Clay Lane is inspired by educational materials created NL Clay, and used in English schools and homes from the 1920s to the 1960s. The Blog is a newsletter of recent additions and some selections from our archive, including brainteasers in grammar and vocabulary, and brief passages from history and literature.
You are welcome to ask for my help with any of the materials on Clay Lane. Drop me a line via email to: nicholas@claylane.uk.
Add Vowels
How many words can you make just by adding vowels to these consonants? See if you can get 6.
plng
Spinner
Make a sentence that uses ALL THREE of these words:
Bother. Actor. Tire.
These words are served randomly.
You can change e.g. go → went,
or quick → quickly.
The Christmas Truce of 1914 was one of the most poignant events in the Great War of 1914-18. The British had poured into Belgium to help drive the German invaders out, and in Flanders the two armies faced each other from trenches only a few hundred yards apart. In a letter to his mother on December 28th that year, Captain Hulse of the Scots Guards told how the spontaneous truce began.
A ten-out-of-ten smile might be called dazzling or ravishing. But what would you call a smile that was more seven-out-of-ten? Bright, maybe, or fetching. How would you score roguish, disarming, kind or shy? See if you can think of others.
Suggest for each noun an adjective of praise, but moderate praise, and give it a score out of ten.
ISmile. IIDinner. IIIFace. IVExplanation.
Adequate. Appealing. Attractive. Bonny. Credible. Enjoyable. Likeable. Plausible. Pleasant. Pretty. Reasonable. Satisfactory.
Based on an exercise in School Certificate English Practice (1939) by NL Clay.
Zheng He and the Rise of Malacca
Bustling trade hub Malacca, on the Malaysian Peninsula, was a British possession from 1825 to 1957. It was founded in about 1400 by Parameswara, ex-king of Singapura, as a refuge from the empire of Majapahit based in Java. That Malacca held out for more than a century was largely owing to Zheng He, the most celebrated admiral in Chinese history.
To what extent are these words synonymous? Illustrate your answer with sentences in which one of these words is suitable, but the other two are not.
IAcknowledge. IIAdmit. IIIRecognise.
For Example
Admit.
John was admitted to hospital last night.
Include yourself in these sentences along with Jill, e.g. Jill went to London → Jill and I went to London.
1 They’ve asked Jill to organise transport.
2 You’ll get your turn after Jill.
3 That’s the man Jill saw in the pharmacy yesterday.
4 Do you want Jill to be there?
5 That’s for Jill to decide.
6 Jill’s the one you’re looking for.
7 Brian said he thought Jill ought to be asked to do it.
8 If you find out, will you let Jill know?
9 Jill will do it, won’t you Jill?
10 You can trust Jill to get it done.
11 Tell him Jill doesn’t like the idea.
12 It’s going to be dark before Jill gets there.
For example:
Jill is delighted with it.
Jill and I are delighted with it.
Let Jill do it.
Let Jill and me do it.