Think and Speak

Exercises in oral and written expression, based on old school textbooks

April 19 ns April 6 os

These mental agility puzzles are similar to those NL Clay gave to pupils aged 12-13 between the Wars. They are not tick-box interrogations, but invitations to free, clear and creative thinking using your own ideas, observations and imagination. Think and Speak (1929) was Clay’s first book.

In Think and Speak

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By Viktor Vasnetsov (1848–1926). Public domain.

Transports of Delight

Compose sentences about each of these modes of transport, picturing the vehicle, any goods or passengers, and how it all moves.

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Metaphors

Choose one of these words and use it metaphorically, not literally.

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Tag Questions

Complete each of these statements with a little request for confirmation.

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Impossible Adjectives

Find a way of saying something can’t be measured, admitted, or changed — in just one word.

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By Neoclassicism Enthusiast, Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Fragments

Say whether these short utterances make whole sentences or not; and if they don’t, add whatever is necessary.

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Sentegrams

These sentences, taken from English literature, have been jumbled up like an anagram; see if you can piece them back together.

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Apple of My Eye

See if you can imagine an appropriate situation for these phrases, all taken from the English Bible published in 1611 and all still used in everyday speech.

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