Unit 10

REVISION
Match each adjective 1–7 with its antonym a–g.

1 flustered calm a eager

2 nervous confident b unsurprised

3 bewildered clear-headed c proud

4 taken aback unsurprised d over the moon

5 reluctant eager e confident

6 as miserable as sin over the moon f clear-headed

7 embarrassed proud g calm

 Unscramble the words in A and match them to the antonyms in B. Then use the words to complete the
sentences A–F.
1 blvunraele vulnerable as tough as old boots a enormous
2 jedteecd dejected over the moon b over the moon
3 tmniue minute enormous c fortuitous
4 hmuuroos humorous sombre d as tough as old boots
5 isbeda biased impartial e impartial
6 oodmde doomed fortuitous f sombre

minute
A It was extremely difficult for that family of seven to live in such a _________________ flat.
doomed
B The party was _________________ from the moment when the DJ arrived without an essential part of his
equipment.
biased
C I wish the local newspaper wasn’t so _________________ in its reporting.
over the moon when she got her exam results and saw she had done so well.
D She was absolutely _________________
vulnerable
E A gang of hooligans has been targeting _________________ elderly people on their way home from the
shops.
sombre
F He was dressed in a _________________ suit and wore a business-like expression.
 Unscramble the words in A and match them to the antonyms in B. Then use the words to complete the
sentences A–F.
1 delate elated as miserable as sin a tiny
2 myflsi flimsy invincible b trivial
3 scsleepir priceless worthless c objective
4 eimnmse immense tiny d as miserable as sin
5 lstseenia essential trivial e invincible
6 pjddriceui prejudiced objective f worthless

trivial
A I keep asking myself why we fought each other so long over such a ____________________issue.
prejudiced
B She is ____________________ against anybody who doesn’t follow the same political party as she does.
invincible
C Before he had that skydiving accident, Todd believed he was ____________________ .
as miserable as sin .
D We’ve tried to cheer him up but he is still ____________________
worthless
E It came as quite a shock to discover that the vintage Dior dress was in fact just a ____________________ modern
copy.
immense
F The winning team received an ____________________ round of applause when they appeared to accept the
trophy.
A Complete the sentence pairs so that they are opposite in meaning. Use the words in the box.
as tough as old boots / biased / dejected / elated / essential / fortuitous / ill-fated / immaterial
objective / priceless / vulnerable / worthless

essential
1 a It is ___________________ that we close the case quickly.
immaterial
b It is ___________________ whether we close the case quickly.

2 a In my dreams, I relive that ___________________

fortuitous meeting.
ill-fated
b In my dreams, I relive with dread that ___________________ meeting.

3 a Despite her appearance, my grandma is actually ___________________ .

as tough as old boots
vulnerable
b Despite her appearance, my grandma is actually exceedingly ___________________ .

4 a Not surprisingly, she is very attached to that particular piece of jewellery – it’s priceless
___________________ ,
you know.
b She is very attached to that particular piece of jewellery – though it’s worthless
___________________ , you know.

5 a We were pleased to see that the journalist was fairly ___________________

objective in his article.
b We felt that the journalist was horribly ___________________
biased in his article.

6 a We felt thoroughly ___________________

dejected when we heard the news and some people started to cry.
b We felt absolutely ___________________
elated when we heard the news and went out to celebrate.
Read the list below and discuss how beneficial each action is on the environment.
Decide which five are easiest to do.

• recycle
• sharing a car journey rather than going separately
• turn lights off when you leave the room
• buy second-hand clothes
• cycle to school
• eat more vegetarian meals
• have a shower rather than a bath
• have holidays in your own country
• buying food locally or grow your own
Read some comments relating to the points in the previous exercise. Circle the correct option.

1 You will always love your mum’s cooking whatever / however / wherever she makes for you
but, being honest, if there’s no meat in a meal, it’s just not as satisfying. The best solution is to
have a couple of vegetarian nights each week – and it’s even better if you grow your own
vegetables because you know they don’t have chemicals on them and you can be sure they are
fresh.

2 Whoever / Whichever / Wherever you go on holiday, you’ll have a good time. You can have
just as good a holiday in your own country as you can abroad so it’s not necessary to contribute
to global warming by flying or even driving long distances.

3 Cycling to school is just not practical. There never seems to be enough time to cycle to school
whatever / whoever / however early you get up. Also, the weather is hardly ever nice enough
for cycling to be enjoyable even if it does have health benefits and helps the environment. Finally,
everyone seems to overlook the fact that we have lots of books and other things to carry, which
you can’t do on a bike.

4 It may be a good idea to car share, but frankly it’s annoying if your friends think they can have
a lift in your car however / whenever / whatever they want. It’s like offering a free taxi service.
Petrol is expensive, so if you want a lift you should offer to contribute to the cost of the journey.
And you shouldn’t have to give your friends a lift if you just want to be alone, even if it would be
Read some comments relating to the points in the previous exercise. Circle the correct option.
5 I’d never consider buying second-hand clothes. If I wore second-hand clothes, my friends would probably
say ‘Whichever / Whatever / Whenever do you look like?!’ And even if they didn’t comment, I would know
that my clothes had been worn by someone else and that’s just disgusting.

6 Most people these days prefer to have a shower, but if you’re a bath person, the important thing is that
wherever / whatever/ whenever you have a bath, you don’t fill it up completely. There really isn’t any point
in having a bath anyway – it’s unhygienic to sit in your own dirty water.

7 Surely nobody can disagree that whichever / wherever / whoever is the last person to leave the room
should turn off the light? But really, if a light bulb is left on all day long, it cannot be doing that much
damage to the environment because the amount of electricity it uses is very small. And if we all install
energy-saving light bulbs then that will help the environment anyway.

8 Whatever / However/ Whenever much you recycle, it makes no difference because businesses often
don’t do it. It’s kind of ridiculous to wash out your empty pots of jam and save your crisp packets to put
them in the recycling box when huge companies aren’t fined when their recyclable stuff goes into a landfill
site.
 Use the words in the box to complete the dialogue below.
however / whatever / whenever / whichever / whoever

Matthew I get so mad at Phil, you know.

Charlie What has he done this time?

Matthew Oh, he’s always dropping litter and it just really annoys me. I mean if everyone did 1
whatever they wanted without thinking about anyone else, this town would be a huge mess, wouldn’t it?
_____________
Whichever
Charlie Not just the town, Matthew. 2 ______________ way you look at it, littering is wrong.
However
Matthew Exactly. Do you think you could talk to him? 3 _________________ hard I try, he doesn’t listen to me.

Charlie whenever
How does he justify it exactly, this dropping rubbish on the floor 4 ________________he feels like it?

Matthew Oh, he just says he can’t be bothered to find a bin and he doesn’t think it matters.
whoever
Charlie Well, I’ll try talking to him but, to be honest, I don’t think he’ll change 5 __________________ tries to

persuade him.
 Complete the sentences with the words in the box.
bleak / coming / culminates / drawn-out / scene / shot / twist / unsatisfying

scene
1 The film ends with an incredibly powerful final __________________ .

bleak
2 I found it a depressing film and the ending was particularly __________________ .

drawn-out
3 I was almost sent to sleep by the long __________________ ending.
shot
4 I loved the closing __________________ of the two friends reunited.

unsatisfying .
5 Despite being such a brilliant film, the ending was deeply __________________
culminates
6 The film __________________ in a terrifying chase through the forest at night.
twist
7 The problem with the plot __________________ coming
near the end was that everyone could see it __________________ .
Read the review below. Circle the correct adverbs of degree

I thoroughly / deeply enjoyed our trip to the cinema this time. It was everything I’d hoped for;
action, excitement and just enough political intrigue. To my amusement, my sister flatly /
strongly disapproved of the female lead because she was too beautiful to be believable, but on
the other hand she wasn’t exactly deeply / hotly offended by the well-built male characters! In
the starring role, Joe Walsh’s character does not differ seriously / significantly from any of his
other films, but then being a stunt man is what he’s good at. The crashes and smashes are very
realistic and must be at least partly real – it would seriously / strongly damage his reputation if
it were all computer-generated. (Readers might vaguely / scarcely remember a court case a
few years ago when Walsh hotly / significantly denied this kind of rumour!) In any case, it was
just the sort of film I wanted to see and I highly recommend it to all action fans.
Do you know anything about The Fountain
of Youth or The Elixir of Life?

Share anything you have heard about them.

Tales of the Fountain of Youth have been told across the world for
thousands of years. It is a legendary spring that reputedly restores
Improbable
the youth of anyone who drinks its water. 1 ____________________
(probable) perhaps, but many people have searched for it
nonetheless, in the hope of everlasting life. Not only that, but
unimaginable
2 ____________________ (imaginable) wealth because, of course,
whoever locates and owns this place would be able to sell the
incredible
3 ____________________ (credible) water for huge sums. One popular
legend surrounding the Fountain of Youth involves the real sixteenth-
century Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon. Some historians
allege that he discovered Florida, USA, while searching for the
mystical water. In fact, in St Augustine, the oldest city in Florida,
there is a spring which purports to be the Fountain of Youth.
Unbelievable
4 ____________________ (believable)? Well, it does seem that Ponce de
misinformed
Leon was 5 ____________________ (informed) to say the least. The
sulphur-smelling waters do not turn elderly visitors into teenagers. It
unlikely
is 6 ____________________ (likely) that they have any beneficial effect at
all. Do people still search for the Fountain of Youth? In the sense of
finding a geographical location, the answer is no. But in other ways,
the answer is far from straightforward
unwilling because there are many
biologists who are 7 ____________________ (willing) to accept that ageing
inescapable
is 8 ____________________ (escapable) and are prepared to give their
lives to finding a way to fight it. This could be thought of as the
The Philosopher’s Stone in the title of J. K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter
book refers to a mysterious, mystical substance which bestows upon
endless
its owner 1 ___________________(end) life. In other legends the substance is
known as the Elixir of Life. While Harry Potter is obviously a work of
fiction, one of the protagonists in the book, Nicolas Flamel, was a real
historical figure and, though our knowledge about the man is 2
incomplete
___________________(complete), he was certainly an alchemist. Dating
back thousands of years, to ancient China and Arabia, the practice of
alchemy attempted by mystical and scientific means to change
elements into gold or elixirs with amazing powers. A number of Chinese
Ill-conceived
emperors, following the 3 ___________________ (conceived) advice of their
court alchemists in an attempt to achieve immortality, discovered one
undesirable
rather 4 ___________________ (desirable) effect of these elixirs – death!
(Many of the ingredients were highly toxic.) Now, you might think that
unsuccessful
being so spectacularly 5 ___________________( (successful) would have
discouraged
made the alchemists rather 6 ___________________( (couraged) and led
them to abandon the search. In fact, the thirst for the Elixir of Life has
never abated. In fact, in July 2009, newspapers announced the
discovery of a biochemical in the soil of Easter Island which has life-
extending properties. Tested on mice, it increased the life expectancy
of the females by 38 per cent. While the goal of immortality remains 7
unattainable
___________________(attainable), perhaps this news indicates that the
implausible
Philosopher’s Stone is not so 8 ___________________( (plausible) after all.
 Use relative pronouns that, which, who or whom to join the sentences.
1 These are my friend’s dogs. I look after them.
These are my friend’s dogs which I look after.
2 He has a state-of-the art bike. He won the race on it.
He has a state-of-the-art bike which he won the race on.
3 We brought a picnic. My uncle sat on it by mistake.
We brought a picnic, which my uncle sat on by mistake.
4 Dan finally found the phone number for the cinema. He had been searching for it online for ages.
Dan finally found the phone number for the cinema which he had been searching for online for ages
5 She had not worn some of her clothes for a long time. She threw them out.
She threw out some of her clothes which she had not worn for a long time.
6 They gave me some of the details. I had asked them for details.
They gave me some of the details which I had asked for.
7 It is a delicate situation. We try to avoid talking about it.
It is a delicate situation which we try to avoid talking about.
8 A woman asked me to help carry her suitcase. She was struggling with an enormous suitcase.
A woman who was struggling with an enormous suitcase asked me to help her carry it.
A woman asked me to help her carry the suitcase she was struggling with, which was enormous.
9 Mrs Wilson has four young children. She is a mathematics teacher at my school.
Mrs Wilson, who is a mathematics teacher at my school, has four young children.
10 Those are the champion snowboarders. We took a photo of them.
Those are the champion snowboarders who/that we took a photo of.
Join the sentences using relative clauses. Write each new sentence in two different ways – one formal and one
informal.
This is the book. I wrote an essay about it.
Formal: This is the book about which I wrote my essay.
Informal: This is the book which I wrote my essay about.
1 Jessica is my best friend. I always confide in her.
Jessica is my best friend in whom I always confide.
Jessica is my best friend who I always confide in
2 It was the last competition. He competed in it.
It was the last competition in which he competed
It was the last competition which he competed in.
3 Dr Shaw is a brilliant doctor. I have absolute faith in him.
Dr Shaw is a brilliant doctor in whom I have absolute faith.
Dr Shaw is a brilliant doctor who I have absolute faith in.

4 That’s the forest. We got totally lost in it.

That’s the forest in which we got totally lost.
That’s the forest which we got totally lost in.

5 I have never met Peter. Adam had an argument with Peter on Friday night.
I have never met Peter with whom Adam had an argument on Saturday night
I have never met Peter who Adam had an argument with on Saturday night.
Join the sentences using relative clauses. Write each new sentence in two different ways – one formal and one
informal.
This is the book. I wrote an essay about it.
Formal: This is the book about which I wrote my essay.
Informal: This is the book which I wrote my essay about.
6 This is a photo of my aunt Sarah. I am named after her.
This is a photo of my aunt Sarah after whom I am named.
This is a photo of my aunt Sarah who I am named after.
7 I love action films. The stars do their own stunts in them.
I love action films in which the stars do their own stunts.
I love action films which stars do their own stunts in.
8 Philip has a guide dog. He could not live without his dog.
Philip has a guide dog without which he could not live.
Philip has a guide dog which he could not live without.
9 They were asked to give a presentation on Buddhism. They don’t know anything about it.
They were asked to give a presentation on Buddhism about which they know nothing.
They were asked to give a presentation on Buddhism which they know nothing about.
10 It’s our grandfather’s house. My mother was born there
It’s our grandfather’s house in which my mother was born.
It’s our grandfather’s house which my mother was born in.
 Complete the sentences with a noun phrase from the box.
a few of which / a number of whom / at which point / in which case / the oldest of which / the youngest of whom

the oldest of which

1 This collection comprises 120 antique dolls _____________________________ is over 200 years old.

at which point
2 We had driven 100 km of the journey _____________________________ the car broke down.

a number of whom
3 There was a crowd of people waiting outside the theatre _____________________________ had autograph books

ready for the stars to sign.

in which case
4 The alarm sounds when the machine detects metal _____________________________ the passenger will be asked

to check their pockets and perhaps remove their shoes.

 Rewrite the sentences using the words in brackets. The meaning should stay the same.
1 Many people find it difficult to like her, no matter how hard they try. (however)
Many people find it difficult to like her, however hard they try.
2 I was looking for that book. I found it. (that)
I found that book that I was looking for.
3 I can’t imagine that either of my parents will have cosmetic surgery. (inconceivable)
It is inconceivable that either of my parents will have cosmetic surgery.
4 It doesn’t matter where you go, she will follow you. (wherever)
Wherever you go, she will follow you.
5 That is the flat. I lived there for two years. (which)
That is the flat in which I lived for two years/which I lived in for two years
6 OK, so some students don’t study, but most of them work very hard. (admittedly)
Admittedly, some students don’t study, but most of them work very hard.
7 I have three sisters. The oldest one is 21. (whom)
I have three sisters, the oldest of whom is 21.
8 There are a number of players who are left-handed but there aren’t many. (in a minority)
There are a number of players who are left-handed but they are in a minority.
 Rewrite the sentences using the words in brackets. The meaning should stay the same.
1 Her mother buys her anything and everything that she wants. (whatever)
Her mother buys her whatever she wants.
2 Then she laughed at me. At that point I left the room. (which)
Then she laughed at me, at which point I left the room.
3 I don’t reckon that it will happen in our lifetime. (my own view)
My own view is that it will happen in our lifetime.
4 When I was young, I was allowed to invite anybody I wanted to come and play at my house. (whoever)
When I was young, I was allowed to invite whoever I wanted to come and play at my house.
5 She is the neighbour. My dad had a big fight with her. (who)
She is the neighbour who my dad had a big fight with
6 I think that pretty soon MP3 players will be obsolete. (not too distant future)
I think that in the not too distant future, MP3 players will be obsole
7 No matter how difficult the situation gets, I will stay by your side. (however)
However difficult the situation gets, I will stay by your side.
8 Her parents said that they would support her in her choice of career. (whichever)
Her parents said that they would support her whichever career she chose.
Decide whether you agree or
disagree with it.

• Telecommuting* is a positive
development for business and society.
*(workers doing their jobs from home for
part of each week and communicating with
their office using computer technology)
Sports classes should be
dropped in secondary school so
students can concentrate on
academic subjects.
If under 18s behave badly, the parents
should accept responsibility and be
punished as well as their offspring.
Developments in computer
translation technology will soon
make it unnecessary for foreign
languages to be taught in
schools
Children should never be
educated at home by their
parents.
The driving age should be increased to 21.
In countries where obesity is a
problem, the Government
should place a tax on junk food,
sugary drinks and fatty snacks
Everyone under the age of 17 should have a 9 p.m.
curfew.
Unscramble these phrases we use when we forget a word.

1 remember quite can’t what I it’s called

I can’t quite remember what it’s called.

2 tip word is on the tongue the my of

The word is on the tip of my tongue.

3 put I on it can’t finger moment the at my

I can’t put my finger on it at the moment.

4 mind slipped word just has the my

The word has just slipped my mind.

5 escapes the moment for correct word me the

The correct word escapes me for the moment.
 Give me a clue
Specifying Use Describing Mentioning Giving a definition
appearance associations
It’s one of those It looks a bit like a … It’s something you’d It’s a type of … that …
things for -ing … expect to see if you
It’s quite similar to a … were… It’s another word for …
It’s something you
might use for … It’s like a … only You might need one It’s a word that means
[smaller] of these if you were … …
It would come in
handy for -ing … It’s one of those You’d find it in/on/
things that has [a near …
It can be used to … handle].
A [police officer]
would probably have
one of these.