Improve Your English [Archives:2006/924/Education]
By: John Wooden
I. What to Say
Situations and Expressions (85)
Welcome Home
Welcoming a member of the family home after a period of separation is an extremely happy experience. The family reunion ushers in an atmosphere of mirth and jollity.
– You're welcome home. To let you know that you were missed a lot and now that you're back, you're welcomed with love and tender thoughts.
– Welcome home. We all cherish your presence and want you to know that even though we have been apart, you have always held a special place in our heart. Welcome back.
– Welcoming you with much gladness in every way. A warm and cordial welcome!
II. How to Say it Correctly
Correct errors, if any, in the following sentences
1. What you would like to drink?
2. I asked Abdu how was he getting to Mahweet?
3. Have not you finished your homework yet?
4. Haven't you got nobody to help you?
5. I've forgotten my watch. Which time do you make it?
Suggested answers to the previous issue's questions
1. I did some research into problems of learning English by Yemeni learners.
2. I'm afraid I made a mistake in the calculation.
3. The house collapsed during the storm.
4. (Somebody) remembered Yahya leaving the house at about 6 P.M.
5. It was decided that Dr. Ismail would/should chair the meeting.
III. Increase Your Word Power
(A) How to express it in one word
1. Praise highly in speech or writing.
2. State of pleasant excitement.
3. Bringing about easy and painless death.
4. Find a way of not doing something.
5. Find out the amount or value of something.
Suggested answers to the previous issue's questions
1. The inner nature or most important quality of a thing: essence (n)
2. Have a higher opinion of: esteem (vt)
3. River mouth into which the tide flows: estuary (n)
4. Time without end: eternity (n)
5. Rules for formal relations or behavior among people: etiquette (n)
(B) Words often confused
Bring out the difference in meaning of the following pairs of words
1. cemetery, symmetry 2. ample, ampoule
3. dominate, domineer 4. repellent, repulsive
5. flier, flyer
Suggested answers to the previous issue's questions
1. earthly (adj) (of this world, not of heaven): Don't boast of earthly possessions. These are temporary.
ethereal (adj) (of unearthly delicacy): Everyone is charmed by her ethereal beauty.
2. ethic (n) (system of moral principles): One must follow the social ethic.
ethnic (adj) (the races of mankind): Africans living here are an ethnic minority.
3. ethnography (n) (scientific description of the races of mankind): Ethnography forms a part of Anthropology.
ethnology (n) (science of the races of mankind): An ethnologist investigates the ethnology of human races.
4. depositary (n) (a person with whom something is deposited): I left my valuables in the custody of a trusted depositary.
depository (n) (a place of storage, store house): Bank is a safe depository for your money and jewelry.
5. male (adj) (used when referring to the sex of a person): She gave birth to a male child.
masculine (adj) (used in grammar to show the gender. Also it indicates the manly qualities of men): His masculine physique makes him popular among women.
(C ) Synonyms and Antonyms
(i) Synonyms
Choose the word that is closest in meaning to the one given at the top
1. prodigious
a. enormous b. extravagant
c. persistent d. powerful
2. quench
a. to extinguish b. to kindle
c. to make silent d. to saturate
3. quintessence
a. over-fussiness b. good taste
c. purest part d. vanity
4. quash
a. to suppress b. to slacken
c. to press into pulp d. to splinter
5. banal
a. hostile b. common place
c. forbidden d. genial
Suggested answers to the previous issue's questions
Word Synonym
1. debonair pleasing and gracious
2. tantalize to tease
3. topography physical features of a region
4. temporal worldly
5. wrought made or fashioned
(i) Antonyms
Choose the word that is most opposite in meaning to the one given at the top
1. impair
a. strengthen b. injure
c. repair d. spread
2. vacillation
a. withdrawal b. reasonable
c. determination d. confusion
3. infuse
a. enforce b. extract
c. enrich d. ignore
4. innocuous
a. innocent b. harmful
c. definite d. homeless
5. vainglorious
a. glorified b. modest
c. vain d. empty
Suggested answers to the previous issue's questions
Word Antonym
1. copious dearth
2. restive relaxed
3. puerility maturity
4. harmony dissonance
5. divulge conceal
(D) Spelling
Choose the correctly spelled word
1. a. chronology b. chronnology
c. chronologgy d. kronology
2. a. kronicle b. chronikle
c. chronicle d. chronicul
3. a. commissioner b. comissioner
c. comisioner d. commitioner
4. a. chaufer b. chauffeur
c. chaufeura d. chauffere
5. a. commemmorate b. commemorate
c. comemmorate d. comemorate
Suggested answers to the previous issue's questions
1. beneficial 2. correlative 3. cemetery
4. commitment 5. chemically
(E) Phrases and idioms
Use the following phrases in sentences
1. under someone's very nose
2. do one's stuff
3. let one's hair down
4. have a soft spot for
5. green about the gills
Suggested answers to the previous issue's questions
1. abide by (to accept and obey a decision, rule, agreement, etc). I'm determined to abide by the regulations of the university.
2. put one's weight behind (use one's position, influence, power, etc.): The Minister put his weight behind to get the project sanctioned.
3. in lieu of (in stead of): The vice captain led the team in lieu of the captain.
4. break the bank (to leave someone without the money): Khurshid wanted to buy a new house, but very soon realized that doing so would break the bank.
5. have something on the brain (to be unable to forget something): Majeed talks of nothing but exam, because he has only exam on the brain.
IV. Grammar and Composition
(A) Grammar
The sentences below each describes a situation. Think of a suitable request or command that you might make in each situation.
1. Your neighbor in the class has scribbled in your text book and you don't want him/her to do it again.
2. It is the first day of your holidays and you hope your parents will not wake you up early.
3. Your friend is getting ready to go out. If he/she is going to the library you want him/her to take your book back too.
4. You can't do your homework because your sister is playing the radio in the next room.
5. You are listening to an interesting lecture. The person sitting next to you (a stranger) is distracting you with stupid questions.
6. You are inviting some friends for your birthday party. One of your friends expresses his inability to attend due to a prior commitment.
Suggested answers to the previous issue's questions
A) trunk
1. The trunk of the oak was rough.
(The main stem of a tree)
2. He put the trunk on the train.
(A box used to carry clothes)
3. The elephant picked up peanuts with his trunk. (Part of an elephant)
B) bark
1. He peeled some bark to make a rope.
(Part of a tree)
2. He heard a loud bark across the sea.
(Cry of a dog)
3. He saw the bark on the sea. (A sailing boat)
(B) Composition
Expand the central idea contained in the maxim
105: PATIENCE AND FORBEARANCE CAN OVERCOME MOUNTAINS
Suggested answers to the previous issue's questions
104: THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE RULES THE WORLD
'The hand that rocks the cradle' symbolizes the mother and points to the immensely valuable role of the mother in shaping the character of a child, ensuring the full blossoming of his inner potential. As a result of the nurture of the mother the child of yesteryears establishes himself as an unenviable leader on all spheres of human endeavor. As a small seed grows up into a huge tree as a result of the gardener's care, the latent talent of the child unfolds itself by the soothing upbringing of the tender hands of the mother. As the child's first teacher, she prepares the child for the school of life and equips him to face the challenges in life. It is the lessons the child has imbibed from his mother that stands him in good stead in hard times and, often, places him on top of the world as a leader of the masses. The mother thus becomes the first role model for the child in the impressionable period of his childhood, determining the course of his future development. So directly or indirectly, the shaping spirit of the mother and her protective care enable the child to march confidently on the highway of life. Lives of great men bear an eloquent testimony to the profound impact of their mothers on their lives which led them to make their own lives sublime and leave behind them footprints on the sands of time.
V. Pearls from the Holy Quran
“It is He Who maketh the stars (as beacons) for you, that ye may guide yourselves, with their help, through the dark spaces of land and sea.”
S6:A97
VI. Food for Thought
Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. Your character is what you are, your reputation is merely what others think you are.
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