THE woman, perceiving her error, addressed the judge, and said, “My lord, your lordship has for many years presided in this court, and every day, that you come here, ascend a flight of stairs: may I beg to know how many steps these stairs consist of?” The judge confessed he did not know: “Then,” replied she, “if your lordship cannot tell the number of steps you ascend daily to the seat of Justice, it cannot be astonishing that I should forget the number of pillars in a balcony, which I never entered half a dozen times in my life.” The judge was much pleased with the woman’s wit, and decided in favour of her party.
Précis
The witness turned and asked the judge how many steps there were up to his bench. When he could not answer, she protested that if he did not have perfect knowledge of his own courtroom she could not be expected to have perfect knowledge of someone else’s veranda, and the judge (not ill-pleased by this banter) ruled in her favour. (60 / 60 words)
The witness turned and asked the judge how many steps there were up to his bench. When he could not answer, she protested that if he did not have perfect knowledge of his own courtroom she could not be expected to have perfect knowledge of someone else’s veranda, and the judge (not ill-pleased by this banter) ruled in her favour.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, although, besides, despite, just, may, or, 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 Four. May. You.
2 Consist. Decide. House.
3 Confess. Favor. Then.
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.)
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 Opposite. 2 Good. 3 Clever. 4 Known. 5 Forgetful. 6 Best. 7 Lifeless. 8 Better. 9 Immediate.
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).
Opposites Find in Think and Speak
Suggest words or phrases that seem opposite in meaning to each of the words below. We have suggested some possible answers; see if you can find any others.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
Variations: 1.instead of opposites, suggest words of similar meaning (synonyms). 2.use a word and its opposite in the same sentence. 3.suggest any 5 opposites formed by adding in-.
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
ppl (6+1)
appal. appeal. apple. papal. people. pupil.
pupal.
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