Objects & actions

A. The words in the box describe the actions of the things in 1-37. Match each action with the thing it describes.

evaporate (v-bốc hơi) • explode (v-làm nổ, nổ) • change • melt (v-làm tan) • fade (v-làm phai, úa) • bounce (v-tung, nảy lên)

crumble (v-bóp vụn) • trickle (v-chảy từng giọt) • rise (v-tăng lên) • sink (v-chìm, lún xuống) • ring (v-làm kêu) • contract (nv-hợp đồng, giao kèo) • crack (v-làm nứt) • escape

stretch (v-căng ra, nới rộng) • wobble (v-lung lay) • congeal (v-đông cứng, đóng băng) • burn (v-đốt cháy) • spill (v-làm tràn, chảy ra) • smoulder (v-cháy âm ỉ) • erupt (v-phun ra) • spin (v-quay)

revolve (v-xoay quanh, hồi chuyển, suy đi xét lại) • set (v-thiết lập) • flow (v-chảy ra) • slide (v-trượt) • rotate (v-làm quay) • spread (v-trải ra, phổ biến) • erode (v-ăn mòn) • meander (v-quanh co, ngoằn ngoèo)

turn (v-xoay, queo) • subside (v-rút bớt, ngớt) • freeze (v-đông lại) • grow (v-lớn lên) • expand (v-mở rộng) • vibrate (v-rung, lúc lắc) • float (v-nổi, lơ lửng)

1. The planet Earth moving round on its axis. ________________

2. A washing machine in its final stage of a wash. ______________

3. The moon moving around the Earth. ___________________

4. The CD-ROM tray on a computer base unit. ______________________

5. A house slowly sinking into soft ground. ______________________

6. Water slowly being converted into vapour. ______________________

7. Cooking fat becoming solid on an unwashed plate. ______________

8. Traffic moving smoothly along a motorway. ______________

9. Water changing from a liquid to a solid because of the cold. ___________

10. Glass changing from a solid to a liquid in very high heat. _______________

11. A loose wheel on a car. ______________________

12. Gas coming out of a faulty valve. ______________________

13. A rubber ball hitting the ground and going back into the air. _____________

14. Loose windows in a window frame when a large vehicle passes nearby. ___________

15. The population of a town becoming bigger. _____________

16. A T-shirt which has been washed so often it has lost its colour. ___________

17. The sun coming up in the morning. ______________________

18. The sun going down in the evening. ______________________

19. A wheel on a slow-moving train. ______________________

20. Traffic lights going from red to amber to green. ________________

21. Cliffs being slowly destroyed by the sea. ______________________

22. Documents being laid out on a table. ______________________

23. A wide river winding through the countryside. ______________________

24. The sun turning people on a beach bright red. ______________________

25. An incense stick in the entrance to a temple. ______________________

26. A lump of dry earth being rubbed between somebody’s fingers. ____________

27. Cold metal as it gets hotter. __________________

28. Hot metal as it gets cooler. ______________________

29. A piece of elastic being pulled so that it becomes longer. ___________

30. A window being hit by a stone so that a long, thin break is formed. ______________

31. Coffee falling out of a cup by mistake. ______________________

32. A bomb suddenly blowing up. ______________________

33. An alarm clock suddenly going off. ______________________

34. A boat going to the bottom of a river. ________________

35. Dead fish lying on the surface of a polluted lake. _______________

36. A volcano throwing out lava and ash. ______________________

37. Orders for a new product arriving at a company very slowly. ____________

B. Several of the words in the box on the previous page can have more than one meaning. Use your dictionary to check which ones, then complete these sentences below with an appropriate word. You will need to change the form of most of the words.

1. The queues for the embassy were so long they ___________ all the way down the street.

2. “What do you think you’re doing?” he ____________angrily.

3. The government decided that the best economic course would be to let the dollar _________ .

4. Prices have been ____________steadily all year.

5. The light from the torch began to _____________as the batteries ran out.

6. The twig _______________loudly as he stood on it.

7. After the rainstorms passed, the floodwaters gradually ___________ .

8. The discussion _______________around the problem of student accommodation.

9. The doctor ______________his broken arm.

10. The car ____________out of control on the icy road.

Answers:

A.

1. rotate 2. spin 3. revolve 4. slide 5. subside 6. evaporate 7. congeal (for blood, we use the word clot)

8. flow 9. freeze 10. melt 11. wobble 12. escape (we can also say leak) 13. bounce 14. vibrate 15. grow 16. fade 17. rise 18. set 19. turn 20. change 21. erode 22. spread 23. meander 24. burn 25. smoulder 26. crumble 27. expand 28. contract 29. stretch 30. crack 31. spill 32. explode 33. ring 34. sink 35. float 36. erupt 37. trickle

Note: Several of these verbs can also be nouns, and in many cases the meaning of the word changes. Compare, for example, a contract and to contract.

B.

1. stretched 2. exploded 3. float 4. rising 5. fade 6. cracked 7. subsided 8. revolved 9. set 10. slid

Other words and expressions you might find useful include:

move / run / stop / fall down / come in / get up / break / bend / dance / cool / solidify / thaw / trickle / drench. (Also see part: How something works)