Advanced practice on word formation

Advanced practice on word formation

ADVANCED PRACTICE on

WORD FORMATION

Suitable for

 teachers of English

 gifted students of grades 9–12

 entrance exam to high school for the gifted

 exams for the gifted, Olympic contests, etc

People 1

1 Some adjectives which describe character use the prefixes self- and well- Choose the suitable word given

in the box below and supply its correct form to fill in each blank Use the prefixes self- or well- and other

affixes if necessary Each word is used ONCE

absorb

just

sure

behave breed bring

centre confide congratulate

conscious deprecate dress

educate importance form

like manner round rely

1 (This word fits both blanks.)

a A television announcer with a _ voice was reading the news

b She is a _ woman, who comes from a family of high social position

2 (This word fits both blanks.)

a It’s a _ article which is fair to both sides of the dispute

b She describes herself as a “ _ person” who works hard but has a varied social life

3 A colleague described him as _ and respected by all

4 He gave a _ shrug He is always making his own achievements seem unimportant

5 He grew more _ as he got older, that is to say the older he got, the more confidence he

had in himself and his abilities (2 possibilities)

6 He watched the joggers with their _ faces

7 Make sure you are _ about the laws at your local before setting up a business

8 On the whole, the visitors were too _ to complain (2 possibilities)

9 Parents should teach their children to be independent or _

10 She was not at all the _ celebrity I’d read about She never thought that she was more

important than other people

11 She’s completely _ She only thinks about herself and doesn’t think about the needs or

feelings of other people

12 Some children were _ despite family breakdown (2 possibilities)

13 Taken aback by her frankness, he gave a little _ laugh

14 The school aims to produce _ members of society, who are able to deal with people,

problems and life in general in a normal, sensible way

15 The winners gave themselves a _ round of applause

2Choose the suitable word given in the box below and supply its correct form to fill in each blank

1 She’s always the life and soul of the party because she has such a bubbly _

2 Dedication, commitment and knowledge are all _ of a good teacher

3 I don’t believe he said that; it would be really out of _

4 I didn’t get along with my business partner because our _ clashed

5 Children may display _ of either of their parents

6 In the past, people were seen as either intelligent or unintelligent, and this was measured with an IQ

test However, psychologists now recognise that there are many different types of intelligence and these

are reflected in your (a) _ The multiple intelligence theory first came to light in 1983

in Howard Gardner’s book Frames of Mind In it, Gardner listed seven types of intelligence The first if

these is termed ‘linguistic’, and this describes people who are more interested in the written word and reading The next kind of intelligence is ‘logical’, and this is used to describe people whose strengths are

in subjects such as maths and science Then there is ‘musical’ intelligence, followed by ‘kinaesthetic’, which relates to the body and movement After that there is ‘visual’ intelligence, which describes people

who are attracted by or drawn to images And then the final two intelligences are ‘(b) _’ – describing someone who is aware of the feelings of others – and ‘(c) _’, which

concerns self-awareness Over the years, researchers have put forward other types of intelligence to add

to this list, but these are usually ignored as they tend to be rather complex and less easily defined

7 Many people agree that wearing school uniform _ children

8 She played a (a) _ who was the (b) _ of evil

9 The sales assistant was a very _ young man

3Many nouns can be formed by adding a suffix to another noun, or a verb or adjective Nine suffixes which are frequently used to create abstract nouns (nouns which are not people, places or objects) are listed in the chart below, with some examples Which would you guess is the most commonly used suffix? Work with a partner Together think of one more abstract noun to add to each category Then share your ideas with the rest of the class, and add their words to your list

Suffixes Nouns

-ance / -ence tolerance, independence,

-cy infancy,

-dom wisdom,

-hood motherhood,

-ity sanity,

-ment encouragement,

-ness thoughtfulness,

-tion concentration,

-ure exposure,

4Choose the suitable word given in the margin and supply its correct form to complete the gaps

Important social changes are taking place in the areas of marriage and the family There

is a global (1) _ going on in how we think of ourselves and how we form

ties and (2) _ with others

What most people call the traditional family was in fact a transitional phase in family (3)

_ in the 1950s By then the idea that romantic love was the best (4)

_ for marriage had replaced the concept of marriage as an economic

contract The family has since changed further

In the traditional family the married couple was only one part of the family system Ties

with children and other relatives were equally important in day-to-day (5)

_ Today the couple is at the core of what the family is While statistically

marriage is still the norm, for most people its (6) _ has completely changed

Although marriage promotes the (7) _ of a relationship by making a public

declaration of (8) _, it is now the quality of the couple’s relationship which

is considered the most important element

A couple has its own exclusive history It is a unit based upon emotional communication

or (9) _ Communication is both the means of establishing the tie in the first

place and the basis for ensuring continuing (10) _ in the relationship

COMMIT CONNECT DEVELOP EXIST FIND HAPPY INTIMATE REVOLVE SIGN STABLE

Change 2

1 The prefix retro- (in nouns, adjectives and adverbs) means “back or backwards” Choose the suitable word given in the box and supply its correct form to fill in the banks Use the prefix retro- and other affixes if necessary In some cases, you will need to form a word from a base (A table of meaning of some bases is given below Further details about ‘root’, ‘stem’, ‘base’, etc will be discussed at university level.)

act fit grade -gress- -nym- -spect-

Base Meaning Example

-gress- go regression, progressive, etc

-nym- / -nom- name nomenclature, synonymous, anonymous, etc

-spect- look inspectorate, spectacle, prospective, perspective, etc

1 In _, and with the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that this was a bad decision

2 She feels a pang of _ sympathy for John He reminds her of her younger brother who

passed away in a civil war

3 The closure of the factory is _ step

4 The government has imposed _ and disastrous policies on tax, which provokes a

furious backlash from voters

5 The legislation was supposed to have been applied _ (2 possibilities)

6 The list of _ includes acoustic guitar, manual typewriter, silent movie and landline

phone

2 Choose the suitable word given in the box and supply its correct form to fill in the banks In some cases you will need to form a word from a base

temp

finite stand go colour -ced- point -cur- balm fact deter topic

Base Meaning Example

-ced- / -cess- move; go; give way concede, procession

-cur(r)- / -curs- run; go occurrence, cursory

1 The exhibition contains faded photographs reminding us of a _ era

2 He mixes _ ideas with those of the old times (3 possibilities)

3 I prefer this newspaper because it covers the most _ news stories (2 possibilities)

4 On New Year’s Day, people often stop and reflect on all that happened in the _ year

5 In previous years, the library was always very busy, but our _ students seem to prefer to

study in privacy of their own room

6 The trouble with a back injury is that there is a great risk of _

7 He was imprisoned for two _ terms of 30 months and 18 months

8 The museum’s collection includes _ dating back to prehistoric times

9 The amounts of radioactivity present were _ small

10 The government is hoping that this is only a _ shift in public opinion

11 The pipes were beginning to rust, _ the water

12 The materials used have to be able to _ high temperature

13 We’ve seen a _ in relations between countries

14 This work is in austere _ to that of Gaudi We can see that there is a pleasing and

interesting contrast between the two works of art

15 These _ substances, including fairly exotic materials, were as complex as those used

for human mummification

3 Put the words below in the correct part of the chart, adding the prefix that would be used to give the word

a negative meaning

appear

balance

balanced

behave

capable

colonial

comfort

comfortable conduct desirable

do eligible experience formation

government grateful inform interest obedience mature mobile

polite plausible practice satisfied septic tolerant trustworthy

anti/anti-

dis-

im-

in-

mal-

mis-

un-

Work with a partner Choose two words from the chart above Write two sentences, each including one of the words you have chosen The sentences should not be definitions, but should illustrate the meaning of the word When all pairs are ready, take turns to read your sentences aloud, saying ‘beep’ instead of the word The rest of the class must guess what the missing word is

Example: I thought it was very *beep* of him to leave the party without thanking the hostess

Answer: impolite

of these words? Use a dictionary, check the exact meaning of the five words created by adding the prefix im-

5 Complete the gaps in the text with a word formed from the word given in the margin

Complaining can be used constructively, for example to draw attention to (1)

_ but all too often in western society it consists of (2)

_ moaning and groaning which leads to (3) _ and

unnecessary arguments within relationships

So it is refreshing to live in a society where people do not complain Kiribati consists

of thirty-three small islands located in the Central Pacific By western standards, the

islanders, diet is plain and (4) _, but, thanks to plentiful fish, none of the

islanders suffer from (5) _ Feasts are popular social occasions, but if

the fish is (6) _ or the rice proves to be (7) _, nobody

complains Similarly, in restaurants, if the waiter brings the wrong dish or the bill is

(8) _, the error is pointed out with a calm smile, not a surly frown

Ships frequently leave hours later than scheduled, yet the passengers wait with none of

the signs of (9) _ which would be loudly evident elsewhere

Other traits of the Kiribati people complement this (10) _ to

complain Teachers find it difficult to get their pupils to answer questions in class because

it is culturally (11) _ to show yourselves to be better than those around

you Competition is not exactly frowned upon in this society, but it is refreshingly (12)

_.Western tennis stars, well-known for their (13) _

behaviour on court, could learn a lot from one young (14) _ here who,

despite being the better player, (15) _ lost the match as his opponent

was an older and more respected member of the village

EFFICIENT SOCIAL TRUST

TONE NUTRIENT

DO EDIBLE CALCULATE PATIENT CLINE ACCEPT CHARACTER MODEST FINAL LIBERAL

Community 3

1 Supply the correct form of the words given in brackets

1 Everyone should try to maintain their _ (DIVIDE)

2 My friends started going out late to nightclubs so I decided to _ myself from the group

(SOCIAL)

3 New immigrants have been successfully _ into the community (SIMILAR)

4 He doesn’t conform to the _ image of the businessman with a dark suit and briefcase

(TYPE)

5 He wanted Jill to give up her life of alcohol and _ (DESTROY)

6 Some people create a(n) _ (an alternative social group) and rebel against the traditional

way of life (CULTURE)

7 The six long years in prison had _ him (COARSE)

8 College _ have increased for the past years in (DROP)

9 While all the desserts are pretty good, the clear _ is the lemon pie (STAND)

10 The sports association accepted the inevitability of a(n) _ by the elite clubs (BREAK)

11 Since the _, the hospital has been responsible for its own budgeting (OPT)

12 She looked absolutely _ when I told her what had happened She could hardly say a

word (DUMB)

13 The police described it as one of the most _ crimes of recent years (PULSE)

14 It was not wickedness that led him into crime but a cheerfully _ nature and a complete

lack of reasoning power (PULSE)

15 He does a little training, but first and _ he’s a writer (MANY)

below in the correct part of the chart, adding the suffix that would be used to change the word into an adjective, and making any necessary spelling changes

apathy

art

artist

bliss chaos cheer

delight disgrace drama

ecstasy forget idyll

materialism play

rest

sarcasm therapy waste

3 In most cases, the meaning of adjectives ending in -ful is ‘full of’ or ‘displaying the qualities of’ the stem

noun or verb In some cases, however, the meaning has changed, for example:

awe (noun) = respect and wonder

awful (adj) = bad or unpleasant

Can you think of another adjective ending in -ful which has a similar meaning to awful? What is the

meaning of the stem of this other adjective?

very different meaning What is it?

5 There are several words with the ending -ic which exist only as adjectives Some examples are given

below Work with a partner and try to think of at least two more adjectives like this, then share your ideas with the rest of the class

domestic exotic hectic

6 Not all words ending in -ic are adjectives! Tick (√) the words in the list below which are not adjectives

What is the adjective form of the words you ticked?

altruistic critic logic polemic shambolic statistic topic

7 Work with a partner Choose three adjectives ending in -ful or -ic that you have already studied Write

one or two sentences which illustrate the meaning of each adjective When all pairs are ready, take turns to read your sentences aloud The rest of the class must respond with a short phrase including the appropriate adjective

Example: They spent their honeymoon in an isolated beach cabin on a tropical island, surrounded by palm trees and the sound of the surf

Answer: That sounds idyllic

8 Choose the suitable word given in the margin and supply its correct form to complete the gaps

In an effort to escape from their hectic and (1) _ city lives, more

and more Northern Europeans are buying houses in rural areas of France, Spain, Italy

and Greece Some relocate permanently in search of a more (2) _

existence Those who cannot afford to give up their jobs seek a (3) _

respite from their (4) _ lifestyle by relaxing for a few weeks each year

in their second home in the sun

However, many of those who relocate permanently find that life in the country is not

as quiet and (5) _ as they had anticipated Aspects of village life which

seemed delightfully (6) _ in the context of a two-week holiday can

grate on the nerves when you live with them on a daily basis Recently a group of

British residents in an Italian village took local farmers to court because they found the

smell of the villagers’ pigs (7) _ In other cases, foreigners have

complained to neighbours about the (8) _ early-morning crowing of

their cockerels, or to village priests about the regular tolling of church bells

(9) _, the local inhabitants are somewhat (10) _ of

these attitudes They argue that the foreigners have an (11) _ view of

what country life is like and that, since no-one forced them to come and live in a village,

they are being (12) _ by now complaining about the (13)

_ of rural life

SPHERE CONVENE CRITIC ENTHUSE EVENT MATERIAL MEANING REAL SEND STRESS TASTE THERAPY UNDERSTAND

Science 4

1 Supply the correct form of the words given in brackets

1 The _ company sent millions of dollars marketing their new wonder drug

(PHARMACY)

2 Although the drug is very effective, it does have some unpleasant _ (EFFECT)

3 This margarine is full of food _ – just look the label! (ADD)

4 Patients with diseases that are highly _ are isolated in a special area (CONTAGION)

5 Very soon, ‘Third World’ came to _ poverty (NOTE)

6 The government has _ plans for new energy legislation (VEIL)

7 The complexity of these ‘simplest’ forms of life is _ (WILD)

8 Early man made use of the medical properties of insects and reptiles to treat common _

(AIL)

9 Scientists are convinced that, because crocodiles have such a long _, they must have a

natural ability to combat infection (LIFE)

10 University professors both teach and _ research (TAKE)

11 There is a strong smell of _ in the hospital (INFECT)

12 Steroids often help reduce the _ and itching in the skin (FLAME)

13 These materials are highly _ (FLAME)

14 They are producing _ drugs for arthritis (FLAME)

15 The organization works in many _ (WAR) and _ (POOR) countries

16 An NGO is helping to make ozone-friendly natural _ designed to replace R-22 in

existing air conditioning and _ systems (FRIDGE)

17 They were asked to _ the factors that had influenced their choice (NUMBER)

18 The project has been delayed by _ problems (NUMBER)

19 Students mustn’t be _ and illiterate when they leave school (NUMBER)

20 Treat them with this kind of spray to make them _ (WATER)

2 Choose the suitable word given in the margin and supply its correct form to complete the gaps

Many chemists caution that health risk assessment of chemical mixtures can be

complex and it is often very expensive to get sufficient (1) _ data for

proper (2) _ They assert that a single (3) _ to a

chemical mixture automatically places a person into a higher risk category is an urban

myth that has no (4) _ They state that: “The facts about toxicity

remain the same for either a single chemical or a mixture of chemicals: it is the (5)

_ that makes them poisonous.” When assessing the toxicity of a

substance, it is important to have a good understanding of how the different (6)

_ in the mix may interact both with one another and inside any

creature which absorbs them Sometimes these reactions can make a substance more,

or less, toxic They said the cost of (7) _ all the possible interactions

and effects of any compound mixture would be immense

ANALYSE CONTAMINATE DOSE

EVIDENT FIND POSE VALUE

word’s meaning

able

arrange

bitter

close compress contaminate

courage frost fuel

large louse motivate

place state try

de- em- / en- re-

Most of the words you have formed can be further transformed into nouns Write the corresponding noun forms in the chart below de- em- / en- re-

Work with a partner Choose one word from each column of the chart above and write a mock dictionary entry for the word, then share your ideas with the rest of the class An example is given to help you Example: enable (verb) make someone or something able to do something

His university degree enabled him to get a better job

What would the resulting eight words mean? If necessary, use a dictionary to help you

5 Complete the gaps in the text with a word formed from the word given in the margin

In January 2001 the (1) _ Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

issued its latest report on climate change Climate models worked out by giant

super-computers had become far more reliable since the previous report in 1995 and allowed

them to (2) _ the earlier (3) _ for global warming

Their conclusions were that something very serious is happening and that it cannot be

a natural process The 1990s was the hottest decade for 1.000 years and the Earth is

warming faster than at any time in the last 10.000 years According to the report,

human activities are (4) _ to blame for the temperature rise The

burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide and, due to (5) _, there

are fewer trees to absorb this gas and (6) _ it back into oxygen

Methane (7) _ have also gone up dramatically because of increases in

rice culture and (8) _, both of which generate methane from

(9) _ vegetation These greenhouses gases trap heat in the Earth’s

atmosphere and cause the temperature to rise

The IPCC reported that, in the worst case, the average temperature could rise by

5.8oC this century, 2oC higher than their original predictions The resulting melting of

ice-caps and glaciers would cause sea levels to rise by up to 88cm, (10)

_ the homes and (11) _ of tens of millions of people

who live in low-lying regions

Unfortunately, there is far greater (12) _ among the world's

scientists over the issue than among politicians As long ago as 1990, the IPCC

recommended a 60% reduction in carbon dioxide (13) _, as the basic

level required to return the planet’s climate to a healthy level

Governments globally failed to (14) _ these proposals Now that

the dangers have been (15) _ by the latest report, it is high time that

governments took an active interest in exploring alternative, (16) _

energy sources

GOVERN PRAISE PROJECT

VOICE FOREST CYCLE CONCENTRATE CATTLE

POSE

DANGER LIVE

-ANIM-(base) spirit; life

as in animation

EMIT

ACT FIRM NEW

Achievement 5

1 Choose the suitable word given in the box and supply suitable form to complete each of the THREE

sentences in each group below Follow the example:

deep

 There were plans to deepen a stretch of the river

 The custom of sending a greeting in a card had become a deep-rooted tradition

 Tonight’s programme is a(n) in-depth look at the long-term effects of unemployment

assess concept consist context define establish little proof thesis valid

1 a Such databases are being used in a wide range of _

b As important as the photograph is a caption to _ the image

c It’s important to understand the nuances of an isolated word without some _ clues

2 a She had that _ something that makes an actress a star

b The money was lent for a(n) _ period of time

c Scientists follow several _ steps in investigating unexpected outbreaks of disease

3 a World Music is now _ and popular with mass audiences

b The upkeep of the church is so expensive that it is going to be _

c The visa is for foreign nationals wishing to study at a university, college or similar educational

_

4 a True education does not _ in simply being taught facts

b It’s annoying that there is some _ between the witnesses’ evidence and their earlier

statements

c We must be _ in applying the rules

5 a We hope the documentary will dispel certain _ about the disease

b She presents a(n) _ framework for the analysis of educational processes

c Try to _ thought processes as a series of circles

6 a Students were allowed to hand in correct work again for _

b A(n) _ can reveal your personal attributes, values, skills, and interests, all of which

are critical in helping you make informed career choices

c ‘ _ income’ is your total income after deducting allowable expenses and approved

donations

7 a Too much background detail tends to _ the impact of the central image

b Children should be taught to lead a life of _ service to the community

c She felt her husband constantly _ her achievements

8 a It would be pointless to engage in _ before we have the facts

b These are particular problems that arise when _ about the origins of the universe

c I wasn’t asking about anybody in particular – it was a purely _ question

9 a The firm claims that its software is _

b This document needs _ before sending to the publishing house

c Theories of the meaning of dreams remain _

10 a Misuse of the mattress will _ the guarantee

b The period of _ of the argument has expired

c The treaty was declared _ because it had not been ratified

2 Choose the suitable word given in the margin and supply its correct form to complete the gaps

It is possible to predict your performance on a video game simply by measuring the

volume of specific structures in your brain, a multi-institutional team of researchers

announced this week The study, headed by Kirk Erikson, a professor of psychology, adds

to the evidence that specific parts of the brain (1) _ influence a person’s

ability to (2) _ his or her motor skills, learn new procedures, develop

useful (3) _ and adapt to a quickly changing environment

Participants in the study were taught to play Space Fortress, a video game developed at

the University of Illinois Half of the participants were asked to focus on maximizing their

overall score in the game while also paying attention to the various components of the

game The other participants had to (4) _ shift priorities, improving their

skills in one area for a period of time while also maximizing their success at other tasks

The latter approach, called ‘variable priority training’, encourages the kind of (5)

_ that is commonly required in daily life

The researchers found that players who had a larger nucleus accumbens (an area of the

brain) did better than their (6) _ in the early stages of the training period

This makes sense, Erickson said, because the nucleus accumbens is part of the brain’s

reward center, and a person’s motivation for (7) _ at a video game

includes the pleasure that results from achieving a specific goal This sense of achievement

and the emotional reward that (8) _ it is likely to be higher in the earliest

stages of learning, he said

Players with a larger caudate and putamen (two other areas of the brain), learned more

quickly and learned more over the training period ‘This study tells us a lot about how the

brain works when it is trying to learn a complex task,’ Erikson said at the (9)

_ of the research, which was conducted in Illinois Such information

might be useful in education or in treating (10) _ or dementia

ABLE CELL COMPANY CONCLUDE FIND

FINE PART PERIOD STRATEGIC TASK