Advanced Vocabulary Exercise #8

Both "rather" and "somewhat" mean a little.

Both "free" and "release" mean to allow something to move out, or get out.

Both "fuzzy" and "ambiguous" mean unclear.

Both "sex" and "gender" are about the division of human beings into male and female. There is a subtle difference: sex is biological, and gender is social.

Both "reproach" and "lecture" mean to express disapproval to someone.

Both "motivation" and "incentive" mean reasons for doing something.

If someone is not a model student, he or she probably does not behave well in class. To make sure all students will be attentive in lessons, sometimes teachers tell misbehaving students what they have done wrong. This is also called lecturing.

Decades ago, male and female workers received very different salaries even if their positions and duties were the same. In the 21st century, people demand fair treatment between male and female. In other words, people support gender equality. As a result, governments around the world are called upon to make gender inequalities gone in how companies hire workers.

"Somewhat of" means to some degree. Human beings have been interested in aliens for quite some centuries. No one can say we know nothing about aliens, but no one can claim that we know a lot about them. That's why aliens are somewhat of a mystery.

After serving his or her sentence (time in prison), a prisoner can be set free, or released, and go home. He or she is not longer a prisoner but an ex-convict.

Studying can be boring. To help children get motivation to learn, adults often provide rewards such as toys. However, high school students are not children. They no longer consider toys as motivation, or incentives.

Politicians oversee government policies and advise on how to improve them. If policies are not written clearly, they are ambiguous. Politicians will not be happy about that.