Test your vocabulary skills

Choose the best adjective out of the two given in each question below:

1.    Sammi didn’t have time to finish the whole exam, so some of her answers were incomplete/deficient.

2.    My father’s new car is really rapid/fast.

3.    The weather forecast wasn’t very accurate/truthful, because they said it would rain and it’s been fine all day.

4.    The noticeable dearth of goal-scoring opportunities means that these are annoying/worrying times indeed for Danby United.

5.    My little brother is so greedy/eager. He’s just finished his fourth banana!

6.    We gave a donation to the charity, partly because the children on their poster looked     so precious/vulnerable.

7.    When we got married my husband promised that he would always be dependable/faithful to me.

8.    I like the new cushions on your sofa, they’re lovely/lovable.

9.    I believe if you want something in life badly enough you should be powerful/persistent and never give up until you’ve reached your goal.

10.  This isn’t the finished version of my essay. I always write a rough/clean draft first.

11.  Some critics haven’t enjoyed Spielberg’s later films, such as The Terminal and AI, finding them a little too sentimental/extreme.

12.  James proposed to Maria at Gina’s party on Saturday. He got down on one knee and everything! It certainly made for a spectacular/memorable evening.

13.  When I told my boss that I needed two weeks off to visit my sick grandmother in Mexico, she wasn’t very sympathetic/acceptable. Probably because she knows I don’t have any relatives in Mexico.

14.  Jenna doesn’t like her curly/floppy hair, but she’s too lazy to straighten it.

15.  “Jas, that skirt is horrendous! No one will ever find you remotely pleasant/attractive if you go outside wearing that!” counselled Jas’s best friend, Mandy.

You will find the answers in the first comment.

 For more activities on English check this site:

http://www.englishbanana.com/

Verb-dash

Have you got problems with your irregular verbs? If you do, play this game:
http://games.wordreference.com/language-games/verb-dash

Crime vocabulary

Fill in the blanks with the following words for crimes:burglary, arson, vandalism, terrorism, forgery, blackmail, smuggling, fraud, mugging, rape, kidnapping, drug dealing, shoplifting.

1. He threatened to send the love letters to her husband unless she gave him $500………………………………………….
 2. The telephone box had been smashed and there was graffiti all over the walls……………………………………………..
3. An old man has been attacked and robbed in a city street. He is recovering in hospital. ……………………………………………………
 4. Department stores lose millions of pounds each year through goods being stolen off the shelves. …………………………………………
5. Thieves broke into the house while the family was away on holiday………………………………………………………..
6. The young woman was sexually attacked as she walked across the park at night………………………………………..
7. He watched with satisfaction as the fire he lit burnt down the factory. ‘That’ll make them wish they’d never given me the sack.’…………………………………………………………..
8. It was a perfect copy. It was so good, in fact, that it could even fool an expert…………………………………………
9. The bank believed her to be trustworthy. They had no reason to suspect that she had transferred thousands of pounds to false accounts………………………………………………….
10. ‘If you want to see your child again, put $10,000 into an old suitcase and wait for further instructions.’ …………………………………………..
11. George gave the man $50 in return for a small packet of heroin……………………………………………………..
12. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and people were sitting outside the café enjoying the sunshine. Then the bomb went off…………………………………………………….
13. ‘If only I hadn’t brought those watches through customs,’ she thought as she sat crying in the police station. …………………………………………………………..

Can you guess what kind of crime each one is?

Play this game

Here is an interesting game for students and teachers of English to play:

 http://www.whichisenglish.com/

 

Примерни изпитни материали за матура по английски език

http://www.minedu.government.bg/top_menu/general/dzi/index.html

Tag questions - exercise

1. He sometimes reads the newspaper,…………………………?
2. You are Indian, ………………………?
3. Peggy didn't use the pencil, ………………………………?
4. Mary has answered the teacher's question, ………………………?
5. The boy is from Turkey, ………………………………?
6. Sue wasn't listening, …………………………?
7. Andrew isn't sleeping, ………………………?
8. Tom and Maria will arrive at Heathrow, ………………………?
9. He's been to Texas,………………………?
10. Dogs like meat, ……………………………?
11. There are some apples left, ……………………………?
12. I'm late, …………………………?
13. Let's go, …………………………?
14. Don't smoke, ……………………………?
15. He does sing in the bathroom, ……………………………?
16. He'll never know, …………………………?
17. I think, he's from India, ………………………?
18. Lovely day today, …………………………?
19. She is collecting stickers, ……………………………?
20. We often watch TV in the afternoon, …………………………?
21. You have cleaned your bike, ……………………………?
22. John and Max don't like Maths, ………………………………?
23. Peter played handball yesterday, ……………………………?
24. They are going home from school, ………………………………?
25. Mary didn't do her homework last Monday, …………………………………?
26. He could have bought a new car, ……………………………?
27. Kevin will come tonight, ……………………………?
28. I'm clever, ……………………………………?

Smart blonde

     A blonde walks into a bank in London and asks to see the Manager. She says she's going to Hong Kong on business for two weeks and needs to borrow £5,000. The Manager says the bank will need some kind of security for the loan, so the blonde hands over the keys to a new Ferrari.The car is parked on the street in front of the bank, she has the title and everything checks out. The bank agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan.The Manager and the tellers all enjoy a good laugh at the blonde for using a £200,000 Ferrari as collateral against a £5,000 loan. An employee of the bank then proceeds to drive the Ferrari into the bank's underground garage and parks it there.Two weeks later, the blonde returns, repays the £5,000 and the interest, which comes to £15.41. The Manager says, "Miss, we are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled. While you were away, we checked you out and found that you are a millionairess. What puzzles us is, why would you bother to borrow £5,000?"The blonde replies..."Where else in London can I park my car for two weeks for only £15.41 and expect it to be there when I return?"

Silent letters

Here is a list of common letter combinations with silent letters. This list contains most of the silent letters that give English as a second language students difficulties.
Silent B
B is not pronounced when following M at the end of a word.
climb, crumb, dumb, comb
Silent C
C is not pronounced in the ending "scle"
muscle
Silent D
D is not pronounced in the following common words:
handkerchief, sandwich, Wednesday
Silent E
E is not pronounced at the end of words and usually makes the vowel long.
hope, drive, gave, write, site
Silent G
G is not often not pronounced when followed by an N
champagne, foreign, sign, feign
Silent GH
GH is not pronounced before T and at the end of many words
thought, through, daughter, light, might, right, fight, weigh
Silent H
H is not pronounced when following W. Some speakers whisper the H before the W.
what, when, where, whether, why
Silent H
H is not pronounced at the beginning of many words. Use the article "an" with unvoiced H. Here are some of the most common:
hour, honest, honor, heir, herb
Pronounced H
H is pronounced at the beginning of these common words. Use the article "a" with voiced H.
hill, history, height, happy, hangover
Silent K
K is not pronounced when followed by N at the beginning of a word.
knife, knee, know, knock, knowledge
Silent L
L is often not pronounced before L, D, F, M, K.
calm, half, salmon, talk, balk, would, should
Silent N
N is not pronounced following M at the end of a word.
autumn, hymn
Silent P
P is not pronounced at the beginning of many words using the suffix "psych" and "pneu".
psychiatrist, pneumonia, psychotherapy, psychotic
Silent S
S is not pronounced before L in the following words:
island, isle
Silent T
T is not pronounced in these common words:
castle, Christmas, fasten, listen, often, whistle, thistle
Silent U
U is not pronounced before after G and before a vowel.
guess, guidance, guitar, guest
Silent W
W is not pronounced at the beginning of a word followed by an R.
wrap, write, wrong
Silent W
W is not pronounced with these three pronouns:
who, whose, whom

A dictation featuring - ie- and -ei-

A lot of students have problems spelling words which contain the diphthongs -ie- and -ei-. Of course they should all remember the rhyme

i before e,

Except after c,

Or when sounded as "a,"

As in neighbour and weigh.

Here's a dictation to do with your upper-intermediate or advanced students.

        On entering the hall Adam at once perceived that grief and melancholy reigned supreme in their house. Still struggling with his impressions he allowed himself to be relieved of his hat and coat and in silence followed the servant up the shallow stairs.       
        Mary received him in her father’s study. She wasn’t alone. She introduced him to her niece, a tall girl of eighteen with piercing eyes and her uncle, a fierce-looking priest in his late forties. After the brief introduction Mary began speaking of what had happened in tones so absolutely foreign to her that Adam started. In fact, the truth was worse than he had conceived. It was maddening. He believed he might have yielded to despair, had he known it all at the time.
       Suddenly his joy in himself and his achievements dropped from him. He didn’t feign indifference but allowed his voice to tremble with emotion as he stretched his hand out and spoke in a hoarse whisper. The chief difficulty was that he had to find an excuse for his long silence. After what he thought was a plausible explanation Adam uttered a sigh of relief and relit his cigar, which had gone out while he was speaking. He passed his handkerchief across his forehead. Of course, Adam’s explanation had not deceived even himself. Mary asked the priest to explain to Adam what mischief had been done to the family and that much of their property would be ceased for payment of debts.
        It was the price they had to pay for his thoughtlessness and carelessness. For some time everybody was silent. The girl kept examining the room, the ceiling, the walls, each piece of furniture, then Adam. Looking into her eyes, Adam for a moment forgot where he was. The shriek of the brakes from outside brought him back to reality. The lawyer had come.