Every answer today is a word that starts with the letters TA-, as in "teaching assistant." Get them from their anagrams.
Ex. BLEAT --> TABLE
1. STATE
2. PRATE
3. TITAN
4. TONAL
5. ATTIC
6. LATTICE
7. ALPINIST
Answer
Keys
1. TASTE
2. TAPER
3. TAINT
4. TALON
5. TACIT
6. TACTILE
7. TAILSPIN
Here are some sentences. In each one, find two words that sound like to other words that are synonyms.
Example: I can pare an apple, too. => "pair & two"
1. My dog's paws got stuck under the cars break.
2. Today's spelling lesson is about words with silence
"e's".
3. In India, several lower castes are in the throes of
change.
4. The wild hare has a hankering for bagels and lox.
5. After his shift ended, the worker hied to the bank to
cash his paycheck.
6. The seamstress would vary the way she'd sewed.
Answer Keys
1. “paws
& break” (sound like “pause and brake”)
2. “lesson
& e’s” (sound like “lesson and ease”)
3. “throes
& castes”)
4. “hare
& lox” (sound like “hair and locks”)
5. “hied
and cash” (sound like “hide and cache”)
6. “vary
and sew” (sound like “very and so”)
I am going to give a sentence for each question. Each sentence conceals the name of a well-known U.S. city PHONETICALLY.
Ex. The lumberjacks unlaced their boots.
--> JACKSON (Miss.)
(*For those who are not able to read the following sentences at normal native speakers' speed, I underlined the parts of each sentence you need to focus on in terms of phonetic sounds.)
1. I'd like you to meet my amiable sister. (Fla.)
2. The CPR pro gave Diane a Heimlich maneuver. (Calif.)
3. Did anyone who's sincere accuse me of doing that?
(N.Y.)
4. The hockey player got semipro vocational training.
(Utah)
5. A neighbor gave Thoreau an oak tree. (Va.)
6. The emcee led the chanteuse onto the stage. (Ariz.)
7. The pet owner would on tiptoe lead obedient dogs
downstairs. (Ohio)
8. In the end it was the whole shebang Gorbachev lost.
(Me.)
Answer Keys
1. Miami
(Florida)
2. Anaheim
(California)
3. Syracuse
(New York)
4. Provo
(Utah)
5. Roanoke
(Virginia)
6. Tucson
(Arizona)
7. Toledo
(Ohio)
8. Bangor
(Maine)
The month of November has the most important national holidays in the United States and is always celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. In 2023, it will be observed on November 23. Let us go over a brief history of Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving history is shrouded in mystery and myths.
What is reliably known is that the first “official” Thanksgiving in the US took
place in 1621. It was celebrated by Pilgrim settlers from England, who
established Plymouth Colony in 1. (which state?: ________________________)
in 1620. Despite the poor food supplies and various diseases, they had survived
through a severe winter. The following spring, Wampanoag Native Americans
helped the colonists plant 2. (which crop?:_________________). When the
first crop was gathered in the autumn, governor William Bradford proclaimed a
huge feast and invited them to celebrate together.
American Thanksgiving was established as a national
holiday in 1863 by President 3. ____________________. There is a story
that this decision was taken because of Sarah Josepha Hale, a writer, and
editor who had written to President Lincoln for 17 years, asking to proclaim
this day as a holiday.
Traditionally, this is the day for families and friends
to gather together around a holiday table for a special meal. Many families
have a holiday tradition of praying together and sharing what they’re grateful
for around the table. Thanksgiving food usually includes roast turkey, turkey
stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato, yams, gravy, green beans, corn, dinner
rolls, cranberry sauce, apple pie, pecan pie, and pumpkin pie. Different people
have variations on the Thanksgiving dinner, but generally, these foods are the
most popular.
Answer Keys
1. Massachusetts
2. Corn
3. Abraham
Lincoln
** Fill in the following blanks with proper idioms containing THANKSGIVING-RELATED WORDS.
4.
Jeffrey’s physician told him to go “cold
_______________” (meaning “to do something completely and suddenly”) on
smoking to start a healthy life.
5. Inflation
has “_________________ up” (meaning “to use, buy, or occupy all of
something”) our wage increases.
6.
Tim is going to participate in the “Turkey
______________” (meaning “a fun long-distance run”) this year.
7.
My friends are vegetarians, so instead of
turkey, they eat “______________” (meaning “the combination of the words
“tofu” and “turkey”) on Thanksgiving.
8.
I am waiting for “____________________
Friday” sales to get my husband a nice golf jacket.
9.
Brian was presented with “___________________”
(meaning of a large amount or supply of something) of job
opportunities.
10. After a big Thanksgiving feast, all his
family fell into a “food _____________” (meaning a state of drowsiness
after eating a large quantity of food).
Answer Keys
4. turkey
5. gobbled
6. trot
7. tofurkey
8. Black
9. cornucopia
10. coma
*source from The Old Farmer’s Almanac 2023 & https://preply.com/en/blog/english-words-and-phrases-for-thanksgiving/
Care for some silly but fun, brain-teasing riddles? E.g., What gets shorter as it grows older? => answer: a candle 1. ...
