Academic vocabulary: Group 42

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affair - ambiguous - ambitious - barely - beneath - defect - discern - exhaust - homogeneous - illuminate - intervene - invent - labour - obstacle - ruin - shrink - spare - speculate - statistic - underlie

shrink	1.	Her chances of success in the examinations will continue to ........... unless she starts working harder very soon.
defect	2.	She has a ........... in one eye that makes it difficult for her to read from the board.
obstacle	3.	The most important ........... to her learning is that she never does her homework.
barely	4.	It's no surprise that she is so quiet in class. She can ........... speak a word of English.
affair	5.	Several students are suspected of sending offensive emails to teachers. The school is investigating the ........... .
statistic	6.	Only 45% passed the final examination. That is not a very impressive ........... .
ambitious	7.	In my opinion you are being too ........... if you think you can learn a language in less than a year.
discern	8.	It is usually easy for teachers to ........... if an ESL student has copied text from a webpage.
intervene	9.	There was a loud argument in the cafeteria today. I had to ........... before it turned into a fight.
homogeneous	10.	Some teachers believe that it is better to teach language to a class with students of ........... ability.
invent	11.	I'm trying to ........... a machine that will do my homework for me. - Good luck!
underlie	12.	I suspect that difficulties at home ........... her recent poor performance in school.
illuminate	13.	The school plans to ........... the sports field so that games can be played after dark.
labour	14.	Well done. The result of all your ........... is an fine grade in your ESL test.
exhaust	15.	Do not ........... all your energy in the first 20 minutes. Remember that the game lasts for half an hour!
ambiguous	16.	The sentence \"I saw a man with a telescope\" is ........... . Was the telescope used to see the man or was the man carrying a telescope?
spare	17.	Do you have a ........... pencil? I forgot to bring mine.
ruin	18.	You will ........... the carpet if you come inside with those dirty shoes.
beneath	19.	Archaeologists found some Roman coins ........... the town wall.
speculate	20.	The new teacher has been away quite often this year. I ........... that she will not be given a permanent job at the school.

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