Target Words 1. distill 2. entrepreneurial
3. extract 4. haggle 5. intrepid 6. merchant 7. proportionately
8. prototype 9. reward 10. shuttle
Definitions and Examples
1. distill v. to remove one liquid from a mixture of liquids by boiling; to get something valuable from a confusing mix of ideas
The forest peoples of Southeast Asia distill an alcoholic drink called arak from a paste of palm berries.
Most students are confused by her lectures, but Joe can always distill her main idea.
2. entrepreneurial adj. Able to create business opportunities from a wide variety of circumstances
Many engineers of the 1970s made great computers, but only a few were entrepreneurial enough to see the business possibilities in the new machines.
3. extract v. To take out
International mining companies came to the Malay Peninsula to extract the region’s massive tin deposits.
4. haggle v. To argue back and forth about a price
The customer and the shopkeeper haggled over the silver plate for more than an hour.
5. intrepid adj. Fearless
For nearly 200 years, only the most intrepid colonists would cross the Appalachian Mountains.
6. merchant n. A person who makes a living by selling things
The spice merchants of the eastern markets charged top prices to the Dutch and British sailors, who had come too far to sail away without buying.
7. proportionately adv. In an amount appropriate to each of several recipients The food aid was distributed proportionately per family, with larger families receiving more.
8. prototype n. The first one made of a machine or system
The airplane manufacturer uses robots to test every prototype, just in case there is a problem with the design.
9. reward n. Something one gets for having done well
The greatest reward of being a parent is to see your child make a wise decision.
10. shuttle v. To move back and forth often between two places
The small jet shuttles between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore nearly every two hours.
TOEFL Prep I
Find the word or phrase that is closest in meaning to each word in the left-hand column.
1. haggle (a) brave 2. intrepid (b) in appropriate amounts 3. extract (c) argue about price 4. entrepreneurial (d) take out
5. proportionately (e) business-oriented TOEFL Prep II
Choose the word that best completes each sentence.
1. To avoid disease, many people drink only (distilled/extracted) water, which has been
boiled to evaporation and then re-condensed on a cold surface.
2. Most business travelers do not find it exciting to (haggle/shuttle) between one location and another.
3. According to the laws in this state, tobacco can be sold only by certain licensed (merchants/entrepreneurs) at special tobacco stores.
4. One early (reward/prototype) of the computer was called ENIAC and was as big as an average-sized laboratory.
5. The children were punished (intrepidly/proportionately), with the leader getting a longer sentence than the followers.
TOEFL Success
Read the passage to review the vocabulary you have learned. Answer the questions that follow.
Tomatoes, potatoes, and hot peppers, all originally from South or Central America, are among several plants that have disproportionately influenced cooking around the world.
This happened only after a few intrepid eaters got beyond common fears about potatoes, tomatoes, and other products. Entrepreneurial hunters for new food products hardly knew what they were haggling for when they tried to extract from foreign markets goods that would sell well at home. Shuttling between Europe and exotic lands, Italians, Spaniards, and Britons in particular brought back food prototypes that were not obviously good things to
eat—cinnamon bark, cousins of the dreaded nightshade (tomatoes), and even the pollen from a crocus flower (saffron). As a glance at international cookbooks will show, many creative merchants were well rewarded not just with financial success, but with culture-changing influence.
1. According to this reading, why did merchants have “culture-changing influence”? a. They found new ways to get from one country to another.
b. Many of the plants they sold were poisonous and killed off some populations.
c. They made it possible for cultures to develop new dishes.
d. They spread European cooking habits around the world.
2. Cinnamon, tomatoes, and saffron are mentioned to make the point that __________. a. many of the new plants merchants introduced were from Asia
b. some strange-looking foods from odd sources were eventually accepted
c. nightshade was unfairly dreaded by Europeans
d. nearly every part of a plant can be turned into a kind of food
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