Goes home the day before

Study guide — test 2

Grade 1 · Writing · 32 words · the test is after lesson 39
For the grown-up at home. This is a short vocabulary test. Your child does not need to write anything tonight if they are tired — five minutes of talking is enough, and talking is better than copying. You do not need to read English well to help: ask your child to tell YOU what each word means, in any language. If they can explain it, they know it.

The words

a double-edged sword — good and bad both
a stumbling block — an obstacle
the tip of the iceberg — only a small part
a grey area — not clear-cut
hand in hand — together
a vicious circle — a problem feeding itself
in a nutshell — put simply
cast doubt on — make less certain
derive from — come from
account for — explain
interfere with — get in the way of
comply with — follow
substitute for — use in place of
distinguish between — tell apart
benefit from — gain from
coincide with — happen at the same time
an increase in — more of
a decline in — less of
a lack of — not enough
the effect on — what it does to
a reason for — why
an approach to — a way of
the relationship between — how they connect
a solution to — an answer for
in other words — that is to say
for the most part — mostly
as a rule — usually
with respect to — about
on the whole — generally
to what extent — how far
in the case of — for
as far as I know — I believe

Three things to do, five minutes

  1. Cover and say. Cover the right-hand side. Your child says what each word means.
  2. Use it. Pick three words. Your child says a whole sentence with each one — out loud, not written.
  3. Find the hard one. Ask which word is hardest. Do that one twice more. That is the whole homework.
What is on the test. Matching each word to what it means · putting the right word in a gap · writing 3 sentences of their own. There is also one bonus word we have NOT taught — it does not count toward the score, so nobody should worry about it.