Introduction
Still working off his debt to the gods after killing his children in a blind rage, Heracles is now despatched by his envious cousin King Eurystheus to rid a village of some man-eating birds. However, not everyone is against him.
A COLONY of birds once sought refuge from wolves by settling in marshy woods around Lake Stymphalia. Artemis took them for pets, and bred them to be ferocious, with bronze beaks and poisonous dung, and sharp quills they could shoot like darts. Now they ravaged crops, carried off beasts, and devoured townspeople.
Hoping his cousin might come to some harm, Eurystheus sent Heracles to deal with them.
At first, Heracles was confounded. The marshy ground of the lakeside wood was too soft for his weight, and the trees concealed the birds from his arrows tipped with venomous hydra blood. But then came a tap on his shoulder.
It was Athene, laden with an enormous pair of brazen castanets, fashioned specially for him by Hephaestus. A grateful Hercules seized the castanets, and rattled them noisily. The terrified birds rocketed into the air, and as they flew off towards the Black Sea, never to return, the hero picked some off with his poisoned arrows, to show to Eurystheus.*
The Argonauts met the birds in their new home on the Black Sea, and drove them away once more, this time with dazzling light flashing from burnished shields and helmets.
Précis
When Heracles was sent to deal with the man-eating birds of Lake Stymphalia, he found he could not approach their nests because of marshy ground, nor shoot them down because of the thick woods. However, Athene was on hand to lend him a set of noisy castanets, which Heracles used to scare the birds into abandoning their lakeside colony for ever. (61 / 60 words)
When Heracles was sent to deal with the man-eating birds of Lake Stymphalia, he found he could not approach their nests because of marshy ground, nor shoot them down because of the thick woods. However, Athene was on hand to lend him a set of noisy castanets, which Heracles used to scare the birds into abandoning their lakeside colony for ever.
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: although, despite, just, or, unless, until, 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.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
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 Blood. Deal. Venomous.
2 Hope. Off. Pick.
3 Noisy. Quill. Return.
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.)
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.
crd (10+4)
acrid. card. cared. cord. cored. creed. cried. crude. curd. cured.
cardie. cred. credo. crud.
