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English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate (Unit 54: Distances and dimensions)


A. Broad and wide and tall and high

Wide is more common than broad, e.g. It’s a very wide road/garden/room.

Make a note of typical collocations for broad as you meet them, e.g. Economics is a very broad subject. We came to a broad expanse of grassland. [big area]

Note the word order for dimensions, e.g. The room’s five metres long and four wide.

Don’t forget that tall is for people but can be used for things such as buildings and trees when they are high and thin in some way. Otherwise, use high for things.

She’s very tall for a five-year-old.

Her office is in that tall building in the square.
There are some high mountains in the North.

B. Deep ≠ shallow

The deep and shallow ends of a swimming pool.

C. Derived words, phrases and compounds

long
  • Let’s measure the length /leŋθ/ of this rope.
  • I swam 20 lengths (of the swimming pool).
  • I’ve lengthened her skirt for her. [opp = shorten, see below]
  • Getting a visa can be a lengthy process. (usually refers to time; rather negative)
  • Tony has got a job as a long-distance lorry driver.
short
  • The new road will shorten our journey by ten minutes.
  • There’s a shortcut to the station. [quick way]
wide
  • Let’s measure the width /wɪdθ/ of the room.
  • They’re widening the road.
broad
  • I want to broaden my experience. (usually more abstract contexts)
  • She’s very broad-minded and tolerant of others. [willing to accept other people’s behaviour and beliefs; opp = narrow-minded]
  • I admire the breadth of his knowledge. (usually more abstract concepts)
high
  • The height /haɪt/ of the wall is two metres.
  • The fog heightened the feeling of mystery. (usually used only for feelings and emotions)
low You can lower the microphone if it’s too high. [opp = raise]
far He loves travelling to faraway places. [a long way away = distant]
distant What’s the distance from Helsinki to St Petersburg? [= How far is it …?]
deep
  • The depth of the river here is about three metres.
  • His death so soon after hers deepened our sadness. (often with feelings)

D. Other verbs for dimensions and for changing them

  • Our garden stretches all the way to the river, so we have plenty of room to extend the house if we want to.
  • The cities are spreading and the countryside is shrinking. [getting bigger; getting smaller]
  • The business expanded considerably in the last decade. [grew in size; opp = contract]
Exercise-54.1


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