‘Successor’ is an interesting word. It means the person who takes a position after another person. The verb form may be a little confusing as it can also have another meaning.

to succeed = to be successful
to succeed = to take a position after another person

‘Obama succeeded Bush as President of the USA.’

When you learn new vocab, make sure that you note collocations too. For this group of words some collocations are:
willingly submit, be willing to submit, submit to
likely successor, appoint a successor
have a thesis, write a thesis, central thesis
broad topic, research topic, discuss a topic, a range of topics

Check the meanings of the words if you don’t already know them. Check the meanings of the various forms as sometimes they are different. You can check them at Time4english by clicking the words (http://www.time4english.com/aamain/lounge/awl.asp).

Vocabulary for IELTS – Academic Word List 83

Complete the sentences. Choose the correct word and then use the correct form of the word.

1. She has to write a 20,000 word ______________ before she qualifies. (thesis, topic)
2. Azmie was our first Director and he was ______________ by Alia. (succeed, survive)
3. When you study anthropology there is a range of interesting _______________ you can choose from. (successor, topic)
4. I _______________ my CV to the personnel department yesterday. (thesis, submit)
5. She is one of the growing number of cancer______________. (survive, submit)

Answers (in the wrong order)
5. survivors   3. topics    2. succeeded    1. thesis    4. submitted