Improve Your English – 227 [Archives:2004/720/Education]

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March 15 2004

Dr. Ramakanta Sahu
I. What to Say
Situations and Expressions (64)
Wedding wishes

Wedding is a sacred bond of union between two hearts. It is the beginning of a new phase of life. In a sense it is standing together and facing the world. It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family. This is a moment of supreme happiness for two young hearts who have a mutual sense of values and common objectives. It's giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow. At such an auspicious moment, the young couple is wished a world of happiness.

– Congratulations. As you wed, your hearts must be filled with delight and hopes as you are about to enjoin your lives together. Here's sending warm wishes, as the two of you become one, with a hope for your future to be bright and beautiful, with lovely moments of life, which will give you pride in having been destined to live as husband and wife.
– Wedding a beautiful a new beginning, a new promise, a new outlook, a new relationship. May your wedding take you both through a journey filled with new things, making you take pride in this day, for years to come. Congrats.
– As you join your lives together, may you grow closer in love, closer to being one, while never losing the traits that make each of you, wonderful.
– Wishing the newly weds a truly blissful life and a loving togetherness. May both of you be showered with eternal blessing, as this is your wedding and the beginning of a new life, too. Congrats as you wed.
– Sending your way warm wedding wishes with loving thoughts. As you both join your lives and promise each other to be for each other in better or worse. Just wishing you both that may the 'better' always overcome the 'worse'. Congrats.
– May the hopes, dreams and anxiety you both are carrying in your hearts be replaced with love, happiness and bliss through this life's long journey called marriage. Congrats and best wishes.
– Here's sending warm wishes, as the two of you become one, with a hope for your future to be bright and beautiful, with lovely moments of life, which'll give you pride in having been destined to live as husband and wife.
– May you both experience the new joys of trying this precious BOND of love and togetherness always. May your married life grow more beautiful and, as time passes by, may each moment be blessed with happiness that makes your togetherness special. Have a blissful married life.

II. How to Say it Correctly
Correct errors, if any, in the following sentences
1. Men are but children of large growth.
2. The answer should be written in a sheet of paper.
3. No girl in the class is as resourceful as Aisha.
4. We must guard ourselves from bad habits.

Suggested answers to last week's questions
1. The number of marks carried by each question is indicated at the end of the question.
2. Translate this passage from Arabic into English.
3. Mahatma Gandhi is one of the best human beings that have ever lived.
4. I had no chance of getting a job, if you had not backed me out.
5. College life is charming, but school life is dull.

III. Increase Your Word Power
(A) How to express it in one word
1. An excessive morbid desire to steal
2. One who compiles a dictionary.
3. One who is a free thinker on religion.
4. The philosophy of practicing duplicity in statecraft.
5. A ridiculous confusion and misuse of words.

Suggested answers to last week's questions
1. The doctrine that sensual pleasure is the highest good: hedonism (n)
2. The art of garden cultivation: horticulture (n)
3. One who breaks images: iconoclast (n)
4. A person who has most uncompromising attitude specially in politics: intransigent (adj)
5. A single pillar construction: monolithic (adj)

(B) Foreign words and expressions
Give the source of origin and meaning of the following
1. essay 2. euphemism 3. euphony
4. farce 5. festschrift

Suggested answers to last week's questions
1. encomium (Lat. from Gk. 'praise'): Formal eulogy in prose or verse glorifying people, objects, ideas, events.
2. encyclopaedia (Gk. 'inkyklios' meaning 'circular' or 'general' and 'paideta' meaning 'discipline' or 'instruction')
3. epigraphy (Gk. 'epi' meaning 'upon' + 'graphein' meaning ' to write'): The study of inscription incised on a durable material and found on tombs, statues, plaques, etc.)
4. epitaph (Gk. 'writing on a tomb'): Inscription on a tomb or grave.
5. epitome (Gk. 'cutting short'): An abridgement or summary. A long scientific treatise or historical work that may be compressed into a single book.

(C) Words commonly confused
Bring out differences in meaning of the following pairs of words
1. blue, blew 2. boar, bore 3. moral, morale
4. stairs, stare 5. advice, advise

Suggested answers to last week's questions
1. air (n) (mixture of gases): A balloon filled with hot air goes up the sky.
wind (n) (air in motion as a result of natural forces): The wind blew my hat off.
2. discrete (adj.) (discontinuous; individually distinct): Human language is discrete.
discreet (adj.) (careful, tactful): He maintained a discreet silence in the hot discussion.
3. corporal (adj.) (of the body): I hate corporal punishment to children.
corporeal (adj.) (physical as contrasted with spiritual): Food and drink are the basic, corporeal needs for survival.
4. affect (vt) (have an influence or effect on): The climate affected his health.
effect (vt) (bring about) :I effected an insurance policy.
5. miner (n) (man who works in a mine underground): Five coalminers were buried alive in a mine accident.
minor (adj.) (less important): They sustained minor injuries when the house caught fire.

(D) Idioms and phrases
Bring out the meanings of the following in sentences
1. eagle-eyed 2. an old flame 3. gate crasher
4. gift of the gab 5. heart to heart

Suggested answers to last week's questions
1. black ox (misfortune): His failure in life can be attributed only to the black ox.
2. to be at the zenith of (to be at the highest point of fame or glory): Once upon a time Yemen represented the zenith of glory of civilization.
3. all and sundry (everyone without distinction): She invited all and sundry to her wedding anniversary.
4. at death's door (about to die): The old man who is at death's door, is surrounded by his relatives.
5. donkey's years (after a long time): He had to struggle for donkey's years to come to this position.

IV. Grammar and Composition
(A) Grammar
Complete the following sentences using a Noun or Verb from the list below. Don't use the same word more than once.
rise go up fall decline drop raise reduce
1. As a result of the recession, we've had to ))- the amount of money we spend on research and development.
2. Last year was a good year for the company and our sales )) considerably.
3. The price of coffee has )) as a result of bad weather conditions.
4. Many Asian companies have entered the market and there has been a 20% )) in prices.
5. Some govts fear the )) in Japanese investment in Europe.
6. The )) in profits is the result of poor management.

Suggested answers to last week's questions
1. Learning to speak a language is often much easier than learning to write it.
2. This hotel must be more expensive than the small one next door.
3. An orange is larger than a plum.
4. He is certainly the most unusual person I have ever met.
5. Bringing up children is one of the hardest jobs in the world.
6. What is the most difficult thing you have ever done?
7. Losing your health is worse than losing your money.
8. This is the fastest car we produce.

(B) Paragraph writing
Expand the idea contained in the maxim
58. Fashions in dress are much less harmful than intellectual fashions

Last week's topic

57: Every dog has his day
Life offers a recipe of weal and woe. No one has endless misery. Nothing is permanent in life. People who are enjoying the bliss of good luck should not look down upon the victims of an outrageous misfortune. Similarly, those who are in distress should not lose hope. On the other hand, they should be optimistic and look forward to a moment when the Dame Fortune would smile upon them. A time of good fortune comes at least once to everyone. A wise person understands that life is in a state of flux and that everything is transient. So he never tries to pooh pooh the lowly, downtrodden and distressed.

V. Pearls from the Holy Quran
“Whoever intercedes in
A good cause
Becomes a partner therein:
And whoever recommends
And helps an evil cause,
Shares in its burden:
And Allah hath power
Over all things.”
S:4-A:85

VI. Words of Wisdom
“We love life, not because we are used to living, but because we are used to loving.”
)Friedrich Nietzsche
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