to think in English more and better. Why? Because the way I use language, coupled with how interesting I am, makes it possible (22) for you to do that.

(21) a secondary product

Writing easy language like what I am doing right now is not as easy as it sounds (23). It still involves a lot of  underlying principles (24) in psychology and advertising. Many people refuse to do that and they end up compromising reader's engagement. That's one of many reasons why you don't like reading books although books are good to read. Right? Let's be honest. You don't like reading books, why do you read my books? Get the idea? Many people don't even have a clue about how to engage readers. That's why they fail and still stay ignorant. That also explains (25) why my book is meant to just read.

(23) easy as people think

(22) allows/enables

(24)Basic principles you behind anything

(25) This is a very good linking phrase

Thinking in English is vitally important and you should not take it lightly. I know I am overusing these orange-colored phrases. That's done for a reason and you already know why. Haha. So please don't ask me to paraphrase to avoid repetition. Because repetition is, (26) The essense hands down, the backbone (26)  of memorization. The basics The fundamentals

Tip! Use "irrespective of" or "regardless of" at the end to provide more details (on universality) People can go to the church every Sunday, regardless of  religious background.  The meeting will start at 5:00pm, irrespective of weather.

6. Terminologies vs. Academic Vocab Some people mistakenly think terminologies are academic vocabulary and vice versa. Yes, they are similar to some degree (27) but not entirely the same. (27) To some extent 'Bond convexity' is a term in finance. 'Nasal disease' is a medical term. 'Self-fulfiling prophecy' is a term is psychology. They are not really academic vocab. They belong to the field itself and stay there permanently. You almost cannot use them too extensively. You can only use them when talking about a specific topic. In IELTS writing, you are not required to know all of  these technical terms. But you definitely have to know and use fluently academic vocab that constitute (28) (28) Create, build, be a any essays, irrespective of (29) topics. Get it? part of the whole thing (29) regardless of, = re ardless of no matter Okay, just like the phrase "irrespective of" I used above. It is quite an academic vocab and you have to = regardless of know it no matter what if you really want to write (but not formal) successfully. Another clear difference, terminologies help show off  your knowledge. Academic vocab help show off your language skill. IELTS is all about language skill. So I place more significant emphasis (30) on academic vocab than terminologies. But it's also not wrong if  you know terminologies. Academic vocab and terminologies complement (31) each other and ultimately (32) constitute the strength of your overall intelligence.

(30) stress, take it more seriously (31) support each other (32) at the end

make/be a part of  constitute Hydro and oxygen constitute the water particle Lack of focus and hard work constitute failure *use with prudence, may not be altered in some specific cases

7. Quick Grammar #2 Previously, you saw I used the phrase "to some degree" and you've probably seen a lot of people use "to some extent". To some extent, to some degree, in some way, at some point. What do they even mean? They just simply mean something is PARTLY true or not always applicable. Examples: I agree at some point. (I partly agree) Learning English is good to some degree (not always good) Bear in mind that although there is a word 'some', this is not an indication of (33) plurality. So please don't add any 's' at the end of any following word like "to some extents" or "at some points". That's not gramatically correct and may compromise your grade if you don't pay enough attention.

(33) it's not an indication of = it doesn't mean (that)

This doesn't mean This is not an indication of  *use with prudence, may not be altered in some specific cases

8. Is Marketing Good or Bad? What is your thought on that? All too often, people think marketing is evil and deceptive. But that is not necessarily true (34). Marketing links products of value (35) with those who are not aware of its existence (36). Most products you buy on a daily basis (37) are facilitated (38) by a myriad of   marketing activities. And you like these products. If Apple did not do marketing well, nobody would buy their products, irrespective of   how high value they are of. Therefore, marketing is not only good but vitally important and we should not take it lightly.

(34) it's not all true (35) have value (36) know it (37) every day (38) help, assist, support

(39) without it

Without the existence of (39) marketing, it would be detrimental to the economy because products would not match customers' needs. Businesses would suffer losses (40) and customers would lose the chance (41) to improve their life by using these products. We, therefore, could imply (42) that the health of any economy relies heavily (43)  on marketing activities.

(40) too easy (41) lose the opportunity (42) suggest that (43) too easy, u know it

(44) understood, viewed All in all, marketing should be perceived (44) as good if  (45) too easy, u know it not highly beneficial (45). We should do more and more marketing to facilitate our economy.

daily/day-to-day on a daily basis (Sounds more formal, other variations are "on a regular basis" "on a monthly basis", etc *use with prudence, may not be altered in some specific cases

Before

Making it formal by giving it considerable details and boredom

 After

Academic Vocabulary For Those Who Hate Spending Too Much Time On Bullsh*t IELTS books

9. Is Tourism good or bad? Okay, let's be honest. This is one of the IELTS essay question. But don't let the word 'IELTS' fool you. It's  just a simple question, with the brand 'IELTS' attached. What's your thought on this? Some might say tourism is not good as he or she has trouble seeing any economic activities involved. That is why it is not necessarily true. Tourism is highly beneficial to the economy, irrespective of   its kind. A country with a high degree of (46) tourism facilitates (46) high level of  economic activities as people are motivated (47) to (47) too easy, work hard to serve foreigners and make money from but important catering food (48) and rendering services (49). These activities are vitally important to create more value to (48) serving food (49) perform services the society (50) they are being a part of. (like legal services etc) (50) too easy,  Just like when you are beautiful, people are more likely but important to (51) associate with (52) you can greatly benefit (51) has higher chance from that (53). The same goes for a country, if a to country is beautiful enough to attract tourists, they will (52) connect with easy but make money and as they make more money, they can (53) important spend and invest the money. Spending and investing facilitate  the growth of a country and that cannot be taken lightly. Therefore, even though tourism may not be as highly beneficial as it appears, it is vitally important for everyone.

Tip! "Motivation" or "is motivated to" can be taken advantage of in IELTS because of its high cause-effect relationship generated. If the governments provide free education, students will be get lazy  => If the governments provide free education, students will NOT BE MOTIVATED to work hard. By using "motivation"/"be motivated", the causeeffect relationship appears stronger

10. Is Watching TV Good or Bad? a

What is your thought on that? By the way, I don't even have a TV. My laptop has almost everything. The same might go with you. But should we watch TV? TV has been around (54) for decades and it seems to continue its aggressive evolvement as technology comes in. There are a myriad of companies selling TV of great value and great efficiency on the market. In fact, TV were even a necessity (55) when we were kids. But let's face it, in today fast-paced life (56), who would have time to watch TV? Retired people would. Young people may not. Watching TV may take a great amount time but does not necessarily create the equivalent value for our lives.

(54) has been there, has been existing

(55) a very very important thing (water is a necessity) (56) fast life

We, as young students or workers, may only have maximum two to three hours to watch TV and it's already a waste. We also don't use TV as much as we think we do when we were in the store. The 'nice' salesperson has probably already used his or her savvy (57) very skilful, very good (57) sales skills to get you buying. Therefore, it much depends on your age. If you are young, you shouldn't buy and watch TV. If you are retired, TV might be of great value for your entertainment purposes.

a very important thing

aGettingnecessity up early to exercise is very 

important for your health. => Getting up early is such a necessity for health.

*use with prudence, may not be altered in some specific cases

11. Academic Habit I bet if you are at band 6-7, you may have already recognized many green-colored words I have been writing. However, recognizing and really knowing are two distinct notions (58). You recognize the phrases because every so often you might have seen them somewhere. But that is not an indication of you having mastered them. To really master them you need to use them on a daily basis like your daily language. You need to get into the habit of (59) using them, just like your mother-tongue. That way (60), you will not only recognize the words but also truly understand their meanings and be able to use them properly. What I am doing now is to impart (61) the meanings of academic phrases so you will get accustomed to (62) those naturally and effectively. So now you two distinct notions of recognizing and really knowing has been unraveled (63). Just remember, when you see a word, you might not know it, you may just recognize it. In order to really know it, reading this book is key and you cannot take it lightly.

(58) two totally different things

(59) make it a habit (60) by doing so

(61) communicate, make something known (62) get used to get familiar with (63) solved, explained

get accustomed to LEARNING learn

12. Should you download illegally? You and I may have downloaded movies, music and books online without paying a single penny. What it's called in academic language is  copyright infringment (64), which indicates we are violating the copyright law. Movies, music and books are called intellectual property (65) and if we use them without the express permission (66) from the creators. We can be fined and even imprisoned for that. However, it is safe to say (67) the likelihood of you getting caught is very slim (68). That is why people are abusing it and download other's intellectual property without even considering any ethical issues (69). That's why corporations are trying to impart strong morals to Internet citizens and make them aware and thus pay their money. Without the existence of profits, they would not be motivated to create and invent. You and I, as a result (70), would not have any awesome movies to entertain or amazing books to read. Ultimately, the society as we know it would inevitably (71) come to an end. That's serious, isn't it?

(64) violate copyright law (65) Music, movies, books of others (66) open permission (67) ~easy but important (68) the chance of getting caught is small (69) issue on ethics

(70) ~ easy but important (71) will happen no matter what

But don't worry. It would never happen in any period of time down the road (72). Just a message for you to (72) in the future consider your morals before you embark on (73) (73) Start to do something downloading any intellectual property. You might never get caught. But is it ethically acceptable (74) to (74) Ethical do? It's all up to you to decide, my friend.

Tip! Ethically acceptable, professionally acceptable, economically acceptable, financially acceptable  You can utilize adverb to give the word "acceptable" more specific and relevant detail to the essay.

13. is Global Warming real? We hear about global warming on a daily basis. Let's face it, our comfort has a lot to do with the temperature. There is sufficient evidence to infer that (75) those living in a country with hot temperature are more likely to express anger than those living in cooler regions. But is global warming a real issue? Surprisingly enough, some says it is, I bet you do. But many people do not believe in the concept of global warming. Yes, believe it or not, a lot of people refuse to believe in that. They are skeptics (76). It's hard to convince a skeptic. They are not easy to believe in anything. There are many reasons behind the skepticism. It might be personal experience. You don't believe in climate change because you don't feel any change yet. It might be you think news and reports nowadays are biased (77) so cannot be trusted. It might simply be you don't care whether or not it's real because you don't have control anyway. Statistically speaking (78), global warming or climate change is a real phenomenon (79) and should not be taken lightly. Learning about it is vitally important to our daily lives since they are closely related (80). We, as modern citizens, can simply take steps to create a healthier living environment by growing trees, saving energy, and educating other people to reduce skepticism.

(75) we should conclude that

(76) people who are hard to be convinced

(77) unfairly prejudiced

(78) based on statistics or numbers (80) easy but important

Biased information is bad distorted, not reliable or biased

 

Objective Information is objective, accurately represented, & reliable

14. Quick Grammar #3 Conditional sentence Type 2 is slightly more complicated, for beginners. It implies imaginary contexts. These are not real. If I won $1 million dollars, I would buy a car If I were you, I would  marry her. If you were  my puppy, I would love you forever. Again, these are not real. Therefore, they belong to type 2. As simple as that. It's safe to say you have (81) it's likely that definitely read about conditional sentences somewhere else. If it sounds complex to you, chances are (81) that book is bullshit. Why? Because it should have been very easy. Type 3 is slightly more complicated than type 2, but still not more than a piece of cake. It implies  things you did in the past and you wish to change it or you simply regret. For example, If I had done the homework, I would have aced the exam. If I had proposed Lady Gaga, I would have been her husband. If it had rained yesterday, we couldn't have had a chance to catch a movie. You mean present and real? Go for type 1. You mean imaginary stuff? Go for type 2. You want to change the past? Go for type 3.  Just put in a little practice, you will soon see a difference in your learning progress.

15. Hack Your Writing Idea There is also a side benefit of reading this book. I'm not only incorporating useful academic vocab to my writing, but also actually teaching you some killer tips you can apply to your IELTS. Here's the tip. Every writing can involve 'the governments' and 'the environment'. Whether you get to write about food, the universe, tourism or puppies, there is always room for (82) the governments and the environment. Whenever you are stuck, don't forget the governments and the environment. Give me any examples. Should smoking be banned? Okay, too easy. Another one. Should history course be mandatory (83)? The governments will decide if it's mandatory or not. So it involves the governments. The environment is affected because we can acknowledge (84) the climate change over time and act accordingly (85) for the future. As can be observed (86), the likelihood that they will appear in your writing is quite high so you can clearly take advantage of (87) them, irrespective of topics, without compromising the mark. Time is scarce (88) and this simple hack will save you a great deal of time wandering around to find ideas. When it comes to (89) essay, just remember the governments and the environment are our best friends.

(82) easy and you know it

(83) required, compulsory

(84) accept, understand and admit (85) act as a result of  something (86) easy and you know it (87) use , take chance to use it (88) good phrase to know

(89) when talking about

 As we can see As can be seen OR As can be observed

16. Why is it the 'governments'? Why? I'm glad you ask. Because it implies your knowledgeability. When it comes to  'the governments', there are a myriad of government bodies (90) administering (91) a variety of (92) economic and societal activities (93). Okay, vitally important activities. Are you happy? LOL. In Canada, there are three levels of governments, which are federal, provincial and municipal (94). They carry out different policies (95) and render different services that are closely related to the citizens. There are also government agencies (96) from the U.S. such as the FBI, CIA, IRS, NSA, NASA and so on. They serve their own distinct and specialized functions (97). To be able to work there, you need to reach a certain level (98) of intelligence and expertise because the job requirement is  excessively demanding (99). But that doesn't mean you can't if you really want to because the likelihood of getting a job there is just slim,  not zero. Therefore, if you want to, you should embark on studying English now because it's definitely a necessity for your success, irrespective of what field you are pursuing.

(90)government 'organization' in general (91) manage/take care of  (92) many /different (93)easy but important

(94) related to city (95) implement policies (96) specific organizations belong to the governments (97) do their job (98) get to a level (99) very tough

So now you know the governments are not as simple as it sounds. It's actually much broader than one can expect (100). (100) than you think

do their jobs serve their functions

17. Should you pay taxes? Do you like to pay taxes? No, of course. But do you like to receive social welfare (101)? The answer is Yes. But where does social welfare come from? It comes from your money, and mine as well. Yeah, nothing is FREE, I know. Taxes are levied (or) imposed (102) on each and every one of us if we earn income, known as personal income tax. Taxes are also levied on corporations, known as corporate income tax. There are also sales taxes (or VAT in Vietnam). It means, we as customers have to pay extra money as sales tax (or VAT) when we purchase certain classes of goods and/or services (103) in the marketplace.

(102) required, forced to pay

(103) goods and services - they go together like a couple Theoretically speaking (104), without the existence of  (104) in theory

taxes, we cannot enjoy social welfare such as social benefits, health care, public transit (105), police, military & defense, etc. Taxation is a complicated matter (106) (105) public transportation for ordinary citizens (107) like us. You only need to (106) a complicated thing understand that the governments impose different tax (107) normal people rates to different income groups. People with higher income are imposed with higher tax and vice versa. Does it make sense to you? You can avoid tax but do not evade tax. Tax avoidance (108) is a legal way to reduce tax liability (109). Tax evasion (110) is a crime, which means you don't pay the amount of taxes that you are supposed to pay.

(108) techniques to reduce tax (109) the amount of tax you have to pay (110) Like you hide the money away to trick the governments so you pay

buy things purchase goods or services (more details)

18. How to Review All these Vocab? If you have reach this far, then congratulations! You have learned 110th academic vocab in this book. But you might be wondering how to better remember all these? I would recommend against (111) using vocab list or note taking. Why? Because they don't have any context associated with these vocabulary. Vocab list is so arbitrary (112). (112). I would recommend that you read the book over and over again. That way, you way, you will be able to familiarize yourself with the with the vocab and the context associated with it. This method will further implant firmly (113) all (113) all the meanings into your mind so they all make sense to you and you can actually understand it and use it. From now on, you should get into habit of doing that so I can do the impartation job impartation  job more easily. I'm not excessively demanding but demanding but I wish you would come out and say you are happy 100% with this book. HAHA. My goal is to maximize customer satisfaction (114). (114). You're satisfied. I'm satisfied. I'm trying to create value to the society and society and I hope you can greatly benefit from that. This is definitely an indication of indication  of a healthy relationship (115). (115). Believe it or not, not, my level of enthusiasm heavily relies on your demand and your love for my products. I love you for everything you do and say to me. Paper is scarce. See you next round.

(111) don't recommend

(112) random, aimless

(113) embed, put strongly onto

(114) maximize customer happiness this phrase is useful

(115) good relationship

Arbitrary 351352314812309 is an arbitrary array of  numbers. There is absolutely no logic.

 

Logical 123456789 is a logical array of  numbers.

19. Should You Have Pets? What an expensive question! Yet, very entertaining! The first word comes to my head when it comes to pet is always companionship (116).. Pets like dogs are companion animals, (116) animals, bestowing(116) friendship (commonl a lot of benefits (117) up (117) up on their owners and also associated with pets causing a myriad of problems. Raising a pet might look (117) offers benefit easy at first but it actually involves a great deal of  (118) important phrase responsibility (118). (118). But statistically speaking, speaking, it seems people having pets are more likely to be happier than those who do not. Based on this fact (119), (119), I guess (119) important phrase (120) buy a pet you might consider adopting a pet (120) for (120) for your (121) think carefully own. However, you may need to think twice (121) because as I mentioned, coupled with benefits lie (122) fancy phrase hidden problems (122). Pet accessories (123) and (123) and food may cost more than (123) things that can be added to pets one can expect. expect. Also of importance (124), (124), hygienic Also importantly care (125) and (125) and cleaning need to be taken into account. (124) (125) Cleaning and stuff  Of course, if you have money but no time, dog (126) service making dogs look more beautiful grooming service (126)  (126)  might be an ideal solution (127) good solution (127).. When it comes to food, raw or undercooked (127) pet food might pose potential health risks (128) to (128) bring some risks your pet so should not be taken lightly. lightly. Overall, pets can give you great love and affection (129) useful when you use (129)   by their playful personalities (130), (129) (130), which make with pet-related topics (130) same as above you happy. Just be aware that problems won't automatically go away when the time comes.

Key words for pets responsibility, hygienic care, dog grooming service, playful personalities, companionship, love and affection

20. What You Eat May Either Make or Break You

In today fast-paced life, are you aware of what you eat everyday? If you are, then good for you. If you aren't, then shame on you. HAHA.

In fact, the good news is following a healthy eating habit is not as difficult as it sounds. There is a misconception that eating healthy compromises the taste, significantly. However, it is not necessarily true since we get accustomed to the taste over time. Salt and sugar are always the enemies of any healthy dietary plans (131). Salt increases the risk (132) of a myriad of   diseases, such as high blood pressure. Sugar is linked to (133)  heart diseases, obesity and diebetes. Too much salt and sugar can put your health in  jeopardy (134) and even cause death. Therefore, it is vitally important that we need to track our sugar or salt consumption (135) to ensure it is at the acceptable levels. Whole food (136), such as vegetables, meats, eggs, beans, seeds, milk are favored by nutritional scientists compared to processed food (137) like canned food, burgers or donuts. Nutrient-dense food like nuts, seeds or herbs are believed to guard against (138) many diseases. These are also considered meat alternatives (139) because of the richness in protein. All in all, healthy eating is the backbone of a good life. Whenever you do the grocery shopping (140), don't forget to read food labels (141)

(131) eating plan (132) very useful phrase (133) has a connection with (134) put your health in danger (135) good phrase

(136) good phrase, it mean food that has only 1 ingredient (137) the opposite of whole food, this is food that has been processed with a bunch of ingredients (138) prevent (139) food that has similar characteristics as meat (140) shop for groceries (141) common phrase

processed food food that are processed with tons of other ingredients

whole food fish, meat, fruits, veggies. They are whole food. No other ingredients.

Before

Making it formal by giving it considerable details and boredom

 After

Academic Vocabulary For Those Who Hate Spending Too Much Time On Bullsh*t IELTS books

I'm watching you :-|

21. Globalization is Worth it! What do you think about globalization? You might have heard enough about all the great things of  globalization. But there's lousy aspects as well, more on that later. This topic will focus on why globalization is worth it. (150) encourage, ~develop First, globalization has a lot to do with promoting (150) cultural intermingling (142). That is, people from different parts of the world mingle (143) together, creating what it's called, cultural diversity (144). Thanks to (145) globalization, we can live in a society where anyone of us can have opportunities to learn more about other cultures without traveling aboard. By mingling with one another, we tend to tolerate each other's differences (146) and thereby form an egalitarian society (147) where all people are treated equally.

(142) different cultures mix together (143) mix together (144) a range of different culture (145) ~because of  globalization

(146) accept differences (147) a society where all people are treated equally

Also of importance, globalization faciliates communication worldwide, thereby increasing the flows of information. This helps businesses operate in a much efficient manner as they are fed with timely (148) make informed information to make less arbitrary decisions (148). decisions In addition, globalization facilitates  competition between countries and as a result reduces prices. Needless to say, lower prices greatly benefit consumers including us. Low-income people (149) will finally have access to goods and services that would not have been available to them without the existence of   globalization.

(149) Academic phrase implying 'poor people'

Tip! "promote" is a good cause-effect verb and so should be used more extensively in IELTS

22. Globalization in The Eyes of Opponents

Although the benefits of globalization appear very pronounced (150), not everyone agrees globalization offers net positive benefit (151). In the eyes of  opponents, globalization can also be fraught with pitfalls (152).

(150) big, serious, impactful (151) benefits greater than disadvantages (152) full of disadvantages

First, a number of developed countries have witnessed  job loss oversea (153), also known as offshore (153) useful phrase (154) same meaning as 153 outsourcing (154). This real phenomenon can be (155) a big difference explained by looking at the wide discrepancy (155) in wages between developed and developing nations. For example, corporations like Apple have shifted millions of jobs oversea in an attempt to (156) reduce (156) in hopes of, in trying to costs of production, making millions of American workers suffer. Opponents also believe globalization largely ~cause (not exact contributes (157) to income inequality (158), whereby (157) meaning but yeah) the rich get much richer and the poor can't get (158) big difference in income between different ahead. This discrepancy in income poses many of society potential problems (160) to the economy. A myriad of classes (160) create problems policies have been carried out to narrow the gap (159) (159) make the gap less wide but they do not seem to work as well as expected thus far. Globalization can also pose problems (160) like spreading infectious diseases (161) as traveling is now (161) good phrase to know a lot more frequent than before. In addition, corporations have opportunities to get around rules (162) bend rules, try to and regulations (162) as they can choose which not follow the rules in a countries to operate in. (not enough paper to write the legal way conclusion. HAHA)

Tip! "contribute to" is a good cause-effect verb and so should be used more extensively in IELTS. Contribution to + noun or V-ing. Be careful!

23. Relax!!! Maybe the last 21 22 have been too serious to you? HAHA. For beginners, it might be an issue. For hardcore learners, it might be a big turn-on. Either way, you don't have to digest those vocab at once. Just relax. This book is yours and you can read as many times as you wish. Because your success heavily relies on repetition. A high degree of   repetition will make a difference in your proficiency in using those vocab. A high degree of repetition will make everything possible. A high degree of repetition is not as easy as it sounds. A high degree of repetition bestows a myriad of benefits upon you. A high degree of repetition implants firmly all the toughest vocab into your head with ease. A high degree of repetition is mandatory. A high degree of repetition is not a complicated matter, but it is a serious matter. A high degree of repetition offers a myriad of ideal solutions  to successful essay writing. A high degree of repetition acknowledge the fact that practice is key and is vitally important and is not supposed to be taken lightly. A high degree of  repetition involves a great deal of responsibility. When it comes to a high degree of   repetition, even skeptics acknowledge its usefulness. When it comes to a high degree of repetition, you have just reviewed a myriad of vocab like right now in almost no time. All what I can tell you is, relax. Don't get stressed too much just yet. Because... MORE ARE COMING!!!

24. Quick Grammar #4 Welcome back to Quick Grammar section, whereby you can get your grammar fixed before you embark yourself on real IELTS exam. Here's the fix. Always use the short form of relative clause if you're able to. For example. The boy who stands in front of me is gay => this is not wrong but doesn't sound very good You should instead use the short form. =>The boy standing in front of me is gay. The girl who I likes just got married => The girl I likes just got married It doesn't seem like a big change but think about it though. Very complex and long essays are packed with (163) information while they are expected to remain concise. If you don't use short form, there will be a myriad of unnecessary redundancy. Therefore, the use of short form is imperative (164).

(163) contains a lot of  (164) very important very crucial

It's very important to it is imperative to

25. Death Penalty

Criminal punishment is a indispensable way to deter the committment of crimes (165). (165). However, whether capital punishment (166) should be practiced by the society remains a highly controverisal issue (167). What is your thought on that? Okay, I know it's hard to say. That's why it's a highly controversial issue.

(165) prevent crimes from happening (166) same as death penalty (167)

It should be acknowledged acknowledged that  that capital punishment is very cost-effective (173) as (173) as the governments don't (173) low cost but effective have to provide food and 'accommodation' to criminals for the rest of their lives in prison. Also very imperative is imperative  is the fact that capital punishment proves the law system is strong enough to deter crimes. That way, innocent way,  innocent citizens like us can feel safe walking around the city at night without worrying we are surrounded by a by a myriad of imminent of imminent threats (174) that (174) that (174) threats that are about to happen could happen any moment. Opponents, on the other hand, offer much benevolent (168) thoughts (168)  thoughts on capital punishment, saying it is a unethical and evil way (169) to deter crimes. crimes. Clearly, Buddism doesn't support death penalty. There's also some alternatives to capital punishment such punishment such as providing education or therapy in an attempt to give to give the criminal a chance to start a new life. Theoretically speaking,, they may work but the costs to implement speaking (170) can (170)  can be prohibitively high (171). (171).

(168) kind-hearted (169) good phrase

(170) good phrase (171) too high to implement

Whether capital punishment should or should not remain legal depends heavily on heavily on the view of a particular society. However, it's safe to say the governments need to strike a balance (172) in (172) in order (172) balance yeo to ensure that illegal activities are detered in detered in ways that the society would accept.

26. Drug Legalization Whether drugs should be legalized remains a highly controversial issue. issue. Do you think drug legalization will offer net positive benefit if it comes into play (173)? (173)?

(173) come into effect come into action (174) drug trade (178) illegal businesses that make a lot of money

It should be acknowledged acknowledged that  that drug trafficking (174) is one of the most lucrative underground businesses (178) in (178)  in the world. Best of all, drug traffickers don't traffickers don't have to pay a single penny of taxes to the governments. How amazing! Therefore, it becomes (175) clear (175) if drug legalization comes legalization comes into play, the governments could collect a huge amount of money in tax revenue.

But what's in it for us? Drug legalization would also be fraught with pitfalls. pitfalls. People under the influence of  drugs, especially certain substances involving psychoactive drugs (176), (176), are significantly more likely (176) drugs that affect the mind to commit crimes as crimes as they lack capacity to control their behavior. Obviously, drug consumption is linked to crime rates so this cannot be taken lightly. lightly. Another inevitable inevitable pitfall  pitfall of drug is that it decreases work productivity in the long run. Drug consumption will inevitably inevitably leads  leads to drug addiction (177). (177). Once addicted, without the consumption of drugs, the addict cannot work and think properly as usual. How the governments can strike the balance between benefits and drawbacks has remained a long-debated topic. Time will tell if drug legalization results in net positive benefit to benefit to the society as a whole.

(177)

it is clear that Try to minimize the use of "that" to reduce redundancy

27. Mainstream Media Mainstream media (178) and alternative media (179) are both media but in two different forms. More on alternative media later, this topic will focus your attention on mainstream media. We are fed with the information (180) from various sources on a daily basis. One of the major source is mainstream media including traditional television or news. VnExpress, DanTri, Kenh14, and VTV are prime examples (181) of mainstream media. Yes, they feed readers and audience with a great deal of information about events happening around us. Nevertheless, whether the information is highly credible (182), reflecting the true reality, remains questionable in the eyes of many media skeptics, myself included. Skeptics never trust anything, I know. But the media nowadays is highly manipulative (183). Mainstream media is able to control the sentiments (184) of the entire society by disseminating information (185) it crafts for various hidden purposes. In any societies, whoever controls the media, which also means controls the information, has the most power. In other words, news providing companies are more powerful than one can expect. You may be laughing at your Chinese fellows as they are controlled by the government-owned media. But look at us, look at all sorts of people around us. Aren't we thinking and acting basically the same way? Therefore, one should keep a skeptical mindset (186) as when it comes to  information from mainstream media, it's likel not free of bias

(178) traditional and offcial media as we've seen on TV or official news companies (179) media that don't come from official sources (180) provided with the info (181) a very good example

(182) very trustful

(183) have the intention to control your thoughts (184) the positive or negative view about anything (185) spread or distribute the information

(186) don't easily believe in anything

Manipulating info (to influence public perception)  Disseminating Collecting info info (communicate (from sources) the info to the public)

28. Alternative Media? Alternative media does not come from any official sources and usually does not have high operating budget like mainstream media. In Vietnam, it's hard to find any pure alternative media since the media is controlled by the governments. Different viewpoints may result in prosecution by the governments. One wouldn't dare to express his or her thoughts that challenge the goverments' point of view (187) In numerous developed nations, alternative media appears much more prevalent. Many of them are committed to catering news (191) that reflects the truth since many people have lost faith (188) in the credibility of mainstream media. Alternative media exists to narrow the gap between the truth and the fake one, supposedly told by mainstream media. As mentioned, alternative media is not funded by the governments, therefore it has to find funding sources (189) from corporations, mostly in the sponsorship form, wherein corporations can display their brand names whenever the news is broadcasting (190). But that doesn't mean alternative media is completely free of bias. They can formulate fake news (194) as well to control the society's sentiments to serve their purpose (195)  just like mainstream media. All in all, it's safe to say alternative media has less bias than the mainstream counterpart (192) since many of  them are committed to revealing the truth to engage audience as their primary purpose (193).

(187) disagree

(191) providing news (188) Don't trust anymore

(189) money sources to fund businesses (190) broadcasting news to everybody - good phrase (194) create fake news (195) follow their purpose

(192) one (193) main purpose

29. Extraterrestrial Life 1 Do you believe in life beyond our solar system? Extraterrestrial life (194). Although we haven't had any (194) alien life (195) very convincing solid evidence (195) about their existence, many still evidence believe extraterrestrial life actually exist. Let's discuss further. One thing that needs to be taken into consideration (196) is that the distances between stars and galaxies are so vast. Even if there's extraterrestrial civilizations (197), the likelihood that they will contact us is extremely slim. The nearest star to our sun is 4 light years away. It doesn't sound like a lot but let's say we travel at the speed of Voyager I - the fastest spacecraft ever created by humans, it would still take a whopping 40,000 years to reach it. If you read the news, there have been many exoplanets (198) that are believed to have favorable conditions (199) to harbor lives (200) just like Earth. The nearest one is 20 light years away. Oh, just 20 years. No big deal. But again, if  we travel at the fastest speed there is, it would take more than 300,000 years to reach it.

(196) take a look or take into account or consider (197) civilizations that are not originated from Earth

I'm sorry to spill the beans, but given the brief lifespan (201) of the human race and vast distances between stars and galaxies, we're not likely to meet our extraterrestrial friends anytime soon. So if you are a strong believer (202) in extraterestrial life, watching sci-fi movies could be an ideal solution to satiate your curiosity (203).

(201) short life

(198) planets that are outside of our solar syste (199) good conditions (200) have lives

(202) if you really believe (203) satisfy your curiosity

 Alien extraterrestrial life (sounds much better)

30. Extraterrestrial Life 2 But that is not the end of it. Chances are you might have heard about some anomalies (204) in the news, either from mainstream or alternative media. There are things that have not been deciphered (205) yet by science. Conspiracy theorists (206) are those who fill the gap by saying these anomalies are created by extraterrestrial civilizations  visiting us.

(204) things that are not normal (very strange) (205) Solved, explained (206) those who propose theories on unexplained events

Crop circles are a prime example of these anomalies that we can actually see by eyes. Although there is not enough evidence to conclude that crop circles are a form of extraterrestrial message to us, the precision (207) We fail to underand complexity of these crop circles are far beyond human's comprehension (207). There are hundreds if  stand not thousands of them appearing in crops around the world and we still don't know why and how. Many people claimed they have come into contact (208) with aliens. Some even said they were kidnapped by ones. Whether these stories are fictious (209) or not remains a highly controverial issue. Now it's your part. Do you think these anomolies are simply hoaxes (210) created pranksters? Or do you think these actually involve extraterrestrial life forms who want to send us a message? If the latter is true. I think the alien message would be decoded as 'please study hard to pass the IELTS exam' HAHAHAHA

(208) meet with or deal with (209) fake

(210) pranks or deception created by humans to trick other people

ictitious

Real

fake and not real authentic, genuine

Before

less sensitive ~ less easily affected by more conducive to ~ more easy or favorable to Regardless of -> more specific (these phrases are very good way to disguise your "showing off" while gving incredible cause-effect

 After

Academic Vocabulary For Those Who Hate Spending Too Much Time On Bullsh*t IELTS books

31. Abortion This might be a good topic for you. But beware, abortion is a very controversial topic given the number of perspectives involved. So what? Let's jump right in. Whenever you discuss abortion with anyone, there are two diverging views (223) you need to know: Prolife and pro-choice (211). Pro-life people support the life of the unborn (212), also known as human fetus (213). They maintain that human fetus has the right to live just like a human being. Abortion is therefore considered malevolent (214) just like murder, which is the key argument (215) of pro-life to propose legal restrictions against (216)  abortion. Pro-choice, on the other hand, favor the reproduction rights (217) of the mothers. They maintain that it is inevitable for women to have unintended pregnancies (219). In addition, human fetus lacks the basis (223) to be treated as a human being. They believe it should be considered part of a woman's body and therefore, she should have full legal rights to make her own maternal choices (220)

(223) two opposite views (211) pro-life -> support the life of the unborn Pro-choice -> support the choices of the mothers (212) = (213) = the unborn child (214) evil and bad (215) main argument (216) limit by law against (217) the choices of the mothers on whether they want to give birth (219) easy but important (223) is not qualified for OR lack the basic criteria

(220) the choices of the mothers

There is no exact answer to the question whether or not abortion is legal or ethical since the arguments from two sides are both valid to some degree. Prochoice favor the right of the living person whereas (221) deeply respect pro-life uphold the reverence (221) for any human life, (222) good noun to know including the unborn. Lawmakers (222) will be the ones who make the final decision regarding the legality of abortion.

Tip! Want a quick solution to a problem? "The governments should impose legal restrictions against" This phrase can be used quite extensively

32. Nuclear Power Do you feel like I'm getting more and more serious over time?. From school uniforms to death penalty, from drug legalization to extraterrestrial life. And now nuclear power. But aren't those what you paid for? Sorry, let me rephrase that. Aren't those what you happily paid for? HAHA. When it comes to nuclear power, the word 'nuclear' itself   carries some negative connotations (224). Much is due to media portrayals (225). However, in the eyes of scientists, the word 'nuclear' carries both negative and positive connotations, mainly positive. So it appears there are two diverging views regarding the nuclear power issue. According to scientists, nuclear power is one of the most sustainable energy sources (226)in the planet that significantly reduces carbon emissions (227), the primary cause (228) of the greenhouse effect. Nuclear power is believed to be highly beneficial if used for civilian purposes (229), but highly detrimental if used for military ones. Based on my observation, Western nations are the ones who use nuclear power primarily for civilian purposes. Countries like Iran or North Korea are well known for its use of nuclear power for military purpose such as nuclear weapon proliferation (230), posing imminent threats to national security (231). The risk of radioactive waste (235) to the environment also needs to be taken into consideration, given the deleterious effects (232) it has on the ecological community (233) inhabiting (234) near the affected regions.

(224) negative feeling on a particular idea (225) how the media tells the story and wants you to believe their ways

(226) energy sources  that can be used without worring about the future (227) the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the environment (228) main cause (229) not for military purpose

(230) the making of nuclear weapon (231) good phrase

(232) very bad effects (233) species (plants or animals) (234) living (235) nuclear waste

Be careful! "Deleterious" is not equal "bad" and thereby cannot substitute "bad" in most cases. "Deleterious" means harmful and ~deadly (like a poison)

33. Even More Implanting a

There have been quite a bunch of vocab so far, don't you think? Some implantation might help out a good bit. 1. If you and your enemy stay together for a long time, according to psychology, you and he will finally tolerate each other's differences and won't hate each other anymore. 2. Vegetarians don't eat meat, they eat meat alternatives like nuts or tofu. Restaurants will act accordingly to cater meat alternatives to vegetarians. 3. We need both exercise and good eating habit. We should not choose only one because one complements each other, making us healthy overall. Yin and yang cannot exist without one another. They complement each other.

another

4. Many of us uphold the reverence  for our religions. Many of us also uphold the reverence for our partners, well that's too much. HAHA. Love is enough. But you get the idea. 5. Vietnamese governments hold legal restrictions against drug-trafficking activities. You should not be a drug trafficker  just because tax evasion is possible. 6. You can incorporate chicken into salad. But I prefer incorporating chicken into a soup.

food similar to meat meat alternatives Smartphones & Tablets: Laptop alternatives Apple map: Google map alternative => Have similar functions and can be substituted

Stream of Conversation Kien: I'm fine, thank you. And you? You: HAHA. So funny. So academic! Kien: Let's talk about abortion. What do you think about abortion? You: Abortion is a highly controversial topic as there is a wide range of parties and religious and cultural viewpoints involved. Kien: So how can you categorize those viewpoints? You: There are two diverging views: Pro-life and prochoice. I'm pro-life. Kien: What is pro-life and what is pro-choice exactly? You: Pro-life means you set the importance of the life of the human fetus or the unborn above the choices of  the mother or maternal choices. Kien: Okay, so I'm pro-choice. Because I value maternal choices more than the life of the unborn. In my opinion, they lack the basis of a human being. Looks like you really uphold the reverence of the unborn. You: I do. Although there've been many valid arguments (391)  supporting the reproduction rights of  the mother in both mainstream and alternative media. I still think any life is vitally important and cannot be taken lightly.

(391) very good arguments

Kien: Hmm, that makes a lot of sense, too. It still appears quite malevolent when we think about that. But if I'm forced to pick only one perspective, I would still stick with pro-choice. You: And it's not entirely a bad thing since we have more fun stuff   to discuss. Kien: Right. What about energy. Tell me what you know about energy. You: There are a number of ways to categorize energy sources. Renewable and non-renewable would be the two categories that prevail. Non-renewable are like fossil fuels including oil, natural gas, or coal. In fact, the process of extracting oil or producing coal is a very complicated matter. Kien: Okay, so after extracting enough oil, is it ready to use for human activities? You: Nope. Not so fast. You'll have to refine oil. Refining oil sounds as easy as filtering water. But it requires the operation of an expensive oil refinery to transform oil into usable energy like gasoline. Long story short, refining oil is also a costly and complex process just like extracting it. Kien: Sounds not too great, eh? You: One more thing. According to an estimate, oil will inevitably run out over the next 30 years. So you'd better turn off the light before leaving home and so on. Kien: Makes sense. If that is the case, all of us need to consider taking environmental actions to address the future of non-renewable energies such as oil and gas.

You: Not only you but many nations are deeply concerned about that too, especially those that are highly dependent on foreign oil and those that consume the most oil like the United States. Household and industrial activities will all be seriously affected if  the supply of oil is disrupted. Kien: Given the high dependence on oil, switching to a new sustainable source of energy sounds like an ideal solution to humanity. You: Not so fast. There are actually some misconceptions about renewable energy. So you and I know that solar and wind energy is free, right?. However, when you factor in the cost of transforming intermittent and dilute sunlight and wind into concentrated energy for human use, it is prohibitively expensive. Much more expensive than fossil fuels. Therefore, solar and wind energy are totally not cheap as one may expect. Kien: Wait, you just mention 'intermittent' and 'dilute'. What do they even mean? You: They're just some technical words when describing these types of energy. Intermittent  simply means 'discontinuous'. Solar energy is intermittent because sunlight does not constantly beam to the solar panels so as to harness the energy. It's also dilute, meaning it's really thin and weak. For human use, you need concentrated sources of energy which are continuous. Kien: And not prohibitively expensive as well. You: Yeah sure. And cheap as well.

Kien: So theoretically speaking, solar and wind energy appear to be of great value  but really when it comes to practice, it's easier said than done. You: True, that's why fossil fuels like coal, gas and oil still prevail, at least over the next few decades until all the oil wells are on the verge of   exhausion. In fact, we cannot wait until then to decide which sources of  energy we are going to use next. A myriad of  international conferences have been held to discuss this issue. Many ideas proposed are great but the costs to implement might be of great concern. Kien: Have you heard about nuclear power? Are they beneficial or detrimental? You: Whether it is justifiable to utilize nuclear power depends heavily on who have the control over the production process. Would you rather give that control to countries like Iran or North Korea or to the UK or Denmark? Kien: Well, the answer is obvious. If North Korea holds the control over nuclear power then we'll have to deal with a myriad of problems associated with national security. You: Right, they will obviously use nuclear power for military rather than civilian purposes by conducting nuclear weapon proliferation, which poses a considerable threat to all human life. Kien: Any other risks associated with the use of  nuclear power?

You: There is also the risk of radioactive waste being (392) distribute/spread dispersed (392), posing a huge health risk to the over a wide area ecological community inhabiting near the area. If  radioactive waste has already been dispersed, we need to isolate and confine (393) it as quickly as possible to (393) restrict/limit minimize the deleterious effects  it might have on the regional ecological community. Kien: You are instilling (394) me with all kinds of the (394) firmly establish liabilities (395) associated with nuclear power. So far, I an attitude or belief to have only heard the negativity. Is there any good thing someone else's mind about it? You: Of course there is. Nuclear power, like many other things, is a two-edged sword (396). As mentioned, it is only justifiable  when it offers a net positive benefit, where the benefits outweigh the liabilities. In fact, nuclear power is used to generate heat very efficiently using different nuclear reactions. There is no carbon emissions like in the case of   fossil fuels, which is one of the greatest strength of using nuclear power. All in all, although we may have seen a myriad of media portrayals on nuclear power rife with (397) deleterious effects,  especially when it comes to military, it all depends on who have the control and what purposes they are serving.

(396) has both benefits and drawbacks

(397) ~full of (negative tone)

Kien: Energy, energy, energy. It's not as easy and simple as it appears. You: What is your position (398) on globalization? Kien: My position is that globalization is worth it. You: How so? I don't see it's as really beneficial overall. Can you explain a little more?

(398) your view

Kien: As far as globalization is concerned, freedom of  trade is promoted. All societies are better off thanks to the free trade economy. Let's say if there was only little or no globalization, would you be able to use clothes or the technologies that the world has to offer at fair prices? Chances are you cannot. No offense to North Korea but do you think they are better off by isolating themselves from the rest of the world? You: You are making a valid argument  when  taking the economic perspective. But I have to say although the benefits you just pointed out appears quite pronounced, you should also acknowledge  the fact that globalization are fraught with pitfalls. Kien: Enlighten me. You: As a result of globalization, many developed countries are suffering from prolonged unemployment due to job loss overseas. Kien: You're talking about offshore outsourcing? You: Right, offshore outsourcing happens when there is a wide discrepancy in wages among countries. Big corporations will employ someone from overseas because of cheaper labors. For instance, Apple have shifted all the production processes to China, causing thousands of Americans to lose their jobs. Kien: But on the flip side, Chinese workers are better off, aren't they? You: Hmm, sounds true, but at the expense of (399) others.

(399) at the sacrifice of 

Kien: Not necessarily true. My position on that is job loss is only temporary. Producing iPhones is just a physical job. If Americans lose their jobs, it will also be an opportunity for them to find better ones. They will be motivated to upgrade their skills. through education and training. For instance, a worker who lost his job will direct his career to accounting or civil engineering, which are more on demand for that particular economy. Chinese workers who lack education can still get employed by Apple. You: Okay, but how can you explain income inequality, supposedly caused by globalization? Kien: What do you think would be the cause of income inequality? You: Highly skilled workers are more greatly benefited from worldwide opportunities. Let's say if you are a business owner, you will be able to reach even more customers worldwide, making you super rich. But if  you're not a business owner, you will risk of losing the opportunities is much higher. Kien: You have made a point here. Globalization does somehow bring tough competition to all workers and create the gap between the rich and the poor. You: A myriad of policies have been carried out to narrow that gap but do not seem to work. An obvious idea is to impose higher taxes on people with higher income and less taxes on those with less income. But given the fact that rich people are backed with an army of accountants and lawyers, it is not much of a problem for them to get around the tax system and thereby pay less than they should be. Kien: Are you talking about tax avoidance or tax evasion?

You: I'm talking about tax avoidance. Surely, rich people are not stupid enough to break the law, they only bend the law to get away with paying the taxes. Their prodigious (400) and extremely savvy accountants and lawyers are paid very well to do just that - reducing (400) very remarkably the tax liability to minimum. good Kien: It's such a complicated matter for ordinary people like us. Even that, I would never find my way to commit tax evasion because it is a serious crime. You: That's true. So you should honestly report your income correctly and completely to the governments. Otherwise, if you get caught, serious problem will ensue and you will have to pay a huge penalty, even go to jail. Kien: Why do we have to pay taxes? What is the rationale (401) behind that? You: The rationale is that you pay taxes to enjoy public welfare. Somebody has to stand up to build schools, hospitals, bridges, parks and so on. Somebody has to keep the city clean and safe. Somebody has to keep the country secure by spending money on national defense. Somebody has to provide public transit and health care. And that somebody I'm talking about is no one but the governments. Nothing is free including 'free-entrance' parks. We all have to pay for it through taxes. Kien: Sounds like you really want to pay more taxes? You: Of course not. Nobody wants to pay more taxes. Although paying tax is an obligation, we just need to pay our fair share and that's it. I don't want to give money to someone I can't trust. In this case, the governments.

(401) the logic/reason behind something

Kien: Right. I can't trust the governments, either. But be careful. We might even go to jail if we say that to the police. You: How come? Kien: Because you are bad-mouthing the governments. Bad-mouthing the governments is against the law or unlawful. If you live in developed countries like US or Canada, you can freely speak without worrying about any  legal restrictions. But in Vietnam, China, or North Korea, you simply cannot do that. Don't ask me why.  Just don't. You: Okay. Okay. I will shut my mouth. Kien: Good. You: And by the way, do you think extraterrestrial life exists? Kien: Sorry, what is  'extraterrestrial life' by the way? You: Simply put, it's life beyond Earth. Alien. Kien: Oh, I'm convinced that extraterrestrial life does exist although I have never seen it yet. And I also believe there isn't any solid evidence indicating its existence whatsoever. You: Hmm. To me, I don't think it exists until I actually see them. I think we, humans, are unique. The Earth has all the favorable conditions to harbor lives. These cannot be easily found anywhere else beyone Earth. Therefore, the odd of we finding it is astronomical. Kien: But if you factor in the number of stars and galaxies, there is a very high chance that it exists.

You: It might be as long as the life span of human race is long enough to discover with aliens, given vast distances between stars and galaxies. So in the mean time, again one way to  satiate our curiosity is just an old traditional way, watching sci-fi movies. Kien: I do watch sci-fi movies on a regular basis. I don't know why but I'm so captivated with all the trailers and the like. Movie marketing campaigns seem to work on me. What is your thought on marketing? You could now continue this conversation yourself ;)

Before

Make the cause effect appear more formal  use "given that" to acknowledge the preexisting fact, making the argument more valid and objective Give examples of  global warming to make the sentence more valid and specific List out extra affected parties

 After

Academic Vocabulary For Those Who Hate Spending Too Much Time On Bullsh*t IELTS books

34. Religions 1 Although the likelihood that you will see religious topics in IELTS writing is rather slim, knowing some useful relevant phrases may help you out a good bit.  Just remember this topic is all about belief systems (236). You and I might be subscribing to a religion (237) such as Buddism, Christianity, Hinduism or Islam. Each religion has its own belief system,  which followers are supposed to collectively believe in certain underlying principles and probably even perform some sorts of  rituals (238). A ritual simply means an activity that you have to perform on a regularly basis as required by your  religious law (239). Going to the church every Sunday is a prime example of a ritual. Performing religious rituals are believed to help you maintain your healthy mental state (240), especially true in meditation. Whether it's true to you or not, it's up to you to decide. When you subscribe to a belief system, you are also imparted with ethical and moral codes (241). For example, you cannot intentionally harm other people. You have to help the needy (242) when you have the opportunity and such. Some people are considered themselves atheists (243), which indicates their disbelief in the existence of God and the like. If you believe in God or some higher consciousness (244), you are definitely not an atheist.

(236) religions

(237) follow a religion

(238)do the activities as required by religion (frequently) (239) what is required by religion (240) good mind

(241) Ethical set of  rules that you have to follow (242) poor people (243) people who dont believe in God (244) general phrase to refer to God

Irrespective of religion you are subscribing to, (245) perform various freedom to practice religion (245) is what you want. religious activities in In North America, freedom to practice religion is highly real life respected by both societies and laws.

God higher consciousness (sounds better)

35. Religions 2 1. Do you uphold the reverence for God or any higher counsciousness? If you do, it's likely you are subscribing to a religion. If you don't, you probably are an atheist. 2. Do you support freedom to practice religion? Or you want a certain level of legal restrictions on practicing religions? If you lean towards to latter, it's likely you want religious practitioners (246) to perform their rituals in a reasonable manner (247), not affecting the rest of society. 3. Do you think cultural intermingling helps promote the freedom to practice religion? I believe it does. Thanks to cultural intermingling  and globalization, the society tends to embrace (248) cultural and religious diversity. 4. Do you think religion has anything to do with the extraterrestrial life?  Some theorists believe higher consciousness like God has come into contact with the aliens. 5. Do you think subscribing to a religion offer you a net positive benefit? Or do you think atheism is a more realistic view? 6. Do you think performing religious rituals has a net positive benefit? Given that it would take a great deal of time and effort. Irrespective of what you think, what really matters is that you have learned a ton of vocabulary. LOL. And that's what I really care about.

(246) people who practice religions (247) not overdoing something that might affect other people

(248) support

Tip! The word "reasonable" is highly valued in academic writing. Use more if needed. in a reasonable manner have a reasonable dietary plan produce a reasonable amount of nuclear power

36. The Future of Oil Okay, I'm not talking about cooking oils like olive oil or vegetable oil. So no food, sorry. LOL! This topic will be about oil as a form of energy. Oil or crude oil is a non-renewable energy resource extracted (249) by drilling a very long hole underground, known as oil drilling (250). It sounds pretty simple but oil drilling or oil extraction  is actually a very long and complicated process. After that it's still not the end of the story. Oil has to be refined (251) by an oil refinery (252) into gasoline or diesel fuel so they can be consumed by humans. Refining oil is a long, complicated and costly process, too. Just to remind you there is an oil refinery by the name of Dung Quat in Quang Ngai, Vietnam. Because oil is non-renewable, it will inevitably run out over the next 30 years according to an estimate. In fact, numerous nations are deeply concerned about the future of oil as most of their household and industrial activities consume oil or oil products. In other words, they are highly dependent on oil, particularly foreign oil. Even foreign oil wells (253) are on the verge of  (254) exhaustion. Therefore, many countries need to take environmental actions (255) to address the future of oil. Switching to a new sustainable source of energy sounds like an ideal solution, but easier said than done. I will discuss some misconceptions on renewable sources of energy like wind and solar in a later section. They are not as effective as one may expect.

(249) taken (250) the process of  drilling a hole to extract oil (251) transform oil into gasoline or fuels (252) a plant refining oil

(253) a place undergroun containing lots of oil (254) very close to (255) good phrase

Tip! Take actions? Want more specific? Take environmental actions Take medical actions Take legal actions Take governmental actions

37. Should Professors Dress Formally? What do you think? In most cases, the answer is Yes. However in reality, dress codes  for professors vary from one discipline to another (256). For example, (256) are not the same enginneering professors tend to dress casually (257) from one to another while law professors tend to dress very formally. It seems clothing styles are closely related to what field a professor is in. But why do law or business professors have to (258) follow/abide by comply with (258)  such a strict dress code policy (259) the policy on (259)? Well, it has a lot to do with meeting the how you should dress professional standards (260). Psychologically speaking, the way a you groom yourself implies a lot about your (260) good phrase credibility, respectfulness and intelligence. As a result, it will change how other people receive the message you convey (261). Not saying engineering professors (261) what you say are not credible, but law and business ones rely heavily on the establishment of credibility in order to get their business done. They also want influence the perception (262) make others think (262) of others on their professions. The more respected their professions are, the more salary they can earn. In conclusion, dress codes among different professions do not show a consistent trend (263). Some (263) similar professors need to establish high credibility to get their jobs done while some are more flexible in terms of dress codes.

are different in terms of ... Vary in Cameras are different in terms of price and function => Cameras vary (greatly) in price and function

38. Wind and Solar Energy? So I bet you've heard a myriad of essayists screaming about using wind and solar energy instead of fossil fuels. Yes, they're free, cleaner, and abundant. But do you know why the hell wind and solar energy still do not prevail (264)? (264) Dominate/become more powerful and popular Although sunlight and wind are free, the process of  (265) really expensive turning them into usable energy is prohibitively expensive (265). Yes, the cost of oil extraction is supposed to be high, but it is still nothing compared to the cost of processing sunlight and wind. In fact, discontinuous solar energy and wind are very intermittent (266) and (266) (267) weak and thin, not dilute (267). Just remember whenever you have an concentrated essay about renewable energy, 'intermittent' and 'dilute' are the terms that best describe these energy sources and thereby showcase your knowledge. Solar and wind energy are intermittent or discontinuous. Unlike oil or gas, they cannot be stored. Therefore, no sun or no wind simply means the flows interrupt with of energy are disrupted (268), which means all human (268) problem activities are also seriously disrupted. Solar and wind energy are dilute or weak. For solar one, you need to use many large solar panels (269) and a lot of other materials to harness enough energy (270) to make it useful.

(269) the equipments that you see them placed on the rooftop to collect sunlight

Theoretically speaking, solar and wind energy offer a (270) collect/concentrate energy great deal of benefits  to both men and the environment. In actuality, reaping those benefits is not easy, meriting complex calculations and considerations.

Solar & Wind Energy 

Fossil Fuels

dilute

concentrated

intermittent

continuous

39. Sex  Education Sex education is perhaps one of the most sensitive topics in school. Thus in reality, the number of students getting access to formal sex education varies from school to school. Most schools only cover topics up to puberty (271) day. thi` (271) in their curriculum, so in many cases parents (279) if that doesn't have to fill in the rest. If that is not the case (279), happen chances are students have to figure out by themselves, which may supposedly lead to the distortion in perception about sex. If students are lucky enough, they will get to learn about things like reproductive processes (272), reproductive organs (273), the different consequences of engaging in sexual activities (280), abstinence (274) as one of the most effective forms of birth control (275), the acceptance of sexual orientation (276), common STDs (277) and so on. Sex education still remains a controversial issue as it has caused quite a variety of responses (281) among families. It should be acknowledged, however, that having a parental conversation (278) with the children about sex is also not a preferable choice for most families. Therefore, the rise of formal sex education would be an ideal solution but only if complete unanimity on (282) this issue comes into play.

(272) the process of giving birth (273) body parts that are related to the process of  giving birth (274) say 'NO' to easy sex (280) good phrase (275) used to prevent pregnancy (276) boy, girl or gay? (277) sexually transmitted diseases (281) good phrase (278) a conversation of the parents with the children (282) complete aggreement

If that does not apply If that is not the case

40. Sex Education 2 Do you ever have a parental conversation about sex? If you do, lucky you. Does your high school have complete unanimity about sex education? If it does, there is 100% agreement and the sex curriculum should be updated. If that's not the case, then you should figure out by yourself. HAHA. Shame on you. AIDS is probably the best-known STDs. There are a myriad of birth control methods such as birth control pills, condom, and abstinence. They all serve the purpose of preventing unintended pregnancies. Do you think sex education will have a net positive benefit on promoting  healthy relationships? If you do, then most likely you are right because it is thought to give you the correct perception on sex.

Towards/against

If you hold no prejudices of gay or lesbian, then you have high acceptance of sexual orientation.

Do you think carrying out sex education campaigns on (283) globally a global scale (283) is prohibitively expensive? If they are prohibitively expensive, then they're definitely not (284) cannot be achieved achievable (284). - good phrase

All people A few people agree agree Most people (Has some (reach an agree agreement) unanimity) (reach a consensus)

Before

Tremendous details formal cause effect (live up to expectation of) include timing (foreseeable future) include purpose (for daily use) Include proper adjectives Use noun phrases (intermittency and dilution)

 After

Academic Vocabulary For Those Who Hate Spending Too Much Time On Bullsh*t IELTS books

41. Quick Review 1 Slow down, my friends. Implanting this huge amount of vocab into your head is certainly not the easiest thing in the world. We need to review on a regular basis just so you can exercise the repetitive aspect of  this book. But no fret, reviewing is not as boring as it sounds. On the contrary, it's actually a lot of fun! 1. When lawyers give advice to their clients, they are (????) service => the answer is "rendering" => rendering service(s) 2. When there are a myriad of   cultures within a small town, this is called cultural (????) => The answer is "diversity" => cultural diversity 3. Another words for "poor people?" => Low-income people 4. $5000 for a car seems reasonable. But $500,000 for a car is (????) => Prohibitively expensive 5. What causes us to have different views about a celebrity? => The media portrayals 6. Name two types of media? => Mainstream and alternative media 7. When it comes to abortion, you are  pro-life, I am pro-choice. We have two (????) views => Two diverging views

 very expensive prohibitively expensive

42. Quick Review 2 8. A general phrase to indicate animals and plants living in an area? => Ecological community 9. What caused by nuclear plants has deleterious impacts on ecological community? => Radioactive waste 10. Another words for 'the unborn' => human fetus 11. People who trade drug? => Drug traffickers 12. Eating a lot of vegetables and fruits can help your body (????) against cancer => Guard against cancer 13. When two different cultures are friendly with each other, they (????) each other's differences => Tolerate 14. What might be the result of globalization? Cultural (????) => Cultural intermingling 15. A society when everyone is treated fairly and equally? => Egalitarian society 16. Having pets have more benefits than problems => Net positive benefit

Tip!  Net benefit = Benefits - costs  Net income = revenues - expenses  Benefits = 10 Costs = (-9) => Net benefit = 1.

43. Quick Grammar #5 Here is one of the most popular mistakes made by even many IELTS teachers. HAHA. No kidding. But it's true. They still can't distinguish between

(19) remember/ keep in mind

On the contrary vs. In contrast So what is 'on the contrary' and what is 'in contrast'? Let's look at some examples. This food is not bad. On the contrary, it's excellent I don't hate you. On the contrary, I love you This book is not expensive. On the contrary, it's cheap This food is delicious to me. However, in contrast, many people think it's not. Most of the time you will use In contrast in your essay, not on the contrary. Why? Because on the contrary is used to emphasize the claim whereas In contrast is used to compare/contrast between two ideas or two opinions.

(20) bad, negative

44. Free Universal Health Care Did you know that Canada is one of the most generous countries in the world when it comes to health care? This obviously gets its neighbor downstairs-the U.S. jealous because health care expenses are known to be astronomically high. Given that, Canadians do not have to pay out of their pocket (283) series of medical a darn penny for any medical procedures (283). So actions to take care of  who bears the burden (284)? The federal government. patients Free universal health care coverage also comes at a cost (290). This publicly-funded health care regime (288) is also clearly very expensive to maintain. The governments will pay the bill for all check-ups (285), exams (286) and operations (287). In addition, due to the ease of accessibility (289), Canadian hospitals are notoriously overcrowded at times. Over the past couple of years, some governments would like to scale back (291) their scope of coverage (292) to make room for (293) the privatization of hospitals and clinics (294). This means that Canadians would no longer have free access to some supplementary coverages (295) such as dental cares, eye exams, and any operation deemed (296)"non-essential". Any negative changes in the current publicly-funded health care regime would inevitably cause widespread public disagreement (297) as people have taken it for granted for a long time. Therefore, it would be a challenge for politicians to openly discuss the issue (298).

(284) good phrase (290) has a disadvantage (288) regime ~ system (285) check your health (286) check your health even more (287) some sort of  surgeons (289) easy to access (291) reduce (292) the extent of service covered (293) good phrase (294) medical center (295) non-essential  services (296) considered (but stronger than considered)

(297) good phrase

(298) good phrase

Tip!  A medical procedure = Check-ups => exams => operations (Quick check => Thorough check => Action)

45. Free Universal Health Care 2 Do you know why the U.S. do not offer its citizens publicly-funded health care coverage  coverage  like Canada? Well, I think the obvious reason is that free health care coverage for coverage  for more than 300 million people is prohibitively expensive and the U.S. governments don't want to bear the burden to burden to pay for all the medical procedures. What could be a temporary solution for that? Health insurance. By paying for health insurance coverage, the burden and the risk are spreaded across all Americans at lowest possible costs. Each citizen will pay a small amount of money called insurance premium (299) to the insurance company, say, every month. The large sum of money collected will then be used by the insurance company pay for the medical bills (300) for those who actually need medical assistance (301). (301). However, it still remains a temporary solution because not all Americans can get covered (302) by (302) by any health insurance plans. For those who are not covered covered,, they are at the highest risk (303) if (303) if the medical bills come. bills come. In fact, there have been so many cases of Americans declaring bankrupcy because they are unable (304) to pay their medical expenses. When Americans go to the hospital, the first question they are asked is "what level of service would you like?". When Canadians go to the hospital, the first question they are asked is "What is your medical situation?

(299) the money you pay for the insurance company (periodically) (300) medical expenses (301) good phrase

(302) protected by insurance (303) good phrase (304) cannot

Tip!  Adjective + assistance (to be more specific) => medical assistance, financial assistance, academic assistance, physical assistance, mental assistance, etc.

46. Freedom of  Speech Do you prefer living in a country where information (305) limited and ideas are restricted (305) or liberated (306). (306). (306) freed/unlimited Statistically speaking, countries like China or Vietnam are among the lowest when it comes to freedom to freedom of  speech. But I dare not openly not openly discuss this discuss this issue further as that may lead to my imprisonment. When you live in a country ranked the highest in terms (307) limits of freedom of speech, there is almost no constraints (307) on (307)  on the flows of information or ideas. The governments are not supposed to go after you for your criticisms against them. If you say something bad about your leader, let's say, you are not imprisoned or sentenced to death. In fact, people are even encouraged to criticize the leaders if they are not doing the right things. Why? Because criticisms make him a more competent leader. In countries like China, leaders are God and they never make mistakes. They're always right. Therefore, anyone disagreeing can be subject to capital punishment. punishment. (308) spying, close Internet censorship, monitoring and surveillance (308) observation, monitoring are the norm (311) in (311) in China. Every bit of information is (311) something very under the surveillance of the governments. Why? Their usual logic is that they want to keep the peace of the region. Americans are bad people. America is the enemy. Sounds familiar to you? (312) keep back (309) good phrase (310) always growing Well, I think the governments cannot withhold the information (312) forever. (312) forever. One day, the truth will be exposed (309) to (309) to everyone, given the ever-growing (310) flows (310)  flows of information these days.

restricted >.<

 

liberated \:D/

47. Talking with Kien Tran If you ever mention mainstream media and alternative media in your essays, you know what, the examiners are gonna love you for that. Because it's a clear indication of higher level of critical thinking. Distinguishing between the two notions are vitally important and should not be taken lightly as they have substantial impacts on how you perceive a fact or an opinion. When I write an IELTS essay, my focus will be on showing knowledge and thinking, not just English. Why? Isn't that  the ultimate indication of English proficiency? Applying English in acquiring knowledge. You can do the same or even better by changing your mindset just a little bit. It's not as hard as it sounds. Just keep in mind that your acquisition of vocabulary is not for the purpose of showcasing how many vocab you know, but how many smart vocab you know. Smart vocab are usually originated from long in-depth research (313) and ongoing debates by smart people. I tend to steal some vocab from social psychology (313) good phrase textbooks or some science journals as they are so well-established and highly credible. So open the books and expand your horizons (314) right now, guys! (314) expand your experience and knowledge

Be careful! You may not want to use "expand horizons" in IELTS writing because it's already been played out.

48. The Media and the Freedom of Speech Yo. Let's face it. There is a strong link between (315) the media and freedom of speech as most ideas and information are transmitted (316) from one place to another through the media, either mainstream or alternative.

(315) strong connection (316) send out/pass

Most media in Vietnam are government-controlled, especially the mainstream media. With the involvement of the governments, there is never a guarantee that (322) good phrase (322)  the information is portrayed entirely accurately. On the contrary, it is highly manipulative to the point that even many Vietnamese people do not seem to wholly trust any info or announcements disseminated (317) distributed or sprea (317) by the governments. the info Information other than that is also strictly under surveillance or censored if needed. Bad-mouthing (318) the governments are sometimes considered unlawful (319). Criticizing or complaining about the leaders is usually done with extra caution. So where is the freedom?

(318) speak something bad about someone (319) not legal

The wealth of a nation and the degree of freedom of  speech have been long proved (323) positively correlated (320). With any restrictions in the flows of  ideas and information, corruptions and poverty certainly ensue (321).

(323) good phrase (320) go hand in hand with one another (321) Happen as a result of something

happens as a result ensues

49. Stereotype If you are lucky enough to have a chance to use the word 'stereotype' in the IELTS exam, you will be killing it. Stereotype (322) is a prior general belief about a certain social group. Don't be scared of the definition. Let's look at the examples.

(322) prior general belief  abouta certain social group

"All Asians are good at math" is a typical stereotype about Asians. "All Chinese people are bad" is a typical stereotype about Chinese people that many Vietnamese people have. "All Americans are enterprising" is probably a prime example of  stereotype about Americans. "Women are weak" is quite a gender stereotype. Basically, stereotype is a shortcut that helps our minds form a general image representing a certain group of people. When we see a Canadian, for example, we quickly realize that he or she is very friendly and so we treat him or her differently than when we see a Chinese. As can be observed, stereotype has both advantages and disadvantages. The good thing about stereotype is that we know what to expect and what to watch out for from a social group. The bad thing about stereotype is that your preconceived perceptions (323) oftentimes do not truly represent the reality (324). Of course, it is safe to say not all Chinese people are bad many are exceptionally good (325); not all Americans are enterprising, many are horribly dumb. Not all Asians are good at math and so on. And it is also safe to say if you have a chance to utilize the concept stereotype for the sake of your argument, do not miss it.

(323) views on somethings before having evidence (324) reflect the reality (325) very good

Tip! Stereotype is a form of bias, which is sensitive to compromising objectivity

50. Social Loafing Social loafing (326) refers to the concept that people are prone to (327) exert less effort on (328) a task if  they are in a group versus when they work alone. Teamwork has been long proved to be essential when it comes to getting a massive task done by pooling (329) the skills and talents of people within the team Without teamwork, we could not be able to build things like bridges and skyscrapers. That said (330), social loafing comes into play every time teamwork is involved. Put simply, people often get lazy when they work in a team than individually. Teamwork activities in college all too often do not work as well as expected due to social loafing. In fact, many students express their frustration towards (331) teamwork because other team members refuse to contribute. It's not they are bad people, it's social loafing that makes them exert less effort than they otherwise would, making the team leader bear the burden. Group size and social loafing are positively correlated. The larger the group, the more serious social loafing becomes. Let's imagine you work for a team of 3 and for a team of 300. In which team would you exert more effort on doing the job? Clearly, the one with 3 people. Whenever you see a topic about teamwork, social loafing is a vitally important concept to support your point.

(326) lazy because of  working in team (327) tend to (328) spend less effort (329) puting everything together

(330) however

(331) frustrate

however That said, Having said that (not a perfect substitution but is still okay)

Before

Use Compromise to indicate the gain-lose relationship Make the cause effect appear more formal  use "given that" to acknowledge the preexisting fact, making the argument more valid and objective

 After

Academic Vocabulary For Those Who Hate Spending Too Much Time On Bullsh*t IELTS books

51. Food Stamp Food stamps (332) refer to any nutrition assistance programs, usually from the governments, to help purchase healthy food for low or no-income groups of people. If you are on the verge of   poverty, you may be eligible for (333) food stamps. HAHA. Just kidding, I know you're rich.

(332) Nutrition assistance program

But seriously many families are earning a living wage (334) and this program was established to somewhat assist them financially (335) so they can afford healthy food. To qualify for food stamps benefits, you have to meet certain criteria such as earning less than a certain threshold (336) or promising to participate in a work training program so as to improve your future income.

(334) having low income

(333) qualify for

(335) good phrase

(336) a certain point OR a certain level

Because food stamps programs give people free money in the form of credit card to buy their food, many people are prone to abuse them. Instead of  purchasing healthy food, they choose to buy junk food or energy drinks, making the program deviate from its (337) lose its focus core purpose (337) In order for the food stamps to run properly, more regulations are needed. That said, the cost of hiring personnel to enforce healthy eating would not justify the benefits, making food stamps remain a controversial topic.

Tip! "Deviate from its core purpose" is one of the universal phrases. The word "Deviate" manifests itself in Statistics and Probability in the form of  "standard deviation". It simply means "move away from" or "depart from". The whole phrase means "move away from its focus" or "lose focus"  The governments lose their focus => The governments deviate from their core purpose.

52. Identity Theft Identity theft refers to any behavior of acquiring and collecting others' personal information for criminal purposes. Identity theft is usually done to gain financial advantage (338) from the victims. Protecting your personal information using layers of  data protection is vitally important and should not be taken lightly given the fact that credit card theft has become very rampant (339)  recently. Many people including me express a high level of frustration towards this issue since they lose their money out of  thin air from time to time.

(338) take money

(339) spreading, popular (in a bad way)

(340) you should (341) start to (342) minimize the damage (343) banks

If it is ever the case to you, you are asked to (340) take steps (341) to mitigate the damage (342) by reporting the theft to your financial institutions (343). They will also take steps to investigate these fraudulent activities (344) and perhaps even reimburse (344) illegal activities (345) give you back the your losses (345). lost money Because identity theft is very rampant, one is asked to actively prevent it from happening (346) by establishing several layers of protection rather than waiting until it happens. Prevention will definitely reduce the exposure to the risk (347) of  these fraudulent activities and bring peace to your mind. Just remember that many bad guys are out there ready to gain financial advantage from you by engaging in various fraudulent activities.

(346) good phrase (347) reduce the chance of being at risk

Tip!  Banks --> Financial institutions Schools --> Educational institutions University/College --> Post-secondary institutions

53. Customer  Profiling

In the digital age, information has become one of the most crucial factors in the pursuit of (348) competitive advantage (349). In fact, many companies express their desperate need (350)  for relevant information to generate more sales (351). One common practice that many, especially retailers, apply is customer profiling. What is customer profiling?

(348) in pursuing (349) advantage that makes you better than your competitors (350) extreme need (351) make more sales

Customer profiling refers to any activities that collect, store and process customer's information or behavior in an attempt to tailor (352)  promotional programs that (352) customize (to fit a fit with each specific customer profile. For example, the specific situation) way you walk down the aisle, pick up a product or purchase a product in a retail store can be monitored for profiling purposes. Over time, that retail store will have sufficient information to suggest you the products you most likely like. YouTube, Facebook, or Amazon follow the same practice of customer profiling. They track our behavior and analyze it to tailor their promotional program or products to be suggested. It's clear customer profiling helps generate more sales for corporations and also suggest relevant goods or services to customers. That said,  monitoring and tracking customers to build customer profile raise a question of ethics (353). A (353) good phrase myriad of customers do not wish to provide too much information to other parties. Yet, in most cases, the profiling is done without the knowledge of (354) the (354) good phrase customers.

Tip! "Raise a question of______" is an excellent  phrase to use in Sentence (14)* *will be discussed at the Strategy for Writing section

54. Sweatshops

You are taking in a myriad of   real fancy words for IELTS. Words that score you points. One of them is "sweatshops". What are sweatshops?

Sweatshops (355) refer to factories in which employees have to work in very poor working conditions (356) for long hours and get paid very unfairly low with little to no benefit. Imagine a giant clothes factory where so many workers are focusing on cutting and making clothes for 12 hours straight from early morning to late evening. At month end, they receive wages that can barely feed their children. Surprisingly, this practice is very rampant in countries like China, Bangladesh or even Vietnam, raising many questions of ethics.

(355) factories having poor working conditions paying very low wages (356) good phrase

There have been many protests against the practice of  operating sweatshops to reduce production costs, especially in the case of iPhone factory in China. Apple engaged in offshore oursourcing, shifting millions of  factory jobs to China because of much lower labor costs. Chinese workers are paid unfairly low wages for long hours under poor working conditions, causing widespread public disagreement on a global scale (357) ~globally => good (357). In fact, a myriad of customers who are aware of  phrase to give better detail on scale this business practice refuse to purchase any Apple products while it is actually beneficial for them because sweatshops help many people afford products at lower prices. Would you purchase products from companies engaging in sweatshops? It is clear one can buy products with much lower price but of course at the expense of   millions of poor workers.

Be careful! "Rampant" is not equal "popular". Rampant violence, rampant inflation (getting out of control, widespread)

55. Minimum Wage I know you have heard quite a lot about the minimum wage issue. Many people are complaining about the fact that their wages are just or even not enough for them to make ends meet given the high price level. What are the possible impacts of a wage hike (358)? Supporters of wage hikes say that a wage hike would raise overall standard of living (359) since higher income means higher purchasing power (360). This will help people on the verge of poverty afford necessities of life (361) to be able to work and live. For the economy as a whole, a wage hike once enacted will stimulate consumption (362), thereby injecting more money to the economy (363). Sounds amazing right? So why don't they increase wages?

(358) wage increase (359) living standard (360) the measure on how much you could buy (361) things you have to buy to live properly, like food, water, clothes (362) make people spend more money (363) put more money to the economy

Because wage hikes are also fraught with pitfalls. It is clear the entity that bears the burden of a wage hike is corporations. By paying workers higher wages, two things will inevitably happen. One is that the burden will be passed onto consumers, making them pay for the increased production costs caused by wage hikes. This will leads to inflation. Second is that businesses will have to cut expenses by laying off workers, thereby creating unemployment. Businesses will only pay the increased wages to high-skilled workers, making lower-skilled ones at the highest risk of   joblessness. Clearly the benefits and drawbacks of wage hikes are not always cut and dry (364) as one may expect

(364) clear

poor people people on the verge of poverty OR low-income people

56. Heuristics God. I love this word so bad. "Heuristics" If you ever have a chance to use this word in IELTS writing, please do. Basically, this is a technical term in social psychology. Heuristics (365) simply mean mental shortcuts, playing a crucial role in problem-solving and decision-making. Simply put, you make a myriad of  decisions and solve a myriad of problems everyday without spending time doing in-depth research. How could you do that? Heuristics.

(365) mental shortcuts in our brain that help us make quick everyday decision

You tend to believe right away air traveling is more dangerous than driving because you've seen a lot of  air crashes on the media more than anything else. That belief is quick but not necessarily true. That belief is quickly formed by a mental shortcut or a heuristic. You believe in that because there is a shortcut that helps you, which in this case is due to the media. But if you spend time doing research, you will see that air traveling is significantly safer than driving. Therefore, heuristics may help you to make decisions when you have little or no time but these decisions may be fraught with errors. (366) good phrase So two ways of making a decision or solving a problem. One is done by focusing mentally on (366) doing research and looking at actual number. This is time-consuming but more accurate. The other is done by heuristics. Much faster but may be fraught with errors. Stereotype is a prime example of a heuristic. Remember stereotype we talked about last section? Quick judgments or preconceived perceptions on a social group. Yes, it gives you a quick overall idea on things but not necessarily  represent the reality,

Therefore, use that word when you want to get your point across because heuristics are prevalent (367)

(367) widespread and popular

with Heuristics

with mental focus

faster

slower

irrational

more rational

lack of depth

deep

57. Altruism Do you see that big word above-Altruism? What is altruism? Altruism (368) is the desire to help other people. Remember that this is a desire coming from inside, not something someone has to do. Yes, a myriad of   people are engaging in prosocial behavior (369)  everyday like making charitable donations (370)  to schools, religious organizations or social and political causes (371). They may even risk their own lives to save a stranger. People behaving altruistically (372) are often appreciated by the society because of their selfless concern (373) for others. Even if you don't often behave altruistically to a stranger, you may engage in kinship altruism (374). Kinship  means blood relationship. Kinship altruism means that you are motivated to behave altruistically towards your family members.

(368) the desire to help others

(369) good behavior to the society (370) good phrase (371) any social or political activities done by the governments for the good of the society - Very good phrase (372) behaving in a good way to the society (373) thinking about others rather than oneself  (374) altruism towards family members

You may even engage in behaving altruistically to a stranger because you expect he or she may give you something in return in the future. That's called reciprocal altruism (375). 'Reciprocal' means mutual or (375) mutual altruism in return. It's not actually bad at all. Because many people believe if they help other people more, that will (376) increase the chance increase the odd (376) of them being helped by someone else. Simply put, you do good things because you believe good things will happen to you someday. So whether it is kinship altruism or reciprocal altruism, altruistic behavior should always be upheld by all societies.

Reciprocal

58. Generic Engineering Generic engineering refers to the alteration (377) or (377) change (replace) (378) ~interfere with direct intervention (378) of a generic structure in order to improve the existing genes. The definition is pretty confusing, right? Simply put, generic engineering is the process of changing or modifying genes. Generic engineering is considered a very controversial topic. Supporters believe that it holds many promises (379) for humanity since we could now cure many deseases that we otherwise could not. This proscience school of thought (380)  encourages  medical advances (381) for fighting illnesses (382) given human frailty (383) facing with the brutality of nature. In the eyes of proponents, generic engineering is the manifestation of (384) human evolution and we should not question it.

(379) have future advantages (380) way of thinking (381) good phrase (382) good phrase (383) the weakness of human (compared to nature) (384) the evidence/ display of 

Opponents, on the other hand, consider generic engineering an unethical and unnatural way of curing deceases. They believe direct intervention in genes will (385) unexpected results lead to the unknown consequences (385) in future human development. Any attempt to resist natural processes can come at a great cost for generations to come. The question on whether generic engineering offers net positive benefits to humanity seems to early get satisfactorily answered. Your job is to incorporate these arguments into your IELTS writing *LOL*

have bad effect come at a cost

59. Same-sex Marriage Politicians and activists worldwide are fighting over whether or not same-sex marriage should be legalized. What is your position on this issue? A myriad of homosexual couples (386) are in desperate need of being accepted by the society both morally and naturally in their marriages. That said, entities like religious organizations, the governments and general public have different schools of thought on this issue. Supporters believe the legalization of same-sex marriage bestows many benefits upon both the couples themselves and the society as a whole. Marriage would provide gay couples with both physical and psychological benefits as they are certain of their positions. This would also reduce the divorce rates by a substantial amount (387) due to reduced distress among couples. Opponents reason that same-sex marrige is immoral and unnatural, thus harming the institution of marriage (388) as an union of man and woman established throughout the history of human race. In addition, infertility (389) would not enable homosexual couples to live up to (390) the sacred institution of marrige, thereby destroying the whole purposes of being a married couple. What do you think?

(386) gay/lesbian couples

(387) significantly

(388) the establishment of  marriage (by tradition) (389) inability to give birth (390) fulfil

Tip! Sometimes you can use "by a substantial amount" rather than "substantially" or  "significantly" to make your sentence more natural

Strategy For Writin no one ever told you

Time and Energy are scarce

2552 = 14

2552 = 14

Structure 2552 = 14

The 6 no brainer

(1) Abortion has become a topic of discussion as it brings about numerous unintended social consequences over the past few years. (2) Although the pro-choice school of thought offer some advantages, abortion is still fraught with pitfalls.

(1) Nuclear power has become a highly recognized topic of  discussion on a global scale given its high political involvement and media attention over the past decades. (2) Although the use of nuclear power has carried some negative connotations due to media portrayals, it offers a great net positive benefit overall.

(3) First, disposing human fetuses is ethically and socially  unacceptable because they are recognized as human beings.

(13) In conclusion, even though maternal choices have received explicit legal recognition, they still could not justify the act of  unborn disposition of any kind => Meaning you disagree (restating your opinion)

(13) In conclusion, although the pro-choice school of thought has made its point on certain legal aspects of maternal choices, it is still barely persuasive enough in denying the reverence for the unborn's rights to live. => Same meaning (restating your opinion)

(13) In conclusion, although the pro-choice school of thought has made its point on certain legal aspects of maternal choices, it is still barely persuasive enough in denying the reverence for the unborn's rights to live. (14) Therefore, the abortion issue would certainly be limited to its reasonable level if all the parties involved are better informed on how significant a human unborn's life actually is.

You need to be boring 

You need to be boring 

Vocab Discussion for the 8 Critical Sentences

Imposing higher taxes will increase governments' revenue but will also compromise people's motivation to work hard. => Get something, lose something else Focusing on massive economic growth is vitally important but it will somewhat compromise environmental sustainability. => Get something, lose something else  The legalization of drug would offer the governments increased tax revenues but will certainly compromise social stability. => Get something, lose something else

Although capital punishment (death penalty) is a great way  to deter crimes, it compromises __________ Raising a pet is considered one of the best ways to reduce stress but it will compromise ______ Although globalization is proved to have greatly promoted cultural intermingling, it still compromises ______

 The governments should strike a balance between promoting economic development and protecting the environment in the long run. => Simple solution, strike a balance Schools need to strike a balance between disciplining students and allowing them to raise their own voices. => Simple solution, strike a balance

 The abortion rate has increased over the past 10 years => Lawmakers should strike a balance between maternal choices and the rights to live of the human unborn. Extraterrestrial life can invade Earth and that may cause massive problems. => Scientists from all over the world should strike a balance between seeking extraterrestrial life and maintaining the safety of humanity in the long run.

Favoring maternal choices over the rights to live of the unborn will further increase the abortion rate which is already high and thereby put the health of the mothers themselves in jeopardy  as they will have a greater incentive to exercise the abortion option more often. => Cause-effect and make your argument more valid. Schools that are too liberated when it comes to clothes might put students' punctuality in jeopardy  since students would spend more time on choosing clothes rather than showing up on time. => Cause-effect and make your argument more valid

(4) Placing maternal choices above the rights of the unborn is much due to day-to-day media portrayals on a massive scale, which therefore should not be viewed as rational and even ethical. => Blame the media to make our point more valid (4) Global warming should be deemed overrated due to unnecessarily large-scale media portrayals on this issue over many years. (5) Thus, it is imperative for local authorities to impose legal restrictions on the presentation of global warming to its acceptable levels so people can have a more accurate understanding on its picture. => Blame the media to make our point valid => Tell the governments/local authorities what to do to offer our solution with super ease.

 There is sufficient evidence to infer that global warming is not quite a global issue as one might expect, much due to the media's exaggeration. In actuality, there are only a few regions affected by prolonged droughts or abnormally high temperatures, which should not be perceived as a widespread problem. => Luckily for you, you don't have to cite your sources of  information. So even if you formulate the wrong info, that's really not too big of a deal in IELTS writing.  There is enough evidence to infer that death penalty is very  cost-effective as the governments do not have to provide food and accommodations to criminals for the rest of their lives in prison.

Given the argument that abortion may have some health implications to the mothers, it is still a very cost-effective way for birth control as a last resort. If not taken, the cost of raising a kid when the mother is not ready can be considerably higher while the quality of the upbringing may  not be adequately compensated. => You have considered the cost => That's good! Food stamps may appear beneficial to low-income people to afford healthy food but the cost for the governments to implement may not justify the real benefits they offer. For instance, there have been reportedly many abusing incidents in which people use those sizeable governments' transfer payments to purchase junk food, which clearly  deviates from the core purpose of the program. => It's very nice to support low-income people, but after considering the cost, it's not that great anymore

Abortion has become one of the world (HOW BIG) most debated issues over the past few decades (WHEN IT IS KNOWN) as it also involves a diversity of societal and religious school of thought (WHY.)

Before

Make the cause effect appear more formal  use "given that" to acknowledge the preexisting fact, making the argument more valid and objective Give examples of  global warming to make the sentence more valid and specific List out extra affected parties

 After

Academic Vocabulary For Those Who Hate Spending Too Much Time On Bullsh*t IELTS books

1. Vitally important 2. Do not take them lightly 3. Every so often 4. Coupled with 5. Produce desirable outcomes 6. Familiarize yourself 7. A myriad of 8. Unprecedented 9. Expertise 10. Dedicated to V-ing 11. Simplify 12. Utilize 13. Illustrate the point 14. Have to do with 15. Compromise 16. Individuality 17. Of good quality 18. The same goes for 19. Bear in mind 20. Detrimental 21. Create a by-product 22. Make it possible 23. As easy as it sounds 24. Underlying principles 25. That also explains 26. Backbone 27. To some degree 28. Constitute 29. Irrespective of 30. Place significant emphasis on 31. Complement 32. Ultimately 33. is an indication of 34. That's not necessarily true 35. of value 36. Aware of its existence

37. on a daily basis 38. facilitate 39. without the existence of 40. suffer losses 41. Lose a chance to 42. Imply 43. Relies heaviliy on 44. be perceived as 45. highly beneficial 46. a high degree of 47. be motivated to 48. Catering food 49. Rendering services 50. Create value to the society 51. Are more likely to 52. Associate with 53. Greatly benefit from that 54. Has been around 55.A necessity 56. Today fast-paced life 57. Savvy 58. Two distinct notions 59. Get into the habit of 60. That way, 61. to impart 62. Get accustomed to 63. unraveled 64. Copyright infringement 65. intellectual property 66. Express permission 67. It's safe to say that 68. the likelihood is very slim 69. ethical issues 70. As a result 71. Inevitably 72. Down the road

73. Embark on 74. Ethically acceptable 75. There is sufficient evidence to infer that 76. skeptics/skepticism 77. Biased 78. a real phenomenon 79. Closely related 80. incorporate into 81. Chances are 82. There is always room for 83. Mandatory 84. Acknowledge 85. Act accordingly 86. As can be observed 87. Take advantage of 88. Time is scarce 89. When it comes to 90. government bodies 91. Administer 92. A variety of 93. Economic and societal activities 94. Municipal 95. Carry out different policies 96. Government agencies 97. Serve their functions 98. Reach a certain level of 99. Excessively demanding 100. Than one can expect 101. Social welfare 102. levied (imposed) 103. Goods and services 104. Theoretically speaking 105. public transit 106. a complicated matter 107. Ordinary citizens

108. Tax avoidance 109. Tax liability 110. Tax evasion 111. Recommend against 112. Arbitrary 113. Implant firmly 114. Maximize customer satisfaction 115. healthy relationship 116. companionship 117. Bestow a lot of benefits up on 118. Involve a great deal of responsibility 119. Based on this fact 120. Adopt a pet 121. Think twice 122. Coupled with benefits lie hidden problems 123. pet accessories 124. Also of importance 125. Hygienic care 126. dog grooming service 127. Ideal solution 128. Pose potential risks 129. Love and affection 130. Playful personalities 131. Dietary plan 132. Increase the risk of (disease) 133. is linked to (disease) 134. Put your health in jeopardy 135. Sugar consumption 136. Whole food 137. processed food 138. Guard against 139. Meat alternatives 140. Do the grocery shopping 141. Read food labels

142. Cultural intermingling 143. Mingle 144. Cultural diversity 145. Thanks to 146. Tolerate each other's differences 147. Egalitarian society 148. Make less arbitrary decisions 149. Low-income people 150. Pronounced 151. Net prositive (negative) benefits 152. Are fraught with pitfalls 153. Job loss oversea 154. Offshore outsourcing 155. The wide discrepancy 156. In an attempt to 157. Largely contributes to 158. Income inequality 159. Narrow the gap 160. Pose problems 161. Spread infectious diseases 162. Get around rules and regulations 163. are packed with 164. Imperative 165. the commitment of crimes 166. capital punishment 167. remain a highly controversial topic 168. benevolent 169. an unethical way to 170. the costs to implement 171. prohibitively high 172. strike a balance 173. cost-effective 173. Comes into play 174. imminent threats 174. drug trafficking 175. It becomes clear 176. psychoactive drugs

177. drug addtiction 178. lucrative underground businesses 178. Mainstream media 179. Alternative media 180. Feed the information 181. a prime example 182. Highly credible 183. highly manipulative 184. The sentiments 185. Disseminate information 186. keep a skeptical mindset 187. Challenge the view 188. Lose faith in 189. funding sources 190. broadcast news 191. Cater news 192. counterpart 193. Primary purpose 194. Formulate fake news 194. Extraterrestrial life 195 Solid evidence 195. serve the purpose 196. Take into consideration 197. Extraterrestrial civilizations 198. Exoplanets 199. favorable conditions 200. Harbor lives 201. Brief life-span (of the human race) 202. a strong believer in 203. Satiate curiosity 204. anomalies 205. decipher 206. conspiracy theorists 207. far beyone human's comprehension 208. Come into contact 209. Fictitious 210. Hoaxes

211. Pro-life and pro-choice 212. the unborn 213. human fetus 214. malevolent 215. the key argument 216. legal restrictions against 217. the reproduction rights 218. 219. unintended pregnancies 220. maternal choices 221. uphold the reverence 222. lawmakers 223. two diverging views 224. carries some negative connotations 225. media portrayals 226. most sustainable energy sources 227. carbon emissions 228. the primary cause 229. For civilian purpose 230. Nuclear weapon proliferation 231. National security 232. deleterious effects 233. ecological community 234. inhabit 235. radioactive waste 236. beilef systems 237. Subscribing to a religion 238. perform a ritual 239. religious law 240. maintain a healthy mental state 241. ethical and moral codes 242. the needy 243. an atheist 244. higher consciousness 245. practice religion 246. religious practitioners

247. . in a reasonable manner 248. Embrace 249. extract 250. oil driling 251. refine 252. oil refinery 253. oil wells 254. on the verge of 255. take environmental actions 256. vary from one discipline to another 257. dress casually 258. comply with 259. dress code policy 260. meet the professional standards 261. convey a message 262. influence the perception of 263. Show a consistent trend 264. prevail 265. prohibitively expensive 266. intermittent 267. dilute 268. disrupt (an activity) 269. solar panels 270. harness enough energy 271. puberty 272. reproductive processes 273. reproductive organs 274. abstinence 275. birth control 276. sexual orientation 277. common STDs 278. a parental converation 279. if that is not the case 280. engaging in sexual activities 281. caused quite a variety of responses 282. complete unanimity on 283. on a global scale

284. bears the burden . 321. certainly ensue 285. check-ups 322. stereotype 286. exams 323. preconceived perceptions 287. operations 324. truly represent the reality 288. publicly-funded health care regime 325. exceptionally good 289. The ease of accessibility 326. social loafing 290. Come at a cost 327. are prone to 291. scale back 328. exert less effort on 292. scope of coverage 329. pooling 293. make room for 330. That said 294. clinics 331. express frustration towards 295. supplementary coverages 332. food stamps 296. deem 333. eligible for 297. cause widespread public disagreement 334. earning a living wage 298. openly discuss the issue 335. assist them financially 299. insurance premium 336. a certain threshold 300. medical bills 337. deviate from its core purpose 301. medical assistance 338. gain financial advantage 302. covered 339. rampant 303. at the highest risk 340. you are asked to 304. unable to 341. take steps to 305. restricted 342. mitigate the damage 306. liberated 343. financial institutions 307. constraints 344. fraudulent activities 308. surveillance 345. reimburse the losses 309. the truth will be exposed 346. prevent it from happening 310. ever-growing 347. the exposure to the risk 311. the norm 348. in the pursuit of 312. withhold the information 349. competitive advantage 313. in-depth research 350. desperate need 314. expand your horizons 351. generate more sales 315. there is a strong link between 352. tailor 316. transmit 353. raise a question of ethics 317. disseminate 354. without the knowledge of 318. bad-mouthing 355. sweatshops 319. unlawful 356. poor working conditions 320. positively correlated 356. on the global scale