Improve Your English – 261 [Archives:2004/798/Education]

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

'Miss you wishes' reflect a spirit of nostalgia or a deep and emotional longing for the person, closest to our hearts. As a matter of fact, absence of the person intensifies the buoyancy of spirit which is the true testimony of a time-tested relationship.
– I miss you more with each day that passes by and I don't feel happy at all without you. I count the days and long for the moment when we can be together and happy again.
– Do you know what moon would look without stars?- LONELY
Do you know what cloud would appear without the sky? -UNBELONGED
Do you know how I feel without you? – INCOMPLETE AND ALL THESE.
I'm more than missing you.
– I'm miserable when you're not around. This note is just to let you know how much your presence means to me. Do you know what a flower would look like without its softness?
– My tears won't stop until you come back to wipe them off. Missing you a lot.
– I have been missing you! How I wish I could see you now. How I wish I could speak to you now. If wishes were granted, I won't be wishing you all these because then I won't have been away from you.
– I miss you more with each day that passes by and I don't feel happy at all without you. I count the days and long for the moment when we can be together and happy again.

II. How to Say it Correctly
Correct errors, if any, in the following sentences
1. He has been acquitted from the charge of murder.
2. Whether he will be able to come or may not depends on the weather.
3. He requested the Director to admit his son in the institution.
4. On his way to the market, he was absorbed with his own thoughts.
5. She is always busy in her work.

Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
1. Though you have a strong body, yet you are a coward.
2. Keep us informed as we are anxious about your welfare.
3. I am writing a letter in green ink.
4. He went to Mahweet by bus.
5. She congratulated me on my success.

III. Increase Your Word Power
(A) How to express it in one word
1. A state of weakness of the mind caused by old age.
2. To examine something twice for exactness or quality.
3. To cheat by pretending friendship.
4. To use language that is unnecessarily hard to understand.
5. A man who doesn't easily believe things.

Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
1. A place on the ocean where ships cannot move because there is no wind: doldrums (n)
2. To make an animal able to live with man and serve him: domesticate (vt)
3. Unavoidable destruction or death: doom (n)
4. A medicine taken to improve the performance of people or animals: dope (n)
5. Sleeping room with several or many beds: dormitory (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. spurious
a. pertaining to heraldry b. stubborn
c. angry d. not genuine
2. congenial
a. kindred in spirit b. cold
c. existing at or from birth d. weak in character
3. abysmal
a. despairing b. bottomless c. sickening d. gloomy

Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
Word Synonym
1. appease to pacify
2. expunge to blot out
3. culminate to reach a final effect

ii) Antonyms
Given below are some words followed by four answers. Tick the answer which gives the opposite meaning of the given word.
1. salient
a. chief b. insignificant c. lend d. supernatural
2. redundance
a. paucity b. bare c. rejection d. crucial
3. indiscretion
a. circumspection b. magnitude
c. inclination d. ambition

Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
Word Antonym
1. recoup to worsen
2. slacken to activate
3. scepticism gullibility

(C ) Words commonly confused
Bring out differences in meaning of the following pairs of words
1. secret, hidden, confidential 2. epitaph, epithet
3. egoist, egotist 4. intense, intensive
5. exile, banish

Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
1. accessary (n) (person who helps in any crime): He was made an accessary to the crime.
accessory (n) (that which makes something more beautiful, useful): The accessories for a car include fan and radio.
2. infer (vt) (reach an opinion from facts or reasoning): I infer from your remarks that I don't enjoy your trust.
imply (vt) (give or make a suggestion): Your statement implies that you no longer want to be with us.
Note: It is the listener or reader who infers things.
3. food (n) (that which can be eaten by people or animals): People living below poverty line do not get enough food to eat.
diet (n) (sort of food to which a person is limited for medical reasons): The doctor has put me on a diet.
4. histrionic (adj) (of drama, the theatre, acting): The actor charmed the audience by his histrionic ability.
historic (adj) (famous in history): The Unification of Yemen is an historic occasion.
5. distinction (n) (point of difference): Death removes all distinction.
distinctness (n) (separateness): Distinctness is the hallmark of her style.

C ) Idioms and phrases
Use the following idioms in illustrative sentences.
1. play havoc with 2. blow one's one trumpet
3. beat a hasty retreat 4. red tape
5. a drop in the bucket

Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
1. pave the way for (something) (to make it possible for something to happen): The President's resignation paved the way for fresh elections.
2. sweat it out (to endure a difficult situation): It is difficult to deal with a boss like him, but we are determined to sweat it out and get him transferred.
3. seal the fate of (someone/something) (to ensure that something usually unpleasant happens in the future): Use of slangs and unparliamentarily words sealed the fate of the candidate at the interview.
4. in the teeth of (something) (against or in opposition to something): I am determined to forge ahead in the teeth of all opposition.
5. have time on one's hands (to have a great deal of free time): During the holidays we have time on our hands.

IV. Grammar and Composition
(A) Grammar
Choose an appropriate form of one of the words below to fit into the blanks in the sentences.
disappoint fascinate bore annoy amuse embarrass surprise
1. When I dropped the tray of drinks all over the carpet, it was very ))
2. I was )) to see him standing on the doorstep with his suitcase.
3. I was very )) when I couldn't remember his name.
4. We were so )) with watching TV that we all fell asleep.
5. We were so )) by the program that we stayed up until 2 a.m. to watch it.
6. He is a very )) man. He makes everyone laugh.
7. It was )) to see such a long queue at the post office.
8. I hate football. It's so )).
9. I was very )- when he forgot my birthday.
10. The party was very )) as I had expected to see all my old friends there but they didn't turn up.

Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
It was 6.30. We had arrived at the station at 6.15 and my two sons and I were waiting for an announcement to say that our train would depart on schedule at 7.00. The children were looking at the books in the news agent's, trying to choose something to occupy them on the long journey. Suddenly the loud speaker began to make crackling noises and a barely comprehensible voice announced that because of engineering works on the line, the train would be delayed for at least half an hour.
We decided to have a snack in the station buffet. We just arrived at the door, struggling across the crowded station with all our luggage, when someone quickly stuck a notice on the inside saying closed. We knew we were in for a long, boring wait.

(B) Composition
Expand the central idea contained in the maxim
86: No man is a Hero to his Valet

Answer to the previous issue's topic
85: neither a borrower,
nor a lender be
Shakespeare says
Neither a borrower nor a lender be:
For loan oft loses both itself and friend.
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
How true! Money is rightly something 'that finishes the man.' Benjamin Franklin echoes Shakespeare's note of caution when he says “Lend money to any enemy and thou'it gain him; to a friend, and tho'it lose him.” There are umpteen instances in our lives which endorses the veracity, authenticity and advisability of this dictum. A man of practical wisdom should make all out efforts to avoid the contingency whereby he is driven into either of the unfortunate situations. More often than not, it is seen that money lent is deemed as lost if one prioritizes friendship or relationship over money. But an attempt to recover the money lent very often leads to a situation where not only there is an unpleasant or strained relationship but a loss of the money. So a person of pragmatic outlook should try and avoid such a situation.

V. Pearls from the Holy Quran
“O ye who believe!
Do your duty to Allah,
Seek the means of approach unto Him,
And strive (with might and main) in His cause:
That ye may prosper.”
S5:A35

VI. Food for Thought
“Ability is of little account without opportunity.”
)Napoleon Bonaparte
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