STUDY SKILL

Sometimes you can guess the meaning of a word from the words around it, that is, the context.
Identifying the part of speech also helps. Look at the example, rotate:
Hurricanes rotate anti-clockwise around an ‘eye’.
The word hurricanes helps you identify the part of speech.
1. What part of speech is rotate:
a noun, a verb, an adjective, an adverb?
The words anti-clockwise, around, help you guess the meaning.
2. What does rotate mean:
get bigger, move in a circle, rain a lot?

#Day10

Read this passage carefully.

Video games are good for you!

For years video games have been criticised for making people more antisocial, overweight or
depressed. But now researchers are finding that games can actually change us for the better and
improve both our body and mind.

Games can help to develop physical skills. Pre-school children who played interactive games such as
the ones available on Wii have been shown to have improved motor skills, for example they can kick,
catch and throw a ball better than children who don’t play video games. A study of surgeons who do
microsurgery in Boston found that those who played video games were 27 per cent faster and made
37 per cent fewer errors than those who didn't. Vision is also improved, particularly telling the
difference between shades of grey. This is useful for driving at night, piloting a plane or reading X-
rays.

Read the passage again carefully. Guess the meaning of the underlined words. First identify the
parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective, adverb). Then choose meanings from the box to complete
the table.
medical doctor eyesight /ˈʌɪsʌɪt/ obtainable /əbˈteɪnəbl/
/ˈmɛdɪk(ə)l/ /ˈdɒktə/
shadow /ˈʃadəʊ/ fat /fat/ area /ˈɛːrɪə/

No Vocabulary Part of Speech Meaning Sentence

1 overweight For years video games have been
/əʊvəˈweɪt/ criticised for making people more
antisocial, overweight or depressed.
2 available Pre-school children who played
/əˈveɪləb(ə)l/ interactive games such as the ones
available on Wii have been shown to
have improved motor skills,
3 surgeon A study of surgeons who do microsurgery
/ˈsəːdʒ(ə)n/ in Boston found that those who played
video games …
4 vision Vision is also improved, particularly
/ˈvɪʒ(ə)n/ telling the difference between shades of
grey. This is useful for driving at night,
piloting a plane or reading X-rays.
5 shades /ʃeɪd/ Vision is also improved, particularly
telling the difference between shades of
grey. This is useful for driving at night,
piloting a plane or reading X-rays.