Spelling & Vocabulary Enrichment [ 17 ]

17- ] Spelling & Vocabulary Enrichment .

The six senses .

A-] The five senses are ‘sight’ , ‘hearing’ , ‘taste’ , ‘touch’  and ‘smell’ . What is sometimes referred to as a ‘sixth sense’ [ for extrasensory perception] is a power to be aware of things independently of the five physical senses , a kind of supernatural sense . The five verbs referring to the senses are modified by an adjective rather than an adverb .

e.g. He ‘looks’ dreadful’ . The trip ‘sounds’ marvelous . The cake ‘tastes’ good . It ‘felt’ strange . The soup ‘smelt’ delicious .

B-] Sight :

e.g. Yesterday I ‘glanced’ out of the window and ‘noticed’ a man ‘observing’ a house opposite through a telescope . I thought I ‘glimpsed’ a woman inside the house . Then I ‘saw’ someone else ‘peering’ into the window of the same house . I ‘gazed’ at them wondering what they were doing . Suddenly the first man stopped ‘staring’ through his telescope . He went and hit the other one on the head with the telescope and I realizes that I had ‘witnessed’ a crime .

C-] Hearing :

Scale of loudness : noiseless , silent , quiet , noisy , loud , deafening .

D-] Taste : sweet [ honey] , salty [crisps] , bitter [ strong coffee ] , sour [ vinegar ],

spicy [ Indian food ] .

If you say something tastes ‘hot’ , it may mean ‘spicy’ rather than ‘not cold’ . Food can be tasty but ‘tasteful’ refers to furnishings , architecture or a style of dressing or behavior . The opposite of both is ‘tasteless’ .

E-] Touch :  She nervously ‘fingered’ her collar . He ‘stroked’ the car and ‘patted’ the dog . She ‘tapped’ him on the shoulder . He ‘grasped’ my hand and we ran . She ‘grabbed’ her briefcase and ran to the bus stop . The thief ‘snatched’ her handbag and disappeared into the crowd . ‘Press’ the button . Please ‘handle’ the goods with great care .

F-] Smell : Here are some adjectives to describe smells :

‘stinking’ , evil-smelling’ , ‘putrid’ , ‘aromatic’ , ‘pungent’ , ‘musty’ , ‘fragrant’ ,

‘sweet-smelling’ , ‘perfumed / scented’ .

G-] Sixth sense : Different phenomena which a person with sixth sense may experience . ‘telepathy’ [ experiencing someone else’s feeling even though you are apart ]

‘premonition’ [ knowing something is going to happen before it occurs ]

‘intuition’ [ instinctive understanding ]

‘déjà vu’ [ an inexplicable feeling that you have already been somewhere or experienced something ]

What your body does .

A-] Verbs connected with the mouth and breathing :

‘breathe’ : A nurse gave the old man artificial respiration and he started ‘breathing’ again .

‘yawn’ : If one person ‘yawns’ everyone seems to start too .

‘cough’ : It was so smoky in the room that he couldn’t stop ‘coughing’ .

‘sneeze’ : Dust often makes me ‘sneeze’ .

‘sigh’ : She ‘sighed’ with relief when she heard the plane had landed safely .

‘hiccup’ : Holding your breath and swallowing can help you stop ‘hiccupping’ .

‘snore’ : She ‘snored’ all night with her mouth wide open .

B-] Verbs connected with eating and digestion :

‘burp’ : He patted the baby’s back to make it ‘burp’ after its feed .

‘chew’ : My granny used to say you should ‘chew’ every mouthful ten times .

‘rumble’ : It’s embarrassing if your stomach ‘rumbles’ during an interview .

‘swallow’ : Take a drink of water to help you ‘swallow’ . the pills .

‘suck’ : Sometimes in the airplane , you are given a sweet to ‘suck’ – it can stop your ears popping !

‘lick’ : The cat ‘licked’ the bowl clean .

‘bite’ : Don’t ‘bite’ that hard sweet – you’ll hurt your teeth .

C-] Verbs connected with the eyes and face :

‘blink’ : She ‘blinked’ several times to try and get the dust out of her eye .

‘wink’ : He ‘winked’ at me across the room to try to make me laugh .

‘frown’ : Why are you ‘frowning’ ? What’s the problem ?

‘grin’ : She was so delighted with the present that she ‘grinned’ from ear to ear .

‘blush’ : He ‘blushed’ with embarrassment when she smiled at him .

D-] Verbs connected with the whole body :

‘perspire / sweat’ : When it’s hot , you sweat / perspire . [perspire is more formal ]

‘tremble’ :My hands ‘tremble’ when I’ve been drinking too much coffee .

‘shiver’ : Look at him! He’s so cold that he’s ‘shivering’ !

‘shake’ : She laughed so much that her whole body shook .