Age and youth

Crabbed Age and Youth

Cannot live together:

Youth is full of pleasance,

Age is full of care;

Youth like summer morn,

Age like winter weather;

Youth like summer brave,

Age like winter bare;

Youth is full of sport,

Age’s breath is short;

Youth is nimble, Age is lame;

Youth is hot and bold,

Age is weak and cold;

Youth is wild and Age is tame,

Youth, I adore thee!

W. Shakespeare

[εƏ]	[ i: ]	[e]	[כ:]	[u:]	[ei]

THE ARROW AND THE SONG

I shot an arrow into the air,

It fell to earth, I knew not where,

For, so swiftly it flew, the sight

Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,

It fell to earth, I knew not where;

For who has sight so keen and strong,

That it can follow the flight of a song?

Long, long afterward, in an oak,

I found the arrow, still unbroke;

And the song, from beginning to end,

I found again in the heart of a friend.

Henry W. Longfellow

[εƏ]	[ i: ]	[Ə:]	[כ]	[ou]	[ju:]

ENGLISH SPELLING

When the ENGLISH tongue we speak

Why is break not rhymed with freak?

Will you tell me why it's true

We say sew but likewise few?

And the maker of a verse

Cannot cap his horse with worse.

Beard sounds not the same as heard,

Lord is different from word.

Cow is cow, but low is low;

Shoe is never rhymed with foe

Think of hose and close and lose.

And of goose - and yet of choose.

Think of comb and tomb and bomb

Doll and roll, and home and some;

And, since pay is rhymed with say.

Why not paid with said. I pray?

We have blood and food and good;

Mould is not pronounced like could.

Wherefore done, but gone and lone?

Is there any reason known?

And in short, it seems to me

Sounds and letters disagree.

Activity 1. Which word doesn’t rhyme with the other three?

catch match thatch

slow know now grow

but put cut cup

worry hurry barrow sorry

our four hour sour

does goes toes hoes

quite guilt guile guide

seat meat read great

higher hire hitch hired

worm word worthy wore

monkey donkey money monk

dull null full sully

mean dean meant deal

raid trade red grade

pull full bull dull

fast waste past last

sight sit side sidle

by die din buy

most ghost frost host

some home mom come

found round ground soul

group proud soup could

owl bowl bow own

brown crow crown down

sow row saw know

steak head dead bread

hear heard her hurt

tough enough fought rough

blithely bridge bright bride

island ice Iceland iced

knight night knit knife

Activity 2. Which word doesn’t rhyme with the other words?

1. blown grown stone sewn lone

2. over clover Dover drover lover

3. smile style while vile aisle veil

4. hard cart stared barred starred charred

5. could good hood stood would flood

6. tough dough rough puff gruff bluff

7. stud mud bud blood wood thud

8. speak shriek cheek break deep scene

9. pier brier dear deer here weir

10. love glove dove move above

Activity 3. The words on the left are all irregular verbs in the past.

Find words on the right which rhyme with them.

could made

caught book

read due

took good

bought head

knew court

chose goal

said rose

paid short

stole dead

wore bird

heard road

ate war

saw wave

break one

become lake

gave debt

won mate

wrote come

met law

hurt blue

spoke red

built mug

blew door

fed cook

rose dirt

bore woke

drew kilt

took nose

dug crew

Activity 4. Read each group of words.

What sound has each line got in common?

1. [Ə:] first – word – Thursday – learn

2. [ … ] live – English – busy – biscuit – women

3. [ … ] fish – dictation – sure – shall

4. [ … ] men – head – said – friend – says

5. [ … ] you – blue – two – fruit – through

6. [ … ] fun – worry – enough – one – Monday – won

7. [ … ] air – where – care – their – there – pear

8. [ … ] daughter – walk – more – court – caught – thought – ball

9. [ … ] god – long – sock – quality – waffle – knock

10. [ … ] price – guy – sight – sly – tie – kind – child

11. [ … ] sail – sale – obey – tray – great – sleigh

12. [ … ] cloud – crown – now – owl – mouth

13. [ … ] hope – road – foe – so – slow – ghost

14. [ … ] fear – deer – sincere – idea – period

15. [ … ] tire – tyre – ireful – irony – inspire

Activity 5. Read the pairs of words.

What is the difference in pronunciation between them?

1. buy – bay 2. saw – so 3. car – care 4. chip – cheap

guy – gay or – oh dark – dare fit – feet

high – hay walk – woke far – fare lip – leap

my – may ought – know farm – fare list – least

Activity 6. Finish the word and start the next word with the same letter.

Read the words and explain the reading rules.

CLIM RING DI NJOY

HIG ERE PAG ACH HOU EPEAT

TRU AT WID ND ONL EAR

WOUL ISCUSS ASLEE LACE

STA ED LUC IND SU ICE

WOR EAR HUR REE MU HOST

MUSI REATIVE TOUC EART

Activity 7. Finish the word and start the next word with two letters from the stars.

MO ____ ALLY

DE ____ M

TOO ____ ERE

FIR ____ UDY

B____ AIN

POSSIB ____ TTER

S ____ DER

ST ____ EN

CHUR ____ ANCE

BR ____ DRESS

Activity 8. Match the words that rhyme.

A. 1. red a. dark B. 1. name a. race

2. green b. kissed 2. sum b. reign

3. short c. cake 3. praise c. here

4. list d. mean 4. flower d. night

5. whose e. weigh 5. hear e. wood

6. park f. said 6. rain f. aim

7. break g. ate 7. by g. peace

8. hair h. shoes 8. knight h. flour

9. way i. hare 9. piece i. some

10. eight j sport 10. would j. buy

C. 1. wing a. eat D. 1. no a. money

2. house b. down 2. gun b. cook

3. brown c. enough 3. honey c. mind

4. talk d. trouble 4. kind d. lay

5. double e. hall 5. earn e. dart

6. meat f. sing 6. took f. know

7. pack g. palm 7. play g. treasure

8. tall h. back 8. die h. done

9. rough i. mouse 9. heart i. learn

10. calm j. walk 10. measure j. my

Activity 9. Put the words in the box into the correct column according to

the sound.

calm tall careful polite rough false greedy sly perverse fussy kind easy-going conceit double-faced sincere hard-hearted smart bright impartial courageous stupid cordial harsh discreet neat busy talkative quick-tempered decent clumsy wise reserved weak awful

[כ:]	[εƏ]	[ai]	[a:]	[i:]

Activity 10. Read the text.

Queuing is as British as Big Ben. It is a symbol of Britain and British life as traditional as the bowler hat and as popular as the Sunday joint. If a Briton wants to catch a bus or take a train, he queues. He queues to make a telephone call. he queues to see an exhibition. It has been said that wherever two or more Britons are gathered together, they form a queue. If no one else is around, a true Briton will form a queue by himself.

But what lies behind this curious custom? Why does everyone obey the unwritten rules? Why stand and wait when you can push in front of everyone else? The answer lies in the British sense of fair play. In other countries the weak and the slow may get pushed aside in the rush, the lame and the old may get left behind, but in Britain all have their turn, if all are prepared to wait.

But do not be deceived by the apparently placid picture of a queue. As long as everyone keeps their place, all is well. But the moment someone puts a foot out of line, pandemonium breaks loose. Old ladies wave their sticks, City gentlemen brandish umbrellas and insults fill the air. The innocent visitor will receive no mercy from an outraged queue.

So, when in London, do as the British do – and whatever happens, don’t step out of line!

( from: London Life by Sandra Alfry, 1978)

[ei]	[æ]	[εƏ]	[a:]

A

[ou]	[כ:]	[u:]	[כ]

O

[i:]	[i]	[Ə:]	[iƏ]

E

[k]	[ s ]	[t∫]	[∫]

C

[g]	[dз]

[q]	[ ]

G TH

Activity 11. Distribute the adjectives according to the qualities of people

paying attention to the sounds.

energetic gentle noisy warm-hearted thankful gleeful cautious humble calm hard-working strange rude unhelpful worried glad talkative bright witty happy polite shy kind quiet sad affable stable practical charming tidy cruel unfriendly mean glum generous cheeky lazy vain superstitious easy-going powerful curious sociable charitable

[ou]

__ ______sociable ______ _____________ noisy _________

_________________________ ____________________________

_________________________ ____________________________

[a:]

[æ]

[i]

[Ə:]

[t∫]

Activity 12. Use your dictionary to find the silent letters in the words.

Circle the silent letter in each word.

honest comb palm gnome

knee salmon psyche pneumonia

autumn island knob fasten

Activity 13. Rhyming pairs. Re-arrange the following 30 words so

that you have 15 rhyming pairs.

1. love

2. prove

3. farm

4. spite

5. charm

6. wove

7. fate

8. grow

9. blue

10. chain

11. bough

12. through

13. now

14. weight

15. plot

16. move

17. rough

18. done

19. form

20. cove

21. warm

22. dove

23. height

24. new

25. true

26. run

27. muff

28. lot

29. plane

30. know

Activity 14. Fill in the gaps and read the rhymes.

Activity 15. Read the words in bold, find the difference between them,

translate the sentences.