Vocabulary for TOEFL iBT

IDIOMS AND VOCABULARY VARIATIONS 75

ON YOUR OWN

CAMPUS-SPEAK

You are likely to encounter certain words on a college campus or in any post-high-

school program. Some of the words you’ll find in the world of academia, or the

world of education, might also appear on the TOEFL iBT. These include:

• tenure: protected employment for professors who have reached a certain
  level of rank or experience. A related term is tenure track,which means that
  the position carries with it the possibility of tenure.


• prerequisite: requirements needed before a promotion or the granting of a
  job. In college, the word (sometimes shortened to prereq) refers to the course
  or courses that you must take in order to qualify for an advanced course.


• semester: one of two terms in an academic year


• bursar: the financial officer of a college


• tuition: the cost of attending courses

On your own, try and locate the definitions of the following words, which are fre-

quently heard around campus.

syllabus transcript master’s degree

practicum core curriculum credit

alumni liberal arts sabbatical

registrar elective dormitory

You might want to use the Internet to locate these definitions, or even ask a uni-

versity representative.

The word idiom is from the Latin word idio, referring to the self. An idiosyncrasy,
for example, is a habit or custom peculiar to one’s self. An idiom is seen as any kind
of language use that has gained wide usage in that particular language. An idiom is
peculiar not to an individual person but to an individual culture’s use of language.
Here are some things to keep in mind about idioms:

➥ Idioms can be confused with clichés, colloquialisms, and slang.

• Clichés are overused phrases that have remained in the language for
  a long time. “Pretty as a picture,” “right as rain,” and “selling like hot-
  cakes” are examples of clichés. They are too well known to English
  speakers. Through overuse, their impact is lessened.

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