Introduction
It is 1837, and Mathieu Martinel, a cavalry soldier in the French army, is now a senior officer in the military college in Paris. Fate, however, had not yet finished testing his mettle.
ON the night of the 14th of June, 1837, there was a magnificent firework display in the heart of Paris, for the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Orleans.
As the crowds began to disperse, a narrow lane by the military college became congested, and in the heat and press a lady fainted.
Others now stumbled over her; those behind, anxious to get home, pressed ahead all the harder; and a large ornamental yew in a pot was jostled and overturned, cutting off the exit.
Martinel, alerted by the sounds of rising hysteria, signalled to the cavalry to mount up, while he and one Private Spenlee pulled men, women and children from the pile of crushed and suffocating spectators.
Soon the horses Martinel had called for arrived with careful steps, and more victims were lifted up and taken to safety in the college, where the soldiers tended their wounds.
Later that year, Martinel received the National Order of the Legion of Honour.
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 Child. Crowd. Man.
2 Horse. Lane. Stumble.
3 Exit. Lady. Soon.
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.)
Homophones Find in Think and Speak
In each group below, you will find words that sound the same, but differ in spelling and also in meaning. Compose your own sentences to bring out the differences between them.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
Verb and Noun Find in Think and Speak
Many words can serve as noun or verb depending on context: see if you can prove this with the examples below. Nouns go well with words such as the/a, or his/her; verbs go well after I/you/he etc..
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Lift. 2 Call. 3 Heat. 4 Cut. 5 Pot. 6 Exit. 7 Rise. 8 Man. 9 Order.
Variations: 1.if possible, use your noun in the plural, e.g. cat → cats. 2.use your verb in a past form, e.g. go → went. 3.use your noun in a sentence with one of these words: any, enough, fewer, less, no, some.
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.
wrs (7+2)
wares. wars. wearies. wears. weirs. wires. worse.
ewers. wooers.
