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 .