Shapes

Game

Decide which of these shapes describes each chocolate. Then look at the picture and try to describe the shape of each chocolate without the help of phrases 1 - 14.

Practice

And now some sophisticated work on the English alphabet. Which word (in capital letters) is being described below? Describe other words in the same way. When you can do this, you are doing very well with the vocabulary of this unit.

First letter

One full-length perpendicular line is joined at the top and at its centre point by two parallel lines, the former slightly longer that the latter, extending to the right horizontally.

Second letter

A symmetrical, wedge-shaped figure: two straight but oblique lines slanting down to the base from a common point at the top; these are bisected by a single horizontal line.

Third letter

A long vertical line is connected at two points - at the top and halfway down - to a curved, semi-circular line running to the right. From the centre intersection a sloping line drops to the baseline at an angle of45 degrees to the perpendicular, again to the right.

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Shapes

Match the adjectives on the left with a suitable noun on the right.

Discuss or write the answers to these two questions.

1Do you like modern art? Can you describe any modern works of art that you either really liked or strongly disliked when you saw them?

2Where have all the curves gone - from cars, cups, watches, buildings, phones, bottles and clothes? How true is it that circles and curves are disappearing and giving way to more angular shapes? Give examples of this trend and any exceptions that you can think of to support your argument.

Game

Finally, a drawing game. Try to draw each of the items below, spending a maximum ofthree seconds on each.

Add here any more words about shapes as you meet them.

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Substances, materials and textures

Quiz

[1] Even if chemistry lessons are a thing of the (distant) past for you, try this exercise on elements, metals and gases. Cover the column on the right and see ifyou can say which elements, metals and gases these symbols stand for. Each one has a simple clue beside it to help you.

Does that bring back memories of acids, alkalis and smelly experiments? Ifyou're in good form, try these. What alloys or other substances will you get ifyou mix the following? (Keep the right-hand column covered.)

Practice

In a recent nightmare, my grandson was saying to his girlfriend: Tour hands are like vinyl, the skin on your face is like purest acrylic and your hair is like real polystyrene'.

How do you feel about recent changes in the materials that things are made of? Read the text on the next page. Decide which of the items in the right-hand column have their advantages and which items in the left-hand column you really prefer. Give your reasons.

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Substances, materials and textures

[2] Most materials are happy to act as adjectives as well as nouns.

Sheffield produces a lot of steel. It has quite a large steel industry. I need a steel bar to put across this cage-door.

Most materials, however, can also add a letter or two to make another adjective with a different, more figurative meaning.

He gave me a steely look, (a bit like steel)

Cover the second and fourth columns below. Choose nouns to go with the two lists of adjectives, then see how many of yours are the same as the ones the book suggests.

Note the two exceptions: a wooden leg, a wooden actor (unnatural); a woollenjumper, a woolly argument (vague, confused).

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Substances, materials and textures

Practice

Discuss or write the answers to these questions.

1Are precious metals and stones — diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, etc.

— as beautiful as their prices suggest?

2How have materials for clothes, household goods, furniture etc. changed during your lifetime? In what ways are these changes for the better and in what ways are they changes for the worse?

3What is being done in your country to counter the dangers of certain materials in use today: asbestos, lead, DDT, nuclear waste, nicotine?

2Write a paragraph from your latest short story in which the hero, blindfolded, stumbles through a cardboard box factory in an attempt to escape from his pursuers. Describe his feelings as he comes into contact with various substances and surfaces during the chase.

Add here any more words about substances as you meet them.

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