Advanced English Collocations: Environment

 Do you know how to speak about environmental threats such as climate change and deforestation? Which words does 'threat' collocate with?  What can be 'sustainable? 

Below you can find some useful collocations that deal with causes and consequenses of major threats to the environment, opinions on the issues, and measures to protect the planet.

What is good for the environment

                    alternative energy sources
                    renewable energy
                    solar heating
                   offshore wind farms
                   hybrid cars
                   green taxes / issues / politics / credentials
                   eco-friendly design / products
                   pollution prevention / standards / control
                   sustainable development / agreeculture / form of transport / use of resources
                   recyclable materials / substances / cardboard packaging etc.
                   biodegradable materials / chemicals / plastic
                   organic farming / gardening
                   ecological balance

Threat(en)   

 

to threaten crops / wildlife / water supplies
to pose a threat (to)
environmental /  fundumental / grave threat
under threat of extinction
the threat from overfishing /deforestation
a threat to places / species / people's livelihoods
to identify smth as an urgent threat 

to threaten / to destroy the livelihoods

Climate Change

climatic changes
irreversible climate change
to cause / to produce climate change
to fight / to tackle / to address / to adapt to  climate change

 CAUSES
global warming
greenhouse gases / effect
to contribute to the greenhouse effect
to trap heat in the atmosphere
to exist naturally
to act like a blanket
household / toxic waste      
carbon dioxide / nitrogen oxide, sulphur // veicle / exhaust  //  harmful, toxic emissions          
to release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere    
fossil fuels
to burn fossil fuels
to generate energy


CONSEQUENCES
dire / devastating / unavoidable / serious consequences
to face the consequences / new challenges for survival
to prepare for consequences

the changing weather patterns
extreme weather events
rising sea levels
melting glaciers
intense / record droughts
intense rainfalls
searing heat (обжигающая)
heat waves
heat waves become frequent
the temperatures soar
widespread flooding

acid rain

shrinking habitats
endangered species
environmental catastrophy
risks to public health
to wreak havoc on...


OPINIONS
respected scientific organisations
to reach a consensus
an overwhelming consensus

to identify smth as an urgent threat

the need for urgent action to address...
the need is indisputable

to address the crisis
to adequatly address ...
demographic / future projections
prophets of doom and gloom
the worst case scenario

to change our ways


to reduce carbon pollution // our carbon footprint // carbon / vehicle emissions // our food miles
to urgently / dramatically reduce

to offset carbon emissions
schemes for offsetting...

Deforestation

FORESTS' ROLE
to protect the planet
to produce vital oxigen
to absorb  / soak up carbon dioxide
massive amounts of CO2
to act as a carbon sink
to mitigate climate change / carbon emissions
to play a critical role in
to provide homes for
be home of the world's biodiversity / the most endangered species
to offer benefits
to keep a balance between

FORMS AND CAUSES
to clear / chop down / cut down / destroy / drain / log forests

to convert forests to farmland
conversion to agriculture / farmland / pasture land / pulp plantations
illigal logging / removal of timber

IMPACTS
result in extinctions
go extinct
unable to subsist
reduced biodiversity
to become carbon sources
to increase carbon emissions
soil erosion / loss
disrupted livelihoods

MEASURES
sustainable forestry
responsible / sustainable forest manegement

to promote sustainable bioenergy / reforestation
to combat illigal logging
to seem unattainable

CAE 2015: Writing: Assessment

The four categories in which CAE writing papers are assessed are content, communicative achivement, organisation and language. Each category is marked on a subscale from 0 to 5.

'Content' is about what information you convey. It focuses on how well the task is fulfilled, by which I mean if the writer has done exactly what the question asked.


'Communicative achievement' is about who you are writing to and why. It focuses on whether the writer uses the format and style appropriate for the type of writing. Besides, it evaluates the candidate's ability to communicate ideas effectively and to hold the target reader's attention.

'Organisation' is about how ideas are ordered and linked. It focuses on how the piece of writing is put together: whether ideas are organised in clear paragraphs and if the writer has made a good use of linking words and other cohesive devices.

'Language' is about how you convey the message. In addition to evaluating accuracy, it focuses on the range and complexity of grammatical structures and vocabulary.

The table below shows what abilities candidates need to be successful in each category.

Content	Communicative achievement	Organisation	Language
- fulfil the task requirements - give all the information required	- use the correct register - use the appropriate format	- order information - use a range of cohesive devices effectively	- use a range of vocabulary effectively - use correct grammatical structures

Advanced English Phrasal Verbs: Weather

Here you'll find out what phrasal verbs might help you speak about the weather getting better or worse; changes of temperature; the weather preventing people from doing something; the sun;  the clouds and the fog; the wind; and the rain.

Weather Getting Better

BRIGHTEN UP - if the weather (it) brightens up, the sun begins to shine and the sky becomes brighter

Ex. If the weather brightens up, we could walk down to the beach.

CLEAR UP - if the weather (it) clears up, it stops raining and becomes more pleasant

Ex. The weather forecast said that it would clear up later in the day.

LET UP - (of bad weather or an unpleasant situation) to stop or become less serious than before

Ex. I'll drive you into town as soon as the snow lets up.

           LET-UP (noun, singular, uncountable) - a pause in bad weather or an improvement in an 

           unpleasant situation

           Ex. Streets were flooded, but still there was no let-up in the rain.

BLOW OVER - (about a storm) to end

Ex. The Weather Center predicts that the snowstorm will quickly blow over.

BLOW itself OUT - (about a storm) to end

Ex. The hurricane moved along the northeast before blowing itself out over the North Atlantic.

Weather Getting Worse

CLOUD OVER - if the sky (it) clouds over, it become covered with clouds and the sun disappears

Ex. In the afternoon it clouded over and cooled down a bit.

CLOSE IN - (of bad weather) to start getting worse

Ex. The fog began to close in and we couldn't see a thing.

BLOW UP - (of a storm or strong wind) to suddenly start

Ex. The sky's getting dark - it looks like there's a storm blowing up.

COME ON  - to statrt or be nearly starting

Ex. As soon as we had left the shelter, the rain came on.

Temperature Changing

WARM UP - to become warmer

Ex. In spring the weather soon starts to warm up.

COOL DOWN - to become slightly colder

Ex. The air has cooled down a little now.

COOL OFF - to return to a normal temperature after being hot

Ex. By late autumn Mediterranean islands have cooled off.

Weather Preventing Something from Happening

BE RAINED OFF (BrE) / BE RAINED OUT (AmE) -if an event (an outdoor activity) is raind off / out, it cannot take place or has to stop because it's raining

Ex. Last night's match with Leeds United was rained off.

BE SNOWED OFF (BrE) / BE SNOWED OUT (AmE) - if an event (an outdoor activity) is snowed off / out, it cannot take place or has to stop because it's snowing

Ex. Apparently, the game was snowed off.

BE SNOWED IN / BE SNOWED UP (BrE) - to be unable to leave the place where you are because there is so much snow on the ground

Ex. Many people are snowed in and cannot get to work.

BE FLOODED OUT -  to be forced to leave your home because of floods
Ex. Hundreds of Londoners were flooded out after the worst rain for twenty years.

The Sun 

BEAT DOWN - to shine very strongly

Ex. The sun was beating down on our backs and our throats were dry.

COME UP - (of the sun or moon) to move up into the sky where you can see it
Ex. We got up early to watch the sun come up behind the muontains.
Similar to: rise

GO DOWN - (of the sun) to gradually get lower in the sky until it disappears
Ex. It was six o'clock, and the sun was going down for the day.
Similar to: set.

COME OUT - (of the sun, moon or stars) to appear in the sky after being hidden

Ex. Just as we were about to leave the beach, the sun came out.

BREAK THROUGH (smth) -  (of the sun or light) to appear from behind the clouds or mist

Ex. At that moment the sun broke through (the clouds).

GO IN (BrE) - (of the sun or moon) to disappear behind some clouds so you cannot see it any more

Ex. The sun had gone in and it was starting to get cold.

Clouds and Fog 

ROLL IN - (of clouds or fog) appear in large amounts
Ex. Fog rolled in from the sea.

BLOT OUT smth / BLOT smth OUT - to cover and prevent fromn being seen.
Ex. The clouds blotted out the sun.

FOG / MIST / STEAM UP - (of windows or glasses) to become covered with small drops of water so you can't see through them.

Ex. My windshield fogged up, making it nearly impossible to see the road.

The Wind

GET UP (BrE) - to start and get stronger

Ex. The wind got up during the night and blew their tent away.

PICK UP - to become stronger

Ex. That evening the wind picked up and storm clouds started moving over from the east.

DIE DOWN - to become less strong

Ex. At last the storm died down.

Raining a Lot

POUR DOWN / BEAT DOWN - to rain very hard

Ex. It's been pouring down all morning.

      At that moment the sky darkened and the rain began to beat down

           DOWNPOUR (noun, countable) - when a lot of rain falls quickly in a short period of time

           Ex. A heavy downpour delayed the firework display.

LASH DOWN - if the rain lashes down, a lot of rain falls and there is also often a lot of wind

Ex. It was a wild evening. The rain was lashing down and the wind was howling through the trees.

BE PELTING DOWN (informal) - used to say that it is raining very heavily

Ex. It's been pelting down all morning.

BE BUCKETING DOWN (BrE, informal) - used to say that it is raining very heavily

Ex.  It's been bucketing down all afternoon.

BE TIPPING DOWN  (BrE, spoken, informal) - used to say that it is raining very heavily

Ex.  It's been tipping down all morning.

BE CHUCKING (IT) DOWN (BrE, spoken, informal) -  used to say that it is raining very heavily

Ex. It's been chucking down for days now - when is it going to stop?

Not Raining (Although You Expect It to)

HOLD OFF - (of rain or snow) not to start, although it looks like it will soon

Ex. It looks like snow's on the way - I hope it holds off until we get home.

KEEP OFF (BrE) - (of bad weather) not to start, although it looks as if it might begin soon

Ex. The rain kept off until we boarded our coach at 6.15.

CAE Writing (2015): Tasks Overview

There are several types of text a candidate has to be able to write for CAE:  an essay, a report, a proposal, a review, a formal letter and an informal letter. Each of them requires that candidates follow rather strict conventions including areas such as layout and format (what it looks like and how it is structured); register (how formal it is); functions (the purpose of the text). From the table below you can learn who each text type might be written for, what register is most appropriate in every situation, which functions candidates might be expected to fulfil and which skills it is advisable to practice for achieving success in every type of writing.

Task Type	Target Reader	Register	Functions	Things to practise
An essay	An academic tutor	Formal or neutral	- Present an argument and give reasons for it; - agree or disagree; - give opinion; - judge prioritie	- Effective planning and paragraphing; - linking ideas
A letter / an e-mail	- director of a company / school principal - the editor - a peer	- extremely formal - relatively formal - informal	- narrate personal experience; - give factual information; - give advice; - describe places; - reassure;    - correct a misunderstanding - justify a course of actions etc.;	- letter-writing conventions; - formal vs informal style
A proposal	- a peer group (such as colleagues or club members); - a supervisor (such as a boss or a college principal)	- less formal         - extremely formal	- make polite recommendations and suggestions; - persuade; - evaluate;	- a proposal format; headings
A report	- a peer group (such as colleagues or club members);     - a supervisor (such as a boss or a college principal)	- less formal             - extremely formal	- describe a situation; - evaluate to what extent a particular aim has been achieved; - make recommendations and suggestions (suggest an alternative course of action);	- a report format (headings) - specific vocabulary areas such as transport,     leisure and entertainment;
A review	readers of a magazine or a web site	- neutral or context-dependent	- describe; - explain; - give an opinion; - make a recommendation	- read as wide a range of reviews as possible for holidays, books TV programmes, consumer goods; - adjectives to describe and explain

CAE Writing: Formal vs Informal: Phrasal Verbs

One of the characteristic features that differentiate  formal and informal English is use of phrasal verbs. Phrasal verbs are most typical of informal letters whereas in formal writing one-word verbs would be much preferred. Below is the list of some commonly used phrasal verbs and their one-word equivalents with example sentences.

PHRASAL VERBS	ONE-WORD VERBS
come along Ever since the Pears came along 3 years ago....	arrive Ever since the Pears arrived in the neighbourhood three years ago...
give up hope of I finally gave up hope of getting used to it.	despair of I finally despaired of getting accustomed to it.
wind smb up It was done just to wind me up.	provoke It was done with the sole intention of provoking me.
talk smth over I talked it over with my mates at work.	discuss I discussed the problem with my colleagues.
put in (a complaint) They suggested I put in a formal complaint.	lodge (a complaint) They suggested I lodge a complaint.
put smb through They put me through to the Social Services Department.	connect They connected me to the Social Services Department.
check out smb /smth The woman said she’d come and check it all out the next week	investigate The woman promised to investigate the matter the following week.
turn up She never turned up.	come She never came.
fix up (time) We fixed up another time.	arrange Another time was arranged.
put off They kept on putting it off.	postpone This was continually postponed.
show up One day, out of the blue, a bloke showed up.	visit Finally, a council officer visited.
pass on to He left after five minutes, saying he’d pass the matter on to the other department.	refer to After a brief inspection, the officer said he would refer the case to the other department.
make out She kept phoning the police about her neighbours, making out they had threatened to kill the birds.	claim / pretend She had been phoning the police, claiming that the Lampreys had threatened to kill the birds.
go by Well, 12 months have gone by now.	elapse Twelve months have elapsed since the officer came.
turn out It turned out he was the one that kept all the money for himself.	transpire It transpired that he kept all the money for himself.
bring back I told him it was his job to bring back peace and quiet to the neighbourhood.	restore I felt it was the Council’s job to restore peace and quiet to the neighbourhood.
put up with I wasn’t going to put up with another six months of being messed about.	tolerate I was no longer prepared to tolerate the situation.
talk into I’m really happy they have talked you into giving a lecture.	persuade I am so glad that you have been persuaded to give a lecture.
join in Mrs. Pear joined in.	enter (the quarrel) Mt Pear’s wife Dolores entered the quarrel.
do up They’ve recently done up the club meeting room.	redecorate The club meeting room has been recently redecorated.
cut off Our village is rather cut off.	isolate Our village is rather isolated.
put up You could be put up with  one of our members.	accommodate We could arrange for you to be accommodated with one of our members.
make up for I hope it’ll make up for having to stay overnight.	compensate for I hope it will compensate for the inconvenience of having to stay overnight.
come down with I was sorry you were coming down with flue.	catch I was sorry to hear that you felt you had caught influenza.
get over I hope you’ll get it over by the time of the meeting	recover I hope that you will have recovered by the time of the meeting.
tell off He got told off for being late quite often.	reprimand He was  repeatedly reprimanded for being late.
set up I hear he sets up very long talks.	organise He is said to organise talks which are too long.
done in All of us were done in at the end of a long day’s work.	exhausted Most members feel exhausted at the end of a long day’s work.
put out I do hope you won’t be put out.	offend I hope you will not be offended.
bring out (a book) He has brought out a book on his travels around Europe.	publish A book on his travels throughout Europe has been published.
pick up Because of this I picked up a better insight into the way we understand language.	gain This enabled me to gain a significant insight into the way we comprehend language..
talk out of I wish you would talk your boys out of playing loud music.	dissuade from I would be very grateful if you could dissuade your sons from playing loud music.
bring up I'd like to bring up the issue of publicity.	raise I would like to raise the issue of publicity.
carry on / go on He said he’d carry on studying abroad.	persist with He assured us that he would persist with his studies abroad.
back up They have no evidence whatsoever to back up their claims.	support There does not appear to be any evidence to support their claims.
carry out If Russia doesn’t carry out the promise, further sanctions will follow.	fulfil Should Russia not fulfil the pledge, we shall be obliged to impose further sanctions.