Phrasal verb
verb + preposition/s
eg. : run down
run out of
run into
(NB: Answers are highlighted in green.)
1. Guess who I ran into at the club!
2.She's always running into her husband.
3.I need to go to the market.I've run out of oil,meat and rice.
Put in a suitable preposition in each space.
1. Hundreds of people turned up in the rain to see the celebrity.
2.Most of my time is taken up with answering the phone.
3.Don't be put off by the price,a cool $ 20,000.
4.Something funny is going on.
5.I think she made up the whole story!
6.Not many people turned up for the last lecture.
7.Don't worry,you can count on me.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Word Collocation
Which word completes each set of collocations or fixed phrases?
a) an instrument _panel_______
a panel of experts
a control panel
a wooden panel
(NB: Answers are highlighted in green.)
b) a_secret_ballot
a_secret_agent
keep it a_secret_
meet in _secret_
the_secret_of success
c) take _control_ of the situation
it's out of _control_
the _control_ exchange
the _control_ market
d) a _time_ sheet
a _time_ zone
only _time_ will tell
long _time_ no see
for the _time_ being
e) a _child_ minder
_child_ abuse
_child_ care facilities
a _child_ prodigy
behaving like a _child_
a) an instrument _panel_______
a panel of experts
a control panel
a wooden panel
(NB: Answers are highlighted in green.)
b) a_secret_ballot
a_secret_agent
keep it a_secret_
meet in _secret_
the_secret_of success
c) take _control_ of the situation
it's out of _control_
the _control_ exchange
the _control_ market
d) a _time_ sheet
a _time_ zone
only _time_ will tell
long _time_ no see
for the _time_ being
e) a _child_ minder
_child_ abuse
_child_ care facilities
a _child_ prodigy
behaving like a _child_
Working Retired
Answers:
1. At the age of 18, you are eligible to vote. Later at age 21, you are allowed to consume alcoholic drinks. The age 35 allows an individual to campaign as a political leader and 65 is the retirement age.
2. Some are doing so because they have to in order to support themselves in a world where living costs are increasing day by day, especially health care costs and security payments. Some are still working because they enjoy their job so much that they are not willing to leave the working world. They are constantly filled with new ideas and inspirations for their job.
3. The phrase implies that Mr Burson is constantly thinking and inventing new approaches to his work. He is clearly not bored with his work and loves it so much to the extent he still wants to donate ideas that may improve his work.
4. Despite the fact that Americans have the right of 13 vacation days, they allow more than twice as many to go unused. Statistics in 2006 have shown that 23% of the Americans surveyed checked their email and voice mail while away from work, compared to the 16% in 2005.
5. The author says it in a matter-of-fact tone, in a tone to emphasize the incredulity of the matter.
6. When someone calls their 70-year-old parents, they find that their parents are too busy in the office to look after their grandchildren.
7. This means that the idea of "retirement" is no longer practised in the modern society. The image itself - a painted picture of what retirement would be like - should prepare itself for its own "retirement", for it will soon disappear.
1. At the age of 18, you are eligible to vote. Later at age 21, you are allowed to consume alcoholic drinks. The age 35 allows an individual to campaign as a political leader and 65 is the retirement age.
2. Some are doing so because they have to in order to support themselves in a world where living costs are increasing day by day, especially health care costs and security payments. Some are still working because they enjoy their job so much that they are not willing to leave the working world. They are constantly filled with new ideas and inspirations for their job.
3. The phrase implies that Mr Burson is constantly thinking and inventing new approaches to his work. He is clearly not bored with his work and loves it so much to the extent he still wants to donate ideas that may improve his work.
4. Despite the fact that Americans have the right of 13 vacation days, they allow more than twice as many to go unused. Statistics in 2006 have shown that 23% of the Americans surveyed checked their email and voice mail while away from work, compared to the 16% in 2005.
5. The author says it in a matter-of-fact tone, in a tone to emphasize the incredulity of the matter.
6. When someone calls their 70-year-old parents, they find that their parents are too busy in the office to look after their grandchildren.
7. This means that the idea of "retirement" is no longer practised in the modern society. The image itself - a painted picture of what retirement would be like - should prepare itself for its own "retirement", for it will soon disappear.
Spoof Advertisements
Answers:
1. The underlying message is that society should visit cinemas in order to escape from reality. As shown from the advertisements, if movies were reality, it would not be good as they imagined. Hence, to escape from the horrors of reality, people are encouraged to visit the cinema and lose themselves in their fantasy world - the movies.
2. It is contrasted in the sense that not everything is what you want it to be. In that particular scene in Titanic, there are no seagulls which fly and poke the lover's eye for it will destroy the "romantic" ambience set by the movie and in fact, destroy the viewers "lovey-dovey" mood. If "Free Willy" were a show about whales killing humans, it would suffer big losses and gain, not profit, but bad reviews from the society. The two advertisements simply show the big, drastic and at times, terrible differences between reality and fantasy. Nothing in reality is ever smooth-running like a movie.
3. The stereotypical image of wild animals in captivity is the image of them suffering and being deprived of their natural needs. People believe that wild animals in captivity symbolise the cruelty of humans against wild life. They should be set free and left to survive in the wild where they rightfully belong, which happened in "Free Willy." Love cruises give the image of deeply-in-love couples spending valuable time together on board a large, luxurious cruise. There is also another stereotype of people meeting their life partners on board the cruise, just like the movie "Titanic."
1. The underlying message is that society should visit cinemas in order to escape from reality. As shown from the advertisements, if movies were reality, it would not be good as they imagined. Hence, to escape from the horrors of reality, people are encouraged to visit the cinema and lose themselves in their fantasy world - the movies.
2. It is contrasted in the sense that not everything is what you want it to be. In that particular scene in Titanic, there are no seagulls which fly and poke the lover's eye for it will destroy the "romantic" ambience set by the movie and in fact, destroy the viewers "lovey-dovey" mood. If "Free Willy" were a show about whales killing humans, it would suffer big losses and gain, not profit, but bad reviews from the society. The two advertisements simply show the big, drastic and at times, terrible differences between reality and fantasy. Nothing in reality is ever smooth-running like a movie.
3. The stereotypical image of wild animals in captivity is the image of them suffering and being deprived of their natural needs. People believe that wild animals in captivity symbolise the cruelty of humans against wild life. They should be set free and left to survive in the wild where they rightfully belong, which happened in "Free Willy." Love cruises give the image of deeply-in-love couples spending valuable time together on board a large, luxurious cruise. There is also another stereotype of people meeting their life partners on board the cruise, just like the movie "Titanic."
Common Collation Exercise
Exercise
Both options make sense.Underline the one which forms a common collocation
(NB: Answers are in high-lighted in green)
1. Many small houses and huts were (flooded away/washed away) when the river bursts its banks.
2.Poor farming methods are responsible for soil (devaluation/erosion )in many areas of Saharan African.
3.During the earthquake,many people were( buried/covered )alive.
4.The forest fire left a wide area of the mountainside blackened and (ablaze/smouldering).
5.Villagers are hoping for rain this month after nearly a year of (dry weather/drought.)
6. Before the hurricane struck,many people were (evacuated/shifted) to higher ground.
7.Thousands of children in the famine-striken area are suffering from (malnutrition/undernourishment).
10.Heavy snow has fallen in the mountains and many villages have been (blocked out/cut off) for the past two days.
11.The Aids (epidemic/plague) is having serious effects in some countries.
12.Many small islands in the Indian Ocean are threatened by rising sea (waters/levels).
Both options make sense.Underline the one which forms a common collocation
(NB: Answers are in high-lighted in green)
1. Many small houses and huts were (flooded away/washed away) when the river bursts its banks.
2.Poor farming methods are responsible for soil (devaluation/erosion )in many areas of Saharan African.
3.During the earthquake,many people were( buried/covered )alive.
4.The forest fire left a wide area of the mountainside blackened and (ablaze/smouldering).
5.Villagers are hoping for rain this month after nearly a year of (dry weather/drought.)
6. Before the hurricane struck,many people were (evacuated/shifted) to higher ground.
7.Thousands of children in the famine-striken area are suffering from (malnutrition/undernourishment).
10.Heavy snow has fallen in the mountains and many villages have been (blocked out/cut off) for the past two days.
11.The Aids (epidemic/plague) is having serious effects in some countries.
12.Many small islands in the Indian Ocean are threatened by rising sea (waters/levels).
Loony Teens
Answers to questions:
1. The teen is nervous. Although he studied and put in much effort before the exam, his state of mind would affect his performance. The tension and stress from the exam would tend to affect the teen mentally. He is unable to think clearly and extract the information out from what he has painstakingly learned. Literally, the information "flies out". (as illustrated by the comic)
2. Based on the second cartoon, the father does not understand how to communicate with the son regarding his school life. The father posts a question that obviously, in a teenagers, is not necessary. The father even prefers it if the son ignores him because he does not know how to communicate with the son normally.
3. In the second cartoon, the teenager is trying to tell his father that there is nothing different about school. It is just a routine - carrying out the same thing everyday just because he has to, not because he wants to. In a way, he may be implying that school is boring.
In the third cartoon, the son is trying to get the father to understand that the Internet is down and in the teen world, it is a big crisis. The son uses a symbolic explanation - Eskimos naming ice and water - to explain to the father that teens today live in the modernized world, thus there are many different ways to explain problems with the internet.
4. In the second cartoon, it shows that the father somehow knows how the son reacts to rheotorical questions. The father realises that "How was school?" is a question which does not need an answer from his son; it is understood. After asking and receiving an answer, the father somehow understands a little why his son ignores him at times.
1. The teen is nervous. Although he studied and put in much effort before the exam, his state of mind would affect his performance. The tension and stress from the exam would tend to affect the teen mentally. He is unable to think clearly and extract the information out from what he has painstakingly learned. Literally, the information "flies out". (as illustrated by the comic)
2. Based on the second cartoon, the father does not understand how to communicate with the son regarding his school life. The father posts a question that obviously, in a teenagers, is not necessary. The father even prefers it if the son ignores him because he does not know how to communicate with the son normally.
3. In the second cartoon, the teenager is trying to tell his father that there is nothing different about school. It is just a routine - carrying out the same thing everyday just because he has to, not because he wants to. In a way, he may be implying that school is boring.
In the third cartoon, the son is trying to get the father to understand that the Internet is down and in the teen world, it is a big crisis. The son uses a symbolic explanation - Eskimos naming ice and water - to explain to the father that teens today live in the modernized world, thus there are many different ways to explain problems with the internet.
4. In the second cartoon, it shows that the father somehow knows how the son reacts to rheotorical questions. The father realises that "How was school?" is a question which does not need an answer from his son; it is understood. After asking and receiving an answer, the father somehow understands a little why his son ignores him at times.
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