B2noun01
stringed instrument
a musical instrument that makes sound with strings
Synonymsstring instrumentchordophoneplucked instrument
🇺🇿torli cholg‘u asbobi
🇷🇺струнный инструмент
- B1My sister plays a stringed instrument in the school orchestra.
- B2The dutar is a traditional Uzbek stringed instrument with only two strings.
- C1The violin is a difficult stringed instrument, so my cousin practises it every single day.
B2noun02
archaeologist
a person who studies ancient people by digging up old objects
Synonymsexcavatorantiquarianhistorian
- B1Archaeologists spent months digging carefully in the desert sand.
- B2An archaeologist found old coins near the ancient walls of Samarkand.
- C1The young archaeologist discovered a broken pot that was over three thousand years old.
C1noun (plural)03
millennia
thousands of years (plural of millennium)
Synonymsthousands of yearsageseons
🇺🇿ming yilliklar
🇷🇺тысячелетия
- B1Some trees have lived for millennia in quiet mountain forests.
- B2People have grown wheat in this valley for millennia, not just for centuries.
- C1For millennia, families have gathered to share music and stories at weddings.
C2noun04
resonator
the hollow part of an instrument that makes its sound louder
Synonymssound boxamplifierecho chamber
🇺🇿rezonator, ovoz kuchaytiruvchi qism
🇷🇺резонатор
- B1Early harps used tortoise shells as resonators.
- B2The hollow body of the guitar works as a resonator and makes the sound richer.
- C1Without a good resonator, the strings of an instrument sound very quiet and thin.
C1noun05
relic
an object that has survived from a time long ago
Synonymsremainsartefactantique
🇺🇿qoldiq, tarixiy yodgorlik
🇷🇺реликвия, остаток древности
- B1The museum is full of relics from the Silk Road.
- B2My grandfather keeps an old Soviet radio as a relic of his youth.
- C1Archaeologists found many musical relics among the ruins of ancient Mesopotamia.
C1verb06
suspend
to hang something from somewhere
Synonymshangdangleattach
🇺🇿osib qo‘ymoq
🇷🇺подвешивать
- B1Colourful flags were suspended across the street for the festival.
- B2A big lamp was suspended from the ceiling above our dinner table.
- C1On the old tanbur, a small plectrum was suspended from the neck by a cord.
B2adjective07
polished
made smooth and shiny by rubbing
Synonymsshinyglossysmooth
🇺🇿silliqlangan, yaltiroq
🇷🇺отполированный
- B1The old wooden table looks beautiful when it is polished.
- B2My dad’s polished shoes always shine before an important meeting at work.
- C1The soundbox was made of polished cedarwood that still looks good today.
B2verb08
distinguish
to see or show the difference between things
Synonymsdifferentiatetell apartseparate
🇺🇿farqlamoq, ajratmoq
🇷🇺различать
- B1Small children cannot always distinguish right from wrong.
- B2Can you distinguish between the two twins in our class?
- C1Experts use a clear definition to distinguish guitars from other stringed instruments.
B1noun09
definition
an explanation of the meaning of a word or idea
Synonymsmeaningexplanationdescription
- B1Our teacher gave us a clear definition of success.
- B2Look up the definition of this word in your dictionary at home.
- C1Dr Kasha’s definition of a guitar includes a long neck and a flat back.
C1noun10
representation
a picture, carving or model that shows something
Synonymsdepictionimageportrayal
🇺🇿tasvir, ifodalanish
🇷🇺изображение
- B1The statue is a representation of a famous poet.
- B2This painting is a representation of life in an old Uzbek village.
- C1The oldest representation of a guitar is a carving that is 3,300 years old.
B2noun11
prefix
letters added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning
Synonymsbeginningaffixfirst part
🇺🇿old qo‘shimcha, prefiks
🇷🇺приставка, префикс
- B1The prefix ‘un’ changes ‘happy’ into ‘unhappy’ in English.
- B2Learning common prefixes really helps students with new vocabulary.
- C1In ‘setar’, the prefix ‘se’ shows the number of strings on the instrument.
C1adverb12
radically
in a very complete and important way
Synonymscompletelyfundamentallydrastically
🇺🇿tubdan, butunlay
🇷🇺радикально, коренным образом
- B1Our city has changed radically in ten years.
- B2The internet has radically changed the way students do their homework.
- C1Moving to the capital radically changed my cousin’s plans for the future.
C1adjective13
aesthetic
connected with beauty and artistic taste
Synonymsartisticvisualstylistic
🇺🇿estetik, go‘zallikka oid
🇷🇺эстетический
- B1Old buildings have great aesthetic value for tourists.
- B2The new library was built for aesthetic reasons as well as practical ones.
- C1The sitar changed over centuries to follow Indian aesthetic and cultural ideals.
B2noun14
merchant
a person who buys and sells goods, especially in other countries
Synonymstraderdealerseller
🇺🇿savdogar
🇷🇺купец, торговец
- B1The merchant sold carpets at the bazaar.
- B2Silk Road merchants carried silk and spices through Bukhara and Samarkand.
- C1Instruments spread around the ancient world with merchants, travellers and seamen.
C1noun15
manuscript
a very old book or document written by hand
Synonymshandwritten documentcodextext
- B1The writer sent her manuscript to a publisher.
- B2The museum in Tashkent shows beautiful old manuscripts written in gold ink.
- C1Pictures of early guitars can be seen in medieval illustrated manuscripts.
C1verb16
acquire
to get or gain something
Synonymsgainobtaindevelop
🇺🇿egallamoq, ega bo‘lmoq
🇷🇺приобретать
- B1The city museum acquired a rare painting last month.
- B2My brother acquired good English by watching films with subtitles every night.
- C1In Spain, the chartar acquired pairs of strings and became known as the chitarra.
B2adjective17
dominant
more important, powerful or common than others
Synonymsmainleadingprevailing
🇺🇿ustun, hukmron
🇷🇺господствующий, преобладающий
- B1English is still the dominant language on the internet.
- B2Football is the dominant sport in our school, and everyone plays it.
- C1By the 14th century, the chitarra had become the dominant instrument in Europe.
B2noun18
innovation
a new idea, method or invention
Synonymsinventionnoveltynew idea
🇺🇿yangilik, innovatsiya
🇷🇺нововведение, инновация
- B1Every year brings new innovations in phones.
- B2Online banking was a great innovation for busy people like my parents.
- C1Adding two extra strings was an innovation that guitar makers quickly copied.
B2phrasal verb19
take up
to start using or doing something new
Synonymsadoptembracestart using
🇺🇿qabul qilmoq, boshlamoq
🇷🇺перенимать, начинать
- B1Many farmers have taken up new methods.
- B2My mum took up yoga last year, and now she feels much healthier.
- C1Guitar makers all over Europe quickly took up the new twelve-string design.
C1phrasal verb20
give way to
to be replaced by something
Synonymsbe replaced byyield tomake way for
🇺🇿o‘rnini bo‘shatib bermoq
🇷🇺уступить место
- B1Winter finally gave way to a warm spring.
- B2Old wooden houses in our street have given way to tall modern flats.
- C1The twelve-string guitar gradually gave way to the six-string guitar across Europe.
C1phrase21
vice versa
the other way round
Synonymsthe reverseconverselythe opposite
- B1In cartoons, cats usually chase mice, not vice versa.
- B2I help my brother with maths, and vice versa with English homework.
- C1The six-string guitar developed from the twelve-string, not vice versa.
C1idiom22
take shape
to develop and become clearer or more complete
Synonymsdevelopformemerge
🇺🇿shakllanmoq
🇷🇺обретать форму
- B1The new park is finally taking shape.
- B2Our plans for the summer trip are slowly taking shape now.
- C1At the beginning of the 19th century, the modern guitar began to take shape.
C1noun (plural)23
proportions
the size and shape of the parts of something compared with each other
Synonymsdimensionsmeasurementsscale
🇺🇿nisbatlar, o‘lchamlar
🇷🇺пропорции
- B1My new bedroom has very strange proportions for a bed.
- B2The artist drew the face with perfect proportions and very realistic eyes.
- C1Torres changed the proportions of the guitar body to improve its sound.
B2adjective24
revolutionary
completely new and causing great change
Synonymsgroundbreakinginnovativeradical
🇺🇿inqilobiy, tubdan yangi
🇷🇺революционный
- B1His ideas were revolutionary for his time.
- B2The first smartphone was a revolutionary product that changed daily life completely.
- C1Torres introduced a revolutionary fan-braced top that made guitars much louder.
B2noun25
breakthrough
an important new discovery or development
Synonymsadvancediscoveryleap forward
🇺🇿katta kashfiyot, yutuq
🇷🇺прорыв
- B1Passing the speaking test was a breakthrough for me.
- B2Scientists made a breakthrough in finding a cure for the disease.
- C1At the time of Torres’s breakthrough, German immigrants in America were making guitars too.
B2noun26
immigrant
a person who comes to live permanently in another country
Synonymsnewcomersettlermigrant
- B1My uncle was an immigrant in Germany.
- B2Many immigrants in London work hard and send money to their families.
- C1German immigrants to America began making guitars with X-braced tops.
B2noun27
tension
the tightness of a string, rope or wire when it is pulled
Synonymstightnessstrainpull
- B1Too much tension can break a rope.
- B2If the tension of the guitar strings is wrong, the music sounds bad.
- C1The tension of steel strings was too much for the old fan-braced tops.
C1phrase28
prove equal to
to be strong or good enough to deal with something
Synonymscope withbe up tohandle
🇺🇿…ga bardosh berishga qodirligini ko‘rsatmoq
🇷🇺оказаться способным справиться
- B1Our old car proved equal to the long trip.
- B2The new teacher proved equal to the challenge of our noisy class.
- C1The stronger X-braced top proved equal to the job of holding steel strings.
C1noun29
industry standard
the usual method or design that most companies use
Synonymsnormbenchmarkcommon practice
🇺🇿soha standarti
🇷🇺отраслевой стандарт
- B1This software is now the industry standard.
- B2USB-C has become the industry standard for charging new phones and laptops.
- C1The X-braced top quickly became the industry standard for steel-string guitars.
C1phrase30
meet with little success
to not be very successful
Synonymsfailflopnot catch on
🇺🇿kam muvaffaqiyatga erishmoq
🇷🇺не иметь большого успеха
- B1The new app met with little success.
- B2My first attempt at baking bread met with little success; it was too hard.
- C1Early electric guitars met with little success until Gibson’s famous 1936 model.