Today’s Focus
- Academic vocabulary recognition
- Vocabulary in context
- Active vocabulary and collocations
- IELTS-oriented reading preparation
- Diagnosing the difference between knowing a word and using it naturally
1. Academic Vocabulary Diagnostic
I completed a 10-question academic vocabulary quiz.
Quiz
1. The government introduced measures to mitigate the environmental impact of the project.
A. measure
B. reduce
C. predict
D. explain
My answer: B
Correct answer: B — reduce
2. The study found a substantial difference between the two groups.
A. temporary
B. complicated
C. considerable
D. unexpected
My answer: C
Correct answer: C — considerable
3. Many developing countries remain vulnerable to fluctuations in global food prices.
A. resistant
B. exposed to harm
C. responsible
D. indifferent
My answer: B
Correct answer: B — exposed to harm
4. The evidence provides compelling support for the proposed theory.
A. convincing
B. limited
C. contradictory
D. preliminary
My answer: A
Correct answer: A — convincing
5. Urbanization has profound effects on patterns of employment.
A. short-term
B. widespread but minor
C. very significant
D. difficult to measure
My answer: C
Correct answer: C — very significant
6. The policy was intended to foster innovation among small businesses.
A. restrict
B. encourage
C. monitor
D. replace
My answer: B
Correct answer: B — encourage
7. Researchers must account for differences in participants’ educational backgrounds.
A. eliminate
B. record
C. consider
D. criticize
My answer: C
Correct answer: C — consider
8. The benefits of the program are negligible compared with its costs.
A. difficult to predict
B. relatively insignificant
C. impossible to identify
D. potentially dangerous
My answer: B
Correct answer: B — relatively insignificant
9. There is growing concern that excessive tourism may deplete local water resources.
A. contaminate
B. redistribute
C. exhaust
D. protect
My answer: A
Correct answer: C — exhaust
Lesson: deplete means to use up or greatly reduce a resource. It does not mean to contaminate it.
10. The relationship between income and happiness is not straightforward.
A. obvious and simple
B. statistically significant
C. historically important
D. widely accepted
My answer: A
Correct answer: A — obvious and simple
Score
9/10
Only Question 9 was wrong.
Vocabulary recognized successfully
- mitigate → reduce
- substantial → considerable
- vulnerable → exposed to harm
- compelling → convincing
- profound → very significant
- foster → encourage
- account for → consider
- negligible → relatively insignificant
- straightforward → obvious and simple
Initial diagnosis
My academic vocabulary recognition is already fairly strong. I can understand many common IELTS/academic words directly and can usually identify their meanings without translating them word by word.
Therefore, simple synonym-definition drills are probably not the most efficient use of training time.
2. Contextual Vocabulary Training
I then read this passage:
Over the past several decades, urban expansion has placed considerable pressure on natural resources. As cities grow, demand for water, energy, and agricultural land tends to increase. This expansion can also exacerbate existing environmental problems, particularly when infrastructure fails to keep pace with population growth. Although technological innovation can mitigate some of these effects, technological solutions alone are unlikely to be sufficient. Policymakers must therefore adopt a more comprehensive approach that takes environmental sustainability into account.
Questions and Answers
1. In this passage, “exacerbate” most nearly means:
A. eliminate
B. worsen
C. measure
D. conceal
My answer: B
Correct answer: B — worsen
2. What does “keep pace with” mean here?
A. prevent
B. move at the same rate as
C. depend on
D. replace
My answer: B
Correct answer: B — move at the same rate as
3. In “technological solutions alone are unlikely to be sufficient,” sufficient means:
A. affordable
B. available
C. adequate
D. innovative
My answer: C
Correct answer: C — adequate
4. What does “a more comprehensive approach” imply?
A. An approach dealing with only one major problem
B. An approach based entirely on technology
C. An approach considering the issue from multiple aspects
D. An approach that produces results immediately
My answer: C
Correct answer: C — an approach considering the issue from multiple aspects
5. Use exacerbate in an original sentence.
My sentence:
The heavy rain exacerbates the flood issue on this city.
Correction:
Heavy rain exacerbates the flooding in this city.
Or:
Heavy rain can exacerbate the problem of flooding in this city.
Lesson
The vocabulary choice itself was correct. The problems were mainly natural usage/collocation and preposition:
- in this city, not on this city
- flood issue is understandable but less natural than flooding, flooding problem, or the problem of flooding
This demonstrated an important distinction:
I can know the meaning of a word without yet knowing all of its natural collocations and grammatical patterns.
3. Second Reading / Context Exercise
I read this paragraph:
The rapid expansion of cities has generated significant economic opportunities, but it has also placed considerable strain on public infrastructure. In many urban areas, housing development has failed to keep pace with population growth, resulting in overcrowding and rising property prices. Meanwhile, inadequate transport networks can exacerbate congestion and lengthen commuting times. Although investment in infrastructure can alleviate some of these pressures, poorly planned development may ultimately undermine the long-term sustainability of urban growth.
Questions and Answers
1. What is the main point of the paragraph?
A. Urban growth is economically beneficial and should therefore be encouraged.
B. Urban expansion creates both opportunities and infrastructure-related challenges.
C. Rising property prices are the most serious consequence of urbanization.
D. Governments should prioritize transport infrastructure over housing.
My answer: B
Correct answer: B
2. What does “keep pace with” mean in this context?
My answer:
housing development is slower than population growth
Assessment: Correct.
The important relationship is that housing development has not grown as quickly as the population.
3. What does “alleviate” mean?
My answer: mitigate
Assessment: Correct.
Alleviate means to reduce or relieve something unpleasant, difficult, or severe.
4. What does “undermine” mean in the final sentence?
My answer: damage
Assessment: Basically correct.
A more precise meaning is weaken, especially in the sense of weakening effectiveness, stability, success, or confidence.
5. Complete the sentence naturally:
Poor public transport can __________ traffic congestion.
My answer: exacerbate
Correct answer: exacerbate
4. Active Vocabulary and Collocations
We then tested four academic verbs in context.
Collocation exercise
1. Governments should introduce policies to ________ the negative effects of climate change.
My answer: mitigate
Correct answer: mitigate
2. Poorly designed social policies may ________ existing inequalities.
My answer: exacerbate
Correct answer: exacerbate
3. Better public transport could ________ pressure on urban roads.
My answer: alleviate
Correct answer: alleviate
4. Constant criticism can ________ a person’s confidence.
My answer: undermine
Correct answer: undermine
5. Create one sentence using either alleviate or undermine.
My sentence:
I don’t know why, but this new drug do alleviate his situation.
Correction
There were two issues.
Grammar:
this new drug do alleviate ❌
this new drug does alleviate ✅
This is another example of the recurring subject–verb agreement problem.
Collocation:
alleviate his situation
is unnatural.
Alleviate normally takes something negative that can be reduced or relieved, such as:
- alleviate pain
- alleviate suffering
- alleviate pressure
- alleviate poverty
- alleviate symptoms
- alleviate concerns
- alleviate a problem
A natural correction would be:
I don’t know why, but this new drug does alleviate his symptoms.
If referring to his overall health rather than a specific symptom:
I don’t know why, but this new drug does seem to improve his condition.
5. Key Vocabulary and Collocations
Mitigate
Meaning: reduce the severity or impact of something.
Useful patterns:
- mitigate the effects of climate change
- mitigate risks
- mitigate the consequences
- mitigate the impact
Exacerbate
Meaning: make a problem or situation worse.
Useful patterns:
- exacerbate a problem
- exacerbate inequality
- exacerbate environmental problems
- exacerbate congestion
- exacerbate a crisis
Alleviate
Meaning: reduce or relieve something unpleasant or severe.
Useful patterns:
- alleviate pressure
- alleviate suffering
- alleviate symptoms
- alleviate poverty
- alleviate concerns
Undermine
Meaning: weaken something, especially its effectiveness, stability, or success.
Useful patterns:
- undermine confidence
- undermine stability
- undermine efforts
- undermine effectiveness
- undermine sustainability
Deplete
Meaning: use up or greatly reduce the amount of a resource.
Useful patterns:
- deplete natural resources
- deplete water supplies
- deplete energy reserves
- deplete fish stocks
6. Main Training Diagnosis
Today’s results suggest:
Passive / recognition vocabulary
Strong.
I correctly recognized 9/10 academic vocabulary items and correctly inferred all tested vocabulary from context.
Active vocabulary
Good, but less reliable than recognition.
I generally know which word expresses the intended idea, but I sometimes need help with:
- natural collocations
- noun choice
- prepositions
- grammatical patterns
Grammar
Subject–verb agreement remains a recurring issue.
It appeared again in:
this new drug do alleviate…
This confirms that the issue is worth continuing to monitor in future writing and vocabulary-production exercises.
7. Important Training Principle
Today’s most important lesson was:
Knowing a word’s definition is not the same as knowing how to use it naturally.
For IELTS, vocabulary training should therefore move beyond:
word → synonym
and increasingly use:
word → meaning → collocations → context → own sentence → correction
This should help vocabulary transfer into both IELTS Writing and Speaking.
8. Training Strategy Going Forward
We discussed that spending too much time on very precise error classification in writing is probably inefficient.
The important thing is:
- recognize the error;
- understand why the original form does not work;
- know the correct form;
- avoid repeating it.
More training energy should therefore go toward:
- Reading
- Vocabulary in context
- Active vocabulary and collocations
- Targeted writing correction
Reading should also provide repeated exposure to natural academic vocabulary and phrasing, which can support writing and speaking.
9. Next Session
The next session should move into an actual IELTS-style reading passage.
The training should simultaneously test:
- reading comprehension
- main-idea identification
- locating evidence
- paraphrase recognition
- vocabulary from context
- useful academic collocations
The goal is to start connecting vocabulary training directly with reading performance instead of treating vocabulary as an isolated subject.
Overall Assessment
Day 10 was productive.
The main discovery is that my vocabulary foundation is stronger than a simple vocabulary test might suggest. The bigger opportunity is to turn this passive knowledge into precise, natural active usage.
The training should therefore increasingly focus on reading + vocabulary in context + collocations, while keeping grammar correction targeted and practical.