Online Current English

Word Nerd
A fortnightly digest of words, grammar and news

WORKSHEET 2: 9 February 2024

Suggested memorandum:
1.
a. An amphibian is an animal that lives on both land and water. (1)
b. Herpetofauna: a collective term for reptiles and amphibians
Ectotherms: types of animals that use external rather than internal sources for
temperature regulation
Herpetologist: person who studies / works with reptiles and amphibians. (3)
2. Synonym for entail: involve; antonyms in paragraph 5 are common and unusual;
common and unique. (2)
3.
a. Witches often feature in children’s stories and wear pointy hats.
b. It will take me forever to peruse [read carefully] the huge pile of documents.
c. A fruit cake often has many currants [dried fruit from grapes] in it.
d. The effects [noun as opposed to affect which is a verb] of the war will be felt for a
very long time.
e. We will have to make sure that the political parties do not put out disinformation
during the elections. [Both terms refer to wrong or inaccurate information, but
disinformation refers to wrong information that is put out deliberately in order to
deceive or mislead people.] (5)
4.
a. Herps is slang because firstly, it is an informal word (it is a shortened version of
herpetofauna) and secondly, it would be used and understood by people in the
field of herpetology and would not necessarily be understood by the broader
public. (2)
b. Colloquialisms are simply informal words, often used more in speaking than
writing, but unlike slang, their use is not necessarily restricted to a particular
group of people. The words would be understood by a broader audience.
Examples would be hols, dude, fave, etc. (2)
5.
a. The semicolon links two main clauses that could stand on their own and which
are related in meaning.
b. The brackets separate additional information from the main clause.
c. The series of commas separate different items in a list (here the ‘items’ in the list
are examples of different career paths).
d. The dash introduces a further explanation of what has been written before it.
e. The inverted commas indicate an unusual word that might not have been
encountered before by the reader. (5)
6.
a. Most snakes are harmless. They don’t chase people, and they stay hidden much
of the time. These verbs are in the simple present tense. (1)
b. The simple present can be used when referring to general truths. In this case, we
are being told some general truths about snakes. (1)
c. It is an abstract noun. (1)
d. Abstract nouns are perceptions, generations, misinformation, information,
motivation (any four). (2)

[25 marks]

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 Online Current English
Word Nerd
A fortnightly digest of words, grammar and news

info@englishatonce.com www.englishatonce.com