Unit 1

4000 ESSENTIAL ENGLISH WORDS

UNIT 1 WORD LIST adverse Something that has an adverse effect can be harmful, dangerous, or unfavorable. I worry that the tornado will have an adverse effect on the farm. alternate An alternate option is a different option. Taking the bus and driving to work are alternate ways to travel. biodegradable Materials that are biodegradable break down naturally into substances that do not harm the environment. I use biodegradable compost to feed my garden. boxed When something is boxed, it is inside a package. Justine brought a boxed gift to the birthday party. choke If you choke on something, it stops you from breathing. The gum Malinda swallowed made her choke. convenient When something is convenient, it saves you time or effort. Walking through the park is a convenient way to exercise on the way to work. discard To discard something is to throw it away. After repairing the window, discard any broken glass. dolphin A dolphin is a large sea mammal that breathes air. Intelligent dolphins have learned to communicate with humans. ecologically Ecologically means that something is done in a way that concerns living organisms and the environment. We planted our garden according to ecologically correct practices. fatal Something that is fatal results in someone's death. Being shot by the attacker proved fatal to the victim.

incidence The number of times something happens is the incidence of the event. We need to increase the incidence of success in school. municipal Municipal means that something belongs to a city or local government. The municipal parking lot downtown can fit one hundred cars. overuse Overuse occurs when something is utilized too many times. Rochelle's overuse of the exercise bike caused the gears to break. pond A pond is a freshwater body that is smaller than a lake. I learned to swim at the pond behind the recreation center. recycle When you recycle an object, you use its parts to make something else. We recycle our newspapers so that they can be made into packing boxes. reusable An object that is reusable can be utilized over and over again. Saburo keeps his empty jelly jars because they are reusable for storing sewing supplies. stuffed When something is stuffed, it is pushed into a small space. The newspapers were all stuffed into the drawer. tragic A tragic event causes sadness because it might involve death or suffering. The entire community attended the memorial service for the victims of the tragic fire. utilize To utilize something is to use it for a specific purpose. The team can utilize the lab equipment to complete the experiment. whale A whale is a very large mammal that lives in the ocean. We were surprised when a whale surfaced next to our boat.

Environment Over Convenience Plastic shopping bags are utilized almost everywhere. They are lightweight, strong, and inexpensive. Customers like them because they make carrying goods so convenient. Stores of all kinds print advertising messages on the bags and give them to customers. Why then, are so many countries regulating or even banning their use? Unfortunately, because of these very attributes, plastic bags have an adverse effect on the environment. Their low cost leads to their overuse. For example, environmental groups have estimated that in Taiwan, citizens used to discard 16 million plastic bags a day Residents of the state of Massachusetts in the United States used more than two billion plastic bags per year. Since plastic is made from chemicals found in oil, these single-use bags never break down and decay. When they are thrown away, they last forever—along roads, in ponds, and eventually, in the oceans. There is no proven or efficient way to remove plastics once they enter large bodies of water. Some animals that dwell in the sea, such as turtles and dolphins, mistake plastic bags for food. If a bag becomes stuffed down their throats, it can cause fatal suffocation. Thousands of animals choke on the bags every year. Eventually the plastic fragments may break down into smaller pieces, but they can still be ingested by a wide range of sea animals, from oysters to whales. In this way, microplastics enter the human food chain and cause tragic damage to people's health. Beginning around the year 2000, cities, provinces, and entire countries decided to take action against this form of pollution. At first, municipal governments tried to minimize the use of these bags by requiring stores to charge customers for each one. This reduced the incidence of bags entering the waste stream, yet billions of bags were still being thrown out each day. As the costs of trying to clean the environment rose, more places enacted outright bans on the bags. Now, ecologically-conscious people around the world use alternate means of carrying packages. They bring their own reusable bags when they go shopping, pack their purchases in paper bags, recycle the bags in special collection bins, or have their purchases boxed and delivered to their homes in biodegradable packaging.