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the buck is an idiom meaning “to pass responsibility
for a problem to another
person to avoid dealing with it oneself.
Following methods will be useful for improving the usage of collocations:
1.
Notice collocations. When you are reading,
look at which words go
together. If you have to write about a topic, try to find
a newspaper article or a
magazine article about that topic and look at the phrases that the journalist uses.
You’ll often see the same phrases again and again. It is a good idea to learn these.
Sample of newspaper articles:
Look at these extracts from letters to an international magazine.
Global problems. The environment.
Your article on
climate change was excellent.
Rising sea levels and the increase
in
greenhouse gases
1
are the result of our actions. We are
disturbing the
ecological balance everywhere, as can
be seen in the decrease in fish stocks
2
in
the oceans.
1
gases which cause the greenhouse effect,
especially carbon dioxide
2
the number of fish
It is dear that we must
tackle pollution before it is too late.
Exhaust fumes from
millions of
vehicles and the burning of fossil fuels
3
are causing
irreparable
4
damage to our environment.
3
fuels such as gas,
coal and oil
4
which cannot be repaired (also
irreversible)
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We must accept that we have
seriously depleted
