Mind & Body Systems — B2 Essential Words
Ten essential B2 words (Health) with the complete apparatus: pronunciation, simple definitions, natural American examples, collocations, family, the common mistake and spoken usage — plus a 15-question practice quiz. Mark your status on every word.
diagnose /ˈdaɪəɡnəʊz/ verb B2 Health
Meaning: To identify a disease or problem by examining symptoms and tests.
Example: The doctor diagnosed the flu.
Another example: Tests diagnosed the engine problem in minutes.
Collocations: diagnose with · diagnosed as · diagnose the problem
Synonyms: identify, detect, find
Word family: diagnosis (n) · diagnoses (n pl — irregular) · diagnostic (adj)
⚠ Common mistake: Machines get diagnosed too — mechanics borrow the white coat. The noun DIAGNOSIS changes its ending in plural: diagnoses.
🗣 In spoken American English: Internet self-diagnosis is doctors' favorite headache — search results always choose the rarest disease.
Register: Formal — health essential.
posture /ˈpɒstʃər/ noun B2 Health
Meaning: The position in which you hold your body when standing, sitting, or walking.
Example: Good posture protects your back.
Another example: His posture improved after yoga.
Collocations: good posture · posture and back pain · fix your posture
Synonyms: position, carriage, stance
Word family: posture (n) · postural (adj)
⚠ Common mistake: Screens bent a generation's posture — 'text neck' entered clinics. Teachers and grandmothers were right all along: sit up.
🗣 In spoken American English: Dancers and soldiers are trained to weaponize it.
Register: Formal — health essential.
flexibility /ˌfleksəˈbɪləti/ noun B2 Health
Meaning: The ability of joints and muscles to bend and stretch easily; also the ability to change or adapt to new situations.
Example: Yoga improves flexibility.
Another example: The job offers flexibility in hours.
Collocations: flexibility training · flexibility at work · full flexibility
Synonyms: suppleness, adaptability, elasticity
Antonyms: stiffness, rigidity
Word family: flexible (adj) · flexibly (adv)
⚠ Common mistake: Bodies and schedules share it — the modern job ad's favorite noun after salary.
🗣 In spoken American English: Gymnasts define its extreme; offices define its value.
Register: Formal — health and work essential.
endurance /ɪnˈdjʊərəns/ noun B2 Health
Meaning: The ability to keep doing something difficult or tiring for a long time without stopping.
Example: Marathon runners train for endurance.
Another example: The climb tested our endurance.
Collocations: endurance training · endurance test · build endurance
Synonyms: stamina, persistence, resilience
Antonyms: weakness, exhaustion
Word family: endure (v) · enduring (adj)
⚠ Common mistake: Endurance is stamina wearing a lab coat — sports science measures it; life tests it.
🗣 In spoken American English: Its events (ultramarathons, Ironman) sell out like concerts.
Register: Formal — health essential.
coordination /kəʊˌɔːrdɪˈneɪʃən/ noun B2 Health
Meaning: The ability to move different parts of the body together smoothly; also the organization of people or parts to work together well.
Example: Dancing needs great coordination.
Another example: The event's coordination was perfect.
Collocations: hand-eye coordination · coordination skills · team coordination
Synonyms: balance, timing, organization
Antonyms: clumsiness
Word family: coordinate (v) · coordinated (adj) · coordinator (n)
⚠ Common mistake: One word runs gym class and wedding planning: bodies and teams both fail without it.
🗣 In spoken American English: Toddlers vs stairs is its daily comedy show.
Register: Formal — health and work essential.
reflex /ˈriːfleks/ noun B2 Health
Meaning: An automatic action of the body in response to something, without thinking — like blinking or pulling away from heat.
Example: The doctor tested his knee reflex.
Another example: Fast reflexes saved the goalkeeper.
Collocations: a reflex action · fast reflexes · reflex test
Synonyms: reaction, instinct (wider), response
Word family: reflexes (n pl) · reflexive (adj)
⚠ Common mistake: Reflexes bypass thinking — that's their speed and their honesty. Video games market themselves as their gym.
🗣 In spoken American English: The knee-jerk tap is medicine's most famous party trick.
Register: Formal — health essential.
pulse /pʌls/ noun B2 Health
Meaning: The regular beating of blood through the body that you can feel in the wrist or neck; also a short burst of energy or signal.
Example: The nurse checked his pulse.
Another example: Her pulse raced after the run.
Collocations: check your pulse · pulse rate · a fast pulse
Synonyms: heartbeat, rhythm, beat
Word family: pulses (n pl) · pulse (v)
⚠ Common mistake: 'Take the pulse of the nation' is the metaphor for reading public mood — fingers on the country's wrist.
🗣 In spoken American English: Watches now count it all day and judge your sleep by it.
Register: Formal — health essential.
hormone /ˈhɔːrməʊn/ noun B2 Health
Meaning: A chemical made by the body that controls growth, mood, energy, and many body systems, carried by the blood.
Example: Hormones affect mood and sleep.
Another example: Insulin is a hormone that controls blood sugar.
Collocations: hormone levels · hormones and mood · a hormone imbalance
Synonyms: chemical messenger, signal
Word family: hormones (n pl) · hormonal (adj)
⚠ Common mistake: Teenagers get blamed on them for everything — sometimes fairly. Medicine replaces and balances them as a whole specialty.
🗣 In spoken American English: Stress hormones (cortisol, adrenaline) run the body's alarm system.
Register: Formal — health essential.
metabolism /məˈtæbəlɪzəm/ noun B2 Health
Meaning: The chemical processes in the body that turn food into energy and keep the body alive and working.
Example: Exercise speeds up your metabolism.
Another example: He has a fast metabolism and stays thin.
Collocations: fast metabolism · metabolism rate · boost metabolism
Synonyms: energy system, body chemistry
Word family: metabolic (adj) · metabolize (v)
⚠ Common mistake: 'Fast metabolism' is the envy phrase of every dinner table. It slows with age — biology's quiet tax.
🗣 In spoken American English: Crash diets are famous for damaging the very thing they chase.
Register: Formal — health essential.
stamina /ˈstæmɪnə/ noun B2 Health
Meaning: The physical or mental strength to keep doing something for a long time.
Example: Long rehearsals need stamina.
Another example: His stamina grew with daily runs.
Collocations: build stamina · stamina training · mental stamina
Synonyms: endurance, strength, energy
Antonyms: fatigue, weakness
Word family: stamina (uncountable)
⚠ Common mistake: Stamina and endurance are twins: stamina is the fuel tank; endurance is the long drive. Games give your character both as upgrade bars.
🗣 In spoken American English: New parents discover its true meaning in the first month.
Register: Formal — health essential.
Practice — Mind & Body Systems
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