Improve Your English – 282 [Archives:2005/900/Education]
Dr. Ramakanta Sahu
I. What to Say
Situations and expressions: (82)
'Love you' wishes (IV)
Love is not only a great nourisher, it is a great redeemer too. It gives the lover strength, vigor and vitality to surmount the tremendous odds in the path of true love. It resuscitates, rejuvenates and reinvigorates a drooping spirit and instills into it an unconquerable will to face the challenges.
– My love! When happiness pampers you in its arms and tears of joy trickle down your cheek, just look around yourself, to find the rainbow hue… A hue that I have blown your way, to let you know I'm there… When you're feeling low and have no one to go to, just look behind yourself… See me in your shadow that will remind you, I'm still there for you.. When you're lost in the world of dreams, tire and worn out deep in your sleep… I'll stretch my arms and send the gentle morning rays to kiss you awake and assure you silently… Love! I'm there for you, now and forever.
– Dear! I'm madly in love with you as you're truly my dream come true. With you I've found a kind of pleasure that I've always been searching for, a kind of love that means a lot.
– It's you my love whom I dream of and want to be close to, always. As the fond look in your eyes, the smile on your face and deep love. Make the world a better place to live in. Love you always.
– Your love is the joy of my life and the heart of my being.
– What is love? No words can define it ') it is something so great and profound, only God could design it. It's ever enduring, so kind, so compassionate, it judges all things with the heart, not the mind. It's all-embracing. And love can transform the most common place into beauty, splendor, sweetness and grace… Yes love is beyond what man can define, for love is immortal and divine.
– You are the one I longed for. I carried a picture of you ever since I was young and believed in fairy tales. I carried a picture of you through all the times. Love, I thought that I'd never meet you in this life. I carried a picture of you, not in my pocket but in my heart ) I didn't know what you'd look like but I knew what I'd feel like to finally know you and be with you ) safe and protected and accepted, like I had finally found my home.
– When love is new… We see life in a very special way ) the joy of togetherness adds fun to every days… Each gentle smile and every tender touch… Brings one more chance to say how very much we'll always love each other today, tomorrow and forever.
II. How to Say it Correctly
Correct errors, if any, in the following sentences
1. When I saw the vase, I knew it was exactly what I had looked for.
2. When I grow up, I'll be an engineer.
3. Take your umbrella; it will rain.
4. The world's supply of oil is soon running out.
5. Put your coat on before you'll go out.
Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
1. Ahmed invite me to have dinner.
2. I asked Ali when his plane would arrive.
3. I told Basham not to pull the cat's tail.
4. Abdullah said, “Are you tired?”
5. The book which I bought at the bookstore was very expensive.
III. Increase Your Word Power
(A) How to express it in one word
1. A thing or person that shows a set of qualities.
2. An important event which seems to begin a whole new period.
3. An imaginary line drawn round the world halfway between its most northern and southern points.
4. A triangle whose all 3 sides are equal.
5. A state of balance; right judgment.
Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
1. A person who takes great interest in the pleasures of food and drink: epicure (n)
2. A short clever amusing poem or saying: epigram (n)
3. The last part of a speech made by one of the actors at the end of a play: epilogue(n)
4. A short description of a dead person, written on a stone above his grave: epitaph (n)
5. An adjective or descriptive phrase: epithet (n)
(B) Words commonly confused
Bring out the difference in meaning of the following pairs of words
1. ocular, visual
2. sever, severe, serious
3. wrong, wrongful
4. electric, electronic
Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
1. convert (vt) (change from one form or use into another): At what rate does dollar convert to Yemeni rials?
transform (vt) (to change completely in form, appearance, or nature): Success went to his head and transformed his character.
2. fancy (n) (imagination in which the mind is more active): By the power of fancy you can create a dream world.
fantasy (n) (extravagant fancy that is odd, strange or wild; too unreal to be true): He lives in a world of fantasy.
3. oversee (vt) (to watch to see that the work is properly done). He regularly oversees his construction work.
overlook (vt) (to look at, but not see; not notice; miss): The proofreader overlooked the printing error.
4. entry (n) (coming or going in): entry to the Rector's office is restricted.
entrance (n) (opening, gate, door, passage): He waited for me at the entrance of his house.
5. insistent (adj) (compelling attention): The Administration is insistent that the teachers live in their respective headquarters.
persistent (adj) (continuing; occurring again and again): Persistent attacks of malaria left him weak.
(C) Synonyms and Antonyms
(i) Synonyms
Choose the word that is closest in meaning to the one given at the top
1. plead
a. set out b. conclude
c. intend d. beg for
2. sobriety
a. quality of self-control b. companionship
c. humor d. seriousness
3. transgressor
a. passenger b. law-breaker
c. protector d. comrade
4. fling
a. slip b. suffer
c. throw d. raise
5. heresy
a. harmonious idea b. virtuous thought
c. strong belief d. unorthodox opinion
Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
Word Synonym
1. somber serious
2. thaw melt
3. volatile unstable
4. obliterate destroy
5. orgy wild party
ii) Antonyms
Choose the word that is most opposite in meaning to the one given at the top
1. disconsolate
a. encouraging b. cheerful
c. approximate d. apparent
2. predilection
a. oblivion b. objectivity
c. aversion d. defeat
3. wholesome
a. partial b. incomplete
c. impermanent d. injurious
4. remorseless
a. merciful b. penitent
c. sympathetic d. humane
5. extraneous
a. trivial b. common place
c. relevant d. extravagant
Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
Word Antonym
1. onerous effortless
2. alienate familiarize
3. latent manifest
4. benevolent spiteful
5. fabrication truth
(C) Spelling
Choose the correctly spelt word
1. a. blasphemous b. besphamous
c. blessfemous d. blasphemous
2. a. inaquitous b. inikwitous
c. inikwites d. iniquitous
3. a. cassette b. casette
c. cassete d. casete
4. a. pedagog b. pedagogue
c. pedagoge d. pedegogue
5. a. reminescent b. riminescent
c. riminisent d. reminiscent
Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
1. efflorescence
2. percussion
3. tableau
4. harassment
5. tantamount
(D) Phrases and idioms
Use the following phrases in sentences
1. above board
2. not to have a penny to one's name
3. on the cards
4. bite the bullet
5. bury the hatchet
Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
1. variety is the spice of life (the changes that one experiences are what makes life interesting): You should accept pleasure and pain, smiles and wiles with equal thanks. After all, variety is the spice of life.
2. go up in smoke (to disappear leaving nothing behind): All our plans to have a celebration went up in smoke when the Dean rejected the idea.
3. have a change of heart (to change a decision): The king had a change of heart and he decided to dedicate his life to welfare of the people.
4. make no odds (to be of no importance): It makes no odds to me if he decides to leave me – he was of no use to me.
5. lull some one into a false sense of security (to lead someone to believe that everything is all right): We should not lull ourselves into a false sense of security and guard our liberty at all costs.
IV. Grammar and Composition
(A) Grammar
Rewrite the sentences
1. New York/Tokyo/be important financial centers
Both
2. Louis Pasteur/Alexander Fleming / make important medical discoveries
Louis Pasteur…
3. Whales/tigers/be in danger of extinction
Both
4. Napoleon/Hitler/not succeed in conquering Russia
Napoleon
5. Pythagoras studied geometry. Euclid studied geometry
Pythagoras
Suggested answers to the previous week's questions
1. My cassette recorder is broken. I'll have it repaired.
2. One of the many tasks a computer can perform is keeping your accounts.
3. Some of the expensive machines are much more sophisticated and capable of remembering more data.
4. We have a wide range of models in stock.
5. What is equivalent to US$ 2 in Yemeni Rials?
6. I'm afraid you'll have to speak up. He's slightly deaf.
7. According to experts, the earth's temperature will rise considerably in the future.
8. I didn't recognize him at first, as he had grown a beard.
9. Her illness must be very serious. She is not responding to the treatment at all.
10. What was unusual was that she had one brown eye and one green eye.
(B) Composition
Expand the central idea contained in the following maxim
100: SWEET ARE THE USES OF ADVERSITY
Suggested answers to the previous topic
99: SPARE THE ROD
AND SPOIL THE CHILD
A child has immense potential which, groomed in a proper manner, leads to a bright future for him. But if that potential is subjected to neglect or laxity in upbringing, the child's future prospects are jeopardized. It is a matter of common experience that an excessively pampered child tends to be wayward. Over-indulgence or excess of affection on the part of the child's parents and elders generate in him a cynical distemper, thus making him unpruned and indisciplined.He assumes life to be a bed of roses and is unaware of its hard realities. In other words, unless the child is punished for his errors and is shown the right path in right time, he is denied the opportunity to learn the precious lessons of life. As such, 'rod' which is a metaphor for the shaping influence through punishment, is the vital factor in putting the child back on rails from a wrong path. As a blacksmith moulds crude iron into a distinct shape by putting it in fire and then chiselling it, similarly punishment becomes an invaluable tool for nurturing the nature and character of the child. rigorous principles of rigid control and discipline helps him learn the lessons of life albeit the hard way. Conversely, if he is spared punishment at the formative period of childhood, he may grow up into a rogue, a criminal or a sinner who then becomes a potential threat to the society.
V. Pearls from the Holy Quran
“Unless my Lord willeth, (nothing can happen). My Lord comrehendeth in His knowledge all things.”
S6: A80
VI. Food for Thought
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
)Leo Tolstoy
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