TOEFL environment vocabulary
132 words in this theme, levelled so you can tell what is worth your time at your band.
Environment vocabulary covers ecosystems, conservation, emissions and sustainability. It appears across all four sections — as an academic passage subject, a lecture topic, and a common prompt for Write for an Academic Discussion.
Why this theme earns your time
This is one of the few themes you are likely to have to *produce*, not just recognise. Discussion prompts about environmental policy are common, and a position stated in vague terms reads as a weaker position.
What the words look like
Every entry carries its part of speech, pronunciation, CEFR level, the collocations it actually appears in, and a sentence using it. A sample from the bank:
| Word | CEFR | Meaning | In use |
|---|---|---|---|
| acidificationn. /əˌsɪdɪfɪˈkeɪʃn/ | C2 | the process of becoming more acidicocean acidification · soil acidification | Ocean acidification makes it harder for shells to form. |
| breezen. /briːz/ | B2 | a light wind; something very easya gentle breeze · a breeze to use | An evening breeze cools the courtyard. |
| deforestationn. /ˌdiːˌfɔːrɪˈsteɪʃn/ | C1 | the cutting down of forests over a large arealarge-scale deforestation · cause deforestation | Deforestation in the Amazon releases stored carbon into the atmosphere. |
| dumpv./n. /dʌmp/ | B2 | to get rid of carelessly; a place for wastedump waste · a rubbish dump | Nobody may dump garden waste here. |
| extinctionn. /ɪkˈstɪŋkʃn/ | B2 | the situation in which a type of animal or plant no longer existson the verge of extinction · mass extinction | Hunting and habitat loss drove the passenger pigeon to extinction. |
| habitableadj. /ˈhæbɪtəbl/ | C1 | good enough for people or animals to live inhabitable zone · remain habitable | Rising sea levels may make some coastal areas no longer habitable. |
| littern./v. /ˈlɪtər/ | B2 | waste left in public; to scatter waste; animal young born togetherdrop litter · a litter of puppies | Volunteers cleared litter from the tideline. |
| patchn./v. /pætʃ/ | B2 | a small area; a piece covering a hole; to repaira patch of grass · patch up | A patch of clover survived the drought. |
| ravagev. /ˈrævɪdʒ/ | C2 | to damage something badly over a wide arearavaged by fire · ravages of time | Storms ravaged the coastal pines. |
| salinityn. /səˈlɪnəti/ | C2 | the amount of salt in water or soilhigh salinity · measure salinity | Rising salinity killed most of the crops in the delta. |
| spillv./n. /spɪl/ | B2 | to let liquid fall out; an accidental releasespill over · spill the beans | The oil spill closed the beach for a month. |
| thundern./v. /ˈθʌndər/ | B1 | the loud noise after lightningthunder and lightning · a clap of thunder | Thunder rolled across the valley for an hour. |
What to learn at your level
Most of this theme sits at CEFR C1 (37% of its words). At band 4 the B1 and B2 entries are the ones that move your score; grinding C1 vocabulary before the B2 layer is solid is the most common way to spend weeks and gain nothing.
| Level | Words | Share |
|---|---|---|
| A2 | 1 | 1% |
| B1 | 13 | 10% |
| B2 | 43 | 33% |
| C1 | 49 | 37% |
| C2 | 26 | 20% |
Recognising a word is not knowing it
Complete the Words asks you to *produce* a word from context with only its opening letters shown, and the writing tasks ask you to produce it from nothing. That is why the PrepScore drill makes you write the word rather than flip a card, and counts it mastered only after two correct productions in a row. See how the vocabulary drill works.
Drill this theme free
Twenty words a day at no cost, tested by production rather than recognition.
Frequently asked questions
Do environmental topics appear in TOEFL Writing?
Frequently. Academic discussion prompts often ask for a position on a policy question, and environmental ones recur.
Keep reading
By PrepScore · Last reviewed · Editorial standards