Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
Discuss the meanings of the following idioms/phrases and use them in your own sentence.
To get a toehold.
Advertisements
Solution
Meaning: to achieve an initial, strong position from where further progress can be made.
After hours of careful digging, the officials finally managed to get a toehold in the rescue operation.
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
Give antonyms of the following words by adding prefixes :
(i) gratitude
(ii) clear
(iii) believe
(iv) significance
Notice these words in the story.
• “chuffed”, meaning delighted or very pleased
• “nosey”, meaning inquisitive
• “gawky”, meaning awkward, ungainly
These are words that are used in an informal way in colloquial speech.
Make a list of ten other words of this kind.
You came across the words, plod, trudge, stagger in the story. These words indicate movement accompanied by weariness. Find five other such words with a similar meaning.
A crofter is a person who rents or owns a small farm especially in Scotland. Think of other uncommon terms for ‘a small farmer’ including those in your language.
Form groups and explain the following word with an example. You can take the help of your teacher.
Humility
Form groups and explain the following words with examples. You can take help of your teacher.
Self-esteem
Form groups and explain the following words with examples. You can take help of your teacher.
Gratitude
Form groups and explain the following words with examples. You can take help of your teacher.
Courtesy
Choose appropriate phrases/expressions from the extract given in the options and fill in the blank appropriately.
All their educational problems were sorted out _______ because of the funds given by an NGO.
The verbs in bold letters are made up of a verb and a small adverb.
(Adverb particles are not the same as prepositions.)
For example, shake (verb) + up (adverb). These are called ‘phrasal verbs.’ The meaning of a phrasal verb may be idiomaticdifferent from the meanings of the two separate words.
Read carefully the following sentence from the text and underline the phrasal verbs.
We travel, then, in part just to shake up our complacencies.
The verbs in bold letters are made up of a verb and a small adverb.
(Adverb particles are not the same as prepositions.)
For example, shake (verb) + up (adverb). These are called ‘phrasal verbs.’ The meaning of a phrasal verb may be idiomaticdifferent from the meanings of the two separate words.
Read carefully the following sentence from the text and underline the phrasal verb.
But there is, for the traveller at least, the sense that learning about home and.......
Fill in the blank selecting the correct phrase from the alternatives given.
[be completely stumped, be broken, feel out of place, speak at length, feel at home, sea of knowledge, broaden one’s horizon, one’s second innings, touch the hearts, keep one going]
When he lost his mother he was completely ________.
The poet has used many describing words such as ‘healthy’ in this poem.
Make a list and classify them as -
- For the world _______
- For himself ________
- For the road _______
The road in the poem does not mean only the road to travel. The poet wants to suggest the road of life. Explain the metaphor with the help of the poem.
The poet has asked a question at the beginning of every stanza. Explain the effect it creates on the reader.
Some words in the poem are related to different parts of a ship or a mariner’s life. Given below is the meaning of those terms. Identify the word.
Helps in steering the ship
Some words in the poem are related to different parts of a ship or a mariner’s life. Given below is the meaning of those terms. Identify the word.
The lowest part of the ship
Some words in the poem are related to different parts of a ship or a mariner’s life. Given below is the meaning of those terms. Identify the word.
Another name for a ship
Find out from the poem example of Simile.
Find out from the poem example of Personification.
Enrich your vocabulary. Match the job terms with their meanings.
| (1) to be your own boss | (a) work that requires manual activity |
| (2) a dead-end job | (b) an important powerful job |
| (3) a good team player | (c) to be unhappy in an office job |
| (4) a heavy workload | (d) a normal job having a duty of 8 hours |
| (5) a high-powered job | (e) to be in a boring job that is hard to leave |
| (6) job satisfaction | (f) a job with no promotional opportunities |
| (7) manual work | (g) to have your own business |
| (8) to be stuck in a rut | (h) to have a lot of work to do |
| (9) to be stuck behind a desk | (i) enjoying your job |
| (10) a nine-to-five job | (j) someone who can work well with other people |
Find from the text the collocation for the following.
______ sentences
From the story, find the collocation of the following.
widely ________________.
From the story, find the collocation of the following.
___________ blood.
From the story, find the collocation of the following.
simple _________________.
From the story, find the collocation of the following.
____________ closed.
From the lesson, pick out one word for the following.
eager to know everything
Vocabulary Extension - Choose several words from the text. Use a dictionary or internet to build up more associations/collocations of each word.
Let’s use the Thesaurus.
Along with your partner, go to the library or search the internet for a standard Thesaurus to complete the following table. One is done for you.
| Sr. No. | Word | Type | Synonym | Antonym |
| 1. | observe | verb | notice, discern, detect, mark | ignore, overlook |
| 2. | abandoned | |||
| 3. | grateful | |||
| 4. | initiative | |||
| 5. | peril | |||
| 6. | separation |
Read the following word carefully and make a meaningful sentence of your own, and write in your notebook.
Curveting
Read the following word carefully and make a meaningful sentence of your own, and write in your notebook.
Soar
Read the following word carefully and fill in the blank by choosing the appropriate word given in options.
Ravi said, “Are you really ______ of the dark?”
Read the following word carefully and fill in the blank by choosing the appropriate word given in options.
The lions ______ their prey, hungrily.
Explain how the underlined Homographs differ in meaning.
- He saw his two brothers.
- The woodcutter cut the weakened branch with his sharp saw.
Use the following word/phrase in your own sentence.
confined to
Insert the proper words from the bracket to form collocations.
(a) afford (b) time (c) defeat (d) clothes (e) owners (f) necessary (g) role (h) interview (i) morning (j) cold.
- absolutely ____________
- cannot __________________
- formal __________________
- job __________________
- pass __________________
- accept __________________
- early __________________
- catch a __________________
- leading __________________
- joint __________________
Make a meaningful sentence by using the following phrase.
to be afraid of
Make a meaningful sentence by using the following phrase.
to give up
Find antonym of the following word from the story.
frowned ×
Find antonym of the following word from the story.
hell ×
Find antonym of the following word from the story.
unimportant ×
Make a list of all the words related to the word ‘ocean’.
- fishers
- salty
- ____________
- ____________
- ____________
- ____________
Make a sentence of your own using the following word.
elation
Make a sentence of your own using the following word.
reinforced
Make a sentence of your own using the following word.
humble surroundings
Find the antonym of the following word from the text.
Arrogant ×
Using a dictionary, find the difference between the following pairs of phrases. Make sentences of your own with each of them.
| Phrases | Meaning | Own Sentences |
| 1. to cut in to cut out |
____________ ____________ |
____________ ____________ |
| 2. to be held by to be held up |
____________ ____________ |
____________ ____________ |
| 3. to run away to run for | ____________ ____________ |
____________ ____________ |
| 4. to be known as to be known for |
____________ ____________ |
____________ ____________ |
| 5. to go with to go after | ____________ ____________ |
____________ ____________ |
| 6. to put fire into to put fire out |
____________ ____________ |
____________ ____________ |
Find a synonym from the story for the following word.
Repair
Find a synonym from the story for the following word.
Fortunate
Write the related words as shown in the example:

