400 Must Have Words for the TOEFL » LESSON 17 - Military Operations

Word List
  • allegiance [əˈliːdʒəns] n.
    Loyalty
    → My allegiance to my country is based on respect for its principles.
    Usage tips     Allegiance is commonly followed by a to phrase.
  • artillery [ɑːˈtɪlərɪ] n.
    Large guns that shoot powerful shells; army units that handle such guns
    → An artillery barrage broke down the city’s thick walls within seconds.
    Usage tips     When it means a part of an army, artillery is sometimes plural.
  • battle [ˈbætl] v.
    To fight against
    → The Viet Minh battled French forces at Dien Bien Phu for nearly two months in 1954.
    Parts of speech     battle n.
  • cease [siːs] v.
    Stop
    → The lightning continued even after the thunder had ceased.
    Usage tips     Cease is found in official statements,not usually in everyday speech.
    Parts of speech     cessation n., ceaseless adj.
  • hierarchy [ˈhaɪərɑːkɪ] n.
    A system of levels that places people high or low according to their importance
    → Starting as a lowly private, Burt Jones gradually rose through the hierarchy of the army.
    Usage tips     Hierarchy is often followed by an of phrase.
    Parts of speech     hierarchical adj., hierarchically adv.
  • in the trenches [trentʃ] n.
    In the middle of the hardest fighting or work
    → With their unrealistic view of this war, our generals don’t know what things are like out in the trenches.
    Usage tips     Creates an image of soldiers fighting in a long, dug-out place in the battlefield.
  • mobilize [ˈməʊbɪlaɪz] v.
    To put members of a group into motion
    → After a terrible storm, the governor mobilized the National Guard to rescue victims.
    Parts of speech     mobilization n.
  • rank [ræŋk] v.
    To put into a many-leveled order, depending on importance or achievement
    → The Marines ranked Jim Hurst highest among all their officer candidates.
    Parts of speech     rank n.
  • ratio [ˈreɪʃɪəʊ] n.
    The relationship of one number or amount to another
    → Military analysts say that the ratio of attackers to defenders in a battle should be about three to one for the attackers to win.
    Usage tips     Ratio is very often followed by an of . . . to structure.
  • strategic [strəˈtiːdʒɪk] adj.
    Related to long-term plans for achieving a goal
    → The United States has formed strategic friendships with Tajikistan and Mongolia to have Central Asian bases in the future.
    Usage tips     Strategic is often used with nouns for plans.
    Parts of speech     strategy n., strategize v., strategically adv.

TOEFL Prep I Find the word or phrase that is closest in meaning to the opposite of each word or phrase in the left-hand column. Write the letter in the blank.

______ 1. cease(a) stay still
______ 2. artillery(b) not in the fighting
______ 3. mobilize(c) continue
______ 4. battle(d) make peace
______ 5. in the trenches(e) light guns

TOEFL Prep II Choose the word from the list that is closest in meaning to the underlined part of each sentence. Write it in the blank.

  • allegiance
  • hierarchy
  • ranked
  • ratio
  • strategy
______ 1.Destruction of the enemy’s radar defenses was rated very high in the plan of attack.
______ 2.The president’s constant mistakes weakened the army’s loyalty to him.
______ 3.Eventually, Gordon reached the highest level in the military’s system of positions, that of five-star general.
______ 4.The planet Mercury is so small that the proportion of its volume to Earth’s is only about 1 to 20.
______ 5.While other officers worried about day-to-day operations, General Helvetski kept his eye on long-term plans.

Answer Key
TOEFL Prep I
  1. c
  2. e
  3. a
  4. d
  5. b
TOEFL Prep II
  1. ranked
  2. allegiance
  3. hierarchy
  4. ratio
  5. strategy
Answer Key

TOEFL Success Read the passage to review the vocabulary you have learned. Answer the questions that follow.

Until a century ago, military medicine was poor at battling disease.The ratio of soldiers killed by diseases to those killed in combat was probably at least two to one. For strategic reasons, military camps were often set up near a body of water. This gave some protection from enemy artillery, but it exposed soldiers to disease carrying mosquitoes. Mosquitoes also plagued troops in the trenches. Low-ranking troops suffered the most. Officers who were advanced enough in the hierarchy slept in separate tents on high ground.

The long-held belief that disease resulted from evil spirits or bad air eventually ceased to rule military medicine. The germ theory mobilized actual science against disease. General George Washington ordered that his men be vaccinated against smallpox. Their allegiance to him can be measured by the fact that they obeyed, for Washington’s doctors used the actual smallpox virus, not the safer vaccination that Edward Jenner would introduce in 1798.

Bonus Structure— Until a century ago indicates that the condition to be described stopped about 100 years ago.

  1. Which sentence best expresses the essential information of this passage?
    • a. Army officers were far healthier than common foot soldiers.
    • b. For a long time, a soldier was more likely to die of disease than in battle.
    • c. Armies should camp on dry ground, not near water.
    • d. Diseases are caused by viruses and spread by mosquitoes.
  2. Why does the author mention that military camps were often set up near water?
    • a. to explain why soldiers were not usually killed by artillery
    • b. to show that officers and men did not mix
    • c. to explain how soldiers came into contact with disease-carrying mosquitoes
    • d. to show that water was valuable in treating “camp fever”
Answer Key
Answer Key
  1. b
  2. c
Favorite Books
Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know

The study of the English language has spread all over the world, and high school and college students everywhere have come to realize that language mastery depends on the possession of a comprehensive vocabulary. This is just what 1100 Words You Need to Know has been offering through the five earlier editions and continuing on this sixth one.

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