Introduction
Mathieu Martinel was a cavalry soldier in the French army. At the age of twenty, he had already saved a fellow-soldier from drowning in the River Ill, but his heroic exploits were far from over.
NOT long after his adventure in the river, Martinel was walking through the barracks at Strasbourg when he was met by a rush of panic-stricken soldiers. They told him breathlessly of a fire in a room containing a barrel of gunpowder and a thousand rounds of ammunition.
Martinel immediately ran to the building. On opening the door, he was beaten back by the fierceness of the blaze, but he could not stop to think about that: in the room above the store was a sick-bay with nine bedridden men in it.
He forced himself into the smoke and heat, with hair curling and eyes smarting.
With his bare hands, Martinel swept the powder and ammunition, which were just starting to ignite, as far from the flames as he could, and then made for the window so he could direct the fire-fighters’ efforts wherever they were most needed.
Archive
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 Building. He. Ignite.
2 Breath. Curl. Fighter.
3 Adventure. Not. Smart.
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 Long. 2 Round. 3 Sick. 4 Longest. 5 Immediate. 6 Forceful. 7 Beaten. 8 Direct. 9 Striking.
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 im-.
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.
shts (5+1)
sheets. shoots. shots. shouts. shuts.
shiatsu.
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