Topic vocabulary: Nature |
| agriculture (n) |
the work, business or study of farming |
I'm thinking of studying agriculture. |
| appreciate (v) |
to understand the true nature of a situation, and realise why it is important or serious |
I'm not sure you appreciate how important this is. |
| appreciate (v) |
to be grateful for something |
I really appreciate your help. |
| catastrophe (n) |
an event that causes a lot of damage or makes a lot of people suffer |
Many people lost their lives in the catastrophe. |
| crop (n) |
a plant grown for food, usually on a farm |
Coffee is an important crop in Brazil. |
| drought (n) |
a long period of time when there is little or no rain and crops die |
The drought means that there's an increased risk of fire. |
| evacuate (v) |
to leave a building or other place because it is not safe |
When the alarm went off, everyone evacuated the building. |
| exploit (v) |
to use natural resources such as trees, water or oil so that you gain as much as possible |
We could make a lot of money if we exploit our natural resources in the right way. |
| exploit (v) |
to treat someone unfairly in order to get some benefit for yourself |
In some countries, children are exploited in factories. |
| famine (n) |
a serious lack of food that continues for a long time and causes many people in a country to become ill or die |
We're raising money to help victims of the famine. |
| flood (v) |
if water floods a place, it covers it |
The river flooded the whole city. |
| flood (n) |
a large amount of water that covers an area that was dry before |
The flood caused millions of euros of damage. |
| fossil fuels (n phr) |
fuels such as coal or oil, made from decayed material from animals or plants that lived many thousands of years ago |
Burning fossil fuels gives off carbon dioxide. |
| global warming (n phr) |
an increase in the average temperature of the Earth |
It's difficult to deny that global warming is really happening. |
| greenery (n) |
green plants that are growing somewhere or used as decoration |
I like living here because there's quite a lot of greenery. |
| habitat (n) |
the type of place that an animal normally lives in or a plant normally grows in |
The panda is threatened by the disappearance of its habitat. |
| harvest (v) |
to collect a crop from the fields |
They were harvesting the grapes when we were in France. |
| harvest (n) |
the time when a crop is collected |
Everyone helps during the harvest. |
| hurricane (n) |
a violent storm with extremely strong winds and heavy rain |
A hurricane is expected to hit the coast this evening. |
| instinct (n) |
a natural tendency to behave in a particular way that people and animals are born with and that they obey without knowing why |
Birds build nests by instinct. |
| natural disaster (n phr) |
something very bad that happens and causes a lot of damage or kills a lot of people |
It's not possible to prevent most natural disasters. |
| resource (n) |
things such as coal, trees and oil that exist in nature and can be used by people |
The country's main resource is the vast oil fields. |
| scarce (adj) |
if something is scarce, there is not very much of it |
Badgers are becoming increasingly scarce in Britain. |
| species (n) |
a plant or animal group whose members all have similar general features and are able to produce young plants or animals together |
Scientists have discovered a new species of monkey. |
