Vocabulary Building

1. Report
story ▪ account ▪ version
These are all words for a written or spoken account of events.
report a written or spoken account of an event, especially one that is published or broadcast:
Are these newspaper reports true?
story an account, often spoken, of what happened to somebody or of how something happened; a report of events in a newspaper, magazine or news broadcast:
It was many years before the full story was made public.
the front-page story
account a written or spoken description of something that has happened:
She gave the police a full account of the incident.
version a description of an event from the point of view of a particular person or group of people:
She gave us her version of what had happened that day.
Patterns
a report/​story about something
a brief/​short report/​story/​account
a full report/​story/​account/​version
a news report/​story
to give a(n) report/​account/​version

2. Soil
mud ▪ dust ▪ clay ▪ land ▪ earth ▪ dirt ▪ ground
These are all words for the top layer of the earth in which plants grow.
soil the top layer of the earth in which plants grow:
Plant the seedlings in damp soil.

mud wet soil that is soft and sticky:
The car wheels got stuck in the mud.
dust a fine powder that consists of very small pieces of rock, earth, etc:
A cloud of dust rose as the truck set off.
clay a type of heavy sticky soil that becomes hard when it is baked and is used to make things such as pots and bricks:
The tiles are made of clay.
land an area of ground, especially of a particular type:
Pack the dirt firmly around the plants.
ground an area of soil:
The car got stuck in the muddy ground.
They drove across miles of rough, stony ground.