Panic – Word Of The Day For IELTS

Panic – Word of the day for IELTS Speaking & Writing

Panic /ˈpænɪk/ (Noun)

Meaning: 

a sudden strong feeling of fear or nervousness that makes you unable to think clearly or behave sensibly

Synonym:

fear, terror, fright, alarm, foreboding, phobia

Collocations:

VERBS:

• cause panic
• feel panic
• get into a panic
• throw/send somebody into a panic
• panic breaks out (starts among a group of people)
• panic sets in (starts)
• panic ensues (formal: happens after something else happens)
• panic rises within somebody (someone starts to feel panic)
• panic spreads (starts to affect more people in more places)

ADJECTIVES:

• a big/huge panic
• growing/ mounting/ rising panic (increasing panic)
• total/ sheer panic
• blind panic (a very strong feeling of fear)
• sudden panic
• mild panic (a slight feeling of panic)
• momentary panic (panic that does not last long)

PHRASES:

• a state of panic
• a sense/ feeling of panic
• a wave/ surge of panic  (a feeling of panic that you suddenly have)
• a panic attack

Example:

• He felt a mild panic
• Suddenly, everything went dark and panic broke out.
• Before panic could set in, she realised that the clock was fast.
• Panic ensued as people ran out of the burning building.
• She felt panic rising within her.
• Panic spread as  news of the invasion reached Paris
• Her momentary panic faded.
• She was in a constant state of panic that he would carry out his threat

Exercise: 

Try to use Panic in your answers

Talk about the situation when someone apologised to you

You should say:

• Who apologised to you
• Why they apologised
• Where it happened
• And explain how you felt ( or what you said ) after this person apologised

Sample Answer:

On Tuesday last week, I was riding my motorbike to school. Actually, I was in a hurry; otherwise, I would have been late for the class. Unfortunately, there was heavy traffic congestion, In front of me there was just a long stream of cars and bikes. Therefore, I had no choice but to slow down and join the queue of vehicles.

Suddenly, a scooter hit me from behind, which made me get into a panic and fall off my bike. I suffered a few bruises and a minor elbow injury. A few seconds later, the rider on the scooter got off, came up to me and apologised for his carelessness. He also offered to take me to hospital for a checkup, but it was unnecessary as I was okay.

To be honest, at first, I was very angry with him for crashing into my motorbike, but his sincere concern calmed me down and I decided to accept his apology. Then, I continued on my way to school. I realize that we can all make mistakes sometimes, but if we make an apology, almost everyone will forgive us. So, it is best to own up and accept responsibility for your mistakes.

Came up to me: [phrasal verb] approached me.

Own up: [phrasal verb] admit that you are responsible for something bad or wrong.