Life Advanced Word List  Unit 2

2 More than a job

Page 21 get back to  /gɛt bæk tuː/ Phrasal verb
if you get back to someone, you write to them,
livelihood  /ˈlaɪvlihʊd/ Noun phone them, send them an email, etc. in order to
your livelihood is the work you do to earn a living reply to a question or to give them extra information
their main source of livelihood is fishing | their entire about something you had been discussing with them
livelihood depends on their cattle | when they shut I asked him about it a week ago and he still hasn’t
the railway line, his livelihood was lost | people got back to me | I’ll get back to you next week after
earned their livelihoods mainly at farming I’ve had a chance to read the report | we make every
effort to get back to customers with 24 hours of
nomad  /ˈnəʊmæd/ Noun receiving a complaint
nomads are groups of people who never stay
for long in one place but always move on to live get by  /gɛt baɪ/ Phrasal verb
somewhere else very soon if you can get by, you have just enough of
they lived as nomads, travelling and camping in something, for example knowledge or money, so
different locations | the nomads earned their living that you can do what you need to do
by selling sheep | most nomads travel in groups of get by on/with something
families called bands or tribes | humans lived as I’m not fluent in Spanish, but I can get by | I got by
nomads, surviving by hunting and gathering on £500 a month when I was a student | you could
Adjective: nomadic probably get by with a laptop | she’s hoping to get
her family is from a nomadic background | nomadic by without a car
people who survived on hunting and fishing
get on with  /gɛt ɒn wɪð/ Phrasal verb
pony  /ˈpəʊni/ Noun if you get on with something, you start to do it in a
a pony is an animal like a small horse determined way
he was riding a white pony | there were several I’ve got to get on with my homework | why don’t
ponies in the next field | we went pony trekking they just get on with it? | don’t wait for anyone else,
(went on a journey riding on a pony) last week | I you should get on with the task as soon as possible
always wanted to have a pony when I was a child
get out of  /gɛt aʊt ɒv/ Phrasal verb
vocation  /vəʊˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/ Noun if you get out of something you have agreed to do
a vocation is a job that someone does because they or are expected to do, you manage to avoid having
believe it is their purpose in life to do it to do it
my parents wanted me to be a doctor, but I felt I’ve got a meeting with my boss at four and I can’t
strongly that my vocation lay in teaching | she get out of it | I usually visit my mum on Sunday
believed her vocation was to serve the church | she morning, but if I can get out of it this week I’ll
encouraged me to pursue my vocation as a writer come to Northampton with you | John’s pretending
he’s hurt his arm so he can get out of painting the
bathroom
Pages 22-23
dotted  /ˈdɒtɪd/ Adjective get over  /gɛt ˈəʊvə/ Phrasal verb
if things are dotted somewhere, there are lots of if you get over something such as a disappointment
them spread over a wide area or an illness, you return to a normal state where you
can carry on with your life
dotted across somewhere | dotted around
somewhere she still hadn’t got over her husband’s death | it took
a few days to get over my jet lag | he hasn’t got over
the company has offices dotted across the western
the shock yet | I had flu, but I’ve got over the worst
USA | a religion with followers dotted throughout
of it now
the world | if you look at the map, you can see the
lakes dotted around the two main cities get round to  /gɛt raʊnd tuː/ Phrasal verb
if you get round to something, you finally start to
get away with  /gɛt əˈweɪ wɪð/ Phrasal verb
do it, especially if it is something you have been
if you get away with a crime or with doing
avoiding doing
something wrong, you are not caught and punished
for it get round to doing something
get away with doing something we finally got round to decorating the bathroom
two years after we moved in | I haven’t been able to
he can’t keep getting away with it | it’s too risky,
get round to it yet, but I promise I’ll do it over the
you’ll never get away with it | his mum lets him get
weekend | we lived there for six years and never got
away with murder (doesn’t punish his bad behaviour)
round to mending the fence at the side
| he robbed a bank and got away with it

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 Life Advanced Word List  Unit 2

graphic designer  /ˈgræfɪk dɪˈzaɪnə/ Noun researchers measured brain activity and changes in the
a graphic designer is someone whose job involves diameter of the pupils | foxes have oval, vertical pupils
putting together text and pictures in books,
advertising posters, magazines, etc. spear  /spɪə(r)/ Noun
a spear is a weapon that is a long stick with a sharp,
she’s a photographer, graphic designer and member
pointed end that you can throw
of a band | he trained as a graphic designer | your
website could do with having input from a good archaeologists found a Roman spear at the site | a
graphic designer | when she started as a graphic group of men armed with spears | a few of them had
designer in the 1970s, there were no computers and rifles, but most carried just a spear | he used a spear
no software like there are today to catch fish in the shallow water by the shore
Noun: graphic design
good graphic design will attract more visits to your Pages 24-25
website | she teaches graphic design at the local be second nature to you  /biː ˈsɛkənd ˈneɪʧə tuː juː/ Phrase
college if something is second nature to you, it seems
natural and is what you do or believe without having
intimate  /ˈɪntɪmət/ Adjective
to think about it
if you have an intimate knowledge of something,
you have a very thorough understanding of it and of be second nature to someone
all its details practise this over and over until it’s second nature to you
intimate knowledge of something | after a few more weeks, the whole procedure became
second nature | politeness was second nature to her
the book displayed the author’s intimate knowledge
of Russian history | with his intimate knowledge of better to be safe than sorry  /ˈbɛtə tuː biː seɪf ðæn ˈsɒri/
every path and stream, he was the perfect guide Phrase
Adverb: intimately if you say better safe than sorry or it’s better to be
he was intimately familiar with Beethoven’s safe than sorry, you are recommending a course of
symphonies | she returned to the neighbourhood she action that does not involve any risk and will not
once knew intimately therefore lead to a bad outcome
better to be safe than sorry, so yes, always wear
mollusc  /ˈmɒləsk/ Noun a helmet | it’s better to be safe than sorry when it
a mollusc is an animal that has a soft inside and comes to your health | better safe than sorry, so see
usually has a hard shell on the outside, such as a snail your doctor as soon as possible
or clam
today, there are about 60,000 different species of contain  /kənˈteɪn/ Verb
molluscs | molluscs don’t move around very much | if you contain a dangerous situation, you are able to
they managed to catch enough fish and molluscs to stop it spreading and affecting a wider area
feed themselves contain something to somewhere
firefighters managed to contain the fire at the
physiotherapist  /ˌfɪziəʊˈθerəpɪst/ Noun
factory | rioting was contained to the area around
a physiotherapist is someone who treats injured
the football stadium | smoke damage was mostly
people by getting them to do special exercises in
contained to the kitchen and dining room
order to help damaged parts of the body recover
Noun: containment
she’s training to be a physiotherapist | I have a
weekly session with a physiotherapist plans were made to ensure successful containment of
the epidemic
Noun: physiotherapy
she had to undergo extensive physiotherapy on her cut corners  /kʌt ˈkɔːnəz/ Phrase
injured knee | I’m still having physiotherapy on my if you cut corners, you try and do a task more
shoulder | physiotherapy will strengthen the muscles quickly by leaving out something or by not being
in your legs as thorough as you should be, and so risk failing or
doing a bad job
protein  /ˈprəʊtiːn/ Noun
cutting corners now will create problems later on
protein is an important substance in some foods such
| there was no way we could finish the project on
as eggs, meat, milk, etc., that you need to eat in
time without cutting corners | his first thought was
order to have a healthy body
to cut a few corners to save money | I want this done
it’s important to have enough protein in your diet properly – no cutting corners
| you’ll get ill if you don’t eat enough protein | egg
white is 87% water and 10% protein | the meat has do things by the book  /duː θɪŋz baɪ ðə bʊk/ Phrase
about 28 grams of protein per portion if you do things by the book, you follow instructions
and rules very carefully and precisely
pupil  /ˈpjuːp(ə)l/ Noun
handling these chemicals can be very dangerous so
your pupils are the small dark-coloured centres of
it’s important you do everything by the book | he
your eyes that grow larger or smaller depending on
had done everything by the book but still hadn’t
how much light there is around you
succeeded in fixing the problem | if I have to do it all
by the book it will take hours

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 Life Advanced Word List  Unit 2

err on the side of caution  /ɜːr ɒn ðə saɪd ɒv ˈkɔːʃən/ Phrase learn to be independent | it’s time to stop wrapping
to err on the side of caution is to make sure you them in cotton wool and let them go to the park on
do something so carefully that if there are any their own | Terry had never been wrapped in cotton
mistakes, they are the result of being too careful and wool and was able to hold his own in a fight with
therefore not too serious, rather than the result of the bigger boys
being careless and possibly very severe
I always err on the side of caution when it comes to Pages 26-27
adding salt | we decided to err on the side of caution
and called an ambulance just in case it was serious accomplished  /əˈkʌmplɪʃt/ Adjective
| the Bank of England chose to err on the side of if someone is accomplished at something they are
caution and raised interest rates by half a per cent very good at it
be accomplished at something
inaccessible  /ˌɪnəkˈsesəb(ə)l/ Adjective
he’s an accomplished pianist | the author is an
somewhere that is inaccessible is impossible or very
accomplished photographer | with practice, you’ll
difficult to get to
become very accomplished at both drawing and
the lake was in an inaccessible area north of a singing
huge forest | the village is inaccessible during the
winter months because of the snow | the cellar was blow your mind  /bləʊ jɔː maɪnd/ Phrase
inaccessible to anyone who did not have a key | they if something blows your mind, it makes a very deep
organise holidays in otherwise inaccessible regions of impression on you and you cannot stop thinking
Central Asia about it and admiring it
Opposite – Adjective accessible the first time I watched a Formula One motor race
the airport is easily accessible from the surrounding it really blew my mind | you should watch the film
towns and cities – I promise you it will blow your mind | seeing Lady
Gaga live blew my mind
regardless  /rɪˈɡɑː(r)dləs/ Adverb
something that happens or exists regardless of bump  /bʌmp/ Noun
something else happens or exists without being a bump is a raised, uneven part on a surface
influenced at all by the other thing one of the tyres burst when I hit a bump in the road
regardless of something | he braked too late and hit the bump at speed | the
car rattled loudly as it went over the bumps | a speed
we welcome new members regardless of their age |
bump (a deliberately raised strip across a road which
the basketball court is open to anyone regardless of
is meant to make drivers slow down)
skill or ability
fatigue  /fəˈtiːɡ/ Noun uncount
relay  /ˈriːleɪ/ Verb
fatigue is a feeling of great tiredness
to relay something such as information or a message
means to pass it from one person or organisation to hunger and fatigue became a problem on the fourth
another until it reaches the person or organisation it day of the trip | the doctor said fatigue was a direct
is meant for result of the illness | some medicines cause fatigue
as a side effect | he was suffering from fatigue after
news of the battle was relayed back to parliament
driving for seven hours without a break
in London | the satellite receives signals from
the spacecraft and relays them to the mission Adjective: fatigued
control centre | this information is relayed back to she’s always very fatigued after a day spent at work
headquarters in Washington DC
find your feet  /faɪnd jɔː fiːt/ Phrase
shift  /ʃɪft/ Noun if you find your feet, you start getting used to a new
a shift is the period of time someone spends at work situation and begin to feel comfortable and know
during a day, for example in a factory what you are doing there
I’m on night shift next week | he wanted to work a he’s still finding his feet in his new job | I’m sure
few more shifts to earn some extra money before you’ll find your feet in no time at all | I’d just began
Christmas | my shift doesn’t finish till 6 to find my feet in Los Angeles when I was transferred
to the New York office
wrap someone in cotton wool 
/ræp ˈsʌmwʌn ɪn ˈkɒtn wʊl/ Phrase follow in someone’s footsteps 
cotton wool is a soft white material that people /ˈfɒləʊ ɪn ˈsʌmwʌnz ˈfʊtstɛps/ Phrase
use, for example, for putting lotion on their skin if you follow in someone’s footsteps, you do the
or to stop jewellery moving around in a box. If you same sort of work or have the same sort of life
talk about wrapping someone in cotton wool, you experiences as someone before you, usually someone
are talking about protecting someone much more in your family
than is reasonable or sensible, when you think they I followed in my brother’s footsteps and joined the
should have to deal with the situation they are in by choir at my local church | her daughter is following in
themselves her footsteps and studying to be a doctor
if you keep wrapping her in cotton wool, she’ll never

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 Life Advanced Word List  Unit 2

get off on the wrong foot  /gɛt ɒf ɒn ðə rɒŋ fʊt/ Phrase Pages 28-29

if you get off on the wrong foot, you have a bad
start to a relationship break into  /breɪk ˈɪntuː/ Phrasal verb
if you break into a new job or business activity, you
we got off on the wrong foot and things got even get a chance to become involved in it
worse when he started talking about politics | I don’t
want to get off on the wrong foot, but I have to ask the media is a very difficult sector to break into |
you to stop calling me Mikey | the interview got off we’re hoping to break into the home security market
on the wrong foot because I told them they were | he hoped to break into journalism by getting an
not my first choice university interview with David Beckham

get your foot in the door  /gɛt jɔː fʊt ɪn ðə dɔː/ Phrase conscientious  /ˌkɒnʃiˈenʃəs/ Adjective
if you get your foot in the door, you get into a someone who is conscientious always makes sure
situation where you are able to start a particular job they do their job very thoroughly and very well
or career from a low level but with an opportunity to if you’d been a bit more conscientious this mistake
work your way up wouldn’t have happened | she was a conscientious
I took a job as a secretary in a publishing firm just student | a clever and very conscientious young
to get my foot in the door | acting is a difficult woman
profession and some people spend years in Adverb: conscientiously
Hollywood without ever getting their foot in the he prepared for the meeting conscientiously |
door carefully and conscientiously, she checked every
room before leaving the house
have two left feet  /hæv tuː lɛft fiːt/ Phrase
if you have two left feet, you are very clumsy in the enthusiastic  /ɪnˌθjuːziˈæstɪk/ Adjective
way you move, especially when you try and dance or someone who is enthusiastic shows their interest in
play sport something in a very lively way
he’s got two left feet so he gave up football and enthusiastic about (doing) something | wildly
took up chess | if you’ve got two left feet, there’s no enthusiastic
point trying to dance my son is an excited and enthusiastic student who
put your foot in it  /pʊt jɔː fʊt ɪn ɪt/ Phrase loves going to school | the audience was wildly
if you put your foot in it, you say something without enthusiastic | she was an enthusiastic admirer of the
thinking about it and embarrass someone or upset president | he was very enthusiastic about going
them swimming | it was hard to feel enthusiastic about the
election
he really put his foot in it when he said he wanted
Germany to beat England in the football | just think Adverb: enthusiastically | Noun: enthusiasm ||
before you say anything, that way you might avoid Opposite – Adjective: unenthusiastic
putting your foot in it | every time he opens his arouse/rouse enthusiasm | enthusiasm for something
mouth he puts his foot in it | unenthusiastic about (doing) something
her classmates have enthusiastically welcomed
rally  /ˈræli/ Verb her back | the idea was enthusiastically accepted
if you rally, you recover from feeling tired and find by everyone at the meeting | his speech aroused
new energy so that you can carry on doing what you a new enthusiasm among the citizens | a skilled
were doing pianist, with a genuine enthusiasm for music | he
he rallied strongly in the second half of the race was unenthusiastic about my idea | he was rather
and finished in second place | Murray rallied in the unenthusiastic about trying to find a new job
fourth set and came out the winner by three sets
to one fast learner  /fɑːst ˈlɜːnə/ Noun
a fast learner is someone who is clever and able to
shoot yourself in the foot  /ʃuːt jɔːˈsɛlf ɪn ðə fʊt/ Phrase learn and understand things very quickly
if you shoot yourself in the foot, you accidentally say she’s very bright and a fast learner | the job advert
or do something that will cause problems for you said candidates needed to be fast learners | I felt lost
he’s always shooting himself in the foot by admitting in a class of fast learners
he’s not good at his job | don’t shoot yourself in the
foot this time – tell them you like classical music feel free  /fiːl friː/ Phrase
if you tell someone to feel free to do something,
summit  /ˈsʌmɪt/ Noun you are giving them your permission to do it and
the summit of a mountain is its highest point encouraging them to do it
the summit of something feel free to call me any time, day or night | please
we needed to reach the summit before dark | the feel free to take as many photos as you want | feel
summit of Everest is over 29,000 feet up | he’s free to leave a comment at the end of this blog post
the youngest person to have climbed the seven
summits (the highest mountain of each of the seven flexible  /ˈfleksəb(ə)l/ Adjective
continents) someone who is flexible can easily change what they
are doing and start doing something different if
necessary

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 Life Advanced Word List  Unit 2

I’m very flexible, so if you want me to move to the because of a lack of motivation | the motive behind
other team that’s fine | as a manager you have the attack is unclear | a lot of people questioned his
to be focused but at the same time flexible | an motives
experienced and flexible member of staff
reliable  /rɪˈlaɪəb(ə)l/ Adjective
Adverb: flexibly | Noun: flexibility
if someone is reliable, you can trust them and
she responded flexibly to the changing demands of depend on them
the job | the interviewers will want to see evidence
she’s a very reliable babysitter | he’s very reliable
of your flexibility
– if he says he’ll do something, then he’ll do it | a
focused  /ˈfəʊkəst/ Adjective friendly and reliable taxi driver | a reliable worker
someone who is focused is able to concentrate very Verb: rely | Adverb: reliably | Noun: reliability |
hard on one particular task and do it very thoroughly Opposite – Adjective: unreliable
a group of very focused and motivated musicians | rely on someone
we are both highly competitive and focused I know he’s got the right skills, but can we rely on
Verb: focus | Noun: focus him? | he was reliably informed that the president
focus on something was ill | he nearly lost his job because of his poor
reliability | Tony’s a lovely man, but so unreliable
you need to focus more on your school work | the
world’s focus has moved on to climate change | the resourceful  /rɪˈzɔː(r)sf(ə)l/ Adjective
economy became the main focus of the president’s someone who is resourceful is able to use their
attention intelligence to solve different sorts of problem or
difficulty without much help from other people
get carried away  /gɛt ˈkærid əˈweɪ/ Phrase
if you get carried away, you do something in an an independent-minded and resourceful young man
enthusiastic and energetic way but without making | the lecturers here are very helpful and resourceful
sure that it is the best thing to be doing at the time | the equipment is very old and unreliable so you’ll
need to be resourceful to get the best out if it
he got a bit carried away and ended up painting
the whole house bright yellow | let’s not get carried Adverb: resourcefully | Noun: resource
away just yet – we need to think a bit harder about it’s a well-written report that has been resourcefully
what to do next | she got carried away and was researched | I admired the resource she showed in
tweeting thirty times a day finishing the project on time

innovative  /ˈɪnəveɪtɪv/ Adjective well-organised  /wɛl-ˈɔːgənaɪzd/ Adjective

something that is innovative involves the use of new someone who is well-organised manages to organise
ideas to create something that is original their work and do everything they need to do in an
an innovative approach to traffic management | the efficient way
new packaging has an innovative design | it was a my school report said I was conscientious and well-
highly innovative product when it was launched | his organised | by the end of the third week we were an
ideas did not seem very innovative effective and well-organised team | the campaigners
Verb: innovate | Noun: innovation | Noun: innovator were well-organised and gathered a lot of support
for their cause
all organisations need to constantly innovate and
learn | those who do not innovate will simply not
survive | the industry grew rapidly thanks to the Pages 30-31
latest innovations | technological innovations came
assignment  /əˈsaɪnmənt/ Noun
rapidly as the 20th century advanced | Ron was an
an assignment is a piece of work you are given to do
innovator – an “ideas” man | we need to identify the
at school or as part of your job
next generation of innovators
I have to hand in my history assignment tomorrow
motivated  /ˈməʊtɪˌveɪtɪd/ Adjective | this is a difficult assignment and I’ll have to work
if someone is motivated, they have the enthusiasm over the weekend to finish it | his assignment was
and determination needed to achieve something to contact 40 customers and ask them about their
highly motivated experience | I was always handing in my assignments
late
children are highly motivated learners of language
| what we need is a team of motivated individuals | cerebral  /ˈserəbrəl/ Adjective
motivated employees feel that their work is special something that is cerebral involves someone
and important having to think very hard and use their brain and
Verb: motivate | Adjective: motivating | Noun: intelligence. If a person is cerebral, they are good at
motivation | Noun: motive thinking and using their brain and not so good at
motivate someone to do something physical activity like sport
their teacher really knows how to motivate them | translating Shakespeare into Finnish is a very
his success motivated the rest of the students to do cerebral activity | she was a cerebral individual and
better | greed was a motivating factor in his decision didn’t even want to play tennis on holiday | a rather
| he has no motivation to study | some students fail cerebral novel by a famous philosopher

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cringe  /krɪndʒ/ Verb shovel  /ˈʃʌv(ə)l/ Noun

if you cringe, you feel awkward and embarrassed if you shovel something such as sand or snow, you
because you are seeing something that is of very bad move large amounts of it out of the way using a
quality spade or shovel
I cringed when she started singing the national we spent the afternoon shovelling snow off the
anthem | seeing him up on the stage made me cringe pavement | his job was to shovel coal into the boiler |
| I cringe every time I see myself on video | I can’t she helped me shovel the leaves off the path
read these letters without cringing Noun: shovel
methodical  /məˈθɒdɪk(ə)l/ Adjective thousands of workers using shovels were building a
if you are methodical, you do things in a thorough canal
and well-organised way. You can also say that the
shrink back  /ʃrɪŋk bæk/ Phrasal verb
way you do things is methodical
if you shrink back, you feel awkward and
everything will get done on time so long as you stay embarrassed by something
calm, don’t panic, and work in a methodical way |
she shrank back in embarrassment when she saw her
he was very methodical in his habits | a methodical
dad on the dance floor | she shrank back, thinking he
approach to problem solving | I suggest finding a
wanted to kiss her
methodical process that works for you
Adverb: methodically | Noun: method
you need to work methodically and systematically |
this method is effective and should bring you good
results

realm  /relm/ Noun

a realm is any area of activity, knowledge, or
thought
she was highly respected in the political realm |
a company that is trying to break into the social
networking realm | that is the same problem we face
in the academic realm | we’re finally making progress
in the educational realm

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