Features 

• Seven units focus on a variety of subject areas, such as social change, consumer behavior, natural resources, and music.
• Each chapter carefully recycles the target vocabulary four times in reading passages and vocabulary-building exercises.
• The collocation exercises — based on the 179-million-word New Longman Corpus — reflect how academic words are actually used in real contexts.
• Strategy Practice chapters offer tips for dictionary usage, information about word roots and affixes, and methods for expanding students' word knowledge.
• An Expansion section at the end of each chapter provides additional reading, discussion, and writing activities that broaden students' understanding of vocabulary.

Diane Schmitt began teaching English in Japan and currently lives and teaches in the United Kingdom. She is Academic Team Leader for EFL/TESOL at Nottingham Trent University, where she coordinates all English language instruction at the university. She also contributes to the master’s program in English Language Teaching. Her research interests include issues related to the acquisition of English for academic purposes and second-language testing. She is a regular contributor to English teaching conferences.

Norbert Schmitt began his EFL teaching career in Japan, where he taught all levels of students for six years. After completing his Ph.D., he began lecturing at the University of Nottingham, where he is currently Reader of Applied Linguistics and Co-Director of the Centre for Research in Applied Linguistics. He is an active researcher in all aspects of second-language vocabulary studies and has published several books and numerous research papers in this area. He frequently presents at language-teaching conferences and consults on vocabulary learning and testing issues internationally.

Unit 1   Our Changing Society

Chapter 1:  Technology and Society

            Reading: Human Societies–From the Iceman to Us

Chapter 2:  Social Experience and Personal Development

            Reading: Social Forces That Shape Our Lives

            Reading: Emotions in Global Perspective: Do Well All Feel the Same?

Chapter 3:  The Changing Nature of the Family

            Reading: Family Structure

Chapter 4:  Strategy Practice

Unit 2   Consumer Behavior and Marketing

Chapter 5:  Influencing the Consumer

            Reading: Marketing’s Impact on Consumers

Chapter 6:  Who Buys What? The Family’s Influence

            Reading: Consumer Socialization of Family Members

            Reading: Different Views on Purchasing Behavior

Chapter 7:  How We See Ourselves

            Reading: How Perspectives on the Self Influence Consumer Behavior

Chapter 8:  Strategy Practice

Unit 3   Workplaces and Work Spaces

Chapter 9:  How Office Space Affects Behavior

            Reading: Work Space Design

Chapter 10:  The Modern Office: Symbols of Status

            Reading: The Meaning of the Chair

            Reading: Office Designs That Work

Chapter 11:  Sitting Comfortably

            Reading: The Ergonomics of Sitting

Chapter 12:  Strategy Practice

Unit 4   Use and Abuse of Natural Resources

Chapter 13:  Water for Sale

            Reading: Exploding Sales for Bottled Water

Chapter 14:  The Aral Sea–An Environmental Disaster

            Reading: The Dying Lake

            Reading: Creating More Fresh Water Through Desalination

Chapter 15:  International Conflict over Natural Resources

            Reading: Water Politics in the Middle East and North Africa

Chapter 16:  Strategy Practice

Unit 5   We Are What We Eat

Chapter 17:  Food Roots and Foodways        

            Reading: Food Habits and Beliefs

Chapter 18:  Getting Back to Nature

            Reading: Organic Farming Versus Traditional Farming Methods

            Reading: Genetically Modified Foods

Chapter 19:  Microorganisms: The Spice of Life?

            Reading: Food Microbiology

Chapter 20:  Strategy Practice

Unit 6   Encounters with Music and Sound

Chapter 21:  Music and Social Conscience

            Reading: Opposing War Through Music: Classical and Modern Examples

Chapter 22:  Noise Hurts

            Reading: Noise Pollution

            Reading: The Science of Sound

Chapter 23:  Ultrasonics: Super Sound?

            Reading: Ultrasonics

Chapter 24:  Strategy Practice

Unit 7   Animal Nature

Chapter 25:  Endangered Elephants

            Reading: Saving the African Elephant: Using International Law and Trade

Chapter 26:  Animals: How Human?

            Reading: Chimpanzees: Our Closest Relative

            Reading: Kanzi: A Case Study of Ape Language Development

Chapter 27:  Living Together: Advantage or Disadvantage

            Reading: The Costs and Benefits of Social Behavior

Chapter 28:  Strategy Practice

Index of Academic Words

Credits