Improve Your English – 286 [Archives:2006/916/Education]
Dr. Ramakanta Sahu
I.What to say
Situations and expressions (84)
Love you! Friend
Friends are a precious treasure. Blessed are those who have the gift of genuine, unalloyed comradeship of a sincere, devoted and dependable friend through the thick and thin, ups and downs on the highway of life.
– For my love who's also my best friend! You're my friend forever who shares in everything)all the ups and downs, that life may sometimes bring… A companion in the good and bad times, to keep my world warm and bright. A comfort and a source of strength, that helps to make things right…
– You're the one, I always turn to for when all is said and done… You're my darling, my sweetheart and my best friend, all in one.
– Let's be friends. Let's become old together. We stay up late looking at old pictures, telling and remembering all the stories, and laughing until our sides ache. Let's become the kind of old ladies who take long walks, wear funny shoes and get away with acting outrageous in public places. And if any body should ask how long we've been friends, we'll say 'Oh forever!'
– You're special! Because a friendship that's as special as ours, can only get better with time.
– We're friends forever. There are so many things that you've given me which make me happy. Your friendship is the most amazing of them. Thanks for the same!
– Friend, the best thing in life are free. How come you're so perfect to me!
– Nothing on earth can make life more worthwhile than a true, loyal friend and the warmth of a smile. For just like a sun beam makes cloudy days brighter, the smile of a friend makes a heavy heart lighter (Helen Steiner Rice). For all the times you've made my days a lot more brighter and all my burdens seem lighter. You're really special! For being all the wonderful things that make you a special friend, you, for sure, deserve a lifetime filled with joys that never end.
II. How to Say it Correctly
Correct errors, if any, in the following sentences
1. I made some research into problems of learning English by Yemeni learners.
2. I'm afraid I did a mistake in the calculation.
3. The house was collapsed during the storm.
4. Yahya was remembered leaving the house at about 6 P.M.
5. Dr. Ismail was decided to chair the meeting.
Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
1. He would ('d) like some milk, please.
2. He appeared to be having trouble with his car.
3. The police became (or grew) suspicious of two men looking into all the cars.
4. He would have got a distinction in the exam, but he answered Q. 2 badly.
5. It's not worth taking the trouble to write to him. He never replies.
III. Increase Your Word Power
(A) How to express it in one word
1. The inner nature or most important quality of a thing.
2. Having a high opinion of.
3. River mouth into which the tide flows.
4. Time without end.
5. Rules for formal relations or behavior among people.
Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
1. Daring, mischievous, or adventurous act, often causing gossip or trouble: escapade (n)
2. Intended for a small circle of followers: esoteric (adj)
3. Practice of spying or using spies: espionage (n)
4. Level area or ground by the sea where people may walk for pleasure: esplanade (n)
5. Give one's support to a cause: espouse (vt)
(B) Words often confused
Bring out the difference in meaning of the following pairs of words
1. earthly, ethereal
2. ethic, ethnic
3. ethnography, ethnology
4. depositary, depository
5. male, masculine
Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
1. haste (n) (quickness of movement): I am in great haste.
hurry (n) (wish to get something done quickly. It implies confusion): Take your time. There's no hurry.
2. funeral (n) (burial or burning of a dead person with the usual religious ceremonies): The funeral of the leader was attended by many dignitaries.
funereal (adj) (like a funeral; gloomy; dismal): There was a funereal expression on his face after he heard about the accident.
3. enumerable (adj) (countable): He has brought enumerable article.
innumerable (adj) (too many to be counted): Innumerable people died in the recent Tsunami.
4. deceased (n) (persons who have recently died): The deceased included many women and children.
diseased (adj) (suffering from, injured by disease): He has a diseased mind.
5. compulsion (n) (forced to do something against one's will): The accused admitted to the crime under compulsion.
obligation (n) (doing something as a duty): I have many family obligations.
(C) Synonyms and Antonyms
i. Synonyms
Choose the word that is closest in meaning to the one given at the top
1. debonair
a. superficial b. in high style
c. pleasing and gracious d. flighty
2. tantalize
a. to delay b. to tease
c. to flatter d. to puzzle
3. topography
a. art of printing b. soil chemistry
c. signaling by light
d. physical features of a region
4. temporal
a. mild b. holy
c. worldly d. angry
5. wrought
a. made or fashioned b. broken
c. complicated d. strengthened
Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
Word Synonym
1. capitulate to surrender
2. recapitulate to sum up
3. reckless irresponsible
4. egress exit
5. profess to proclaim
ii. Antonyms
Choose the word that is most opposite in meaning to the one given at the top
1. copious
a. dearth b. stout
c. nervous d. false
2. restive
a. restless b. relaxed
c. deceitful d. grasping
3. puerility
a. strength b. manliness
c. maturity d. calmness
4. harmony
a. dissonance b. shyness
c. harmless d. falsehood
5. divulge
a. solid b. clever
c. conceal d. deplore
Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
Word Antonym
1. purgatory celestial
2. veneration sacrilege
3. pliable inflexible
4. lucrative unprofitable
5. soft stubborn
(D) Spelling
Choose the correctly spelt word
1. a. beneficil b. beneficial
c. benificial d. benifical
2. a. corelative b. correlative
c. corilative d. correletive
3. a. cemetry b. cimetry
c. cimetery d. cemetery
4. a. committment b. comitment
c. commitment d. comittment
5. a. chamically b. chemically
c. chemicaly d. chemicely
Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
1. apparel
2. ancestral
3. across
4. benefited
5. battle
(E) Phrases and idioms
Use the following phrases in sentences
1. abide by
2. put one's weight behind
3. in lieu of
4. break the bank
5. have (something) on the brain
Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
1. hurl abuse at (telling rude or offensive things to somebody): It is improper to hurl abuse at an elder.
2. absolve somebody from/of something (to say that somebody is not guilty or responsible for something): They were absolved of all responsibility for the bank robbery.
3. get above yourself (to think you are better or more important than you really are): It is high time you stopped getting above yourself.
4. above reproach (so good that no one can question or criticize you): His honesty and integrity is above reproach.
5. abound in (to contain a very large number or quantity of): This river abounds in fish.
IV. Grammar and Composition
(A) Grammar
Put the number of the right definition in front of each sentence
Trunk
1. The main stem of a tree: He picked up peanuts with his trunk
2. A box used to carry clothes: The trunk of the oak was rough
3. Part of an elephant: He put the trunk on the train
Bark
1. Cry of a dog: He peeled some bark to make a ripe
2. Part of a tree: He heard a loud bark across the sea
3. A sailing boat: He saw the bark on the sea.
Suggested answers to the previous week's question
1. The meaning of the word roll (n) in the sentence: 'We ate a roll for lunch' = ' a small loaf for one person, either long or in the shape of a ball.'
2. 'We watched the big waves roll along the beach' = 'to cause to move along by turning over and over.'
3. 'Get a roll of paper' = a flat piece of paper that has been rolled into a tube shape.
4. 'Please roll the ball to Jim.' = 'to cause to move along by turning over and over or from side to side.'
5. 'The dog could roll over' = 'to turn oneself over and over or from side to side'
6. 'The teacher called the roll' = 'an official list of names'
7. 'We could see the roll of the hills' = 'mountain ranges
8. 'We could hear the roll of drums' = 'long, deep sound as of a lot of quick strokes'
B) Composition
Expand the central idea contained in the following maxim
104: HAND THAT ROCKS THE
CRADLE RULES THE WORLD
Suggested answers to the previous topic
103: THE DUTY OF THE HISTORIAN
IS TO NARRATE, NOT TO COMMENT
History is a branch of knowledge dealing with past events, political, social, economic, of a country. It is an objective and faithful description of the theatre of events, a study of the past in all its splendid depth and detail. A historian is more than a chronicler. “To be a really good historian is perhaps the rarest of intellectual distinctions”, said Macaulay. In fact, a truly great historian, who is distanced from the course of events in time and space, stands apart and impartially and dispassionately, narrates what really happened, and not what should have happened. That is, a historian like a camera gives a faithful account of the train and trend of events, without letting these be tainted by his emotions, personal likes or dislikes. There is, of course, some scope of the historian to give his own interpretation of history. But he has no authority for addition, alteration or distortion of the actual sequence of events. Thus a historian has flexibility, but little freedom. A creative artist such as a poet, a novelist or a dramatist, on the other hand, may select an event or a certain portion of history and add onto it the spark of creativity in the form of creating some imaginary characters, the relationship between them and so forth. But then this is a fictional recreation of recorded history. So a historian operates within strict constraints of an impersonal narration of events and has no business to comment on them as either good or bad.
V. Food for Thought
“The greatest gifts you can give your children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence.”
)Denis Waitley
——
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