Improve Your English – 259 [Archives:2004/790/Education]

Dr. Ramakanta Sahu
I. What to Say
Situations and expressions: (73)
'Miss you' wishes

We have a yearning for happy memories, a wistful longing for something pleasant in the past. Going down the memory lane we recall those moments that have rolled by.

– I often miss our time spent together, especially the last time when you made me feel like I was the most important thing in the world to you. Come soon.
– Best wishes. Take good care of yourself. Time flies like an arrow. Hope I'll be seeing you soon. So long.
– Missing you. Wherever you are, it's your own friends who make your world.
– I was feeling a bit lonely and when I asked myself what I seemed to be missing the most, the answer turned to be you.
– Missing you so much and counting the day till we can be together again.
– My heart never knew loneliness until you went away. I'm missing you. I'll always be waiting for you.
– Thinking of you is my favorite time pass.
– You're special in a kind of way that words alone cannot convey, but still I feel you need to know how much I really love you. So if you're lonely, please be strong for we both know it won't be long before we feel sweet embrace and stand together face to face and, though our parting may cause pain, when you're with me once again, the mists of longing when we part will turn to joy inside my heart.

II. How to Say it Correctly
Correct errors, if any, in the following sentences
1. I am quite sorry to learn about the death of your grandfather.
2. I went to see the film because it was too good.
3. Aisha resembles with her mother.
4. For hours I discussed on the point with him.
5. He recommended for me to the Dean.

Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
1. No sooner did he receive the message than he went out.
2. Now that we have shifted our house, seldom do we go to his house.
3. Neither did he come nor did he send the money.
4. Look up these words in the dictionary and write down their meanings.
5. The school is much too small to accommodate all the students.

III. Increase Your Word Power
(A) How to express it in one word
1. Something that is very easy to do.
2. The hottest days of the year.
3. Having the corners of the pages bent down with use.
4. Having, showing, or marked by merciless self-interest.
5. A fight between armed aircraft.

Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
1. To remove from state ownership: denationalize (vt)
2. The number below the line in a fraction: denominator (n)
3. Discovery of the future by supernatural means: divination (n)
4. A list of law cases to be tried: docket (n)
5. Person who wants his doctrines to be put into practice: doctrinnaire (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. perpetrate
a) to show plainly b) to see clearly
c) to be interested d) to shrink back
2. impetuous
a) hasty b) stimulating
c) erratic d) disrespectful
3. inquisition
a) punishment b) long speech
c) thorough investigation d) curiosity

Suggested answers to the last lesson's questions
Word Synonym
1. incense to enrage
2. evince to show plainly
3. impeach to accuse

(II) Antonyms
Given below are some words followed by four answers. Tick the answer which gives the opposite meaning of the word
1. ascetic
a) germ free b) artistic c) gloomy d) worldly
2. repugnant
a) plain b) brutal c) agreeable d) pungent
3. stigma
a) obstinacy b) honor c) disagree d) vision

Suggested answers to the last lesson's questions
Word Antonym
1. impious holy
2. enigmatic simple
3. sporadic regular

(C ) Words commonly confused
Bring out differences in meaning of the following pairs of words
1. piteous, pitiful, pitiable
2. emigrant, immigrant
3. difference, deference
4. desirable, desirous
5. frantic, frenetic

Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
1. abnormal (adj) (different from what is normal, ordinary or expected): The abnormal child was taken to hospital.
subnormal (adj) (below normal): Temperature today is subnormal.
2. sick (adj) (unwell): He is sick of self-love
sickly (adj) (frequently ill): He has a sickly child.
3. bier (n) (movable wooden stand for a coffin or a dead body): The dead body was taken to the cremation ground on a bier.
bear (v) (carry): The laborer is bearing a heavy burden.
4. expatiated (vi) (write or speak in detail): The speaker expatiated upon the evils of environmental pollution.
expiated (vt) (made amends for): The sinner expiated for his sins.
5. ceded (vt) (yielded land or a right to another country after losing a war): In 1871 France ceded Alsace-Lorraine to Germany.
seceded (vi) (withdrew from a membership of a federation or organization): Pakistan seceded from India in 1947.

(D) Idioms and phrases
Use the following idioms in illustrative sentences
1. in full swing
2. not have the ghost of a chance
3. as white as a sheet
4. curry favor with
5. in the pipeline

Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
1. his days are numbered (the end of some one or something is imminent): The old man's days are numbered.
2. have no time for (someone / something) (to despise someone or something): I have no time for hypocrites.
3. have the time of one's life (to enjoy oneself very much): I enjoyed myself at the excursion – I had the time of my life.
4. turn one's nose up (at something) (to treat something with contempt): She turned her nose up at the idea of being a teacher.
5. in the nick of time (at the last possible moment): We reached the airport in the nick of time.

IV. Grammar and Composition
(A) Grammar
Complete the following sentences with a suitable word connected with 'work'. The first letter of each word is given.
1. The p of Sales Manager was advertised last week in the national newspapers.
2. So far we have had more than fifty a for the job.
3. We are offering a s of $1000 a month.
4. We would prefer to appoint someone with a few years e in the field.
5. High academic q are not so necessary for a job like this.
6. In this company all e are treated in the same way.
7. We believe that good working relations between m and s are essential
8. We have chosen ten c to be interviewed next week.
9. All staff are entitled to an annual share in the p of the company.
10. The successful candidate will be expected to take up his/her a from next month.

Suggested answers to the previous week's questions.
Pair of sentences which mean the same:
1. The play was so good that she went back to see it again. It was the excellence of the play that prompted her to go back to see it again.
2. Basham and I haven't seen each other for two years. It's two years since Basham and I saw each other.
3. I go to the cardiologist less often than I should. I don't go to the cardiologist as often as I should.
4. I regret not keeping in touch with her. I wish I kept in touch with her.
5. 'I'm sorry I broke the vase, Jamal said to Majid. Jamal apologized (to Majid) for breaking the vase.

B) Composition
Expand the idea contained in the maxim
84: No pains, no gains

Last week's topic
83: Men never learn from history
History is a chronological record of past events. Ye it's more than a mere chronicle. It has a unique role for modifying the present and shaping the future course of events. Hence history is never dead, but has a living presence. However, the history of human civilization is full of events which serve to indicate that men are prone to committing the same follies over and over again. This is a clear proof of the fact that men don't pay heed to the warnings of history. It is also true in an individual's life. More often than not, individuals repeat the same mistakes which they committed in the past and ultimately come to grief. This maxim warns us against having a volatile memory. On the other hand, we should possess a critical faculty of mind and an adequate analytical ability not to indulge in the same vices or commit the same errors time and again. History shouldn't repeat itself.

V. Pearls from the Holy Quran
“O ye who believe!
Stand out firmly
For Allah, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others
to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is
next to piety, and fear Allah.
For Allah is well-acquainted
with all that ye do.”
S5:A8

VI. Food for Thought
“Love is a battle, love is a war; love is growing up.”
)James A. Baldwin
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