Unit 2- chapter3

clamor /kl'æmɚ/

..., he changes his clothes and rides the elevator back down to the bright lights and clamor of the big city.

definition: a loud continuous noise

eg: The public clamor should not be ignored.

a: clamorous 

drudgery /dr'ʌdʒɚi/

What is drudgery anyway?

definition: hard work

eg: He spent his whole life in drudgery.

n/v: drudge

fade  /f'ed/

When the sunlight fades into twilight, he changes his clothes and rides the elevator back down to the bright lights and clamor of the big city.

definition: lose color

eg: The sun will fade the curtains.

a: faded                                                                                    

strain /str'en/

..., Kenji doesn't spend his day straining his eyes in front of a computer screen.

definition: 1.(v) stretch tight  2. (n) a breed

eg: I really had to strain to reach those top notes.

a: strained n: strainer

sway  /sw'e/

Another room has rice plants swaying in the breeze created by white-coated workers who wander back and forth between the rooms, pushing buttons and adjusting the climate.  

definition: move from side to side or back and forth

eg: She swayed her hips.

a: swaying 

gobble up 

For years, cities have been gobbling up farmland.

definition: use a supply of something quickly.

eg: he rent gobbles up half his earnings.

weed /w'id/

Plants need to be fed and watered, and that need someone to pull weeds, so employmees like Kenji are paid to help building owners set up and .... 

definition: a wild plant that is nor wanted

eg: Many called the dandelion a weed.

v: weed

affectionately /əf'ɛkʃənətli/

Instead, he goes up to the roof and spends his day on his knees, affevtionately caring for a field of sweet potatoes fifty stories above the ground.

definition: lovingly

eg: She stroked him affectionately.

a: affectionate  n: affection

urbanite /'ɚbən,ɑɪt/

As a typical urbanite with a typical desk job, I get tired of sitting all day.

definition: a resident of a city or urban community.

eg: Urbanite is a city dweller.

wheelbarrow /w'ilb,ɛro/

Is ir pushing a wheelbarrow through mud in the hot sun?

definition: a frame or box for conveying a load, supported a-t one end by a wheel or wheels, and lifted and pushed at the other by two horizontal shafts. 

eg: Where can I get a wheelbarrow?

governor /g'ʌvɚnɚ/

Tokyo's environmentally friendly governor shares the vision of a more self-sustaining urban agriculture.

definition: a person who controls a colony

eg: The governor of a colony was the representative of the crown.

chapter 4

lose track of

I was late for dinner one night because I'd lost track of the time, and I tried to explain how it is, in the garden, at twilight.

definition: 

eg: We lost track of time.

mulch /m'ʌltʃ/

I was mulching my potatoes...and wondering if  marsh hay was too salty or if all those minerals from the sea would be good for them.

definition: cover the soil with old leaves to improve its quality

eg: A loose mulch acts on the surface as an  insulator.

recount /rɪk'ɑʊnt/

I know they're recounting something passionate, something I even want to experience, but I can't relate to the words.

definition: (1) count again (2) tell or repeat in detail

eg: We asked them to recount the votes.

patch /p'ætʃ/

I'd wandered by the parsley patch looking for my watering can, intending to give the potatoes a dose of sea kelp...before going dinner.

definition: a piece of material used to mend a hole

eg: She sewed a patch  on the knee of her jeans.

a: patchy

nursery /n'ɚsɚi/

...and figured I'd have to settle for buying some plants at my local nursery.

definition: (1) a place where very young children are care for (2) a place where young plants are raised for sale

eg: Their garden includes a nursery.

spy /sp'ɑɪ/

But as I went by, I bent over, just for a look, and there in the twilight I spied a bit of parsley....

definition: (1)n: a person who collects secret information (2) v: discover

eg: I think I've just spied Jane in the crowd.

profound /prof'ɑʊnd/

But it also exists, in a more profound way, in my mind, where it has been growing for many years now...

definition: (1) very deep or strong (2) having deep meaning

eg: He fell into a deep profound sleep.

adv: profoundly

lull /l'ʌl/

There was a lull in the conversation, and I started talking about my garden again.

definition: (1) a short period of quiet or of little activity (2) make...feel safe

eg: We were very busy this afternoon but there is a bit of a lull now.

snag /sn'æg/

Her photographer's eye has a vision that reaches beyond the realities of rain or technical snags or falling off a wall and missing the shot of a lifetime.

definition: a disadvantag or problem that is not very serious

eg: Our plans hit/struck/came across a snag.

affair /əf'ɛr/

It wasn't that I didn't care what my friend was saying; it's just tht the garden, especially in summer, comes in and out of  the mind like a love affair.

definition: (1) an event (2) a love afair

eg: She's having an affair with her boss.

The notes in the class: 

safari /səf'ɑri/

definition: a journey or hunting trip

reverse  /rɪv'ɚs/

definition: upside down