TED Talk of the week: Ann Morgan and her 'Reading the World in a Year" adventure.

Ann Morgan - My year reading a book from every country in the world
 
http://www.ted.com/talks/ann_morgan_my_year_reading_a_book_from_every_country_in_the_world?language=en

VOCABULARY: 

primed to do sth : prepared to act in a situation (because one has been given relevant information on it)  -> to prime: make sth ready for action or use

Having received a report on the situation on the front, the troop was primed to attack the enemy. 

Wooden furniture should be primed before painting. 

upshot (the upshot is that...) : the final or eventual outcome or conclusion of an action, discussion, series of events etc.

The discussion turned out to be completely pointless, as there was no upshot of it. 

The upshot of the series of terrorist attacks in France will remain unknown until the French government decides what measures should be implemented as a response. 

go to (great) lenghts to do sth : to work very hard to accomplish sth, to make great efforts trying to do sth

Mark went to great lenghts to succeed in his bar examination - he barely slept and spent most of his time craming.

If you want to lose weight, prepare for going to great lenghts to reach your goal - it always is a huge struggle. 

to go out of one's way to do sth : to do sth that inconveniences one, to make an unusual effort to accomplish sth

Please don't go out of your way to make me feel better. I have to handle my problems on my own.

Although I didn't feel like preparing a birthday party for my mother-in-law, I went out of my way to do it, because I wanted my wife to be happy. 

 

wordsmith : a skilled user of words

I love reading Shakespeare! In my opinion, he was the greatest wordsmith in the history of the English literature!

This boyfriend of yours is a true wordsmith, but I'm afraid that behind his sophisticated speech there's not much relevant content. 

 

cumulatively :1) in a way that increases in quantity, degree or force by successive additions

 Blogbogs are a great way to expand cumulatively your range of English vocabulary.

2) taken as a whole, in combination

Cumulatively, we have earned 19,000,000 zlotys this year, taking into account all sources of income.

 

incentive  : a thing that motivates or encourages sb to do sth

Young people in ageing european societies need a proper incentive to be more willing to have children.

I felt ashamed to come up and speak to Joseph, but seeing Madeleine approaching to him was a sufficient incentive to get my act together.