Vocabulary and Expressions
Text 1
Read through the following words and defintions and make sure you understand them. They will be included in your class test.
Tipping pointThe point at which something tips over. In this context it is the point when a system breaks down and cannot be repaired, the point of no return.
“Walk me through the steps.”
“Explain something clearly and progressively to me.”
In the order of 30-100 years
In the rank, class or vicinity of 30-100 years
An awful lot
'Awful' is an intensive, that is it accentuates the word it goes before. We could replace 'an awful lot' with 'a greal deal' or 'a significant amount'.
To get swamped
To get overloaded or overwhelmed. The expression contains an image of walking through a swamp or a bog and having to stop with the accumulation of mud on your feet, or being unable to go further due to the presence of thick mud. We could also say ‘to get bogged down’.
Levee
A raised area of earth to stop flooding
Odd
Strange
Green lobbies
Ecological pressure groups
To play out
Unfold; the implication is that Lovelock believes civilizations go through a predictable rise and fall
Don’t have tenure
Tenure is the act of holding a position or job permanently. In this context Lovelock says that civilizations do not last indefinitely.
Hard won things
Things that have been struggled for or fought to achieve
Dust in the atmosphere
Tiny airborne particles
To leave following the force of gravity
The penny drops
When we finally understand something after having contemplated it for a long time
To buy time
To prolong the arrival a coming danger
Not to be sneered at
Not to be mocked
Texts 2a and 2b to come
