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Lesson 12
by Paolo Rossetti

Level  : Advanced
Topic  : Poetry
Grammar: Reduced Adjective Clauses
Audio
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Vocabulary

The Face and The Wind

Beneath the unrelenting sun:
ocher plains, lion-colored hills.
I struggled up a craggy slope of goats
to a place of rubble:
lopped columns, headless gods.
Surreptitious flashes of light:
a snake, or some small lizard.
Hidden in the rocks,
the color of toxic ink,
colonies of brittle beetles.
A circular courtyard, a wall full of cracks.
Clutching the earth - blind knot,
tree all roots - a pipal, a religious fig.
Rain of light.  A grey hulk: the Buddha,
its features a blurred mass.
ants climbed and descended
the slopes of its face.
Still intact,
the smile, that smile:
a gulf of pacific clarity.
And I was, for a moment, diaphonous,
a wind that stops
turns on itself and is gone.

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EXERCISE 12.1 - Vocabulary

Please match the words on the left with the meanings on the right.

 1. to be unrelenting    a. dangerous to our health; poisonous
 2. to struggle          b. grasp; hold on tight
 3. rubble               c. no distortions; clear
 4. to be toxic          d. easily broken, easily shattered
 5. to be brittle        e. to climb down; to move to a lower position
 6. to clutch            f. the remains of destroyed buildings; fallen masonry
 7. roots                g. whole; with no parts missing
 8. a feature            h. continuous; never pausing, never giving up
 9. to descend           i. a particular aspect; a certain characteristic 
10. to be intact         j. fight; do something with great difficulty
11. clarity              k. origins; underground part of plants
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EXERCISE 12.2 - Grammar

Adjectives form an important part of a message because they provide the
'colour', the descriptions, to what we say.

Other than using an adjective in front of a noun (the unrelenting sun),
there are other systems of providing description in English.

One useful system is found in reducing adjective clauses to adjective phrases:

        The woman is from England. The woman is talking on the phone. 
        (2 sentences)

        The woman who is talking on the phone is from England. 
        (1 sentence: The woman is from England, 1 adjective clause: who
         is talking on the phone)

        The woman talking on the phone is from England. 
        (1 sentence: The woman is from England, 1 adjective phrase:
         talking on the phone)

In this case a verb ends up working as an adjective. This can be very
confusing.

Here's another one:

        Managers employed by IBM can become famous.

        Managers who are employed by IBM can become famous.

        Managers can become famous. Managers are employed by IBM.

Now you try:

Change the following sentences into full adjective clauses:

1. The children waiting for the bus all go to the new international school.
2. Scientists from all member countries attended the inauguration of the
   Science Centre dedicated to the late astronomer, Noel Strongard.
3. Octavio Paz, a veteran poet best known for receiving the Nobel Prize
   in Literature, passed away at age 82 last month in his native Mexico.
4. The sunlight coming through the window wakes me up every morning.
5. Did you get the message concerning postponing Wednesday's meeting?

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EXERCISE 12.3 - Reading Comprehension

Please read the text and choose the correct answers.

1.  What is the purpose of this text?
        (to describe a feeling of love, to describe a place,
         to describe an old man's memories)

2.  Who was smiling?
        (the writer, the Buddha, the wind)

3.  Where is this place?
        (on a mountain, in a jungle, in a small city)
 
4.  What feeling best describes this poem?
        (loneliness after the death of a place,
         the fear of revenge, a journey of discovery)

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Answers              Go to  ----->  Online English Content
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