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EF C1.1 p 61. Spoilers. Word Formation
Spoilers actually enhance your enjoyment
I am one of those people who can’t read a book without flicking to the end to check what’s going to happen. It turns out that, actually, I am very (1)___________ (WISDOM). Psychologists at the University of California in San Diego gave students 12 short stories, by authors (2)____________ (INCLUDE) Agatha Christie and Roald Dahl. Some stories were in their original form and others had spoiler paragraphs added at the beginning. And do you know what? The readers of ‘spoiled’ stories actually had more fun.
According to the psychologists who carried out the research, ‘students (3)_____________ (SIGNIFY) preferred the spoiled versions of the stories. For instance, knowing in advance in an Agatha Christie story that Poirot will discover that the ‘victim’ of the attempted murder is, in fact, the real murderer, not only didn’t hurt the (4)______________ (ENJOY) of the story, but actually improved it.’
As a huge reader of crime and thrillers, this (5)___________ (DEFINITE) rings true for me. When I’m reading horror novels, I need to check the hero or heroine is still alive at the end of the book. And I usually take a (6)___________ (SNEAK) look at the end of a romantic novel, just to make sure who is going to end up with whom. ‘It could be,’ says psychologist Jonathan Leavitt, ‘that once you know how the story turns out, you’re more comfortable processing the information and can focus on a deeper (7)_______________ (UNDERSTAND) of the story.’
I will also admit that, even when I know full well what is going to happen in a book, either because I’ve read it a million times before, or because I’ve read the end, I often find myself hoping that, this time, it’s going to be different, that the sad (8)__________ (END) will turn into a happy one! Adapted from The Guardian
KEY
1. wise
2. including
3. significantly
4. enjoyment
5. definitely
6. sneaky
7. understanding
8. ending
EF p 47. History Brought To Life. Word Formation
A
Gladiator, which won five Oscars, tells the story of a Roman
general, Maximus Decimus Meridius, a favourite of Marcus
Aurelius, Emperor in the second century AD. The Emperor
wants Maximus (Russell Crowe at his best) to succeed him,
but Commodus, the Emperor’s weak and (1)_______________ (TREACHERY) son
((2)____________________ (WONDER) played by Joaquin Phoenix), has other plans.
Commodus kills his father and becomes Emperor himself, and
arranges for Maximus and his wife and child to be executed.
Maximus escapes, but cannot save his family. He is captured
and sold as a gladiator, and eventually makes his way to the
Colosseum in Rome, where he becomes a hero by (3)_________________ (ENGINEER) a spectacular victory against (4)________________ (OVERWHELM) odds. In this (5)_______________ (GRIP) scene, Emperor Commodus descends to the arena
to congratulate him – not knowing his true identity. Maximus
confronts the Emperor in one of the most (6)________________ (STIR) speeches
in modern cinema: ‘My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius,
commander of the armies of the north, general of the Felix
Legions, loyal servant to the true Emperor, Marcus Aurelius,
father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife, and I will
have my (7)________________ (VENGEFUL) in this life, or the next.’ And somehow, we
just know he’s going to get it!
B
The Darkest Hour is set in May 1940, early in World War II.
German forces are winning the battle for Europe, and British
soldiers are trapped in northern France. Winston Churchill,
the new Prime Minister, is faced with a (8)______________ (DESPERATION) decision – to
continue the fight against Hitler and the Nazis, or to (9)______________ (NEGOTIATION) a
peace treaty.
(10)_______________ (ABILITY) to decide what to do, and under pressure
from Parliament to reach an (11)_________________ (AGREE), Churchill decides that he needs
to find out what the people want. For the first time in his life, he
travels on the London Underground, where he asks his (12)_______________ (STARTLE) fellow passengers two questions. First, he asks, ‘What would you
do if the enemy (13)____________________ (INVASION)?’ and they answer ‘Fight!’ Then he asks
them, ‘Should I negotiate with Hitler?’ and their answer is a very
clear ‘Never!’ Churchill is inspired by their (14)__________________ (CERTAIN), and goes on
to use their words in one of his most famous speeches: ‘We shall
fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we
shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the
hills; we shall never surrender.’
This is the key scene in the whole film, but unlike almost all the
rest of the film, it has been criticized for its historical (15)________________ (ACCURATE) – Churchill’s ride on the Tube never happened. The director,
Joe Wright, has defended the scene as ‘a (16)__________________ (FICTION) of an (17)___________________ (EMOTION) truth’. Does it matter? Not to the awards committees,
who gave the film two Oscars and (18)_________________ (NUMBER) other awards.
KEY
1. treacherous
treacherous: that cannot be trusted; intending to harm you.
E.g.
He was weak, cowardly and treacherous.
lying, treacherous words
treachery: behaviour that involves hurting somebody who trusts you, for example by telling their secrets to other people; an example of this.
E.g.
an act of treachery
He was punished for his treacheries.
2. wonderfully
3. engineering
engineer: to make something happen by skilful secret planning.
E.g.
powerful enemies who engineered his downfall
Perhaps she could engineer a meeting between them?
4. overwhelming
impossible/overwhelming odds
making success seem extremely unlikely
E.g.
They face impossible odds simply trying to get an education.
They face overwhelming odds in their struggle to preserve the park.
to fight against overwhelming odds
Sp. luchar con todo en contra
5. gripping
gripping: exciting or interesting in a way that keeps your attention. Sp. apasionante
E.g.
a gripping story
His books are always so gripping.
The film was absolutely gripping.
6. stirring
stirring: causing strong feelings; exciting. Sp. emocionante
E.g.
a stirring performance
stirring memories
listening to stirring accounts of their heroic history
7. vengeance/revenge
vengeance
the act of punishing or harming somebody in return for what they have done to you, your family or friends.
Synonym: revenge
E.g.
a desire for vengeance
8. desperate
9. negotiate
10. Unable
11. agreement
12. startled
13. invaded
14. certainty
15. inaccuracy
16. fictionalization
17. emotional
18. numerous
EF C1.1 p 43. Share the Hate, Ruin the Date. Word Formation
Victoria Coren Mitchell
Hater promises to bond potential lovers over things they loathe. (1)____________ (TURN) the traditional cheery positives, Hater allows eager singletons to form relationships based on their mutual (2)_______________ (AVERT) instead. Boy, let's really get that negativity out there! More openly expressed (3)____________ (HATE) in the world- just what we need!
Nevertheless, like most apps, it would pass the time (4)___________ (HAPPY) enough at a bus stop. If someone else at the same bus stop were also on the app, (5)________________ (SIMULTANEITY) swiping their own (6)_______________ (LIKE) of cat calendars or people who walk too (7)______________ (SLOW) in the street, that would make a decent start for (8)________________ (FLIRT).
And yet, and yet. One of the key dangers of the internet is that it (9)______________ (COURAGE) us to give everything an immediate verdict, a thumbs up or down (and usually down). It’s easy for our first thoughts on anything to be negative, and we forget to be kind.
The search for love has always motivated us to make an effort; on first dates, we are usually our best selves. Our hair is at its (10)_______________ (CLEAN), our interest its (11)_______________ (SHARP), our smiles their (12)______________ (READY). That’s why dating (13)_______________ (QUESTION) (14)_______________ (TRADITION) list the things we enjoy: it’s a shop window for the happy life we are offering a (15)__________________ (PROSPECT) partner. And (16)_________________ (SURE), the longer you keep trying to be your best and most (17)_________________ (CHEER) self, the happier life will be? It can’t be wise to start (18)__________________ (COMPLAINT) before you’ve even had your first date. When it comes to finding a partner, (19)_____________ (COVER) the things you both love is a far (20)________________ (HEALTH) start.
Adapted from The Guardian
KEY
1. Overturning
2. aversions
3. hatred
4. happily
5. simultaneously
6. dislike
7. slowly
8. flirtation
9. encourages
10. cleanest
11. sharpest
12. readiest
13. questionnaires
14. traditionally
15. prospective
16. surely
17. cheerful
18.complaining
19. discovering
20. healthier
EF C1.1 p 26. Roald Dahl: Boy. Open Cloze and Word Formation
Open Cloze
Part 1 Every (1)_____________ and again, a plain grey cardboard box was dished (2)__________ to each boy in our House, and this, (3)____________ it or not, was a
present from the great chocolate manufacturers, Cadbury. Inside
the box there were twelve (4)___________ of chocolate, all of different
shapes, all with different fillings, and all with numbers from one
to twelve stamped on the chocolate underneath. Also in the box there was a (5)__________ of paper with the
numbers one to twelve on it as well as two blank columns, one
for giving marks to each chocolate from nought to ten, and the
other for comments.
Word formation
All we were required to do in return for this (6)___________ (SPLENDOUR) gift was
to taste very (7)_____________ (CARE) each bar of chocolate, give it marks, and
make an intelligent comment on why we loved or (8)___________ (LIKE) it.
It was a clever stunt. Cadbury’s were using some of the (9)____________ (GREAT) chocolate-bar experts in the world to test out their
new inventions. We were of a sensible age, between thirteen
and eighteen, and we knew (10)___________ (INTIMACY) every chocolate bar in (11)_____________ (EXIST), from the Milk Flake to the Lemon Marshmallow. Quite (12)____________ (OBVIOUS) our opinions on anything new would be (13)___________ (VALUE). All of
us entered into this game with great gusto, sitting in our studies
and nibbling each bar with the air of connoisseurs, giving our
marks and making our comments. ‘Too subtle for the common
palate’ was one note that I remember writing down.
Part 2
For me, the (14)_____________ (IMPORTANT) of all this was that I began to realize
that the large chocolate companies (15)_____________ (ACTUAL) did possess
inventing rooms and they took their inventing very (16)_____________ (SERIOUS).
I used to picture a long white room like a laboratory with pots
of chocolate and fudge and all sorts of other delicious fillings
bubbling away on the stoves, while men and women in white
coats moved between the bubbling pots, tasting and mixing and
concocting their wonderful new (17)_____________ (INVENT). I used to imagine
myself working in one of these labs and suddenly I would come
up with something so (18)________________ (BEAR) delicious that I would grab it
in my hand and go rushing out of the lab and along the corridor
and right into the offices of the great Mr Cadbury himself. ‘I’ve
got it, Sir’ I would shout, putting the chocolate in front of him.
‘It’s fantastic! It’s fabulous! It’s marvellous! It’s (19)_______________ (RESIST)!’
Slowly, the great man would pick up my newly-invented
chocolate and he would take a small bite. He would roll it round
his mouth. Then all at once, he would leap up from his chair,
crying, ‘You’ve got it! You’ve done it! It’s a miracle!’ He would
slap me on the back and shout, ‘We’ll sell it by the million! We’ll
sweep the world with this one! How on earth did you do it? Your
salary is doubled.’
It was lovely dreaming those dreams, and I have no doubt at
all that thirty-five years later, when I was looking for a plot
for my second book for children, I remembered those little
cardboard boxes and the (20)____________ (NEW) invented chocolates inside them,
and I began to write a book called Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory.
KEY
1. now
(every) now and then/again: sometimes, but not very often. From time to time. Occasionally.
E.g.
We meet up for lunch now and then, but not as often as we used to.
2. out
dish something out (informal): to give something, often to a lot of people or in large amounts. Sp. repartir.
E.g.
Students dished out leaflets to passers-by.
She's always dishing out advice, even when you don't want it
3. believe
believe it or not (informal): used to introduce information that is true but that may surprise people.
E.g.
Believe it or not, he asked me to marry him!
4. bars
a bar of chocolate
5. sheet
a sheet of paper
6. splendid
7. carefully
8. disliked
9. greatest
10. intimately
11. existence
12. obviously
13. valuable/ invaluable
14. importance
15. actually
16. seriously
17. inventions
18. unbearably
19. irresistible
20. newly
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