We can strengthen our passive vocabulary , by reading more and more, the works of authors who use extensive vocabulary.
The passive vocabulary we import from one discourse, will linger in our minds for sometime, till it fades away owing to disuse.
We export our vocabulary (existing active vocabulary + imported passive vocabulary), when we engage in conversations (speaking skills) and send written messages (writing skills). We enrich our active vocabulary, thus.
This is to go on as a continuous process throughout our lives. Vocabulary books, courses and workshops can only supplement this continuous process and cannot replace it.
Learning new words, serves as first stage of strengthening our language. But words standing alone, often convey a restricted or incomplete meaning, in relation to the context they are used. Let us say: This is stage 1.
Learning phrases as some sort of 'compound-words' will help us to understand the meanings of sentences better, in their context. Stage 2.
Studying the meaning of whole short sentences as vignettes, vis-a-vis other sentences in the paragraphs , will enrich our comprehension. Stage 3.
I present below some phrases used by Late R.K. Narayan in his introduction to his collection of short stories titled 'mAlguDi Days'.
We are going to use these phrases in our own sentences. Here is a set of ten sentences.
We shall fill-in the blanks in our sentences, selecting appropriate phrases from the selection box.
You can, as usual, hover your mouse on the blank, to see the suggested answer, if you have no time to work out your mind.
broad climate of inherited culture chimerical pursuit concentrated attention equilibrium and verticalities indefinite stretch of time propitious moment restless and uneasy universal agreement unshaken permanence and familiarity whoop of joy |
01. A large number of Asian Indians seem to have an _____ with the caste structures in their village. 02. Citizens of any country, will have probably to enlighten from and put up with with the _____. 03. Do you doubt that family life will get disturbed, when main bread-earner of the family remains unemployed for an _____? 04. Every youth has to devote his _____ on earning a stable livelihood. 05. Gerontology has to find new solutions for the problems of physical _____ during old age. 06. He is wasting out his life in inaction, waiting for _____. 07. Married life becomes miserable, when a spouse becomes _____, everytime he sees his partner talking to a stranger. 08. The child ran with a _____, seeing its father approaching in rapid strides. 09. Venturing to explore meaning and object of one's life, need not be considered as a _____. 10. We can find a near- _____ about the spherical shape of the Earth. But, we cannot trace a universal agreement about the existence of life after death. |
Hover your mouse here to see all the suggested answers |
