Introduction
THE story of a man whose impatience and greed cost him everything.
ONCE upon a time, there was a villager who kept a goose. One morning he went to her nest to find an egg, and discovered that she had laid an egg of pure gold.
Immediately, a thought suggested itself. To lay a golden egg, his goose must surely be carrying around a vast lump of gold.
So instead of waiting until the next morning, he killed her and rummaged around for the gold he so confidently expected.
But he found that everything inside was completely normal.
And the moral of that is, that anyone who snatches too eagerly after some great prize will lose the little he already has.
Précis
A farmer found that his goose had laid an egg of pure gold. Hoping to get at once all the gold that goose had to give, he killed her, but found nothing inside. If he had been less greedy, he might have had a golden egg every morning. (48 / 60 words)
A farmer found that his goose had laid an egg of pure gold. Hoping to get at once all the gold that goose had to give, he killed her, but found nothing inside. If he had been less greedy, he might have had a golden egg every morning.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 45 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: although, besides, despite, if, just, otherwise, ought, whether.
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.
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 His. Lump. She.
2 Around. Pure. Too.
3 He. Immediate. Morning.
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 Confident. 2 Immediate. 3 Complete. 4 Moral. 5 Willing. 6 Next. 7 Golden. 8 Greatest. 9 Least.
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).
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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