Handouts 4 Upper-Intermediate

1. expat /n/ (informal) expatriate (formal) a person living in a country that is not their own

2. astronomical /adj/ (of an amount, a price, etc.) very large or the scientific study of the sun, moon, stars, planets, etc.

3. mining /n/ the process of getting coal and other minerals from under the ground; the industry involved in this. see also MINE.

4. harrowing /adj/ very shocking or frightening and making you feel very upset.

5. toll /n/ money that you pay to use a particular road or bridge

6. to take a heavy toll (on sb/sth) or to take a real toll (on sb/sth): to have a bad effect on sb/sth; to cause a lot of damage, deaths, suffering, etc

7. observatory /n/ a special building from which scientists watch the stars, the weather, etc.

8. boundary /n/ a real or imagined line that marks the limits or edges of sth and separates it from other things or places; a dividing line.

9. universe /n/ the whole of space and everything in it, including the earth, the planets and the stars.

10. to probe /v/ 1~ (into sth) to ask questions in order to find out secret or hidden information about sb/sth. 2 to touch, examine or look for sth, especially with a long thin instrument.