· 7 lists · 280 words

Technology, internet and science

Phone, internet, social media, the digital world, science, research.

What holds these lists together

Chinese prefers to translate a new thing rather than borrow its name, and the translation can be read from its parts: a computer is 电脑(diànnǎo), an electric brain, a mobile phone 手机(shǒujī), a hand machine, and going online is 上网(shàngwǎng), getting on the net. An English speaker therefore recognises almost none of these words by sound, and almost all of them by meaning once the characters are known. Science works the same way: oxygen is 氧气(yǎngqì), with the character for gas at the end. The internet adds a fast-moving layer of its own, the words that come and go with social media. The lists move from the phone in your pocket to the laboratory.

The seven lists

2The phone and the internetCalling, texting, messages, accounts and being online.40 words 3Technology in daily lifeComputers, phones, apps and the words on their screens.40 words 4Science and technologyResearch, experiments, inventions and the machines that came out of them.40 words 4Social media and online lifePosting, liking, sharing, following and streaming: the words of life on social media.40 words 5Science and researchHypotheses and samples, laws and formulas, atoms, cells and the universe.40 words 5Technology and the digital worldChips and algorithms, data and privacy, code, networks and machines that drive themselves.40 words 5Internet culture and its slangTrending topics, viral fame, memes and the new words people use to talk about life online.40 words

Spread across the levels

The category runs across the levels — it is an area, not a difficulty. If you practise it, you can also choose a level at the top of the practice page and then get only the part that sits there.

Level	Words	Share
1	3	1 %
2	37	13 %
3	45	16 %
4	78	28 %
5	117	42 %

Practise this category

Multiple choice and gaps, across all seven lists and all 280 words. Whatever you get wrong comes back tomorrow.