Vocabulary to Boost your Fluency - Learn from Today's News

Hi, I'm Lisa. Let's learn some advanced vocabulary and expressions from a news article so that you can take your already advanced English to the next level, the final level of fluency. My goal is to teach you to communicate with educated native speakers on any subject just like you can in your native language. One of the best ways for you to achieve that is to learn the vocabulary and the expressions that native speakers are using and to be able to use those words yourself. For example, do you know the meaning of the adjectives precarious and disconcerting or the verbs to soar and to tumble? In this video, you will learn to use these words and many more. You will also have a chance to practice your accent. I will read parts of the article and I will pause to give you a chance to repeat after me. This news article is about Wall Street. The stock market and its impact on the economy. The title of the article is Intel's best day since the 1980s helps drive Wall Street to more records. Let's look at the verb to drive. Of course, you know the meaning of to drive a car, but to drive can be used in other ways. It means to cause something to happen or to make it move in a certain way, to make it act in a certain way. And in this context, it means that Intel's strong performance caused the stock market to rise. And we can use to drive this way. We can say his speech drove the team to work harder. Or rising oil prices drove inflation higher. And you've probably heard people say it's driving me crazy. The noise is driving me crazy. And that means it's making me crazy. And we can also say he has a lot of drive. What does that mean? It means he's very motivated. He's motivated to work hard. He has a lot of drive. Or we can say he is very driven. I believe that you are driven to improve your English and that's why you're watching this video. You have a lot of drive. Okay, let's look at the first two paragraphs of the article to learn some more words. First, I will read it and you listen. Wall Street rolled to more records on Thursday as Nvidia and Intel led a rally for technology stocks after announcing a deal that includes a $5 billion investment. The standard empores 500 index rose. 5% and is on track for a third straight winning week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 124 points or. 3% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed. 9%. All three set all-time highs. Let's look at the word rally. A rally can be a noun or to rally is a verb. The article states Nvidia and Intel led a rally for technology stocks. To rally is to recover, to become stronger again after a period of weakness. And in this case, it means a sudden increase in the price of stocks after a decline. And you can also use the verb to rally this way. You can say the stock market rallied. The team rallied in the second half and won the game. In case you don't know, let's learn about the Standard Empor 500 index. It's commonly called the S&P 500. The article says the standard empores 500 index rose 5%. The S&P 500 is a list of 500 large companies whose stock prices are tracked together to show how the US stock market is performing. If the S&P 500 goes up, it usually means that the economy is doing well. And when the S&P 500 goes down, it often means the economy is slowing down. 5%. And rose is from the verb to rise, which means to go up. Rise, rose, risen. And don't confuse this verb with the verb to raise. To rise is to go up, but to raise is to make something go up. They're similar, but they're used differently. One is a transitive verb and one is an intransitive verb. The sun rose, but I raised my hand. They raised prices, but the prices rose. That's an intransitive verb. Let's look at to be on track for. The article states that the S&P 500 is on track for a third straight winning week. These are tracks. They are train

tracks. So to be on track means to be moving in the direction to reach a goal, to be likely to achieve something. For example, we can say she's doing very well at work. She's on track for a job promotion. Or this project is on track for completion by the end of the year. And the opposite of on track is to get off track. That's when you start going in a different direction, in the wrong direction. Let's listen. When I do those things, I'm on track mentally, emotionally, and physically. And I knew that as long as I stayed on track, my career was secure. — I apologize. I completely got off track. — You know the meaning of the word straight, right? A straight line or straight hair, but the article talks about a third straight winning week. On track for In this case, straight means happening one after another without interruption, without stopping. For example, I can say, "I've worked late for three straight nights. " The same thing as three nights in a row. Or, "I've worked for 15 days straight without a day off. I can't believe I slept for 10 hours straight. " And that means I didn't wake up at all during that time. 10 hours straight. Let's listen to how some other people used it. — We were traveling three days straight from Turkey by bus. — They worked 20 hours a day for 100 days straight. — Literally just been laying down for the last 24 hours straight pretty much. — Let's look at all time. In this article, it says all-time high. All three set all-time highs. An all-time high means the highest level ever reached. We can say temperatures hit an all-time high this summer. That means a record was broken. Temperatures were never higher than this summer. It was an all-time high. We can say the city's population is now at an all-time high. But we can also say all-time low. The temperatures hit all-time lows last January. We can say all-time favorite. That movie is my all-time favorite or all-time best. She gave an all-time best performance. It was her best performance ever or all-time great. Michael Jordan is considered an all-time great in basketball. Okay. Now, we're going to read the paragraphs again so that you can practice your accent. I will pause to give you a chance to repeat. Repeat after me. Wall Street rolled to more records on Thursday as Nvidia and Intel led a rally for technology stocks after announcing a deal that includes a $5 billion investment. The standard empores 500 index rose. 5%. And is on track for a third straight winning week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 124 points or. 3%. and the NASDAQ Composite climbed. 9%. Now, let's look at two more sentences. Intel soared 22. 8% 8% for its best day since 1987 after Nvidia said it would buy $5 billion of the chipmaker stock. Nvidia climbed 3. 5% and was by far the strongest force lifting the S&P 500 because it's Wall Street's most valuable company. Let's look at the verb to soar. Intel soared 22. 8%. To soar is to rise or to increase very quickly. For example, we can say gas prices soared after the hurricane. Or sales of the new phone soared during the first week. My confidence soared when I got the promotion and the eagle soared high in the sky. So, a bird can soar. An airplane can soar. You know the meaning of far, but let's look at by far. Nvidia was by far

the strongest force lifting the S&P 500. We say by far when we want to emphasize that something is much better, much stronger, or much greater than anything else. We can say, "She is by far the best singer in the group. This was by far the most difficult test I've ever taken. This is by far the best pizza I've ever eaten. " Or we can use far with a comparative adjective. For example, far bigger than. Is the United States bigger than Switzerland? Yes, it's far bigger. This restaurant is far better than the other one. Is your English far better today than it was last year? Okay, let's read that part again to practice your accent. Repeat after me. Intel soared 22. 8% 8% for its best day since 1987 after Nvidia said it would buy $5 billion of the chipmaker stock. And notice how I connected the two S's. I didn't pronounce both of those S's. I blended them into one sound. Chipmaker stock. You say it. Chipmaker stock. Anytime we have two consonants that are the same, one is at the end of the word and the other one is at the beginning of the next word, we only pronounce one sound. For example, she speaks Spanish. We wouldn't say she speaks Spanish. I'm married. We blend those two M's into one sound. So, don't say I'm married, it's I'm married. Let's continue. Repeat after me. Nvidia climbed 3. 5%. And was by far the strongest force lifting the S&P 500 because it's Wall Street's most valuable company. Let's continue with some more sentences from the article. Fewer US workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected. That could indicate the pace of layoffs is slowing and it was a relief after the prior week's data showing a disconcerting leap to a 4-year high. Let's look at unemployment benefits. Fewer US workers applied for unemployment benefits last week. Unemployment benefits are the money that the government gives to people who lose their jobs and are looking for a job. We can say he received unemployment benefits after losing his job. You may wonder how much money people receive in unemployment benefits in the US. It varies from one state to another. For example, in Massachusetts, the benefits are the highest, but in Mississippi, they're the lowest. It also depends on how much you earned when you were working. Generally, you receive 30 to 50% of your salary when you worked. So, in Massachusetts, it can be up to $1,15 is the maximum, but in Mississippi, it can be as low as $235. And again, it depends on other factors such as what your salary was when you were working. Let's look at pace and layoffs. The article says that could indicate the pace of layoffs is slowing. The pace is the speed or the rate at which something happens. We can say the pace of this meeting is too slow. Things are moving slowly. Or we can say technology is changing at a fast pace. And when you're speaking English, is your pace slow or fast? And how does it compare to when you're speaking your native language? I predict that you probably speak faster in your native language, that your pace is faster because it's easier for you. You know the words. You don't have to pause and think about how you're going to say something. Let's look at layoffs. The pace of layoffs is slowing. Layoffs are when workers lose their jobs because the company can't afford to pay them. A layoff is different from getting fired. It's not because you didn't do a good job. It's because your company can't afford to keep you anymore. We can say, "The company announced massive layoffs due to falling sales. " But you can also use it as a phrasal verb to lay off. The company laid off a lot of people. 500 people were laid off when the factory shut down. So, the pace of layoffs is slowing means that fewer people are

losing their jobs. We commonly use this phrasal verb in the passive voice. He was laid off. She was laid off. I hope I don't get laid off. Let's look at the adjective disconcerting and the noun leap. A disconcerting leap to a 4-year high. If something is disconcerting, it makes you feel worried or uncomfortable or confused. Disconcerting is similar to troubling or upsetting or worrying. Disturbing. We can say the strange noise in the house was very disconcerting. The disconcerting news about the company's finances worried the employees. It was very disconcerting. Let's listen to how some other people used it. — But when you read the letters, it can be a little bit disconcerting. — It's a disconcerting. It's a problem, but it's a part of our culture. David had been experiencing disconcerting dreams. — Let's look at leap. A leap is a noun, but it can also be used as a verb to leap. The article says, "A disconcerting leap to a 4-year high. " A leap is a sudden large increase. It's also a jump. This is a leap. She is leaping. We can say there was a big leap in oil prices last month. And there is a very common proverb that says look before you leap. And that means think about the bad results or the consequences before you do something. Think carefully before you do it. Look before you leap. And the past tense of leap is leapt. She leapt across the stage. Or you can say I leapt out of bed when I heard the alarm. And let's look at fouryear high. Notice there's a little dash between four and year. In this case, it functions as an adjective describing the high, a disconcerting leap to a 4-year high. And that means the highest level reached in the past four years. We can say the city's housing prices hit a 4-year high or inflation is at a 10-year high or an all-time high. Okay, let's read it again to practice your accent. Repeat after me. Fewer US workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected. That could indicate the pace of layoffs is slowing and it was a relief after the prior week's data showing a disconcerting leap to a 4-year high. Okay, are you ready for a little review quiz? We will have a fill in the blank quiz. You will see a sentence with a blank and you need to decide which word goes there and it's one of the words that I taught you in this video. Let's look at the first one. He's on blank for a job promotion. Meaning that he will get a job promotion soon. He's going in the right direction. What's the correct answer? He's on track. On track for a job promotion. Let's look at the next one. My English is much better today than it was five years ago. We can also say my English is much better blank far than it was 5 years ago. Which preposition should we use? far. My English is much better by far. How about this one? This one is a very common proverb. Look before you blank. Leap. To leap means to jump. Look before you leap means think about it seriously before you do it. Consider it carefully. If I want to say I worked 10 hours without a break, I can blank. straight. I worked 10 hours straight. If I want to say this was his best performance ever, I can blank time best performance. All time. Alltime best. Which verb means that something is going up very fast? What do we say? For example, the cost of food is blank.

In this case, we need an ing with the verb. Which verb is it? The cost of food is soaring. The verb is to soar. If something is upsetting or worrying or troubling, for example, we can say the news about the crime is blank. What can we say? disconcerting. The news about the crime is disconcerting. How did you do on the quiz? How many mistakes did you make? Let me know in the comments. And I suggest that you watch this video again and take notes. Create a new words list in your notebook. Write them down and then practice them by making your own sentences. And remember, I always say it's very important for you to say those sentences out loud. Your brain needs to hear you saying those words. And that way, you're much more likely to internalize them and to memorize them so that you can go from passive knowledge to active knowledge. And active knowledge is true fluency when you can use the words naturally and spontaneously when you're speaking English. Thanks for watching and keep practicing. Take your English to the final level of fluency with my online courses, the American accent course, the 400 advanced words you must know for fluent English course, and the phrasal verbs for fluent English course. Go to accurateenglish. com.