Lesson 54 Sticky fingers

New words and expressions:

1. sticky

In a short time, I was busy mixing butter and flour and my hands were soon covered with sticky pastry.

These sticky sweets do harm to children’s teeth.

My fingers are sticky with jam.

2. finger

I picked up the receiver between two sticky fingers and was dismayed when I recognized the voice of Helen Bates.

I cut my finger.

He couldn’t put his finger on the problem.

3. pie

I love apple pies.

His mother-in-law always treats him with pumpkin pies.

4. mix

Father mixed cement, sand and stones. He was going to build a shed in the garden.

I mixed two wines together.

5. pastry

There was pastry on my fingers, on the telephone and on the doorknobs.

There are different kinds of teatime pastries.

Her coat was dotted with pastry.

6. annoying

Nothing could have been more annoying.

He did away with the annoying habit.

It was annoying to be distracted during study.

7. receiver

At last I hung up the receiver.

He picked up the receiver.

She replaced the receiver.

8. dismay

I was dismayed to learn that the lecture was cancelled.

He was dismayed to see that his opponent was such a strong person.

9. recognize

I failed to recognize her in the dark.

He recognized her handwriting.

10. persuade

It took me ten minutes to persuade her to ring back later.

He persuaded his son into studying abroad.

I persuaded her to change her mind.

11. mess

What a mess!

The room was a mess after the party.

His life was a mess.

12. doorknob

He turned the doorknob and opened the door.

There was something wrong with the doorknob.

13. sign

This time it was the postman and he wanted me to sign for a registered letter!

He signed his name on the contract.

She forgot to sign her name at the bottom of the letter.

14. register

I want to register this parcel.

He went to the post office and sent a registered letter.

Lesson 55 Not a gold mine

New words and expressions:

1. gold

Not a gold mine

It has been used to detect gold which has been buried in the ground.

The small town became prosperous in the gold rush.

Gold is a precious metal.

2. mine

The coal mine accident claimed eighty-four lives.

They were working in a mine.

3. treasure

Dreams of finding lost treasure almost came true recently.

Before the war broke out, the family buried their treasure in the yard.

Hundreds of people came here to dig for buried treasure.

4. revealer

The new machine called ‘The Revealer’ has been invented.

Equipped with the advanced revealer, they soon found the black box of the crashed plane.

This revealer is out of date.

5. invent

Edison invented the bulb.

After five years of effort, he invented a new machine.

6. detect

It has been used to detect gold which has been buried in the ground.

They detected radioactive material in the house.

He detected escaping gas in the kitchen.

7. bury

The hut was buried deep in the snow.

An ancient city was buried in the sand for centuries.

8. cave

The machine was used in a cave near the seashore where – it is said – pirates used to hide gold.

The pirates would often bury gold in the cave and then fail to collect it.

The boys lost their way in the mysterious cave.

He likes to explore the cave.

9. seashore

Many sea creatures were washed up onto the seashore.

The old man built a small wooden hut near the seashore.

10. pirate

The pirates would often bury gold in the cave and then fail to collect it.

He was once caught by the pirates.

Pirates were said to be cruel.

11. arm

Armed with the new machine, a search party went into the cave hoping to find buried treasure.

They are armed with a new theory.

The bank was robbed by two armed men.

12. soil

The leader of the party was examining the soil near the entrance to the cave when the machine showed that there was gold under the ground.

The government attached great importance to soil conservation.

The soil near the river is very fertile.

13. entrance

They produced their passports at the entrance.

She stood at the entrance to the hall.

14. finally

They finally found a small gold coin which was almost worthless.

He finally did away with his bad habit. my father smoking

15. worthless

The big painting was worthless.

This is worthless currency.

16. thoroughly

The party then searched the whole cave thoroughly but did not find anything except an empty tin trunk.

They searched the house thoroughly, but found nothing.

He checked the engine of his car thoroughly before he set out.

17. trunk

His truck was fully packed.

She left her trunk at the railway station in a hurry.

18. confident / confidence

In spite of this, many people are confident that ‘The Revealer’ may reveal something of value fairly soon.

I have full confidence in her.

It is important to build up self-confidence.

19. value

She realized the value of health when she was sick.

Your health is a great value to me.