The World of Words: Vocabulary for College Success ... - eLibrary

44 Chapter 2 Words in the News Related Wordappeasement (noun) A policy of appeasement often encouragespeople to be even more aggressive.3. attrition (noun) ß-trĭshßnslowly wearing down; wearing awayStone turns to sand by a process of attrition.Attrition tends to be high in very difficult college courses.Employee attrition is low when jobs are hard to get.4. bureaucracy (noun) byŏo-rŏkrß-sē (plural: bureaucracies)administration by employees who follow fixed rules and complexproceduresThe newly elected mayor promised to reform the inefficientcity bureaucracy. Related Wordsbureaucratic (adjective) Because of bureaucratic problems inthe registration office, my transcript was lost.bureaucrat (noun) For twenty years, the bureaucrat made fourcopies of every letter she received.NOTE: Bureaucracy is usually a negative word, involving officialsmore concerned with following rules than with getting things done.In government, bureaucrats are appointed, not elected.Red Tape and BureaucracyBureaucracy is often associated with the term red tape, as in “There is toomuch bureaucratic red tape.” In the 1700s, red tape was used to bind piles ofEnglish government documents. Since government offices were inefficientand bureaucratic, the term red tape came to refer to excessive and silly officialroutines.5. cartel (noun) kär-těla combination of independent suppliers or manufacturersformed to control pricesThe Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC) is a powerful oil cartel made up of twelvenations.When a cartel is effective, sellers control prices—andbuyers pay more.Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.