What's the word?
(A dictionary quiz)
- Answers

1. A very large animal with thick grey skin, large ears, two curved outer teeth called tusks and a long nose called a trunk. (ELEPHANT)
   
2. A large sea fish with very sharp teeth and a pointed fin on its back. There are several types of these, some of which can attack people. (SHARK)
   
3. An aircraft without wings has large blades on top that go round. It can fly straight up from the ground and can also stay in one position in the air. (HELICOPTER)
   
4. The group of people that are responsible for controlling a country or a state. (GOVERNMENT)
   
5. A line of hair that a man allows to grow on his upper lip. (MOUSTACHE; American spelling - MUSTACHE)
   
6. A thin flat round cake made from a mixture of flour, eggs and milk that is fried on both sides. In the US it is usually eaten hot for breakfast; in Britain it is eaten either as a dessert with sugar, jam etc. or as a main course with meat, cheese etc. (PANCAKE)
   
7. The activity of playing games of chance for money and of betting on horses etc. (GAMBLING)
   
8. A game played by two teams of 11 players, using a round ball which players kick up and down the playing field. Teams try to kick the ball into the other team's goal. (British English - FOOTBALL; American English - SOCCER)
   

Note:
Although the word, soccer, exists in British English, most people prefer to call it "football." In America, however, football usually refers to "American Football, " which is a completely different game.

Try writing your own definitions for these words:


1. Giraffe: a tall African animal with a very long neck, long legs, and dark marks on its coat.
2. Boxing: a sport in which two people fight each other with their hands, while wearing very large thick gloves.
   
3. Window-shopping: the activity of looking at the goods in shop/store windows, ususally without intending to buy anything.
   
4. Map: a drawing or plan of the earth's surface or part of it, showing countries, towns, rivers etc.

Comment

The main reason I like to do this activity with my students is to encourage them to start using an English-to-English dictionary. Many students like to use a Japanese-English translation dictionary when they are reading. However, many of the learner English-to-English dictionaries published by companies like Oxford University Press, Macmillan and Longman give lots of useful guides to pronunciation, collocations, nuances, grammar structures which go with the word etc. I think that most of the definitions we saw in this one-point lesson were probably clear and simple. If you've never used an English-to-English dictionary before, please give it  a try.

Please click on the link below if you want to try some of my other one-point lessons:
Bob's One-Point Lesson Archive

© Robert E. Jones, 2005