Pages 106–107 asthma

beneficiary 
/
ˌbenɪˈfɪʃəri/ Noun
a 
beneficiary of something is someone who gets a 
benefit or advantage from it 
Collocates: a beneficiary of something | the main/
principal/primary beneficiary
the main beneficiary of the deal | I was the sole 
beneficiary of her will (the only person who received 
money from her will after she died) | borrowers will be 
the main beneficiaries if interest rates fall
chest 
/
tʃest/ Noun
your 
chest is the front part of your body between your 
neck and your stomach
Collocates: chest pain | a chest infection | a hairy chest
taking medicine for a throat and chest infection | he 
complained of a tight chest (finding it difficult to breathe 
easily) | a chest X-ray | he punched the policeman in the 
chest and ran off
Adjective: 
chesty
a chesty cough | I’m feeling a bit chesty (my chest feels 
unwell and it’s uncomfortable when I breathe)
combine 
/
kəmˈbaɪn/ Verb
if you 
combine two activities, you take the opportunity to 
do them both at the same time
we combined the conference trip with a weekend 
in Florence | combine business with pleasure | she 
combined the roles of soloist and conductor in a 
performance of the violin concerto 
Adjective: 
combined
a combined business trip and weekend break
contagious 
/
kənˈteɪdʒəs/ Adjective
if an illness is 
contagious, it can spread from person 
to person through physical contact. You can also say 
that a feeling or attitude is 
contagious if you think it is 
spreading through a group of people
Collocates: a contagious disease/illness | highly/very 
contagious
it’s a relatively new disease and highly contagious | the 
prevention and treatment of contagious diseases | he 
was found to be contagious and had to stay in his room 
for several days (other people could catch the illness 
from him) | fear is contagious | his good humour was 
contagious
Noun: 
contagion
everything was burned for fear of contagion | aid 
agencies reacted swiftly to the threat of contagion