10/8/13

All Roads Lead to Britain: Chapter IV (exercises)

Chapter IV: Exercises

1.- A well-deserved epithet
         Well is very often the beginning of some compound adjectives. Complete the following sentences with the compounds in the box:
 1.1.- someone who is sensible and does  not have emotional problems is a __________ person.
 1.2.- someone who wears smart or elegant clothes  is a __________ person.
 1.3.- someone who is wealthy is __________.
 1.4.- something that has existed for a long time and is successful is __________.
 1.5.- something that is intended to be helpful but it has unfortunate results is __________.
 1.6.- someone who belongs to an upper-class family is a __________ person.
 1.7.- if someone behaves in a way that is considered correct, they are __________ people.
 1.8.- someone who has good manners is a __________ person. A synonym is “well-mannered”.
 1.9.- someone who is admired and respected is a __________ person
 1.10.- a room which is always neat and tidy is a __________ room.
 1.11.- if you have been working hard, you may take a __________ rest.
 1.12.- someone who is strong and muscular is __________.
 1.13.- someone who has influential relations or friends is a __________ person.
 1.14.- someone who gets food regularly is __________.
 1.15.- an old person who still looks young is __________.
 1.16.- someone who has a lot of books and has learnt a lot from them is a __________ person.
 1.17.- an action which is done at the most appropriate time is a __________ action.
 1.18.- someone who knows much about a particular subject is __________ in it.
 1.19.- if you are willing to take part in an activity, you are __________ to it.
 1.20.- someone who receives a good salary is __________.

well-connected
well-timed
well-versed
well-born
well-earned
well-paid
well-off
well-behaved
well-dressed
well-learned
well-built
well-fed
well-kept
well-meant
well-preserved
well-balanced
well-bred
well-disposed
well-established
well-thought-of


2.- They knew which side their bread was buttered on
         Note the use of the preposition at the end of the sentence. This is not strange in English. For example:
                   I am afraid of something + What? =  What are you afraid of?
Now do as in the example:
         2.1.- I am looking at something + What...? = ____________________?
         2.2.- I’m fed up with something + What...? = ____________________?
         2.3.- I’m getting married next week + Who...? = ____________________?
         2.4.- I’m getting into trouble + What kind of trouble...? = ____________________?

Sometimes the preposition can be placed at the beginning of the clause, but this is more common in a formal style. So To whom were you talking? is more formal than Who were you talking to?.

Now make the following sentences a bit more formal:
2.5.- The house we live in is quite old: _________________________
2.6.- I need an assistant to work with: _________________________
2.7.- Who was penicillin discovered by?: _________________________
2.8.- I wanted to know whose side he was on: _________________________
2.9.- I don’t remember which shelf I left my book on: _________________________
2.10.-That is the firm I worked for in 1989: _________________________



3.- In two shakes of a lamb’s tail
         Lamb, as many other words which refer to animals, is used in a few expressions in English. So for example, someone who acts like a lamb does things obediently without causing any trouble. One more expression which uses this word is mutton dressed as lamb, but what does it mean? Choose one of the following options:
         a.- a person who pretends to be a friend but who wants to cause you some harm or trouble
         b.- a promise which is unrealistic
         c.- a person you go to for help when there is urgent need or great difficulty
         d.- someone who tries to look younger than they are in order to appear attractive to other people.
                            The correct answer is: ...........................
         The other expressions which do not correspond to the correct definition above are any port in a storm, a snake in the grass and a pie in the sky. Could you now connect them with their correct definition?
         1.- any port in a storm:
         2.- a snake in the grass:
         3.- a pie in the sky:

4.-  The down-and-outs
         The phrase down-and-out consists of three words which are joined by hyphens. There are other substantives in English which are formed in the same way. In the following examples there is always one missing word. Complete the compound nouns with them.
         4.1.-  son-___-law          4.2.-  forget-___-not                4.3.- love-___-a-mist
         4.4.-  lady-___-waiting             4.5.-  toad-___-the-hole           4.6.-  ___-islander
         4.7.-  passer-___                     4.8.-  ___-licence                     4.9.-  drop-___
         4.10.-  ___-goat                       4.11.- hanger-___           4.12.-  looker-___
         4.13.-  runner-___

by    in    in    in    in   off    off    she    up    on    on    me    out

5.- Red tape / To catch some red-handed / To roll out the red carpet
         Expressions with colours are very frequent in English and you have found many examples of them in this book. Red is one of the many colours used in these set phrases. Connect the following ones with their meanings:

a.- to see red
b.- to see the red light
c.- a red-letter day
d.- a red herring
e.- to paint the town red
f.- to be in the red
g.- like a red rag to a bull
h.- the red-light district
1.- to owe money to one’s bank
2.- an important or joyful occasion in one’s life
3.- the area of a city where prostitutes work
4.- provocative, which makes you extremely angry
5.- to become suddenly angry
6.- to celebrate something noisily in the street or other public
     places
7.- to recognize danger
8.- an unimportant matter which is introduced into a discussion in
     order to distract attention from the important matter being
     discussed
a.-
b.-
c.-
d.-
e.-
f.-
g.-
h.-


6.- Birds of a feather
         This phrase can be followed by some more words in order to form a proverb. The second part of it rhymes with the first. Try to guess what the ending of the proverb is.



Birds of a feather...


...stay together
...fly for ever
..are at the end of their tether
...flock together
...don’t change the weather


  ..................................................

7.- He turned a deaf ear to their grief
         Here you have other phrases with the word ear. Complete them with the words in the box.
         7.1.- To __________ music by ear
         7.2.- To have a __________ ear for something
         7.3.- To be __________ ears
         7.4.- To be __________ to the ears in something
         7.5.- To be wet __________ the ears
         7.6.- Something goes in one ear and out the __________
         7.7.- To keep/have your ears to the __________
         7.8.- To listen to something/someone with only __________ an ear

half    other    all    behind    good    ground    up    play

8.- In deep water / To go through fire and water
         Now here are some other idioms with the word water. They have been split into two parts and mixed in the box below. Put their beginnings and endings together.


the bridge        to get into         to pour oil          on an idea
         like water         water under       to keep one’s         hot water
    to pour cold water                   to spend one´s money
  run deep        still waters      head above the water      on troubled waters           


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9.- A nine days’ wonder / Number one / Two’s company, three’s a crowd
         Below there are some common expressions in which numbers from one to ten appear. Complete them with the number that you consider appropriate. (Note: some of these numbers must be written in their plural form, that is, fives, sixes, etc...)

         - a _____-armed bandit            - a _____-letter word               - Number _____ (an address)
         - a ____-man band                  - a _____-faced person            - the ____ senses
         - a rule of _____                      - _____-o’clock shadow                   - a _____-point turn
         - to be at _____ and sevens     - to look out for number _____         - to be on cloud _____
         - _____ to one                        - to dress yourself up to the _____
         - the _____ corners of the earth         - _____ of one and half a dozen of the other        

(The meanings of these expressions appear in the GLOSSARY)

10.- Grave
         This word has appeared in four expressions in this chapter. In the previous chapter, there was one more which also used it. Let’s check if you remember all of them. You are given some help below.

 10.1.- One of them means “to do something foolish or dangerous which will cause your own failure”.
           That expression is to dig ____________________ grave.
 10.2.- Another expression refers to a hypothetical situation. If someone who is dead knew something
           very shocking which is happening now perhaps they would turn _____________ graves.
 10.3.- When someone is about to die, you can say that they have _________________ grave.
 10.4.- If someone dies when they are very young, they come ___________________ grave.
 10.5.- And the last of them is used when you want to refer to something which happens throughout one’s
           life. Then you can say that something happens from _________________ the grave.

11.- Let’s strike a happy medium / To seek asylum
         Medium and asylum are words which come from Latin. The ending –um was typical in that language. Classical languages have had influence on English in the course of its history. A proof of that is the endings of some words and the plural forms that they take. So the plural of medium is media, except when medium refers to a person who is able to contact and speak to dead people, in which case the plural form is mediums. As we can see, these foreign plurals and the regular ones are both possible, although their use is different.  Formula is another example of this: its plural form is formulas when we are speaking in general, but  formulae when we are studying Mathematics. Could you now give the plural forms of these Latin/Greek words which are used in English? (Note: some of them accept both types)

   Word                Regular plural        Foreign plural            Word                 Regular plural        Foreign plural
focus
locus
genus
arena
electron
album
criterion
crisis
axis
parenthesis
demon
stratum
focuses
      X
foci
loci

circus
thesis
stimulus
phenomenon
antenna
stadium
bacterium
index
era
larva
matrix
analysis
circuses
       X
      X
theses



12.- On second thoughts / Third time lucky / Love at first sight
         Ordinal numbers from first to seventh have been dropped in the following expressions. Their meanings are given so that it can be easier for you. Could you complete them?

 12.1.- the Press: the _______ estate
 12.2.- something that seems as if it is part of your character: one’s _______ nature
 12.3.- to know absolutely nothing about a matter: not to know the _______ thing about something
 12.4.- the wife of the president of a country: the _______ Lady
 12.5.- to be told about something by other people rather than learn it directly:  to learn something at
            _______ hand
 12.6.- to lose a competition: to come off ______ best
 12.7.- the cheapest and least comfortable section on a ship or train: _______-class
 12.8.- something beyond the limits of normal experience: the _______ dimension
 12.9.- someone who supports the enemies of the country, a traitor: a _______ columnist
 12.10.- to be extremely happy: to be in the _______ heaven
 12.11.- the earliest profitable results of an activity: the _______ fruits
 12.12.- to be tortured: to be given the _______ degree
 12.13.- to have supernatural powers: to have a _______ sense
 12.14.- one whose tastes and opinions are practically the same as yours: one’s _______ self
 12.15.- to do one’s job better than anyone else having the same job: to be _______ to none

13.- A wolf in sheep’s clothing / To put the cat among the pigeons / The birds and the bees
         These three phrases combine two animals in each of them. There are more expressions in which the same occurs. Which two animals for each of the following sentences are correct? Choose from the box below.
13.1.- to play _____ and _____ with someone
         13.2.- to rain _____ and _____
         13.3.- to lead a _____-and-_____ life
         13.4.- a _____-and-_____ story
         13.5.- the early _____ catches the _____
         13.6.- when the _____’s away, the _____ will play
         13.7.- to separate the _____ from the ____
         13.8.- to set a _____ to keep the _____

fox   worm   cats   cat   cat   cat   bird   bull   dog   dogs   mouse   mice   goats   geese  sheep   cock

14.- The green-eyed monster / Red-handed
         The words eyed and handed can be called “false participles” because they are nouns with an ending which is typical of verbs. Using this structure, how could you call the following items?

         14.1.- a girl who has red hair: ____________________
         14.2.- a woman who has long legs: ____________________
         14.3.- a baby with blue eyes: ____________________
         14.4.- a man with only one arm: ____________________
         14.5.- a shirt with long sleeves: ____________________
         14.6.- a house with a flat roof: ____________________
         14.7.- a plane with four engines: ____________________

15.- The black sheep of the family / A black eye
         The word black is used in short phrases such as a black box, the black market, a black spot, a blackleg, blackmail, a black list, a black-letter day, black ice, black money, etc..., and also in some longer expressions as the ones which appear below. They have been split in several parts and put in the boxes. Write them correctly, but take into account that two boxes belonging to the same phrase can never be in contact with each other.

so black as
something in
to be in
dressed
to have
to be
someone black
black
to beat
painted
and blue
someone’s black
and white
to be not
black
books
in
one is

¨     ...........................................................................................................
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¨     ...........................................................................................................
¨     ...........................................................................................................

16.- The Holy Grail
         After having read about the search for the Holy Grail, we know many expressions which are related to the fact of looking for something which seems impossible. There is one more which could be added to the list. The words which form it are below, but they have been shuffled. Order them.

the   the   is   thought   to   wish   father




17.- They worked their fingers to the bone / Most of the historians point the finger at her
         More expressions with the word finger appear below, but they have been mixed with their meanings. Do as in the example:

Example:     to to have a be finger involved in in the one pie activity
                   to to have a be finger involved in in the one pie activity
         The phrase is: to have a finger in the pie
         The meaning is: to be involved in one activity

 17.1.- to twist to someone get them round to do anything one’s one wants little them to finger do
 17.2.- to have a to be finger involved in in many every activities at the pie same time
 17.3.- one’s to be very fingers clumsy when you are trying to are do something with all your thumbs
            hands
 17.4.- to keep to hope that one’s everything will fingers happen as you crossed want it to
 17.5.- to to wish them keep luck in one’s a difficulty fingers they crossed have to for someone go through
 17.6.- to put to tell the the police that finger they have done on something against someone the law
 17.7.- to get to suffer because one’s something you fingers did was burnt a mistake
 17.8.- to have to be very green good at fingers gardening
 17.9.- something you fail slips to get something through when it your has been fingers next to you

18.- Similar expressions
         The following expressions have appeared in this chapter. We can put them in pairs so that there is a connection in meaning between both of them. Match one expression in the first group and one expression in the second.

1.- to disappear from the face of the earth             a.- a pretty penny        
2.- to take it in turns                                    b.- to make both ends meet
3.- a king’s ransom                                     c.- men of the same kidney
4.- to wrangle for an ass’s shadow                        d.- a tall story
5.- to tighten one’s belt                               e.- to vanish into thin air
6.- to be at death’s door                             f.- to make a mountain out of a molehill
7.- to breathe one’s last                               g.- to rise from the ashes
8.- to have an account to settle with someone        h.- the ball is in someone’s court
9.- to get a second wind                              i.- to have one foot in the grave
10.- an old wives’ tale                                 j.- to square accounts with someone
11.- birds of a feather                                  k.- to kick the bucket

1- e
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -
6 -
7 -
8 -
9 -
10 -
11 -

19.- A blind leader of the blind / A man of straw / A paper tiger
         King Aethelred has been described using a series of expressions which refer to a weak man who is not suitable for the job he is undertaking. One more could be added. It is in the box below. You need seven words which must be taken from it and ordered. There are two possibilities.

 big    round        square     in   coin     by   of   foot
     with     a     hammer   off   pocket    a   nail
 peg       small       hole      huge    out    clock   shoe

                            ............................................................................

20.- The end of the Anglo-Saxon period and the beginning of the Norman period
         In this chapter we have seen how the feudal system started to be born. This system reached its peak, as we have read, during the Norman times. There is an expression which represents quite well the general idea of feudalism: the idea of giving something in return for another thing which is given to you by the other person. Try to find it by choosing one word or group of words from each column.

you
you can’t
where
you can’t
when
teach
one door
scratch my
have
there’s
back and
an old
your
a will
shuts
cake and
I’ll
another
dog new
there’s
tricks
eat it
a way
opens
scratch yours

The expression we are looking for is: ________________________________________

The other expressions you get are: _________________________________________

_________________________________________

_________________________________________
                           
_________________________________________


KEY TO THE EXERCISES

 

Chapter 4: Angleland,Saxonland, Juteland, Vikingland


1
1.1.- well-balanced;   1.2.- well-dressed;  1.3.- well-off;   1.4.- well-established;   1.5.- well-meant;  1.6.- well-born;   1.7.- well-behaved;   1.8.- well-bred;   1.9.- well-thought-of;   1.10.- well-kept;  1.11.- well-earned;   1.12.- well-built;   1.13.- well-connected;   1.14.- well-fed;   1.15.- well-preserved;   1.16.- well-learned;   1.17.- well-timed;   1.18.- well-versed;   1.19.- well-disposed;   1.20.- well-paid
2
2.1.- What are you looking at?;   2.2.- What are you fed up with?;  2.3.- Who are you getting married to?;   2.4.- What kind of trouble are you getting into?   2.5.- The house in which we live is quite old;   2.6.- I need an assistant with whom to work;   2.7.- By whom was penicillin discovered?;   2.8.- I wanted to know on whose side he was;   2.9.- I don’t remember on which shelf I left my book;   2.10.- That is the firm for which I worked in 1989
3 The correct answer is: d.
   1-c;   2-a;   3-b
4
4.1.- son-in-law;   4.2.- forget-me-not;  4.3.- love-in-a-mist;  4.4.- lady-in-waiting;   4.5.- toad-in-the-hole;   4.6.- off-islander;   4.7.- passer-by;   4.8.- off-licence;   4.9.- drop-out;   4.10.- she-goat;  4.11.- hanger-on;   4.12.- looker-on;   4.13.- runner-up
5 a-5;   b-7;   c-2;   d-8;  e-6;   f-1;   g-4;   h-3
6 ...flock together
7
7.1.- play;   7.2.- good;   7.3.- all;   7.4.- up;   7.5.- behind;   7.6.- other;   7.7.- ground;   7.8.- half
8 water under the bridge;   to pour cold water on an idea;   to keep one’s head above water;   to get into hot water;   to spend one’s money like water;   to pour oil on troubled waters;   still waters run deep
9 a one-armed bandit;   a four-lettered word;    Number Ten;   a one-man band;   a two-faced person;  
the five senses;   a rule of three;   five-o’clock shadow;   a three-point turn;   to be at sixes and sevens;
to look out for number one;   to be on cloud nine;   ten to one;   to dress yourself up to the nines;   the four corners of the earth;   six of one and half a dozen of the other
10
10.1.- your own;   10.2.- in their;   10.3.- one foot in the;   10.4.- to an early;   10.5.- the cradle to
11
focus
locus
genus
arena
electron
album
criterion
crisis
axis
parenthesis
demon
stratum
focuses
      X
      X
arenas
electrons
albums
      X
      X
      X
      X
demons
      X
foci
loci
genera
          X
          X
          X
criteria
crises
axes
parentheses
         X
strata

circus
thesis
stimulus
phenomenon
antenna
stadium
bacterium
index
era
larva
matrix
analysis
circuses
        X
        X
        X
antennas
stadiums
        X
indexes
eras
        X
matrixes
        X
         X
theses
stimuli
phenomena
antennae
stadia
bacteria
indices
        X
larvae
matrices
analyses


12
12.1.- fourth;   12.2.- second;   12.3.- first;   12.4.- First;   12.5.- second;   12.6.- second;   12.7.- third;  12.8.- fourth;   12.9.- fifth;  12.10.- seventh;  12.11.- first;  12.12.- third;   12.13.- sixth;   12.14.- second;   12.15.- second
13
13.1.- cat, mouse;   13.2.- cats, dogs;   13.3.- cat, dog;   13.4.- cock, bull;   13.5.- bird, worm; 
13.6.-cat, mice;   13.7.- sheep, goats;  13.8.- fox, geese
14
14.1.- a red-haired girl;   14.2.- a long-legged woman;   14.3.- a blue-eyed baby;   14.4.- a one-armed man;  14.5.- a long-sleeved shirt;   14.6.- a flat-roofed house;   14.7.- a four-engined plane
15 to be not so black as one is painted;   to have something in black and white;   to be dressed in black;   to beat someone black and blue;   to be in someone’s black books
           Ñ
             ·
             *                               
             Ä
             ·
             Ä
          ///
             Ä
            ///
             Ñ
            ///
             *           
          ·
             Ñ
             ·
             *
             Ä
             Ñ          

16 the wish is father to the thought
17
17.1.- to twist to someone get them round to do anything one’s one wants little them to finger do
17.2.- to have a to be finger involved in in many every activities at the pie same time
17.3.- one’s to be very fingers clumsy when you are trying to are do something with all your thumbs 
           hands 
17.4.- to keep to hope that one’s everything will fingers happen as you crossed want it to
17.5.- to to wish them keep luck in one’s a difficulty fingers they crossed have to for someone go
           through
17.6.- to put to tell the the police that finger they have done on something against someone the law
17.7.- to get to suffer because one’s something you fingers did was burnt a mistake
17.8.- to have to be very green good at fingers gardening
17.9.- something you fail slips to get something through when it your has been fingers next to you
18 1-e;  2-h;   3-a;   4-f;   5-b;  6-i;   7-k;   8-j;   9-g;   10-d;   11-c
19 a square peg in a round hole (...or a round peg in a square hole)
20 The expression we are looking for is: you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours
      The other expressions are:
-         you can’t have your cake and eat it
-         when one door shuts another opens
-         you can’t teach an old dog new tricks
-         where there’s a will there’s a way

 

 








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