Unit15 Flashcards
terminal
(1) Forming or relating to an end or limit.
(2) Fatal.
eg. She knows she’s in the late stages of a terminal illness, and has already drawn up a will.
indeterminate
Not precisely determined; vague.
eg. The police are looking for a tall white bearded man of indeterminate age who should be considered armed and dangerous.
interminable
Having or seeming to have no end; tiresomely drawn out.
eg. The preacher was making another of his interminable pleas for money, so she snapped off the TV.
terminus
(1) The end of a travel route (such as a rail or bus line), or the station at the end of a route.
(2) An extreme point; tip.
eg. They’ve been tracking the terminus of the glacier for 20 years, in which time it has retreated 500 yards.
geocentric
Having or relating to the Earth as the center.
eg. He claims that, if you aren’t a scientist, your consciousness is mostly geocentric for your entire life.
geophysics
The science that deals with the physical processes and phenomena occurring especially in the Earth and in its vicinity.
eg. Located in the heart of oil and gas country, the university offers a degree in geophysics and many of its graduates go straight to work for the oil and gas industry.
geostationary
Being or having an orbit such that a satellite remains in a fixed position above the Earth, especially having such an orbit above the equator.
eg. It was the science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke who first conceived of a set of geostationary satellites as a means of worldwide communication.
geothermal
Of, relating to, or using the natural heat produced inside the Earth.
eg. Geothermal power plants convert underground water or steam to electricity.
spherical
Relating to a sphere; shaped like a sphere or one of its segments.
eg. The girls agreed that the spacecraft had been deep blue and perfectly spherical, and that its alien passengers had resembled large praying mantises.
stratosphere
(1) The part of the earth’s atmosphere that extends from about seven to about 30 miles above the surface. (2) A very high or the highest region.
eg. In the celebrity stratosphere she now occupied, a fee of 12 million dollars per film was a reasonable rate.
biosphere
(1) The part of the world in which life can exist.
(2) Living things and their environment.
eg. The moon has no biosphere, so an artificial one would have to be constructed for any long-term stay.
hemisphere
Half a sphere, especially half the global sphere as divided by the equator or a meridian.
eg. A sailor who crosses the equator from the northern to the southern hemisphere for the first time is traditionally given a special initiation.
divert
(1) To turn from one purpose or course to another.
(2) To give pleasure to by distracting from burdens or distress.
eg. The farmers had successfully diverted some of the river’s water to irrigate their crops during the drought.
converter
A device that changes something (such as radio signals, radio frequencies, or data) from one form to another.
eg. She was so indifferent to television that she hadn’t even bought a converter, and her old TV sat there useless until she finally lugged it down to the recycling center.
avert
(1) To turn (your eyes or gaze) away or aside.
(2) To avoid or prevent.
eg. General Camacho’s announcement of lower food prices averted an immediate worker’s revolt.
revert
(1) To go back or return (to an earlier state, condition, situation, etc.).
(2) To be given back to (a former owner).
eg. Control of the Panama Canal Zone, first acquired by the U.S. in 1903, reverted to the local government in 1999.
