Vocabulary

overweight adj.: I’m only a few kilos overweight, but I just can’t seem to lose them.

Note: the opposite is underweight adj.

obesity n.: A diet that is high in fat can lead to obesity.

obese adj.

diagnose v.

to diagnose smth.: The specialist diagnosed cancer.

to be diagnosed with /as: She was diagnosed with having diabetes.

diagnosis n. (pl. diagnoses)

to make a diagnosis: The doctor has made an initial diagnosis, but there’ll be an additional examination by a specialist.

diagnosis of: Diagnosis of the disease is difficult in the early stages.

diabetes n.

suffer v.

to suffer smth.: Twenty people suffered minor injuries during the protest.

to suffer from smth. (phr. v.): She suffers from headaches.

fail v.: She moved to London in the hope of finding work, but failed.

to fail in smth.: He failed in his attempt to break the record.

to fail to do smth.: She failed to reach the Wimbledon Final this year.

failed adj.: She has two failed marriages behind her.

failure n.

to be a failure: The meeting was a complete failure.

a failure at doing smth.: I’m a bit of a failure at making cakes.

to end in failure: Their attempt to climb the Eiger ended in failure.

to be doomed to failure: The whole project was doomed to failure right from the start.

condemn v. (=criticize): The film was condemned for its sexism.

condemnation n.: The shooting of the policeman has received universal condemnation.

promote v.: Advertising companies always have to think up new ways to promote products.

promotion n.: There was a promotion in the supermarket and they were giving away free glasses of wine.

ban n.

a ban on smth.: There should be a ban on talking loudly in cinemas.

ban v.: The film was banned in several countries.

to be banned from: She was banned from driving for two years.

paediatrician n.

treat v.

to treat smth.: Western medicine tends to treat the symptoms and not the cause.

to be treated for: He is being treated for a rare skin disease.

treatment n.: Perhaps it’s time to try a new course of treatment.

blindness n.

blind adj.: He started to go blind in his sixties.

limb n.: The accident victims mostly had injuries to their lower limbs (=legs).

an artificial limb

tumour n.

a malignant / benign / brain tumour: They found a malignant tumour in her breast.

cancer n.

liver / stomach / breast / bowel / lung cancer

a cancer patient

avoidable adj.: A number of illnesses are entirely avoidable.

avoid v.

to avoid doing smth.: I try to avoid going shopping on Saturdays.

to avoid smth.: The plain narrowly avoided disaster when one of the engines cut out on take-off.

to avoid smb.: Do you think Tim’s avoiding me? I haven’t seen him all day.

familiar adj. (=easy to recognize): There were one or two familiar faces at the party.

to be familiar to smb.: The street was familiar to me.

to be familiar with smb. / smth.: I’m sorry, I’m not familiar with your poetry.

demand n.

demand for smth.: The government is unlikely to agree to the rebels’ demands for independence. / There was little demand for tickets.

to be in demand: Good specialists are always in great demand (=are always needed).

demand v.

to demand smth. from smb.: He has always demanded the highest standards of behaviour from his children.

to demand to do smth.: I demand to see the manager.

to demand that smb. do smth.: She demanded that he return the books he borrowed from her.

to be demanded of smb.: He seems to lack many of the qualities demanded of (=needed by) a successful politician.

decline n.

on the / in decline: Home cooking seems to be in decline.

a decline in smth.: There was a decline in the number of unemployed.

decline v. (=go down): His interest in the project decline after his wife died.

encourage v.: We were encouraged to learn foreign languages at school.

encouragement n.: Children need lots of encouragement from their parents.

nutritious adj.: Raw spinach is especially nutritious.

nutrition n.: Good nutrition is essential if patients are to make a quick recovery.

caterer n.

cater v.: Which firm will be catering at the reception?

to cater for smb. / smth. (phr. v.) (=to provide what is wanted): The club caters for children between the ages of four and twelve.

to cater to smb. / smth. (phr. v.) (to try to satisfy a need): This legislation simply caters to racism.

Exercises