NOR is there more to be said for the temper which is always halving differences in a problem and trying to find a middle course. The middle course, mechanically defined, may be the wrong course. The business of a man steering up a difficult estuary is to keep to the deep-water channel, and that channel may at one hour take him near the left shore and at another hour close to the right shore. The path of false moderation sticks to the exact middle of the channel, and will almost certainly land the pilot on a sandbank.
These are the vices that spring from a narrow study of history and the remedy is a broader and juster interpretation. At one season it may be necessary to be a violent innovator, and at another to be a conservative; but the point is that a clear objective must be there, and some chart of the course to steer by. History does not provide a perfect chart, but it gives us something better than guess-work. It is a bridle on crude haste; but it is not less a spur for timidity and false moderation.
Abridged
From ‘Nations of Today: Italy’ (1923) by John Buchan (1875-1940).
Précis
History’s chart must also be read right across its breadth, he warned. Sometimes the safe path will lie with daring innovation, at other times it will lie with caution. Any narrow reading of history that keeps us always in the same channel, even the seemingly safe middle channel, will ultimately lead to shipwreck. (53 / 60 words)
History’s chart must also be read right across its breadth, he warned. Sometimes the safe path will lie with daring innovation, at other times it will lie with caution. Any narrow reading of history that keeps us always in the same channel, even the seemingly safe middle channel, will ultimately lead to shipwreck.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, although, not, otherwise, ought, since, until, whether.
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Word Games
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Crude. Halve. World.
2 Hasty. Have. Warning.
3 Forget. Mind. Problem.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Homonyms Find in Think and Speak
Each of the words below has more than one possible meaning. Compose your own sentences to show what those different meanings are.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. Objective. 2. Close. 3. Left. 4. Temper. 5. Spring. 6. May. 7. Exact. 8. Kind. 9. Even.
Adjectives Find in Think and Speak
For each word below, compose sentences to show that it may be used as an adjective. Adjectives provide extra information about a noun, e.g. a black cat, a round table, the early bird etc..
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 False. 2 New. 3 Raw. 4 Even. 5 Wrong. 6 Deep. 7 Boundless. 8 Little. 9 Lost.
Variations: 1.show whether your adjective can also be used as e.g. a noun, verb or adverb. 2.show whether your adjective can be used in comparisons (e.g. good/better/best). 3.show whether your adjective can be used in attributive position (e.g. a dangerous corner) and also in predicate position (this corner is dangerous).
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
Your Words ()
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