WRITING TECHNIQUES

4 a) The following adjectives or adverbs can be used instead of other simplistic ones.
Put them in the correct box.

BIG Massive, gigantic, huge, enormous

SMALL Slight, miniature, tiny,
BAD Evil, horrible, terrific,terrible, wicked
GOOD/NICE Great, fabulous, pleasant, attractive, delightful
VERY Highly, extremely, remarkably, absolutely
WELL Successfully, satisfactorily, happily

b) Replace the words in the extract below with suitable ones from the boxes above.

Melissa stepped out into the fresh and 1)nice April morning. Her 2)good mood
brightened her 3)nice face as she walked 4)well to her new workplace. Upon reaching the
5)big skyscraper, she looked up and felt 6)small. As she entered the building, she was
nervous but 7)very excited. This job was a dream come true for her.

1)pleasant 5)enormous

2)delightful 6)tiny

3)attractive 7)extremely

4)happily

5) Complete the sentences with verbs from the list.

Wondered, threatened, promised, admitted, screamed, reminded

1) “Who sent me these beautiful flowers?” Anne wondered, as she opened the small
card attached to the bouquet.
2) “Of course I’ll help you paint the cabin”, Carl promised his sister when she called.
3) “Now, don’t forget to pick up the tickets from the travel agents”, Susan reminded
Bob.
4) “Run, Terry! Run faster!” Tom screamed as the lion leapt over the rock.
5) “If you tell anybody what happened, I’ll come after you”, the man threatened Dave
and Ben before he drove away.
6) “Yes, I took the disc but I had no choice!” Mr Perry admitted to Rachel when she
saw it lying on his desk.
 6) a)Match column A to column B to complete the símiles.

1 as White as A a leaf

2 to swim like B a baby

3 to cry like C a sheet

4 to run like D a bee

5 as black as E night

6 to shake like F an ox

7 as fresh as G a fish

8 as strong as H a daisy

9 as busy as I a seive

10 to have J the wind

a memory like

1 = C ; 2 = G ; 3 = B ; 4 = J ; 5 = E ; 6 = A ; 7 = H ; 8 = F ; 9 = D ; 10 = I

b) Use similes to complete the sentences.

1) Grace dived in the sea and started swimming. She was a very good swimmer. She swam
like a fish.

2) It was as black as night inside the cave. Jeff looked for his torch.

3) She cried like a baby when she Heard the bad news.

4) The children were as busy as bees helping their parents prepare the garden for the party.

5)Sally was so scared that she was shaking like a leaf.

7 a) Fill the correct synonym or antonym from the list. Can you think of any others to
add to the table?

Bored, excited, worried, scared, sure, angry, depressed

 SYNONYM ANTONYM
Thrilled excited Disappointed
Anxious Worried, uneasy, impatient Relaxed, unconcerned
Miserable Depressed, gloomy Glad, happy
Unsure Uncertain, doubtful Sure, certain, definite
Entertained Amused Bored
Frightened Scared, terrified Unafraid, fearless
Annoyed Angry Calm, pacific

b) Match the adjectives (1-6) to the feelings of the speakers (A-F). Then make
sentences in the past simple.

F
1 relieved 3 worried D 5 confused A

2 amazed B 4 amused C 6 excited E

SENTENCES

1 She was relieved because it was all over.

2 She got amazed when she looked at that tall building.
3 He was worried if everything was okay.
4 She was really amused because of that funny joke.
5 She was confused because she wasn’t sure what to do.
6 She was really excited because she was looking forward to her holiday.