-
1.
abandon ~
accent
The Absent-minded Academic
At times I like to
abandon
my
ability
to speak and write
in an
academic
way, which my
friends call an
abuse
of
language. When I am about to go
aboard
a plane to go abroad,
I often still think about this. At these times I
am so
absent-minded
that I
almost miss the call for
aboard
< br>
abstract
language when
talking to other
academics
and try not to
accent
every word. Instead,
I
aim
for clear and simple
communication to
help others
absorb
what I am saying.
This is not easy since I like to
abuse
language and always
try to use the full
range of language
to the best of my ability
.
However, I think that one can
abandon
oneself
to
new
experiences
when overseas without
treating one's training
with
abandon
. It has also been suggested
that I get rid of my strong
accent
, and my
absence
from my country
might
accelerate
this
change. In the meantime, I'll think of ways to use
Band 4 words, in concrete ways, rather
than
in the abstract
.
Readers can then
abstract
what suits them best, from
the book,
towards developing
absolute
faith in their ability to master English.
2, acceptance ~ accuse
Mrs. Black in the Red
Mrs.
Black
has
a
savings
account
with
a
nearby
bank,
and
recently
she
started
to
receive
statements not
in
accordance
with
her books.
According
to one notice, it
said that she owed the bank $$200,200.
expecting my acceptance of
this?
accompanied
by Mr.
Black she marched into the bank the next
morning. After hearing her story the
accountant
behind the
counter explained that
accidental
miscounting.
in accord
with
reality!
argued, and she
insisted on withdrawing all her money. However,
she was told that
couldn't even
access
her money! By this
time there were quite a few people standing in the
access
to the counter.
They heard the conversation and
of their own accord
all took
a stand in support of Mrs. Black.
With
one accord
,
they
all
accused
the
bank
of
not
being
accurate
with
their
bookkeeping
and
insisted
that
measures
be
taken
accordingly
to achieve
accuracy
. As the number of
customers
accumulated
, the
Board members met and were in
accordance
that
inaccuracy
couldn't
be
accepted
and
sent
for
the
manager
from
his
office
accommodation
to
account
for
the
mistakes.
Dissatisfied
with
the
fact
that
the
manager failed
to
accomplish
his
duty
and
achieve
accuracy
in his performance, the Board reached an
accord
and fired the
manager. They also
accorded
Mrs. Black
3. accustomed ~ admission
A
Little Lion
Tamer
A young
acquaintance
of mine is not
accustomed
to
achievement
In fact, in the
administration
of his duties
as trainee lion tamer, he is not
usually considered
adequate
and often has to
acknowledge
the
acid
remarks of his
father, the head lion tamer, for his
lack of
action
. His father
often uses the
adjective
activity
of both him and the
lions. In addition, he has been told
adjust
his attitudes and
acquire
a greater sense of
showmanship
if
he
wishes
to
gain
admission
to
the
main
ring
in
the
circus
tent.
His
need
is
acute
,
because
acquisition
of performing
skills would be an
addition
to his natural ability to communicate with lions,
and enable
him to step into the main
ring when his father is
out of
action
.
In addition
to
this, even though he is only 3 years
old and gets very tired following the
lions around their one acre park, he is already
famous as a lion tamer because
he
appears in an
ad
for the
circus, and is even being sought by a manufacturer
to promote
acid adapted
specially
for use in animal food.
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4. adopt ~ airline
You Can’t Teach an Old Dog
Ne
w Tricks
James
walked out of the travel
agency
and looked very
angry. He had decided to take a trip around the
world and
planned to take Jimmy, his
dog, with him. But the travel
agent
refused to write a
ticket for Jimmy, because pets were
not
allowed to board the
aircraft
. Although they
called
afterwards
to say
they were sorry--even using the
adverb
was
still
very
upset.
He
had
adopted
Jimmy
before
Jimmy
was
an
adult
,
and
the
affection
between
them
was
very
strong.
Since
seeking
aid
from
the
airline
wasn't
advisable
,
James
advertised
in
the
newspaper for a nanny
to take care of Jimmy during his absence.
Many
people
replied
to
the
advertisement
,
but
James
was
very
cautious
because
he didn't
want
to
be
taken
advantage
of
. An
aggressive
young man caught James' attention; he had
graduated from an
advanced
nursing
school, and called himself an
advocate
of animal rights.
advantage
the
agenda
he was preparing for
the next day's meeting and took Jimmy to meet the
young man.
Jimmy
was an old dog, and
his hair was a mix of all colors: a bit gray, a
bit brown and a bit black, and he was
almost deaf too, so he always wore his
hearing
aid
. Luckily, it
didn't
affect
Jimmy's
activity. You know what happened
when
the young man who
advocated
himself as an animal lover saw Jimmy?
He refused to look after
Jimmy and said a surgical operation would be
to advantage
for both of
them!
5. alarm ~ amid
For Whom The Clock
Ticks
Michael is flying back
to Australia after visiting his aunt in New York.
He is an
amateur
clown and
his
ambition
is
to become a full-time performer. Before
he boards the airplane, Michael goes into the
airport store for a gift for his
wife.
With his small
allowance
, he
has the two
alternatives
of
a teddy bear or an
alarm
clock made of
aluminum
.
He takes the clock, as he always needs
to
make
allowances
for
her never being on time.
Fifteen minutes later,
Michael is
sitting comfortably in his seat. He says hello to
the man sitting
alongside
,
asks for some
alcohol
, and
dozes off. Suddenly, a tap on the
shoulder awakens him. He looks around and finds
that the plane hasn't gained any
altitude
; it's still on the
ground. What
amazes
him is
that two policemen then force him to get off the
plane and into a
police car. Michael
also notices that the police take a suitcase into
an
ambulance
. The suitcase
and his own look
very
alike
. This
alerts
Michael that
something has happened. When they arrive at the
police station, Michael is very
surprised to see the Australian
Ambassador
there, talking to
an officer from the office of
Alliance
of
Allies
against
Terrorism,
who
keeps
looking
at
Michael
with
alert
eyes.
Michael's
suitcase
is
lying
on
one
of
the
tables,
with
everything thrown out: some clothes, a
key ring with the
alphabet
on it, a bottle of wine and the clock. The
policemen
seem to be
on the
alert
against something and their
expressions
alter
when they
see the clock--the crew thought it
was
a bomb and
alerted
the
police!
6. amount ~
apology
Weighing
up the Anchor
I once knew a
woman
who had a grandmother.
Apart from
that, she was
always as busy as an
ant
,
trying to
angle
for
buyers
to
take
her
grandmother's
unwanted
goods
for
a
large
amount
of
money.
Once,
when
I
was
reading a college
annual
, she came to my
apartment
to pay a visit
because she wanted me to buy an
anchor
as a
wedding
anniversary
gift for my
wife! She said it was an
antique
that her grandmother
got from her
ancestors
. I
took
a
quick
look
at
it;
it
was
old,
even
ancient
,
perhaps.
Anyhow
,
it
was
certainly
no
more
antique
than
her
grandmother, so I said
no. She was that sort of person,
anyway
; what you said
amounted
to nothing. She
then tried
to show me the ugly thing
from different
angles
while
we stood
apart
. At that
point, her behavior reminded me of
someone who might
be
anchoring
a shopping program on
television trying to
angle
the exhibit towards the camera.
However, it fell over, hurting my
ankle
badly. What
annoyed
me most was that she
was so
amused
, and burst
into
laughter. So I refused to invite
her to my
annual
Valentine's
Day party, and
anticipated
that I wouldn't see her again.
She
must
have
wondered
with
anxiety
and
started
to
analyze
the
whole
thing.
I
wasn't
surprised
when
she
announced that according to her
analysis
I owed her an
apology
.
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