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Paper 1a
Homonyms are words which look alike but have different meanings. For example, a row (an argument  or a line of things),  a clock (a timepiece) and to clock (to hit someone). When a homonym is used, you need to use the context to work out the meaning of the word.
1 The young man had not been at the palace for long, but he already had a plan in his mind. One day as he was walking across the inner garden to carry a message to the Queen's kitchens, he had seen a beautiful young woman. He had asked questions about her and found she was the only daughter of a rich lord. A rich and lovely wife would be perfect for him, but her father would not want a poor son-in-law. He would have to court here carefully, and when he had her love, they could win over  her father.
Choose the right definition for 'court' in the passage above.
a) a place where legal cases are heard [noun]
b) the area and people around the king and queen [noun]
c)  an old-fashioned version of 'to date' [verb]
d) an open area surrounded by buildings [noun]
e) to invite or risk trouble by one's behaviour [verb]
2 They decided that the trees in the South Wood were ready for cutting, and with the money they could do necessary repairs and buy cheese-making equipment to make the farm much more profitable. George went to the market and talked to a number of men who bought and sold wood. He was a hard bargainer and was determined to get a good price. Finally he found someone willing to pay a bit more than the others. They shook hands and the deal was struck.
Choose the right definition for 'deal' in the passage above.
a) to  hand out cards  to the players [verb]
b) wood from pine or fir trees [noun]
c) a formal agreement [noun]
d) to buy and sell an item [verb,
with 'in']
e) the way in which you are treated by others [noun, with adjectives like 'fair']
3 I was interested in your description of a typical Sunday. It must be fun having the whole family going out for dim sum. We usually go to church at 9am and when we get back home mum puts the joint in the oven while dad starts to read all the Sunday newspapers. Bill and I usually have to do homework, but if it is a lovely day, we might go out and kick a ball around for a bit and wait for mum to call us in for a giant meal. We sometimes go for a walk after that, but if the weather is bad, we all get sleepy around the television.
Choose the right definition for 'joint' in the passage above.
a) part of your body which bends [noun]
b) involving two or more people or organisations [adjective]
c) a cigarette made from the drug cannabis [noun]
d) a cafe or bar, usually not very nice [noun, slang]
e) a large  slice of meat
4 It was a wonderful film. I loved the story. It seemed as if it was going to have a happy ending, but then everything changed and it was sad. The acting was marvellous. The setting could not have been better. You could almost feel you were there. Perhaps my favourite moment was the long pan across the beach. There's so much going on and the colours are fantastic. I could watch it again and again.
Choose the right definition for 'pan' in the passage above.
a) slow sideways movement of a camera [noun]
b) criticise [verb, slang]
c) all [prefix]
d) the lower part of a toilet [noun]
e) a container for cooking [noun]
5 We must find out who it was, but we have so few clues.
Tom saw him but it was underground and the light was very poor. He did see his left cheek and he is pretty sure there was a
large mole on it down beneath the ear, but I spoke to
everyone today and looked closely but there was no one like that. But, hey, wait a minute - why are we thinking of a man? We are being blind - I think it is one of the cleaning ladies!
Choose the right definition of 'mole' in the passage above.
a) an animal that lives in tunnels below the soil [noun]
b) a sea-wall [noun]
c) a brown mark on the skin [noun]
d) an undercover spy or agent [noun]
e) a unit used for measuring numbers of molecules [noun]
6 I don't know how they
got in. The doors had all been locked and the windows firmly fastened,  but they entered somehow. Luckily the security guard thought he heard something and came to check. As soon as he shone his torch in, they made a bolt for it through that window there. One of them fired at the guard but luckily he was not hurt. The only clue is this bit of red material  caught on this  old nail.
Choose the right definition of 'bolt' for the passage above.
a) to lock with a metal bar [verb]
b) to eat too quickly [verb]
c) roll of cloth [noun]
d) escape, run away [noun and verb]
e) type of arrow [noun]
Answers



Coping with homonyms