Pages 106–107 asthma

phenomenon 
/
fəˈnɒmɪnən/ Noun
a 
phenomenon is something that happens or exists
Collocates: a natural phenomenon | a new/recent 
phenomenon | a rare/common phenomenon
the recent phenomenon of taking selfies | the storm 
was a natural phenomenon of great power | this is an 
extremely rare phenomenon, unheard of so far in the 
U.S. and Canada | increased consumption of tomato 
juice is a common phenomenon on board airliners
productivity 
/
ˌprɒdʌkˈtɪvəti/ Noun uncount
productivity is the rate at which goods are produced or 
work is done, measured by calculating how much time is 
taken for different tasks and how much money it costs
Collocates: productivity levels | increase/improve 
productivity | industrial productivity | productivity grows/
rises | productivity falls/declines
he expected to see productivity levels decline in the 
winter months | there are considerable opportunities to 
increase productivity in developing countries | a sharp 
rise in industrial productivity between 1970 and 1975 | 
factors that significantly affect productivity
Adjective: 
productive | Adverb: productively
Collocates: highly productive
I was happier and more productive before the new boss 
arrived | last month was our most productive for over 
four years | the workforce was highly productive | I can 
work so much more productively from home than if I’m in 
the office | the time was productively spent developing a 
new logo
relief 
/
rɪˈliːf/ Noun uncount
if you get 
relief from pain, the pain becomes less or 
stops altogether
Collocates: relief from something | pain/stress relief | 
effective relief
effective methods of pain relief | the injections provided 
temporary relief from stress and helped her sleep | he 
felt relief spread through his body as the drugs took 
effect
Verb: 
relieve
a good way to relieve stress | this should help relieve 
the pain | having a neck massage is one way to relieve 
headaches
reveal 
/
rɪˈviːl/ Verb
to 
reveal something means to make it known, especially 
when it was something that was previously unknown or 
secret 
Collocates: a report/survey reveals something
Outcomes Upper Intermediate Vocabulary Builder Unit 12 
© 2016 National Geographic Learning
8

---

the report revealed a total of 256 cases of burglary 
over the last year | the man’s identity has not yet 
been revealed | the minister revealed plans to limit 
immigration | this newspaper can exclusively reveal the 
date of the next election | he had to resign after it was 
revealed that he had taken drugs at university
Noun: 
revelation
the revelation came as a surprise to his friends, and 
even to his family | revelations about her private life | 
today’s revelation that the Government listened in on 
thousands of phone conversations | the more surprising 
revelation was that this had been going on for years