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Join these ideas together into a single sentence, using ‘although’ or ‘though’ (or some other concessive). There may be many ways to do this: think of several, and choose the best.
1 She liked Clarissa. She could never think of anything to say to her.
2 Mrs Ambrose stood quite still. She stood much longer than is natural. The little boys let her be.
3 She was slightly eccentric in appearance. She was not untidy. Mrs Dalloway saw it with relief.
Based on sentences in the novels of Virginia Woolf (1882-1941).
1 She could never think of anything to say to Clarissa; though she liked her. [from ‘Mrs Dalloway’]
2 Although Mrs Ambrose stood quite still, much longer than is natural, the little boys let her be. [from ‘The Voyage Out’]
3 Mrs Dalloway saw with relief that though slightly eccentric in appearance, she was not untidy. [from ‘The Voyage Out’]
English cheerfully borrows from other languages. Three of these words come from Old Norse, three from Welsh, and three from Malay. Can you identify which words are (thought to be) from each language, and use each word in a sentence?
IBamboo. IIBerserk. IIICaddy [container]. IVCorgi. VCrumpet. VIEgg. VIIGong. VIIIPenguin. IXSkirt.
Adapted from Advanced English Exercises by NL Clay.
Join these ideas together to form a single sentence, using the relative pronoun ‘who’.
1 Lady Mary gave evidence. Then she collapsed. She was engaged to the deceased.
2 The witnesses gave evidence. The Duke of Denver spoke first. He claimed to have discovered the body.
3 I have a letter. The writer is an old College friend. He says he met you in Paris.
Sentences based on the novels of Dorothy L. Sayers.
For discussion. Explain what you would do if (a) you suddenly lost any of the following, or (b) you came across someone else who had.
IGlasses (strong prescription). IIMemory (amnesia). IIIShoe.
Developed from an exercise in Think and Speak (1929) by NL Clay.
For reading aloud. A little poem by Emily Dickinson, from 1877.
They might not need me — yet they might —
I’ll let my Heart be just in sight —
A smile so small as mine might be
Precisely their necessity.
From a letter in the Spring of 1877, to Mrs T. W. (Mary Channing) Higginson. Although Dickinson knew her only through her husband, Colonel Higginson, she often sent a friendly note to her: Emily was aware that she had been in failing health for some years. Mrs Higginson died the following September.
Julius Benedict (1804-1885), Piano Concerto in E-Flat Major, Op. 89: II. Andante. Played by Howard Shelley, with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.
Sir Julius Benedict (1804-1885) was a Germen-born conductor and composer who studied with Hummel and Weber, and was acquainted with Beethoven. In 1825, he took a conductor’s post in Naples. In 1834 he moved to Paris, and the following year settled in London, where he became a conductor in theatres and concert halls, a prolific composer, and a tireless promoter of provincial musical festivals and popular concerts. He was knighted in 1871. The recording below is of the Andante from his Piano Concerto in E flat, of 1867.
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Old Norse: Berserk. Egg. Skirt.
Malay: Bamboo. Caddy. Gong.
Welsh: Corgi. Crumpet. Penguin [probable].