Introduction
Charles Dickens corresponded regularly with a Swiss friend whom he had met in Lausanne, a M. de Cerjat. In one of his letters, written from his home near Rochester in Kent, Dickens shared with his friend the secret of his remarkably industrious working life — frequent trips to France.
Gad’s Hill Place,
Higham by Rochester,
Tuesday, Oct. 25th, 1864.
I have altered this place very much since you were here, and have made a pretty (I think an unusually pretty) drawing-room. I wish you would come back and see it. My being on the Dover line, and my being very fond of France, occasion me to cross the Channel perpetually. Whenever I feel that I have worked too much, or am on the eve of overdoing it, and want a change, away I go by the mail-train, and turn up in Paris or anywhere else that suits my humour, next morning. So I come back as fresh as a daisy,* and preserve as ruddy a face as though I never leant over a sheet of paper. When I retire from a literary life I think of setting up as a Channel pilot.
* The following December, Dickens wrote in a letter to Mr B. W. Procter that “I got rid of a touch of neuralgia in France (as I always do there)”.
Précis
In a letter to his Swiss friend M de Cerjat, Charles Dickens expressed his satisfaction at the newly-remodelled drawing rom in his Gad’s Hill home. He also described how his work as a writer was helped by occasional hops across the Channel, especially to Paris, which could be relied on to cure him of any staleness. (56 / 60 words)
In a letter to his Swiss friend M de Cerjat, Charles Dickens expressed his satisfaction at the newly-remodelled drawing rom in his Gad’s Hill home. He also described how his work as a writer was helped by occasional hops across the Channel, especially to Paris, which could be relied on to cure him of any staleness.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, because, just, may, not, since, whereas, who.
Archive
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, using different words as much as possible. 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 Here. Ruddy. Sheet.
2 Over. Since. Work.
3 Place. Train. Turn.
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.)
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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