Guessing the Meaning of Words from the Context

Fourteen words or expressions that will be important to your understanding of

the article are presented below in context that should help you guess their

meaning.

Choose the one word or phrase that would best keep the meaning of each

sentence.

1. The walls of the room where tape-recordings are usually made are

always lined with a special insulating material.

a. covered from inside

b. painted from inside

c. decorated from inside

2. The room was decorated with colored balls suspended from bright

ribbons

a. made

b. cut

c. hung

Chapter Three

3. The little boy was (1) pounding his toy-car with a stone until he (2) crushed it. Then he began to cry.

4. The scientists from the university research laboratory invented a device

which can grind its way through the hard rock reducing it to small fragments very easily.

a. crush the rock

b. hit the rock

c. define the rock

5. When a boat was in the open sea a great storm suddenly came. The great

waves were rocking the boat up and down.

a. were raining

b. were swaying

c. were playing

6. Little kids like to go to the park and ride a merry-go-round, especially

when it is revolving fast.

a. is going

b. is doing

c. is rotating

7. A drilling bit has very sharp teeth which help it chew through the rock

easily.

a. to hit the rock

b. to examine the rock

c. to grind/crush the rock

8. In early years peasants who lived in small villages (1) plastered ihs walls of

their houses with clay which (2) prevented getting rain water into the house.

(1) (2)

a. painted a. did not allow

b. covered/coated b. helped

c. built c. did not go

Drilling for Oil 55

9. A leakage of gas from the gas pipeline is very dangerous because gas can explode.

a. movement

b. presence

c. escape

Today's derricks are built of open steel framework. They rise as tall as 20-story building, usually come in sections, and are assembled on the location. This one is in Israel.

Chapter Three

10. When a leakage occurs in a gas
pipeline, the pipe should be sealed.

a. coated/plastered

b. repaired/redone

c. changed

11. The main purpose of drillers is to
tap an oil pool.

a. to discover

b. to strike

c. to know

12. The bag was in his way to the room,
so he nudged it aside and entered the
room.

a. pushed

b. hit

c. gave