Introduction
Heracles has murdered his children in a fit of anger, and is performing a series of ‘Labours’ for his cousin King Eurystheus, to work off his guilt. Eurystheus would be just as happy if Heracles perished in his Labours, and in sending him now to clean out the stables of Augeas, King of Elis, appears to hope he can disgust him to death.
AUGEAS, King of Elis, had kept three thousand high-spirited cattle in an enclosure near his palace for thirty years without once mucking them out, even though they were of divine race and produced mountains of potent dung.
Nonetheless, on surveying the ghastly scene Heracles undertook to clear the stables in a day, in exchange for a tenth of the herd. Augeas agreed, unaware that this was supposed to be one of Heracles’s Labours of repentance, not a business transaction.
Heracles seized a mattock, and began excavating a trench. Soon two mighty rivers of Elis, the Alpheus and the Peneus, were flushing the stables out, and Heracles, well satisfied, stumped off to collect his three hundred head of cattle.
By this time, however, Augeas knew about the Labours, and withheld payment. In a rage, Heracles slew him, but Eurystheus, noting that Nature had done most of the work, voided the labour anyway, and sent Heracles to Stymphalia to deal with the man-eating birds of the marshes.
Précis
Heracles cleaned up the vast cattle-pens of King Augeas, which nobody had mucked out for thirty years, in less than a day by diverting two rivers through them. But Augeas refused to pay the fee they had agreed after learning it should have been done for free, and Eurystheus disqualified the labour after hearing how Heracles had used water power. (60 / 60 words)
Heracles cleaned up the vast cattle-pens of King Augeas, which nobody had mucked out for thirty years, in less than a day by diverting two rivers through them. But Augeas refused to pay the fee they had agreed after learning it should have been done for free, and Eurystheus disqualified the labour after hearing how Heracles had used water power.
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, just, or, otherwise, unless, whereas, whether.
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Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
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 Business. King. Three.
2 Have. Marsh. Slay.
3 Deal. Divine. Enclosure.
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.)
Subject and Object Find in Think and Speak
Use each word below in two sentences, first as the subject of a verb, and then as the object of a verb. It doesn’t have to be the same verb: some verbs can’t be paired with an object (e.g. arrive, happen), so watch out for these.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. King. 2. Work. 3. Payment. 4. River. 5. Head. 6. Mountain. 7. Eat. 8. Keep. 9. Deal.
Variations: 1.use your noun in the plural (e.g. cat → cats), if possible. 2.give one of your sentences a future aspect (e.g. will, going to). 3.write sentences using negatives such as not, neither, nobody and never.
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.
shn (5+1)
sheen. shin. shine. shone. shun.
ashen.
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