5 ESL vocab words (6)

 

to vow to do something – to promise to do something; to seriously say you will do something i.e. The mayor (leader) of the city vowed to make sure that the subway system would run more efficiently, because so many people were complaining about it. Or: You are a good friend of mine, I vow that I will always try my best to help you.

relentless/relentlessly – never giving up. The United States pursued the terrorist leader Osama bin Laden relentlessly and, finally, after many years, they executed him. Or: Scientists have been relentlessly searching for a cure for cancer, and they have made great progress over the years in cancer treatment.

to boycott something – an organized effort to get people not to buy something from a business or a country for political or moral reasons. i.e. Caesar Chavez wanted to help poor Mexican workers in California who were picking grapes for large farms, but not being paid much money. He asked Americans to boycott grapes to force the farms to pay the workers higher wages. The boycott worked – when farers started losing money because people were not buying grapes, they raised the wages of the poor workers. Or: South Africa used to have a racist system in which black people could not live among white people. Countries around the world started to boycott South African diamonds. Because South Africa needed to make money from selling diamonds, they ended their system of racist ‘apartheid’ (keeping blacks separated from whites).

dignity – to have a sense of dignity is to have a sense of self-respect; to treat others with dignity means to realize they are human beings and that they should be treated with respect and consideration. i.e. This boss of ours is terrible, he does not treat people with dignity. He is insulting and cruel and often shouts at his staff. Or: Even the poorest person deserves to be treated with dignity because he/she is a human being and worthy of kindness, mercy and respect.

to smuggle something into somewhere – to take something into a country secretly and illegally. i.e. In Singapore, they will execute anyone who tries to smuggle illegal drugs into their country. Or: In US airports trained dogs are used to sniff around (smell) pieces of luggage to catch drugs and even food that some people might be trying to smuggle into the country.