Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for English

The Deadly Scrabble Match

A Hot Sunday Afternoon

This story details a couple playing Scrabble in their home on a hot Sunday afternoon. The husband, who harbors deep hatred for his wife, uses the game for a different, malicious purpose.

The Game Begins

The husband has a bad habit of chewing on the tiles. He starts chewing the letter 'U'.

• The husband plays the word BEGIN.
• The wife plays JINXED.

He plays the word WARMER, approaching the window.

• The wife plays SWEATIER.

The husband is getting sweatier; he needs water. He plays HUMID (with the 'U' he chewed).

• The woman plays FAN. She rises to fill the kettle and turn on the air conditioning.

The husband plays ZAPS, and the wife receives an electric shock.

• The woman plays READY.
• He plays CHEATING.
• But she chooses

Key English Grammar and Vocabulary Topics

Generic Pronouns

Pronouns used to refer to people in general:

• You: Refers to people in general.
• One: A formal way to refer to people in general.
• We: A general reference that includes the reader or listener.
• They: Refers to other people in general or people in authority.
• They/Their/Them: Used to refer to a single person who may be male or female, as an alternative to he/she.

Narrative Tenses

Tenses used for storytelling:

• Simple Past: e.g., -ed, was, went.
• Past Continuous: e.g., was/were + -ing.
• Past Perfect: e.g., had gone, had saved, had given.
• Past Perfect Continuous: e.g., had been walking, had been waiting.

Expressing Past Habits

• Used to + Infinitive: For past actions and states that are no longer true.
• Would +

Samuel Johnson: A Literary Luminary

Early Life and Education

Samuel Johnson was born in Staffordshire on September 18, 1709. His father was a bookseller. Johnson attended Lichfield Grammar School and briefly studied at Oxford University, but financial constraints forced him to leave.

Literary Career

Unable to secure teaching work, Johnson embarked on a writing career. In 1737, he moved to London and struggled to support himself through journalism, covering a wide range of topics. Gradually, he gained literary recognition.

'Dictionary of the English Language'

In 1747, a group of printers commissioned Johnson to compile his monumental 'Dictionary of the English Language'. Published in 1755, it became the most significant dictionary of its time, with... Continue reading "Samuel Johnson: Literary Giant and Author of 'Rasselas'" »

Unit 1 Vocabulary

• Mood: humor
• Tough: dur
• Approach: enfocament
• All the rage: full rabia
• Remain: romandre
• Accurate: exactitud
• Firm: empresa
• Trigger: desencadenar

• Mouth-watering: feraigua
• Scent: olor
• Weird: extrany
• Nasty: feo
• Purchase: adquirir
• Take advantage of: agafar avantage

• Started out: començar
• Start over: tornar
• Startup: muntar
• Set off: provocar
• Setback: endererir
• Brings back: recordar
• Bring along: emportar

• Bitter: =
• Tasty: sabroso
• Bright: luminos
• Pale: palit
• Pleasant: agradable
• Disgusting: disgust
• Faint: debil
• Deafening: ensortidor
• Smooth: blando
• Rough: rocos

• Odour: pudor
• Savoury: amgust adj
• Stink: pudor
• Flavour: amgust nom
• Rhythm: ritme
• Whisper: shui-shui
• Stare: mirar fijament
• Patter: patro
• Stroke: trazo

Unit 2 Vocabulary

• Referee: arbit
• Overheard: sobreescuchado
• Flee: huir
• Buried:

Important Quotations Explained in Death of a Salesman

1. "And when I saw that, I realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want. ’Cause what could be more satisfying than to be able to go, at the age of eighty-four, into twenty or thirty different cities, and pick up a phone, and be remembered and loved and helped by so many different people?"

Willy poses this question to Howard Wagner in Act II, in Howard’s office. He is discussing how he decided to become a salesman after meeting Dave Singleman, the mythic salesman who died the noble “death of a salesman” that Willy himself covets. His admiration of Singleman’s prolonged success illustrates his obsession with being well-liked. He fathoms having people “remember”... Continue reading "Key Quotes in Death of a Salesman: Analysis" »

Missing Words

Each question has one word missing:

1. Where do you come from?
2. Where and when were you born?
3. Do you live in a house or a flat?
4. Why are you studying English?
5. Which foreign countries have you been to?
6. What did you do yesterday evening?
7. What are you going to do after this lesson?

Adjectives and Adverbs

• Mexican life is so hard.
• Can you walk slowly, please?
• Real Madrid is playing badly.
• Please, listen carefully.

Much (Uncountable) and Many (Countable)

• How much soda do we have left?
• How many students do you know?
• I have much money in the bank.
• How many children are there in the classroom?
• How much time do we have left?

Should and Shouldn't

• I've got a sore throat, so I should drink water.
• I've got the flu, so I shouldn't go to school.
• I've got diarrhea, so I

Professional and Casual Email Correspondence

Salutations

Formal: Dear Mr./Ms. [Name],
Informal: Hi [Name], / Hello [Name], / [Name],

Previous Contact

• Formal: Thank you for your email of [Date]. / Further to your last email. / I apologize for not getting in contact with you sooner.
• Informal: Thanks for your email. / Re: your email. / Sorry I haven't written for ages, but I've been really busy.

Reason for Writing

• Formal: In reply to your email, here are... / Your name was given to me by... / We would like to point out that...
• Informal: Just a short note about... / I'm writing about... / Here is the [item] you wanted. / I got your name from... / Please note that...

Giving Information

• Formal: I am writing to let you know that... / We are able to confirm that.

S13B

• a) shatter
• b) offspring
• c) carrier
• d) malodorous

Sentence Transformations

• a) Passengers will be given a “quiet zone” without any extra cost.
• b) If airlines suggest that they should be segregated from other passengers, parents will get angry.
• c) Is it necessary for adults to learn to live with child passengers?
• d) Children will be banned by Malaysian Airlines from the top deck of A380 aircraft.

X12A

• a) makes a living
• b) risk
• c) confiscating
• d) inconvenienced

Sentence Transformations

• a) Patrick Smith, who is a pilot, writes for the online magazine Salon.com.
• b) Some people asked if crews empty the contents of the toilet over people’s houses.
• c) If you concentrate on these irrelevant things, you are wasting time and resources.
• d) More attention is required

A-C Vocabulary Definitions

account (n)

When you keep your money in a bank, you have a bank account.

appearance (n)

What someone or something looks like.

axe (n)

A heavy stick with a sharp piece of metal on the end, used for cutting down trees.

burial (n)

Burying; putting a dead body in a grave in the ground.

cage (n)

A box or a place with bars for keeping wild animals.

chemical (n)

Liquid or solid things used in or made by chemistry.

client (n)

Someone who pays another person (e.g., a lawyer, a builder) to do a job for them.

confession (n)

Saying that you have done something wrong.

courtyard (n)

An unroofed open space surrounded by walls or buildings.

D-M Vocabulary Definitions

dose (n)

How much medicine you take at one time.

drug (n)

A chemical mixture that can