Spelling & Vocabulary Enrichment ( 27 )

27- ] Spelling & Vocabulary Enrichment .

Numbers and shapes .

A-] Notice how the following are said in English :

- 28 % : twenty-eight per cent . – 10 m ¥ 12 m : ten meters by twelve meters .

- 10 . 3 : ten point three . Note that ‘decimal fractions’ are separated by a ‘dot’ not a ‘comma’ in English and this is pronounced ‘point’ .

- 1 : one and two thirds , 4/5 four fifths . 9/13 nine thirteenths or nine over thirteen .  - 4² four squared , - 7³ seven cubed ,  eight to the power of four 

- 32   thirty-two degrees centigrade / Celsius or Fahrenheit .        

- 1,623,457 one million , six hundred and twenty-three thousand , four hundred and fifty-seven .

When saying a long number , you pronounce each set of up to three digits separately with rising intonation , until the last set –where the intonation falls at the end to make it clear that the number is complete .There is no plural ‘-s’ after ‘hundred’ , ‘thousand’ ‘million’ and ‘billion’ when these words are part of a number . By themselves , they can be plural , e.g. , thousands [of] people ; millions [of] insects .

 --- - Ordinal numbers and dates : 

-- We write Mach 4 [ or March 4

- 1905  = nineteen oh five

- 2010 = two thousand [ and ] ten or twenty ten .

 -- Fractions and decimals :

-- 11/4 = one and a quarter / a fourth .            – 1.75 = one point seven five

- 1½ = one and a half                                       - 1.25 = one point two five

- 1¾ = one and three quarters / fourth          - 1.5 = one point five

- 11/3 = one and a third                                   - 1.33 = one point three

 -

--- Saying “0” :

 telephone numbers : 555-0724 = five five five , oh seven two four

- mathematics : 0.7 = zero point seven / point seven ; 6.02 = six point oh two

- temperature : - 10 degrees = ten [ degrees ] below zero / minus ten [ degrees ]

- most sports games : 2-0 = two [to] nothing / two oh / two [to] zero .

 

- The buildings have ‘odd’ numbers [ e.g. , 3 , 5 , 7 ] on the left of the street and ‘even’ numbers [ e.g. , 4 , 6 , 8 ] on the right .

- I got 16 ‘out of’ 20 on our last test .

B-] Two-dimensional shapes :

 

triangle

square

circle

rectangle

oval

octagon

    triangle      square     rectangle         oval             octagon      

- A ‘rectangle’ has four ‘right angles’ .

- A ‘circle’ is cut in half by its ‘diameter . Its two halves can be called ‘semi-circles .

- The ‘radius’ of a circle is the distance from its center to the ‘circumference’ .

C-] Three-dimensional shapes :

sphere

pyramid

spiral

cube

                 

 D -] Here are the four basic processes of arithmetic : 

   [ addition ]  , 

- 2 x + 3y – z = 3z / 4x  Two x plus three y minus z equals three z divided by four x , or three z over four x .

 - 6 ¥ 7 = 42  six times / multiplied by seven is forty two , or six sevens are forty two .

Time .

A- ] Periods of time – words and typical contexts :

- The major historical / geological periods : the Ice Age , the Stone Age , the Middle Ages ,

 - the computer age  , the science age etc. 

- After the war a new ‘era’ of stability began . [ long period , perhaps several decades ]

- The doctor said I needed a ‘period’ of rest and relaxation , so I’m taking three months’ unpaid leave . [ very general word ]

- A ‘spell’ of hot weather . – He’s had a couple of spells in hospital in the last two or three years . [ indefinite but short ]

- During the 1980s I lived in Alexandria for a ‘time’ . [ vague , indefinite ]

- Do you want to borrow this book for a ‘while’ ? [ indefinite but not too long ]

B-] Useful phrases with time :  

- The doctor says you should stay in bed ‘for the time being’ . [ not specific ]

- He can get a bit bad-tempered ‘at times’ .

- ‘By the time’ we get home this pizza will be cold !

- One ‘at a time’ , please ! I can’t serve you all together .

- We got there ‘just in time’ for dinner .

- I expected you to be late , the trains are never ‘on time’ .

- I’ve told you ‘time and time again’ not to ring me at the office !

C-] Verbs associated with time passing :

- Ten years have ‘passed / elapsed’ since I last heard from her . [ 180 – 1990 ] ‘Elapse’ is more formal and is normally used in the perfect or past , without adverbs . ‘Pass’ can be used in any tense and with adverbs .

- Don’t worry . The time will ‘pass’ quickly . Time ‘passes’ very slowly when you’re lonely .

- It ‘takes’ 12 hours to fly from London to Singapore .

- The batteries is this radio usually ‘last’ about three or four months .

- This video tape ‘lasts’ / ‘runs’ for three hours .

- The meeting ‘went on’ for two hours . [ suggests longer than expected or desired ]

- ‘Take your time’ , you don’t need to hurry .

D- ] Adjectives describing duration [ how long something lasts ] :

- He’s a ‘temporary’ lecturer ; the ‘permanent’ one’s on leave .

- Could we make a ‘provisional’ booking and confirm it later ?

- Venice has a ‘timeless’ beauty .

- Muslims and Christians believe in ‘eternal’ life after death .

Spelling & Vocabulary Enrichment ( 26 }

26- ] Spelling & Vocabulary Enrichment .

 

 

Fine Arts

The arts .

A-] Things which generally come under the heading of ‘the arts’ :

Literature 

l

                                                            biographies                  short stories

                                                                     l                                  l

                                               novels - drama                           poetry

Fine Arts

l

                                                      architecture    ----- painting

                                                      ceramics                  sculpture

Performing Arts

l

                                                        theater                 cinema

                                                  drama                        ballet

                                  opera , concerts : classical / rock /country & Western 

- ‘The arts’ [plural] covers everything in the network . ‘Art’ [ singular , uncountable ] usually means ‘fine art’ , but can also refer to technique and creativity .

-Have you read the ‘arts page’ in the paper today ? [ that part of the newspaper that deals with all the things in the network ]

- She’s great ‘art lover’ . [ loves painting and sculpture ]

- Shakespeare was skilled in ‘the art of poetry . [ creative ability ]

- ‘Dance’ usually refers to modern artistic dance forms : ballet usually has a more traditional feel , unless we say ‘modern ballet’ .

- A ‘novel’ is a long story , e.g. 200-300 pages ; a piece of short prose fiction , e.g. 10 pages is a ‘short story’ .

B-] Use of ‘the’ - definite article :  When we refer to a performing art in general , we can leave out the definite article [the] .

- Are you interested in cinema / ballet / opera / theatre ?

- But : Would you like to come to the cinema / ballet / opera / theatre with us next week ?  [ particular performance ]

C-] Describing a performance :

We went to see a new ‘production’ of Hamlet last night . The ‘sets’[ scenery , buildings , furniture on the stage or in a studio ] were incredibly realistic and the ‘costumes’

[ clothes the actors wear on stage ] were wonderful . It was a good ‘cast’ [ all the actors in it ] and I thought the ‘direction’ [ the way the director had organized the performance ] was excellent . The actors ‘gave’ a marvelous ‘performance’ . It ‘got rave reviews’ [ means got very enthusiastic comments ] in the papers today .

C-] Words connected with events in the arts :

- there’s an ‘exhibition’ of paintings by Manet ‘on’ in London .

- They’re going to ‘publish’ a new ‘edition’ of the ‘works’ of Shaw next year .

- The Opera Society are doing a ‘performance’ of Don Giovanni .

- Our local cinema’s ‘showing’ Titanic next week .

Music .

A-] Buying music :

- Many people now buy music on CD .

- ‘album’ [ a recording of a selection of songs / tracks / pieces of music on a CD or cassette ]

- ‘hit singles’ [ best selling songs issued individually ]

- ‘lead singer’ [ main singer in a band ]

- ‘backing’ [ the group providing the background music /vocals for the song ]

B-] Types of music :

Music can be described in terms of the instruments playing it : ‘piano music’ , ‘guitar music’ , ‘big band music’ , ‘instrumental music’ [ instruments only with no vocals

[ voices , singing ], ‘electronic music’ [ played be a synthesizer ] , ‘orchestral music’.
                                                                      country & Western  ---------blues
                                                chamber music ------------- folk ------------ jazz   
                                                           heavy metal  -----------pop ---------classical 
                                                                                   soul 

Styles of music .

- ‘Western’ [ a style of US music based on western a folk music ] .

- ‘chamber music’ [ written for a small group of orchestral instruments ]

- ‘folk’ [ traditional ]

- The dinner was lovely , but the ‘background music’ was just too loud . We couldn’t talk .

- It’s difficult to concentrate on work  when there’s ‘dance music’ playing .

- The ‘soundtrack’ of that film is fantastic . I think it won an Oscar . [ music for a film]

I don’t really like restaurants where they play ‘muzak’ [ recorded , light music played continuously in public places ; you can also say ‘canned music’ or ‘piped music’ ] .

- Music can be described in terms of its period or place of origin :

‘contemporary’ , ‘modern’ , ‘20^th century’ , ‘ ‘sixties’ , ‘Irish’ , ‘Indian music’

 C-] Other adjectives used to describe music :

- ‘live’ , ‘recorded’ , ‘deafening’ , ‘loud’ , ‘rousing’ , ‘soft’ , ‘sweet’ , ‘innovative’ , ‘tuneless’ , ‘discordant’ , ‘tuneful’ , ‘soothing’ , ‘relaxing’ , ‘peaceful’ , ‘modern’

D-] Things you do with music :

- She ‘plays the piano’ very well , but she doesn’t ‘read music’ .

- She’s got ‘ a good ear’ . [informal] – She can ‘pick out’ any tune on the piano .[informal

- She doesn’t have to ‘practice’ much at all . She’s ‘natural’ . [informal] .She can ‘play by ear’ .

- He’s very ‘musical’ . He ‘wrote an arrangement of / arranged’ a Bach symphony for the band .

- You can ‘play a tune’ on an instrument or you can ‘whistle’ [make a sound by pushing air through your lips] or ‘hum’ [sing with lips closed] . You can ‘make music’ in lots of ways .

- I’ve some new ‘chords’ on the guitar [several harmonizing notes played at the same time] .

- I have to ‘practice’ my ‘scales’ , but it’s boring . [sets of notes moving up and down in steps ]

Sport .

A- ] Some sports you may not know :

-‘hang-gliding’  , ‘windsurfing’ , ‘[ten-pin] bowling’ , ‘scuba-diving’ , ‘cross-country skiing’ , ‘show-jumping’ , ‘fencing’ , ‘snooker /pool / billiards’ , ‘motor-racing’ , ‘archery’.

B-] Equipment  - what you hold in your hand :

- ‘golf’ : ‘club’ , - ‘squash’/ ‘tennis’ / ‘badminton’ : ‘racket’ – ‘darts’ : ‘dart’  ,  ‘cricket’/ ‘table-tennis’ / ‘baseball’ : ‘bat’ ,- ‘[ice] hockey’ : ‘stick’ , - ‘snooker’ / ‘pool’/

‘billiards’: ‘cue’ , - ‘canoeing’ : ‘paddle’ , - ‘rowing’ : ‘oar’ , - ‘fishing’ : ‘rod’ / ‘line’

C-] Athletics – some field events :  -‘discus’ , -‘javelin’ , -‘high-jump’ , -long-jump’

- ‘pole-vault’ .

- She’s a great ‘sprinter’ [fast over short distances ] . – She’s running the ‘final leg’ in the ‘relay’ . I hope no-one drops the ‘baton’ .

- He’s a great ‘long-distance’ runner . [e.g. 5000 meters , marathon]

- ‘Jogging’ round the park every Saturday’s enough for me . It keeps me fairly fit .

D-] Verbs and their collocations in the context of sport :

- Our team ‘won’ / ‘lost’ by three ‘goals’ / ‘points’ .

- She ‘broke’ the Olympic ‘record’ last year .

- He ‘holds the record’ for the 100 meters ‘breast-stroke’ .

- Liverpool ‘beat’ Hamburg 4-2 yesterday .

- How many ‘goals’ / ‘points’ have you ‘scored’ this ‘season’ ?

- I think I’ll ‘take up’ bowling next spring and ‘give up’ golf .

E-] People who do particular sports :

- ‘er’ can be used for many sports , e.g. ‘footballer’ , ‘swimmer’ , ‘windsurfer’ , ‘high-jumper’ , ‘cricketer’ , ‘golfer’ , etc.

- ‘Player’ is often necessary , e.g. ‘tennis-player’ , ‘snooker-player’ , ‘darts-player ‘ , and we can also say ‘football-player’ , ‘cricket-player’ .

- Some names must be learnt separately , e.g. ‘canoeist’ , ‘mountaineer’ , ‘jockey’ , ‘archer’ [not archerer] , ‘gymnast’ .