Improve Your English – 236 [Archives:2005/808/Education]

Dr. Ramakanta Sahu
I. What to Say

Situations and expressions (75):

Entry to a new home

Entry to a new home is a scintillating experience. It is a long-cherished dream come true. On the eve of one's entry to this abode of piece, goodwill and good luck messages naturally pour in.

– Wish you all the happiness in your new home. May every moment you stay there be a golden memory for you, and the times you share with your loved ones be special and memorable, too, making the home an abode of happiness for you. Have a blessed Home.

– Congratulations on your new home. Hope it opens the door to new dreams and all your heart's desires. So glad to know that you've moved. Hope it feels more like home every day. With best wishes.

– Wishing you special happiness in your NEW HOME. May love and peace always be your welcome guests. May Harmony and Bliss spread, in every corner of your home, and make it the most beautiful paradise you feel proud to own. Congratulations and good luck!

II. How to Say it Correctly

Correct errors, if any, in the following sentences

1. He tries to comply to the wishes of his master.

2. Adel is working hard as he is desirous for achieving his goal.

3. Don't deprive them for their rights.

4. We failed to dissuade him of committing the crime.

5. There is a limit on everything in life.

Suggested answers to the previous week's questions

1. The plane came from Sana'a and is bound for Dhaka.

2. He is very attached to his eldest son.

3. We must adapt ourselves to our environment.

4. I have made a complaint against him to the police.

5. Students commit prepared answers to memory before the exam.

III. Increase Your Word Power

(A) How to express it in one word

1. In accordance with reality.

2. Of the lower part of business center of a town or city.

3. Treated badly by those in position of power.

4. The property that a woman brings to her husband in marriage.

5. Very severe or cruel (laws).

Suggested answers to the previous week's questions

1. The ability to believe two opposing ideas at the same time: double-think (n)

2. A person who is suffering from lack of money and work: down-and-out (n)

3. A drug that lowers the spirits or makes feelings dull: downer (n)

4. Having or showing low spirit or sadness: down-hearted (adj)

5. A part of the full price paid at the time of buying or delivery, with the rest to be paid later: down-payment (n)

(B) Synonyms and Antonyms

i) Synonyms

Given below are some words followed by four answers. Mark the answer which is nearest to the meaning of the given word.

1. prolific

a. skillful b. swift

c. fertile d. wearisomely verbose

2. austere

a. proud b. rigorous

c. revered d. very poor

3. ameliorate

a. to appease b. to make endurable

c. to humiliate d. to make excuses

Suggested answers to the previous week's questions

Word Synonym

1. addiction slavish habit

2. exotic strange or foreign

3. archaic belonging to an earlier period

ii) Antonyms

Given below are some words followed by four answers. Tick the answer which gives the opposite meaning of the given word.

1. opponent

a. freedom b. liberation

c. restraint d. supporter

2. boisterous

a. frenzied b. sober

c. casual d. harmful

3. complacency

a. worse b. corrode

c. destroy d. dissatisfaction

Suggested answers to the previous week's questions

Word Antonym

1. dexterous clumsy

2. guile innocence

3. facilitate hinder

(C )Words commonly confused

Bring out differences in meaning of the following pairs of words

1. wreck, wreak

2. sacred, sacrosanct

3. percent, percentage

4. insignificant, small

5. educational, educative

Suggested answers to the previous week's questions

1. titillate (vt) (excite pleasantly): Don't titillate the baby; it will fall off the chair.

stimulate (vt) (excite; rouse; quicken thought or feeling): The teacher stimulated the students to work hard.

2. national (adj) (common to the whole nation): The national flag is hoisted on important national occasions.

nationalistic (adj) (favoring or supporting nationalism): More and more people of nationalistic sentiment should join the revolution.

3. confidante (n) (a person to whom one tells one's secrets): There are no secrets between us. She is my close confidante.

confident (adj) (feeling or showing confidence): The speaker spoke in a confident voice.

4. pall (n) (a dark, heavy covering): There was a pall of gloom on his face after he received the sad news.

pail (n) (vessel for carrying milk): The pail of milk slipped from her hand.

pale (adj) (colorless, bloodless): He turned pale at the news.

5. statute (n) (written law passed by parliament or other law making bodies): The university statute clearly defines the teachers' rights and privileges.

statue (n) (figure of a person, animal, etc. in wood, stone, bronze, etc.): Have you seen the Statue of Liberty?

(D) Idioms and phrases

Use the following idioms in illustrative sentences

1. stand one's ground

2. have a final fling

3. a false start

4. be out of practice

5. get off on the wrong foot

Suggested answers to the previous week's questions

1. waste one's breath (to say something which is ignored): I don't want to waste my breath because you don't heed my advice.

2. change color (to become very pale or red in the face as a result of fear or anger): She changed color in utter embarrassment.

3. above one's head (too difficult to understand): This lecture was, I confess, above my head.

4. keep one's finger on the pulse (to keep oneself informed about current ideas or events): A good businessman always keeps his finger on the pulse and follows the market trend intently.

5. make (some one's) hair stand on end (to terrify or horrify someone): The horror film I watched last night made my hair stand on end.

IV. Grammar and Composition

(A) Grammar

Write a comment about each of the following sentences using need + ing

1. When we bought the house it was in a terrible condition.

2. My hair is too long.

3. The kitchen floor is filthy.

4. The windows are all broken.

5. There was no petrol in the car.

Suggested answers to the previous week's questions

1. It's time you did your homework.

2. It's time he found a job.

3. It's time they settled down and had a family.

4. It's time we went home.

5. It's time I had a break.

6. It's time they changed their policy.

7. It's time you took on new staff.

8. It's time we bought a new TV.

Remember: We use it's time + I/he/you etc. + Past Simple Tense.

(B) Composition

Expand the central idea contained in the maxim

88. One must be poor to know

the luxury of giving

The previous week's topic

87. One man's meat

is another's poison

Men are not alike in terms of their attitudes, interests, inclinations, likes, dislikes and abilities. Obviously, what is good, interesting or beneficial for one may not necessarily be so for the other, because of differences in circumstances or perspectives. Something that may be a harbinger of prosperity for some one may be the precursor of a dismal misfortune or a recipe for disaster for the other. What is a welcome relief to one person may be an irritant for another person. For instance, announcement of an exam is hailed by sincere and regular students as an opportunity to prove their talents. But negligent and insincere students are unnerved at the news. Similarly, a festive occasion is a time of enjoyment for men of means. But for the poor, down trodden or destitute folks, it holds little prospect of happiness. So nothing is uniformly good or bad for all.

VI. Pearls from the Holy Quran

” Allah guideth all who seek

His good pleasure to ways of peace and safety.

And leadeth them out of darkness, by His Will, unto the light, – guideth them to a path that is straight.”

S5:A16

VI. Food for Thought

“To discover joy is to return to a state of oneness with the universe.” )Peggy Jenkins
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