Espresso English Courses - Reading Course

tidbits

tiny pieces of information or food

a powder keg

something that is at risk of exploding any minute

oblivious

they were completely ______ to the digital camera's potential to disrupt the film industry

eat it up

(informal) completely enjoy it (The media fixates on the most horrifying news because people ___________).

downed

(informal) drank (President Teddy Roosevelt, who _____ a gallon a day.)

paydays

(informal) profits (Of course, this results in big ______ for the networks and advertisers.)

prosperous

Rich (On average, the world is much safer and more _________than it was even one or two generations ago.)

red berry

The coffee bean is extracted from a red berry

dawning

beginning

kicking themselves/ kicking oneself

Today, Google is worth nearly $365 billion, and the leaders of Excite.com are probably still __________ ____________to this day.

vibrant

bright and intense

manually

by hand (not automatic or done with machines)

instinctually

by natural inclination, natural tendency

cirrhosis

a disease of the liver

tomboy

a girl who enjoys stereotypically "masculine" activities

a string of jobs

a series of jobs

rush

a sudden intense sensation (You'll experience a caffeine ____merely ten minutes after your first sip of coffee.)

sliver

a very thin piece (- a small ______of land in the Pacific Ocean.)

legend has it

according to legend (unconfirmed)

burning question

an important question or one characterized by intensity of desire to know the answer

cognizant

aware (One reason is that, thanks to the world's interconnectedness, we are far more ________of disasters nowadays - regardless of where they are happening.)

kindled

began, caused to come alive

antioxidants

chemicals that are believed to protect the body's cells from damage (There are many health perks to drinking coffee, which is full of ________.)

iconic

classic example

face them head-on

confront them directly and openly (Amelia was aware of the hazards in her mission, but she chose to ______________.)

creeping steadily upwards

continually increasing little by little (Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and global temperature have been ______ ______ ______ over the past century

slather

cover completely (now millions of people come to the city in order to ______ themselves in the mineral-rich mud.)

cropped

cut (She ________ her hair short and wore leather jackets as she emulated pilots she respected.)

rest on their laurels

depend on previous success; not take action to maintain your status or advance (When the inventor of the digital camera showed his invention to Kodak management, they preferred to ____ __ ____ _____ rather than investing in the future)

made a point of

did consciously and deliberately (Intent on retaining her independence, Amelia referred to the marriage as a partnership with 'dual control' and made a point of keeping her own last name.)

bearing

direction (used in navigation) Without a ______to follow, Amelia was unable to locate Howland Island, and one of her last transmissions stated that her fuel was running low.

unbinds

disconnects

rowdy

disorderly and uncontrolled

don't hold back

don't limit or restrain themselves (China commemorates the dawning of the New Year on a different schedule than the Western world, and its people don't ____ ___ in celebrating it.)

ornately-decorated

elaborately decorated, very fancy with lots of details

exquisite

excellently-made, very beautiful

brawls

fights

blaze

fire

convictions

firm beliefs (She had strong __________that men and women were equal in "jobs requiring intelligence, coordination, speed, coolness, and willpower.")

word of mouth

from people telling other people about it (The event spread by ____ __ _____ and became an international phenomenon)

invigorating

gives you energy and strength

empowering

gives you power and confidence (The ability to learn online is very __________)

molded

guided the development of (A publicist named George Putnam _______ Amelia's public image, and they worked closely during Amelia's appearances and promotions.

exhilarated

happy and energetic (Her "flight" and subsequent crash landing resulted in bumps and bruises, but she was ___________with the sensation of flying.)

cradle

hold with affection (We _____ the warm mug in our hands as though it were a treasure.)

weather-permitting

if the weather permits it (___________, the artistic creations last for an entire month.)

in the vicinity

in the nearby area (The weather was overcast that day, and a ship from the U.S. Coast Guard was in the ______ to help Amelia's plane navigate.)

a small-time player

insignificant; not important (At one point, Kodak was a giant in the film industry - but now it is just a _____-_____ ______)

revelry

intense, energetic celebration

is replete with

is totally full of; there are a lot of (The celebration, which was traditionally a time to honor deities and ancestors, is ____ ____ fireworks, lanterns and music.)

it was deemed

it was considered or decided (Naturally, she accepted the offer - but she was actually not allowed to fly, as _______________too dangerous for a woman to do so.)

necessary Woman

job

stream

large amount moving continuously

rousing

lively, causing emotions of excitement

feast your eyes on

look with pleasure at

cherish

love with a lot of affection, as if it were very valuable

blew it

made a BIG mistake (Read on to learn about companies that ______ __ in the business world.)

soaked

made completely wet

leveling the playing field

making things more equal (and if governments prioritize connectivity for all their citizens, it will go a long way towards __________________economically.)

bumps and bruises

minor injuries, without cuts

pre-med

she was studying to be a doctor

damp

slightly we (Irish coffee, the rich cocktail of coffee, brown sugar, whiskey, and cream, was created by an Irish airline in order to help American passengers warm up as they disembarked into Ireland's chilly and ____ weather.)

shed

small house, often used for storing tools and supplies

trailblazer

someone who is one of the first to do something, thus opening the path for others to follow

piss pots

or piss pots

past our prime

past the most useful or productive period

step back

pause to look at something from a wider perspective (But when we _________and consider the broader historical context)

attendees

people who attend something

beating out

performing better than (After oil, coffee is the second most traded product in the world, _____ ____ agriculture, animal products, metals, precious metals, natural gas, and the combined categories of butter, orange juice, sugar, and cocoa.)

brawn

physical strength in contrast to intelligence. "commando work required as much brain as brawn"

drain

pour out liquid (_____ and clean those pots)

hard-wired

programmed by design; not easily changed (Another factor is that the human brain is __________by evolution to retain information about danger instinctually.)

fan the flames

push air towards the fire

extinguish

put out a fire or light

cobbled together

put together quickly from whatever resources are available

chamber pots

relieved themselves in _______ ___

spelled doom

resulted in disaster / complete destruction (Another tale of a business decision that ______ ____ for a company is that of Blockbuster, which once had nearly 8,000 video-rental stores in the U.S).

craftsmen

someone who practices an art or activity with great skill

metric

statistic (There is just one worrisome ______, and it has to do with the environment)

coolness

staying calm and acting rationally

unwavering

strong, certain, not confused or changing her mind (She emerged from the plane with an ________ determination to learn how to fly.)

crash

sudden loss of energy (We can only assume that the goats later experienced a caffeine crash)

capitalize on

take advantage of; use something for your benefit (Once a pioneer in technology, Kodak completely failed to __________ ___ the surge of digital photography.)

wick

the "string" inside a candle

doorstep

the area right outside the door

overcast

the sky was covered with clouds

down... to go

they had completed 22,000 miles and still needed to finish 7,000 miles (With 22,000 miles ______and 7,000 ________, one of the last legs of the journey was from New Guinea to Howland Island - a small sliver of land in the Pacific Ocean.)

hence

this is the reason for

scrape together

try very hard and with difficulty to save an amount of money (Amelia went through a string of jobs, including schoolteacher, social worker, and photographer, in order to ___________ $1,000 for flying lessons.)

unevenly

unequally

at our fingertips

very easily accessible (internet puts unlimited amounts of information at our ________)

chock-full

very full (The news is __________of disasters)

pivotal moment

very important moment at which there was a definite change ( This ______ ______ was the beginning of a decades-long slump from which the company still hasn't recovered.)

bargain price

very low price (Ask.com had the opportunity to buy Google for the ______ price of $750,000.)

rouses

wakes up or causesto be active

fortunate enough

wealthy citizens were fortunate enough to hire a necessary woman

subsequent

what happened afterwards

after the dust settles

when the situation has calmed down (Sometimes terrible decisions are made, and ______ __ ____ ______ the rest of the world asks, "What on earth were they thinking?")

world-renowned

widely known; famous

fledgling

young, small, and inexperienced (But back when Google was just a _________ company in Silicon Valley, it was available for sale.)