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Question
Insert the appropriate word/phrase given below, in the sentences that follow.
(flattery, appealing, by fits and starts, dashed to, undetected, spirits rose)
The artist completes his paintings ______.
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Solution
The artist completes his paintings by fits and starts.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
Here are a few sentences from the text which have idiomatic expressions. Can you say what each means? (You might want to consult a dictionary first.)
- Our entire class is quaking in its boots. ______
- Until then, we keep telling each other not to lose heart. ______
- Mr Keeping was annoyed with me for ages because I talked so much. ______
- Mr Keeping was trying to play a joke on me with this ridiculous subject, but I’d make sure the joke was on him. ______
You have read the expression ‘not to lose heart’ in this text. Now find out the meanings of the following expressions using the word ‘heart’. Use each of them in a sentence of your own.
- break somebody’s heart
- close/dear to heart
- from the (bottom of your) heart
- have a heart
- have a heart of stone
- your heart goes out to somebody
This text is written in an old-fashioned style, for it reports an incident more than two millennia old. Look for the following words and phrases in the text, and try to rephrase them in more current language, based on how you understand them.
-
give thee medicine for thy child
-
Pray tell me
-
Kisa repaired to the Buddha
-
there was no house but someone had died in it
-
kinsmen
-
Mark!
Match, the italicised phrases in Column A with the phrase nearest meaning in Column B.
(Hint: First look for the sentence in the text which the phrase in column A occurs.)
| A | B |
| 1. I was not unmindful of the fact. |
(i) had not forgotten : was aware of the fact (ii) was not careful about the fact (iii) forgot or was not aware of the fact |
| 2. When my comrades and I were pushed to our limits |
(i) pushed by the guards to the wall (ii) took more than our share of beatings (iii) felt that we could not endure the suffering any longer |
| 3. To reassure me and keep me going |
(i) make me go on walking (ii) help me continue to live in hope in this very difficult situation (iii) make me remain without complaining |
| 4. The basic and honourable freedoms of… earning my keep… |
(i) earning enough money to live on (ii) keeping what I earned (iii) getting a good salary |
Insert the appropriate word/phrase given below, in the sentences that follow.
(flattery, appealing, by fits and starts, dashed to, undetected, spirits rose)
I ______ the school gate when I heard the school-bell ring.
Fill in the gap choosing the appropriate idiom.
(drown out, hits in the head with a brick, get one’s affairs in order, connect the dots, begin to dawn, stay hungy)
If you ______ you will realise that crime ultimately leads to poverty.
Make a meaningful sentence by using the following phrase in your notebook.
give up
Read the text again. You will find that the text contains many phrases. Match the phrases in ‘A’ and their meanings in ‘B’. After matching their meanings, make sentences of your own.
| ‘A’ Phrases | ‘B’ Meanings |
| 1. run of terrible bad luck | a. hit on a topic |
| 2. draws heavily on | b. without being affected by a particular factor |
| 3. struck a chord | c. endure in difficult circumstances |
| 4. in spite of | d. a period of time when bad things happen |
| 5. holding on | e. makes use of |
Discuss with your partner and find proverbs, idioms, or phrases of similar meaning to the one given and fill them in the stars given below:

Make a meaningful sentence by using the phrase ‘to look after’.
