Introduction
Mathieu Martinel enrolled in the French army in January 1816, at the age of sixteen. It was a time of relative peace, but opportunities for heroism appeared to come looking for him.
IN 1820, Mathieu Martinel was in Strasbourg when he saw a fellow cavalryman had fallen into the river, right beside the weir of a churning mill-wheel.* Martinel leapt straight into the turbid waters, and grabbed onto the drowning man.
Martinel’s idea was to catch onto a post at the sluice-gate, but he realised that the poor soldier was slipping from his grasp, so he let go of the post and, keeping tight hold of his burden, resigned himself to being swept under the paddles of the wheel.
When he came up on the other side, Martinel was still clutching onto the cavalryman. He dragged the waterlogged and now unconscious soldier to the river-bank, and brought him round.
Yonge says it was the River Ill, which runs through the centre of the town and into the Rhine; the Societé Montyon say it happened somewhere near the Kehl bridge over the Rhine, just to the east of the city.
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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 Bank. Beside. Waterlogged.
2 Grasp. Have. Keep.
3 Clutch. Man. Round.
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 Still. 2 Turbid. 3 Straight. 4 Poor. 5 Resigned. 6 Round. 7 Poorest. 8 Rightful. 9 Tight.
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).
Statements, Questions and Commands Find in Think and Speak
Use each word below in a sentence. Try to include at least one statement, one question and one command among your sentences. Note that some verbs make awkward or meaningless words of command, e.g. need, happen.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Slip. 2 Fall. 3 Post. 4 Water. 5 Grab. 6 Realise. 7 Still. 8 Bring. 9 Drag.
Variations: 1. use a minimum of seven words for each sentence 2. include negatives, e.g. isn’t, don’t, never 3. use the words ‘must’ to make commands 4. compose a short dialogue containing all three kinds of sentence: one statement, one question and one command
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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Picture: © João-Martinho, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.. Source.
Posted February 11 2016
