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Innovation in Learning

A A VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT

Extreme words
Lesson code: KKDV-HJPB-97QA-K UPPER INTERMEDIATE

1 Extremely good/bad
Study the following adjectives and put them into the correct categories below.

appalling awesome brilliant dreadful

horrendous terrible terrific wonderful

Extremely good:

Extremely bad:

If you want to make an extreme adjective sound more extreme, you can use the word `absolutely':
absolutely brilliant absolutely dreadful
But you cannot use `absolutely' with ordinary adjectives: absolutely good

Work in pairs. Take turns to describe something with an adjective above. It can be a film, a
performance (e.g. sport, music, acting), the weather, a holiday/vacation, food you have tried, etc.
Continue until all the adjectives have been used. For example:
"Spain's performance in the last World Cup was absolutely horrendous."

2 From ordinary to extreme

Match the ordinary adjectives on the left with the extreme adjectives on the right.

1. painful a. agonizing
2. easy b. critical
3. dirty c. effortless
4. large d. filthy
5. clean e. hilarious
6. tasty f. mouthwatering
7. funny g. penniless
8. poor h. perilous
9. dangerous i. spotless
10. serious j. vast
LE

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Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
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Extreme words
Innovation in Learning

A A A A VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT

Complete the dialogue below with the extreme adjectives from page 1. More than one answer may be
possible in some cases.

A: So, how was your trip?

B: Well, I got to see lots of fascinating places. But I spent most of the time travelling by train the
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country is so !
A: I can imagine. And what was your impression of the cities?
B: You know, the cities are full of contrasts. The centres are so clean in fact, they're absolutely
2 3
. Yet if you go into the poor areas, you see some really places.
A: And what were the locals like?
B: The locals were very friendly. Most people that I met were not particularly well-off, but some of them
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were absolutely they couldn't afford more than one meal a day.
A: Did you try to speak the local language?
B: Well, I'd already studied the language for 5 years, so having a basic conversation was
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. But longer discussions were still a bit challenging.
A: And what about the food?
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B: The food was delicious. Some of the dishes I tried were absolutely . So I'd
definitely recommend the cuisine.
A: Sounds nice. Oh, I also wanted to ask did you travel in the east of the country?
B: No, I didn't. There's a serious conflict going on there and I've heard that travelling in that region can
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be really . So I decided to give it a miss. But I visited the seaside.
A: How was the sea?
B: Well, unfortunately I got stung by a jellyfish on my first day. It took me a week to fully recover!
A: Was it painful?
B: Painful? Yeah, it was really !

Work with a partner. Take turns to describe a place you have visited using extreme adjectives.

3 Homework
Your friend wants to visit your home town or country. Write an email recommending which places or
cities he/she should visit, which areas should be avoided, the best time of the year to come and when
he/she should avoid coming. Use as many extreme adjectives as possible.
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You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex 2/3

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Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
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c
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Extreme words
Innovation in Learning

A A A A VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT

4 Word families
Complete the table and then the sentences below with appropriate nouns like in the example.

Adjective Noun Adjective Noun

filthy filth exhausted exhaustion
perilous hilarious
vast ecstatic
effortless starving
brilliant terrified

1. Matt was suffering from exhaustion after completing the marathon.

2. Jamie was filled with after winning the lottery.
3. It was Mark's first time jumping out of a plane. You could see the look of on his face.
4. Many people died of during the famine.
5. You can truly experience the of the Pacific Ocean when you travel by ship.
6. He managed to win the match with a broken foot. Everyone appreciated the of his
performance.
7. Google's Translate tool can be the source of great . Some of the translations really
make you laugh.
8. This part of the town is filled with so much nobody wants to come here.

Now choose 5 nouns from the table and make your own sentence for each word.

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Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
PI

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c
Linguahouse.com OC
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 lingua house
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Extreme words - Key
Innovation in Learning

A A A A VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT

1- Extremely good/bad

Students can work alone and check in pairs. Go through the answers with the class. Point out the use of the
adverb `absolutely'. `Very' or `really' can be used with ordinary adjectives, but `very' is not normally used with
extreme adjectives, e.g. we cannot say `very appalling'. Monitor the pairwork activity.

Extremely good: brilliant, wonderful, awesome, terrific

Extremely bad: horrendous, terrible, appalling, dreadful

2- From ordinary to extreme

Point out: extreme adjective = `very' + ordinary adjective, e.g. very tired = exhausted.

1. a 2. c 3. d 4. j 5. i 6. f 7. e 8. g 9. h 10. b

1. vast
2. spotless
3. filthy
4. penniless
5. effortless
6. mouthwatering
7. perilous
8. agonizing

4- Word families

perilous - peril
vast - vastness
effortless - effortlessness
brilliant - brilliance
hilarious - hilarity
ecstatic - ecstasy
starving - starvation
terrified - terror

Complete the sentences (possible answers):

2. ecstasy 3. terror 4. starvation 5. vastness
6. brilliance 7. hilarity 8. filth
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Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
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c
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