7. What was the largest island before Australia was discovered?
8. What goes through all the house without touching a thing?
9. What turns everything round but never moves?
10. What is very light but can never be lifted?
a) A bubble
b) A hole
c) A loud voice
d) A mirror
e) A pack of cards
f) A rug
g) A sponge
h) Australia
i) Sleep
j) Wrong
© Springer International Publishing AG 2018
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Short Forms
Do you know what the full form of the following words is? e.g. ad = advert = adver-tisement, brill = brilliant
convo info sec
cred min tel
def
mos def
typo
fav prob uni
Acronyms
A quick way of writing is to use acronyms, where each letter stands for a word.
Match the acronyms with their meanings.
hth
just kidding
hwru
hope this helps
imho
sense of humor failure
jk
with regard to/with respect to
lol
laughing out loud
sohf
how are you?
tafn
in my humble opinion
tgif
thank god it’s Friday
wrt
what you see is what you get
wysiwyg
that’s all for now
Grammar Challenge
Underline the correct form.
A man drove/ was driving his car when one of the tires punctured/was puncturing.
He got/was getting out of his car and while he changed/ was changing one of the wheels, all five of the nuts fell/were falling down a drain. He sat/was sitting there thinking about what he was going to do when his young niece arrived/was arriving on her bicycle. She stopped/was stopping and asked him why he sat/ was sitting at the side of the road doing nothing. He explained/was explaining to her what had happened. She said: “I am not really sure what the problem is. Just take one nut from each of the other three wheels, and put them on the wheel that had/was having the puncture. That should be enough to get you to the next garage”.
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Rhyming Pairs
These pairs of words look as if they should rhyme, but not many of them do. Which ones do rhyme?
head
read
beard
heard
bone
done
foot
boot
nose
lose
face
pace
throat
goat
voice
choice
hair
chair
tooth
smooth
Funny Book Titles
Try to understand why the author of the book is appropriate to the title/topic of the book.
The Housing Problem by Rufus Quick
House Construction by Bill Jerome Holme
I Need Insurance by Justin Case
Teach Me! by I. Wanda No
More for Your Money by Max Amize
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Anagrams
Create an anagram from the letters of the words in the first column. The anagram should correspond to the definition.
anagram
definition
grease
to be of the same opinion
ideals
_____ and gentlemen
nailed
negating the probably true facts
wander
made aware of a danger
teaser
consumers of food
assume
has fun
buries
comparative of ‘busy’
caress
frightens
cashed
quickly following someone
direct
the opposite of debit
Mathematical 1
A tramp makes his own cigarettes by collecting cigarette ends. He needs seven cigarette ends to make one cigarette. How many cigarettes can he make from 49 ends?
Mathematical 2
On her first birthday she turned eight. How could this be?
Mathematical 3
A cat and a half eat a rat and a half in an hour and a half. How long will it take ten cats to eat 10 rats?
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Mathematical 4
Adam and Bill are farmers. Adam says to Bill: “If you give me 100 of your sheep, I’ll have twice as many sheep as you.” Bill says: “No, give me 100 of your sheep, then we’ll have the same amount.” Explain.
Mathematical 5
Superman always goes around with a load of chewing gum in his pockets. The other day he said to Superwoman: “If I take a piece of gum from my left trouser pocket and put in tin the right one, I’ll have the same number of pieces in each. But if I take a piece from the right pocket and put it in the left, I’ll have twice as many pieces in the left pocket as in the right”. How many pieces of gum must Superman have in (a) his left pocket, and (b) in his right pocket?
Mathematical 6
A bar of chocolate is three pieces wide by eight pieces long. If you are not allowed to double up pieces, what is the minimum number of breaks you will have to make
to separate them all.
Palindromes
The five sentences below are all palindromes, i.e. sentences that can be read letter-by- letter either starting at the beginning or starting from the end. The only problem is that in each case one or more extra words have been inserted. Can you find the extra word(s)? (e.g. Madam I’m not Adam = in this case not is the extra word) Sums are not set as a test on Erasmus.
Was it Eliot’s toilet I saw?
Was it a car or it a cat that I saw?
Yawn a more Roman way.
Ten animals I slam in a net.
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Proverbs
Match the proverbs (1-10) with their explanations (a-j).
1. There are plenty of other fish in the sea
2. There’s a time and a place for everything
3. There’s no smoke without fire
4. There’s no time like the present
5. There’s no use crying over spilled/spilt milk
6. Third time lucky
7. (This is) just what the doctor ordered
8. Time is a great healer
9. Time is money
10. To kill two birds with one stone
a) If there are rumors of something then there is probably a reason for the rumors.
b) Now is the best time to do something.
c) Pain or sorrow will be felt less strongly as time passes.
d) Said when someone is behaving in a way that you do not think is suitable for
the situation they are in.
e) Something that is good for someone to have or to do.
f) The third time that you try something you will be successful.
g) There are many potential substitutes in the world.
h) There is no point in worrying or complaining about something that you cannot change.
i) Time is valuable and wasting time is like wasting money.
j) To accomplish two goals with one action.
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Limericks
Practise reading the limericks aloud and hear/find the rhythm.
Said Queen Isabella of Spain,
“I like it just now and again;
But I wish to explain
That by ‘Now and again’
I mean now and again and again.
There was an old man at th
e Cape
Who made himself garments of crape;
When asked “Will they tear?
He replied “Here and there
But they keep such a beautiful shape”.
There was a young girl of Majorca
Whose aunt was a very fast walker;
She walked sixty miles
And leaped fifteen stiles
Which astonished that girl of Majorca.
Anagrams
Match a word from the first column with its anagram in the second column.
adverts
cleared
close-up
couples
declared
despair
stained
eastern
hardest
elapsed
pleased
instead
praised
premise
dignity
starved
nearest
tidying
empires
trashed
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Word Ladder
Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland, enjoyed converting one word into another by changing one letter at a time. For example: H A T E > h a v e > h o v e > L O V E
See if you can convert LIVE into DEAD. You can use the clues in brackets to help you.
LIVE
_____
LIND (not a recognized word, but used by Carroll in any case)
_____
_____
DEAD
Keys to Chapter 8
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Keys to Chapter 8
Riddles
1. The more you take away form it the larger it becomes, the more you add
to it the smaller it becomes? What is it? A hole.
2. What is put on a table, cut, but never eaten? A pack of cards
3. What holds water yet is full of holes? A sponge
4. What word is spelled wrong in every dictionary? Wrong
5. What goes up and down the stairs without moving? A rug
6. What is that you want, but when you have it you don’t know that you have
it? Sleep.
7. What was the largest island before Australia was discovered? Australia.
8. What goes through all the house without touching a thing? A loud voice.
9. What turns everything round but never moves? A mirror.
10. What is very light but can never be lifted? A bubble.
Short Forms
convo = conversation, cred = credibility, def = definitely, fav = favorite, info =
information, min = minute, mos def = most definitely, prob = problem, sec =
second, tel = telephone, typo = typography mistake, uni = university
Acronyms
hth = hope this helps
hwru = how are you?
imho = in my humble opinion
jk = just kidding
lol = laughing out loud
sohf = sense of humor failure
tafn = that’s all for now
tgif = thank god it’s Friday
wrt = with regard to/with respect to
wysiwyg = what you see is what you get
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Keys to Chapter 8
Grammar Challenge
A man was driving his car when one of the tires punctured. He got out of his car and while he was changing one of the wheels, all five of the nuts fell down a drain. He sat/was sitting there thinking about what he was going to do when his young niece arrived on her bicycle. She stopped and asked him why he was sitting at the side of the road doing nothing. He explained to her what had happened. She said: “I am not really sure what the problem is. Just take one
nut from each of the other three wheels, and put them on the wheel that had
the puncture. That should be enough to get you to the next garage.
Rhyming Pairs
head rhymes with read when read is the past tense of to read Other pairs that rhyme are: face/pace, throat/goat, voice/choice, hair/chair
Funny Book Titles
The Housing Problem by Rufus Quick (roof house quick)
House Construction by Bill Jerome Holme (build your own home)
I Need Insurance by Justin Case (just in case)
Teach Me! by I. Wanda No (I want to know)
More for Your Money by Max Amize (maximize)
Anagrams
agrees
ladies
denial
warned
eaters
amuses
busier
scares
chased
credit
Keys to Chapter 8
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Mathematical 1
Eight. He makes seven to start with, smokes them, and then makes the eighth
from their ends.
Mathematical 2
She was born on February 29, 1896. Since only centuries divisible by 400 are
leap years, the year 1900 was not a leap year. Thus, the next February 29th
was in 1904, when she turned eight.
Mathematical 3
An hour and a half.
Mathematical 4
a + 100 = 2(b-100)
b + 100 = a - 100
a = b + 200
b + 200 + 100 = 2b - 200
b = 500
500 + 100 = a - 100
a = 700
Mathematical 5
7, 5
Mathematical 6
23
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Keys to Chapter 8
Palindromes
Sums are not ever set as a test on Erasmus.
Was it Thomas Eliot’s toilet I saw?
Was it a car or was it a cat that I saw?
Yawn a much more Roman way.
Ten animals did I slam in a net.
Proverbs
There are plenty of other fish in the sea There are many potential substitutes in the world.
There’s a time and a place for everything Said when someone is behaving in
a way that you do not think is suitable for the situation they are in There’s no smoke without fire If there are rumors or signs of something then there is probably a reason for the rumors
There’s no time like the present Now is the best time to do something
There’s no use crying over spilled/spilt milk There is no point in worrying or complaining about something that you cannot change
Third time lucky The third time that you try something you will be
successful
(This is) just what the doctor ordered Something that is good for someone to have or to do
Time is a great healer Pain or sorrow will be less strongly felt as time passes Time is money Time is valuable and wasting time is like wasting money
To kill two birds with one stone To accomplish two goals with one action
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Anagrams
adverts/starved
close-up/couples
declared/cleared
stained/instead
hardest/trashed
pleased/elapsed
praised/despair
dignity/tidying
nearest/eastern
empires/premise
Word Ladder
LIVE
LINE
LIND (not a recognized word, but used by Carroll in any case)
LEND
LEAD
DEAD
Chapter 9
Life is more fun if you play games
Irregular Verbs
How many irregular verbs can you get out of these letters?
R F T
A W S
E I L
Each letter can be used more than once in the same verb.
Score 14: genius
10-13: Excellent
6-9: Intermediate
1-5: low
© Springer International Publishing AG 2018
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Logic Tests, Easy English!,
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Anagrams 1
Can you work out the connection between the first phrase/word and the second
phrase/word?
A divorce suit - I advise court
The eyes - they see
Ignorant - no rating
Lionesses - noiseless
Our destiny - It’s your end
This ear - it hears
Violet - love it
Unusual Paragraph
This is a most unusual paragraph. How quickly can you find out what is so unusual about it? It looks so ordinary you’d think nothing was wrong with it – and in fact, nothing is wrong with it. It is unusual though. Why? Study it, think about it, and you may find out. Try to do it without coaching. If you work at it for a bit it will dawn on you. So jump to it and try your skill at figuring it out. Good luck – don’t blow your cool!
Word Ladder
Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland, enjoyed converting one word into another by changing one letter at a time.
For example: H A T E > h a v e > h o v e > L O V E
See if you can convert MINE into COAL. You can use the clues in brackets to help you.
MINE
_____
MIST (a thin fog with condensation near the ground)
_____
MOAT (ditch dug as a fortification and usually filled with water)
_____
COAL
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Riddles
Match the questions (1-10) with the answers (a-j).
1. It walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three legs in the evening. What is it?
2. I am the beginning of the end, and the end of time and space. I am essential to creation, and I surround every place. What am I?
3. What always runs but never walks, often murmurs, never talks, has a bed but
never sleeps, has a mouth but never eats?
4. I never was. I am always to be. No one ever saw me, nor ever will. What am I?
5. At night they come without being fetched. By day they are lost without being stolen. What are they?
6. What is in seasons, seconds, centuries and minutes but not in decades, years or days?
7. The one who makes it, sells it. The one who buys it, never uses it. The one that uses it never knows that he’s using it. What is it?
8. The more you have of it, the less you see. What is it?
9. Three women went walking under one umbrella, but none of them got wet.
Why?
10. What can you hear but not touch or see?
a) A coffin
b) A river.
c) Darkness
d) It wasn’t raining.
e) Man
f) The letter ‘n’.
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