Improve Your English -204 [Archives:2003/674/Education]
Dr. Ramakanta Sahu
I. What to Say
Situations and Expressions (55):
Expressing emotions (XIII)
As we conclude the catalogue of the poetic extracts depicting exuberance of emotion and their imaginative expression, we hope that our readers would have got a rewarding experience of travelling through the “realms of gold” trodden by some of the greatest poets of English literature. At the same time this journey would have acquainted them with a colorful spectrum of emotional reactions felt through the blood and felt along the heart by these sensitive souls. It is a good idea to contrast these with the expressions used in prose and dramatic texts for emotional response.
– In secret we met:
In silence I grieve
That thy heart could forget,
Thy spirit deceive.
If I should meet thee
After long years,
How should I greet thee?)
With silence and tears.
)Lord Byron
– With thee were the dreams of my earliest love;
Every thought of my reason was thine:
In my last humble prayer to the Spirit above
Thy name shall be mingled with mine!
)T. Moore: Pro Patria Mori
– Thus in the stilly night
Ere slumber's chain has bound me,
Sad Memory brings the light
Of other days around me
)T. Moore: The Light of Other Days
– I love Love ) though he has wings,
And like light can flee,
But above all other things,
Spirit, I love thee )
Thou art love and life! O come!
Make once more my heart thy home!
)P. B. Shelley: Invocation
– Teach me half the gladness
That thy brain must know,
Such harmonious madness
From my lips would flow
The world should listen then, as I am listening now.
) P. B. Shelley: To a Skylark
– Was it a vision, or waking dream?
Fled is that music: ) do I wake or sleep?
)J. Keats: Ode on a Nightingale
– Never saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
)W. Wordsworth: Upon Westiminster Bridge
– I listen'd, motionless and still;
And, as I mounted up the hill,
The music in my heart I bore,
Long after it was heard no more.
)W. Wordsworth: The Solitary Reaper
– For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills
And dances with the daffodils.
)W. Wordsworth: Daffodils
– Oh. lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud!
I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!
A heavy weight of hours has chained and bow'd
One too like thee: tameless, and swift, and proud.
) P. B. Shelley: Ode to the West Wind
– My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
)W. Wordsworth
II. How to Say it Correctly
Correct errors, if any, in the following sentences
1. Although it was hot, but Mahyoob was wearing a woolen coat.
2. We were all happy at Mr. Al-Kamali being awarded the prize.
3. The Holy Quran preaches that we should love each other.
4. I saw him leaning over the wall.
5. The matter has been discussed both in the press and the platform.
Suggested answers to last week's questions
1. I bought an English book to read.
Note: An object cannot be repeated with an infinitive of purpose if the verb takes an object.
2. Although the question was easy, few boys were able to answer it.
Note: 'few' means 'not many'. 'A few' means 'at least some'.
3. The window of his room is open.
Note: The possessive is used for persons and animals only.
4. He was looking out of the window.
Note: 'To see' is to notice with the eyes. 'To look' implies directing the eyes in order to see.
Ex. I looked up and saw a rainbow in the sky.
5. He has been ill since last Friday.
Note: 'Since' is used to indicate a point of time.
III. Increase Your Word Power
1. One who undergoes penalty of death for sticking to his faith.
2. One who abandons his religious faith.
3. One who is given to questioning the truth of facts and the soundness of inferences.
4. One who resides in a country of which he is not a citizen.
5. Belonging to all parts of the world.
Answers to last week's questions
1. Show no fear nor respect for and resist openly: defy (vt)
2. To worship as a god: deify (vt)
3. A person who is considered guilty of serious sexual behavior: degenerate (n)
4. To remove all water or moisture from: dehydrate (vt)
5. Behavior that is not in accordance with accepted social standards: delinquency (n)
(B) Word and Phrases of Foreign Origin
Answers to last week's questions
1. mythopoeia (Gk. 'myth-making): The conscious creation of a myth. In literature it implies the creation of a kind of 'private' mythology.
2. natya (Ind.): A form of Indian dance drama whose plots for the most part derive from the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata.
3. nemesis (Gk. 'retribution'): Just and unavoidable punishment.
4. neologism (Gk. 'innovation in language'): A new word or expression as well as a new meaning for a word.
5. nom de plume (Fr. 'pen-name'): A term used in English to indicate a fictitious name employed by a writer. For instance, a well-known story writer O. Henry was William Sydney Porter and the renowned novelist George Eliot was Mary Ann Cross.
(C) Words Commonly Confused
Bring out differences in meaning of the following pairs of words
1. accept, except; 2. envelop, envelope;
3. hoard, horde; 4. gait, gate;
5. fain, feign
Answers to last week's questions
1. marry (vt &i) (take as a husband or wife): Ramzy is happily married.
marry off (v. adv) (to find a partner in marriage for, especially a daughter): He married off his daughter to a businessman.
2. shift (vt & i) (change position or direction): He cleverly shifted responsibility from his shoulders to his subordinate's.
sift (vt & i) (to make a close examination of things in a mass): He sifted through his papers and found his lost passport.
3. socialize (vt) (to spend time with others in a friendly way): He is very particular to socialize with his neighbors.
socialite (n) (a person well known for going to many fashionable parties): She is a well-known socialite.
4. knotty (adj) (full of difficulties): It is not easy to find an easy answer to such a knotty problem.
naughty (adj) (not obeying a parent, teacher, etc): Your son is always upto some naughty trick in the class.
5. much, very
a) 'Much' qualifies adjectives or adverbs in the comparative degree, 'very' is in the positive.
The air is much hotter today than yesterday.
He spoke very loudly.
b) 'Much' qualifies past participles; 'very' present ones:
He was much pleased to hear the news.
The film was very interesting.
Many: 'Many' is usually non assertive. It is used for the large size of the number.
Ex: Were there many students in the class?
(D) Phrases and idioms
Use the following phrases in sentences
1. to back up; 2. to blow over; 3. to bear out;
4. to dispose of; 5. to close with
Suggested answers to last week's questions
1. amenable to (able to be guided or influenced): The problem with him is that he is not amenable to reason.
2. ambivalent about (having opposite opinions about): He has an ambivalent attitude about almost everything.
3. get along (get on with people): How are you getting along with your new classmates?
4. all along (all the time): All along I have been with you.
5. let alone (not to mention): The baby can't walk, let alone run.
IV. Grammar and Composition
Transform the following sentences using 'what'
1. You said something. It was untrue.
2. She said something. Did it upset you?
3. I ought to do something. I haven't thought about it.
4. They suggested something. It was very practical.
5. They did something to you. Was it terrible?
6. Something made him do it. I don't understand it.
Suggested answers to last week's questions
1. If I hadn't got married, I wouldn't have left home.
2. If she hadn't a baby, she wouldn't have given up her job.
3. If he hadn't lost his job, he wouldn't have come back home.
4. If my husband hadn't got a job in Yemen, we wouldn't have gone there.
5. If we hadn't saved some money, we wouldn't have been able to buy a car.
V. Pearls from the Holy Quran
“To Allah belongs the heritage
Of the heavens and the earth;
And Allah is well-acquainted
With all that ye do.”
S3: A180
VI. Words of Wisdom
“When work is pleasure, life is joy
When work is duty, life is a slavery”
)Maxim Gorky
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