Key terms & definitions

Peasants’ desire for land, or more land, to support themselves and their families.

A country without a coastline, which must cross another country to reach a seaport.

A person who owns land and receives rent from others who farm it.

A system in which landlords own land that peasants farm, benefiting from the peasants’ labour through payments such as rent.

A Norse term meaning ‘land taking’: claiming land and establishing the first farms and households in a new settlement area.

Taking land from its existing owners and allocating it to others; in early Communist China, land was taken from landlords and given to peasants.

Changes to the ownership or distribution of agricultural land. Communist promises and redistribution of land to peasants helped win rural support during the Civil War.

Income collected by the state through taxation of agricultural land and its production.

The visible character of an area, formed by its physical features and human activity.

Lasting visible damage to the shape or appearance of land, such as the large pits and spoil heaps created by mining.

A simplified drawing that records the main geographical features of a landscape rather than every visible detail.

The movement of rock, soil or other slope material downhill under gravity.

Buying land in the expectation of selling it later at a profit.

The rights and arrangements through which people hold, use and control land.

The purpose for which people use an area of land, such as housing, farming, industry or recreation.

A disagreement arising when different groups want to use the same land in incompatible ways.

The purpose for which land, a building or a space is used, such as housing, shopping or industry.

Allocating different uses to land according to its suitability, for example keeping housing away from areas at high risk of flooding.

The free community kitchen and meal associated with a gurdwara, open to everyone.

The words, images and verbal techniques a writer uses to create meanings and effects.

The writer’s choices of words, phrases and grammatical patterns to create meaning and effects.

A system of words and rules used to communicate meaning.

Examining how particular language choices create meanings and effects, supported by details from the text.

An episode of cooler-than-average sea-surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, linked to changes in atmospheric circulation.

The Chinese system of ‘Reform Through Labour’, which used imprisonment and compulsory work to punish prisoners and attempt to change their thinking.

A connection in which two pieces of timber overlap. In a half-lap, half the thickness is removed from each piece so their faces finish flush.

A shrine where members of a Roman household worshipped the household gods.

A term used for sailors from South Asia employed on European ships.

A machine that uses a focused laser beam to cut material or engrave its surface.

A process in which a focused laser beam uses heat to cut material along a controlled path.