Reading and Grammar Exercise (29 July 2015, Wednesday)

Ms Victoria Galvez

A) Learning Pronunciation: Phonics

1. Words with ai
Aid, Laid, Maid, Paid, Raid
Fail, Hail, Mail, Tail, Pail, Rail, Sail
Frail, Trail
Chain, Rain, Stain
Train, Grain, Strain
Braise, Praise
Lets practise: 1. Mrs Tan cleaned the house with the aid of her maid. She paid the lady. 2. She learnt that she failed not sailed
through the examination when the results came in the mail. 3. The frail lady left a trail of mud in her path.
4. The rain
stains the clothes.
5. The athletic strained himself during the training. 6. The teacher praised Jane for her good deed.
2. Words ending with ay
Bay, Day, Lay, May, Pay, Say, Way
Pray, Bray
Stay, Sway
Tray, Stray, Spray
Lets practise: 1. One day in May, you will pay for always having your way.
2. I go to church every Sunday to pray.
3. Stay still! Do not sway.
4. He laid down the tray of dog for the stray food to eat.
3. Words with oa
Coach, Poach
Road, Toad, Load
Coal, Foal, Goal
Boast, Coast, Roast, Toast
Lets practise: 1. The robber poached the ladys handbag from the coach.
road.
3. The toad croaked under the oak tree because it was soaked.
scored a goal.
5. The crowd gave the boastful man a toast.

Oak, Croak, Soak, Cloak

Oat, Gloat, Boat, Coat, Goat, Float
2. The toad carried a load as it hopped across the
4. The spectators went wild when the footballer
6. The goat and the coat are under the oak tree.

4. Words with ow
Bow, Low, Mow, Row, Sow
Blow, Flow, Glow, Throw, Know, Show
Arrow, Elbow
Borrow, Follow, Hollow
Window, Shallow, Yellow
Sparrow
Lets practise: 1. You need to bend low when you sow the seeds.
2. Show me the flow of the wind as it blows. 3. The arrow
hit her elbow and injured her.
4. Your words are hollow unless you follow them.
5. Jane peeped out the yellow window.
6. The sparrow is a smaller bird than the eagle.
5. Once upon a barren moor, there dwelt a bear and also a boar. The bear could not bear the boar. The boar thought the bear was a
bore. At least the beat could bear no more, of that boar that bored him on the moor. One morning he bored the boar, so that boar
would bore the bear no more.
B) Reading Aloud
1 Tale of two cities
2 Most of us have just one home, one job, one lifestyle. But in the 21st century, cheap travel and communication technology have
made the world shrink, so that we can work and reside almost anywhere in the world. More and more people have two places that
are endearing that they call home.
3 Claire Turner is one such globetrotter. She holds up her hands to show her nails. Dont they look awful! she laments. I miss
New York manicures! But thats not all Claire misses about her other life in the United States. For two years she has divided her
life between her hometown, Manchester, in the north of England, and Brooklyn, New York. She flies once a month, and spends
about a month at a time in each city.
4 I dress differently in New York: pearls, no jeans, and I wear my hair up. Americans love the English accent, so I feel I should act
the part. After work in New York, Claire may sip a glass of wine or fruit juice in a trendy caf. But after work in Manchester, she
goes to the pub for a pint of beer.
5 Claire loves her transatlantic lifestyle. Her husband travels a lot in his job too. They met in Manchester and married in New York.
C) Grammar 1: Adverbs
- An adverb is a word which modifies or gives more meaning to a verb, an adjective or another adverb.
E.g. He spoke clearly.
I seldom jog.
When are they coming?
- There are six kinds of adverbs:
1. Adverbs of manner: These answer the question How?. They are placed AFTER the verbs.
E.g.s He spoke clearly. She did badly in the test. The child feels sick.
2. Adverbs of place: These answer the question Where?. They are place AFTER the verbs.
E.g.s I am going out.
He is sitting there.
The birds are flying away.
3. Adverbs of time: These answer the question When?. They are placed at the beginning or at the end of a sentence.
E.g.s They are coming tomorrow. It will rain today. Yesterday, I met him at the marketplace.

4. Adverbs of frequency: These answer the question How often?. They are placed BEFORE the verbs.
E.g.s He always talks in class.
She never helps around the house. He seldom visits us.
5. Adverbs of degree: These answer the question To what degree? They are placed before an adverb or an adjective.
E.g.s She plays the piano very well. This problem is too difficult for me to solve.
We lost almost everything in the fire.
6. Interrogative Adverbs: These are used in questioning, and appear at the start of questions.
E.g.s Where are you going?
When did you meet him? Why did you do that?
How did it happen?
- If two or more adverbs are formed in a sentence, they are usually arrange with Adverbs of Manner.
Mary played the piano
He ate the food
She waited

Manner
skilfully
hurriedly
patiently

Place
on stage
in the kitchen
outside

Time
last night.
just now.
yesterday.

Exercise 1.1: Underline the adverb in each sentence and then classify it.
1. He will arrive soon. Adverb of time
2. Here comes the teacher. __________________________________
3. The girl ran quickly down the street. __________________________________
4. The chicken was rather delicious. __________________________________
5. I once saw a car overturn. __________________________________
6. Where did you buy that hat? __________________________________
7. You are too young to drive. __________________________________
8. The accident happened there. __________________________________
9. The man was very fat. __________________________________
10. She seldom goes home. __________________________________
Exercise 1.2: Put the adverb correctly in each sentence.
1. He sent the injured man to hospital. (immediately).
He sent the injured man to hospital immediately. OR Immediately, he sent the injured man to hospital.
2. She spoke to her son. (sternly)
__________________________________________________________________________________.
3. The car swerved and crashed into a lamp post. (suddenly)
__________________________________________________________________________________.
4. Since it is raining, we shall stay indoor. (heavily)
__________________________________________________________________________________.
5. I stepped on her toe and she yelled. (accidentally)
__________________________________________________________________________________.
6. It rains in the desert. (seldom)
__________________________________________________________________________________.
7. You are not around when I need you. (always)
__________________________________________________________________________________.
8. She is tired whenever I meet her. (usually)
__________________________________________________________________________________.
9. Have you seen a kangaroo? (ever)
__________________________________________________________________________________.
10. I see him at the bus stop. (frequently)
__________________________________________________________________________________.
Exercise 1.3: Rewrite these sentences, putting the adverbs and adverbials which are italicised in the correct order.
1. He slept
last night
at 10 oclock
He slept at 10 oclock last night.
2. Sheila spoke during the debate
eloquently
yesterday
__________________________________________________________________________________.
3. The baby was sleeping
in his cot
soundly
throughout the night
__________________________________________________________________________________.
4. The child was playing outside his house
when he was kidnapped happily
__________________________________________________________________________________.
5. We are going to see her off
at 1 oclock
on Saturday
at the station
in the afternoon
__________________________________________________________________________________.
6. He loved her a year ago
dearly before she died
__________________________________________________________________________________.
7. She tied a string
around the parcel
securely
just now
__________________________________________________________________________________.

Grammar 2: Comparison of Adverbs

- There are three degrees of comparison of adverbs: 1) positive (compares two equal actions); 2) comparative (compares two
unequal actions); and 3) superlative (compares three or more unequal actions).
E.g.s of positive adverbs: Jack swims as fast as his brother.

This machine does not work as efficiently as that one.

E.g.s of comparative adverbs: Jack swims faster than his brother. This machine works more efficiently than that one.
E.g.s of superlative adverbs: Of all the three brothers, Jack swims the fastest.
the factory.

This machine works the most efficiently of all in

- The adverbs below end in -ly. The comparative degree is formed by adding more, while the superlative degree is formed by
adding most.
Positive
Comparative
Superlative
Affectionately
More affectionately
Most affectionately
Angrily
Beautifully
Lazily
- The comparative and superlative degrees of the adverbs below are formed by adding -er and -est to the positive degree.
Positive
Comparative
Superlative
Fast
Faster
Fastest
Hard
Late
Soon
- The comparison of the following adverbs is irregular.
Positive
Comparative
Badly
Worse
Well
Early
Earlier
Far
Farther
Far
Fur____
Little
Less
Much

Superlative
Worst
Earliest
Farthest
Least

Exercise 2: Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the adverb in brackets.
1. He eats the most (much) but exercises the least (little).
2. The guard blew his whistle _________________ (shrilly) than the others.
3. Of all the passengers, the fat man struggled the _________________ (clumsily) with his luggage.
4. Jim shouted _________________ (angrily) at the reckless driver. To Jims surprise, the driver shouted even _________________
(angrily) back at Jim.
5. The girl who spoke the _________________ (well) won the story-telling competition.
6. She came home _________________ (late) tonight than she did last night.
7. I dont know what is wrong with you. Your behaviour is getting _________________ (badly) each day. Perhaps you should mix
_________________ (little) with those friends of yours. They behave _________________ (badly) all the time.
8. You need to do these mathematics problems as _________________ (carefully) as you can today. These problems are more
difficult than those you did yesterday and require you to think _________________ (hard) than you did before.
9. The little child is wandering _________________ (far) and _________________ (far) away from his parents without them even
knowing. They are both so _________________ (busily) shopping.
10. In my family, my father sleeps _________________ (late) than all of us but is the _________________ (early) to wake up.
Grammar 3: Forming adverbs
- An adverb can be formed from a noun, a verb or an adjective. It is formed from corresponding adjectives by adding -ly.
E.g.s This lady comes in daily to clean the house.
She sat comfortably on the sofa. I could see clearly through the window.
Noun / Verb / Adjective
Able
Actual
Comfortable
Angry
Dangerous
Glory

Adverb
Ably
Actually
Comfortably
Angrily
Dangerously
Gloriously

Noun / Verb / Adjective

Abrupt
Cheerful
Collective
Easy
Adventure
Grace

Adverb

Effect
Joy
History
Poison
Infect
Simple

Effectively
Joyfully
Historically
Poisonously
Infectiously
Simply

Imagine
Mourn
Magic
Prosper
Mystery
Whole

Exercise 3: Fill in the blanks with suitable adverbs formed from the words in brackets.
1. She welcomed me warmly (warm) into her house.
2. The team must perform their tasks ___________________ (collective) rather than individually.
3. The mother wailed ___________________ (mourn) when she heard that her daughter had gotten into an accident.
4. The dog disappeared ___________________ (mystery) that day, and no one has seen it ever since.
5. You must love God ___________________ (whole) but not partially.
6. You must forgive her ___________________ (grace) because forgiveness is the will of God.
7. The dog ___________________ (magic) appeared after disappearing without any notice.
8. The teacher was speaking to the class when she was ___________________ (abrupt) interrupted.
9. The little girl danced ___________________ (cheer) to the music.
10. You must think ___________________ (imagine) if you wish to find a creative solution to the problem.