Straightforward C1 Advanced Vocabulary, Lesson 3D

Date taught: 27 March 2024

3D – A Cautionary Tale

Theme: Becoming wealthy, being wealthy, & losing all your wealth. The island of Nauru: how it became rich and then lost all it’s wealth.

a cautionary tale:

speak of the devil (and the devil shall appear):

clean slate:

towrap your mind around (smth):

a rag:
raggedy:

in tatters:

dispensary:

from rags to riches (idiom): refers to a situation where a person rises from poverty to wealth, or from insignificance to fame. It’s often used to describe the life stories of individuals who, through hard work, determination, and sometimes a bit of luck, manage to significantly change their circumstances and achieve great success.

the rise and fall of…:

idyll:

uninhabitable (adj): not fit to live in; impossible to live in
EXAMPLE: houses made uninhabitable by radioactive contamination

lush (adj) [C1]: (of plants, gardens, etc.) growing thickly and strongly in a way that is attractive; covered in healthy grass and plants

topside: what the locals in Nauru call the barren wasteland that is the remnants of the mining site

impoverished (adj) [C2]: very poor; without money (to live in poverty)

pinprick (): a very small spot

what strikes one: what your immediate impression of something is

reeling: to be in shock

guano: solid waste from birds, used as fertilizer

4×4: (four by four) is a four-wheel drive vehicle

left to rot: means ‘left to decay and fall apart’

blacklist: to blacklist someone or something is to put them on a list, to show that they are under suspicion or excluded from something

money laundering: is the practice of hiding the origin of money obtained from illegal activities by putting it into legal businesses

mined-out: means ‘mined until there is nothing left’

bailout:

exhaustive:

take a stab in the dark:

process of elimination:

arable land:

financial literacy:

prosperous:

lesson learned:

door stop:

fertilizer:

manure:

epoch:

weighing in on something:

had a part in it:

discourse:

collect your thoughts:

phosphate

digging yourself a hole:

mismanagement:

the perfect storm:

Nauru Timeline:

1905 – destructive strip mining operations begin, after the discovery of phosphate deposits on the island
1919 – Nauru changed hands from being a German colony to an Australian administration, after the end of WWI
1943-1945 – Japanese occupation during WWII
1968 – Nauru gains independence from Australia and becomes the world’s smallest democratic country
1970 – Nauru gains control of it’s own strip mining operations
1982 – New York Times article published, WORLD’S RICHEST LITTLE ISLE
2000 – most mining had been virtually exhausted (although some mining still takes place, however it is a very small amount comparatively speaking)