Weekly Lesson Humor Use your browser's print command to print this lesson |
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Vocabulary
to crack up |
V. to laugh uncontrollably, to laugh a lot |
dry |
Adj. not obvious, subtle (sense of humor) |
to giggle |
V. to laugh a little without opening your mouth very much |
humorous |
Adj. funny, amusing |
an impression |
N. the act of speaking or singing like a famous person |
to kid |
V. to make jokes, to joke with someone; to not be serious about something |
a stand-up comedian |
N. a person who entertains by telling humorous stories and jokes; a professional comedian who performs live. |
silly |
N. funny in a slightly stupid way; funny in a way which is not really intelligent or sophisticated |
twisted |
Adj. sick, disgusting, abnormal |
witty |
Adj. funny in an intelligent way |
Vocabulary in Conversation
Use the above vocabulary to fill in the blanks in the following conversation. Your answers can be checked by clicking at the bottom of the page.
Robin: Did you meet Jake, the guy who's studying philosophy and Latin?
Michele: Yeah, he was hilarious! He had a great sense of humor.
Robin: I thought his jokes were really _______________________. Some of them were totally sick! I don't like that kind of humor. What about Karen? Didn't you think she was really funny? I _______________________ the whole time she was telling that story about her trip to London.
Michele: I thought the story was slightly _______________________, but she's no _______________________. Half of the time, I couldn't tell if she was _______________________ or being serious.
Robin: She just has a very _______________________ sense of humor, that's all. I thought she was quite _______________________ - her jokes were so intelligent.
Michele: Did you see that guy who was doing the Elvis _______________________? Wasn't that _______________________?
Robin: Oh! I was so embarrassed just watching him. Talk about an idiot! A few people _______________________, but I think that was just because he was making such a fool out of himself.
Vocabulary Follow-Up
Use the above vocabulary to fill in the blanks in the following sentences. Your answers can be checked by clicking at the bottom of the page.
1. Robin Williams and Whoopi Goldberg were both _______________________ before they became famous actors.
2. Senara, the girl from London, has such a _______________________ sense of humor. At first, I never knew if she was actually joking or being serious.
3. He does a great Michael Jackson _______________________. He can sing all the old hits like "Thriller" and "Beat It."
4. I thought that movie was rather _______________________. I laughed, but it it was pretty disgusting.
5. Michele thought the comment was somewhat _______________________ but she didn't actually laugh.
6. The little girls started _______________________ when they heard their father singing off key.
7. That was such a _______________________ mistake. If I had been using my brain, that never would have happened.
8. That joke was hilarious! I started _______________________ when he got to the punch line.
9. I loved the comedy we saw at the theater last night. The actors were marvelous! And the dialog was not only insightful but also very _______________________ and incredibly entertaining.
10. I'm sorry. I was just _______________________ when I said your dinner tasted like cheap fast food. It was actually quite delicious.
Go + Prepositions
Complete the following text by filling in the blanks with the appropriate preposition.
Use the following prepositions: on, under, down, out, off, into, through, over, away, by
1. They were party animals in college. They went _______________ almost every night and rarely came home before four o'clock in the morning.
go _____________ : to go and take part in some form of entertainment outside your house (like a party, dance club, bar...)
2. I am sorry I interrupted you. Please, go _____________. I really want to hear the end of your story.
go _____________ : to continue speaking or doing something
3. Our neighbor's car alarm went _____________ several times last night, so I didn't sleep well at all.
go _____________ : to suddenly make a loud sound (usually used with alarms)
4. The project is classified by the military, so I am not allowed to go _____________ the details. Let's just say it's going to cost the government a lot of money.
go _____________ : to discuss something complicated, personal, or secret; to discuss something which requires much explanation
5. The test is fairly complicated. I would suggest going _____________ your notes from class a couple of times before you try to take it.
go _____________ : to review or reread information; to practice something
6. I'll mail that letter for you. I go _____________ the post office on my way to work.
go _____________ : to pass
7. Did you see that news report about the hikers who were lost in the mountains for more than a week? I couldn't believe everything they went _____________. Their story was absolutely incredible.
go _____________ : to endure; to experience hardship
8. Jerry really struggled to keep his business going. But after months without any customers, it finally went _____________.
go _____________ : to fail financially (used with businesses)
9. I had the hiccups for over half an hour. Luckily, my friend Jane showed me a trick to make them go _____________.
go _____________ : to leave ; to stop (often used with physical conditions, illnesses, phenomena...)
10. The doctor made Joe lie in a cold bath to help his fever go _____________.
go _____________ : to decrease, become less
Focus on Verbs
In the following sentences, the tenses are sometimes used to refer to future events. Decide whether the sentence is being used to talk about repetitive actions, actions which are happening now, or actions which will happen in the future. Write "repetitive," "now," or "future" in the blank following each sentence below. If you are confused, you should refer to the English Page's Verb Tense Tutorial.
EXAMPLES:
A) John plays tennis. Repetitive
B) Debbie is watching TV. Now
C) Sarah is coming with us to the movie tonight. Future
1. Sheila goes to dance class on Fridays. ____________________
2. We're having dinner at Marie's house next week. ____________________
3. She's always coming late to class. ____________________
4. Freda is sitting in the car waiting for us. ____________________
5. Our plane to New York leaves at 8:25 PM. ____________________
6. Mark is going to the beach after lunch. ____________________
7. Deborah is lying on the beach. ____________________
8. Hurry up, the train leaves in twenty minutes. ____________________
9. The buses arrive late in this city. ____________________
10. The surprise party for George starts at 7 o'clock. ____________________