Linguistic commentary on UNIT 9.

Homonyms are words identical to other words in spelling or pronunciation, or both, while differing from them in meaning and usually in origin. There are several types of homonyms: homophones, homographs and homonyms proper.

Homophones have the same pronunciation but different spelling, meaning and belonging sometimes to different parts of speech. For example, there/their/they’re, no/know, threw/through, past/passed.

Homographs have the same spelling but different pronunciation and meaning. For example, lead [li:d]/[led], tear [tiə]/[teə].

Homonyms proper have the same spelling and pronunciation but different meaning (sometimes both lexical and grammatical). For example, match (a football game)/match (a small piece of wood used to make a fire); can (a modal verb)/can (a container), etc.

UNIT 10.

Revision.

Exercise 1. Choose the correct suffix and write the word out in full.

The weather in Britain is very change + -able/-ous. Only very courage + -ing/-ous people leave their umbrellas at home. Everyone looks forward to see + -ed/-ing the sun. However, there is disagree + -ment/-ly among the experts about how good the sun is for you. Some knowledge + -able/-ful people say the sun is good for your health. Others say it speeds up the age + -ous/-ing process. I am still decide + -ed/-ing who to believe. It is like + -ly/-less that they are both right. Their calculate + -ments/-ations just support their own theories.

Exercise 2. Write the nouns in plural.

Buffalo, veto, cargo, Filipino, commando, grotto, solo, mosquito, echo, tornado, Eskimo, volcano, zoo, contralto, radio, kilo, folio, kangaroo, hero, photo, memo, potato, tomato, bamboo, concerto, piano, soprano, Negro, loaf, workman, calf, roof, mouse, leaf, medium, wharf, elf, corpus, tooth, hoof, plateau, scarf, genius, criterion, phenomenon, sheaf, index, curriculum, handkerchief, antenna, goose, louse, hypothesis, bacillus, cactus, analysis, parenthesis, radium, axis, foot, formula, basis, nucleus, stimulus, matrix, genus, bureau, terminus, fungus, larva, gateau, syllabus, crisis.

Exercise 3. Write -er/-or endings in nouns. Pay attention to the international words spelling of which in English may be checked by means of Russian.

Freez..r, elect..r, imitat..r, edit..r, inform..r, follow..r, conduct..r, supervis..r, advis..r, investigat..r, discover..r, comput..r, collect..r, invent..r, command..r, soldi..r, stenograph..r, profess..r, lawy..r, doct..r, manag..r, interpret..r, destroy..r, contribut..r, provid..r, sail..r, visit..r, operat..r, bank..r, tell..r, tail..r, truck..r, rect..r, orat..r, aviat..r, fresh..r, prosecut..r, debt..r, speak..r, decorat..r, surviv..r, rul..r, invest..r.

Exercise 4. Define the meaning of the words below differing in suffixes. Make phrases with them.

1. Contemptible/contemptuous.

Contempt…. public opinion, contempt…. coward (traitor), contempt…. smile (look).

2. Cultured/cultural.

Cultur.. studies, cultur.. heritage, cultur.. revolution, cultur.. accent, cultur.. speech, cultur.. exchange.

3. Economic/economical.

Econom…. crisis, econom…. housewife, econom…. situation, econom…. use of space, econom…. development.

4. Exhaustive/inexhaustible.

…………… inquiry, …………… energy (supply, resources), …………patience, ………….. account, ……………information.

5. Honorary/honourable/honoured.

………… doctorate, ………… citizen, ………….award, ………….behaviour, ………… duty, …………. intentions, ………… guest (visitor).

6. Respectful/respectable.

…………distance, ………. silence, ………. person, ………. look, ………. place, ……….conduct.

7. Skilful/skilled.

………. hands, ………. labour, ………. worker, ………. workmen.

8. Social/sociable.

………. person, ………. contacts, ………. changes, ………. customs, ………. fellow, ………reforms, ……….welfare.

Exercise 5. Write Participle I of the following verbs.

To wrap, to suffer, to control, to gallop, to omit, to visit, to die, to notice, to age, to verify, to fan, to quarrel, to label, to begin, to envelop, to occur, to compel, to picnic, to commit, to dye, to gossip, to lag, to owe, to worship.

Exercise 6. Make adjectives from the following verbs.

To advise, to prefer, to dispute, to contradict, to imagine, to prepare, to notice, to remove, to exchange, to nurse, to depend, to resist, to assist, to space, to regret, to manage, to like, to rely, to complete, to surprise.

Exercise 7. Fill in the blanks.

Exist..nce, defin..te, sep..rate, resist..nce, fl..rescent, rar..fy, Phili..ines, marsha.., accordi..n, nick.., ficti..ious, m..mento, liqu..fy.

Exercise 8. This is the record card of one student. There are a lot of spelling mistakes in it. Find and correct all the mistakes.

Sports. Ike is skillfull on the football feeld and in the swiming pool.

Music. More self-disiplin and practise are neccesary, but Ike has a good scents of rithum.

Drama. Ike injoys both tradgedy and comidy and is a talented caracter acter.

Maths. Ike has benefitted from atending extra classes. He has definitely improoved, but still makes fawlts threw carelesness.

Jography. Ike’s prodject on equitorial rain forrest’s was very nollidgible.

Science. Ike is unintrested in sience and looses consentration easyly. He also displays a tendancy to talk. During practicle work in the laboratry he medals with the ecqipment. His techneeks are very disapointing.

Histry. Ike has a thurugh under standing of the ainshent werld, espeshally of the lifes of the Roman emporers. He has enjoyed lerning about the gods and godeses of Greek mitholojee.

Inglish. Altho Ike makes littel errers in his grammer, his creativ riting is genrally exsellent. His discriptions are perseptive and ofen humorus. We have been greatful for his asistence in the libry this year. As usuall, Ike is top of the class at spelling.

SILENT LETTERS.

UNIT 1.

Silent letters ‘b’, ‘n’, ‘k’, ‘s’, ‘z’.

Linguistic commentary on the unit.

1. Silent ‘b’.

Letter ‘b’ is silent in the following cases:

1) in the letter combination ‘–bt’ both at the end and in the middle of words: debt, doubt, subtle; debtor, doubtable, etc.;

2) in the letter combination ‘–mb’ at the end of words: climb, bomb, comb, tomb, catacomb, crumb, dumb, numb, plumb, thumb, limb, lamb – and in some words inflected and derived from them: plumber, combing, etc. However, in other words not derived from ones mentioned above ‘b’ is always pronounced when the combination ‘-mb’ is used in the middle of a word: number, amber, somber, humble, mumble, lumber, timber, etc.

NB! Letter ‘b’ is often pronounced in the words iamb (contracted from iambus) and rhomb (contracted from rhombus).

2. Silent ‘n’.

Letter ‘n’ is silent in the letter combination ‘-mn’ at the end of words and in their inflected forms: autumn, column, solemn, damn, condemn, hymn. However, it is always pronounced in derivatives from these words: autumnal, solemnity, etc. The derivative solemnly is the only exception where ‘n’ is still silent for the convenience of pronunciation.

3. Silent ‘k’.

Letter ‘k’ is silent in the letter combination ‘kn-’ at the beginning of words and in their inflected and derived forms: knack, knap, knave, knead, knit, knee, kneel, knife, knight, know, knowledge, knock, knob, knot, knuckle.

However, ‘ck’ and ‘k’ before ‘n’ medially are pronounced: acknowledge, etc.

4. Silent ‘s’, ‘z’.

Letters ‘s’ and ‘z’ are not pronounced in some words of French origin and in their inflected and derived forms: aisle, chamois, chassis, corps, Illinois, Arkansas, Grosvenor, isle, island, islet, précis, pince-nez, rendezvous.

EXERCISES.

Exercise 1. Write out the words with a) silent ‘b’; b) silent ‘n’.

Bomb, bomber, comb, cumber, somber, symbol, subtle, subtract, crumble, limb, limber, numb, nimble, plumb, plumber; autumn, autumnal, column, columnist, condemn, condemnation, condemning, damned, damning, hymn, hymnology, solemn, solemnize, solemnity, solemnly.

Exercise 2. Some of these words end in silent ‘b’ or silent ‘n’. Find these words and add the silent letters.

Lam-, slam-, dam-, ham-, brim-, clim-, whim-, lim-, dim-, slim-, broom-, bom-, foam-, com-, rhom-, num-, dum-, drum-, crum-, hum-, chum-, thum-, slum-, him-, hym-, skim-, gym-, stem-, condem-, autum-, colum-.

Exercise 3. Complete the sentences using one of these words or their inflected forms: know, knowledge, knack, knife, knave, knock.

1. ………. and fools divide the world.

2. ………. is power.

3. There’s a ……….to it.

4. To ………. everything is to ………. nothing.

5. Little ………. is a dangerous thing.

6. When fortune ………., open the door.

Exercise 4. Answer the following questions.

1. Is a person of high rank a nob or a knob?

2. Which of these is a short sleep: nap or knap?

3. Is part of a rope a not or a knot?

4. Which of these is a title: night or knight?

5. Do you knit or nit stockings out of wool?

6. Is Jersey an aisle or an isle?

7. Which of these is a dead body: corps or corpse?

Exercise 5. Guess the words with silent ‘s’ and ‘z’.

1. Middle Western State of the USA.

2. South Central State of the USA.

3. A passage in a church/on a plane.

4. A small island.

5. A piece of land surrounded by water.

6. A base framework of a motor-vehicle.

7. Restatement of the chief ideas in shortened form.

8. Island (used in proper names).

9. A small goat-like animal.

10. One of the technical branches in the army.

Exercise 6. Each name on the left rhymes with one of the words on the right. Find these pairs and try your hand at writing verses.

Rob (from Robert)	knotty
Scotty (from Scott)	précis
Tave (from Octavia)	comb
Dom (from Dominic)	limb
Tim (from Timothy)	knave
Bet (from Elizabeth)	knob
Sam (from Samuel)	debt
Gracie (from Grace)	lamb
Clem (from Clement)	know
Kim (from Kimball)	knap
Toy [twa:] (from Antoinette)	hymn
Lo (from Dolores)	contemn
Nab (from Abel)	chamois
Jack	knack

Exercise 7. Choose the appropriate word.

1. I stood outside the door and polished the nob/knob.

2. I hastily put away the raspberry jam/jamb.

3. A new/knew broom sweeps clean.

4. Turning away he began rapidly to clime/climb up the cliff again.

5. “For God’s sake, shut that damned/dammed window”, he moaned to me.

6. I was not/knot in the least afraid.

7. The engine of the car is nocking/knocking badly.

8. You should seek a milder clime/climb.

9. Many roses will not clime/climb, but have to be carefully trained up a wall.

10. They always neal/kneel in prayer.

11. We never no/know the worth of water till the well is dry.

12. The Victorian hymn/him, although now more popular, often seems rather too subjective.

13. We never dared leave him/hymn alone, even at night/knight.

14. She new/knew his every need/knead before the thought was formed in her own mind.

Exercise 8. Some of the words in the sentences have silent letters. Others don’t. Choose the correct spelling.

1. People were standing about on (k)nots, anxiously waiting for (k)news.

2. He said she had a (k)nack of turning up when you least expected her.

3. The kitchen was looking rather (k)neat.

4. His house was in one of those slum(b) streets.

5. You appear to have a large number of friends in lunatic asylum(n).

6. He is brought as a lam(b) to the slaughter.

7. I cannot even understand where the su(b)tle delights of not smoking come in.

8. After all, you have this dou(b)tful consolation.

9. He didn’t like the feeling of his Aunt’s (k)nuckles on his head.

10. Give me a (k)nob or two of coal.

11. I (k)nodded trying to look as though I’d been doing it all my life.

12. The café is a rende(z)vou(s) for writers and artists.

13. The doctor examined him touching his lim(b)s, feeling his pulse.

UNIT 2.

Silent letters ‘gh’, ‘g’, ‘h’.

Linguistic commentary on the unit.

1. Silent ‘gh’.

Letters ‘gh’ are silent in the following combinations:

1) in the combination ‘-igh(t)’: high, sigh, thigh, bright, fight, fright, night, knight, light, might, plight, right, sight, slight, tight and some others;

2) in the combination ‘-eigh(t)’: sleigh, weigh, neighbour, eight, height, weight, etc.;

3) in the combination ‘-aight’: straight;

4) in the combination ‘-aught’: caught, daughter, fraught, haughty, naughty, slaughter, taught;

5) in the combination ‘-ough(t)’: bough, dough, plough, thorough, though, through, besought, bought, brought, fought, ought, sought, thought, wrought.

NB! Letter combination ‘gh’ is also silent in all the inflected and derived forms of the words above: nightingale, frightful, weighty, etc.

2. Silent ‘g’.

Letter ‘g’ is silent in the following combinations:

1) ‘gn-’ when it stands at the beginning of a word: gnat, gnaw, gnarl, gnash, gnome, gnostic, gnu;

2) ‘-gm’ and ‘-ign’ at the end of words: paradigm, diaphragm, phlegm, sovereign, foreign, sign, assign, design, resign, campaign, reign, malign;

3) ‘-gn-’ in the middle of the following words: champagne, physiognomy, signor(a), chignon, cognac. These words are an exception rather than a rule;

4) in the inflected and derived forms of the words mentioned above: designer, maligner, etc.

However, in some derivatives ‘g’ is always audible in its medial position: malignant, resignation, signify, signal, pragmatic, phlegmatic, agnostic, etc.

Medially it is always pronounced in ‘gn’: dignity, diagnosis, cognitive, magnet, stagnation, magnificent, recognize, etc.

In the word poignant we deal with the fluctuation between [gn] and [n].

3. Silent ‘h’.

1) Letter ‘h’ is silent initially in:

a) the following words: hour, honest, heir, honour;

b) letter combination ‘exh-’: exhaust, exhibit, exhilarate, exhort;

c) letter combination ‘gh-’: ghastly (and aghast though here the combination is used medially), ghost, ghetto;

d) letter combination ‘kh-’: khaki, khan, Khart(o)um, Sakhalin;

e) some words starting with the letter combination ‘th-’: thyme, Thomas, Theresa, Thames, Thomson;

f) letter combination ‘rh-’: rhododendron, rhinoceros, rheumatism, Rhodesia, rhythm, rhyme, rhapsody, Rhone, rhetoric, rhomb, Rhine;

g) letter combination ‘wh-’: whale, wheat, what, while, why, when, whang, whey, wharf, whence, white, whimsical, whelm, wheel, which, where, whim, whiz, whine, whimper, whisky, whiff, wheeze, whit, whether, whistle, whip, whirl, whisker, wham. However, ‘h’ is not silent (because ‘w’ is silent) in words: who, whom, whose, whole, whore, whooping-cough.

2) Letter ‘h’ is silent medially:

a) in the following words with the letter combination ‘th-’: Mathilda, Anthony, Esther;

b) between a stressed and unstressed vowels: Graham, annihilate, vehicle, rehabilitate, vehement, Sahib;

c) between a consonant and an unstressed vowel: Singhalese, silhouette, gingham, forehead, saccharine, shepherd, spaghetti, Fahrenheit, burgher, Birmingham, Tottenham, Buckingham, Durham, Berkhamsted, Nottingham and some others.

3) Letter ‘h’ is silent finally:

a) in the letter combination ‘rh-’: catarrh;

b) after vowels ‘a’, ‘e’, ‘o’: hurrah, etc.

NB! Letter ‘h’ is also silent in inflected and derived forms: whipping, vehemence, aghast, exhibition, meanwhile, etc.

EXERCISES.

Exercise 1. Complete the sentences using one of these words or their derivatives: (un)taught, straight, right, through, fight, daughter-in-law, thoughts, light, midnight, might.

1. ………. trees have crooked roots.

2. One-hour sleep before ………. is worth three after.

3. Second ………. are better.

4. The way to an Englishman’s heart is ………. his stomach.

5. The mother-in-law remembers not that she was a ………..

6. Zeal without knowledge is fire without ………..

7. Two wrongs don’t make a ………..

8. Better ………. than ill-………..

9. It’s better to ………. and lose, than never to ………. at all.

10. ………. is right.

Exercise 2. Complete the words in the sentences adding ‘ight’, ‘eigh(t)’, ‘aight’, ‘augh(t)’ or ‘ough(t)’.

1. Sweet discourse makes short days and n…..s.

2. You cannot f….. against the future. Time is on our side.

3. He took it as a personal sl….. and was dreadfully offended.

4. She paused, then went on again with a sl….. change of tone.

5. I m….. practise as a conjurer if I liked.

6. I had to confess that he was r…...

7. A l….. purse makes a heavy heart.

8. Suspicions amongst thoughts are like bats among birds, they ever fly by twil…...

9. He grinned nervously and was immediately aware of his father’s s…...

10. Crooked by nature is never str….. by education.

11. We can live without our friends, but not without our n…..bours.

12. His hands were bound tightly behind his back and threw his w….. forward.

13. The prize we s….. is won.

14. A woman seldom asks advice until she has b….. her wedding clothes.

15. The wish is father to the th…...

16. He is br….. as a lamb to the sl…..er.

Exercise 3. There are only two words with silent ‘g’ below. Find and write them out.

Cognate, significant, stagnant, Agnes, physiognomy, malignant, phlegmatic, pragmatic, pugnacious, champagne.

Exercise 4. Match the words with their definitions: gnat, resign, signor, gnarled, champagne, cognac, gnu, malign, chignon, gnaw, physiognomy.

1. A large African antelope.

2. To bite steadily at smth hard.

3. A small two-winged fly that stings.

4. Covered with knobs.

5. French wine.

6. To speak ill of somebody, to tell a lie.

7. To give up a post.

8. Art of judging about character by the face.

9. Knot of hair worn at the back of the head by women.

10. Fine French brandy.

11. Title used of Italians.

Exercise 5. Answer the questions.

1. Does the king reign or rein over the country?

2. Do you sine or sign your name?

3. Does the dog nor or gnaw at a bone?

4. What is a trick: wile or while?

5. What is a card game: wist or whist?

6. Does the bicycle have weals or wheels?

7. What is another word for intelligence: wit or whit?

8. What is a sea animal: wale or whale?

9. Which of these is a herb: time or thyme?

10. Which is another word for hoarfrost: rhyme or rime?

11. What is left after separation of curds: way or whey?

12. Which of these is a unit of electrical power: what or watt?

13. Which is another word for false hair: whig or wig?

14. Do people weep or whip over their misfortunes?

15. Are your shoes showing signs of wear or where?

16. Who uses magic: a which or a witch?

Exercise 6. Choose the correct spelling.

1. Then the reign/rain/rein came lashing down in white hissing clouds on the open boats.

2. She is a child who likes to give reign/rain/rein to her imagination.

3. A groom sprang to catch the reigns/rains/reins.

4. Frankie darted inside and opened the champaign/champagne.

5. A flat open expanse of the country is called champaign/champagne.

6. She was gnawing/noring her fingernails with impatience.

7. Not a flower gnaw/nor even a blade of grass will grow in this desert.

8. There was a mosquito net/gnat over the bed.

9. The resin/resign was hardening in the air.

10. The situation was worse than he had imagined. His heart burned. He would not, simply would not resin/resign.

Exercise 7. Guess the words with silent ‘h’.

1. Causing disgust, horror or fear.

2. Spirit of a dead body.

3. Jewish quarter of a town.

4. Military uniform of a dull brown colour.

5. Title of a ruler in some states of Central Asia.

6. Art of oratory.

7. (Music) composition.

8. Thick-skinned animal living in Africa.

9. Evergreen shrub.

10. Painful disease.

11. German river.

12. Regular succession of stresses, sounds and movements.

13. English river.

14. Female name.

Exercise 8. Supply the words with the vowels.

Dnbrgh, slhtt, vhmnt, rhmtsm, hnr, shphrd, nthn, Bcknghm, spghtt, rhncrs, ctrrh, gnghm, hnst, Thmsn, hr, xhst, vhcl, xhbt, Skhln.

Exercise 9. Unscramble the words.

Anhltniiae, hrie, wahte, hruo, buhrgre, rhbltteaiiae, Snhlsigaee, wthi, ryhem, mihw, hiwp, wahfr, hleew, lehaw, ythme, eohrxt, ginchon, wang, hesmta, gaccon, skerwhis, cerosrhino, tang, itebxhinoi, ngihpysomoy, mhasot, ghaspetti, hausextion, dendohodronr.

Exercise 10. Write out the words a) with silent ‘g’; b) with silent ‘h’. Make sure you know the meaning of all the words below.

Gnaw, griffin, gnomic, glue, gnat, physiognomy, Agnes, diaphragm, ghost, ghetto, design, glutton, grapple, signor, ghastly, resign, resignation, gnostic, agnostic, glow.

Exercise 11. Each name on the left rhymes with one of the words on the right. Match the rhyming words and try your hand at writing verses.

Edward	weigh
Claudie (from Claude)	designer
Lorraine	wheel
Jane	naughty
Carlotta	gnome
Camille	high
Leonore	height
Claude	whirl
Pearl	shepherd
Clay	design
Lauren (from Laurence)	forehead
Norm (from Norman)	gnaw
Di (from Diana)	caught
Delight	foreign
Galahad	champagne
Celestine	daughter
Carolina	reign

Exercise 12. Make up new words by joining together a word from the left column with a word from the right column.

daughter-	-head
chamois-	-reader
fore-	-leather
tomb-	-in-law
bomb-	-edge
knife-	-shell
thought-	-stone

Exercise 13. Make up phrases by joining together a word from the left column with a word from the right column.

to knit	scale
rheumatic	wine
knotty	whiskers
white	fever
to thumb	a lift
worth	train
through	while
cat’s	one’s brows
Fahrenheit	problem

Exercise 14. Choose the correct variant.

1. I bow/bough to your decision, to his knowledge in these matters.

2. The light of the lamp-post winked at her threw/through the cold night.

3. Most pasta is made of a pure wit/wheat flour which/witch is mixed with water into an elastic doe/dough.

4. Place the doe/dough back in the pan.

5. The Earl had the whole court/caught dancing to his tune.

6. He court/caught his breath sharply.

7. Experience has taut/taught us that we cannot rely on them.

8. His muscles, still taut/taught from the thrill of the chase, he rode the first mile at a gallop.

9. Straight/strait, ‘narrow’, is occasionally confused with straight/strait, ‘direct’.

10. Though he slays/sleighs me, yet will I trust in him.

11. In the memory of many Americans, a slay/sleigh was a more comfortable and stylish vehicle than a sled.

12. Of what size/sighs is our future army to be?

13. He is worth his weight/wait in gold.

UNIT 3.

Silent letters ‘l’, ‘w’.

Linguistic commentary on the unit.

1. Silent ‘l’.

Letter ‘l’ is silent in the following combinations:

1) -alf/-alv: calf, half, calves, halves, halfpenny, halfpence;

2) -alm: alms, almond, balm, calm, napalm, palm, psalm, qualm, salmon;

3) -a(u)lk: Ba(u)lk, ca(u)lk, chalk, stalk, talk, Fa(u)lk;

4) -olk: folk, yolk, Norfolk, Suffolk;

5) -oln: Lincoln /- olon: in the word colonel;

6) -olm: holm, Holmes, Stockholm.

Letter ‘l’ is also silent in inflected and derived forms of these words: talkative, balmy, Fa(u)lkner, etc.

Letter ‘l’ is silent in auxiliary and modal verbs: would, should, could.

NB! Letter ‘l’ is pronounced in milk, bulk, realm, Balkan, etc.

2. Silent ‘w’.

Letter ‘w’ is silent in the following combinations:

1) ‘wr-’: wrestle, wrinkle, wriggle, wrist, wright, wrap, wrench, wreck, wren, wry, write, wrong, wring, etc.;

2) ‘wh-’: who, whom, whose, whole, whoops, whore;

3) between a consonant and a vowel: two, two-pence, sword, answer, Greenwich, Norwich, Woolwich, Berwick, Warwick;

4) in all the inflected and derived forms of the words above.

NB! Letter ‘w’ together with one or several vowels can form a long vowel or a diphthong (it also means that this letter is silent in a way): awful, owl, ewer, shawl, howl, crowd, drowse, fowl, towel, news, shrewd, stew, sew, brow, etc.

EXERCISES.

Exercise 1. Guess the words.

1. A nut.

2. Money, clothes, food given to the poor.

3. Sweet smelling oil.

4. Non-woody part of a plant that supports a flower.

5. Yellow part of an egg.

6. People.

7. Feeling of doubt.

8. Sacred song or hymn.

9. Young of the domestic cow.

10. Still, quiet.

11. Large fish.

12. Small island.

13. Islands in the South Atlantic.

14. County in eastern England.

15. Capital of Sweden.

16. The main character in many stories by A. Conan Doyle.

17. President of the USA (1861-1865).

18. A novelist.

19. A British coin.

20. A person who writes psalms.

21. Fond of talking.

22. Soft and warm (about the air).

23. Having eyes that appear to slant upwards.

24. Childish love affair.

25. Traditional beliefs, tales of a community.

26. Portable two-way radio-set.

27. Evergreen oak.

28. A person who claims to feel a person’s future.

29. Brother by one parent only.

30. Situated at an equal distance from two places.

31. Located on the prime meridian.

32. County in Scotland on the North Sea.

33. County seat in Norfolk known for its cathedral (founded in 1096).

34. Suburb of London (on the bank of the Thames).

35. A town in Central England.

Exercise 2. Answer the questions.

1. What do they call an evergreen oak: a holm-oak or a home-oak?

2. Do you think he carves or calves statues out of wood?

3. Which of these is the name of weapons: alms or arms?

4. Which of these is the name of an army-officer: colonel or kernel?

5. Which of these is the name of oil: barm or balm?

6. Which of these is the name of a bird: stork or stalk?

Exercise 3. Some of these words have a silent ‘l’. Write them out. Look up the meaning of the words you don’t know in the dictionary.

Folk, palm, balk, bulk, realm, halves, calf, yolk, colonel, self, gulf, mulberry, calm, elk, salve, salvation, Lincoln, Psalter, alter, holm, psalm, chalk, altitude, stalk, shelter, salmon, talc, almanac, bilk, almond, napalm, Calvary, balm, halfpenny, qualms, falcon, paltry.

Exercise 4. Complete the sentences below using one of these words: answer, wrong, half-crown, arrows, lawyers, drowning, nowadays, sword, own.

1. When people agree with me I always feel that I must be ………..

2. Wise men learn by other men’s mistakes; fools by their ………..

3. A good archer is not known by his ………., but by his aim.

4. Better give a shilling than lend a ………..

5. Few ………. die well, few physicians live well.

6. A ………. man will catch a straw.

7. ………. truth is the greatest news.

8. The pen is mightier than the ………..

9. The shortest ………. is doing.

Exercise 5. Divide the words below into two columns: those with silent ‘h’ and those with silent ‘w’.

Wholesome, whisper, wharf, wheat, whip, whose, wheel, whoop, whoops, whiskers, wherever, whale.

Exercise 6. Choose correct spelling according to the definition.

1. To strike a blow: rap/wrap.

2. A long cry: hoop/whoop.

3. Frozen dew: hoar/whore.

4. Entirely: holy/wholly.

5. A twist: ring/wring.

6. A weapon: soared/sword.

7. Just: right/wright.

8. A bird: ren/wren.

9. Twisted to one side: rye/wry.

10. To defeat: hop/whop.

11. To be paid: due/dew.

12. Play-wright/-write.

13. Ground-floor/-flaw.

14. Key-whole/-hole.

15. Oars-/awes-man.

16. Blue-/blew-s.

17. Sword-/soared-fish.

18. Folk-lore/-law.

19. Jack-door/-daw.

20. Flower-/flour-bed.

21. Wry-/rye-ly.

Exercise 7. Unscramble the words.

Codrw, nrcow, wosrd, otewl, nwaers, swoehr, edmowa, wofler, awawrdk, ewlnirk, twrsele.

Exercise 8. Match the words from the left column with the words from the right column to make phrases.

awkward	food
shrewd	eyes
wry	face
wholesome	age
wild	bow
low	fowl
to strike	out of the difficulty
to elbow	a dress
to take	in one’s own juice
to turn	a blow
to iron out	with one’s problems
to sew	one’s way
to wriggle	a screw
to wrestle	wrinkles
to stew	a shower
fire	towel
dish	crew
ship’s	tower
dew	drop

Exercise 9. Choose the correct spelling.

1. He stood bewildered by the (w)hole affair.

2. I think, on the (w)hole, we bored him with the thing.

3. The child can’t (w)reckon yet.

4. The snake cra(w)led out of the (w)hole.

5. Spare me the s(w)ordid details of your love affairs.

6. Princes were judged according to their mastery of s(w)ord or of the bow.

7. He is (w)rapped up in his family.

8. She (w)rapped him over the knuckles.

9. The police finally succeeded in (w)ringing a confession from the prisoner.

10. (W)ring the to(w)el dry.

11. Puzzled, he blew out smoke (w)rings.

12. I wouldn’t give a (w)rap for it.

13. What are the (w)rights and (w)rongs of the case?

14. He got interested in their initiation (w)rites.

15. To (w)rite and read comes by nature, don’t you think so?

16. This talk with the play(w)right made them give up the scenery.

17. I have always said, the first (W)ig was the Devil.

18. The storm caused (w)recks all along the coast.

19. He (w)renched the handbag from the old woman.

20. The director had to ans(w)er to the stockholders for the loss.

21. There are shops (w)ithin easy reach of the house.

22. The (w)rye cost us a lot of money.

23. She gave a (w)ry smile.

24. They lead a (w)retched existence in the slums.

UNIT 4.

Silent letters ‘p’, ‘d’, ‘f’, ‘c’, ‘ch’, ‘t’.

Linguistic commentary on the unit.

1. Silent ‘p’.

Letter ‘p’ is silent in the following combinations:

1) ‘pn-’ at the beginning of words (these are usually words of Greek origin): pneumonia, pneumatic, etc.;

2) ‘ps-’ in words containing pseudo-, psych(o)-, psalm, Psalter, corps;

3) ‘pt’ in some words: Ptolemy, receipt, ptisan;

4) ‘(s)pb’: raspberry, cupboard;

5) in some words which are to be memorized: coup (coup d’etat), sapphire;

6) in all the inflected and derived forms of the words above.

2. Silent ‘d’.

Letter ‘d’ can be (it is fluctuating) silent in a few words between ‘n’ and a consonant: handsome, handkerchief, sandwich, Wednesday, grandchild, grandma, grandpa, grandmother, grandfather, handcuff, handful, handwriting, handshake, landscape, landslide, landlord, landlady, landmark, handbook, sandstone – and in their inflected and derived forms. This kind of pronunciation can be explained from the point of convenience (of pronunciation).

3. Silent ‘f’.

Letter ‘f’ is silent in a few words: halfpenny, halfpence, half-price – and in the inflected and derived forms of these words. In colloquial speech it is often dropped in the preposition ‘of’ in an unstressed position before a consonant: a pint of milk, etc.

4. Silent ‘c’.

Letter ‘c’ is silent in the following combinations:

1) ‘sc’ before the letters ‘e’, ‘i’, ‘y’: scene, science, scissors, scythe, scent, scepter, discern, descend, adolescent, discipline, fascinate, miscellaneous, acquiesce, reminisce, etc.;

2) ‘scl’ (in a few words): muscle, corpuscle;

3) ‘ct’ (in some words): indict, victual, Connecticut;

4) in some names of English counties: Gloucester, Leicester;

5) ‘acqu’ (from Latin prefix ‘ad-’ + ‘qu-’): acquaint, acquire, acquit, acquiesce, etc.;

6) ‘exce’/‘exci’ (from Latin prefix ‘ex-’ + ‘qu-’): excel, excess, except, excerpt, excite, etc.;

7) ‘cz’ in four borrowings from Russian: czar, czarevna, czarina, czarevitch;

8) in inflected and derived forms of them: reminiscent, scenario, scientific, indictment, acquaintance, etc. However, ‘c’ is always pronounced in muscular, sceptic.

5. Silent ‘ch’.

This letter combination is silent in a few words: yacht, fuchsia – and in their inflected and derived words: yachting, etc. However, the derived form of the word fuchsia is usually pronounced with [k] fuchsin(e).

6. Silent ‘t’.

Letter ‘t’ is silent in the following letter combinations:

1) ‘stl’: bristle, castle, nestle, rustle, thistle, whistle, wrestle;

2) ‘st(h)m’: Christmas, asthma;

3) ‘ften’/‘sten’: soften, often, listen, fasten, christen, hasten, moisten;

4) in some words of French origin: ballet, buffet (in the meaning of a refreshment bar), argot, debut, bouquet;

5) in inflected and derived forms of the words above: whistling, wrestler, Newcastle, etc.

NB! However, ‘t’ is pronounced in haste, pistol, Christ, soft, hostel, crystal, etc.

EXERCISES.

Exercise 1. Write the words with psych(o)- or pseudo- in the same order as their definitions that follow.

1. Human soul or spirit.

2. Name taken by an author instead of his real name.

3. The study and treatment of mental illnesses.

4. Science, study of the mind and its processes.

5. Method of treating mental diseases by tracing them through interviews with the patient’s consciousness.

Exercise 2. Find the words with silent letters ‘p’, ‘d’, ‘f’.

Symptom, psychology, stump, pneumonia, lopsided, Psalter, cupboard, recipe, receipt, complement, glimpse, coupe, coup, couplet, prompt, raspberry, corpse, corps, corpus, concept, complaint, landscape, landslide, landlord, landmark, landlady, handle, handwriting, handshake, handsome, handbook, handkerchief, handful, sandwich, sandstone, Wednesday, grandma, haft, half, half-witted, halfpenny, half price, half pence, calf, draft, leaflet.

Exercise 3. Answer the questions.

1. Do you need a receipt or a recipe to make a cake?

2. Do you need a hansom or handsome for two passengers?

3. Shall I spell coup d’etat or cope d’etat?

4. Is he in the Diplomatic Corps or Corpse?

Exercise 4. Pick out the words with silent ‘c’ and ‘ch’.

Cecil, corpuscle, scholastic, miscellaneous, excuse, cliché, sceptic, indict, Scylla, acquiesce, muscle, muscular, scheme, yacht, excessive, adolescent, victual, scanty, discipline, acquit.

Exercise 5. Supply the words with ‘sc-’ or ‘s-’.

…issors, …ecular, …ecure, …educe, mu…le, obsole…ent, de…ent, …emolina, …ythe, …ent, …ene, …ense, …ientific, di…ern, …ymbol, …enior, corpu…le, …ermon, fa…inate, …equent, …inister, acquie…e, …eptre.

Exercise 6. Fill in the missing words where they exist.

VERB	NOUN	ADJECTIVE	ADVERB
			exceptionally
exceed
	excitement
		excessive
acquire
	acquittal
acquaint

Exercise 7. Choose the correct variant.

1. I invented a headache and retired from the seen/scene.

2. He who stands high is seen/scene from afar.

3. Its cool shadowy interior was fragrant with the sent/scent of the coast.

4. The sent/scent of the apple wood burning reminded him of another time.

5. Only an involuntary twitch of mussel/muscle in his cheek betrayed William’s feelings.

6. There are a lot of mussel/muscle shells on the beach.

Exercise 8. Make up phrases by joining together words from the left column with words from the right column.

to sail	a muscle
to rehearse	an acquaintance
to promote	science
to descend	a yacht
to wrench	them for murder
to indict	the stairs
to strike up	a scene

Exercise 9. Make up phrases by joining together words from the left column with the words from the right column.

Christmas	Apostles
to nestle	in the air
glistening	the growth of plants
to fasten	tree
Christian	dewdrops
to listen	name
castles	the door
the Twelve	the baby
to hasten	to the story
bristly	moustache

Exercise 10. Guess the words with silent ‘t’.

1. Jargon, slang.

2. To make or become slightly wet.

3. One of the short stiff hairs in a brush.

4. Chronic chest disease marked by difficulty of breathing.

5. To settle comfortably and warmly.

6. A counter where food and drink may be bought.

7. To make a gentle light sound.

Exercise 11. Write out the words with silent ‘t’.

Christmas, Christine, Christopher, pastry, pastel, listless, postal, listen, glisten, fasten, haste, hasten, christen, soften, moist, moisten, thistle, bristle, Bristol, pistol, Priestley, whistle, nestle, nestling, wrestle, rustle, rustling, bustle, jostle, apostle, monstrous, ballot, ballet, buffet, restaurant, debut.

UNIT 5.

REVISION.

Exercise 1. Which word is the odd one out in each of these groups?

1) plough – rough – dough

2) khan – knight – knave

3) shepherd – burgher – halfpenny

4) malignant – campaign – signor

5) adolescent – sceptic – fascinate

6) plumber – debtor – lumber

7) heir – honour – hair

8) islet – précis – corpse

9) psalm – psalmist – Psalter

Exercise 2. Write out the words with silent letters.

Sword, swore, lapse, lopsided, sandboy, sandwich, tomboy, tomb, salvation, salve, salmon, salmonella, palmate, palm tree.

Exercise 3. Complete the geographical names below with silent letters.

Totten….., Dur….., Norf….., Green….., Nor….., Suf….., Glou….., Lei….., Birming….., Bucking….., Stock….., Edin….., Ark….., Conn….., Ill…...

Exercise 4. Think of the full names for these pet names.

1. Tony is formed from ………..

2. Essie, Etty, Hetty are formed from ………., ………..

3. Tilda is formed from ………..

4. Terry, Tess, Tessy are formed from ………., ………..

5. Tom is formed from ………..

Exercise 5. Guess the words.

1. River in England flowing from Gloucestershire east through London into the North Sea.

2. River in Europe flowing from Switzerland north through Germany then west through the Netherlands into the North Sea.

3. River flowing from Switzerland through France into the Gulf of Lions.

4. French brandy.

5. White wine regarded as a symbol of luxurious living.

6. Strong alcoholic liquor.

7. Children’s disease with gasping coughs.

8. Dry cough, high temperature, chest pain.

9. Swollen, painful joints, stiffness, limited movement.

10. Difficult breathing.

11. The largest known sea-animal.

12. A small two-winged fly that stings.

13. Young of the domestic cow.

14. Small short-winged song-bird.

15. Large red fish.

16. Thick-skinned, heavily built animal living in Africa.

17. Young of the sheep.

Exercise 6. Choose the correct spelling.

1. Sin/scene that is hidden is half forgotten.

2. Truth is strait/straight but judges are crooked.

3. We ought to weigh/way well what we can only once decide.

4. The bitter pill may have holesome/wholesome effects.

5. The grief of the heir/air is only masked laughter.

6. Every mother’s child is hansom/handsome.

7. Young people must be taut/taught, old ones be honoured.

8. A prudent man procures in summer the slay/sleigh and in winter the wagon.

9. None waits/weights for yesterday.

10. Good wait/weight and measure is Heaven’s treasure.

11. If the weather/whether is fine, put on your cloak; if it rains/reigns, do as you please.

12. No day is holy/wholly productive of evil.

Exercise 7. Each of the tongue-twisters below lacks silent letters. Supply them where necessary. Pronounce them as fast as possible.

1. We wish we were w..ispering whales in w..ite w..irling waters.

2...nomes,..nats and..nus all..nash and..naw..narled nutshells.

3. Fo..k wa..k cha..ky paths ca..mly sta..king quiet qua..mless sa..mon.

4. The..night who..new the..nack of..nitting..nots..nelt with a..nobbly..napsack on the..noll.

5. The clim..ing plum..er’s thum.. grew num...

6. R..yming, r..ythmical r..inoceroses like r..inestones and r..ubarb.

7. The..retched..riter..reaked his..rath by..renching the..rinkled..rappers from the..recked..ristwatches.

8. Around the solem.. colum..s the singers’ hym..s condem..ed the Autum...

9. G..ostly g..ouls and g..astly g..osts eat g..erkins in g..oulish g..ettos.

Exercise 8. Fill in the gaps with silent letters missing.

Last week I had my pa..m read by Madame Rippemovsky, the famous..sychic. I was ag..ast at the things she..new. She told me all about my “keep the countryside tidy” campai..n, also that I don’t like lam.. chops or egg yo..ks, and that ras..berries are the fruit I like most. She..new that I want to be a fashion desi..ner and that I’d seen an art ex..ibition the day before. She told me that I shou..d look for my lost s..issors in my brown bag, and also that one day I wou..d sail on a ya….t around forei..n and exotic i..lands with a tall, dark and han..some stranger! I hope she’s ri….t!

Exercise 9. Unscramble the words with silent letters.

Mobb, porbucad, nydhig (шлюпка), strewrel, kenrock, ceetrip, bruscm, oybu, fenik, stacel.

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