Activity 1. Read the sentence very carefully. Complete the sentence by writing a word on the line. 1. Mr.

Smith writes short stories for a living. He always wanted to be a _________________ 2. I wrote the letter with a pencil. Now I have to _________________ it with a pen. 3. John is not polite. He is very ________________ 4. Joe didnt do the homework correctly. The teacher asked him to _________________ it. 5. I would like to erase this word. May I use your _______________ for a minute? 6. I need to open this can of beans. Where is the can _________________ 7. Mark is not a responsible person. He is a very ______________ young man. 8. The doctor examined the sick woman yesterday. She plans to _______________ her tomorrow. 9. When you drive in bad weather, you must be careful. It is always necessary to drive ________________. 10. Paul is in college, but he is not a mature person. He is very ____________for his age. Activity 2. Based on the word parts used in these words, write a definition for each one of them. Use your own words. Do not use a dictionary. 1. singer 2. slowly 3. replay 4. insufficient 5. resell Context Clues When you are reading English, you will sometimes find a word that you do not know. If you do not know a word, what should you do? You might stop reading in order to look up every new word in your dictionary, but that will take a lot of your time. One quick, excellent method of finding the meaning of a new word is by using the context. The context means the other words around your new word. For example, do you know the word knob? Read this sentence and then write the meaning. Please turn the knob on the left until you find an FM station that plays good music . The important words in this example are turn, on the left, FM, and music. Now you should know that a knob is the part of the radio that you turn to find a station. In general, a knob is anything similar that you can turn. The part of the door that you put your hand on in order to open the door is the door knob. Here is another example. What does pupil mean? Read this sentence and then write your definition. It is very easy to learn quickly in this school because there are only twelve pupils in each class. The important words are school, only twelve, and class. Now you should know that pupil is another word for student. Sometimes the context can change the meaning of a word. For example, what does the word watch mean? Now, read these two sentences and write the meaning of watch in each. They watch television every day. ________________________________________________________ I was late because I forgot to wear my watch. ______________________________________________ Another example of context changing the meaning of a word can be seen with the word letter. What does the word letter mean? Read these two sentences and write the meaning of letters in each. The English alphabet has twenty-six letters. _______________________________________________ I often write letters to my friends. _____________________________________________________

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When you read English, you will certainly find new words. You should try to use word parts and the context when you can. Of course, sometimes it will be necessary to look up a word in your dictionary, but only if you cannot guess the meaning from the word parts or the context. Activity 3. Each of the sentences in this exercise contains a blank. Read each sentence quickly and then write a word that completes the sentence. There may be no single correct answer . 1. George is not single. He is ______________________ 2. Your answer is not correct. It is _________________ 3. This box is not small. It is very __________________ 4. John is very tall, but his brother is _____________________ 5. (24a + 6ab + 8b = ?) is complicated, but (2 + 2 = ?) is ________ 6. Turkey is expensive, but chicken is _________________ 7. The weather in February is usually cold. However, the weather in August is almost always _____________ 8. The reading test was very easy. However, the vocabulary test was ______________ 9. The runner from Germany runs slowly. In contrast, the runner from France can run very ______________ 10. I thought that the salad tasted bad. On the other hand, the meat was ____________ Activity 4. In this exercise, you will find three sentences. Each sentence contains a little more information than the sentence before. There is an italicized word in each of the sentences. You will also find three definitions (meanings) for the italicized word. Read the sentence, think about the meanings, and then circle the letters of the definitions that might be correct. 1) She cant find her sneakers. 2) She cant find her white sneakers. 3) She cant play tennis now because she cant find her white sneakers. I) A. money B. plates C. shoes 1) Shes usually prompt. 2) Shes usually prompt for all her classes. 3) Shes usually prompt for all her classes, but today she arrived in the middle of her first class. II) A. tired B. late C. on time. 1) Many people like celery. 2) Many people like to eat celery. 3) Many people like to eat celery, spinach, broccoli and other vegetables. III) A. A kind of meat B. A kind of vegetable C. A kind of ice cream 1) He was injured yesterday. 2) He was injured yesterday, and he wont come to class. 3) He was injured in a car accident yesterday, and he wont come to class. IV) A. Tired B. Hurt C. Thirsty 1) The meat was raw. 2) The meat on my plate was raw. 3) The meat on my plate was raw, so I asked the waiter to take it back to the kitchen and cook it longer. V) A. uncooked B. heavy C. delicious 1) I milk it everyday. 2) I milk it everyday at the stables.
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3) I milk it everyday at the stables before I give it pasture to eat. VI) A. a white liquid that comes from the cow. B. getting the milk out of the cow. 1) I dont water 2) I dont water 3) I dont water VII) A. H2O my cactuses. my cactuses everyday. my cactuses everyday because they dont need much water. B. Pouring H2O in plant vases. C. In liquid form.

C. A kind of food for cows.

1) He cant shoe the horse today. 2) He cant shoe the horse today because there are no horse shoes. 3) He cant shoe the horse today because there are no horse shoes and nails. VIII) A. the sole of the horse. B. footware for horses. C. setting shoes on horse hooves (feet). 1) The Holy See is in Italy. 2) The Holy See is in Italy, in Rome. 3) The Holy See is in Italy, in Rome; thats where the Pope lives and works. IX) A. looking B. observatory C. the Vatican

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