3. malicious

4. whitewash

5. unprecedented

6. besieged

a. grand; magnificent

b. surrounded

c. mass killing (of an ethnic, religious or political group)

d. for the first time

e. cruel; spiteful

f. hide somebody's faults

Fill in the blanks with the words you have learned.

1. Before his surrender, the general was ________ by his rival armies.

2. China is enjoying ________ levels of prosperity which previous generations could only dream about.

3. The Titanic is an ______ movie which involves an all-star cast and spectacular visual effects.

4. A woman took a magazine to court for ________ gossip after she was accused of cheating on her husband.

5. The revision of history textbooks by Japan was criticised by foreign media as an attempt to _______ the country's past atrocities.

6. The history professor was sent to jail for his denial of _______ of Jews during the second world war.

Grammar Focus

The use of 'rather than'

'Rather than' is used as a preposition which has the same meaning as 'instead of'.

The following is an example from the passage.

Rather than celebrate the athletic achievements, Tibetans all over the world view the sports extravaganza as an unprecedented opportunity to shed light on their decades-long struggle for independence.

Combine the following sentences as shown in the example.

Example: I don't want to see the movie. I want to go swimming.

Answer: Rather than see the movie, I want to go swimming.

1. I think I will have a coke. I don't want water.

__________________________________

2. Tom didn't want to risk antagonising Ms Chan.

Tom told Miss Chan everything.

___________________________________

3. It's Jacky who stole your DVD.

Michael didn't steal your DVD.

___________________________________

Answers: Word Power: 1. a, 2. c, 3. e, 4. f, 5. d, 6. b; Fill in the blanks: 1. besieged, 2. unprecedented, 3. epic, 4. malicious, 5. whitewash, 6. genocide; Grammar Focus: 1. I think I will have a coke rather than water. 2. Rather than risk antagonising Miss Chan, Tom told her everything. 3. It's Jacky, rather than Michael, who stole your DVD.