Unit 2

Topic vocabulary: Thinking

A Circle the correct word.

1. Don’t be so optimistic / pessimistic. Everything’s going to be fine, you’ll see!
2. Most newspapers are usually biased / prejudiced towards a certain political outlook.
3. I’m slightly dubious / cynical about whether Sean’s idea is going to work.
4. To suggest that it’s possible to create a society without crime is a little naïve / sceptical, isn’t it?
5. The only ingenious / plausible explanation I can think of is that Jenna got the dates wrong.
6. Please don’t baffle / discriminate me with loads of technical terminology. Use plain, simple English!
7. It’s not always easy to assume / assess someone’s suitability for a job just by talking to them in a
short interview.
8. How can the government justify / speculate spending so much on the armed forces?
9. Looking at the damage, I would estimate / deduce that the painting will cost at least €2,000 to
restore properly.
10. I don’t think you should reflect / presume that lots of people are going to help you with this project.

B Complete using the correct form of the words in the box. More than one word might fit in each gap.

concentrate • consider • contemplate • deliberate • gather • grasp • ponder • reckon • suppose

1 It took me quite a long time to grasp what the aim of the game was.
2 The jury are still contemplating but they’re expected to reach a verdict soon.
3 I gathered from your tutor that you’re thinking of changing course.
4 You really have to concentrate very hard when you are doing calligraphy.
5 I’m seriously deliberating asking for a pay rise tomorrow.
6 How long do you reckon it’ll take to get to Manchester?
7 I don’t suppose I could borrow your lecture notes this weekend, could I?
8 If you’ve ever pondered the question ‘Why does the universe bother to exist?’, then this is the book for you.
9 Let’s not even consider the possibility of failure.

C Each of the words in bold is in the wrong sentence. Write the correct words on the lines.

1 I’m in a real dilemma because I’ve been invited to two parties on Saturday and I don’t know which one to go to.
2 Dave said he’s got complete faith in us, and thinks we’re going to do a great job.
3 Sarah’s a genius when it comes to astrophysics, but she’s not very practical in everyday things.
4 You often need to use a little educated guesswork when you’re starting a cryptic crossword.
5 I’ve got a hunch that someone in this office is going to get promoted soon.
6 Communism and capitalism are very different types of ideology.
7 Who gave you the inspiration for the main character in the book?
8 Detective Tacker had absolutely no evidence that Roddard was involved, but all his intuition told him that he was.
9 I’ve got a small query about the exam syllabus. Should I talk to Mrs Jacobs about it?
10 Paying mothers a salary to raise their children is an interesting notion.
11 The fact that more people would come here if the place wasn’t so crowded is a real paradox.

D Choose the correct word.

Letter to the editor

The Prime Minister’s comments yesterday on education spending miss the point, as the secondary education system also needs a major overhaul. Firstly, the system only views the weakest learners as having special needs. The brightest and most conscientious students are not encouraged to develop to their full potential. Secondly, there’s too
much testing and not enough learning. My fifteen-year-old daughter, for example, has just spent the last month or so cramming for exams. These aren’t even real, important exams, as her GCSES will be next year. They’re just mock exams. Is the work she’s been doing really going to make her more knowledgeable subjects, or will she forget it all tomorrow? I suspect the latter. Thirdly, the standard curriculum doesn’t give students any tuition in developing practical work-related, living and social skills, or in skills necessary for higher education. How many students entering university
have the first idea what the difference is between plagiarising someone else’s work and making good use of someone else’s ideas? Shouldn’t they have been taught this at school? How many of them are really able to go about self study a skill that’s essential at university because there are no teachers to tell you what to do – in an efficient way? Indeed, how many students graduate from university totally unable to spell even simple English words correctly? The system is letting our children down.

E Match to make sentences.

1 I’m going to have to mull this – D over for a while before I make a final decision.
2 Detectives are still trying to piece – A together exactly what happened that evening.
3 It took him a very long time to take – B in the fact that he’d never see her again.
4 Tell us how you hit – G upon such a great idea for a website.
5 It took us ages to figure – F out how to get everyone to the sports centre without Phil knowing.
6 I’ve just thought – C up a brilliant excuse to tell Rachel.
7 I’m not sure we’ve thought – E this through properly yet.

F Write one word in each gap so that each second sentence has a similar meaning to the first sentence.

1 I need to consider your offer very carefully before I make a decision.
I need to think over your offer very carefully before I make a decision.
2 Lee had the brilliant idea of booking a clown for the end-of-term party.
Lee came up with the brilliant idea of booking a clown for the end-of-term party.
3 It’s time you realised that you’ve got responsibilities now.
It’s time you faced up to the fact that you’ve got responsibilities now.
4 I’m going to have to improve my spoken German before I go to Munich.
I’m going to have to brush up on my spoken German before I go to Munich.
5 I didn’t like the idea at first but now I do.
I didn’t like the idea at first but I’ve come round to it now.
6 It’s a general knowledge quiz so you can’t do any revision for it.
There’s nothing to swot up on as it’s a general knowledge quiz.
7 We were right at the back of the hall so I couldn’t hear what the speaker was saying.
I was unable to make out what the speaker was saying because we were right at the back of the hall.
8 We finally thought of a way to get the band into the hotel without the press knowing.
We finally puzzled out a way to get the band into the hotel without the press knowing.
9 I’ve found out a lot of information about the history of English language teaching recently.
I’ve been reading up on the history of English language teaching recently.

G Phrasal verbs with out, such as puzzle out, are often connected to the idea of finding information. Which of these phrasal verbs with out are also connected to this idea?

1 Did you find out what time the parents’ meeting is? – yes
2 I’ve been checking out whether it’s better to go by ferry or plane. – yes
3 Susie reckons she’s sussed out a great way to get into the club for free. – yes
4 We all piled out into the playground. – no
5 I can’t figure out how to change my password. – yes
6 The band were completely drowned out by all the screaming fans. – no
7 I’m going to sound Bob out about his investing in the company. – yes
8 Two essays really do stand out from the rest. – no
9 Jan’s good at keeping secrets, so you’ll have to worm it out of her! – yes
10 None of us could fathom out why the experiment wasn’t working. – yes

1. under
2. on
3. out
4. on
5. in
6. with
7. in
8. in
9. out
10. into
11. of
12. on
13. on
14. into
15. in

1. straight
2. mental
3. impression
4. brains
5. sense
6. dream
7. consideration

1. against
2. in
3. have
4. of
5. view
6. mind

1. It never crossed my mind that we would have legal problems.
2. I’ve come to the conclusion that teaching is not the right profession for me.
3. Could you give an account about your whereabouts last night, Mr Johnson?
4. The journalist made a false impression tahe she was a parents of one of the children.
5. You have to strike upon logic and lateral thinking in this job.
6. I didn’t tell Angie in consideration of Eddie’s feelings.

1. bell
2. hairs
3. what
4. wits
5. head
6. two
7. bend
8. stock
9. dark
10. wood
11. uptake
12. leg

1. confusion
2. rationally
3. brilliance
4. definition
5. explanatory
6. disbelief
7. indecisiv
8. imaginary
9. insanity
10. illogical

1 3 5 6 7

1. concept
2. assumption
3. undoubtedly
4. unthinkable
5. nonsense
6. convinction
7. wisdom
8. reasoning
9. judgement
10. opinionated