‘Obtain’ has the same meaning as ‘get,’ but it is more formal.

Examples:

• She obtained her Master degree from the Sorbonne in Paris.
• You need to obtain permission from your Director.

Collocations: When you learn new vocab, make sure that you note collocations too. For this group of words some collocations are:
look normal, be normal, fairly normal, under normal circumstances
attempt to obtain, fail to obtain
participate in, refuse to participate
commonly perceived, a failure to perceive, perception of
be positive, extremely positive, positive about, test positive

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).

Complete the sentences below with the correct form of the word.

Vocabulary for IELTS – Academic Word List 2:20

1.Did you _______________ permission to take leave from work next week? (participate, obtain)

2.The new movie was received very _______________ . (positive, perceive)

3._______________ rates were very low in last month’s test. (participate, obtain)

4. A 6 or 6.5 is ______________ enough to enter a university to study an undergraduate degree. (normal, positive)

5.What is your_______________ of the new government? (normal, perceive)

Answers (in the wrong order below
5. perception   3. Participation    2. positively    1. obtain    4. normally