Now, here's your club - take it in your left hand - no, your left hand - hold it quite firmly — no, don't grip it like that - let go of it - just grasp it like this, not too firmly - rel[r]
(1)Wordbuilder Guy Wellman
HEINEMANN
(2)Actions and activities
Reading
In this section we look at a series of everyday, non-technical actions Read the texts Dear Cinderella,
Your jobs for tonight:
sweep the chimney, scrub the floors, beat the carpets, hoover the stairs, dust the furniture, polish the silver, make the beds, change the sheets, tidy the house, dig the garden,
clean out the fireplace, empty the rubbish, wash our underwear, mend the socks, darn the shirts, iron the laundry, cook the supper, the washing-up,
dry the dishes, put them away.
Don't wait up for us We might be late home The Ugly Sisters
2 Interior decorating
It was my first go at decorating Everything started well enough Scraping the old wall-paper off was great fun and didn't take us long because we were able to peel off quite big strips What did take a long time was rubbing with sandpaper the walls to be painted and papered Our walls were so smooth in the end that Dad went round
scratching them to make sure the paint would go on all right He was a great
organizer, Dad Throughout the day he gave us useful tips like: 'Just dip your brush in the paint' and 'Don't squeeze out the paint from the brush before you apply it/ and 'Just dab the paper with a wet sponge' He also made us wipe each brush when we'd finished with it, then soak it in white spirit, wash it in soapy water and finally
rinse it under a tap A real perfectionist he was.
There was great excitement late in the morning when we started unwrapping the rolls of wallpaper and unpacking the tins of paint I got the job of shaking all the tins, levering them open and stirring the paint Meanwhile Uncle Mac and Grandad were mixing the paste, unrolling the paper and spreading the paste on the back I watched admiringly as they folded the paper, carried it to the wall,
hung it delicately (with the two ends stuck lightly together) from the top, then pressed down gently and smoothed out the lumps and bumps I was terribly
impressed
It's difficult to say when exactly things started to go wrong I think it was while I was
dragging some of the rubbish downstairs that Uncle Jack started flicking his brush
at Uncle Mac because he wouldn't let him have the stepladder I got back in time to see Uncle Mac drop the ladder and fling a dirty cloth at Jack Jack picked it up
and threw it back Then it got out of hand Grandad grabbed a brush and tossed it
straight at Uncle Bill, who went over and tipped a bucket of paste all over
(3)Actions and activities just put up Not satisfied, he went over and hurled a half-full tin of paint at
thesame wall Still not satisfied, he climbed up the ladder, knocking over the other brushes and spilling another pot of paint as he went, tugged at the paper on the only remaining clean wall and tore it into shreds as it came away in his hands. After that, things went from bad to worse
A Golf Lesson
Right! Now, place the tee in the ground - that thing in your left hand - yes, push it
down a bit more - no, pull it out a bit - no, put it back in -~uow, just press it into
the ground - go on, just slide it in - stop! Good Very good Right now, rest the ball on the tee - try again - and again Good Well done Fantastic Now, here's your club - take it in your left hand - no, your left hand - hold it quite firmly — no, don't grip it like that - let go of it - just grasp it like this, not too firmly - relax Wonderful. Right, now wrap the fingers of your right hand round here - can you tuck your scarf into your jacket? We don't really want that round the club, we? - good, well done Now move your hands backwards and forwards a little wiggle your fingers a bit -relax Right, stand here and bring the club back over your shoulder - no, the other shoulder - come on, swing it back, relax, twirl it round a bit - now, in a moment,
bring it down fast and try to hit the ball right here in the middle Try and strike it
just - ouch! Yes, try and wait until I've taken my hand away next time - right, better insert the tee again - it's over there - good Pop the ball on the tee Good Get hold of the club again Good Now, don't lift your head - raise your right elbow a fraction - keep your eye on the ball - right now, go! - O.K., well, you go and fetch the club from those bushes and I'll try and replace this piece of grass.'
Notes
You might like to add some more similar verbs here, but remember that many further action words appear in other sections
Remember, too, that as soon as you have the name of a tool in English, hammer,
screw, measure etc., you probably have a perfectly good verb as well: to hammer,
to screw, to measure.
Practice
[1] Write or give oral instructions to a partner on how to the following things put up wallpaper
2 put an electrical plug on a lead serve in tennis
4 ski
5 bowl a ball in ten-pin bowling shave or make up
[2] Write or tell your partner how easy it was for you to the following things yesterday
1 plant those seeds in your garden clean out the fireplace
3 get your car started make a desk for yourself paint the top floor windows clear the drains
(4)Actions and activities
Write the part of a letter to a friend in which you describe how your try to lay some concrete, or build a little garden shed, or make yourself a new summer dress, but it all went disastrously wrong
You have just produced a new tube of super-glue that you are about to market Write the instructions for use that you will put on the packet